Although not widely known in the Western world, al-Hallaj is one of the great figures in the history of the Muslim religion. Martyred in 922 by the government for his teachings, al-Hallaj has lived on through the centuries in the legends and memories of Muslims the world over. The reader who meets al-Hallaj for the first time in this book will be impressed by the striking similarities he shares with Jesus Christ, Socrates, and the Jewish Hasidic masters. Al-Hallaj is a man so caught up in God's love that he speaks with the wisdom of a mystic. Yet he is worldly and down-to-earth in his affection, his wit, and his joy. In this dramatic narrative of the last days of al-Hallaj, Herbert Mason has distilled the essence of al-Hallaj in moving, beautifully drawn scenes with his son, his protectress, and a devoted disciple. The timeless confrontation between freedom and political expediency, between faith and fatalism, ends here in love that is stronger than death. So finely has Mason presented al-Hallaj that the fire of his love reaches across the centuries to glow again on these pages. This is a book to read, and to re-read.

Herbert Mason's best-selling Gilgamesh is the most widely read and enduring interpretation of this ancient Babylonian epic. One of the oldest and most universal stories known in literature, the epic of Gilgamesh presents the grand, timeless themes of love and death, loss and reparations within the stirring tale of a hero-king and his doomed friend. A finalist for the National Book Award, Mason's retelling is at once a triumph of scholarship, a masterpiece of style, and a labor of love that grew out of the poet's long affinity with the original.

Volume 1 of 4. Encompassing the whole milieu of early Islamic civilization, this major work of Western orientalism explores the meaning of the life and teaching of the tenth-century mystic and martyr, al-Hallaj. With profound spiritual insight and transcultural sympathy, Massignon, an Islamicist and scholar of religion, penetrates Islamic mysticism in a way that was previously unknown. Massignon traveled throughout the Middle East and western India to gather and authenticate al-Hallaj's surviving writings and the recorded facts. After assembling the extant verses and prose works of al-Hallaj and the accounts of his life and death, Massignon published La Passion d'al-Hallaj in 1922. At his death in 1962, he left behind a greatly expanded version, published as the second French edition (1975). It is edited and translated here from the French and the Arabic sources by Massignon's friend and pupil, Herbert Mason. Volume 1 gives an account of al-Hallaj's life and describes the wo rld in which he lives; volume 2 traces his influence in Islam over the centuries; volume 3 studies Hallajian thought; volume 4 contains a full biography and index. Each volume contains Massignon's copious notes and new translations of original Islamic documents. Herbert Mason is University Professor of Religion and Islamic History at Boston University. He is also apoet and novelist; his version of the Gigamesh epic was a nominee for the National Book Award in 1971. Bollingen Sreis XCVIII. Originally published in 1986. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Volume 2 of 4. Encompassing the whole milieu of early Islamic civilization, this major work of Western orientalism explores the meaning of the life and teaching of the tenth-century mystic and martyr, al-Hallaj. With profound spiritual insight and transcultural sympathy, Massignon, an Islamicist and scholar of religion, penetrates Islamic mysticism in a way that was previously unknown. Massignon traveled throughout the Middle East and western India to gather and authenticate al-Hallaj's surviving writings and the recorded facts. After assembling the extant verses and prose works of al-Hallaj and the accounts of his life and death, Massignon published La Passion d'al-Hallaj in 1922. At his death in 1962, he left behind a greatly expanded version, published as the second French edition (1975). It is edited and translated here from the French and the Arabic sources by Massignon's friend and pupil, Herbert Mason. Volume 1 gives an account of al-Hallaj's life and describes the wo rld in which he lives; volume 2 traces his influence in Islam over the centuries; volume 3 studies Hallajian thought; volume 4 contains a full biography and index. Each volume contains Massignon's copious notes and new translations of original Islamic documents. Herbert Mason is University Professor of Religion and Islamic History at Boston University. He is also apoet and novelist; his version of the Gigamesh epic was a nominee for the National Book Award in 1971. Bollingen Series XCVIII. Originally published in 1972. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Abridged from the four-volume "The Passion of al-Hallaj, " one of the major works of Western orientalism, this book explores the life and teaching of a famous tenth-century Sufi mystic and martyr, and in so doing describes not only his experience but also the whole milieu of early Islamic civilization. Louis Massignon (1883-1962), France's most celebrated Islamic specialist in this century and a leading Catholic intellectual, wrote of a man who was for him a personal inspiration.

