Biography

SARA SVIRI, Ph.D. studied and taught Arabic and Islamic Studies in Israel. In her studies, published in various compilations and journals, she has focused on the formation and characteristics of the early mystical schools of Islam, with special interest in the Malâmâti movement of Nishapur and in the mystical psychology of al-Hakîm al-Tirmidhî. She has lectured extensively on these and other topics in Europe, Israel and America. Her book, The Taste of Hidden Things: Images on the Sufi Path, portrays Sufism as a living tradition in which insights into the stations of the heart play an important role. Sara is currently teaching at University College London as well as at Oxford, England where she now lives. Sara has two grown children, a daughter and a son.

PUBLICATIONS
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"Living in the Moment. The Alchemy of Happiness in Sufism," in S. Mccready (ed.), The Discovery of Happiness, London, MQ Publications (2001), 106-115

"The Soul and the Intellect. Happiness in Medieval Philosophy," in S. Mccready (ed.), The Discovery of Happiness, London, MQ Publications (2001), 80-91

"The Self and its transformation in Sufism with special reference to early literature."In D. Shulman and G.G. Stroumsa (eds.) Self Transformations in the History of Religions, New York, Oxford University Press (2001).

"On Trees, Dreams, and Holy Men: Notes on al-Tayyib Salih's 'The Doum Tree of Wad Hamid'", Edebiyyat: The Journal of Middle Eastern Literatures, vol. 10 (1999), 103-122

"Dreaming Analyzed and Recorded: Dreams in the World of Medieval Islam", In D. Shulman and G. Stroumsa (eds.), Dream Cultures, New York, Oxford University Press 1998, 252-273

The Taste of Hidden Things: Images on the Sufi Path, Inverness CA, The Golden Sufi Center Publishing 1997

"The Song of Songs: Eros and the Mystical Quest",in J. Magonet (ed.), Aspects of Judaism, Oxford, Berghan Publishing 1996

"The Emergence of pre-Kabbalistic Spirituality in Spain: the Cases of Bahya ibn Paquda and Judah Halevi",Donaire vol. 6 [Embajada de España, Londres 1996], 78-84

"Principles of Sufism by al-Qushayri", a Review-Article in Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, vol. 19 (1995), 272-281

"Waiting at the Threshold of Love", Sufi, issue 21 (1994), 5-10

"The Mysterium Coniunctionis and the 'Yo Yo Syndrome': From Polarity to Oneness in Sufi Psychology", in Jung and the Monotheisms, ed. J. Ryce-Menuhin. London, Routledge 1994, 192-213

"Hakîm Tirmidhî and the Malâmâtî Movement in Early Sufism", in Classical Persian Sufism from its Origins to Rumi, ed. L. Lewisohn, KNP Publications, London and New York 1993, 583-613 (= The Heritage of Sufism vol. I, Oxford, Oneworld 1999)

"Daughter of Fire by Irina Tweedie: Documentation and Experiences of a Modern Naqshbandi Sufi", in Women, Discipleship and Power, ed. E. Puttick and P. Clarke, Edwin Mellen Press, Aberystwyth and New York, 1993, 77-89 (excerpts also in Sufi, issue 44 (1999-2000), 34-40)

"'Does God Pray'?: A Judaeo-Islamic tradition in the Light of Analytical Psychology", European Judaism, vol. 48 (1992), 48-55

"Wa-rahbaniyyatan ibtada`ûhâ: an analysis of traditions concerning the origin and evaluation of Christian Monasticism", Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, vol. 13 (1990), 195-208

"Between Fear and Hope: on the Coincidence of Opposites in Islamic Mysticism," Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam, vol. 9 (1987), 316-349