Brian C. Johnson

The Perfect Being

World Religions

“In contrast to the Sufi literature currently available in the West, such as the poetic and intellectual renditions of Rumi and Ibn Arabi, Aziz O-Din Nasafi's The Perfect Being is a lucid and straightforward manual on Sufism. Professor Sabzevary's eloquent introductory notes explain the Islamic and Persian cultural etiquette that serves as the cradle that holds and protects these ideas, as without embodying these cultural nuances, Sufi ideas can only serve superficial functions. The resulting translation is one of the most accessible and comprehensive works on self-knowledge available in English.”