Islamic groups: Sufis Books

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Book SynopsisOne of the more poorly understood aspects of the history of the Ottoman Empire has been the flourishing of Sufi mysticism under its auspices. This study tracks the evolution of the Halveti order from its modest origins in medieval Azerbaijan to the emergence of its influential Sa`baniye branch, whose range extended throughout the Empire at the height of its expansion.With careful reconstruction of the lives of formerly obscure figures in the order''s history, a complex picture emerges of the connections of Halveti groups with the Ottoman state and society. Even more importantly - since the Sa`baniye branch of the order grew out of the towns and villages of the northern Anatolian mountains rather than the major urban centers - this work has the added benefit of bringing a unique perspective to how Ottoman subjects lived, worked and worshipped outside the major urban centers of the Empire. Along the way, it sheds light on less-visible actors in society, such as women and artisans, and challenges widely held generalizations about the activities and strategies of Ottoman mystics.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments; Note on Transliteration; List of Abbreviations for Frequently-Cited Works in the Text; Introduction-On the Study of Ottoman Mystical Traditions; Part I The Rise and Spread of the Halveti Order from its Origins through the Twelfth/Eighteenth Century: Chapter 1 Early Sufism and the origins of the Halveti path (ca. 900-1400); Chapter 2 The Great Expansion: From Regional Organization to Far-Flung Network (ca. 1400-1600); Part II The Evolution of a Halveti Sub-Branch: The Life and Career of ?a'ban-? Veli and his Followers in the Kastamonu Region; Chapter 3 Echoes of a distant past: ?a'ban-? Veli's early life and conversion to Sufism; Chapter 4 Genesis of a sub-branch: ?a'ban-? Veli's struggles in Kastamonu; Chapter 5 An uneven legacy: the succession to ?a'ban-? Veli to the end of the tenth/sixteenth century; Part III Defending the Cult of Saints in Eleventh/Seventeenth-Century Kastamonu: Transforming the ?a'baniyye Order under 'Omer el-Fu'adi: Chapter 6 'Omer el-Fu'adi as Sufi aspirant and haigographer: the road to ?a'baniyye succession; Chapter 7 Inscribing the ?a'baniyye order onto Kastamonu's landscape; Chapter 8 The political and doctrinal legacy of 'Omer el-Fu'adi; Conclusion What can the ?a'baniyye Teach Us About Transitions in the Early Modern Period of World History?; Endnotes; Bibliography; Primary Sources: Original Manuscripts; Primary Sources in Printed Texts, Translation, or Edited Editions of Manuscripts; Secondary Sources

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Book SynopsisAlthough Sufi characters - saints, dervishes, wanderers - occur regularly in modern Arabic literature, a select group of novelists seeks to interrogate Sufism as a system of thought and language. In the work of writers like Naguib Mahfouz, Gamal Al-Ghitany, Tahar Ouettar, Ibrahim Al-Koni, Mahmud Al-Mas''adi and Tayeb Salih we see a strong intertextual relationship with the Sufi masters of the past, including Al-Hallaj, Ibn Arabi, Al-Niffari and Al-Suhrawardi. This relationship becomes a means of interrogating the limits of the creative self, individuality, rationality and the manifold possibilities offered by literature, seeking in a dialogue with the mystical heritage a way of preserving a self under siege from the overwhelming forces of oppression and reaction that have characterized the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.Table of ContentsAbbreviations; Acknowledgements; Introduction: Ouverture; Chapter One: Naguib Mahfouz: (En)chanting Justice; Chapter Two: Tayeb Salih: The Returns of the Saint; Chapter Three: Al-Mas'adi: Witnessing Immortality; Chapter Four: The Survival of Gamal Al-Ghitany; Chapter Five: Ibrahim Al-Koni: Writing and Sacrifice; Chapter Six: Tahar Ouettar: The Saint and the Nightmare of History; Epilogue: Bahaa Taher, Solidarity and Idealism; Bibliography.

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Book SynopsisThis imaginative and accessible study of the lyrical, humorous, social and educational aspects of classical Persian poetry focuses on the works of the master medieval poet Sa''di of Shiraz (d. 1291), one of the funniest, most influential and lyrical figures in classical Persian poetry. Sa''di, a prominent ethicist and a devout teacher of virtues, stands out for his worldliness, his practical teachings, and his love for living a wholesome life, as well as for his signature elegance and artistry that has compelled critics to call his lyrics perfectly polished diamonds. In a language deliberately free of technical jargon, Keshavarz argues for the versatility of Sa''di''s poetic voice and portrays his notion of love as open to multiple perspectives including homoerotic aesthetics. She brings to life the worldly wisdom that kept the lyrical, adventurous, and ethical legacy of Sa''di fresh and effective through the passage of time.

