Studies in Islamic Mysticism

What it is

This is Studies in Islamic Mysticism, written by the Cambridge scholar Reynold Alleyne Nicholson and published in 1921. It is dedicated to his teacher Edward Browne and examines several Sufi figures.

Why it matters

Nicholson was a major translator and interpreter of Rumi's work in the English-speaking world. This book shows how Western academics in the early twentieth century studied Sufi mysticism, including the religious and philosophical ideas behind Rumi's poetry.

Look closer

• Why might a scholar focus on the religious and philosophical side of a poet's work rather than its literary beauty?
• What does the dedication to his teacher tell you about how academic knowledge is passed on?
• How might a modern reader's view of mysticism differ from Nicholson's early twentieth-century perspective?