"Born in 1207 in the northern Persian province of Khorasan, Jalal al-Din Rumi came from a family of preachers and men of religion. Initiated by a disciple of his father into the Sufi tradition, Rumi underwent a spiritual revolution in 1244 after meeting Shams al-Din of Tabriz. The fraternity of followers that later developed around Rumi were called the Mevlevi, or Whirling Dervishes. It is probably for his poetry that Rumi is best remembered: author of a prolific outpouring of verse, his mystical odes continue to inspire men and women, east and west, over seven hundred years later, and his teaching resonate with readers of all faiths and creeds.
Painstakingly researched by an established expert, this is a definitive guide to the life, times and work of the great mystic, poet and preacher. Franklin Lewis has gone beyond biography, drawing exhaustively on a huge array of sources in their original languages. Using everything from the latest scholarly literature to the writings of the poet himself, this indispensable companion to Rumi considers not just the man, but also his times, his legacy and his role in a changing world." [ISBN 1-85168-214-7]
On the Kabbalah and Its Symbolism
According to writer Michael Joseph Gross, "Gershom Scholem, who died in 1982, remains the biggest gun in Kabbalah scholarship, and On the Kabbalah and its Symbolism is perhaps his most accessible book on the subject. It contains definitive essays on the relation of the Torah to Jewish mysticism, the mythology of the Kabbalah, and the place of Jewish mystics in the Jewish community. This book helped reinvigorate 20th-century Jewish studies with an awareness of the living reality of God, after the 19th century's more astringent scholarly emphasis on law and philosophy. It shows how Jewish mystics have been less concerned with adherence to orthodoxy than their Christian counterparts, and freer in their expression of the divine aspects of eroticism. Furthermore, Scholem offers great insight regarding the ways that Kabbalah has not only threatened the authority of institutional religion, but also served as a source of its vitality." [ISBN 0-8052-0235-8]
A History of Punjabi Literature
"A modern Indian language, Punjabi can trace its lineage back to Baba Farid who wrote with amazing felicity of expression in the twelfth century A.D. Nourished by Sufis and saints, and above all, by the Sikh Gurus during the medieval period, Punjabi writing came into its own with the advent of British rule when it found itself face to face with a formidable challenge of identity. The struggle for freedom from foreign rule in which the people of the Punjab played no mean a part, lent it vigor and vitality, perceptive sensitivity and a variety of expression. The Punjabi writers have assimilated the influence of both Indian and Western writing and can claim a rich fund of creativity in every genre of literature.
The authors Sant S. Sekhon and Kartar S. Duggal, who are among the architects of modern Punjabi literature, have tried to recapitulate and tell the story of the development of Punjabi writing from the earliest to present day with a rare sense of involvement and committment." [ISBN 81-7201-292-6]
Sikh History From Persian Sources
"Sikh History From Persian Sources presents translations of all major Persian sources of Sikh history up to 1765, when Sikh power was established over the Punjab. These sources offer details that are not otherwise available, and richly supplement the information preserved in the Punjabi (Gurmukhi) traditions. Yet, until now, most of the Persian texts translated here have not been available in English; the translations given here thus meet a long-felt need. These are freshly made, with much care exercised to preserve accuracy and provide adequate annotation. Of the two editors, J.S. Grewal has contributed an introduction critically assessing these texts for reconstructing Sikh history. Professor Irfan Habib, on his part, has organized the work of translation, having himself rendered a number of the texts into English for this volume." [ISBN 81-85229-17-1]
Ideals and Realities - Selected Essays of Abdus Salam
Editors C.H. Lai and Zafar Hassan note, "An attempt is made here to collect in one volume some representative non-technical writings of Professor Abdus Salam. The essays touch on many different themes, and in particular discuss the social and economic dimensions of science. As a scientist from Pakistan, Professor Salam has a personal understanding of the various difficulties that scientists in developing countries encounter. His concern in this aspect is quite manifest in many of his writings in this volume, which also offer some insightful analyses. A few other essays record his effort in the establishment of the International Centre for Theoretical Physics at Trieste, and his excitement in nurturing its growth.
Perhaps of particular interest is Professor Salam's view on the development and the international nature of science. His insistence that there can be no permanent dominance in science by a single nation and that 'scientific thought and its creation is the common and shared heritage of mankind' deserves much thought." [ISBN 9971-50-315-8]
India - A Million Mutinies Now
"Nobel Laureate, V.S. Naipul, though born in Trinidad, recognized at a young age that it was his ancestral Indian culture more than his immediate environs that governed who he was and how he thought.
This book grows out of Naipaul's lifelong obsession and passion for a country that is at once his and totally alien. In India he relates the stories of many of the people he met when he first visited more than thirty years ago. He explores how they have been steered by the innumerable frictions present in Indian society - the contradictions and compromises of religious faith, the whim and chaos of random political forces. The result is a book of impassioned observation and disturbing insight, the work of a master." [ISBN 0-670-83702-4]
Maps For Lost Lovers
Naunidhi Kaur writes, "More than anything else, this book questions the role of women in a
Muslim town. It is a story of Muslim women in a conservative Muslim
neighbourhood situated within liberal society of an unnamed small town
in England. Suraya, who married happily in Pakistan returns to England
when her husband divorces her accidentally. Kaukab, who seems to
castigate her children and husband for being unbelievers. Her complex
character makes itself known in a subtle manner as she comes across as
a woman trying to survive in difficult circumstances which are very
different from what she has been brought up to believe as a good
Muslim. Mah-Jabin, Kaukab's daughter is her sole friend in a foreign
country. Mah-Jabin has her own battles to fight. Their stories revolve
around the death of Chanda who was murdered by her brothers--putting
her in the list of honour killings, now rising in England.
This is Nadeem Aslam's second book after eleven years. His first book
Season of the Rainbirds, won numerous awards. Nadeem Aslam was born in
Gujranwala, Pakistan, and came to Britain at the age of fourteen. He
currently resides in North London." [ISBN 0-571-22183-1]
The White Mughals
"In White Mughals, William Dalrymple discovers a world almost entirely unexplored by history and places at its center a compelling tale of love, seduction, and betrayal. It possesses all the sweep and resonance of a great nineteenth-century novel, set against a background of shifting alliances and the maneuvering of the great powers, the mercantile ambitions of the British and the imperial dreams of Napoleon.
White Mughals, the product of five years' writing and research, will undoubtedly be regarded as Dalrymple's masterpiece." [ISBN 0-670-03184-4]
The Five People You Meet In Heaven
"All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time..."
"From the author of the number one New York Times bestseller Tuesdays with Morrie comes this long- awaited follow-up, an enchanting, beautifully crafted novel that explores a mystery only heaven can unfold." [ISBN 0-7868-6871-6]
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