Mystics and Saints of Islam

This early 20th-century work introduced Western readers to the spiritual giants of Islamic mysticism at a time when Sufism was virtually unknown in English. Claud Field traces the arc from early ascetic devotion to the radical, love-drunk philosophy of figures like Hallaj, the Persian mystic who proclaimed "I am the Truth" and was crucified for his blasphemy. The book argues that Sufism is not an alien import but blooms organically from Quranic soil, exploring the tension between orthodox Islam and those who sought direct union with the divine. Each portrait reveals mystics who surrendered everything, body and self, in pursuit of annihilating the ego and merging with the Beloved. Field writes with scholarly sympathy, neither dismissing orthodoxy nor diminishing the daring of those who pushed spiritual experience to its breaking point. A foundational text for understanding how Islamic mysticism shaped and continues to influence spiritual seekers worldwide.