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Book SynopsisIn Senegal, the Muridiyya, a large Islamic Sufi order, is the single most influential religious organization, including among its numbers the nation’s president. Yet little is known of this sect in the West.Trade Review“In contrast to the conventional emphases on the political and economic dimensions of the order after its rise to prominence, Babou stresses the early years and Bamba’s contributions to the ‘greater jihad’ of non-violent religious effort.” * International Journal of African Historical Studies *“This book provides an inside perspective that contextualizes the rise of Bamba and is an important source for all interested in the history of this important Sufi order in Senegal.” * Religious Studies Review *“Babou’s study is particularly rewarding for its treatment of the founder’s life and ideas, set against the background of the Mbakke family’s history. The focus on education and tarbiyya offers an interpretation of the social action of the Murid order that is grounded in Sufi thought.” * American Historical Review *“This important book offers a new interpretation of the Muridiyya of Senegal, the late-19th-century Sufi brotherhood founded by Cheikh Amadu Bamba Mbacké.... Babou tempers the insider’s lived experience with the historian’s balanced analysis.” * CHOICE *“In a time when the term jihad has entered our contemporary political lexicon in a variety of simplifications, Cheikh Anta Babou provides a deeply researched analysis of the place of the Greater Jihad in the spiritual, intellectual, and political life of a major West African Sufi movement, the Muridiyya in Senegal. Babou takes seriously the Murids’ own perspectives on their history and religious practices. He uses Wolof and Arabic sources as well as oral histories rarely used by academic historians and brings these internal sources into a conversation with external archival and interpretive sources.”

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Book SynopsisSteve Howard departed for the Sudan in the early 1980s as an American graduate student beginning a three-year journey in which he would join and live with the Republican Brotherhood, the Sufi Muslim group led by the visionary Mahmoud Mohamed Taha.Trade Review“It was amazing timing then for this insightful American-trained social scientist to observe a modernist nonviolent Islamic movement at the peak of its dynamic campaign. It is even more amazing timing now for this rigorous and incisive study of Islamic modernity to be available to scholars, students, and the public at large. This profound assessment of a fascinating expression of Islam as experienced by African Muslims can contribute to defusing the current global crisis of Islam and modernity. The book is also a pleasure to read.”“There is much to learn in this memoir, especially given the normalization of extreme Islamophobia in the Western world. The answer to Islamic extremism does not lie in Western belligerence and fear, but within Islam itself. Howard reminds us all of the importance of re-centering these conversations within the communities of people who live this diverse and complex faith.” * Focus on the Horn *“Howard’s account (Modern Muslims) is an excellent tool for undergraduate teaching. It goes a long way in detaching mid-twentieth-century Islamic revival movements … from their characterization as inherently violent. Instead, Howard demonstrates the intellectual vigour exposed by dedicated Muslims trying to argue for the intellectual coherence and applicability of their faith in a world they believed to be epistemologically dominated by Western rationalism.” * Africa *“Steve Howard has produced an ethnography of a modern Muslim movement in the contemporary Sudan that is original, informative, and beautifully conceived. It is a unique (and uniquely informative), accessible, and moving journey of discovery that makes a major contribution to our understanding of Islam in the Sudan and in the contemporary world.”

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Book SynopsisSteve Howard departed for the Sudan in the early 1980s as an American graduate student beginning a three-year journey in which he would join and live with the Republican Brotherhood, the Sufi Muslim group led by the visionary Mahmoud Mohamed Taha.Trade Review“It was amazing timing then for this insightful American-trained social scientist to observe a modernist nonviolent Islamic movement at the peak of its dynamic campaign. It is even more amazing timing now for this rigorous and incisive study of Islamic modernity to be available to scholars, students, and the public at large. This profound assessment of a fascinating expression of Islam as experienced by African Muslims can contribute to defusing the current global crisis of Islam and modernity. The book is also a pleasure to read.”“There is much to learn in this memoir, especially given the normalization of extreme Islamophobia in the Western world. The answer to Islamic extremism does not lie in Western belligerence and fear, but within Islam itself. Howard reminds us all of the importance of re-centering these conversations within the communities of people who live this diverse and complex faith.” * Focus on the Horn *“Howard’s account (Modern Muslims) is an excellent tool for undergraduate teaching. It goes a long way in detaching mid-twentieth-century Islamic revival movements … from their characterization as inherently violent. Instead, Howard demonstrates the intellectual vigour exposed by dedicated Muslims trying to argue for the intellectual coherence and applicability of their faith in a world they believed to be epistemologically dominated by Western rationalism.” * Africa *“Steve Howard has produced an ethnography of a modern Muslim movement in the contemporary Sudan that is original, informative, and beautifully conceived. It is a unique (and uniquely informative), accessible, and moving journey of discovery that makes a major contribution to our understanding of Islam in the Sudan and in the contemporary world.”

