Books by Idries Shah

The appeal of Nasrudin is as universal and timeless as the truths he illustrates. His stories are read by children, by scientists and scholars, and by followers of philosophy. Idries Shah assembled this collection of Nasrudin's trials and tribulations from ancient manuscripts and oral literature, from sources in North Africa and Turkey, the Middle East and Central Asia. Many were known to the great Sufi masters, Rumi, Jami, and Attar the chemist.

(Bilingual English-Spanish edition / Edici├│n biling├╝e ingl├⌐s-espa├▒ol) This is a delightful and humorous tale about a chicken who learns to speak as we do - with unexpected consequences. The surprising events that follow intrigue young children and, and at the same time, alert them in a very amusing way to the dangers of being too quick to believe everything they hear. Illustrator Jeff Jackson creates a lively and lighthearted world, rich in color and expression, in which anything can happen. This tale is one of the many hundreds of Sufi developmental stories collected by Idries Shah from oral and written sources in Central Asia and the Middle East. For more than a thousand years, it has entertained young people and helped foster in them the ability to examine their assumptions and to think for themselves.     Este es un cuento encantador y gracioso sobre un pollo que aprende a hablar como nosotros, con consecuencias inesperadas. Los sorprendentes eventos que siguen intrigan a los ni├▒os peque├▒os y, al mismo tiempo, los alertan de una manera muy divertida sobre los peligros de ser demasiado r├ípidos para creer todo lo que escuchan. El ilustrador Jeff Jackson crea un mundo alegre y divertido, rico en color y expresi├│n, en el que todo puede suceder. Este cuento es uno de los muchos cientos de historias de desarrollo suf├¡es recopiladas por Idries Shah de fuentes orales y escritas en Asia Central y Medio Oriente. Durante m├ís de mil a├▒os, ha entretenido a los j├│venes y les ha ayudado a fomentar la capacidad de examinar sus suposiciones y pensar por s├¡ mismos.

(Bilingual English-Spanish edition / Edici├│n biling├╝e ingl├⌐s-espa├▒ol) This story tells how a woman loses an apple down a hole in the ground and then makes a series of attempts to retrieve it. Children love chanting the action sequence of this cumulative tale from memory, but when the plot takes a sudden turn that''s contrary to all expectations, they also learn important lessons about the nature of problem solving and discovery. The strikingly beautiful illustrations by Rose Mary Santiago invoke the origins of the story - which comes from the Sufi tradition and has been told for hundreds of years in the Middle East and Central Asia - while at the same time lending a uniquely playful atmosphere to this very amusing tale.       Esta historia cuenta c├│mo una mujer pierde una manzana por un agujero en el suelo y luego hace una serie de intentos para recuperarla. A los ni├▒os les encanta recitar de memoria la secuencia de acciones de este cuento acumulativo, pero cuando la trama da un giro repentino que es contrario a todas las expectativas, tambi├⌐n aprenden lecciones importantes sobre la naturaleza de la resoluci├│n de problemas y el descubrimiento. Las ilustraciones sorprendentemente hermosas de Rose Mary Santiago invocan los or├¡genes de la historia - que proviene de la tradici├│n suf├¡ y se viene contando durante cientos de a├▒os en el Medio Oriente y Asia Central - mientras que al mismo tiempo dan un ambiente l├║dico ├║nico a este cuento tan divertido.

(Bilingual English-Spanish edition / Edici├│n biling├╝e ingl├⌐s-espa├▒ol) On the day a boy is born, his parents are visited by a wise man who tells them, "This is a very, very important boy, and I''m going to give him something marvelous one day, but I will have to give him his name first. So please don''t give him a name yet." So they named the boy Benaam, which means "nameless." The story tells how he seeks and eventually finds his own true name, and how he also gives away an old dream that he doesn''t want - and gets a wonderful new dream. This is one of an illustrated series of Sufi teaching stories from the Middle East and Central Asia that were collected and adapted for children by Idries Shah, and that have captivated hearts and minds for more than a thousand years. The stories are designed to help children learn to examine their assumptions and to think for themselves. Among the many insights The Boy Without a Name can provoke is the idea that it takes patience and resolve to achieve one''s goals in life. Mona Caron''s beautiful watercolor illustrations embellish this unusual and captivating story, presenting the wonder of this hidden world to both children and adults.El d├¡a que nace el ni├▒o, un sabio visita a sus padres y les dice: "Este es un ni├▒o muy, muy importante, y un d├¡a le voy a dar algo maravilloso, pero tendr├⌐ que darle su nombre primero. As├¡ que, por favor, no le deis un nombre todav├¡a." Por lo tanto, llamaron al ni├▒o Benaam, que significa "sin nombre." Esta historia cuenta c├│mo el ni├▒o busca y finalmente encuentra su nombre verdadero, y c├│mo regala un viejo sue├▒o que no quiere y obtiene otro nuevo y maravilloso. El cuento pertenece a la serie ilustrada de historias de ense├▒anza suf├¡es originarias del Medio Oriente y el Asia Central, que fueron recopiladas y adaptadas para ni├▒os por Idries Shah. Estas historias, que han cautivado corazones y mentes durante m├ís de mil a├▒os, est├ín dise├▒adas para ayudar a los ni├▒os a aprender a examinar sus suposiciones y a pensar por s├¡ mismos. Entre las muchas ideas que El ni├▒o sin nombre puede provocar est├í el concepto de que se necesita paciencia y determinaci├│n para lograr las metas de la vida. Las hermosas ilustraciones en acuarela de Mona Caron embellecen esta inusual historia presentando la maravilla de un mundo oculto tanto a ni├▒os como a adultos.

Small in size, but with a powerful punch, Idries Shah's Reflections is a collection of fables, aphorisms, and statements that challenge the conditioned mind. The book confronts the reader with unaccustomed perspectives and ideas, in an attempt to set the mind free, to see how things really are. As the book's foreword states, 'Do you imagine that fables exist only to amuse or to instruct, and are based upon fiction? The best ones are delineations of what happens in real life, in the community and in the individual's mental processes'.

Caravan of Dreams distills the essence of Eastern thought in a feast of Sufi stories, sayings, poems and allegories, collected by one of the world's leading experts in Oriental philosophy and Sufism. Idries Shah builds up a complete picture of a single consciousness, relating Eastern mythology to reality, illuminating historical patterns, and presenting philosophical legends in this unique anthology.Its title is inspired from the couplet written by the Sufi mystic Bahaudin:'Here we are, all of us: in a dream-caravan,A caravan, but a dream - a dream, but a caravan.And we know which are the dreams.Therein lies the hope.'

Used for more than seven hundred years as a teaching story, The Book of the Book is one of the most compelling and astonishing texts ever to emerge from the Orient. Its central premise is the simple phrase: 'When you realise the difference between the container and the content, you will have knowledge.' When the book first appeared in English thirty-five years ago, its printers questioned how it could be a book, as did reviewers, scholars, and people who paid money to buy it.The Book of the Book is now in its seventh impression, and is studied at university level, appreciated by all for its simple brilliance.