ABOUT US
BOOKS
SUBJECTS
SERIES
PUBLISH WITH US
CONTACT
LOGIN
PROFILE
ORDERS
LOGOUT
0
vikramjain@sanctumbooks.com
×
x
x
LOGIN
PROFILE
ORDERS
LOGOUT
x
ABOUT US
BOOKS
SUBJECTS
SERIES
PUBLISH WITH US
CONTACT
Home:
Subjects:
Islam & Sufism
Literature & Poetry
Religion & Philosophy
Middle Eastern Studies
x
Front Cover
Back Cover
The Essence of Reality: A Defense of Philosophical Sufism
Authors:
ʿAyn al-Quḍāt (author)
,
Mohammed Rustom (translator)
,
Livia Kohn (foreword)
,
Bilal Orfali (editor)
Series:
Library of Arabic Literature
ISBN:
9789395474771
Binding:
Hardcover
Year:
2026
Pages:
270
Size:
15 x 23 x 2 cm
Weight:
480 grams
Price:
INR
1995
1796.00
About the Book
A groundbreaking exposition of Islamic mysticism.
The Essence of Reality
was written over the course of just three days in 514/1120, by a scholar who was just twenty-four. The text, like its author ʿAyn al-Quḍāt, is remarkable for many reasons, not least of which that it is in all likelihood the earliest philosophical exposition of mysticism in the Islamic intellectual tradition. This important work would go on to exert significant influence on both classical Islamic philosophy and philosophical mysticism.Written in a terse yet beautiful style,
The Essence of Reality
consists of one hundred brief chapters interspersed with Qurʾanic verses, prophetic sayings, Sufi maxims, and poetry. In conversation with the work of the philosophers Avicenna and al-Ghazālī, the book takes readers on a philosophical journey, with lucid expositions of questions including the problem of the eternity of the world; the nature of God’s essence and attributes; the concepts of “before” and “after”; and the soul’s relationship to the body. All these discussions are seamlessly tied into ʿAyn al-Quḍāt’s foundational argument—that mystical knowledge lies beyond the realm of the intellect.
About the Authors
ʿAyn al-Quḍāt
ʿAyn al-Quḍāt (d. 525/1131) was a philosopher, mystic, and judge who was born in the western Iranian city of Hamadān. He was the student of Aḥmad al-Ghazālī (d. 520/1126), the brother of the famous Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111). A maverick figure, he was put to death by the Seljuqs at the age of thirty-four, ostensibly on charges of heresy.
Mohammed Rustom
Mohammed Rustom is Professor of Islamic Studies at Carleton University. An internationally recognized scholar whose works have been translated into over ten languages, he specializes in Sufism, Islamic philosophy, and Qurʾanic exegesis. He is author of
The Triumph of Mercy: Philosophy and Scripture in Mullā Ṣadrā
and
Inrushes of the Heart: The Sufi Philosophy of ʿAyn al-Quḍāt
; co-editor of
The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary
; and translator of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī’s
Condemnation of Pride and Self-Admiration
.
Livia Kohn
Livia Kohn is Professor Emerita of Religion and East Asian Studies at Boston University. She is the author of
Sitting in Oblivion: The Heart of Daoist Meditation
.
Bilal Orfali
Editorial Reviews
“Rustom’s new book is a masterful translation, superb critical edition and comprehensive guide to the thought of one of the most prominent Muslim thinkers.”
—
Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations
“
The Essence of Reality
is a clear and fluent translation that successfully transfers the literary power of the original text into English.”
—
Nazariyat
“[Rustom’s] translation strikes a delicate balance between faithfulness to the Arabic original and readability for a wide audience… A historical classic brought back to life by Rustom’s able skills as translator and commentator.”
—
Marginalia (Los Angeles Review of Books)
“Like many readers of Arabic Sufi writings, I have always felt that translations of Sufi texts often miss the subtle beauty of the original Arabic. […] Reading
The Essence of Reality
, I now have a new standard of judgment. […] There is no doubt that
The Essence of Reality
represents a major feat in the field of Sufi studies.”
—
Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies
Customer Reviews
Books of related interest
The Rules of Logic
The Divine Names: A Mystical Theology of the Names...
The Book of Monasteries
The Requirements of the Sufi Path: A Defense of th...
In Deadly Embrace: Arabic Hunting Poems
Bedouin Poets of the Nafūd Desert
The Yoga Sutras of Patañjali
Love, Death, Fame: Poetry and Lore from the Emirat...
Fate the Hunter: Early Arabic Hunting Poems
The Doctors’ Dinner Party
Kalīlah and Dimnah: Fables of Virtue and Vice
A Physician on the Nile: A Description of Egypt an...
A Two-Colored Brocade: The Imagery of Persian Poet...
A Two-Colored Brocade: The Imagery of Persian Poet...
Sufism and Power in the Ottoman Empire: The Writin...
Indian Poetics (Kavya Śastra) and Narratology Towa...
Reading across Borders: Afghans, Iranians, and Lit...
The Failure of Islamic Modernism?: Syed Ameer Ali&...
Word, Chant, and Song: Spiritual Transformation in...
Under Osman’s Tree: The Ottoman Empire, Egypt, and...
Kings and Dervishes: Sufi World Renunciation and t...
City of Lyrics: Ordinary Poets and Islamicate Popu...
Religion, Orientalism and Modernity: Mahdi Movemen...
Myth and History in Ancient Persia: The Achaemenid...
Under Osman’s Tree: The Ottoman Empire, Egypt, and...
