The present work is one of the most valuable anthologies devoted to Sufism in a Western language and is in fact unique in its authenticity combined with diversity. In order to understand the value of this work, it is necessary to turn briefly to the history of the study of Sufism in the Occident. In contrast to the fields of theology, philosophy, and the sciences, there were no translations of Sufi texts into Latin during the Middle Ages. The knowledge received about Sufism in the West by such men as Dante and, somewhat later, St. John of the Cross came from vernacular languages, oral transmission, and personal contact. The first work to use the term “Sufism,” as taṣawwuf has come to be known in the West, was in fact written in 1821 by a German scholar by the name of August Tholuck, who wrote a study of the subject entitled Sufismus: sive Theosophia Persarum pantheistica. The later eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries were also witness to the translations of Sufi texts from both Persian and Arabic into English, German, French, and some other European languages. The works of such translators as Sir William Jones, von Hammer Purgstall, and Rückert began to be read in literary and even philosophical circles and attracted major figures such as Goethe and Emerson. But the influence of Sufism during the Romantic Movement remained for the most part literary, and not philosophical and metaphysical, at least not as these terms are understood in a traditional context.
With the rise of Orientalism more and more translations of Sufi texts into European languages began to see the light of day, and detailed studies of the subject also began to appear. Nearly all these studies, however, lacked authenticity. Some were simply philological, without any attention being paid to the meaning of the texts involved. Others were merely historical, many seeking to prove in one way or another that Sufism had a pre-Islamic origin, whether that be early Christianity, Hinduism, or the earlier Iranian religions; others tried to demonstrate how one Sufi scholar influenced another Sufi writer. And yet other studies were sociological, often carried out on behalf of the colonial powers to enable them to keep an eye on Sufi orders. The metaphysical and esoteric knowledge necessary to understand Sufism in depth had become eclipsed in the West. As for the domain of practice, Christian mysticism as it had existed in the Middle Ages has also more or less disappeared in Europe and the meaning of following an authentic spiritual path based on appropriate teachings and methods has mostly been forgotten. Consequently, Western scholars did not possess the intellectual and spiritual means necessary to study Sufism seriously. One need only remember here the principle that only the like can know the like. It remained for the twentieth century to provide serious works on Sufism in Western languages.
At the beginning of the last century the Swedish painter and esoterist Ivan Aguéli traveled to the Islamic world, was initiated into Sufism, and began to write seriously on the doctrines of Ibn ʿArabī and other Sufi masters. A small number of people who were seekers followed suit as far as initiation into Sufism is concerned; these people were especially from France and Italy. It is true that some have claimed that Richard Burton and H. Wilberforce-Clarke had been initiated into Sufi orders, but such claims remain unproven. In any case ʿAbdul Hādī, as Aguéli was known in the Islamic world and later in Europe, must be given his due as a pioneer in the serious introduction of Sufism to the West. It must also be recalled that by the early twentieth century René Guénon had already come into contact with this current and that after 1930, when he migrated to Cairo, he lived openly as a Shādhilī faqīr. The traditionalist or perennialist school that Guénon, known in the Islamic world as Shaykh ʿAbd al-Wāḥid Yaḥya, “inaugurated” was to be of the utmost importance to the West in the presentation of authentic Sufism, in both doctrine and practice, his theoretical works being complemented by the operative teachings and spiritual practices issuing from the Algerian Shaykh Aḥmad al-ʿAlawī. In the 1930s the appearance of the colossal figure of Frithjof Schuon (Shaykh ʿĪsā Nūr al-Dīn Aḥmad) brought about the serious presence of the Shādhilīyya Order in the West, accompanied by writings on Sufism which were unparalleled in their depth and authenticity. His works were complemented by those of several of his companions such as Titus Burckhardt (Sidi Ibrāhīm ʿIzz al-Dīn), and Martin Lings (Shaykh Abū Bakr Sirāj al-Dīn), and including also the co-editor of this work himself (i.e., Jean-Louis Michon) and many others.
Meanwhile, from the 1920s onward a number of Western academic scholars began to see the Quranic origin of Sufism and wrote serious works on it. This trend began with Louis Massignon, followed by such notable figures as Henry Corbin and Annemarie Schimmel. Today there are a number of academic scholars of Islam, following the example of these illustrious figures, who are making important contributions to the study of Sufism in European languages, studies which are both scholarly and authentic. Some of them also belong to various Sufi orders. After the Second World War other Sufi orders began to spread to the West and their Western followers, even if not academic scholars, have produced a number of valuable studies on Sufism. Moreover, a number of born Muslim scholars who know Sufism from within, now write in European languages and they have also made valuable contributions to the now large corpus of authentic works on Sufism in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and other Western languages.
The present anthology includes works from all these categories of writers. The editors have been very judicious in selecting texts that are authentic and yet represent different approaches to the study of Sufism as well as diverse aspects of the subject. Jean-Louis Michon has spent a lifetime in both the practice and the study of Sufism and there are few in the West who can match his knowledge of the subject. All those interested in authentic Sufism must be grateful to him and his co-editor for having prepared this anthology. Each of these essays reflects in its own way the perfume of the flowers of that garden which is Sufism, and at the same time draws the reader through Sufism to that Garden, and ultimately to the Supreme Garden of the Essence (jannat adh-Dhāt), whose vision and realization is the goal of human life.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Bethesda, Maryland, U. S. A.
December 2005/Dhuʾl-qaʿda 1426 AH