Caravan of Dreams (book)
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 First edition | |
| Author | Idries Shah |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Published | 1968 |
| Publisher | Octagon Press |
Publication date | 1968 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Paperback & eBook). Audiobook |
| Pages | 260 |
| OCLC | 974260577 |
| Preceded by | Tales of the Dervishes |
| Followed by | Reflections |
Caravan of Dreams is a book by Idries Shah first published in 1968 by Octagon Press as part of his presentation of traditional Eastern teachings and Sufi ideas for contemporary society. New editions of the book were published in 2015 by The Idries Shah Foundation.
Shah relates the title to three traditional sources: the story of Maruf the Cobbler, which can be found in the One Thousand and One Nights; a proverb which says, “The Dog may bark, but the Caravan moves on”; and some verses from the Sufi Master Bahaudin Naqshband which read:
“Here we are, all of us: in a dream-caravan.
A caravan, but a dream – a dream, but a caravan.
And we know which are the dreams.
Therein lies the hope.”[1]
The book contains sections on the Traditions (Hadiths) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (primarily from the Mishkat of Al-Baghawi of Herat), the folktales of Mulla Nasrudin, thoughts from Omar Khayyam, meditations of Rumi, and the definitions of Mulla Do-Piaza, as well as sayings from many classical Sufi Masters like Saadi, Bahaudin Naqshband and Khwaja Ahrar. Also included are some excerpts about Islamic culture and history from Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and from Shah's earlier book of travels, Destination Mecca. Two anecdotes are about Shah's great-great grandfather, Jan-Fishan Khan.[1]
Much of the book is devoted to important teaching stories from the Middle East and Central Asia, such as "The Four Men and the Interpreter" (from Rumi's Masnavi), "The Magic Horse" (from the Arabian Nights), and "The Story of Mushkil Gusha" (a Persian tale traditionally recited on Thursday nights).[2] Two folktales are contributed by Shah's sister, Amina Shah.[1]
Doris Lessing commented on how in this book "Shah spoke openly, but briefly, about the Sufi use of tales..." and she explained that "Sufis have always taught through stories, and pedants and traditionalists have perennially complained – and sometimes about the greatest of the Sufis – 'but these are merely tales of the kind you tell to children.' The claim is that the action of the genuine Sufi teaching story is 'direct and certain' upon the innermost self of the human being and this is true whether or not the said human is prepared to acknowledge that he or she has an innermost self. This attitude to literature brings us into an unfamiliar relation with our own literary heritage. The tales, anecdotes, illustrative recitals, jokes are not meant to be attacked by the intellectual apparatus..."[3][4]
Science fiction author, editor and reviewer, Douglas Hill reiterates Shah's assertion that the stories are not only entertaining, but establish in the reader "a means of communication with a non-verbalised truth."[5] The psychologist Robert Ornstein states that teaching tales like the ones found in Caravan of Dreams are traditionally used for the indirect communication of knowledge.[6]
In his introduction to "The Magic Horse", Shah writes that teaching stories operate on a level different from that of fables and parables and, when intact, are a "priceless heritage of mankind" and precisely tooled instruments to "assist the interior movement of the mind."[7]