Book Description

Within the Heart of Hearts is a journey into the mystical secrets of the heart. Designed to be read like a medieval book of hours, it uses prose, poetry, and images as a series of meditations on the stages of love's mystical journey, from the initial experience of searching and the heart's longing, to the ecstatic union with God, the lover united with the Beloved. This simple but powerful description of the Sufi journey reminds us of this living tradition of divine love. Beautiful images speak directly to the soul, as do the poems that touch the heart. Here is the poetry of Rumi, Hafiz, Ibn 'Arabi, and other Sufi masters placed within the context of the stages of the heart's opening to God. Speaking the universal language of love, they allow each of us to feel the mystery, wonder, and bliss that belongs to the heart of hearts, the mystical secret that is hidden within us. They draw us deep within our own heart, where this intoxicating relationship of lover and Beloved takes place. The popularity of Rumi has shown a thirst in the West for mystical love. This small book is a way to drink deeply of this wine of love, this tradition of lovers of God. Written by a contemporary Sufi, Within the Heart of Hearts is based upon a lived experience of the Sufi path and the inner experiences of the heart. "... a gentle and uplifting introduction to the mystical ground of being, weaving the voices of legendary Sufi poets such as Rumi, Hafiz, Rabi'a, Ghalib, Abu Sa'id, and Nizami. Reading this book is like sitting in a circle of ancient pilgrims as they share their inner journeys on a mountain at sunrise." —MARK NEPO, author, The Endless Practice and The Book of Awakening "Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee has a gift. He dives into the deep ocean of classical Sufi teachings, and comes up again and again with pearls of beauty that speak to our hearts today. This is more than merely translating, it is that rare ability to re-present teachings here and now. Recommended for spiritual seekers who are drawn to the path of Divine love." —Prof OMID SAFI, Ph.D, Director of Duke University's Islamic Studies Center; international speaker appearing on PBS, NPR, NBC, CNN, The New York Times, Newsweek, the Washington Post, and other international media; and author of Radical Love: Teachings from the Islamic Mystical Tradition "... a crucible for transformation ...The poems Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee has gathered here, activated by his own distilled reflections, and illumined by Anat Vaughan-Lee's luminous images, have the power to awaken the heart's deepest longing and simultaneously meet the heart's highest hopes for union with the Beloved. I wept my way through this encounter, and I am not the same." —MIRABAI STARR, translator of John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila, and author, God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity & Islam