The Islamic Texts Society, 2012. Paperback. New softcover in glossy printed wraps. Pages are clean and free of marks or underlining. (5 x 0.25 x 7 inches)

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ISBN: 9780946621507

Almost a prerequisite for any serious study of Sufism in European languages': this was the verdict of Seyyed Hossein Nasr in his review of the first edition of this book. According to the Journal of Near Eastern Studies, it is 'one of the most thorough and intimately engaging books on Sufism to be produced by a Western scholar. Certainly there is nothing second-hand about it. The author lets the Sufis speak for themselves and, in a series of unusual and absorbing texts mainly translated from Arabic, he gives a vivid picture of life in a North African Sufi
order. Against this background stands the unforgettable figure of the Algerian Shaikh who was head of the order from the death of his Master in 1009 until his own death in 1934. The last few chapters are mainly devoted to his writings,
which include some penetrating aphorisms, and which end with a small anthology of his remarkable mystic poems which, as one reviewer has remarked 'remain beautiful poetry even in their English translation'.

The title promises much, but not too much. For those who place the spiritual above the temporal and who are prepared to accept the validity of a religion other than their own, the Shaikh al-Alawi must rank with Shri Ramana Maharshi of
Tiruvannamalai as one of the few truly great men of this century.

Price: $21.95