Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read.

Start by marking “The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin” as Want to Read:

Other editions

Enlarge cover

Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Open Preview

The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin

(Mulla Nasrudin)

Idries Shah,

LeCain (Illustrations)

4.33 · Rating details · 494 ratings · 50 reviews

Today we find him in a high-level physics report, illustrating phenomena that can't be described in ordinary technical terms. He appears in psychology textbooks, illuminating the workings of the mind in a way no straightforward explanation can.

In three definitive volumes (The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin, The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin an

In three definitive volumes (The Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin, The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin and The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin) Idries Shah takes us to the very heart of this mysterious mentor, the Mulla Nasrudin. Skillful contemporary retellings of hundreds of collected stories and sayings bring the unmistakable--often backhanded--wisdom, wit and charm of the timeless jokester to life.

The Mulla and his stories appear in literature and oral traditions from the Middle East to Greece, Russia, France--even China. Many nations claim Nasrudin as a native son, but nobody really knows who he was or where he came from.

According to a legend dating from at least the 13th century, Nasrudin was snatched as a schoolboy from the clutches of the "Old Villain"--the crude system of thought that ensnares man--to carry through the ages the message of how to escape. He was chosen because he could make people laugh, and humor has a way of slipping through the cracks of the most rigid thinking habits.

Acclaimed as humorous masterpieces, as collections of the finest jokes, as priceless gift books, and for hundreds "enchanted tales," this folklore figure's antics have also been divined as "mirroring the antics of the mind." The jokes are, as Idries Shah notes, "perfectly designed models for isolating and holding distortions of the mind which so often pass for reasonable behavior." Therefore they have a double use: when the jokes have been enjoyed, their psychological significance starts to sink in.

In fact, for many centuries they have been studied in Sufi circles for their hidden wisdom. They are used as teaching exercises, in part to momentarily "freeze" situations in which states of mind can be recognized. The key to the philosophic significance of the Nasrudin jokes is given in Idries Shah's book The Sufis and a complete system of mystical training based upon them was described in the Hibbert Journal.

In these delightful volumes, Shah not only gives the Mulla a proper vehicle for our times, he proves that the centuries-old stories and quips of Nasrudin are still some of the funniest jokes in the world.

...more

Get A Copy

Paperback, 224 pages

Published July 1st 1993 by Penguin Books (first published November 1968)

More Details... Edit Details

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Reader Q&A

To ask other readers questions about The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin, please sign up.

Be the first to ask a question about The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin

Lists with This Book

This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list »

Community Reviews

Showing 1-30

Average rating 4.33 ·

Rating details

· 494 ratings · 50 reviews

More filters

Sort order

Start your review of The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin

Nov 29, 2008 Manny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: linguistics-and-philosophy, well-i-think-its-funny, islam-and-arabic, strongly-recommended

If one of your main objections to the Bible is that it kind of lacks humour, then check this out. A religion where one of the holy texts is a huge collection of jokes! And most of them are actually pretty funny. My favourite is the following. Nasrudin (the Sufi holy fool, who is the hero of most of the stories), is walking past the lake, when he sees a wild-looking guy sitting by the bank with a big jar and a spoon. When he gets closer, Nasrudin sees that he's spooning yoghurt into the water.

"Wh ...more

flag 35 likes · Like · see review

Apr 17, 2012 Aubrey Davis rated it it was amazing

Nasrudin went to a shop of a man who stocked all kinds of bit and pieces.
“Have you got nails?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“And leather, good leather?”
“Yes.”
“And dye?”
“Yes.”
“Then why, for Heaven’s sake, don’t you make a pair of boots?”

Occasionally I manage to take Nasrudin’s advice and make myself something useful from the jokes collected by Idries Shah in his Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin.

Here’s an example, entitled “Fixed Ideas”.

‘How old are you, Mulla?’
‘Forty.’
‘But you said the same last ...more

flag 7 likes · Like · see review

Feb 06, 2017 Daren rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: indian-author, fiction, middle-east, fiction-short-story-ies

This book is a collection of very short tales, jokes & annecdotes, all featuring Mulla Nasrudin.

Mulla Nasrudin is at the same time a fool and a clever Sufi holy man. His stories are told in this collection, some amusing, some profound, but most an exercise in common sense, or what-is-said-exactly.