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Book SynopsisRepresentations of diasporic Murid disciples often depict them as passive recipients of change wrought by powerful clerics left behind in Senegal. In this study, Cheikh Anta Babou examines the construction of their transnational collective identity and its influence on cultural practices, identities, and aspirations.Trade Review“Babou shows a true cultural and social anthropological intuition in describing the present making of the Muridiyya brotherhood throughout parts of Black Africa and of the Western world.”“Based on years of intense ethnographic and historiographic research on three continents, Cheikh Anta Babou chronicles the ways in which individual migrants built local communities closely tied to transnational networks radiating from the holy city of Tuuba. The Muridiyya on the Move explores the relationships between religious associations known as dahiras, entrepreneurial migrant disciples, and key personalities from the order in inscribing physical and social Murid spaces in each setting. Recounted in rich detail and often through the voices of the actors themselves, this fascinating work will be of great interest both to those familiar with the Muridiyya, and to those who are just discovering this dynamic Sufi community.”“Combining several historical, ethnographic, sociological, and theoretical perspectives, this book offers an exemplary social, economic, cultural, and intellectual history of a community that has been creatively adjusting to a constantly changing world. Babou engages with the question of how the Murid became subjects of globalization in their own terms and languages. Bold and innovative in his conception and execution of this book, Babou persuasively argues for the crucial role played by migration in reshaping the identity and global performance of the Murid community, culturally, politically, and religiously, at home and abroad. Diligent in uncovering sources and scrupulous in the use of primary materials, interlacing historical detail, personal interviews, and observations, Cheikh Babou brings together (un)familiar elements to account for the creative and vernacular-inspired self-inclusion to the temps du monde.”“Cheikh Babou combines scholarly rigor with an insider’s knowledge to produce a compelling account of the remarkable diaspora of Mourides from Senegal that combined individual initiative with collective solidarity to forge networks and communities in several African countries, France, Italy, and the United States. Attentive to religious and socioeconomic dimensions of migration, Babou brings out both the tensions and the creative adaptations as migrants became citizens in their new homes, worked out their relations with Muslim and non-Muslim fellow citizens, and brought up a new generation of Murids.”“This is a meticulously researched and well written history of the migrations that made the Muridiyya, the Sufi order created by the Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba, travel from Tuubaa, its holy center in Senegal, and spread throughout the world, becoming the global reality it is today. The book illuminates the crucial point that the nascent diaspora of the Muridiyya has meant the continuous reinvention, in new spaces, of the life and creative force of the order. Its migrant followers did not just turn their new location and experience into a shadow of the “real thing” back home: they made the diaspora another home where the Murid experience and the message of the founder produced renewed meanings, which then traveled back to the center. The Muridiyya on the Move is thus an eloquent and powerful demonstration that, yes, indeed, Islam is at home in the modern and the ‘Western’ world.”

