Text extracted from opening pages of book: GOD IS MY ADVENTURE a book on modern mystics masters and teachers by ROM LANDAU FABER AND FABER 24 Russell Square London PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION There is something sacrilegious in your intention of writing such a book, ' said a friend and yet I went on with it. Since I was a boy I have always been attracted by those regions of truth that the official religions and sciences are shy of exploring. The men who claim to have penetrated them have always had for me the same fascination that famous artists, explorers or states men have for others and such men are the subject of this book. Some of them come from the East, some from Europe and America; some give us a glimpse of truth by the mere flicker of an eyelid, while others speak of heaven and hell with the precision of mathe maticians. I have met them all, and some I have watched in their daily lives. For years now I have sought their company, questioned them and watched them closely at work. I have tried to dissociate the per sonality from the teaching and then to reconcile the two. I have included some of those whom now I cannot view without mistrust. Since thousands of other people believe in them, they are at any rate most interesting figures in contemporary spiritual life, however little of ultimate value their teaching may possess. There are people who know the heroes of this book more inti mately than I, but my aim has never been to identify myself with any one teacher. On the contrary, I have always been anxious to discover for myself through what powers they have influenced so many people. This attitude will warn the reader not to expect an impersonal survey of contemporary spiritualdoctrines. I have limited myself to writing of those men with whom I have been in personal contact. I approach them not as the scholar but as the ordinary man who tries to find God in daily life. This book is the confession of an adventure and the story of my friendships with those men whom a future generation may possibly call the true prophets of our time. The core of the adventure is a search for God. I leave it to the reader to decide whether such a search can be sacrilegious. R. L. MOCKBRIDGE HOUSE HENFIELD, SUSSEX Summer, 1935 PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION ( Ninth Impression) It is an agreeable duty for an a* uthor to express his pleasure when one of his books has enjoyed public favour sufficiently to call for yet another edition seven years after its first publication. In the present case, to the author's pleasure must be added his gratitude to his readers. For I have greatly profited from the thousands of letters received from people previously unknown to me, and even more so from the many valuable personal contacts which have often resulted from such correspondence. I should be false to my real feelings if I refrained from giving utterance to my gratitude for the enlightenment which I have thus derived. When the manuscript of God Is My Adventure was first submitted to its original publishers, four of the five readers to whom the book was sent for a professional opinion, turned it down. The fifth pointed out that, whatever merits the book might possibly possess, it hardly justified publication since not more than a handful of people were ever likely to be interested in it. The five readers were unanimous in thinking that for a' philosophical' book God Is My Adventure was notsufficiently orthodox, and for one purporting to explore the by-ways of modem esotericism, not pronounced enough in its allegiance to any individual one of the teachers and systems which it described. Nevertheless the book has had to be repeatedly reprinted during the last seven years, and I assume this has mainly been due to two facts: people are always eager to learn from the spiritual experiences of a fellow seeker: many others, disillusioned by the Churches, were only too willing to delve into the ways and methods of unorthodox schools of thought, yet without at th

Originally published in 1958, this volume covers important aspects of Islamic history and culture: Arabia before the Prophet The Prophet The Koran and Islam The Caliphate From the Caliphate to the end of the Ottoman The Crusades The Maghreb Muslim Spain The Sharia Philosophy The Sciences Literature The Arts Problems of the Twentieth Century Arab World

Originally published in 1959, this work covers the philosophy of Ibn 'Arabi. Ibn 'Arabi is one of the most significant thinkers of Islam. Yet he is far less widely known in the Western world than Ibn Sina, Al-Ghazali, Ibn Rushd or even Al Farabi. This volume provides original interpretations and illustrations to some of Ibn 'Arabi's ideas, as well as including a number of his texts in English.

This is a new release of the original 1938 edition.

The Things Which Are and The Things Which Shall Be Hereafter.

Text extracted from opening pages of book: GOD IS MY ADVENTURE a book on modern mystics masters and teachers by ROM LANDAU FABER AND FABER 24 Russell Square London PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION There is something sacrilegious in your intention of writing such a book, ' said a friend and yet I went on with it. Since I was a boy I have always been attracted by those regions of truth that the official religions and sciences are shy of exploring. The men who claim to have penetrated them have always had for me the same fascination that famous artists, explorers or states men have for others and such men are the subject of this book. Some of them come from the East, some from Europe and America; some give us a glimpse of truth by the mere flicker of an eyelid, while others speak of heaven and hell with the precision of mathe maticians. I have met them all, and some I have watched in their daily lives. For years now I have sought their company, questioned them and watched them closely at work. I have tried to dissociate the per sonality from the teaching and then to reconcile the two. I have included some of those whom now I cannot view without mistrust. Since thousands of other people believe in them, they are at any rate most interesting figures in contemporary spiritual life, however little of ultimate value their teaching may possess. There are people who know the heroes of this book more inti mately than I, but my aim has never been to identify myself with any one teacher. On the contrary, I have always been anxious to discover for myself through what powers they have influenced so many people. This attitude will warn the reader not to expect an impersonal survey of contemporary spiritualdoctrines. I have limited myself to writing of those men with whom I have been in personal contact. I approach them not as the scholar but as the ordinary man who tries to find God in daily life. This book is the confession of an adventure and the story of my friendships with those men whom a future generation may possibly call the true prophets of our time. The core of the adventure is a search for God. I leave it to the reader to decide whether such a search can be sacrilegious. R. L. MOCKBRIDGE HOUSE HENFIELD, SUSSEX Summer, 1935 PREFACE TO THE NEW EDITION ( Ninth Impression) It is an agreeable duty for an a* uthor to express his pleasure when one of his books has enjoyed public favour sufficiently to call for yet another edition seven years after its first publication. In the present case, to the author's pleasure must be added his gratitude to his readers. For I have greatly profited from the thousands of letters received from people previously unknown to me, and even more so from the many valuable personal contacts which have often resulted from such correspondence. I should be false to my real feelings if I refrained from giving utterance to my gratitude for the enlightenment which I have thus derived. When the manuscript of God Is My Adventure was first submitted to its original publishers, four of the five readers to whom the book was sent for a professional opinion, turned it down. The fifth pointed out that, whatever merits the book might possibly possess, it hardly justified publication since not more than a handful of people were ever likely to be interested in it. The five readers were unanimous in thinking that for a' philosophical' book God Is My Adventure was notsufficiently orthodox, and for one purporting to explore the by-ways of modem esotericism, not pronounced enough in its allegiance to any individual one of the teachers and systems which it described. Nevertheless the book has had to be repeatedly reprinted during the last seven years, and I assume this has mainly been due to two facts: people are always eager to learn from the spiritual experiences of a fellow seeker: many others, disillusioned by the Churches, were only too willing to delve into the ways and methods of unorthodox schools of thought, yet without at th