A couple of the shorter examples:

P126 - The Speculator
Nasrudin bought a large number of eggs and at once sold them at a price lower than the cost. When asked why he did it, he said ' Surely you don't wa ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Sep 15, 2013 Toni rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Pleasantries of the Mulla.
Mirror mirror on the wall, whose the cleverest of us all?
MULLA NASRUDIN.
Nasrudin, packed in wit and humour, shows us how we fool ourselves and how upside down are our thoughts.
Page 58 Octagon Press, hardback. 'The philosophers consulted together, realized that their theoretical speculations were incapable of logical or quantitative proof. With one accord, they enrolled themselves as disciples of Nasrudin. ...more

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 04, 2017 Satyajeet rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Mulla Nasruddin was famously odd, but one of the wisest men. Beneath his apparent foolishness, there was a keen perception that cut straight to the truth.

flag 3 likes · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2019 Robs rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Putting your finger on what Nasrudin is really up to is like attempting to crush mercury with your hand. Much food for thought presented pleasantly within these pages.

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2016 Ita rated it it was amazing

‘I want to buy … an elephant,’ Mulla Nasrudin explains to the rich man to whom he has gone for money.
‘If you have no money, you can’t afford to keep an elephant.’
‘I came here,’ said Nasrudin, ‘to get money, not advice.’

The Mulla's reply comes in the form of stories – a hundred-and-eighty of them. They don’t seem like advice; but, story by story, they guide Nasrudin's –our– relationship to the Elephant of the great Sufi masters. They focus a gentle light on facets of the human psyche, revealing a ‘I want to buy … an elephant,’ Mulla Nasrudin explains to the rich man to whom he has gone for money.
‘If you have no money, you can’t afford to keep an elephant.’
‘I came here,’ said Nasrudin, ‘to get money, not advice.’

The Mulla's reply comes in the form of stories – a hundred-and-eighty of them. They don’t seem like advice; but, story by story, they guide Nasrudin's –our– relationship to the Elephant of the great Sufi masters. They focus a gentle light on facets of the human psyche, revealing all our absurdities and craziness. Our human weaknesses are laid bare but, because humour is the instrument, we don’t feel antagonised. Rather, we can’t help smiling, as we recognise the less admirable aspects of our character.

The mental images are vivid. We see Nasrudin, armed with a mallet, packing an ancient and valuable Chinese vase with fine sand to measure its exact capacity. Inevitably the vase breaks. Elsewhere he tries to rescue what he believes to be the Moon, from the well in which it has been trapped. When his efforts result in him being thrown on his back, and he sees the Moon riding in the sky, he still does not realise that it was its reflection he saw in the water.
‘Glad to be of service,’ he says to the heavenly body. ‘Just as well I came along, wasn’t it?’

'Nasrudin was sitting meditating in a mosque, at the end of a row of the faithful. Suddenly one, involuntarily, said: "I wonder whether I have left the fire burning at home?"
'His neighbour said: "You have broken your silence and spoiled the prayer. Now you will have to say it again."
' "So have you," said the next man.
' "Praise be to Allah," said Nasrudin aloud, "that I have not broken silence." '

Many of the impediments to seeing and thinking clearly, arise from our upbringing. When Nasrudin’s little boy is asked, ‘What is a Kar-kor-ajami?’ he replies without hesitation, ‘It is a blind-deaf-and-dumb-walking thing.’ to which his father adds, ‘and I taught it to be those things.’

However, we needn’t remain Kar-kor-ajamis. By the end of the book Nasrudin has achieved completeness. At this stage, in the eyes of the world, he still looks ridiculous.

The Mullas’s last joke centres around his tomb. The date inscribed on the tombstone was 386. The numbers translate to the Arabic word SHWF. ‘This is a form of the word for “seeing”,’ Shah tells us, ‘especially for “making a person see”.’
‘Perhaps it is for this reason,’ he concludes, ‘that for many years the dust from the tomb was considered to be effective in curing eye troubles …

The stories fade from consciousness, but an intangible legacy remains.
...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

May 01, 2019 Ronald Tailor rated it it was amazing

This book of short, humorous jokes and stories was designed to appeal to many audiences: those seeking a good laugh; those curious about what people many hundreds of years ago or living in very different cultures than theirs considered a good laugh; those seeking more than a good laugh (and this latter category can be divided into several subcategories); and possibly, although this isn't something I know much about, those reading this book because they were told to read it. So, even though I don This book of short, humorous jokes and stories was designed to appeal to many audiences: those seeking a good laugh; those curious about what people many hundreds of years ago or living in very different cultures than theirs considered a good laugh; those seeking more than a good laugh (and this latter category can be divided into several subcategories); and possibly, although this isn't something I know much about, those reading this book because they were told to read it. So, even though I don't fit into all of these categories, I'm going to say a little bit to each potential audience, based on my recent reading of this book.