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Book SynopsisRepresentations of diasporic Murid disciples often depict them as passive recipients of change wrought by powerful clerics left behind in Senegal. In this study, Cheikh Anta Babou examines the construction of their transnational collective identity and its influence on cultural practices, identities, and aspirations.Trade Review“Babou shows a true cultural and social anthropological intuition in describing the present making of the Muridiyya brotherhood throughout parts of Black Africa and of the Western world.”“Based on years of intense ethnographic and historiographic research on three continents, Cheikh Anta Babou chronicles the ways in which individual migrants built local communities closely tied to transnational networks radiating from the holy city of Tuuba. The Muridiyya on the Move explores the relationships between religious associations known as dahiras, entrepreneurial migrant disciples, and key personalities from the order in inscribing physical and social Murid spaces in each setting. Recounted in rich detail and often through the voices of the actors themselves, this fascinating work will be of great interest both to those familiar with the Muridiyya, and to those who are just discovering this dynamic Sufi community.”“Combining several historical, ethnographic, sociological, and theoretical perspectives, this book offers an exemplary social, economic, cultural, and intellectual history of a community that has been creatively adjusting to a constantly changing world. Babou engages with the question of how the Murid became subjects of globalization in their own terms and languages. Bold and innovative in his conception and execution of this book, Babou persuasively argues for the crucial role played by migration in reshaping the identity and global performance of the Murid community, culturally, politically, and religiously, at home and abroad. Diligent in uncovering sources and scrupulous in the use of primary materials, interlacing historical detail, personal interviews, and observations, Cheikh Babou brings together (un)familiar elements to account for the creative and vernacular-inspired self-inclusion to the temps du monde.”“Cheikh Babou combines scholarly rigor with an insider’s knowledge to produce a compelling account of the remarkable diaspora of Mourides from Senegal that combined individual initiative with collective solidarity to forge networks and communities in several African countries, France, Italy, and the United States. Attentive to religious and socioeconomic dimensions of migration, Babou brings out both the tensions and the creative adaptations as migrants became citizens in their new homes, worked out their relations with Muslim and non-Muslim fellow citizens, and brought up a new generation of Murids.”“This is a meticulously researched and well written history of the migrations that made the Muridiyya, the Sufi order created by the Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba, travel from Tuubaa, its holy center in Senegal, and spread throughout the world, becoming the global reality it is today. The book illuminates the crucial point that the nascent diaspora of the Muridiyya has meant the continuous reinvention, in new spaces, of the life and creative force of the order. Its migrant followers did not just turn their new location and experience into a shadow of the “real thing” back home: they made the diaspora another home where the Murid experience and the message of the founder produced renewed meanings, which then traveled back to the center. The Muridiyya on the Move is thus an eloquent and powerful demonstration that, yes, indeed, Islam is at home in the modern and the ‘Western’ world.”

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Book SynopsisExamines the competing forces behind the formation of a modern western subjectivity in the context of Sufi religious meanings and practices in Pakistan.Trade Review“Arguing Sainthood can and should be used in courses on modernity, postcolonialism, the Middle East, South Asia, and in other courses—cultural studies, religion—where Lacanian ideas are not unfamiliar.”—Michael M. J. Fischer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology“This is an important book, one that is significant for the discourses of Pakistani modernity and the dilemmas it creates, the internal differentiations in Pakistani society, and the historical forces that brought them about.”—Gananath Obeyesekere, Princeton University

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Book SynopsisExamines Sufi religious meanings and practices in Pakistan, and their relation to the westernising influences of modernity and the shaping of the postcolonial self. This book is of interest to scholars of Islamic studies, postcolonial studies, and anthropology.Trade Review“Arguing Sainthood can and should be used in courses on modernity, postcolonialism, the Middle East, South Asia, and in other courses—cultural studies, religion—where Lacanian ideas are not unfamiliar.”—Michael M. J. Fischer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology“This is an important book, one that is significant for the discourses of Pakistani modernity and the dilemmas it creates, the internal differentiations in Pakistani society, and the historical forces that brought them about.”—Gananath Obeyesekere, Princeton University

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Book SynopsisContributes to the field of Islamic studies, philosophy, and comparative religion achieves a twofold objective. This work draws from various sources, especially in the domain of Sufism, or Islamic mysticism. It is an in-depth meditation on the relationship between love and knowledge, multiplicity and unity.Trade Review"A tour de force in Islamic theology." -- -Sachiko Murata University at Stoneybrook, State University of New York "An expression of prayerful piety that draws uponan ontology of divine love and its centrality to the human condition." -- -Keith Doubt Wittenberg University "A mystical text, one that could take its place alongside the great mystical treatises of Islamic spirituality." -- -Maria Lichtmann Appalachian State University "A beautiful work, a profound meditation on love, will and knowledge that gives the reader an understanding of that idea of unity, or tawhid...A necessary reading to all who deny the role of love in Islamic thought." LOOK UP DIACRITICAL MARKS FOR TWAHID. -- -Adam Seligman Boston University "Beautifully written and skillfully translated, it allows for a fresh understanding of the inner, mystical aspects of the Islamic tradition in the words of a present-day Sufi Muslim." -Choice "A rare and important contribution to the field of Islamic studies, philosophy, and comparative religion." -- -Barry McDonald former Managing Director and Senior Editor, World Wisdom Books. "Focuses on Sufism in a study of love in the Muslim theological tradition; draws parallels with Christian mysticism." -The Chronicle of Higher Education "...considers the relationships between love and knowledge multiplicity, and unity, heart and intellect." -Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisDemonstrating how poor cultural translation of core terms has contributed to a distorted picture of Islam, this book provides an explication of some of the most important concepts and beliefs of the Muslim tradition, as well as interpretation of the symbolism underlying its important practices.Trade Review"This fairly dense work rewards careful, reflective reading by all who are interested in the subject of religious conflict ... Recommended." -Choice "An extraordinary voice on dual identities." -- -Kurt Anders Richardson McMaster University "An outstanding work offering a thoroughly original perspective onto a question of major significance in both religious studies and contemporary politics." -- -Gareth Jones Canterbury Christ Church University

