Here are the early Sufis themselves. Here are their ascetic practices; their attitudes toward women and marriage, toward food and drink, and toward music and poetry; and here is their ecstatic experience. This is a study in holiness and the love of God, but it is even more a study of men and women overcome by that holiness and love, and locked in the paradox of loving a God who makes vast demands on them. The early Sufis were not seeking consolation. Who they were and what they were after, the reader will discover here. Topics discussed include the historical background of early Muslim mysticism and the relations between Muslim and Christian ascetics. Andrae suggests parallels drawn from his vast reading in the literature of religious experience, both East and West.

This book unites new information and surprising results from the last fifteen years of garden research, at a remove from the clichés of Orientalism. Garden archaeology reveals the economic importance of Judean gardens in Roman times and the visual complexity of gardens created and transformed in Moorish Spain. More contemporary approaches unravel the cultural continuities, variations, and differences between gardens in the Middle East since Roman times and in the Islamic world.

This book presents a study into the art of Jiangnan classical garden. Jiangnan (“the south of the Yangtze River”) refers to the water network region along the lower reaches of the Changjiang River (formerly known as Yangtze River), where Jiangsu Province Chinese gardens were primarily constructed during the 16th and 17th centuries of the later Ming and early Qing dynasties. The Jiangnan garden, an architectural space where artificial and natural elements are combined, represents the elite of classical Chinese gardens and serves as a prime exemplar for its northern counterpart, the Ming and Qing imperial gardens. The book pursues an interdisciplinary approach, combining historical information with case studies and other methods. Charts and pictures are used to supplement and reinforce the conclusions drawn from the macro narrative, enhancing the authenticity and readability of the historical monographs. It represents the first study of the classical art of landscape design in China, offering readers an insightful introduction.

An illustrated history of landscape design as told through iconic gardens from around the world.

Jason Silverman presents a timely and necessary study, advancing the understanding of Achaemenid ideology and Persian Period Judaism. While the Achaemenid Persian Empire (c. 550–330 BCE) dwarfed all previous empires of the Ancient Near East in both size and longevity, the royal system that forged and preserved this civilisation remains only rudimentarily understood, as is the imperial and religious legacy bequeathed to future generations. In response to this deficit, Silverman provides a critically sophisticated and interdisciplinary model for comparative studies. While the Achaemenids rebuilt the Jerusalem temple, Judaean literature of the period reflects tensions over its Persian re-establishment, demonstrating colliding religious perspectives. Although both First Zechariah (1–8) and Second Isaiah (40–55) are controversial, the greater imperial context is rarely dealt with in depth; both books deal directly with the temple's legitimacy, and this ties them intimately to kings' engagements with cults. Silverman explores how the Achaemenid kings portrayed their rule to subject minorities, the ways in which minority elites reshaped this ideology, and how long this impact lasted, as revealed through the Judaean reactions to the restoration of the Jerusalem temple.

A comprehensive survey of Islamic gardens, from antiquity through to the present.

A selection of literature and works of art that have been inspired by gardens.