Customer Reviews

The Book of Certainty: The Sufi Doctrine of Faith, Vision and Gnosis (Islamic Texts Society)

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I review this work with some trepidation. "Martin Lings" and "Abu Bakr Siraj Ad-Din" are the same person, incidentally; Lings embraced Islam and wrote this book in Egypt, where, he indicates, it has been translated into Arabic.

My impression can be summed up succinctly. To date, I have not encountered any other original work in a Western language that incorporates and reveals so much directly transmitted Sufi lore - not Guenon, not Henry Corbin, not Frithjof Schuon - and this despite the fact that this is a little book, less than 100 pages. I was a surprised to find such material in print, and I wonder if it should have been written at all, due to the possibility of misinterpretation.

But then, I am not qualified to pass judgment on such matters. The book requires multiple re-readings to obtain all that it has to offer - then set it aside, and read it again in a couple of months. In this unenlightened age, it is a treasure.