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The Sufis (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Most fables contain at least some truth, and they often enable people to absorb ideas which the ordinary patterns of their thinking would prevent them..." (more)
Key Phrases: dervish schools, see annotation, dervish orders, Ibn El-Arabi, Omar Khayyam, Central Asia (more...)
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Editorial Reviews

From The Washington Post

"A seminal book of the century."


Review

"...more extraordinary the more it is studied, because what it states about a subject which is by definition beyond verbalization." -- Doris Lessing, Encounter: Books & Writers, August 1972

"...the best introduction to the body of Shah's work...one is ... forced to use one's mind in a new way." -- Doris Lessing, New York Times Book Review, May 7, 1971

"...vastness of learning and exposition that calls to our patience - and perhaps to our loss if it calls in vain." -- Stevie Smith, The Observer, November 1, 1964

"Important historically and culturally." -- Los Angeles Times

"The book has flashes of what (without intending to define the word) I can only call illumination." -- D. J. Enright, New Statesman

"The first fully authoritative book on Sufism and the human-development system of the 'dervishes'..." -- Afghanistan News, May 1964
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 480 pages
  • Publisher: Anchor; Reprint Edition edition (January 5, 1971)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0385079664
  • ISBN-13: 978-0385079662
  • Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #152,889 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #46 in  Books > Religion & Spirituality > Islam > Sufism

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More About the Author

Idries Shah
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Most fables contain at least some truth, and they often enable people to absorb ideas which the ordinary patterns of their thinking would prevent them from digesting. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
dervish schools, see annotation, dervish orders, human exemplar, inner teaching, unregenerate man, perfected man
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Ibn El-Arabi, Omar Khayyam, Central Asia, Jalaluddin Rumi, Near East, Professor Nicholson, Raymond Lully, Roger Bacon, Whirling Dervishes, Colonel Clarke, Commanding Self, Fihi Ma Fihi, New York, Old Villain, The Kasidah, Abu Bakr, Albertus Magnus, Asia Minor, Far East, Francis of Assisi, Naqshbandi Order, Order of the Garter, Philosopher's Stone, Saracen Spain, Thomas Aquinas
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Customer Reviews

36 Reviews
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54 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The most important book on Sufism ever published., January 18, 1998
By galaxy 33 (Del Mar, CA United States) - See all my reviews
Terry W. Williams, Ph.D., Del Mar, CA.

Idries Shah's The Sufis, first published in 1964, is the seminal work of this famous Afghan author and a first-of-its-kind modern statement on Sufism. A famous Sufi once said, "Previously Sufism was a reality without a name. Now it's a name without a reality." One meaning of this saying is that there was a time when the science and procedures of learning the meaning of mankind's existence were clearly understood and formed an essential part of human life. However, that meaning has been lost by humanity and only the name remains. In The Sufis, Idries Shah has made a monumental contribution to bringing this precious meaning back into the life stream of humanity.

This book, written after years of travel, research, and collection of an amazingly diverse array of materials, presents the reader with a series of startling revelations concerning the basis of the knowledge structure of Western and Eastern thought. The idea of an advanced knowledge in the custody of, for the most part, unknown and mysterious people with strange powers, may seem at first glance to be an absurdity. The idea that the unified knowledge of the Sufis concerning the developmental and evolutionary potential of mankind influenced or lay behind the organization and theories such as those of Chivalry, St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, Roger Bacon, Geber, Hindu Vendantist teachings, the Troubadours, in Shakespeare, the Rosicrucians, the techniques of Japanese Zen, in Chaucer - to name only a few - is sure to clash with the conditioned thinking inculcated by submersion in conventional thought and maintained by our environment.

In the book, Shah states: "Sufism, in one definition, is human life. Occult and metaphysical powers are largely incidental, though they may play their part in the process, if not in personal prominence or satisfaction. It is axiomatic that the attempt to become a Sufi through a desire for personal power as normally understood will not succeed. Only the search for truth is valid, the desire for wisdom the motive. The method is assimilation, not study."

"The Sufi life can be lived at any time, in any place. It does not require withdrawal from the world, or organized movements, or dogma. It is coterminous with the existence of humanity. It cannot, therefore, accurately be termed an Eastern system. It has profoundly influenced both the East and the very bases of the Western civilization in which many of us live - the mixture of Christian, Jewish, Moslem and Near Eastern or Mediterranean heritage commonly called `Western.' Mankind, according to the Sufis, is infinitely perfectable. The perfection comes about through attunement with the whole of existence. Physical and spiritual life meet, but only when there is a complete balance between them. Systems which teach withdrawal from the world are regarded as unbalanced."

"When, and where, did the Sufi way of thinking start? This is, to most Sufis, slightly irrelevant to the work at hand. The "place" of Sufism is within humanity....' The practice of the Sufis is too sublime to have a formal beginning," says the Asrar el Qadim wa'l Qadim (Secrets of the Past and Future). But as long as one remembers that history is less important than the present and future, there is a great deal to be learned from a review of the spread of the modern Sufi trend since it branched out from the areas which were Arabized nearly fourteen hundred years ago. By a glance at this period of development, the Sufis show how and why the message of self-perfection may be carried into every conceivable kind of society, irrespective of its nominal religious or social commitment."

"Sufism is believed by its followers to be the inner, `secret' teaching that is concealed within every religion; and because its bases are in every human mind already, Sufic development must inevitably find its expression everywhere. The historical period of the teaching starts with the explosion of Islam from the desert into the static societies of the Near East."