HUMAN RELATIONS by ROM LANDAU FABER AND FABER LIMITED 24 Russell Square London First published r j mi by Faber and Faber Limited 24 Russell Square, London, Wtf-Printed in Great Britain by Purnell and Sons, Ltd. Paulton, Somerset, and London All rights reserved CONTENTS INTRODUCTION I. The World and Human Relations page 1 1 II. Human Relations and the World 18 PART I EARLY INFLUENCES I. Parents and BMlldMi 25 II. Health 35 III. Education 42 IV. Social Environment 52 V. Social Fetishes 57 PART II HUMAN, ALL TOO HUMAN I. Masculinity and Femininity 69 II. The Influence of Sex 87 III. Some Aspects of Love 95 v IV. Inferiority 107 - V. Habit 112 VI. Mimicry 123 VII. Shadows 133 VIII. Dreams 138 IX. Influence of the Dead 152 X. Situations 161 v XI. The Old and the Young 168 7 CONTENTS PART III THE POWERS THAT BE I. The Evil of Politics page 1 75 II. The Economic Incubus 192 PART IV CULTURE AND LEISURE I. Literature 209 II. Art 218 III. Music 227 IV. The Theatre . 232 V. Conversation 236 VI. The Influence of Science 240 VII. Modern Entertainments 244 VIII. Nature 252 IX. Summer Holidays 255 X Pub and Cafe 260 XL Food 266 PART V PROBLEMS OF PERSONAL ADJUSTMENT Introduction 273 I. Argument 277 II. Misunderstandings 280 III. Action through Silence 289 IV. Patience 292 V. On Giving Advice 294 VI. Tact and Good Manners 296 VII. Jealousy 305 8 CONTENTS VIII. Fear of Punishment page 307 IX. Humility 310 X. The Importance of Change 314 XL Release through Solitude and Thought 320 Appendix Maxims 329 PART VI THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT I. The Magic of Truth 339 II. Detachment 347 III. Faith or Religion 353 Index 364 INTRODUCTION I THE WORLD AND HUMAN RELATIONS It gave me a profound shock when a woman, whom Ihad always regarded as among the kindest I had ever known, remarked, I have made a success of everything in life excepting human rela tions. Until I began to ponder over her remark it had always seemed to me that few people could have been more successful than Mrs. F. She was good-looking, had a brain above the average, and took an intelligent interest in many of the worth while things in life from literature and art to gardening, and from good conversation to social service. She had an attractive home she was both a discriminating judge of food and an excellent cook. Her son was happily married and was making a success for himself in his career. Yet it seemed quite true that everything she touched turned into a success excepting human relations. She could not, of course, be blamed for the fact that her first husband died a few years after their marriage. She divorced her second husband after they had lived together for some six or seven years. Then she found herself constantly surrounded by people, but hardly had a real friend. The bonds she established with some of her more intimate acquaintances had a way of becoming loose before a real friendship could be struck. She was on the friendliest terms with her son, but told me one day that she knew next to nothing about his ideas and aspirations. Since she lived in the country, and he in London, she saw him only a couple of times each year. Her servants gave her excellent service, for not only did she run her house efficiently, but had also the gift of fairness and generosity which should make for a long-enduring bond be tween mistress and staff. Yet they seldom stayed more than a year or two with her. ii INTRODUCTION One day in a momentof depression she wasjust recovering from influenza she told me that her profound loneliness was getting her down and that all the privileges she was thankful to possess did not compensate her for failure to enjoy, however modest but genuine, companionship with another person. The case of Mrs. F. is less exceptional than might appear at first...

The Things Which Are and The Things Which Shall Be Hereafter.

CONTENTS The Way they Gave A Philosophical Passage They Offered a Zero Roadbook to Atlas From Razi to Pasteur The Compass led West They Wrote in Arabic Arabesque, Abstraction in the Arts