Herbert Mason – författare

Although not widely known in the Western world, al-Hallaj is one of the great figures in the history of the Muslim religion. Martyred in 922 by the government for his teachings, al-Hallaj has lived on through the centuries in the legends and memories of Muslims the world over. The reader who meets al-Hallaj for the first time in this book will be impressed by the striking similarities he shares with Jesus Christ, Socrates, and the Jewish Hasidic masters. Al-Hallaj is a man so caught up in God's love that he speaks with the wisdom of a mystic. Yet he is worldly and down-to-earth in his affection, his wit, and his joy. In this dramatic narrative of the last days of al-Hallaj, Herbert Mason has distilled the essence of al-Hallaj in moving, beautifully drawn scenes with his son, his protectress, and a devoted disciple. The timeless confrontation between freedom and political expediency, between faith and fatalism, ends here in love that is stronger than death. So finely has Mason presented al-Hallaj that the fire of his love reaches across the centuries to glow again on these pages. This is a book to read, and to re-read.

Although not widely known in the Western world, al-Hallaj is one of the great figures in the history of the Muslim religion. Martyred in 922 by the government for his teachings, al-Hallaj has lived on through the centuries in the legends and memories of Muslims the world over. The reader who meets al-Hallaj for the first time in this book will be impressed by the striking similarities he shares with Jesus Christ, Socrates, and the Jewish Hasidic masters. Al-Hallaj is a man so caught up in God's love that he speaks with the wisdom of a mystic. Yet he is worldly and down-to-earth in his affection, his wit, and his joy. In this dramatic narrative of the last days of al-Hallaj, Herbert Mason has distilled the essence of al-Hallaj in moving, beautifully drawn scenes with his son, his protectress, and a devoted disciple. The timeless confrontation between freedom and political expediency, between faith and fatalism, ends here in love that is stronger than death. So finely has Mason presented al-Hallaj that the fire of his love reaches across the centuries to glow again on these pages. This is a book to read, and to re-read.

Abridged from the four-volume The Passion of al-Hallaj, one of the major works of Western orientalism, this book explores the life and teaching of a famous tenth-century Sufi mystic and martyr, and in so doing describes not only his experience but also the whole milieu of early Islamic civilization. Louis Massignon (1883-1962), France's most celebrated Islamic specialist in this century and a leading Catholic intellectual, wrote of a man who was for him a personal inspiration. From reviews of the four-volume translation:

No detailed description available for "Reflections on the Middle East crisis".

No detailed description available for "Two statesmen of mediaeval Islam".

No detailed description available for "e;Two statesmen of mediaeval Islam"e;.