From reviews of the four-volume translation:

Volume 1 of 4. Encompassing the whole milieu of early Islamic civilization, this major work of Western orientalism explores the meaning of the life and teaching of the tenth-century mystic and martyr, al-Hallaj. With profound spiritual insight and transcultural sympathy, Massignon, an Islamicist and scholar of religion, penetrates Islamic mysticism in a way that was previously unknown. Massignon traveled throughout the Middle East and western India to gather and authenticate al-Hallaj's surviving writings and the recorded facts. After assembling the extant verses and prose works of al-Hallaj and the accounts of his life and death, Massignon published La Passion d'al-Hallaj in 1922. At his death in 1962, he left behind a greatly expanded version, published as the second French edition (1975). It is edited and translated here from the French and the Arabic sources by Massignon's friend and pupil, Herbert Mason. Volume 1 gives an account of al-Hallaj's life and describes the wo rld in which he lives; volume 2 traces his influence in Islam over the centuries; volume 3 studies Hallajian thought; volume 4 contains a full biography and index. Each volume contains Massignon's copious notes and new translations of original Islamic documents. Herbert Mason is University Professor of Religion and Islamic History at Boston University. He is also apoet and novelist; his version of the Gigamesh epic was a nominee for the National Book Award in 1971. Bollingen Sreis XCVIII. Originally published in 1986. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Volume 2 of 4. Encompassing the whole milieu of early Islamic civilization, this major work of Western orientalism explores the meaning of the life and teaching of the tenth-century mystic and martyr, al-Hallaj. With profound spiritual insight and transcultural sympathy, Massignon, an Islamicist and scholar of religion, penetrates Islamic mysticism in a way that was previously unknown. Massignon traveled throughout the Middle East and western India to gather and authenticate al-Hallaj's surviving writings and the recorded facts. After assembling the extant verses and prose works of al-Hallaj and the accounts of his life and death, Massignon published La Passion d'al-Hallaj in 1922. At his death in 1962, he left behind a greatly expanded version, published as the second French edition (1975). It is edited and translated here from the French and the Arabic sources by Massignon's friend and pupil, Herbert Mason. Volume 1 gives an account of al-Hallaj's life and describes the wo rld in which he lives; volume 2 traces his influence in Islam over the centuries; volume 3 studies Hallajian thought; volume 4 contains a full biography and index. Each volume contains Massignon's copious notes and new translations of original Islamic documents. Herbert Mason is University Professor of Religion and Islamic History at Boston University. He is also apoet and novelist; his version of the Gigamesh epic was a nominee for the National Book Award in 1971. Bollingen Series XCVIII. Originally published in 1972. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.

A young scholar seeks in County Tipperary, Ireland the truth about his immigrant ancestor who was an artist of ships' figureheads but also an alleged forger. He was caught and banished from his family in Maine, after which he virtually disappeared. A portrait of human heartache is created by the scholar from fragments gathered of an early life in Ireland and of a defiant and creative exile in America. During his stay the scholar is encouraged by an Irish historian to visit Connemara in the west, where he learns of the tragic love story of a woman descended from a legendary pirate queen, and meets the dramatic heroine in person.

This is a historical novel of an aspiring American journalist and an activist French woman as they live through crises together in the Paris of the Algerian War period.

Although not widely known in the Western world, al-Hallaj is one of the great figures in the history of the Muslim religion. Martyred in 922 by the government for his teachings, al-Hallaj has lived on through the centuries in the legends and memories of Muslims the world over. The reader who meets al-Hallaj for the first time in this book will be impressed by the striking similarities he shares with Jesus Christ, Socrates, and the Jewish Hasidic masters. Al-Hallaj is a man so caught up in God's love that he speaks with the wisdom of a mystic. Yet he is worldly and down-to-earth in his affection, his wit, and his joy. In this dramatic narrative of the last days of al-Hallaj, Herbert Mason has distilled the essence of al-Hallaj in moving, beautifully drawn scenes with his son, his protectress, and a devoted disciple. The timeless confrontation between freedom and political expediency, between faith and fatalism, ends here in love that is stronger than death. So finely has Mason presented al-Hallaj that the fire of his love reaches across the centuries to glow again on these pages. This is a book to read, and to re-read.