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Media Kit
This new edition of perennial philosopher Frithjof Schuon’s Sufism: Veil and Quintessence is a fully revised translation from the French original and contains an extensive Appendix with previously unpublished selections from Schuon’s letters and other private writings. In seven articles Schuon makes the critical distinction between an “absolute” Islam and a “contingent” Islam, thus distinguishing between the message of Islam in itself, and the pious Arab expressions of that message, which by their style of rhetoric have a tendency to veil it.
Foreword by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Editor’s Preface
Preface
Ellipsis and Hyperbolism in Arab Rhetoric
The Exo-Esoteric Symbiosis
Paradoxes of an Esoterism
Human Premises of a Religious Dilemma
Tracing the Notion of Philosophy
The Quintessential Esoterism of Islam
Hypostatic Dimensions of Unity
Appendix
Selections from Letters and Other Previously
Unpublished Writings
Editor’s Notes
Glossary of Foreign Terms and Phrases
Biographical Notes
Index
An excellent summary is this review of the book by the distinguished scholar of Sufism, Seyyed Hossein Nasr:
“In his Sufism: Veil and Quintessence, which is a unique work in the annals of Sufism, [Schuon] has penetrated into the writings of even the greatest masters of Sufism such as al-Ghazzali and Ibn Arabi to reveal within them a quintessential Sufism based on Unity (al-tawhid) and invocation of the Divine Name (al-dhikr) to be distinguished from a more peripheral manifestation of Sufism which displays certain characteristics most difficult for Westerners with the best of intentions to comprehend. In writing with incomparable lucidity and depth about Divine Unity, the esoteric meaning of the Quran, the spirituality of the Prophet, the early saints of Islam, the inner life of prayer, the theophanies to be contemplated in virgin nature and art, the alchemical effect of love, poetry, and music, Schuon has produced a corpus of writings on Sufism which are themselves among the most important and precious works of Sufism.”
—Seyyed Hossein Nasr, George Washington University, and author of many books and articles on Sufism, Islam, and Tradition
About the Author(s)
Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon (1907-1998) is best known as the foremost spokesman of the “Traditionalist” or “Perennialist” school and as a philosopher in the metaphysical current of Shankara and Plato. He wrote more than two dozen books on metaphysical, spiritual, artistic, and ethnic themes and was a regular contributor to journals on comparative religion in both Europe and America. Schuon’s writings have been consistently featured and reviewed in a wide range of scholarly and philosophical publications around the world, respected by both scholars and spiritual authorities. Besides his prose writings, Schuon was also a prolific poet and a gifted painter of images that always portrayed the beauty and power of the divine, and the nobility and virtue of primordial humanity.
World Wisdom features a series titled “The Writings of Frithjof Schuon”, which includes many new editions of classic books by Schuon in new translations and with additional materials. Our online Library contains many articles and poems written by Frithjof Schuon, allowing readers to see a representative sample of his remarkable body of work.
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James Cutsinger
James S. Cutsinger (1953-2020) was an author, editor, and teacher whose writings focus primarily on Perennialism and the theology and spirituality of the Christian East. He was professor of Theology and Religious Thought at the University of South Carolina for almost 40 years. Prof. Cutsinger edited a series of new editions of books by Frithjof Schuon.
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Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Seyyed Hossein Nasr (b. 1933) is University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University. The author of over thirty books and three hundred articles, he is one of the world’s most respected writers and speakers on Islam, its arts and sciences, and its traditional mystical path, Sufism.
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Reviews
- In his Sufism: Veil and Quintessence, which is a unique work in the annals of Sufism, [Schuon] has penetrated into the writings of even the greatest masters of Sufism such as al-Ghazzali and Ibn Arabi to reveal within them a quintessential Sufism based on Unity (al-tawhid) and invocation of the Divine Name (al-dhikr) to be distinguished from a more peripheral manifestation of Sufism which displays certain characteristics most difficult for Westerners with the best of intentions to comprehend. In writing with incomparable lucidity and depth about Divine Unity, the esoteric meaning of the Quran, the spirituality of the Prophet, the early saints of Islam, the inner life of prayer, the theophanies to be contemplated in virgin nature and art, the alchemical effect of love, poetry, and music, Schuon has produced a corpus of writings on Sufism which are themselves among the most important and precious works of Sufism.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, George Washington University, and author of many books and articles on Sufism, Islam, and Tradition
- The chapter entitled ‘The Quintessential Esoterism of Islam’ is a most powerful and, in a deep sense, definitive summary of this subject.
Titus Burckhardt, scholar and author of An Introduction to Sufi Doctrine
- Now in a revised and expanded edition, Sufism: Veil and Quintessence: A New Translation with Selected Letters presents a new translation from the original French of the classic theological work by philosopher Frithjof Schuon. Composed of seven articles including “Ellipsis and Hyperbolism in Arab Rhetoric” and “The Quintessential Esoterism of Islam”, Sufism: Veil and Quintessence presents Schuon’s crucial distinction between an “absolute” Islam and a “contingent” Islam, examining differences between the message of Islam itself and the pious Arab expressions of that message, which tend to be veiled beneath rhetorical style. Featuring an extensive appendix with previously unpublished selections from Schuon’s letters and private writings, Sufism: Veil and Quintessence is an invaluable classic philosophical treatise, recommended for libraries, religious studies shelves and advanced students and theologians seeking to explore the higher aspects of Sufism.
Midwest Book Review
