Beauty and Light: Mystical Discourses by a Contemporary Female Sufi Master

Cemalnur Sargut, one of the Turkish leaders of the Rifa’i Sufi order, occupies a special place in the intellectual and social landscape of contemporary Islam. This is so for multiple reasons. As a female Sufi teacher who commands a loyal and active worldwide following, especially in Turkey, Sargut’s career as a scholar and Sufi leader represents an important case study in the dynamics of contemporary global Sufism.

This volume represents the first text in English translation that brings together some of her major discourses and teachings as presented to her students through the genre of oral discourses. More specifically, the discourses that form the core of this book were collected through oral interviews with Cemalnur conducted by her students as part of a weekly program aired on a national Turkish radio station. The original Turkish transcription on which this English translation is based is titled Dinle (Listen), and was published in 2012 by Nefes press.