Notes 285ommend Said Amir Arjomand’s The Turban for the Crown (1988) and the recently
released book by Charles Kurzman, The Unthinkable Revolution in Iran (2004). For a
more contemporary perspective see Dariush Zaheri, The Iranian Revolution: Then
and Now (2000). Sandra Mackey provides a delightful and readable account of Iran-
ian history in The Iranians (1996).
For more on Khomeinism see Ervand Abrahamian, Khomeinism: Essays on the
Islamic Republic (1993). For translations of Khomeini’s writings into English see
Islamic Government (1979); Islam and Revolution (1981); and A Clarification of Ques-
tions (1984). Khomeini’s reinterpretation of Shi‘ism is severely criticized by Moham-
mad Manzoor Nomani in Khomeini, Iranian, Revolution, and the Shi‘ite Faith (1988).
Khomeini’s poem is from Baqer Moin’s biography titled Khomeini: Life of the Ayatol-
lah (1999).
- Stain Your Prayer Rug with Wine
There are a number of exquisite English translations of Nizami’s The Legend of Layla
and Majnun, including Colin Turner’s (1970), R. Gelpke’s (1966), and James Atkin-
son’s lovely verse rendition (1968). Mine is a loose combination of the three along
with my own translation of the Persian text. See also the critical analysis of the poem
by Ali Asghar Seyed-Gohrab, Layli and Majnun: Love, Madness and Mystic Longing in
Nizami’s Epic Romance (2003). For a discussion of the early development of Sufism I
suggest Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri, The Elements of Sufism (1990) and Julian Baldick,
Mystical Islam (1989). Baldick provides a useful analysis of the various religious and
cultural influences on Sufism and also explores the meanings of the term. R. A.
Nicholson’s texts include The Mystics of Islam (1914) and Studies in Islamic Mysticism
(1921). Two of Idris Shah’s many invaluable texts on Sufism are The Sufis (1964) and
The Way of the Sufi (1969). See also Martin Lings, What Is Sufism? (1993); Inayat
Khan, The Unity of Religious Ideals (1929); Ian Richard Netton, Sufi Ritual (2000);
Nasrollah Pourjavady and Peter Wilson, Kings of Love (1978); J. Spencer Triming-
ham, The Sufi Orders in Islam (1971); Carl Ernst, Teachings of Sufism (1999); and
Titus Burckhardt, An Introduction to Sufi Doctrine (1976).
For the teachings of Shaykh Muhammad al-Jamal ar-Rafa’i ash-Shadhili, see
his Music of the Soul (1994). The historical and theological relationship between
Shi‘ism and Sufism is outlined in Kamil M. al-Shaibi, Sufism and Shi‘ism (1991).
Finally, there exists a helpful though not easily digested series of Sufi Essays by
Seyyed Hossein Nasr (1972).
Al-Ghazali’s The Alchemy of Happiness is translated by Claud Field (1980), while
The Niche of Lights is translated by David Buchman (1998). For more on al-Ghazali’s
philosophy see Montgomery Watt, The Faith and Practice of al-Ghazali (1953). Al-
Hujwiri’s The Revelation of the Mystery is translated by Reynold Nicholson (1911).
Without question the best translation of Farid ad-Din Attar’s The Conference of the
Birds is by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis (1984). The Persian scholar and Sufi
Javad Nurbakhsh delves into the relationship between teacher and taught in his
short tract, Master and Disciple in Sufism (1977). On the stations along the Way,
see Shaykh Abd al-Khaliq al-Shabrawi, The Degrees of the Soul (1997), and Abu’l
Qasim al-Qushayri, Sufi Book of Spiritual Ascent, translated by Rabia Harris (1997).
Al-Hallaj’s Kitab al-Tawasin is available only in a French translation by the great
scholar of Sufism, Louis Massignon (1913). Massignon’s Essay on the Origins of the
Technical Language of Islamic Mysticism (1997) is a helpful tool for those students
already familiar with the rudiments of Sufism.