Description
A Pearl in Wine
Essays on the Life, Music and Sufism of Hazrat Inayat Khan
Compiled and edited by Pir Zia Inayat Khan
A major retrospective on the life and career of Hazrat Inayat Khan, who introduced Sufism to the West. Twelve contributors portray Inayat Khan’s family life, musical career, and profound spiritual message, in addition to memoirs tracing the effect of his teaching. Contributors include Pir Vilayat Inayat Khan, Wali Ali Meyer, Donald Graham, Allyn Miner, Marcia Hermanson, and Omid Safi.
A Pearl in Wine reframes the understanding of Sufism as a living tradition in the modern world, both for students of religion and practitioners of the path.
Reviews for A Pearl in Wine:
“This stimulating volume is a valuable contribution to the study of spirituality in our age. By connecting his manifestation of Sufism in the West with earlier traditions of Indian and Persian Sufism, the authors collectively make a powerful case for understanding contemporary religious leaders with the same degree of seriousness customarily reserved for their classical predecessors.” – Carl Ernst, professor of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
“The great musician Hazrat Inayat Khan was a—perhaps the—pioneer in the communication of Sufi teaching in the West. This fascinating volume offers a spectrum of richly documented yet highly personal accounts of his life and Chishti heritage, his remarkable music, and his still-unfolding worldwide influences, both personal and institutional. What emerges from all these perspectives is an ever-repeated mystery: how the seeds of spiritual intention and far-sighted vision, almost invisible in their own day, were so creatively transplanted and came to bear such abundant fruit. And students of religion, Sufism, and Islam will find a treasure of indispensable firsthand sources for spiritual lives and movements which would otherwise be beyond retrieving.” – James W. Morris, professor, Boston College
“A Pearl in Wine opens an intellectual window into the fascinating life, career, and teaching of a multidimensional genius mainly known for his introducing the practice of Sufism to the West. But Hazrat Inayat Khan was much more than a pioneering Sufi mystic. First and foremost, he was a highly gifted musician-poet-composer. For anyone interested in Sufism, the teaching of Hazrat Inayat Khan, and the contribution he and his well-known grandfather Mawlabakhsh made to the classical music of India, this outstanding book is a major resource.” – Joep Bor, Director of R and D, Rotterdam Conservatory, author of The Raga Guide
