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Evenings with Idries Shah
An insightful pocket book containing a mishmash of Sufi stories and question-and-answer sessions, collected by R. Easterling and Kamil Hanafy.
Evenings with Idries Shah is a sampler of Sufi discussion meetings, where both instruction and carefully constructed stories for teaching purposes have been shared for thousands of years.
Although teaching stories often appear to be little more than entertaining fairy or folk tales, they enshrine – in their characters, plots, and imagery – patterns and relationships that nurture a part of the mind not reachable in more conventional ways. Familiarising ourselves with these yarns can increase our understanding, flexibility, and breadth of vision.
Shocking, often funny, peppered with uncommon common sense, this far-reaching little book can facilitate a deeper perception in the reader.
Evenings with Idries Shah is a sampler of Sufi discussion meetings, where both instruction and carefully constructed stories for teaching purposes have been shared for thousands of years.
Although teaching stories often appear to be little more than entertaining fairy or folk tales, they enshrine – in their characters, plots, and imagery – patterns and relationships that nurture a part of the mind not reachable in more conventional ways. Familiarising ourselves with these yarns can increase our understanding, flexibility, and breadth of vision.
Shocking, often funny, peppered with uncommon common sense, this far-reaching little book can facilitate a deeper perception in the reader.
74 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1981
About the author
Idries Shah
410 books440 followersIdries Shah (Persian: ادریس شاه), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي), was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen critically acclaimed books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.
Born in India, the descendant of a family of Afghan nobles, Shah grew up mainly in England. His early writings centred on magic and witchcraft. In 1960 he established a publishing house, Octagon Press, producing translations of Sufi classics as well as titles of his own. His most seminal work was The Sufis, which appeared in 1964 and was well received internationally. In 1965, Shah founded the Institute for Cultural Research, a London-based educational charity devoted to the study of human behaviour and culture. A similar organisation, the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge (ISHK), exists in the United States, under the directorship of Stanford University psychology professor Robert Ornstein, whom Shah appointed as his deputy in the U.S.
In his writings, Shah presented Sufism as a universal form of wisdom that predated Islam. Emphasising that Sufism was not static but always adapted itself to the current time, place and people, he framed his teaching in Western psychological terms. Shah made extensive use of traditional teaching stories and parables, texts that contained multiple layers of meaning designed to trigger insight and self-reflection in the reader. He is perhaps best known for his collections of humorous Mulla Nasrudin stories.
Shah was at times criticised by orientalists who questioned his credentials and background. His role in the controversy surrounding a new translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, published by his friend Robert Graves and his older brother Omar Ali-Shah, came in for particular scrutiny. However, he also had many notable defenders, chief among them the novelist Doris Lessing. Shah came to be recognised as a spokesman for Sufism in the West and lectured as a visiting professor at a number of Western universities. His works have played a significant part in presenting Sufism as a secular, individualistic form of spiritual wisdom.
Idries Shah's books on Sufism achieved considerable critical acclaim. He was the subject of a BBC documentary ("One Pair of Eyes") in 1969, and two of his works (The Way of the Sufi and Reflections) were chosen as "Outstanding Book of the Year" by the BBC's "The Critics" programme. Among other honours, Shah won six first prizes at the UNESCO World Book Year in 1973, and the Islamic scholar James Kritzeck, commenting on Shah's Tales of the Dervishes, said that it was "beautifully translated".
The reception of Shah's movement was also marked by much controversy. Some orientalists were hostile, in part because Shah presented classical Sufi writings as tools for self-development to be used by contemporary people, rather than as objects of historical study. L. P. Elwell-Sutton from Edinburgh University, Shah's fiercest critic, described his books as "trivial", replete with errors of fact, slovenly and inaccurate translations and even misspellings of Oriental names and words – "a muddle of platitudes, irrelevancies and plain mumbo-jumbo", adding for good measure that Shah had "a remarkable opinion of his own importance". Expressing amusement and amazement at the "sycophantic manner" of Shah's interlocutors in a BBC radio interview, Elwell-Sutton concluded that some Western intellectuals were "so desperate to find answers to the questions that baffle them, that, confronted with wisdom from 'the mysterious East,' they abandon their critical faculties and submit to brainwashing of the crudest kind". To Elwell-Sutton, Shah's Sufism belonged to the realm of "Pseudo-Sufism", "centred not on God but on man."
