Knowledge has a central place in Islamic mysticism, so that a mystic’s endeavors are totally turned towards knowing the Beloved. Clearly this kind of spiritual knowledge differs from other conventional forms of knowledge, and consequently its language is different with other fields of study’s languages. Mystics have had to use metaphors for explaining their experiences and insights, and one of the most accepted metaphors has been “the sea”. They liken the authentic and ultimate mystical knowledge to the sea and consider other forms of knowledge as a shore along which a man just can see an image of the sea and if somebody want to get a real understanding of it, he or she should leave the shore and plunge into the water. In this book, the writer tries to study different views of different Muslim mystics toward this metaphor, and hereby he examines some other mystical topics like ignorance, bewilderment, love, divine love, etc.

Nasrollah Pourjavadi (born in 1943/1322 in Tehran) is a researcher and professor in philosophy at Tehran University and an associate member of Academy of Persian Language and Literature.