For those seeking a good laugh: There are quite a few gems in here but the material, I must admit, is uneven. I know I don't have the most evolved sense of humor but still, some of them had me scratching my head, going "Huh? This is a joke?" If that is your experience, too, don't worry about it: the ones that _are_ funny are well worth waiting for. :-) Plus, some of these jokes come from strange places and times, so maybe it's a cultural/context thing. Oh, speaking of which, every culture has its do's and don'ts, its obsessions with good/bad and right/wrong. Our modern age is no exception, especially these days (nuff said, I think). Don't be too shocked if some of these tales strike you as extremely "incorrect." Just remember, these were different people and different times, and they had their own "do's and don'ts," "rights and wrongs" that you'd probably think were absurdly and irresponsibly ridiculous...as people in future times will likely consider this particular "oh so very correct" age that we are living through. (At least, I hope they will. :-/) If you don't go into this book expecting every single joke to have you rolling on the floor (plus be politically correct and perfectly non-offensive to modern ears), you'll really appreciate the ones that do, and you may also find they lend themselves to a more updated, relevant retelling. A few of them have already had contemporary elements added to them by the collector, so you don't have to dress them up too much in modern clothing.

For those wanting to know what people long ago and far away considered hilarious: You are going to get your money's worth. I don't know which was more fascinating: those stories that struck me as hilariously relevant today or those stories that made me think in absolute bafflement, "Well, I guess I had to be there..." I sometimes tried to figure out what sort of mind would find a certain joke a howler... but I was largely unsuccessful in that endeavor. :-/ But my native suspicious was that I would not enjoy being in that person's company for longer than five minutes...

For those seeking more than a good laugh: You are the group I belong to and, thus,can relate to the most. I'll just spit out what little I've been able to grasp and hope that some of you can help fill in the gaps. For years, these stories made no sense, no matter how I battered my intellect against them (no comments about said intellect, please--I already know. :-/). Over and over, trying to puzzle it through, trying to worm out secret, special meanings. Nada, except for the occasional reference to something else I had read. Then I realized I wasn't battering much at all. I demanded from myself an instant explanation (I'd read the joke, after all, so why wasn't I getting any meaning out of it other than "its punchline is so great/its punchline is so lame"? So I continued to read the other books that the author of this collection has written, slowly, as time and life (and my flagging willpower) allowed. I actually think slow, gradual, infrequent reading is the best way, as it prevents intellectual obsession which tends to make one dash about very very fast, but always in circles. But this could simply be my justifying my own laziness, lol.

So, after many years of fruitlessly dashing myself against the Mulla Nasrudin rocks, I then decided that I would try, if I could bear it (meaning my mind really is rather lazy), to think a little about the short story or joke right after I read it. I just asked myself "What does this mean?" and then tried to think of an answer..for longer than five seconds. Occasionally this mental fishing expedition landed me something tiny: a piece of seaweed or driftwood, a crab carapace, a little slug, a bottlecap that said "Moxie," or things like that to tell me there was life (or something) in that ocean... but that's about it. Still that latter point was something of a revelation to me. If there's life in those waters, there's likely a few fat fish! While my skills at puzzling out these joke stories have not really improved much (perhaps because I'm just not letting a certain ego-driven imagination off its tight leash), I have noticed small changes in my life that have absolutely nothing to do with stories or reading them. I guess I perceive things a little differently these days. I think I see more detail. Not all the time and nothing particularly profound. I guess that's it. It's enough for me. Was it really caused by reading funny stories like this? I don't know enough at this point to have an informed opinion on it. It's just an intuition, a sense of a connection, and you may know deceptive those can be, sigh.

