Tales from the Land of the Sufis

by Bayat, Mojdeh; Jamnia, Mohammad Ali

• ISBN13: 9781570626234
• ISBN10: 1570626235
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1994-12-01
• Publisher: Shambhala Pubns

Summary

Take a magic carpet ride into the delightful world of Sufi storytelling with these best-loved tales from Persian literature and lore, in which images of madness, passionate love, and self-sacrifice convey the inner experiences of the soul that has surrendered to the Divine Beloved. The tales are retold from the celebrated works of poets who were also spiritual masters, including Rumi, Attar, Nizami, and Jami, as well as anecdotes about famous masters themselves. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Mojdeh Bayat and Mohammad Ali Jamnia were born in Tehran and are initiates of the Nimatullahi Sufi Order. They live with their two children in Chicago.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction	p. 1
A Brief Look at the History of Sufism	p. 9
Hallaj: The First Martyr of Sufism	p. 14
The Life of Hallaj	p. 15
Legends and Stories of Hallaj	p. 20
Abu Sa'id: The Patron of Sufi Music, Song, and Dance	p. 28
Abu Sa'id's Life and Teachings	p. 30
Anecdotes of Abu Sa'id	p. 42
Fariduddin Attar: The Divinely Inspired Storyteller	p. 48
The Conference of the Birds	p. 53
Bahlul, a Fool of God	p. 56
This Too Shall Pass	p. 67
Shaykh San'an	p. 71
Hakim Nizami: Narrator of Love Stories	p. 81
Khusrau and Shirin	p. 83
Layla and Majnun	p. 104
The Great Secret of Alexander	p. 115
Jalaluddin Rumi: Persia's Greatest Mystic Poet	p. 119
Rumi's Life and Teachings	p. 120
The King and the Handmaiden	p. 133
The Grocer and His Parrot	p. 136
The Philosopher and the Skipper	p. 139
Musa and the Shepherd	p. 142
'Abdul-Rahman Jami: The Last of the Great Storytellers	p. 145
Yusuf and Zulaykha	p. 151
Notes	p. 169
Glossary	p. 173
Bibliography	p. 177
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