Description

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This collection of the essential writings of Martin Lings brings together some of the most outstanding chapters from his wide range of works. In addition to selections dealing with the perennial philosophy, such as "Do the Religions Contradict One Another?", the anthology includes sections from Lings' writings on Islam and Sufism, notably his magisterial account of the life of the Prophet Muhammad; his acclaimed biography of the Algerian Sufi master Ahmad al-ʿAlawi; his pioneering work on the Quranic art of calligraphy and illumination; and his celebrated translations (from the Arabic) of classics from the field of Sufi mystical poetry. Also featured are selections on the spiritual dimensions to be found in the mature plays of Shakespeare, such as Hamlet.

About the Author

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Martin Lings (1909-2005), the former Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts at the British Museum, was a leading member of the perennialist school and a renowned author, editor, translator, scholar, Arabist, and poet. After a classical education he read English at Oxford where he was a pupil and later a close friend of C. S. Lewis. Lings is the author of several award-winning books on subjects ranging from Sufism to Shakespeare, including A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century: Shaikh Ahmad al-ʿAlawi, His Spiritual Heritage and Legacy, the best-selling Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources (translated into over a dozen languages), and Shakespeare in the Light of Sacred Art. Reza Shah-Kazemi (b. 1960) is an author in the fields of Islamic studies and Comparative Religion. He is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, and has been involved in important interfaith initiatives for the last two decades. He has edited, translated, and written numerous books and articles, including Paths to Transcendence according to Shankara, Ibn Arabi & Meister Eckhart, the award-winning Justice and Remembrance: Introducing the Spirituality of Imam Ali, and Common Ground Between Islam and Buddhism, which was prefaced and launched by HH The Dalai Lama. Shah-Kazemi lives in Westerham in the south of England.