Among the Dervishes

by Omar Michael Burke

O. M. Burke's first-hand account of his modern-day pilgrimage begins in a school built like a medieval rock fortress hidden in northern India. From there he takes the reader to monasteries where... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525473866
• ISBN13: 9780525473862
• Release Date: March 1975
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 203 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Immensely Entertaining - But True?

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.

The early years of Idries Shah's career.

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.