The Mystical and Visionary Treatises of Shihabuddin Yahya Suhrawardi

Book excerpt: Sheikh Shihabuddin Yahya Suhrawardi, the great illuminist philosopher and mystic of the 12th century, evoked such opposition and hatred in the orthodox of his time that he was put to death, at their insistence, by order of Saladin's nephew in 1191. He became known thereafter as "the Murdered Sheikh." In addition to his monumental exposition, The Wisdom of Illumination, and other major works, he left a number of smaller treatises which form an important part of the Sufi heritage. Nine of these treatises, dealing with the initiation of the aspirant into the spiritual realm, are here presented in English, with an introduction by the translator, W. M. Thackston, Jr.