"An ambitious and much welcomed series....The books will be welcomed not only by those who are interested in deepening their knowledge of the Western spiritual tradition but also by those who are looking for more than the usual gruel served up by many of our contemporary 'spiritual' writers."The New Review of Books and ReligionFakhruddin Iraqi: Divine Flashes translated and introduced by William C. Chittick and Peter Lamborn Wilsonprefaced by Seyyed Hossein Nasr Before this there was one heart but a thousand thoughts. Now all is reduced to There is no god but God. Fakhruddin 'Iraqi (1213-1289)Fakhruddin 'Iraqi was one of the foremost expositors of Sufi teachings and one of the greatest of Persian poets. Born in 1213 (618) in the city of Hamadan in west Persia, he lived during the revival of Islamic spirituality that was shaped by the writings ofJalaluddin Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi'. 'Iraqi's masterpiece "Divine Flashes" became a popular and influential text in Persian speaking Islamic lands. The work's beautiful descriptions of "the mysteries of Union" in the language of love are classic expressions of Sufi love mysticism.In this volume, William Chittick and Peter Wilson present the first English edition of " Divine Flashes" with a sensitivity that conveys both the metaphysical richness and the poetic subtleties of the work. Writing in the preface to this book, Professor SeyyedHossein Nasr says of Iraqi: "If he sang the love of God in verses of great beauty, it is because his soul had itself become a song of God, a melody in harmony with, and a strain of, the music issuing from the abode of the Beloved". †
