The Book of Wisdom

In these critical times nothing could be more valuable for the West than a rediscovery of its true spiritual heritage: books which were once the treasures of people, now rare and little-known. Seyyed Hossein Nasr Director, Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, Tehran Ibn 'Ata' Illah/Kwaja Abdullah Ansari: The Book of Wisdom translation, introduction and notes by Victor Danner. My God, You have commanded me to return to created things, so return me to them with the raiment of lights and the guidance of inner vision, so that I may return form them to You just as I entered You from them... Ibn Ata Illah, c. 1250-1309 This highly treasured book embodies the essence of spiritual life in the Islamic tradition. Its author, a well known Sufi saint and sage of 13th century Egypt, lived during the flowering of new Sufi Orders. Muslims of every age have been drawn to the simple, aphoristic nature of The Book of Wisdom and have learned its practical poetry by heart. This Arabic work is in three parts-the maxims, the treatises and the intimate conversations. Victor Danner's new translation maintains the timeless quality of this work as an ever-fresh affirmation of the life in the spirit. Kwaja Abdullah Ansari, Intimate Conversations translation, introduction and notes by Wheeler M. Thackston. O God, if the night of separations is dark, we still rejoice, for the morning of union is nigh... O God, what grace is this that you have bestowed on your friends? Whoever recognizes you finds them and whoever finds you recognizes them. Kwaja Abdullah Ansari, 1006-1089 One of the major early writers of Persian mystical literature, Ansari is best loved for this collection of simple flowing sentences long used as a devotional handbook. In these very human dialogues with God, Ansari speaks of a love and longing for his Creator as well as the frustration at his own human frailty. +