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Sufism: Veil and Quintessence A New Translation with Selected Letters
This new edition of Frithjof Schuon's important work, Veil and Quintessence, is a fully revised translation from the French original and has an extensive Appendix containing previously unpublished letters and other private writings.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
About the author
Frithjof Schuon
184 books225 followersFrithjof Schuon was a native of Switzerland born to German parents in Basel, Switzerland. He is known as a philosopher, metaphysician and author of numerous books on religion and spirituality.
Schuon is recognized as an authority on philosophy, spirituality and religion, an exponent of the Religio Perennis, and one of the chief representatives of the Perennialist School. Though he was not officially affiliated with the academic world, his writings have been noticed in scholarly and philosophical journals, and by scholars of comparative religion and spirituality. Criticism of the relativism of the modern academic world is one of the main aspects of Schuon's teachings. In his teachings, Schuon expresses his faith in an absolute principle, God, who governs the universe and to whom our souls would return after death. For Schuon the great revelations are the link between this absolute principle—God—and mankind. He wrote the main bulk of his metaphysical teachings in French. In the later years of his life Schuon composed some volumes of poetry in his mother tongue, German. His articles in French were collected in about twenty titles in French which were later translated into English as well as many other languages.
http://www.sophia-perennis.com/philos...
Schuon is recognized as an authority on philosophy, spirituality and religion, an exponent of the Religio Perennis, and one of the chief representatives of the Perennialist School. Though he was not officially affiliated with the academic world, his writings have been noticed in scholarly and philosophical journals, and by scholars of comparative religion and spirituality. Criticism of the relativism of the modern academic world is one of the main aspects of Schuon's teachings. In his teachings, Schuon expresses his faith in an absolute principle, God, who governs the universe and to whom our souls would return after death. For Schuon the great revelations are the link between this absolute principle—God—and mankind. He wrote the main bulk of his metaphysical teachings in French. In the later years of his life Schuon composed some volumes of poetry in his mother tongue, German. His articles in French were collected in about twenty titles in French which were later translated into English as well as many other languages.
http://www.sophia-perennis.com/philos...
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 3, 2026
One of the most enduring and beautiful aspects of Schuon's writing is the way he keeps pushing the reader back to a focus on essence and authenticity. He compels the seeker to realize that universal truth is consistent no matter what symbolic concepts we might utilize to describe that truth. This is one of the key ideas of Perennialist thought, yet like all deep truths, those who express it must use great caution in a world of multiplicity. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, himself a student of Schuon's, wrote the new introduction to this classic work, and discusses how Schuon for many years put off the idea of writing a book with the word "Sufism" in the title as he thought it would give a misconception of Sufism as being separate from Islam. "When we turned to him again and asked him why it was that he had now changed his view and decided to use the word Sufism as part of the title of his new book, he said that through all these years he had established the truth that Sufism was the inner dimension of Islam, and now he could deal with Sufism itself and the intricate factors that were involved in the formulation, exposition, and practice within this tradition." (intro, p. vii)
In the symbolic language of religion, and specifically of Sufism, Schuon calls it: "A crystal that captures the divine Light, refracting it in accordance with a language that is at once particular and universal." (xiv, preface). "For it is not a question of inventing truth, but remembering it." (xiv, preface)
Schuon's concern is twofold: to present Sufism in its esoteric significance as a function of Islam and to show how Sufism taps into the essence that is at base the ultimate reality beyond all religious forms. This idea of particular yet universal is in constant tension in his writings. "It follows from these considerations that God is the same for all the religions only in the divine 'stratosphere', not in the human 'atmosphere'; in this 'atmosphere' each religion has its own God for all practical purposes, and there are as many Gods as there are religions." (41).
In his portrayal of Sufism, Schuon spends some time illuminating formative and historical aspects of Islam itself. Particularly valuable is the way he describes Arabic rhetoric and therefore the nature of the written form of the Qur'anic discourse. The elliptical nature of the Qur'an is a direct product of its Arabic revelation and is profoundly beautiful in its layers of meaning. For the Westerner, however, this aspect of the Qur'an can be enigmatic, especially in translation. The Qur'an puts into words precisely what cannot be put into words, and is a sublime symbol of the particular yet universal. As it relates to the Western mind, Schuon compares it to reason, ultimately calling reason "a groping in the dark" (17), but a groping that is searching for something realized a priori. This a priori knowledge means that it "is not the mind that is groping, but the language" (17). Sufism as practice and method seeks to aid the believer in realizing and experiencing this knowledge, which at base is ultimate truth.
This knowledge which Schuon speaks of is veiled by various layers of modernity. Schuon's goal, and the goal of Sufism is to help the seeker remove these veils so that the soul is pure in its remembrance of the divine. This divine remembrance or "dhikr" is one of the most fundamental ideas and practices of Sufism. Schuon spends a great deal of time discussing what the pure invocation of the name and remembrance practices of Sufism mean in relation to the whole of Islam, to the Sophia Perennis and ultimately to the realization of higher spiritual truths. Schuon describes the Dhikr as "work in the highest sense of the word." (120). It is the most authentic work in the most authentic of esoterisms, which in the Islamic form is expressed in the teachings we have come to know as Sufism, and which here is expressed by a man who has lived, practiced and experienced these ideas for himself, and who spent his life passing on this spiritual lineage to everyone who knew him.
