Among the Dervishes

This is an extremely enjoyable travelogue to remote outposts of Asian and Middle Eastern Sufism. As did another reviewer, I have some doubts as to the veracity of all of the anecdotes, and am suspicious that there is a hidden agenda to promote a somewhat cultish attitude towards the late Idries Shah. That notwithstanding, the book is entertaining from start to finish, and provides glimpses into a world that is alternately attractive and menacing. (By the way, the incidents described in this book took place several decades ago, so the book will not necessarily provide insights into current events or current happenings within Sufism or the Islamic world.) Author O.M. Burke is an intelligent but pleasantly naive traveler, anticipating many of my questions and sharing many of my reactions to the unexpected twists and turns of his journey.

Idries Shah died in 1996. The latter part of his career is documented in Bashir M. Dervish's JOURNEYS WITH A SUFI MASTER. AMONG THE DERVISHES is about the early days. Both are unusual travel books, because in both cases the travels are orchestrated by well placed Sufis and the books written more to take the reader on a journey than to either tell about a journey or Sufism. Idries Shah's son, Tahir Shah, is writing similar books, the most recent: TRAIL OF FEATHERS.