Doris Lessing, one of Shah's greatest defenders,stated in a 1981 interview: "I found Sufism as taught by Idries Shah, which claim
Born in India, the descendant of a family of Afghan nobles, Shah grew up mainly in England. His early writings centred on magic and witchcraft. In 1960 he established a publishing house, Octagon Press, producing translations of Sufi classics as well as titles of his own. His most seminal work was The Sufis, which appeared in 1964 and was well received internationally. In 1965, Shah founded the Institute for Cultural Research, a London-based educational charity devoted to the study of human behaviour and culture. A similar organisation, the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge (ISHK), exists in the United States, under the directorship of Stanford University psychology professor Robert Ornstein, whom Shah appointed as his deputy in the U.S.
In his writings, Shah presented Sufism as a universal form of wisdom that predated Islam. Emphasising that Sufism was not static but always adapted itself to the current time, place and people, he framed his teaching in Western psychological terms. Shah made extensive use of traditional teaching stories and parables, texts that contained multiple layers of meaning designed to trigger insight and self-reflection in the reader. He is perhaps best known for his collections of humorous Mulla Nasrudin stories.
Shah was at times criticised by orientalists who questioned his credentials and background. His role in the controversy surrounding a new translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, published by his friend Robert Graves and his older brother Omar Ali-Shah, came in for particular scrutiny. However, he also had many notable defenders, chief among them the novelist Doris Lessing. Shah came to be recognised as a spokesman for Sufism in the West and lectured as a visiting professor at a number of Western universities. His works have played a significant part in presenting Sufism as a secular, individualistic form of spiritual wisdom.
Idries Shah's books on Sufism achieved considerable critical acclaim. He was the subject of a BBC documentary ("One Pair of Eyes") in 1969, and two of his works (The Way of the Sufi and Reflections) were chosen as "Outstanding Book of the Year" by the BBC's "The Critics" programme. Among other honours, Shah won six first prizes at the UNESCO World Book Year in 1973, and the Islamic scholar James Kritzeck, commenting on Shah's Tales of the Dervishes, said that it was "beautifully translated".
The reception of Shah's movement was also marked by much controversy. Some orientalists were hostile, in part because Shah presented classical Sufi writings as tools for self-development to be used by contemporary people, rather than as objects of historical study. L. P. Elwell-Sutton from Edinburgh University, Shah's fiercest critic, described his books as "trivial", replete with errors of fact, slovenly and inaccurate translations and even misspellings of Oriental names and words – "a muddle of platitudes, irrelevancies and plain mumbo-jumbo", adding for good measure that Shah had "a remarkable opinion of his own importance". Expressing amusement and amazement at the "sycophantic manner" of Shah's interlocutors in a BBC radio interview, Elwell-Sutton concluded that some Western intellectuals were "so desperate to find answers to the questions that baffle them, that, confronted with wisdom from 'the mysterious East,' they abandon their critical faculties and submit to brainwashing of the crudest kind". To Elwell-Sutton, Shah's Sufism belonged to the realm of "Pseudo-Sufism", "centred not on God but on man."
Doris Lessing, one of Shah's greatest defenders,stated in a 1981 interview: "I found Sufism as taught by Idries Shah, which claim
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 14, 2020
This is as close as we can get to sitting down to a Sufi Dinner Meeting, a unique educational event that’s part performance and part interaction. Shocking, often funny, peppered with uncommon common sense, this far-reaching little book can actually prepare you to learn faster and more surely. Topics include Eastern cults, what is missing, what prevents learning, unknown capacities and much more. Highly recommended.
December 30, 2019
It would be easy to dismiss this short book as a mere pamphlet, but it is concentrated, seminal Shah – an integral part of his work and very relevant to today's world.
January 14, 2020
There is a notable explanation of how telepathy is a constant human experience and why it appears to be entirely absent or manifests in an insignificant way in this brief yet comprehensive work.
March 6, 2021
Small book, great content. A little jewel!
June 8, 2024
'Two Sufis were agreeing that almost the whole of human life was a struggle between nature and discipline, and how there had to be a third course, directed study, which avoided either while allowing both to operate.' Opening sentence of Nature and Discipline. ALL the accounts/narratives in this booklet punch holes in our assumptions: show something that helps us to become more aware. There is a new edition. See Idries Shah Foundation.
January 28, 2020
'Two Sufis were agreeing that almost the whole of human life was a struggle between nature and discipline, and how there had to be a third course, directed study, which avoided either while allowing both to operate.' Opening sentence of Nature and Discipline.
ALL the accounts/narratives in this booklet punch holes in our assumptions; show us something that might help us to become more aware.
ALL the accounts/narratives in this booklet punch holes in our assumptions; show us something that might help us to become more aware.
August 1, 2012
Different, but awesome.
February 20, 2020
Their simply is no other book like "Evenings with Idries Shah". You would have to read it for yourself to see why it is a 5 star book, you will not regret it.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews