Being a Shia and an avid student of Shiaism, it has always been a frustration for me to read books which are written by half-baked authors who don't even bother scratching the surface of a religion and its ideals and write about it.

I have read several books by authentic Shia scholars from Iran and Iraq. Some of them are very good books, but unfortunately, are not always available to readers in the desired translation and presentation.

I, being a student of this religion and a practising Shia, would highly recommend this book, for anyone who really wants to gain an insight into the religion. Very balanced views, without any prejudices and biases and a "zoomed out" view of shiaism, which despite the breadth it covers, does not neglect the "Depth" and is a complete book in every respect.

My compliments to Syed Hussein Nasr and all contributors of this book, for completing a "complete" and "correct" picture.

I have read many books written on Shi'sm by crank theoretician 'scholars', but this book is an exception. Usually books written by scholars of religion are not worth reading, mainly due to the fact that Scholarship and religion do not mix. But a few seem to be an exception to this general rule and Mr. Nasr and a few others such as Corbin and Chittic are among them. Usually these so called Scholars of religion are as ignorant as they are arrogant as the following comment by one of the 'critics' would indicate. Mr. Fathi of the Middle east Journal tells us ' At least half of the subjects discussed in the book are highly abstract and hair-splitting fine points unlikely to be understood even by a university-educated Shii in Tehran, let alone by an American or British reader'. Apparently Mr. Fathi had hard time understanding the book, and due to inherent self flattery, he is under illusion that everyone else from Tehran to England and America wouldn't 'comprehend' the context of the book either. Not everyone would subscribe to Mr. Fathi's arrogant and self-glorified approach, but one has to remind these geniuses that we are not living in dark ages anymore( as surprising as this might be to these people) and contrary to Mr. Fath's misconception, people are very intelligent and capable of understanding ' abstract' topics. One should remind Mr. Fathi that just because one person has hard time understanding ' abstract', doesn't mean that the rest of the world shares that inability as well.

This marks the first volume of an ambitious anthology project headed by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Mehdi Aminrazavi. The goal is eventually have 4-5 volumes. What is impressive about this work is that for the first time, many of the most important philosophical texts will be made available in contemporary and scholarly translations. While there is no shortage of books on Islamic philosophy, it has been very difficult to find accurate translations of Islamic philosophical texts. One would imagine that this project would be of interest to students of Islamic thought, as well as Aristotelian and Neoplatonic philosophy. We look forward to the future volumes which will deal with Isma'ili and Kalam texts as well. Highly recommended.

Iraqi chilled with the best of 'em.
a dervish that wandered into the same konya that was home to Rumi. a student of Rumi's friend Sadruddin Qunyawi(disciple to Ibn Arabi). Iraqi's Flashes are the synthesis of Ibn Arabi's metaphysics and the love theory from Ahmed Ghazali's Sawanih(the oldest persian work on sacred love by Abu Hamid Ghazali's younger and more mystical bro). while Chittick's great prose translations may never compare to the beauty of the persian originals, the powerful ideas expressed in the poetry trigger enlightening thoughts and awaken the soul.
so...while Muslim philosophers say technical things like:"GOD IS THE NECESARRY EXISTANT" or "ALL EXISTANCE IS a Manifestation of DIVINE ATTRIBUTES". the poet Iraqi says NOTHING EXISTS BUT LOVE.
You are a LOVER, you just don't know it YET.
The book is smack in the face of all who say Islam is a religion of Hate that believes God as a distant vengeful one to obey out of fear.
peace.

Writing the most Islamic tradition and examines the classical Islamic cosmology and shows how Ikhwan ,al Biruni combined teaching the Quran

Professor Nasr's work on Islamic subjects is generally characterised not merely by its academic and still hospitable style but further by an indepth understanding and experience of spirituality as such in its most universal and applicable sense. In the book "Islamic art and Spirituality" he cover the highlight themes of traditional art, architecture, calligraphy, poetry, prose literature, esoterism, piety, etc, as it developed in Islamic lands. Of special interest is the chapter on the Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi. I warmly recommend the present work to students of religious studies as well as religios seekers from all traditions.

Professor Nasr's works on Islamic Islamic subjects is generally characterised not merely by their academic and still hospitable narrative style but further by a indepth understanding and experience of spirituality as such in its most universal and applicable sense. In the book "Islamic art and Spirituality" Nasr cover the highlight themes of traditional art, architecture, calligraphy, poetry, esoterism, piety, etc, as it developed in Islamic lands. I warmly recommend the present work both to students of religious studies as well as religious seekers from all traditions.

REALLY, I DIDN'T READ THIS BOOK. BUT I WOULD LIKE TO READ IT CAUSE I AM MAKING A RESEARCH ON THIS CONCERN. THE TITLE ATTRACTS ME, I THINK BECAUSE IT IS A VERY IMPORTANT TOPIC AND ALSO VITAL, SPECIALLY THE WORDS OF RELIGION SUCH AS KOR'AN BEACUSE IT IS VERY DIFFICULT AND DANGEROUS TO TRANLATE. THAT'S BECAUSE EVERY WORD CAN BEAR MORE THAN ONE MEANING SO THAT LEADS TO THE DIFFICULTY TO TRANSLATE AND THE PROBLEM OF NONEQUIVALENCE.

I truly enjoyed reading this book. Having read another excellent book by Corbin " Alone with the Alone", I was curious to see what relation is there, if any, between Shiism and Sufis, this book answered my questions in an honest non-political way.

This little work by Dr. Nasr is an excellent little introduction to the life of the Beloved Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) which concentrates on the spiritual nature of his perfect life. In this manner it is different from most other biographies which concentrate on the political events. This book is important also in that it relays a little of the awe and total respect in which Muslims have traditionally held their Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Also, though Dr. Nasr, is a Shia he does not allow that to cloud his objectivity.

