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The Book of Clouds is a collection of English-language Sufi poetry. This compilation of ghazals, quatrains, and qasidas praises and describes Divine love, loss, insight, gratitude, and mystery, bringing the forms, themes, and images of classical Islamicate poetry into English verse. The volume seeks to demonstrate the unique power of this tradition of thinking and speaking lyrically: to sing what can not be said but must be expressed.

In Attar's renowned 12th century Sufi classic, The Conference of the Birds, the many types of human beings and their various spiritual aptitudes are represented by a multitude of birds. This vast company sets off to encounter the Great Simurgh--a majestic Bird Who represents the Lord of the Worlds--the Divine Source of Being. But of all those who embark on this journey, only 30 stay the formidable course and are able to overcome the enormous challenges and attendant trials. Only thirty birds made it to the august Threshold. Kerim Guc, whose grandmothers stories helped form his spiritual life, most imaginatively and effectively shares tales told by these 30 birds, each of which help to open the Magnificent Gate bit by bit. The stories, selected from various cultures and epochs, help to clarify 30 "realizations" needed by any seeker in his or her final Return to the One. These Wisdom Teachings underscore the Universality and Timelessness of what is encountered in the spiritual life. Kerim Guc's stories are unforgettable and immediately affect the awareness and inner practice of the reader--young or old.

The Bane of Tongue (Kitab afat al-lisan) is Book 24 of the Imam al-Ghazali's magnum opus, I?ya? ?ulum al-din, The Revival of the Religious Sciences. Within the architecture of this monumental work, Afat al-lisan is the fourth book of the third quarter, The Ways to Perdition (Rub? al-muhlikat), in which al-Ghazali sums up in ten books (or chapters) all the human shortcomings and vices traditionally believed to lead a person into a state of loss in this world and the Next, and which in certain respects overlap with the Judeo-Christian notion of the seven deadly sins. In Book 24, al-Ghazali divides the banes (afat) or defects of the tongue, from the least to the most offensive, into twenty short chapters, each of which comprises a psychological/spiritual analysis of how and why the particular defect might exist in a person's soul, examples of how it manifests itself in behavior, and practical suggestions for eliminating it from one's personality. The misuse of the gift of speech and language is certainly not something new, as this work, composed nearly 950 years ago, amply shows, but in this age of internet-based communication, it has taken on a new and more destructive dimension.

This is the first complete translation into English of the nearly two thousand quatrains attributed to Jalaluddin Rumi, the famous thirteenth century Persian mystical poet. Less attention has been given by scholars to his quatrains than to the rhymed couplets in his Masnavi) and the odes in his Divan). Instead, what has been available are mostly distorted and popularized versions of the quatrains that are often made by authors who do not read Persian. The present book addresses this deficit by providing accurate translations and plentiful explanations made through the collaboration of two Rumi scholars: Rawan Farhadi (an Afghan) and Ibrahim Gamard (an American). The quatrains are ordered into numerous stages and themes of the mystical path of the " lover" and the " beloved" (the spiritual disciple and Sufi master). A. J. Arberry, the renowned British Rumi scholar (and author of Mystical Poems of Rumi), wrote about Rumi's quatrains: " ... after taking into account all the requisites of literary appreciation and criticism, we may reckon in the neighborhood of 500 of these ruba' iyat as among the finest masterpieces of Persian literature." William C. Chittick, the American Rumi scholar (and author of The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teaching of Rumi), wrote about the present book: " This most welcome addition to the literature on Rumi is the fruit of many years of collaborative effort by two dedicated scholars, both of whom are thoroughly familiar with Rumi's historical, cultural, and religious context. Until now, Rumi's quatrains have received little attention from scholars, yet they sum up his teachings in pithy and moving form." Coleman Barks, the American poet and well-known Rumi popularizer (and author of The Essential Rumi), wrote: " Ibrahim and Rawan, are scholars of the purest ray, thorough and impeccable, precise, and generous. This book that they have put together, The Quatrains of Rumi, should be on the shelves of anyone who loves Rumi and what Rumi loves. Their scholarly apparatus is masterful and complete. Their Notes are layered and Mystical. They understand from the inside out Rumi's central ecstatic insight: that just to be in a body and conscious is cause for rapture. Their understanding of Rumi's poetry is experiential. The authority they bring to this text is whole and gorgeous. They feel the music of the language and they communicate that subtlety with consummate skill."

