Th. Emil Homerin is Professor of Religion at the University of Rochester, where he teaches courses on Islam, classical Arabic literature and mysticism. He is the author of six books on Islamic mysticism and Arabic poetry. He lives in Pekin, Illinois.

Maps

Preface



1 GOD’S BLESSINGS

Origins

Slave Soldiers

Mamluk Sultanate

Secretaries and Scholars

Education

Damascus

Mosques and Libraries

Gabriel’s Questions

Obedient Servant

Dress and Decorum

Saints and Shrines

Inner Sanctum

Intercession or Idolatry

Forgiveness and Favor

2 AISHA AL-BA‘UNIYYA AND THE BELOVED PROPHET

Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah

That Sacred Place

Syrian Caravan

Damascus to Medina

Medina to Mecca

Before the Black Stone

Hajj

Dreams

What is a Woman to Do?

Poems of Praise

Blessings

Holy Prophet

Virtuous Life

Return to Heaven



3 O MY LOVE AND HAPPINESS

Marriage and Family

Sufi Way

Venerable Masters

Recalling the Lord

Noble Invocations

Taste and See

Hymn/Him

Poetry of Recollection

He’s My Destiny

Old Loves for New

Ibn al-Farid

Odes in T

Covenant

Wine of Love

Moses of the Heart

Seat of Truth

4 TREE OF MYSTICAL LIFE

Repentance

Sincerity

Recollection

Love

Amazing Stories

Wondrous Secret

Ocean Without a Shore



5 GATHERING UNION

New Challenges

To Egypt

Cairo

Victorious

Pomp and Princess

Among the Elite

Shadows of War

Time of Change

Legacy



Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Index