The dervishes of Turkey

First published in 1912, The Dervishes of Turkey presents information collected in Ottoman Turkey in the early part of this century about the dervish orders as Ms. Garnett perceived them. In the foreword, O.M. Burke describes three types of books about Sufism: books written by the Sufis themselves - past and present - which are intended to instruct; books by "outsiders," such as Orientalists, who "are never aware of the method of extracting currently relevant materials from traditional ones;" and what he calls "museum materials" - superseded manifestations of Sufism on which imitators in both East and West have tried to build whole schools and orders. According to Burke, The Dervishes of Turkey, a major source for many Orientalists, combines the faults and virtues of the latter two.… (more)