The Dictionary of the Soul

Author: Ammar Ali Hassan

Books containing Sufi terms and concepts have appeared throughout the centuries. Those who collected, categorized, and arranged these terms made great efforts to record and present them. However, these works were often merely excerpts from the writings of early Sufis, or faithful transmissions of their ideas, relying on what they offered in their meditations, emotions, surges of feelings, and generous inspirations. "The Dictionary of the Soul" differs from its predecessors by specifically contemplating concepts related to the soul, and then creating a dialogue about them between an imagined sheikh and a disciple, in an attempt to approach its great mysteries. The author has contemplated many Sufi terms, offering his own taste and personal reflection to clarify the ambiguities that some of them entail, through four approaches: narration, dialogue, the presence of imagery, and the fluidity of language and myth.