'Stations of the Sufi Path' is a new translation of a key Sufi text and the first Persian work to address the stages, or stations, of the Sufi way. Its author, Abdullah Ansari, was born in 1006 in Herat in present-day Afghanistan, and is considered one of the greatest as well as one of the earliest of the Persian Sufi scholars whose works constitute an important contribution to the intellectual history of Islam. Detailed descriptions of each 'station' make this work an esoteric masterpiece, now almost one thousand years old, that invites the reader ona spiritual journey of self-discovery.

The 38th chapter of the Revival of the Religious Sciences, this treatise follows on from "Al-Ghazali on Intention, Sincerity & Truthfulness." Here, Ghazali focuses on the different stations of steadfastness in religion (murabaha), vigilance and self-examination being its cornerstones. As in all his writings, Ghazali bases his arguments on the Qur an, the example of the Prophet, and the sayings of numerous scholars and Sufis. As relevant today as it was in the 11th century, this discourse will be of interest to anyone concerned with ethics and moral philosophy."

Concerned with scholarly, popular, and religious backdrops that understand the connection between psychedelics and mystical experiences to be devoid of moral concerns and ethical dimensions-a position supported empirically by the rise of acid fascism and psychedelic cults by the late 1960s-Psychedelic Mysticism: Transforming Consciousness, Religious Experiences, and Voluntary Peasants in Postwar America traces the development of sixties psychedelic mysticism from the deconditioned mind and perennial philosophy of Aldous Huxley, to the sacramental ethics of Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, and Ralph Metzner, to the altruistic religiosity practiced by Stephen Gaskin and The Farm. Building directly off the pioneering psychedelic writing of Huxley, these psychedelic mystics understood the height of psychedelic consciousness as an existential awareness of unitive oneness, a position that offered worldly alternatives to the maladies associated with the postwar moment (e.g., vapid consumerism and materialism, lifeless conformity, unremitting racism, heightened militarism). In opening a doorway to a common world, Morgan Shipley locates how psychedelics challenged the coherency of Western modernity by fundamentally reorienting postwar society away from neoliberal ideologies and toward a sacred understanding of reality defined by mutual coexistence and responsible interdependence. In 1960s America, psychedelics catalyzed a religious awakening defined by compassion, expressed through altruism, and actualized in projects that sought to ameliorate the conditions of the least advantaged among us. In the exact moments that historians and cultural critics often locate as signaling the death knell of the counterculture, Gaskin and The Farm emerged, not as a response to the perceived failures of the hippies, nor as an alternative to sixties politicos, but in an effort to fulfill the religious obligation to help teach the world how to live more harmoniously. Today, as we continue to confront issues of socioeconomic inequality, entrenched differences, widespread violence, and the limits of religious pluralism, Psychedelic Mysticism serves as a timely reminder of how religion in America can operate as a tool for destabilization and as a means to actively reimagine the very basis of how people relate-such a legacy can aid in our own efforts to build a more peaceful, sustainable, and compassionate world.

The Kizilbash were at once key players in and the foremost victims of the Ottoman-Safavid conflict that defined the early modern Middle East. Today referred to as Alevis, they constitute the second largest faith community in modern Turkey, with smaller pockets of related groups in the Balkans. Yet several aspects of their history remain little understood or explored. This first comprehensive socio-political history of the Kizilbash/Alevi communities uses a recently surfaced corpus of sources generated within their milieu. It offers fresh answers to many questions concerning their origins and evolution from a revolutionary movement to an inward-looking religious order.

Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazzali (1058-1111) is one of the most important religious figures in Islamic history. He is particularly noted for his brilliant synthesis of mysticism and traditional Sunni Islam. Ghazzali's "The Alchemy of Happiness", written toward the end of his life, provides a succinct introduction to both the theory and practice of Sufism (Islamic mysticism). It thus offers many insights into traditional Muslim society. This translation is fully annotated for readers unfamiliar with Ghazzali and includes an introduction to his life and historical milieu.

Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazzali (1058-1111) is one of the most important religious figures in Islamic history. He is particularly noted for his brilliant synthesis of mysticism and traditional Sunni Islam. Ghazzali's "The Alchemy of Happiness", written toward the end of his life, provides a succinct introduction to both the theory and practice of Sufism (Islamic mysticism). It thus offers many insights into traditional Muslim society. This translation is fully annotated for readers unfamiliar with Ghazzali and includes an introduction to his life and historical milieu.

This is the first ever translation into English of a seminal work from the Sufi tradition. This title focuses on the Divine Name Allah and the virtues and transformative power of its invocation. Written by the renowned Sufi master Ibn Ata Allah al-Iskandari in the twelfth century the work is divided into two parts.---Part One looks at the Name of Allah, its letters and their meanings. While in Part Two the author turns to the more practical question of the role of invocation, both in general and of the Name Allah specifically. Ibn Ata Allah discusses the virtue of invocation and establishes that it is the supreme act of worship. The reader comes to understand that, by emulating the Qualities of God as expressed in His Names and invoking His Supreme Name Allah with awareness of its meaning and significance, the Sufi can cleanse his heart and until it becomes a worthy abode for God.

In Initiating the Millennium, Robert Collis and Natalie Bayer fill a substantial lacuna in the study of an initiatic society-known variously as the Illumines d'Avignon, the Avignon Society, the New Israel Society, and the Union-that flourished across Europe between 1779 and 1807. Based on hitherto neglected archival material, this study provides a wealth of fresh insights into a group that included members of various Christian confessions from countries spanning the length and breadth of the Continent. The founding members of this society forged a unique group that incorporated distinct strands of Western esotericism (particularly alchemy and arithmancy) within an all-pervading millenarian worldview. Collis and Bayer demonstrate that the doctrine of premillennialism-belief in the imminent advent of Christ's reign on Earth-soon came to constitute the raison d'etre of the society. Using a chronological approach, the authors chart the machinations of the leading figures of the society (most notably the Polish gentleman Tadeusz Grabianka). They also examine the way in which the group reacted to and was impacted by the tumultuous events that rocked Europe during its twenty-eight years of existence. The result is a new understanding of the vital role played by the so-called Union within the wider millenarian and illuministic milieu at the close of the eighteenth century and beginning of the nineteenth century.

After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Sufi shrines became highly contested. Considered deviant and `un-Islamic', they soon fell under government control as part of a state-led strategy to create an `official', more unified, Islamic identity. This book, the first to address the political history of Sufi shrines in Pakistan, explores the various ways in which the postcolonial state went about controlling their activities. Of key significance, Umber Bin Ibad shows, was the `West Pakistan Waqf Properties Ordinance', a governmental decree issued in 1959. Formed when General Ayub Khan assumed the role of Chief Martial Law Administrator, this allowed the state to take over shrines as `waqf property'. According to Islamic law, a waqf, or charitable endowment, had to be used for charitable or religious purposes and the state created a separate Auqaf department to control the finances and activities of all the shrines which were now under a state sponsored waqf system. Focusing on the Punjab - famous for its large number of shrines - the book is based on extensive primary research including newspapers, archival sources, interviews, court records and the official reports of the Auqaf department. At a time when Sufi shrines are being increasingly targeted by Islamist extremists, who view Sufism as heretical, this book sheds light on the shrines' contentious historical relationship with the state. An original contribution to South Asian Studies, the book will also be relevant to scholars of Colonial and Post-Colonial History and Sufism Studies.