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Book SynopsisMysticism is one of the most enduring and fascinating aspects of religious life, and one of the most difficult to unpick. This book enables readers to understand the nature of mysticism, and examines in detail the traditional methods used by mystics in seeking an intimate understanding of the spiritual world.Trade Review‘The richness of this book will enhance and deepen the openness to faith of any reader and provide a good introduction to what at first can be a perplexing subject.' -- The WayOffers a clear and organized understanding of a path to a deeper life for readers to consider. -- Press-RegisterTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I: What is Mysticism?; 1. The Concept of Mysticism; 2. Approaches Used by Mystics; 3. Life Styles of Mystics; Part II: The Traditions of Mysticism; 4. Buddhist Mysticism; 5. Sufism; 6. The Nature Mysticism of Taoism and Shinto; 7. Christian Mysticism; 8. Kabbalah; 9. Hindu Mysticism; 10. Sikh and Jain Mysticism.; Part III: The Purpose of Mysticism; 11. The Mystical Goal; 12. Mystical and Orthodox Traditions; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

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Book SynopsisShah Wali-Allah had a deep understanding of Qur’an, Hadith and Fiqh. This book is unique as it focussing on Shah Wali-Allah’s life as well as thought from an economic perspective.Table of ContentsIntroduction by Professor Khurshid Ahmad Preface: 1 Overview of the Muslim Situation during Shah Wali-Allah’s Time 1.1 The World and the Muslim situation in 12th century AH/18th century CE 1.2 Important Muslim regions 1.3 Mughals and the emerging Indian Sultanates 1.4 Khanates in Central Asia 1.5 Muslim states in Far East Asia 1.6 The economic front 1.7 Awakening among the Ottomans 1.8 India of Shah Wali-Allah’s time 1.9 Medina becomes the foundation for revival and renovation 2 Shah Wali-Allah Dihlawi: Life and Times 2.1 Times and environment 2.2 Life 2.3 Areas of major contributions 2.4 Political role 2.5 His death and resting place 2.6 Impact of Shah Wali-Allah 2.7 Shah Wali-Allah—a parallel to Ibn Taymiyyah 3 Intellectual and Academic Heritage 3.1 Shah Wali-Allah’s syllabus—an academic legacy 3.2 Sources of Shah Wali-Allah’s thought 3.3 Was Shah Wali-Allah influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah and his student Ibn al-Qayyim? 3.4 Introducing Shah Wali-Allah’s works 3.5 The impact of Shah Wali-Allah’s ideas—factors that led to the fast and vast spread of his works 4 Economic Ideas of Shah Wali-Allah Dihlawi 4.1 Economic ideas in Shah Wali-Allah’s works 4.2 Study of applied economy 4.3 Theoretical economic ideas 4.4 Economic activities in an Islamic framework 4.5 Measures to avoid disputes in economic transactions 4.6 Some major contributions 5 Tadbīr al-Manzil (Household Management) 5.1 Origins of tadbīr al-manzil 5.2 Tadbīr al-manzil in the Islamic tradition 5.3 Shah Wali-Allah on tadbīr al-manzil 5.4 The subject matter of tadbīr al-manzil 5.5 Other areas of tadbīr al-manzil 5.6 The present discipline of economics and the Greek oikonomia 5.7 Market versus ‘family’ 6 Shah Wali-Allah on Money and Interest 6.1 Money as seen by the Greek philosophers 6.2 Money in the early period of Islam 6.3 Difficulties of the barter system 6.4 Functions of money 6.5 Is it must to use gold and silver as money? 6.6 Interest—an ill-use of money 6.7 Ribā (interest proper) 6.8 Is the charging of interest prohibited from the poor only? 7 Public Finance 7.1 The subject of public finance—first to attract attention 7.2 Public revenue 7.3 Economics of zakah 7.4 Public expenditure 7.5 Public borrowing 7.6 Concern for the poor 8 Shah Wali-Allah on the Stages of Socio-Economic Development 8.1 Early Muslim scholars’ holistic approach to development 8.2 Development role of the state 8.3 Ibn Khaldun’s cyclical model of development 8.4 Shah Wali-Allah’s theory of socio-economic development 8.5 Irtifāqāt: a natural process in human development 9 Conclusion: Comparison and Evaluation Bibliography Arabic References Other Languages Indexes Names Subjects

