Sufism

The Sufi tradition is far too vast and diverse to attempt anything like a definitive statement about what it entails, but few would deny that there are unifying themes. In attempting to provide a fair survey of the tradition, I have steered a middle course between generalities and specifics. In each chapter I look at Sufism in respect of a theme, and in each I try to show how basic teachings appear in various guises in diverse circumstances. I have provideda relatively large amount of translation from primary texts, because any attempt to understand Sufism in its own context demands looking at its own ways of expressing itself, not simply at interpretations made in contemporary terms.