The soft use of language

Religion News Service | Blogs | Omid Safi – What Would Muhammad Do? | From mystical timeless to today’s timely. How to take the timeless language of classical Islamic mysticism, and express in it 21st century American English is something that takes heart and soul, intellect and craft, and Alexis York Lumbard’s beautiful Conference of the Birds is indeed rich with all these qualities.    Lumbard's work is beautifully illustrated by the incomparable Demi.    The result is a stunning work of art that speaks to all who are spiritually seeking, no matter what their age.   

‘Alif the Unseen’ by G. Willow Wilson – NYTimes.com. Ms. Wilson fills “Alif the Unseen” with an array of observations about contemporary culture: new questions of theology (if a sin is committed in virtual reality, is it still a sin?); fantasy literature and, most conspicuously, Western culture. At one point the conversation turns to Lawrence Durrell and the Alexandria Quartet, the question being if the novels are Eastern or Western literature. “There is a very simple test,” Vikram says. “Is it about bored, tired people having sex?” Yes, he is told. “Then it’s Western,” Vikram decrees.

Another great review for an anthology in which I have an essay. Buy early and buy often. Spiritual Living Reviews, July 15, 2012 — Library Journal Reviews. All-American: 45 American Men on Being Muslim. White Cloud. (I Speak for Myself). 2012. c.256p. ed. by Wajahat Ali & Zahra T. Suratwala. illus. ISBN 9781935952596. pap. $16.95. REL Too various for a simple description, this fascinating book brings together 45 brief testimonies from American men who are Muslim, men who run the full range of experience, identity, and persuasion—gay and straight, convert and birthright, immigrant and native, conservative and radical. These candid…