Mystical Dimensions of Islam

Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1975. 8vo. 9-1/2" x 6-5/16". Red cloth covered boards. Spine stamped in gold. 506 pp. including extensive bibliography and indices. A little bubble at bottom of front cover, otherwise fine.. To write about Sufism, or Islamic mysticism, is an almost impossible task. At the first step, a wide mountain range appears before the eye - and the longer the seeker pursues the path, the more difficult it seems to reach any goal at all. He may dwell in the rose gardens of Persian mystical poetry or try to reach the icy peaks of theosophic speculations; he may dwell in the lowlands of popular saint worship or drive his camel through the endless deserts of theoretical discourses about the nature of Sufism, of God, and of the world' or he may be content to have an all-around glimpse of the landscape, enjoying the beauty of some of the highest peaks bathed in the sunlight of early morning, or colored by the violet haze of a cool evening. In any case, only the elect few will reach the farthest mountain on which the mythical bird, Simurgh, lives - to understand that they have reached only what was already in themselves.