By Frithjof Schuon, Translated from the French
Pub Date: 1981
Publisher: World Wisdom Books
Binding: Paper, 163pp.
ISBN: 0941532003
Our Price $8.95

Related Books: Islam and Sufism
Related Audio/Video: Lings, Frithjof Schuon and Rene Guenon

Schuon makes a critical distinction between an absolute Islam and a contingent Islam. Surveying the fundamental and thus indispensable elements of the Islamic revelation allows one to gain a perspective on its more relative aspects. The Arab style, with its pious exaggerations, ellipses, hyperbolism and love of sublimity, is seen here not only in its tendency to obscure pure sapeintial knowledge, but also in light of its profound spiritual intention. Also included is a chapter which situates philosophy with regard to the concerns of faith and theology, restoring to it its normal and legitimate meaning of love of divine and eternal Wisdom.

"Schuon is unsurpassed:and I would add unequalled, as a writer on comparative religion."--Martin Lings

"In this book one can discover with greater clarity than any other available work the distinction between that quintessential Sufism which comprises the very heart of the message of Sufism and the more exteriorized forms of Islam. No other work succeeds so well in removing the most formidable and notable impediments in the understanding of the authentic Sufi tradition. for the Western reader."--Seyyed Hossein Nasr