A Little Book of Mystical Secrets

The book under review is an excellent resource for Rumi scholars in particular and for Rumi lovers in general. The book consists of two sections. The first section delivers an entertaining account of Shams of Tabriz, the catalyst who converted Rumi from an ascetic and noble devotee to a euphoric bard and a rapturous reveler. The second section is a collection of more than 300 sayings by Shams, taken from his Maqalat. In her discussion about Shams’ background and character, the author appears to have extensively deviated from the Western comprehension of this vagabond mendicant. Instead of portraying him primarily as a man ‘exceedingly aggressive and domineering in his manner’ or a ‘weird figure’ or someone having ‘immense spiritual pride’ as held by the Orientalists, James Redhouse, Reynold A. Nicholson, and Annemarie Schimmel, Maryam Mafi draws attention to some positive aspects of his character. Mafi delineates him as a man who saved Sufism from following the path of Christian asceticism and replaced the abhorrence of life with the celebration of life and human values. He showed a complete disregard to frivolous social norms and rituals of his age. He maintained a desired balance between Sufism and Islamic jurisprudence....