The Garden of Truth: Knowledge, Love, and ActionThe headlines are filled with the politics of Islam, but there is another side to the world's fastest-growing religion. Sufism is the poetry and mysticism of Islam. This mystical movement from the early ninth century rejects worship motivated by the desire for heavenly reward or the fear of punishment, insisting rather on the love of God as the only valid form of adoration. Sufism has made significant contributions to Islamic civilization in music and philosophy, dance and literature. The Sufi poet Rumi is the bestselling poet in America. But in recent centuries Sufism has been a target for some extremist Islamic movements as well as many modernists. The Garden of Truth presents the beliefs and vision of the mystical heart of Islam, along with a history of Sufi saints and schools of thought. In a world threatened by religious wars, depleting natural resources, a crumbling ecosystem, and alienation and isolation, what has happened to our humanity? Who are we and what are we doing here? The Sufi path offers a journey toward truth, to a knowledge that transcends our mundane concerns, selfish desires, and fears. In Sufism we find a wisdom that brings peace and a relationship with God that nurtures the best in us and in others. Noted scholar Seyyed Hossein Nasr helps you learn the secret wisdom tradition of Islam and enter what the ancient mystics call the "garden of truth." Here, liberate your mind, experience peace, discover your purpose, fall in love with the Divine, and find your true, best self. |
From inside the book
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... Manifestation of Sufism in Time and Space 163 Appendix Two The Tradition of Theoretical Sufism and Gnosis 209 Notes 235 Glossary of Technical Terms 239 Selected Bibliography of Works in English 247 Index 249 V111 LIST OF ...
... manifestation, but we also possess a human and individual self cre- ated by God, which is real on its own level. To understand fully the reality of being human, we must also understand fully this aspect of our nature as God's servants ...
... manifestation implies going from the inward to the outward so that metaphysically speaking the inner and the origin are ultimately the same reality. Coming back to the Fatihah, I shall provide a commentary based on one aspect of the ...
Contents
| 3 | |
Two Truth | 29 |
Three Love and Beauty | 59 |
To Do His Will to Conform to the Divine Norm | 81 |
Five How Do We Reach the Garden of Truth? | 103 |
Six Access to the Center | 139 |
Appendix OneThe Sufi Tradition and the Sufi Orders | 163 |
Appendix Two The Tradition of Theoretical Sufism | 209 |
Glossary of Technical Terms | 239 |
Selected Bibliography of Works in English | 247 |