For those told to read it: Like I said above, I've never been in your position and expect I never will be but I have a lot of experience with being told what to do, so I can offer this, in the hopes it will help. Follow the instructions, however brief (or verbose), to the letter (and to the spirit, too, if you're certain that you actually understand the spirit and aren't just flattering yourself). Middle of the road stuff here: no more and no less. Don't embellish, don't try to show off, don't overdo it, don't pull that "cool" underdoing shtick, don't assume any attitude that appeals to you as placing yourself in an admirable light. Just follow the instructions and don't think or care too much about it, other than doing your job and then moving on to the next thing. Don't let an ego-driven imagination rampage through this particular garden, flattening everything in its wake. Enjoy the tales. Some are quite hilarious, some are marvelously opaque, some may appear, well... lame, I am afraid. (Although that can be funny in its own way.) But through the reading, follow your directions, if there are any besides "read this," as carefully as if you were negotiating an arms truce with two hostile nuclear powers. And if you weren't told anything other than "read this," for god's sake, don't go inventing mysterious, subtle, hidden instructions that only you can perceive! Just do what you're usually expected to do with any instruction, whatever that may be. The ego is legion and works in all ways. So watch your back...

For what it's worth, the author/compiler of these tales is the late Idries Shah, a man's whose writings I deeply respect and can relate to. He writes on a wide range of subjects and levels. If you are intrigued by this book, I recommend you read more of what he's written. ...more

flag Like · see review

Jan 25, 2014 Mary Overton added it

Recommended to Mary by: Manny Raynor

The foolish-wisdom of Nasrudin, legendary Sufi Mulla of the 13th century:

‘What is the meaning of fate, Mulla?’
‘Assumptions.’
‘In what way?’
‘You assume things are going to go well and they don’t - that you call bad luck. You assume things are going to go badly and they don’t - that you call good luck. You assume that certain things are going to happen or not happen - and you so lack intuition that you don’t know what is going to happen. You assume that the future is unknown.
‘When you are caught ou ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Apr 04, 2019 John Zada rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Mulla Nasrudin is a joke figure of the Middle East found largely in Iran, Afghanistan and Turkey – and whose spinoffs, known by other names, can be found across the Islamic World and even beyond. He is a “wise fool” whose thinking and behaviour, meant to reflect our own, runs the gamut between sublime wisdom and utter stupidity.

The late Nobel Prize winning writer, late Doris Lessing, once wrote that Nasrudin jokes were “deliberately created to inculcate Sufic thinking, to outwit The Old Villain, ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Apr 15, 2019 John Bell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

These stories collected by Idries Shah have the power over time to change our perception of everyday matters, while they continue to make us laugh at Nasruddin's absurdity, as they have through the ages. Must read. ...more

flag 1 like · Like · see review

May 29, 2012 Lynn rated it it was amazing

Wisdom wrapped in humor covered in humanity.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Mar 11, 2014 Justin rated it liked it

Shelves: spirituality

Mostly humorous.
There are some deep philosophical thoughts but they seem to be few and far between.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Jul 08, 2016 Lili rated it it was amazing

Philosophy and life lessons served with a sense of humour.

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Oct 30, 2018 Suhrob rated it really liked it

Overall a very enjoyable collection - some stories are better than others but all-in-all great fun!

flag 1 like · Like · see review

Nov 11, 2019 Leonard Robichaud rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Another book in the Nasrudin series compiled by Idries Shah. Like the others, this is a compilation of "jokes" featuring the enigmatic figure of Mulla Nasrudin. Some of the stories make quite amusing jokes in the familiar sense, others are bemusing anecdotes that take your mind in unexpected directions and have no obvious punch line - but don't bother trying to "puzzle out" the meaning of the enigmatic ones! Like the other Nasrudin books, you'll want to dip into this one again and again over the ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 18, 2014 Kevan Bowkett rated it really liked it

This second installment of the Mulla Nasrudin Corpus contains over 160 miniature tales -- jokes, anecdotes -- which are teaching-stories in the Sufi tradition. The volume demonstrates something of the use of humour in Sufi learning situations. These stories of the 'wise fool' Nasrudin sometimes help us see our own behaviour in startling relief, and sometimes help us in overcoming assumptions that impede learning (eg. the tale 'The Reason'). They are also very amusing and well-written, delightful ...more

flag Like · see review

Apr 13, 2020 John Handforth rated it it was amazing

Entertaining and wIde ranging array of short anecdotes, jokes, and stories illustrating the antics of human thought. Nasrudin is an ancient story figure popular in oral tradition throughout Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Dunny and stimulating.

flag Like · see review

Jul 31, 2017 Kenny rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2017

Best intro to sufism bar none.

flag Like · see review

Nov 03, 2017 Pau rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Very entertaining! I have read these over and over again and they have something to offer for young and old alike.

flag Like · see review

Mar 13, 2018 Nia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: hilarious

3 stars and a C.

