Tales of the Dervishes (Paperback)

by Idries Shah (Author) "THREE fishes once lived in a pool..." (more)
Key Phrases: three dervishes, clever fish, lamp shop, Hatim Tai, Deep Knowledge, Abdul Malik (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"... a collection of diamonds ... incredibly well-crafted, multifaceted ... likely to endure in the manner of the Koran and the Bible." -- Professor Robert E. Ornstein, Ph.D., Psychology Today, July 1973

"... challenges our intellectual assumptions at almost every point." -- The Observer

"... equal, and sometimes surpass, in relevance, piquancy and humour, the best of the spiritual and ethical teachers of the West ..." -- Kirkus Review, November 5, 1969

"... some really cracking tales ... full of wit, sophistication, irony and commonsense ... completely absorbing." -- Northern Despatch, October 20, 1967

"... these teaching-tales could become a permanent part of the reader's experience ..." -- Geoffrey Grigson, Country Life, October 26, 1967

"An astonishingly generous and liberating book ... strikingly appropriate for our time and situation ... a jewel flung in the market-place." -- Sunday Times

"Beautifully translated . . equips men and women to make good use of their lives." -- Professor James Kritzeck, The Nation

"For every decade we live, we will find another meaning in each story." -- Desmond Morris, BBC - The World of Books

Product Description
A mysterious chest is buried unopened. A wondrous caravan brings fortune to a simple cobbler. An outcast princess creates a new life in the wilderness. Some of the 78 tales in this remarkable book first appeared in print over a thousand years ago, others are medieval classics. Yet, each has a special relevance for us in the 21st century. All are told with Idries Shah's distinctive wit and grace and the author's own commentary notes.

Although enormously attractive as sheer entertainment, dervish tales were never presented merely on the level of fable, legend or folklore.

They stand comparison in wit, construction and piquancy with the finest stories of any culture, yet their true function as Sufi teaching stories is so little known in the modern world that no technical or popular term exist to describe them. For centuries, dervish masters have instructed their disciples by means of these tales, which are held to convey powers of increasing perception unknown to the ordinary man.

These are teaching stories in the Sufi tradition. Those who probe beyond the surface will find multiple meanings to challenge assumptions and foster new ways of thinking and perceiving.

Sold all over the world in many languages, this is deservedly a classic and an essential reading for anyone interested in Sufi thought, the significance and history of tales, or simply superb entertainment.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics) (October 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140193588
• ISBN-13: 978-0140193589
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #155,170 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dare to question everything, June 11, 2002

By	Pablo R. Vitaver (Ft Lauderdale, FL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Stories that will shake your assumptions and strict belief in the established, conventional, trusted and safe relationship between cause and effect. These stories, if nothing else, open your mind to a different way of thinking. By doing that, it awakens parts of your brain that normally stay dormant. A fresh look at everyday occurrences, unquestioned practices and established thought-processes. It has an invigorating value. You don't have to 'believe' anything the author says: he is not selling anything, not even ideas. Just read and observe what happens to yourself, since these stories are about you.

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most beautiful stories I've ever read, January 26, 1998

By	L. Reed (Burlington, VT, USA) - See all my reviews

I first read TALES OF THE DERVISHES thirty years ago, and I've been re-reading them ever since. My daughter preferred these ancient stories to the standard Western fairy tales at bedtime, asking me to read them to her over and over again, which delighted me because I too found them spellbinding. It's easy to understand why they've endured a thousand years because they are perhaps the most beautiful and intriguing examples of the storytelling art that I've ever encountered.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Map of Human Experience, February 22, 2000

By	Bill Frazier (Baltimore) - See all my reviews

Most books that deal with metaphysics or consciousness are written by people who like to tell others what they have found. We get an individual interpretation magnified and glorified. There seems to be quite a market for such books, which I suppose must mean there is a taste for them. Tales of the Dervishes, a book which contains Teaching Stories from Sufi Masters, is very short on interpretation of Reality, or descriptions of Reality, or categorizations of Reality, and very long on the means to develope one's own perception and understanding. In these pages we find animals and Kings, beggars and fools, a princess, the water of life and many other familar characters and subjects. Watching themes develope and characters interact is like watching a map of human experience slowly develop. What emerges is that you have just been shown yourself.