In the symbolic language of religion, and specifically of Sufism, Schuon calls it: "A crystal that captures the divine Light, refracting it in accordance with a language that is at once particular and universal." (xiv, preface). "For it is not a question of inventing truth, but remembering it." (xiv, preface)
Schuon's concern is twofold: to present Sufism in its esoteric significance as a function of Islam and to show how Sufism taps into the essence that is at base the ultimate reality beyond all religious forms. This idea of particular yet universal is in constant tension in his writings. "It follows from these considerations that God is the same for all the religions only in the divine 'stratosphere', not in the human 'atmosphere'; in this 'atmosphere' each religion has its own God for all practical purposes, and there are as many Gods as there are religions." (41).
In his portrayal of Sufism, Schuon spends some time illuminating formative and historical aspects of Islam itself. Particularly valuable is the way he describes Arabic rhetoric and therefore the nature of the written form of the Qur'anic discourse. The elliptical nature of the Qur'an is a direct product of its Arabic revelation and is profoundly beautiful in its layers of meaning. For the Westerner, however, this aspect of the Qur'an can be enigmatic, especially in translation. The Qur'an puts into words precisely what cannot be put into words, and is a sublime symbol of the particular yet universal. As it relates to the Western mind, Schuon compares it to reason, ultimately calling reason "a groping in the dark" (17), but a groping that is searching for something realized a priori. This a priori knowledge means that it "is not the mind that is groping, but the language" (17). Sufism as practice and method seeks to aid the believer in realizing and experiencing this knowledge, which at base is ultimate truth.
This knowledge which Schuon speaks of is veiled by various layers of modernity. Schuon's goal, and the goal of Sufism is to help the seeker remove these veils so that the soul is pure in its remembrance of the divine. This divine remembrance or "dhikr" is one of the most fundamental ideas and practices of Sufism. Schuon spends a great deal of time discussing what the pure invocation of the name and remembrance practices of Sufism mean in relation to the whole of Islam, to the Sophia Perennis and ultimately to the realization of higher spiritual truths. Schuon describes the Dhikr as "work in the highest sense of the word." (120). It is the most authentic work in the most authentic of esoterisms, which in the Islamic form is expressed in the teachings we have come to know as Sufism, and which here is expressed by a man who has lived, practiced and experienced these ideas for himself, and who spent his life passing on this spiritual lineage to everyone who knew him.
April 15, 2020
Quelques années après sa lecture, je me souviens seulement de ce livre comme étant une approche originale du soufisme. Il présente le soufisme d'une manière approfondie. Il donne des explications de certaines formulations (comme par exemple le faite de dire que "Muhammad -que la grâce et le salut de Dieu soient sur lui-est le meilleur des prophètes") mais, aussi, il fait la critique de certaines figures du soufisme. Cependant, le style est assez difficile d'accès et il est important de lire le livre après une initiation au soufisme.
July 5, 2024
Technically it's like beating a dead horse commenting on some of Schuon's books by now.
Salient points of "Sofism : Zeal and Obsolescence" :
- Islamic prophetology is just a naive denominationalist illusion.
- Al Ghazali and Al Ashari's mentalities are that of a "chivalrous merchant" (sic) - he means, obviously, that they are nothing more than that.
- Ibn Arabi should have "remained silent, for pity’s sake” (sic) instead of going on and on about prophetology.
- Schuon's "perennial" leitmotiv complaint remains the same : "Why is sufism not like vedanta ?"
- "[...] should a given Muslim master require us to introduce every dhikr with an ablution and two rakaʿāt, the universal—and “antiformalist”—authority of japa-yoga would take precedence over the authority of this master, at least in our case."At least in his case, well that was good to know.
- No need to mention some of his sempiternal good old "Semite vs Aryan" jugglery.
....for pity’s sake.
An abomination of a book, really. Pernicious stuff.
Salient points of "Sofism : Zeal and Obsolescence" :
- Islamic prophetology is just a naive denominationalist illusion.
- Al Ghazali and Al Ashari's mentalities are that of a "chivalrous merchant" (sic) - he means, obviously, that they are nothing more than that.
- Ibn Arabi should have "remained silent, for pity’s sake” (sic) instead of going on and on about prophetology.
- Schuon's "perennial" leitmotiv complaint remains the same : "Why is sufism not like vedanta ?"
- "[...] should a given Muslim master require us to introduce every dhikr with an ablution and two rakaʿāt, the universal—and “antiformalist”—authority of japa-yoga would take precedence over the authority of this master, at least in our case."At least in his case, well that was good to know.
- No need to mention some of his sempiternal good old "Semite vs Aryan" jugglery.
....for pity’s sake.
An abomination of a book, really. Pernicious stuff.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews