The Mystics of Islam

First published in 1914, The Mystics of Islam remains one of the finest introductions to Sufism ever written. Reynold Nicholson, the foremost Western scholar of Islamic mysticism of his day, guides the reader through the Sufi path with warmth and precision — from repentance and ascetic discipline through illumination, ecstasy, and divine love, to the 'unitive state' where the seeker dissolves into the Real. Drawing on original Arabic and Persian sources, Nicholson weaves together the voices of Rumi, Hallaj, Rabia, Ghazali, Ibn al-Arabi, and dozens of other mystics into a vivid portrait of the inner life of Islam. The book is at once rigorous scholarship and a deeply sympathetic encounter with one of humanity's great spiritual traditions.