Persian Poets who Influenced the Society; the Case Study of Arthur John Arberry’s Sufism as an Account of the Mystics in Islam

Abstract

When Arthur John Arberry claims his work on “Sufism as an account of the mystics in Islam” as “the first concise history of Sufism to appear in any language”, every common reader assumes what has been added new in this book. No doubt, Arberry has expertise in Islamic Studies, Iranian Studies and Sufism but when he discusses Persian poets and their notable works, no one finds his personal experiences about Sufism and its impacts on Persianate societies. When this study looks at the data collection methodology adopted by Arthur John Arberry during writing this book or his any other work related to that, it is found that the author only relies upon secondary sources but never visited Iran or any other major Persianate society (such as Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and/or Tajikistan). Otherwise, he could find a huge list of books related to addressed topics in every library in described countries including Iran. Moreover, this study provides critical findings from his book which could make this book more comprehensive if the author considered them.