Tales from the Land of the Sufis

by SHAMBHALA

• ISBN13: 9780877739555
• ISBN10: 0877739552
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 1994-06-01
• Publisher: Shambhala

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 Sufi poets and spiritual masters such as Rumi, Attar, Nizami, and Jami, as well as anecdotes about these famous masters.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
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 Said: The Patron of Sufi Music, Song, and Dance	p. 28
Abu Said's Life and Teachings	p. 30
Anecdotes of Abu Said	p. 42
Fariduddin Attar: The Divinely Inspired Story Teller	p. 48
The Conference of the Birds	p. 53
Bahlul, a Fool of God	p. 56
This Too Shall Pass	p. 67
Shaykh Sanan	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
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.