Background
She is the sister of the Sufi writers Idries Shah and Omar Ali-Shah, and the daughter of Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah and Saira Elizabeth Luiza Shah.
(Since the time of the First Crusade, the picaresque adven...)
Since the time of the First Crusade, the picaresque adventures of the rascal Abu Zayd of Saruj have been read, admired, imitated and praised from Spain to the Hindu Kush. It is the inner thread of this amazing book that makes it a world classic: the tales and events mirror the antics of the human mind in its way through life. The last chapter where the "rascal," after all his experiences, settles down to a devout Sufi life, gives the clue to this fascinating textbook of traditional psychology.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0900860863/?tag=2022091-20
( A goldsmith’s daughter who eludes the Prince of Darknes...)
A goldsmith’s daughter who eludes the Prince of Darkness, three wandering brothers born from a walnut tree, the Princess of Fantasistan, the case of the Shah’s lost ruby ring, the leopard and the Sultan’s emissary, the Cook and the Unforgettable Sneeze… These are just some of the enchanting stories described in Tales from the Bazaars of Arabia, a collection of classic folktales gathered from Arabia, Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey. Each story is alive with vivid characters - beggars and kings, merchants, witches and djinns - and threaded with universal motifs of fantasy and magic, fate and karma, good and evil. With spirit and passion, Amina Shah here illuminates the exoticism of bygone worlds and resurrects the memories and traditions of some of the greatest storytelling cultures in the world.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1845117018/?tag=2022091-20
(Tradition has it that the great Nizamuddin Awliyya, after...)
Tradition has it that the great Nizamuddin Awliyya, after hearing this allegory from his disciple Khusru, placed a benediction on the work. It is widely believed that those who hear it will be restored to health.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0900860448/?tag=2022091-20
She is the sister of the Sufi writers Idries Shah and Omar Ali-Shah, and the daughter of Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah and Saira Elizabeth Luiza Shah.
Shah was born into a distinguished family of Saadat (= Arabic plural of Sayyid) who had their ancestral home at Paghman, not far from Kabul. Her paternal grandfather, Sayyid Amjad Ali Shah, was the nawab of Sardhana, in the North-Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The principality was awarded to his ancestor January-Fishan Khan during the British Raj, and had been ruled formerly by the Kashmiri-born warrior-princess, the Begum Samru.
Her career as a folklorist and author spanned seventy years.
In that time she travelled widely, collecting stories and studying folklore. Her travels took her through Africa and the Middle East, through the jungles of Sarawak, across the Australian Outback, Afghanistan, and beyond.
( A goldsmith’s daughter who eludes the Prince of Darknes...)
(Since the time of the First Crusade, the picaresque adven...)
(Tradition has it that the great Nizamuddin Awliyya, after...)
(Eighteen folktales from the author's ancestral homeland, ...)
(This beautiful anthology is a haunting reminder that the ...)