Seyyed Hossein Nasr is currently University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University. Born in Tehran and educated at MIT and Harvard, he was previously professor of the history of science and philosophy at Tehran University and first president of the Iranian Academy of Philosophy. He has taught throughout America, Europe, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, Japan, and Australia. He is the author of over twenty books in English. Among them are Sufi Essays, Islamic Life and Thought, Knowledge and the Sacred, and Three Muslim Sages.

• Preface Introduction IThe Relation between Islamic Art and Islamic Spirituality Art and the Sacred IIThe Spiritual Message of Islamic Calligraphy IIIThe Principle of Unity and the Sacred Architecture of Islam IVSacred Art in Persian Culture Literature VMetaphysics, Logic and Poetry in the Orient VIThe Flight of Birds to Union: Meditations upon 'Attar's Mantiq al-tayr VIIRumi, Supreme Poet and Sage VIIIRumi and the Sufi Tradition Music IXIslam and Music XThe Influence of Sufism on Traditional Persian Music The Plastic Arts XIThe World of Imagination and the Concept of Space in the Persian Miniature XIIThe Significance of the Void in Islamic Art Postscript The Spiritual Message of Islamic Art List of monochrome plates List of coloured plates Index

Seyyed Hossein Nasr is currently University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University. Born in Tehran and educated at MIT and Harvard, he was previously professor of the history of science and philosophy at Tehran University and first president of the Iranian Academy of Philosophy. He has taught throughout America, Europe, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, Japan, and Australia. He is the author of over twenty books in English. Among them are Sufi Essays, Islamic Life and Thought, Knowledge and the Sacred, and Three Muslim Sages.

• Preface Introduction IThe Relation between Islamic Art and Islamic Spirituality Art and the Sacred IIThe Spiritual Message of Islamic Calligraphy IIIThe Principle of Unity and the Sacred Architecture of Islam IVSacred Art in Persian Culture Literature VMetaphysics, Logic and Poetry in the Orient VIThe Flight of Birds to Union: Meditations upon 'Attar's Mantiq al-tayr VIIRumi, Supreme Poet and Sage VIIIRumi and the Sufi Tradition Music IXIslam and Music XThe Influence of Sufism on Traditional Persian Music The Plastic Arts XIThe World of Imagination and the Concept of Space in the Persian Miniature XIIThe Significance of the Void in Islamic Art Postscript The Spiritual Message of Islamic Art List of monochrome plates List of coloured plates Index

Seyyed Hossein Nasr is currently University Professor of Islamic Studies at George Washington University. Born in Tehran and educated at MIT and Harvard, he was previously professor of the history of science and philosophy at Tehran University and first president of the Iranian Academy of Philosophy. He has taught throughout America, Europe, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, Japan, and Australia. He is the author of over twenty books in English. Among them are Sufi Essays, Islamic Life and Thought, Knowledge and the Sacred, and Three Muslim Sages.

• Preface Introduction IThe Relation between Islamic Art and Islamic Spirituality Art and the Sacred IIThe Spiritual Message of Islamic Calligraphy IIIThe Principle of Unity and the Sacred Architecture of Islam IVSacred Art in Persian Culture Literature VMetaphysics, Logic and Poetry in the Orient VIThe Flight of Birds to Union: Meditations upon 'Attar's Mantiq al-tayr VIIRumi, Supreme Poet and Sage VIIIRumi and the Sufi Tradition Music IXIslam and Music XThe Influence of Sufism on Traditional Persian Music The Plastic Arts XIThe World of Imagination and the Concept of Space in the Persian Miniature XIIThe Significance of the Void in Islamic Art Postscript The Spiritual Message of Islamic Art List of monochrome plates List of coloured plates Index