First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

This selection of the lyrical poetry of Jalal'uddin Rumi serves as an introduction to the enigmatic and ambiguous style characteristic of Sufi doctrine. Both original test and translation are provided, together with a lengthy introduction.

MawlanaJalal al-Din Rumi's poem, the Mathnawi, is one of the best known and most influential works of Muslim mysticism. Its author was born in 1207 at Balkh in Central Asia but, as a child accompanied his father and family to settle in Qonya in Anatolia. After he had followed his father as a preacher, Rumi's mystical bent became more pronounced, particularly after the beginnning of his relationship with the dervish Shams al-Dn of Tabriz which led to non-conformist behaviour and an outpouring of lyric poetry. Rumi had his own circle of followers, the origin of the Mevlevi sufi order, whose...

MawlanaJalal al-Din Rumi's poem, the Mathnawi, is one of the best known and most influential works of Muslim mysticism. Its author was born in 1207 at Balkh in Central Asia but, as a child accompanied his father and family to settle in Qonya in Anatolia. After he had followed his father as a preacher, Rumi's mystical bent became more pronounced, particularly after the beginnning of his relationship with the dervish Shams al-Dn of Tabriz which led to non-conformist behaviour and an outpouring of lyric poetry. Rumi had his own circle of followers, the origin of the Mevlevi sufi order, whose...

MawlanaJalal al-Din Rumi's poem, the Mathnawi, is one of the best known and most influential works of Muslim mysticism. Its author was born in 1207 at Balkh in Central Asia but, as a child accompanied his father and family to settle in Qonya in Anatolia. After he had followed his father as a preacher, Rumi's mystical bent became more pronounced, particularly after the beginnning of his relationship with the dervish Shams al-Dn of Tabriz which led to non-conformist behaviour and an outpouring of lyric poetry. Rumi had his own circle of followers, the origin of the Mevlevi sufi order, whose...

Al-Hujwiri came from Ghazna, now in Afghanistan, then the capital of the mighty Ghaznavid Empire. He was a Sufi mystic who travelled widely in the Middle East and Transoxiana. The Kashf al-Muhjub was probably written in Lahore, where he is buried, not long before his death in about 1074. One of the oldest Sufi works in Persian, it is a substantial treatise aiming to set forth a complete system of Sufism. This is achieved partly by the discussion of acts and sayings of the great figures of the past, partly by discussion of features of doctrine and practice and the examination of the different...

Edward Granville Browne (1862 1926), was a British Orientalist who produced numerous works of academic value, mainly relating to the areas of Persian history and literature. Originally published in 1932, this volume is based on the list of Browne's writings at the end of his Materials for the Study of the Babi Religion (1918), but differs from it in some respects. It comprises all his own books, editions, and translations; the articles which he contributed to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society; his political pamphlets and his papers read to and published by the Persia Society. This is a...

The D v ni Shamsi Tabr z is a masterpiece of Persian literature and a classic work in the history of S ism. With his Masnav it is one of the key writings of the renowned mystic poet Jal lu 'dd n R m (1207 1273). Professor Nicholson's English translation of selected poems from the D v n of R m was first published in 1898, and is often credited as being the best-known version in a European language. It is suitable for scholars and students of Persian literature and for all those interested in the mystical literature of Islam. The Persian text is printed with facing English translations, and...

Mysticism is such a vital element in Islam that without some understanding of its ideas and of the particular forms which they assume it is hard to penetrate below the surface of Muslim religious life. In this book, which was first published in 1921, Professor Nicholson examines the life, work and teaching of three of the most important of the early Sufis - the Persians Abu Sa'id (937 1049) and Al-Jili (1365 1406), and the Cairene Arab Ibnu l-Farid (1182 1235). These great mystics were almost legendary figures; possessors of occult and mysterious powers, whose tombs became holy shrines. They...

For sixty years, the best account in English of Arab literature has been, by universal consent, this book; its supremacy will long remain unchallenged.