It was inevitable, as soon as legends of miracles became attached to the names of the great mystics, that the credulous masses should applaud imposture more than true devotion; the cult of the saints, against...

To understand the extreme lengths to which the Sufis were prepared to go in reading esoteric meanings into the quite simple language of their Scriptures, it is necessary to remember that the Koran was committed...

Mujāhada, a collateral form of jihād (the so-called “holy war”), taken [by Sufis] to mean “earnest striving after the mystical life.” The term is based on the Koranic text, “And they that strive earnestly in...