O Humankind: Surah Ya-Sin

Contemporary female Sufi teacher Cemalnur Sargut has a unique ability to take us to the heart, and into the heart of the Qur’an. Her book “O Humankind,” translated for the first time into English, is an elaborate commentary on the Chapter Ya-Sin, the heart of the Quran, about the inner meanings of each verse. In it, she draws on the insights of classical Muslim sages, commentaries, Rumi, Ibn ‘Arabi, and others. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) summarized Chapter Ya-Sin with the following noble hadith: “Everything has a heart. The heart of the Quran is Chapter Ya-Sin.”

As a female Sufi teacher, Cemalnur Sargut commands a loyal and active worldwide following, especially in Turkey. Her 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. Victoria Rowe Holbrook teaches philosophy in the Faculty of Architecture at Istanbul Bilgi University. She is a graduate of Harvard and Princeton and a Mellon Fellow. She founded the program in Ottoman and Modern Turkish Literary and Cultural studies at the Ohio State University. She is the author of The Unreadable Shores of Love: Turkish Modernity and Mystic Romance, dozens of articles on literature and philosophy, and translations including The White Castle by Nobel winner Orhan Pamuk, Beauty and Love by Seyh Galip, and Commentary on the Spiritual Couplets of Mevlana Rumi by Kenan Rifai.