In Search of the Lost Heart

William Chittick, the author of the book under review, is a professor of religious studies at the State University of New York. He is a renowned expert on Islamic thought and his contributions have, in many ways, helped to reposition the appreciation and understanding of the intellectual and spiritual worldview of Islam. He is a highly skilled translator possessing ‘a rigorous analytical mind and a rare ability to explain some of the most difficult ideas in a remarkable lucid fashion’ (p. xi). No wonder then that his works have had a wide appeal in diverse fields of Islamic civilisation, comparative philosophy and religious studies and translated into many languages. The editors have brought together a wide selection of 26 seminal pieces penned by the professor between 1975 and 2011. According to them, most of these are not readily available in Chittick’s works, although some are accessible online. In this collection, the editors have attempted to harvest essays and articles on key themes and figures in Islamic thought to explore the underlying worldview of Islam. Having been updated and thoroughly edited, the book is divided into four categories with unequal chapters: Sufism and the Islamic Tradition (7), Ibn al-‘Arabi and His Influence (9), Islamic Philosophy (6) and Reflections on Contemporary Issues (4).