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The Book of Clouds is a collection of English-language Sufi poetry. This compilation of ghazals, quatrains, and qasidas praises and describes Divine love, loss, insight, gratitude, and mystery, bringing the forms, themes, and images of classical Islamicate poetry into English verse. The volume seeks to demonstrate the unique power of this tradition of thinking and speaking lyrically: to sing what can not be said but must be expressed.

In Attar's renowned 12th century Sufi classic, The Conference of the Birds, the many types of human beings and their various spiritual aptitudes are represented by a multitude of birds. This vast company sets off to encounter the Great Simurgh--a majestic Bird Who represents the Lord of the Worlds--the Divine Source of Being. But of all those who embark on this journey, only 30 stay the formidable course and are able to overcome the enormous challenges and attendant trials. Only thirty birds made it to the august Threshold. Kerim Guc, whose grandmothers stories helped form his spiritual life, most imaginatively and effectively shares tales told by these 30 birds, each of which help to open the Magnificent Gate bit by bit. The stories, selected from various cultures and epochs, help to clarify 30 "realizations" needed by any seeker in his or her final Return to the One. These Wisdom Teachings underscore the Universality and Timelessness of what is encountered in the spiritual life. Kerim Guc's stories are unforgettable and immediately affect the awareness and inner practice of the reader--young or old.

The Bane of Tongue (Kitab afat al-lisan) is Book 24 of the Imam al-Ghazali's magnum opus, I?ya? ?ulum al-din, The Revival of the Religious Sciences. Within the architecture of this monumental work, Afat al-lisan is the fourth book of the third quarter, The Ways to Perdition (Rub? al-muhlikat), in which al-Ghazali sums up in ten books (or chapters) all the human shortcomings and vices traditionally believed to lead a person into a state of loss in this world and the Next, and which in certain respects overlap with the Judeo-Christian notion of the seven deadly sins. In Book 24, al-Ghazali divides the banes (afat) or defects of the tongue, from the least to the most offensive, into twenty short chapters, each of which comprises a psychological/spiritual analysis of how and why the particular defect might exist in a person's soul, examples of how it manifests itself in behavior, and practical suggestions for eliminating it from one's personality. The misuse of the gift of speech and language is certainly not something new, as this work, composed nearly 950 years ago, amply shows, but in this age of internet-based communication, it has taken on a new and more destructive dimension.

This is the first complete translation into English of the nearly two thousand quatrains attributed to Jalaluddin Rumi, the famous thirteenth century Persian mystical poet. Less attention has been given by scholars to his quatrains than to the rhymed couplets in his Masnavi) and the odes in his Divan). Instead, what has been available are mostly distorted and popularized versions of the quatrains that are often made by authors who do not read Persian. The present book addresses this deficit by providing accurate translations and plentiful explanations made through the collaboration of two Rumi scholars: Rawan Farhadi (an Afghan) and Ibrahim Gamard (an American). The quatrains are ordered into numerous stages and themes of the mystical path of the " lover" and the " beloved" (the spiritual disciple and Sufi master). A. J. Arberry, the renowned British Rumi scholar (and author of Mystical Poems of Rumi), wrote about Rumi's quatrains: " ... after taking into account all the requisites of literary appreciation and criticism, we may reckon in the neighborhood of 500 of these ruba' iyat as among the finest masterpieces of Persian literature." William C. Chittick, the American Rumi scholar (and author of The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teaching of Rumi), wrote about the present book: " This most welcome addition to the literature on Rumi is the fruit of many years of collaborative effort by two dedicated scholars, both of whom are thoroughly familiar with Rumi's historical, cultural, and religious context. Until now, Rumi's quatrains have received little attention from scholars, yet they sum up his teachings in pithy and moving form." Coleman Barks, the American poet and well-known Rumi popularizer (and author of The Essential Rumi), wrote: " Ibrahim and Rawan, are scholars of the purest ray, thorough and impeccable, precise, and generous. This book that they have put together, The Quatrains of Rumi, should be on the shelves of anyone who loves Rumi and what Rumi loves. Their scholarly apparatus is masterful and complete. Their Notes are layered and Mystical. They understand from the inside out Rumi's central ecstatic insight: that just to be in a body and conscious is cause for rapture. Their understanding of Rumi's poetry is experiential. The authority they bring to this text is whole and gorgeous. They feel the music of the language and they communicate that subtlety with consummate skill."

This volume answers many of the questions often asked by seekers of inward illumination. It also includes the author's commentary on a poem concerning inner wayfaring which speaks of the most exalted stations of the path and goes on to explain a number of paradoxes of the Way. These points are illustrated with references to the famous mystical poems of Ibn al-Farid and Abu Madyan.

Marvels of the Heart is thought to be the key volume of the 40-book Ihya' 'Ulum-Al Din--Revival of the Religious Sciences--, the most read work in the Muslim world after the Qur'an, and considered by many to be the Summa Theologica of Islam. These traditional teaching stories, which use the theme of the heart as a mirror, illustrate key tenets of Islam on the requirements of religion, living in society, and the inner life of the soul.