The Sense of Unity: The Sufi Tradition in Persian Architecture (Publications of

by Nader Ardalan

1871031788|9781871031782. The Sense of Unity : The Sufi Tradition in Persian Architecture published in the year 2000. The author of this book is Laleh Bakhtiar . Nader Ardalan . This is the Paperback version of the title "The Sense of Unity : The Sufi Tradition in Persian Architecture ". The Sense of Unity : The Sufi Tradition in Persian Architecture is currently Available with us.

Genres: Architecture, Islam, Iran

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Roshanak]

Despite its extraordinary richness, Islamic architecture has rarely been studied for its conceptual and symbolic significance. In the Sense of Unity, a handsomely illustrated volume and the first extended work of its kind, Nader Ardalan and Laleh Bakhtiar examine the architecture of Persia as a manifestation of Islamic tradition and demonstrate the synthesis of traditional Persian thought and form. The most fundamental principle of Sufism, the inner, esoteric dimension of Islam, is that of unity in multiplicity. This view sees in every aspect of reality a reflection of a transcendent source which is given symbolic expression through all of man's activities, most directly and importantly through his works of art. The authors of The Sense of Unity show how all the elements of the Islamic architecture of Persiafrom the simplest architectural unit to a complex urban environmentare woven around this central doctrine and thus are best understood as multiple manifestations of unity. The Sense of Unity is illustrated with photographs, drawing, charts, and tables which are an integral part of its argument and which exemplify, in abundant and striking detail, the principles discussed in the text. Presenting to the Western reader for the first time the insights of the Iranian cultural tradition, the book also offers a stimulating new way of thinking about man and his relationship to his milieu.

[Hailane Salam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first picked up The Sense of Unity in the early 2000s, purely out of curiosity. Back then, I didn’t read it with any academic agenda, just as someone intrigued by how architecture could embody something far deeper than form and function.

By 2010, the book became more than casual reading. As I was searching for my PhD research direction, Ardalan and Bakhtiar’s synthesis of Sufi metaphysics and Persian architectural tradition became a key reference. Their exploration of Tawhid, unity in the multiplicity of form, offered a profound lens to understand space, proportion, symbolism, and the spiritual dimensions of architecture.

Now, in 2025, I still return to this book. Some passages continue to reveal new depths; certain diagrams and metaphors take on different meanings as my own research on Islamic symbolism in Malay architecture matures. It’s one of those rare works that is not exhausted by a single reading, it grows with you, and you grow with it.

This isn’t a light read. It’s dense with philosophical thought, Quranic references, and traditional wisdom, woven into architectural analysis. But if you are serious about understanding the spiritual heart of Islamic architecture, beyond stylistic ornamentation, this is a seminal text.

For me, The Sense of Unity has been less of a “book I read” and more of a companion through decades of intellectual and spiritual exploration.

[Davoud Taghavi · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you just wanted one book in your library on the 'cosmology of art/architecture' book genre category, this is the book to choose.