Commenting on one of the earlier reviewers I will say that orthodox Sunnis too believe the Prophet of Islam to be perfect, and infallible and sinless both before the proclamation of Prophethood and after it.

This book is a good introduction, especially for younger readers or those who do not have the time to read a longer book.

I respect the Author very much, and I really like this little short book about the Prophet. I also find the comments written about this book equally interesting and enlightening. Unfortunately growing up in Middle East we don't get to question our faith or our understanding of our faith. Only when we leave that environment we get a chance to really reflect about some very fundamental issues about Islam and history. Realizing the collapse of Islamic world, I have often wondered about the truthfulness of Islam, and been struggling with this question for a few years. The usual answer of " America did it" doesn't make it either, at least not for me. Reading the history of Islam I really don't see anything divine about our Islamic empire. Islamic empire was like any other empire, and finally, like any other empire collapsed under its own weight. I cannot see anything divine about it. Sure we made some progresses in Math, astronomy, medicine etc, but so did other empires in the history. We had some ugliness associated with our Islamic Empire and so did other Empires. I see nothing special and divine about the inner workings of our Islamic Empire that could clearly distinguishes us from others in the history. So what difference did Quran make except in uniting us Arabs into one nation, which ended up in creating our Empire? If Quran was supposed to create a Divine Utopia, I have no other choice but to say that Quran has failed in this regard and again this failure can not be blamed on " Amercia" since the history of this failure pre-dates America.
It seems to me that Shia philosophy does provide some answer to this question and it makes me wonder. Their "claim" is that it is not Quran that has failed but rather "we" have failed in understanding Quran, it is our understanding of Quran that has failed. I very much like to read more about what Shiism has to say and to my surprise I found out that there aren't many books by Mr. Nasr on Shiism. My question to Mr. Nasr is why doesn't he write about what Shia has to say about Islam. Given the current situation on Islam, and the fact that many people like me are struggling with some serious questions about our faith, I think an alternative way of looking at Islam is a welcome news.

Often my friends ask me why I chose to become a Shia. My answer is very simple, if Quran is a "Perfect" book, then we need a "Perfect" teacher, otherwise Quran by its virtue of being Perfect will become useless and of little practical significance for Moslems. The fact that so many contradictory philosophies had emerged in the history of Islam, all relying on Quran as their primary source, indicates that Quran by itself could not be of much guidance. The fact that Islamic world collapsed, as did Communism, indicates that Quran was not in charge of our mind and lives.

Quran is a book of "Light" of "Clear Guidance" and yet Islamic world is so confused and lost. Obviously something is very seriously wrong, and I don't believe it is Quran. Rather it is our approach to Quran is wrong and has been wrong for centuries. Yes, I was a Sunni and I got tired of not knowing what Quran is all about, what is its inner meaning, what is its "True" message. I got tired of hearing all kind of speculations about the True meaning of Quran and knowing all too well that we all just guess and not a single one of us can say for sure what Quran means. Even the most fundamental principles of Quran which Al-Tawhid is a subject of dispute between philosophers, Sufis, theologians, all pointing fingers at each other and blaming each other for having missed the "True" meaning of divine unity. Enough is enough. I thought all this is Prophet's fault. How can he expect us to figure out what Quran is all about? If he did expect us to figure it out, then obviously he was mistaken as centuries of history is a witness.

I always thought that Prophet was the only one who knew was Quran was all about, and after his death, Quran too died, or should have died and saved us from so much pain. As long as he was alive, his was the last word, there was no maybe, could be, "God knows best" answers to questions put to him about verses of Quran, there was no uncertainty, no confusion. Only if he could live forever among us. But later I came across some books written by Shia authors, such as Dr. Nasr, and I realized that Prophet did leave us a point of reference someone whose views of Quran wasn't a whole bunch of best guesses. I don't blame Prophet anymore for the mess we are in, or have been in for centuries, I blame us. We did what Jews did to Isa- Jesus- in spite of his greatness, and having been promised by previous Prophets, his people decided to push him aside or attempt to kill him. The fact that history repeats itself was no mystery to me, it was just that I was too arrogant or stupid to see the truth and blamed Prophet of Islam for our misery and confusion instead of blaming ourselves for it.

I no longer believe that the "as is" Islam is the Islam that Prophet had in mind. The Islam of Prophet would have brought us Light, Clarity, Guidance, Peace, instead of confusions, darkenss, misery, which finally resulted in a total collapse and to this day we moslems are trying to figure out a way out.

If you have been grasping for a better understanding of Islam since the attacks of 9/11 search no further. This is a book you will find yourself coming back to again and again. Written in eloquent and accessible English, this book helps one understand why so many continue to live as pious Muslims despite the distortions so prevalent today. Even if you have read several books on Islam, this is a must read.

I have read many books on Islam. Seyyed Hossein Nasr's "The Heart of Islam" is simply the best introduction available. It helps one to understand what the traditional Islamic view is and how many modern manifestations deviate from this. In eloquent prose, it gives the reader valuable insight into the enduring values that make Islam appeal to so many. This should be required reading for all Americans.

Following 9/11, the misinformation and prejudice directed at this religion have left most Americans ill-equipped to understand global events. While the neo-conservative administration hawks, Christian fundamentalists and Fox News all have reason to poison the minds of Americans and turn the tragic and despicable events of 9/11 into a clash of civilizations, this book will help us realize that our war is not with Islam, but with a group of terrorists that need to be stopped. These terrorists no more speak for Islam as the people on Fox News speak for me. This book is a must read for anyone who wishes to undertsand this religion. All others, tune in and get your propaganda straight from Fox's talking heads.