Quite a nice, hilarious read. Some of the anecdotes are pretty quirky and I remember reading them as a child in comic form, t'was nice to return to the Mulla Nasruddin universe. ...more

flag Like · see review

Nov 28, 2019 Gary rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Great

Great and funny anecdotes from a wise fool!
Lovers of malaprops and puns will like it.
A lot of verbal gymnastics with Nasrudin! 👍👌❤️

flag Like · see review

Sep 14, 2018 Shabana Mukhtar rated it it was amazing

Shelves: english, 2018-reads

The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin By Idries Shah

I found this book when I was going through (or stalking through) my GR friends' to-read list. The name Mulla Nasruddin caught my attention and I read through the three books by Idries.

You can never not enjoy the idiosyncracies of Mulla Nasruddin. He really was incredible.

I have lost the notebook where I had jotted down a few quotes. I think I will have to come back and update this review soon. ...more

flag 2 likes · Like · see review

Oct 23, 2015 WJ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Nasrudin’s “trials and tribulations” start, in this book, with “The Reason”, - the purchase of an elephant –and finish in open-ended fashion with “The Mulla’s Tomb” - a locked gate, no walls, and an example of number substitution. The elephant reference is explained by Shah at p.114, The Sufis, ed. 2015. Shah has noted that as one’s perceptions increase so does the power of extracting nutrition from these tales. For example, Pleasantries has the piece ‘Last Year’s Nest’ which, apparently can be ...more

flag Like · see review

Nov 29, 2015 Peter rated it it was amazing

Shelves: starred

What a delight these short stories are. I read them to my son when he was little and now in so many encounters in every day life we turn to each other and report a punchline, 'some sort of a cake?', 'I'm eating my money', 'I am the servant of the King not the vegetable'.
If you haven't a clue what I'm on about, please read the book and I wish you as much pleasure as we found.
Note my review refers to the new edition by ISF Publishing, http://www.idriesshahfoundation.org/b... ...more

flag Like · see review

Jun 25, 2007 Brad rated it really liked it

Shelves: folklore

The comic/didactic narratives of the Mulla are great. The drawback to this book is the small amount of actual texts and lots of illustrations and white space to expand the golden content into what is still a very slim volume.

flag Like · see review

Jun 26, 2007 Imran rated it liked it

Some of the antidotes get lost in translations but there are a few really good ones that makes you think in the traditional "sufi riddle" sense - simple stories (humorous to boot) with profound meaning. ...more

flag Like · see review

Jul 28, 2013 Eric rated it really liked it

These Sufi tales use humour to deflate pomposity and other human failings. Some are not particularly successful but others have a zen-like quality. The character of Nasrudin is a kind of comic-idiot-wise man!

flag Like · see review

Dec 27, 2014 Arundev rated it really liked it

This book is very expensive and authenticated. Bought from an online store. I already have this book in Malayalam language which is translated from original. But reading a authenticated one is good. I read this many time. Every-time feels like reading fresh

flag Like · see review

Jul 24, 2016 D M rated it liked it

I probably would have enjoyed it even more if I'd read it in back in the 70s-80s, but it was a delightfully wry book of Middle Eastern "myth" that shows the universality of the craziness of human nature. Simple to read, sometimes so simple you might miss the subtly profound underpinnings. ...more

flag Like · see review

« previous 1 2 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend It | Stats | Recent Status Updates

Readers also enjoyed

See similar books…

Genres

Philosophy

14 users

Religion

14 users

Fiction

13 users

Spirituality

12 users

Humor

11 users

Religion > Islam

7 users

Humor > Comedy

3 users

Folk Tales

3 users

Short Stories

3 users

Literature

2 users

See top shelves…

About Idries Shah

Idries Shah

344 followers

Idries Shah (Persian: ادریس شاه), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي), was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen critically acclaimed books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.

Born in India, the descendant of a family of Afghan nobles, Shah grew up mainly in England. His ea Idries Shah (Persian: ادریس شاه), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي), was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen critically acclaimed books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.

Born in India, the descendant of a family of Afghan nobles, Shah grew up mainly in England. His early writings centred on magic and witchcraft. In 1960 he established a publishing house, Octagon Press, producing translations of Sufi classics as well as titles of his own. His most seminal work was The Sufis, which appeared in 1964 and was well received internationally. In 1965, Shah founded the Institute for Cultural Research, a London-based educational charity devoted to the study of human behaviour and culture. A similar organisation, the Institute for the Study of Human Knowledge (ISHK), exists in the United States, under the directorship of Stanford University psychology professor Robert Ornstein, whom Shah appointed as his deputy in the U.S.

