A SUFI SAINT OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by Martin Lings ( 9780946621507 )

Item Details

Title:

A SUFI SAINT OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
SHAIKH AHMAD AL-'ALAWI

By:

Martin Lings

Format:

Paperback

List price:

£17.99

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£13.13

Discount:

27% off

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£4.86

ISBN 10:

0946621500

ISBN 13:

9780946621507

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Stock:

Currently 10 available

Publisher:

THE ISLAMIC TEXTS SOCIETY

Pub. date:

1 December, 1993

Edition:

3rd Revised edition

Pages:

242

Description:

This work concentrates on the life and writings of Shaikh Ahmad al-Alawi (d. 1934). It is an excellent introduction to the intellectual and practical sides of Sufism and has been considered as one of the most thorough studies on the subject produced by a Western scholar.

Synopsis:

'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 the 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 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 1909 until his 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.

Illustrations:

5 b&w halftones, indexes

Publication:

Imprint:

The Islamic Texts Society

Returns:

Returnable

Some other items by this author:

ANCIENT BELIEFS AND MODERN SUPERSTITIONS (PB)

CATALOGUE OF ARABIC BOOKS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM (HB)

CIRCLING THE HOUSE OF GOD

COLLECTED POEMS (PB)