It is this part the Sufis aim to reach and teach. The picture on the cover is a photograph of an ancient figurine, a representation of the commanding self, like a savage dog. Which is not to say that Sufism has not been at work in every country, this one too, sometimes secretly. What the Sufis offer is seen by them as a kind of yeast, or energising stream. All our associations with the word mysticism are wrong or limited.
Ignorance causes bafflement.
A familiarity with the ancient ideas behind mysticism has not been part of our curriculum. Then Islam claimed the Sufis as its property, and in our reference books Sufism is defined as a mystical Islamic sect. Shah has said often that a main difficulty in teaching is to prevent the material from being made into a system, yet another rigid framework of ideas, or a cult. Meanwhile here is the real thing, alive and full of juice and energy. People tempted to sample this pretty astonishing phenomenon could not do better than try this book.