Thus, Idries Shah takes us on a developmental journey through the past fourteen hundred years, from the angle of how, when, and where the Sufic stream was in operation in the East and West. Thought provoking and written like a finely crafted mystery, The Sufis is an astounding and unparalleled source of information on the totally unexpected basis of Eastern and Western thought. It will appeal to those interested in spiritual and metaphysical ideas, as well as those with a yearning to discover the impulses which are the basis of our humanity.
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27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An unforgettable, eye-opening book, March 16, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: The Sufis (Hardcover)
Through lack of information, misunderstanding and cultural prejudice, the words 'Sufi' and 'dervish' have acquired strange associations in the West, where they're likely to conjure up images of wild-eyed ragamuffins or whirling fanatics. Idries Shah's compelling book THE SUFIS shows this to be not only erroneous but unfortunate, because the world into which it gives a tantalizing glimpse is one of unsuspected sophistication, breadth and relevance to the human condition. With deft scholarship and eloquent prose, Shah shows Sufism to be nothing like what one might expect - not a religious cult, nor a political movement, nor a collection of vague-minded idealists. Instead it emerges as a body of men and women who see themselves as engaged in the practical task of unlocking the hidden potential of the human being and guiding it to completion, both on an individual and a societal level. The way in which they do this, they say, is tailored to local needs and conditions and thus varies from epoch to epoch and from culture to culture, as well as from individual to individual - something that has confused scholars no end and given rise to much misunderstanding. This has been exacerbated by a profusion of imitators, many of them well-meaning but misguided. Sufism seems to have achieved an understanding of the human mind that goes far beyond that of modern psychology, many of whose tenets - e.g., conditioning and the unconscious - it anticipated by centuries. Its influence on the world has been enormous, though not widely known. In the West alone, Sufism lies behind a host of diverse cultural heirlooms, ranging from Freemasonry to alchemy to the Kabala, and had a profound impact on such thinkers as Roger Bacon, Paracelsus and St. Francis of Assisi. While many of these examples have been well-documented by individual scholars operating in various fields, the information has been scattered here and there like broken fragments. In THE SUFIS, Shah combines these pieces with a wealth of other information to form a picture of a fascinating society of people, still very much alive and kicking, that since ancient times has had a profound affect on mankind. A fitting introduction to Shah's many other excellent books, it is one the reader is unlikely to ever forget. I know that I certainly won't.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Designed for contemporary culture., March 28, 1999
By A Customer
The most comprehensive book on the subject available in our culture. Has chapters on Classical authors such as Attar and Rumi. Also, the amazing Mulla Nasrudin; whose antics, jokes, and quibs have helped to inspire and instruct for centuries. Yet this is not an historical book or an academic one, but real, live Sufi teaching and instructional material, designed for contemporary culture. Never boring, often challenging, The Sufis sheds light on organizations and people who have throughout history, come and gone, leaving only the empty husk. I especially enjoyed the Seeker After Knowledge chapter, a teaching narrative that memorably illustrates deficiencies in our approaches to knowledge.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars If you want to learn a little bit of history...
This book, although at times very hard to read the first time around, is a great insight into the history of a people who followed a way that has existed since the beginning of... Read more
Published 6 months ago by J. Almanza Jr.

3.0 out of 5 stars The City of Delightful Nonsense
Idries Shah published a series of books on Sufi subjects beginning in the late 60's. Many of them, like "Tales of the Dervishes" and "Thinkers of the East", are entirely... Read more
Published 12 months ago by L. Wilcox

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical spirituality for those who really want it ...
I read The Sufis long ago, and thought "Now I can see what everybody's doing wrong!"

Then I read more of Shah's books and The Sufis again, and thought "Well, I should... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Forrest A. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding Sufism
This book is a stellar presentation about Sufism. It has really given me a comprehensive understanding of a topic that has long interested me as an aspect of mysticism without my... Read more
Published on September 3, 2007 by Joan C. Scott

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent introduction to Sufism
This is an insightful book on Sufism, not an academic analysis of Sufism as in the case of many books by University professors.. Read more
Published on January 14, 2007 by Srinivasan Nenmeli Krishna

5.0 out of 5 stars Life Changing
I was one time last year doing some cleaning. This book fell off the shelf and bumped me on the head. Read more
Published on November 20, 2006 by B. B. Bridenbaugh

5.0 out of 5 stars The Caged Indian Bird
A woman owns a talking parrot from India. She's going to visit India, and asks the bird if he'd like her to do anything. He asks for his freedom, but the woman says 'No. Read more
Published on July 8, 2006 by R. Moore

5.0 out of 5 stars Each read is an experience
Refrain from reading this book let alone buying it unless you are prepared to accept the possibility that this is not merely a book, but a doorway to ineffable experience. Read more
Published on January 16, 2005 by Raheen

4.0 out of 5 stars Still an interesting book, despite it's flaws...
Idries Shah was a controversial character. Known for his associations with G.I. Gurdjieff and his followers, as well as for claiming dubious titles, Shah is not above suspicion... Read more
Published on December 19, 2004 by Nicq MacDonald

5.0 out of 5 stars A book that exists to 'do' something...
The 26 other reviews recorded here, with their wide range of reactions, illustrate why this is still such a remarkable book. Read more
Published on March 4, 2004 by J. Souttar

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