Divine Love (Islamic Literature and the Path to God)

About the Book The very heart of the Islamic tradition is love; no other word adequately captures the quest for transformation that lies at this tradition's centre. So argues esteemed Professor of medieval Islam William C Chittick in this survey of the extensive Arabic and Persian literature on topics ranging from the Quran up through the twelfth century.

Bringing to light extensive foundational Persian sources never before presented, Chittick draws on more than a thousand pages of newly translated material to depict the rich prose literature at the centre of Islamic thought.

About the Author William C Chittick (born 1943) is a leading translator and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on Ruml and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively on the school of Ibn 'Arabi, Islamic philosophy, and Islamic cosmology.

Born in Milford, Connecticut, Chittick finished his BA at the College of Wooster in Ohio, and then went on to complete a PhD in Persian literature at Tehran University under the supervision of Syed Hussain Nasr in 1974.

An Associate and later on Assistant Professor at the Imperial Iranian Academy of philosophy 1976-79, he became the Assistant Editor of the Encyclopaedia Iranica at the Columbia University in 1983.

He worked as the Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the state University of New York, Stony Brook From 1983-1991 where he presently holds the post of the professor of Comparative Studies. He has published numerous books, among them, A Shi'ite Anthology; imaginal Worlds; Faith and Practice of Islam; The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn Al 'Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination; the Sufi Path of Love: The spiritual Teachings of Rumi; The Vision of Islam and Sufism-A Short Introduction.

**Contents and Sample Pages**