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Book SynopsisSpiritual biography of Inayat Khan who came to the West with a message of love, harmony and beauty that was both quintessence of Sufi teachings and a revolutionary approach to the harmonising of Western and Eastern spirituality.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first English translation of Miftah al-falah, a thirteenth century Sufi text, written by Ibn ''Ata'' Allah, one of the great masters of the Shadhili Sufi order. It is considered to be one of his most important works because it sets out the principles of actual Sufi mystical practices, shedding light on the sacred invocations, and associated practices, such as the spiritual retreat.Written in a clear, lucid style, it offers a glimpse into the Sufi world of the 7th Islamic century and allows us to see almost at first hand how the novice was guided by the Sufi Shaykh and, above all, the purpose and preparation involved in engaging in the invocation, dhikhru''llah. Ibn ''Ata'' Allah sets out to define it, to explain its nature and power, to show its results and to prove that it is part of the Prophet''s Sunnah, or practice. The author goes to great lengths to point out many Qur''anic verses where dhikru''llah is mentioned and cites many noted authorities.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first English translation of works attributed to Abu Madyan, a seminal figure of Sufism in Muslim Spain and North Africa. The Arabic text accompanying the English translation also represents the first scholarly edition of these works in the original language. The variety of Abu Madyan''s oeuvre, which includes doctrinal treatises, aphorisms, and poetical works in the ode, qasida, style, provides a unique opportunity for students of Arabic and Sufism, as well as the interested layman, to experience several of the most important genres of religious writing in the Islamic Middle Period.The Arabic texts have been extensively vocalised in order to aid the student. The work as a whole is well-suited for use as a reader for advanced level classes in the Arabic language. In addition, notes have been provided in the English translation. The Arabic parallel text, set by DecoType, Amsterdam, marks the debut of a new form of calligraphic typesetting in the classical Nashk style, combining state-of-the-art computer technology with unique faithfulness to the great calligraphic tradition of the Islamic world.

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Book SynopsisQuest for the Red Sulphur: The Life of Ibn ''Arabi is undoubtedly a landmark in Ibn ''Arabi studies. Until the publication of this book, anyone who wanted to learn about the life of Ibn ''Arabi has had little choice of material to work from. This major study by Claude Addas is based on a detailed analysis of a whole range of Ibn ''Arabi''s own writings as well as a vast amount of secondary literature in both Arabic and Persian. The result is the first-ever attempt to reconstruct what proves to have been a double itinerary: on the one hand, the journey that took Ibn ''Arabi from his native Andalusia to Damascusand on the other hand, the ''Night Journey'' which carried him along the paths of asceticism and prayer to the ultimate stage of revelation of his mystic quest.

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Book SynopsisHazrat Khawaja Muinuddin Hasan Chishti was a friend of the poor, the depressed, the deprived and the destitute. His spirit of humanism sets him apart from the considerations of caste, colour and community.His meditations give an authoritative insight into the things that really matter and, it is hoped, will secure for the individual concerned the inner peace and harmony which are sought by man in his bondage.This book is a treasure and would make not only a perfect gift, but also a lovely treat for oneself.

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Book SynopsisA beautiful collector’s hardcover of never-before-translated poems by the widely beloved medieval Persian poet Rumi. AN EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY POCKET POET Rumi (1207-1273) was trained in Sufism—a mystic tradition within Islam—and founded the Sufi order known to us as the Whirling Dervishes, who use dance and music as part of their spiritual devotion. Rumi's poetry has long been popular with contemporary Western audiences because of the way it combines the sacred and the sensual, describing divine love in rapturously human terms. However, a number of Rumi's English translators over the past century were not speakers of Persian and they based their sometimes very free interpretations on earlier translations. With Western audiences in mind, translators also tended to tone down or leave out elements of Persian culture and of Islam in Rumi's work, and hundreds of the prolific poet's works were never made available to English speakers at all. In t

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