Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi
William C. Chittick
Paperback, 448 pages
9780873957243
This is the most accessible work in English on the greatest mystical poet of Islam, providing a survey of the basic Sufi and Islamic doctrines concerning God and the world, the role of man in the cosmos, the need for religion, man's ultimate becoming, the states and stations of the mystical ascent to God, and the means whereby literature employs symbols to express "unseen" realities. William Chittick translates into English for the first time certain aspects of Rumi's work. He selects and rearranges Rumi's poetry and prose in order to leave aside unnecessary complications characteristic of other English translations and to present Rumi's ideas in an orderly fashion, yet in his own words. Thorough, nontechnical introductions to each chapter, and selections that gradually present a greater variety of terms and images, make this work easily accessible to those interested in the spirituality of any tradition.
Contents
Introduction
Part I. THEORY
A. Seeing Things As They Are
1. Form and Meaning
2. Existence and Nonexistence
3. The Illusion of Dichotomy
4. "The Science of Religions"
B. Spirit, Heart, and Intellect
1. The Spirit
2. The Levels of the Spirit
3. The Ego and the Intellect
4. The Universal Intellect and the Partial Intellect
5. The Heart
6. Interrelationships
C. God and the World
1. The Essence, Attributes, and Acts
2. Gentleness and Severity
3. The Reason for Creation
4. Opposites
5. Good and Evil
6. Heedlessness and the Existence of the World
D. Man
1. The Trust
2. The Goal of Creation and the Intellect
3. The Covenant of Alast
4. The Descent and Reascent of the Spirit
5. Adam and Iblis
6. Man's Place among the Creatures
7. Angel vs. Satan: Intellect vs. Ego
8. The Return to God
9. Congeneity
10. The Touchstones
11. Death and Resurrection
Part II. PRACTICE
A. Doubters and Deniers
1. The Blindness of the Deniers
2. Fatalism and Free Choice
B. The Prophets and Saints
1. The Need for a Guide
2. Imitative Knowledge and Realized Knowledge
3. The Role of the Saints
4. The Shaykh
5. The Mirror of God
6. Rejecting the Prophets and Saints
7. Fales Masters
C. The Discipline of the Way
1. Spiritual Warfare
2. Remembrance of God
3. Man's Effort and God's Grace
4. Men and Women
Part III. ATTAINMENT TO GOD
A. Naughting the Self
1. Selfhood and Selflessness
2. Existence and Nonexistence
3. Annihilation and Subsistence
4. Affirmation and Negation: The Shahadah
5. Death and Rebirth
6. Poverty, Sufism, and Dervishhood
7. I am God"
B. Love
1. God As Love and Beyond Love
2. The World As Created by Love
3. The World As Maintained by Love
4. Love and Beauty: True and Derivative
5. Need and Aspiration
6. The Religion of Love
7. Love and the Intellect
8. Bewilderment and Madness
C. Separation and Union
1. Separation and Suffering
2. Union and Joy
D. Imagination and Thought
1. Imagination and the Created Order
2. Escaping Imagination
3. The Image Is All
4. Beyond the Image
E. Poesy and Imagery
1. Creation and Speech
2. The Worth of Poetry
3. Understanding Poetry and Speech
4. Interpretation of Imagery
F. The Garden of Spring
G. The Heart-Ravishing Beloved
1. The Witness
2. Vision of the Face
3. Jealousy
H. Wine-drinking and Revelry
1. Wine
2. Intoxication and Sobriety
3. Wine-sickness
4. The Sama'
5. The Revelry of the Spirit
I. The Beloved's Beloved
1. Love's Call
2. Love's Messenger