THE KASIDAH
of Haji Abdu El-Yezdi

Sir Richard Burton

Octagon Press, 1974, 1991

Sir Richard Burton's classic, written in 1880 after his return from Mecca, has been called one of the greatest poems of the Earth, and the essence of the explorer's life and work. In exquisite verse and extensive author's notes, Burton adapts the style, techniques, and ideas of the classical Sufi masters such as Hafiz and Omar Khayyam, exploring the limitations of man's undeveloped reason, egoism, and self-made religions in fulfilling real human destiny.

Idries Shah devotes almost an entire chapter of The Sufis to The Kasidah calling it 'One of the most interesting productions of Western Sufic literature...Burton provided a bridge whereby the thinking Westerner could accept essential Sufi concepts.' A beautiful new edition with gold-embossed cover.