The Sufis

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a book that exists to 'do' something - Rated
This is not a book that primarily exists to impart information, although it is full of fascinating, unexpected and useful information. It is a book that exists to 'do' something. Yet it is not easy to describe what this action is - one might say that it begins to restructure our perceptions, or that it enables us to recognize a 'taste' or a 'scent' of something, or that through its technique of 'scatter' it feeds us with pieces that slowly begin to form into some kind of whole. None of this makes much sense unless one has experienced it - and if one has experienced it there is little need to describe it. Nor is this experience automatic: one has to allow the book time to work on one - a process that may take years and decades rather than days and weeks.

If you find this description off-putting, it is most likely that you won't like the book either. That's fine - Shah wasn't in the business of convincing anyone, and 'The Sufis' works for those for whom it works. If that sounds high-handed, it is because we in the West are not used to thinking about books as instruments - as tools that require patience and respect and the acquisition of a certain amount of skill to get any benefit from. Instead we expect authors to make a sales pitch for their ideas, and we reserve the right to make consumer judgments as to whether to buy their product or a rival brand. But if you are prepared to put in the time, the effort, and a measure of goodwill you will undoubtedly find this book rewarding - and in many different ways, too.

If I had to choose a single book to take to a desert island, it would be this one. For the last twenty five years it has proved an admirable companion and guide and it still astonishes me with its ability to be waiting ahead of each new experience. Its beauty and subtlety and insight reveal themselves little by little, in the same way that life itself does.

When it was first published in 1964, 'The Sufis' served as a call to those who were seeking a real path of spiritual development. Shah's caravan set off many years ago, and it is now nearly two decades since he announced that his work had been completed. If you are among those who are wondering where to pick up the trail, you might like to take a look at Juan Sgolastra's 'The Way' or Marco Santello's 'Between Heaven and Earth' (both listed here on amazon) for indications of a new phase of teaching.

Judge for Yourself - Rated
Shah's works have provoked a range of responses in the academic establishment, which in the West has long been the guardian of Sufi works. Some view his writings as legitimate and of genuine value on a number of levels; others have accused him of being a populist and even a fraud (over an incident with a translation involving Robert Graves). The contention perhaps comes from the fact that Shah claims to be part of the living Sufi tradition, explaining Sufi ideas from the inside, not as some intellectual or exotic Easterner, but with a distinctly and slightly ascerbic contemporary Western voice.

Shah himself would perhaps have suggested any view or review of his work would probably be more a reflection of the reviewer's own mind than a genuine representation of his work. Not surprisingly, Shah's title have found their way on to reading lists for business management courses - he was, at the very least, a very astute and accessible psychologist of everyday life. Nuf said.

An absolutely brilliant introduction to Sufism - Rated
Mr Idries Shah is to be commended for his effort in providing such a fantastic introduction to Sufism. This marvellously written text is a 'must read' for anyone interested in spirituality.

Supurb work on the stream of sufi thought - Rated
This is an incredibly vast book, one that certainly should not be read in a fortnight; a must read for anybody who has any passing interest in the history and development of spiritual doctrines. Rather then examine the peculiarities of individual religions, Shah focuses on the inner truths universal to all religions. It also helped shed some light on the roots of a religion of interest to me- sikhism. Say no more... read it now!

If there's any book that can teach you 'Sufism', this is it - Rated
If there is any book that can teach you all that you need to learn in the study of Sufism, it's this book. Although its major theme is to describe the course of the influence of Sufi ideas on the western world from ancient to modern times, it also delineates the path of a student of this knowledge. The mistakes of the beginner and the remedies for change may all be found: this, however, only over the passing of time, the renewal of the book, and certain other conditions, which bit by bit become apparent to the gradually shifted apprehension, and to which the text refers.