The Indian Sufi mystic and musician Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927) was the very first teacher to bring Sufism—the mystical heart of Islam—to the Western world. The Heart of Sufism is the first anthology of the best and most accessible writings drawn from Khan’s collected works—an amazing body of work that runs to more than 16 volumes in English—all based on his direct oral teachings to students in America and Europe. This book, edited by H.J. Witteveen, provides a much-needed entrée into the great teacher’s works for all those who are attracted by his teaching but who are intimidated by its size and scope.

The beauty, purity, and truth in his words shines through this lovely book, which provides an illuminating glimpse into a many-faceted diamond of wisdom, uniting a wide variety of subjects—mysticism and metaphysics, music and poetry, education and the art of personality, spiritual training and practice—within the all-encompassing universal worldview that is the heart of Sufism. Each chapter also includes many of Inayat Khan’s aphorisms and sayings.

The symbol of the Sufi Movement, which is a heart with wings, denotes its ideal. The heart is both earthly and heavenly. The heart is a receptacle on earth of the divine Spirit....

The Sufi message... does not bring theories or doctrines to add to those already existing and which puzzle the human mind. What the world needs today is the message of love, harmony, and beauty, the absence of which is the only tragedy of life. The Sufi message does not give a new law; it awakens in humanity the spirit of brotherhood, with tolerance on the part of each for the religion of the other, with forgiveness from each for the fault of the other. It teaches thoughtfulness and consideration, so as to create and maintain harmony in life; it teaches service and usefulness, which alone can make life in the world fruitful, and in this lies the satisfaction of every soul.