Teaching The Sufi Mysteries Quartet

In this page you’ll find what you need for teaching the first two books in the Quartet and resources and questions that can be used in book clubs.

•The Role of The Names of God
•The Role of The Sufi Path
•The Role of History
—Reading Questions and Character Worksheets for The Lover
—Reading Questions and Character Worksheets for The Jealous

The Role of the Names of God

To be made in the image of God means to have God’s ninety-nine Names as human character traits. Only humans carry them all. The rest of creation, from an atom to a bird to an angel, only carry a few of the traits each; the mix of character traits defining the core of each creature’s nature.

Carrying the entirety of the character traits is called “The Trust.” The Trust is such a burden that, as the Qur’an puts it, We offered the Trust to the heavens and the earth and the mountains and they shook in fear of it, but the human being chose to bear its burden, and so they oppress and are ignorant (Q 33:72).

Carrying the Trust means that human beings must develop these character traits in a balanced way—meaning human beings should not use “power” to oppress, “love” to control, “compassion” to be a doormat or humiliate, or “vengeance” to be a vigilante—by choosing not to live in ignorance of human responsibility. Unfortunately, we end up doing just that, so do my characters.

Each of the Sufi Mysteries will highlight a particular character trait in human beings, how the characters struggle with it, learn to balance it, or give in to their worst impulses and harm others with it, as well as learn to understand God through it.

The Role of the Sufi Path