This is an excellent book about Sufism that I absolutely love and treasure! One of its great offerings is that it covers so many different parts of its philosophy, practice and history. The author with incredible clarity showcases its different orders and thinkers too. Some of them include of course the well-known Rumi, of the Mevlevi Order, but also lesser known, yet very influential Sufis, such as the Turkish folk Sufi Yunus Emre, of the Bektashi Order, and Mansur Hallaj, who was famously burned at the stake for declaring "I am the Truth." There is a TV series on Netflix now about Yunus Emre, who is considered a folk hero and poet in Turkey. Mysticism, as the author writes, has been called the "great spiritual current which goes through all religions." It is the "consciousness of the One Reality-- be it called Wisdom, Light or Love." So what the reader finds here is little about Islamic credo and more about the essence of spirituality, which binds us all. This is what I love about Sufism, the connection.
I very much enjoyed the author's writing style as well. I found it refreshing and engaging and so easy to digest. This book is perfect for both beginners to Sufism and experts. It's one of the best books about Sufism that I've ever read and I wholeheartedly recommend it to readers of spirituality and those interested in learning more about this aspect of Islam.
"When you seek God, seek Him in your heart--
He is not in Jerusalem, nor in Mecca nor in the hajj." YUNUS EMRE, 13th Century Turkish Sufi mystic