In his writings, Shah presented Sufism as a universal form of wisdom that predated Islam. Emphasising that Sufism was not static but always adapted itself to the current time, place and people, he framed his teaching in Western psychological terms. Shah made extensive use of traditional teaching stories and parables, texts that contained multiple layers of meaning designed to trigger insight and self-reflection in the reader. He is perhaps best known for his collections of humorous Mulla Nasrudin stories.

Shah was at times criticised by orientalists who questioned his credentials and background. His role in the controversy surrounding a new translation of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, published by his friend Robert Graves and his older brother Omar Ali-Shah, came in for particular scrutiny. However, he also had many notable defenders, chief among them the novelist Doris Lessing. Shah came to be recognised as a spokesman for Sufism in the West and lectured as a visiting professor at a number of Western universities. His works have played a significant part in presenting Sufism as a secular, individualistic form of spiritual wisdom.

Idries Shah's books on Sufism achieved considerable critical acclaim. He was the subject of a BBC documentary ("One Pair of Eyes") in 1969, and two of his works (The Way of the Sufi and Reflections) were chosen as "Outstanding Book of the Year" by the BBC's "The Critics" programme. Among other honours, Shah won six first prizes at the UNESCO World Book Year in 1973, and the Islamic scholar James Kritzeck, commenting on Shah's Tales of the Dervishes, said that it was "beautifully translated".
The reception of Shah's movement was also marked by much controversy. Some orientalists were hostile, in part because Shah presented classical Sufi writings as tools for self-development to be used by contemporary people, rather than as objects of historical study. L. P. Elwell-Sutton from Edinburgh University, Shah's fiercest critic, described his books as "trivial", replete with errors of fact, slovenly and inaccurate translations and even misspellings of Oriental names and words – "a muddle of platitudes, irrelevancies and plain mumbo-jumbo", adding for good measure that Shah had "a remarkable opinion of his own importance". Expressing amusement and amazement at the "sycophantic manner" of Shah's interlocutors in a BBC radio interview, Elwell-Sutton concluded that some Western intellectuals were "so desperate to find answers to the questions that baffle them, that, confronted with wisdom from 'the mysterious East,' they abandon their critical faculties and submit to brainwashing of the crudest kind". To Elwell-Sutton, Shah's Sufism belonged to the realm of "Pseudo-Sufism", "centred not on God but on man."

Doris Lessing, one of Shah's greatest defenders,stated in a 1981 interview: "I found Sufism as taught by Idries Shah, which claim ...more

Other books in the series

Mulla Nasrudin (4 books)

Books by Idries Shah

Tales of the Dervishes: Teaching Stories of the Sufi Masters Over the Past Thousand Years

Exploits of the Incomparable Mulla Nasrudin: The Subtleties of the Inimitable Mulla Nasrudin

Learning How to Learn: Psychology and Spirituality in the Sufi Way

More…

This Just In: ‘SNL’ Star Colin Jost Is Seriously Bookish

You might know comedian Colin Jost from his work as the co-anchor of Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, or perhaps you know him as Scarlett...

Trivia About The Pleasantries ...

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from The Pleasantries ...

“If a pot can multiply. One day Nasrudin lent his cooking pots to a neighbour, who was giving a feast. The neighbour returned them, together with one extra one – a very tiny pot. 'What is this?' asked Nasrudin. 'According to law, I have given you the offspring of your property which was born when the pots were in my care,' said the joker. Shortly afterwards Nasrudin borrowed his neighbour's pots, but did not return them. The man came round to get them back. 'Alas!' said Nasrudin, 'they are dead. We have established, have we not, that pots are mortal?'.” — 5 likes

“Saying of the Mulla Nasrudin. If I survive this life without dying, I'll be surprised.” — 5 likes

More quotes…

See a Problem?

Preview — The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin by Idries Shah

The Pleasantries of the Incredible Mulla Nasrudin

(Mulla Nasrudin)

Get A Copy

Friend Reviews

Reader Q&A

Lists with This Book

Community Reviews

new topic
Discuss This Book

Readers also enjoyed

Genres

About Idries Shah

Other books in the series

Books by Idries Shah

Related Articles

Trivia About The Pleasantries ...

Quotes from The Pleasantries ...