{"title":"Vraje Abramian","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"sweet-lunacy-book-vraje-abramian-9781942493570","title":"Sweet Lunacy","description":"Divine Intoxication is a common theme in Middle Eastern poetry. The wine on which the seeker becomes drunk is nothing less than the nectar of love. Such inebriation, however, often produces unconventional behavior, even hints of madness, marking the lover as one apparently lost to the ordinary world. In this mood, Kahlil Gibran wrote: Only an idiot and a genius break man-made laws and they are the nearest to the heart of God. And so, the poetry written by or about these drunkards is often saturated with perennial wisdom, with stark reflections of the truth (in vino veritas), and with a variety of prayerful longing that is found throughout all mystical traditions. Sweet Lunacy contains works by some of the most well-known mystical Sufi poets from the 11th through the 14th century, including Rumi, Attar, and Jami. But the reader will also meet lesser-known authors here whose messages, both unique and fresh, are equally inspiring. The poets in this collection are those who, for reasons which might not seem altogether reasonable to our everyday mind and logic, were willing and able to question this mystery called life and, unwilling to accept readymade answers. Vraje Abramian, born in Iran and a native speaker of Farsi, has worked to keep his translations as close to the meaning and cultural flavor of the originals as possible. He has researched Wise Fools in various cultures\/religions in the Near, and Middle East, Central Asia and India. While anecdotes, folk-tales and stories about spiritual ecstatics are abundantly present in Sufi literature particularly, no other single work focuses essentially on such profound lunacy and intoxication as this one does. Following the Introduction, the book is divided into three parts: The Obstacle (Mind); The Battleground (Heart); and Deliverance (The Journey). Abramian has included poems and stories within each section that bring the reader's attention to these key distinctions in the mystical process. While the subject matter is rare and refined, the author is clear that every human being nurses within his or her heart a nostalgia, remote and nameless, a longing for something they cannot express. This fine collection is valuable not only for the refinement of poetic content but also for the spiritual guidance of the great mystics whose voices are made available herein. Sweet Lunacy is a must-have for lovers, seekers of truth, and connoisseurs of beauty alike.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49737836790033,"sku":"NGR9781942493570","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50823071400209,"sku":"CIN1942493576VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1942493576.jpg?v=1751219901"},{"product_id":"soul-a-loaf-of-bread-book-vraje-abramian-9781935387121","title":"Soul \u0026 A Loaf of Bread","description":"Sheikh Abol-Hasan of Kharaqhan's (died 1034) spiritual affinity and grace are still very much acknowledged among the living Sufi circles across Iran. This book contains translations of over 100 short statements of Sufic wisdom from a Sufis' Sufi.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49864382710033,"sku":"CIN193538712XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51158354854161,"sku":"GOR010074333","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/193538712X.jpg?v=1751315339"},{"product_id":"sweet-sorrows-book-vraje-abramian-9781935387428","title":"Sweet Sorrows","description":"For anyone interested in Sufism in particular, or mystical understanding in general, Attars works are indispensable. His influence on later giants, such as the mystic poet Jalaleddin Rumi, is well documented. Attar is mostly known in the West for his Biographies of the Saints, and for Conference of the Birds; but he has also produced a number of other masterpieces well-known among lay persons and Sufi practitioners in Iran, and in cultures influenced by the Persian language. Sweet Sorrows is the first compilation of Attars lesser-known works in English. The translator, Vraje Abramian, has selected 350 short verses that cover a wide range of Attars poetic moods -- from somewhat satirical and humorous to tender and heartbreaking. Born in 1119, Attar lived in infamously chaotic times when petty warlords never relented, and famine and disease were the order of the day. He was killed in 1221 during the utter destruction of his hometown of Rey at the hands of invading Mongol hoards. The value of Attars influence as a beacon of light during these times cannot be overestimated. He always seems to be focused on his belief in basic human goodness.Attar insisted that the individual should concentrate on refining his or her sensitivities in order to escape ignorance and become worthy of being called a human being. Many generations since Attar have taken refuge in his writings to strengthen their faith to choose what cannot be seen, over all that can. The first compilation of Attars lesser-known works in English. A Book for Libraries, and for Lovers of Mystical Poetry from all Religious Traditions.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49918575411473,"sku":"CIN1935387421G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1935387421.jpg?v=1750996665"},{"product_id":"winds-of-grace-book-vraje-abramian-9781942493068","title":"Winds of Grace","description":"Drawing from the finest and most authentic texts available in the original Persian\/Farsi language, Vraje Abramian offers this extensive collection of stories, teachings and poetry from both major and unknown saints and mystics in the Sufi tradition. Winds of Grace is a fresh and extensive collection that will both instruct and encourage individuals on the path of love and transformation. Readers today need such roadmaps of sanity and wisdom, pointing the way through life s obstacles and detours. Indeed, reading the works of saints and sages serves as a GPS for today s wayfarer. The reader will find selections from today s most well recognized and highly acknowledged Masters, like Rumi and Hafiz, as well as hidden saints such as Sheikh Biabanaki and Sheikh Ali Mesri. More uniquely, however, this book also introduces us to teachings and anecdotes of the obscure hermit, the mad but unknown dervish, the crazy, naked ascetic. Whether the mainstream punished, tolerated or ignored these crazy-wise people, those who knew something about the pain they spoke of venerated them as saints. Centuries ago, many of these voices offered a shock to his or her contemporaries, jarring them from the complacency that makes automatons of human beings. Other voices contained a paradoxical twist on the religious life or practice of the times, yet were soaked with an age-old wisdom that is still vital to spiritual practitioners today. The translator and editor Vraje Abramian advises readers that these secret sages often had to protect themselves from the powers-that-be in their society, and therefore cloaked their messages in words that only disciples and initiates or those with a vulnerable mind and open heart, could actually decipher. He further reminds us that the language adopted by Sufi teachers was designed to break the habits that normally deaden our sensitivities. Abramian has therefore selected pieces that remind us to wake up, to take stock, to continue carefully observing ourselves. And, by vigilant sequencing of topics, his book gently guides readers toward the essence-truths or core-teachings of these wise ones. The translator is uniquely qualified to make this offering to religious studies today. As an Iranian by birth, a lifelong practitioner of spiritual disciplines and an accomplished teacher of English, his renderings are characterized by academic authority, poetic word-craft, and spiritual wisdom.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52756483768593,"sku":"NIN9781942493068","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52863211831569,"sku":"GOR014647450","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/9781942493068.jpg?v=1763576297"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-vraje-abramian.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}