In India in the 1950s my father collected a large stack of old Sufi books in the form of lithographs and manuscripts. These books were mostly the works of saints of the lineage to which my father’s father belonged, and most of them have not been published since the nineteenth century. Among the authors represented were (by attribution) Khwaja Mu‘inuddin Chishti, the founder of the Chishti Order in India; Dara Shikuh, a Mughal crown prince and Qadiri Sufi; and Shah Kalimullah Jahanabadi, a major systematizer of Chishti teachings, and founder of the Kalimi line of the Chishti Order.

The book attributed to Khwaja Mu‘inuddin Chishti—an extremely rare manuscript—is on the subject of yoga. Prof. Carl Ernst, whom I had the good fortune of studying with in years past, has extensively researched the historical and literary contacts between the traditions of Sufism and yoga. Hence I requested him to translate the text, and he kindly did so. His translation first appeared in Elixir journal.

Meanwhile, I was intrigued to discover that English translations of Shah Kalimullah and Dara Shikuh’s meditation manuals, respectively entitled Kashkul-i Kalimi (The Alms-Bowl) and Risala-yi Haqq-numa (The Compass of Truth), had been published obscurely in India a century or so ago.

It seemed to me that these three treatises would make a good trilogy, one that would prove interesting to scholars and Sufi seekers alike. Omega Publications supported the idea (for its new imprint, Suluk Press), and so I asked my good friend Prof. Siraj al-Haqq Scott Kugle if he would edit and introduce the texts.

I was delighted when Siraj-ji said yes, and still more delighted several months later when he showed me his manuscript and it become clear that, dissatisfied with the outdated translations, he had translated Kashkul and Haqq-Numa afresh. The resulting book far exceeded my expectations.

It is good to live in a world in which such books exist.

Sufi Meditation and Contemplation is available from Omega Publications/Suluk Press and Amazon.com.