Being the twenty-sixth book of The Revival of the Religious Sciences (Ihya' 'ulum al-din), The Book of the Censure of This World (Kitab Dhamm al-dunya) seeks to persuade its reader of the folly of worldly pleasures and possessions. To do so, al-Ghazali begins with a collection of Islamic primary-source texts that speak to the dangers of this world from a variety of angles. He then adds to this collection fourteen metaphors for this world that illustrate its perfidious nature. In a third subsection, al-Ghazali provides an original rationale for renouncing worldly enjoyments, and he furnishes his reader with a blueprint for determining what constitutes "this world" in its most dangerous sense. In a fourth and final subsection, al-Ghazali applies a sociological theory to enumerate the essential human vocations and identify the mechanisms through which these lead people away from God.

A spiritual companion guide offering a space for journaling one's reflections over a year with a wide selection of Qur'anic verses and inspiring themes.

Countless juristic works have been composed on the Hajj and the Umrah--the major and minor Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca--with meticulous attention to the proper manner of performing their rites in keeping with the relevant legal rulings derived from the Qur'an and the Prophetic Sunnah. Far fewer works, however, have been devoted to the inner meanings of these rituals and the spiritual benefit and significance they hold for the pilgrim. Approaching the topic through an etymological and historical analysis of the words used to describe the pilgrimage rites, and tracing the semantic links among relevant terms as they appear in the Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scriptures, this insightful and fascinating study seeks to unlock some of the mysteries hidden within the Hajj rituals. In so doing, it shows that, far from being mere re-enactments of stories from antiquity and their exoteric meanings, these rites function as symbols of inner realities, both earthly and heavenly, and as stages in the pilgrim's spiritual journey from death to resurrection and hence, to spiritual enlightenment.

Examining how three medieval Sufi Qur'an commentators explained the story of Moses' journey with al-Khidr, this volume conveys various teachings about the path of Sufism and the nature of spiritual authority. These commentaries, translated for the first time, discuss essential themes of Sufism as written by practicing Sufi masters. As the text reflects on both the social and psychological dimensions of the master-disciple relationship in Sufism and distinguish between the instructing master (shaykh al-ta'lim) and the mentoring master (shaykh al-suhba), a comparison is also made between the Sufi interpretation of death, immortality, compassion, and inner knowledge and Ernest Becker's theory of the denial of death and the aspiration for both physical and symbolic immortality.

The Chapters of Mary and Ta Ha center on the key figures of Islam's two sister monotheisms, Mary, mother of Christ, and Moses. Ibn 'Ajiba's commentaries on these two surahs give reader access not only to the traditional Islamic view of these prophetic figures, but also on metaphors and symbols to be found in their stories that can of use to anyone following an inner path to God. The Chapter of Mary, in particular, gives readers access to the story of Christ through the perspective of the woman who was chosen to bear him. The Immense Ocean from which this is an excerpt, is a prime example of writing from the North African Sufic tradition. Al-Bahr al-Madid, from which this translation is an excerpt, is the only traditional Quranic commentary in existence which gives both exoteric exegesis and mystical "spiritual allusion" for each verse of the Sacred Book. Since the completion of its publication in 2002, the Arabic version of al-Bahr al-Madid, which existed only in manuscript form before a small excerpt was printed in the 1950s, has sold out three editions. This is a testimony both to its popularity and to a revival of interest in Sufic thought throughout the Muslim world.

This volume answers many of the questions often asked by seekers of inward illumination. It also includes the author's commentary on a poem concerning inner wayfaring which speaks of the most exalted stations of the path and goes on to explain a number of paradoxes of the Way. These points are illustrated with references to the famous mystical poems of Ibn al-Farid and Abu Madyan.

Marvels of the Heart is thought to be the key volume of the 40-book Ihya' 'Ulum-Al Din--Revival of the Religious Sciences--, the most read work in the Muslim world after the Qur'an, and considered by many to be the Summa Theologica of Islam. These traditional teaching stories, which use the theme of the heart as a mirror, illustrate key tenets of Islam on the requirements of religion, living in society, and the inner life of the soul.