Carl W. Ernst is professor and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He sees this collection of Sufi texts (only one has appeared in English before) as a companion to his The Shambhala Guide to Sufism. The selections here range from the tenth to the twentieth century and are mainly from the Middle East and India.
Ernst describes Sufism, the mystical element of Islam, as a historic tradition and as a contemporary resource. The teachings in this paperback are arranged under thematic categories: Mystical Understanding of the Qur'an, The Character of the Prophet Muhammad, Spiritual Practice, Divine and Human Love, Listening to Music, Ethical Practice, Mastery and Discipleship, and Lives of the Saints. One of the handy tools is an index of Qur'anic passages and sayings of the Prophet used throughout the book.
Ernst sheds light on Sufism with teachings on the master-disciple relationship, sainthood, mystical exegesis, and the presence of the heart. In an excerpt from The Bewildered Traveler by Najm al-Din Kubra, the author pays tribute to silence and lists 22 benefits of fasting including "understanding the suffering of the hungry, and forgiving them by way of compassion and mercy." Introducing a piece on the spiritual value of music, Ernst calls this art "a way of transporting oneself back to that moment of harmony with God in pre-eternity."