Anti-Christian Violence in India
Release from Life – Release in Life: Indian Perspe...
Wonder in South Asia: Histories, Aesthetics, Ethic...
Sinister Yogis
Research as Praxis: Democratizing Education Episte...
Global Literary Journalism: Exploring the Journali...
Studies in Logic: A Dialogue between the East and ...
Hidden Paradigms: Comparing Epic Themes, Character...
Brotherhood of the Cross and Star: A New Religious...
Religion, Society and Economics: Eastern and Weste...
Emotion, Mission, Architecture: Building Hospitals...
Religious Journeys in India: Pilgrims, Tourists, a...
Hegel’s Lectures on the Philosophy of World Histor...
On the Outside Looking In(dian): Indian Women Writ...
Ambient Sufism: Ritual Niches and the Social Work ...
Becoming Poets: The Asian English experience
Transoceanic Dialogues: Coolitude in Caribbean and...
Artificially Intelligent: The Very Human Story of ...
Research as Praxis: Democratizing Education Episte...
Parting Gifts of Empire: Palestine and India at th...
The Concept of Man in the Advaita Vedanta of Sanka...
Confronting Fear in Faith: A Psycho-Pastoral Appro...
Yoga and Phenomenology on Consciousness
Midnight’s Orphans: Anglo-Indians in Post/Colonial...
The House of the Satrap: The Making of the Ancient...
Defining the Indefinable: Delimiting Hindi
Tracing the Contours of the Unseen: Sufi Poetry, M...
Recognition: The Poetics of Narrative: Interdiscip...
Issues of Identity in Indian English Fiction: A Cl...
The Life of Shariʿa: A Comparative Anthropology of...
Shelter for the Night: On Afghanistan, Language, a...
Bishop Stephen Neill: From Edinburgh to South Indi...
Youth Violence and Pastoral Care: Pastoral Respons...
Global Literary Journalism: Exploring the Journali...
The Role of the Petrine Ministry in the Ecumenical...
The Center of the World: A Global History of the P...
The Mahabharata and the Yugas: India's Great E...
The Other Jesus: Christology in Asian Perspective
The Divine Body in History: A comparative study of...
Ethnicity and Tribal Theology: Problems and Prospe...
Indian Writers: Transnationalisms and Diasporas
Muslim Cultures of the Indian Ocean: Diversity and...
Cultural Contexts and Literary Forms: Essays on Ge...
Translation and the Accommodation of Diversity: In...
Women and Contemporary World Literature: Power, Fr...
The Indian Renouncer and Postmodern Poison: A Cros...
The Prophetic Novel
Outsiders and Insiders: Perspectives of Third Worl...
The Culture Shocks of Rudyard Kipling (American Un...
Requiem for a Lightning Bolt
Serendipitous Translations: A Sourcebook on Sri La...
Self-Transcendence and Prosociality
Emerging South Asian Women Writers: Essays and Int...
Behind Kṛṣṇa’s Smile: The Lord’s Hint of Laughter ...
The Quest for Postcolonial Utopia: A Comparative I...
The Spirit Lives: A Personal Journey from Loss to ...
The Ethics of Oneness: Emerson, Whitman, and the B...
The Islamic State in Afghanistan and Pakistan: Str...
God’s Shadow: Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, an...
R.K. Narayan: A Painter of Modern India
Catching Butterflies: Bringing Magical Realism to ...
The Lion's Roar: Actualizing Buddhism in Daily...
Literary Orientalism, Postcolonialism, and Univers...
Migrant Epistemologies in Indian Nonfiction of the...
Exile and the Nation: The Parsi Community of India...
Martin Luther on Social and Political Issues: - Hi...
Locating Hybridity: Creole, Identities and Body Po...
God’s Shadow: Sultan Selim, His Ottoman Empire, an...
D. T. Suzuki on the Unconscious in Zen Art, Medita...
Colonial and Postcolonial Discourse in the Novels ...
The Purāṇic Condition: Textual Identity, Transform...
Sufis and Sharīʿa: The Forgotten School of Mercy
Everyday Islamic Law and the Making of Modern Sout...
Lineages of the Global City: Occult Modernism and ...
The Audacious Raconteur: Sovereignty and Storytell...
Cartografia religiosa- Religiose Kartographie- Car...
The Breakup of India and Palestine: The Causes and...
Turning Points in the Philosophy of Language and L...
Towards a Relevant Christology in India Today: An ...
Un-Disciplining Literature: Literature, Law, and C...
Clearing a Space: Reflections on India, Literature...
Re/Membering Place
The Rule of Four: Four Essays on the Principle of ...
Pilgrims and Travellers in Search of the Holy
Across Literary and Linguistic Diversities: Essays...
A Mandala of Words: Cultural Realities in the Poem...
The Literary Thing: History, Poetry and the Making...
The Global Vision: Karl Jaspers
Sacred Matters, Stately Concerns: Faith and Politi...
Islamic Law on Trial: Contesting Colonial Power in...
The Literary Thing: History, Poetry and the Making...
Narayan: A Study in Transcendence (Studies of Worl...
Tasting Difference: Food, Race, and Cultural Encou...
The Politics of Muslim Identities in Asia
Ethnic Identity and Christianity: A Socio-Historic...
India in Translation through Hindi Literature: A P...
Iran to India: The Shansabānīs of Afghanistan, c. ...
Parasites, Worms, and the Human Body in Religion a...
Palimpsests Past and Present: The Sufis and Sultan...
ADD REVIEW
Review Title
Review
Reviewer Name
Email