Sufism, unlike many other religions practised in the world today, is little known and understood. This religion follows a more mystical path and culture which has had immense influence on the East and the West for over 4000 years. However, this impact has largely gone unnoticed.

The book The Sufis was written at a time when this religion was mostly studied by the Orientals and at a time when the West hardly recognised it. To bridge this gap, the text penned by Idries Shah with an introduction by Robert Graves, was presented in a format that was acceptable to the Western minds.

Hailed as an authoritative text on Sufism with an academic approach, The Sufis presents to readers an overview of the concepts in the religion. To make reading more vivid, the text contains several biographies of prominent Sufis over a period of time, such as Rumi and Ibn al-Arabi. Alongside, it also gives readers an insight into the teaching materials used in Sufism, such as jokes and stories from the Mullah Nasrudin collection.

In addition, this read describes how Sufism has influenced the Western culture in an unsuspecting manner. The author says that the Western way of life including its alchemy, chivalry, the idea of Freemasons and Cervantes etc., are all sprouted basically from Sufi ideas, predominantly due to the mixing of the Eastern and Western cultures during the Middle Ages in places such as Sicily and Spain.

Presenting the idea that Sufism is not merely an ecstatic religion but also a contribution to humanity and philosophy, The Sufis was published by RHUS in 1971. It is available in paperback.

Key Features:

• When The Sufis was first published, it had a great impact on the thinkers and artists of the time who hailed it as a ‘seminal book of the century’.
• The book was also said to have given the readers a true Sufi experience.