| Whirling Dervishes, by Jean-Leon Gerome [19th c.] (Public Domain Image) | The Secret Rose Garden of Sa'd Ud Din Mahmud Shabistari by Florence Lederer [1920] |
Sa'd ud Din Mahmud Shabistari was born in Persia, in Shabistar, near Tabriz, about 1250 CE. His best known work, The Secret Rose Garden was written as a reply to questions by a Sufi doctor of Herat. This set of verses uses the rich Sufi allegorical language to explore the path to God.