ABSTRACT
From the foregoing review of Sufism in Arabic literature it will have been observed that the Arabs, or non-Arabs writing in Arabic, stressed in particular the philosophical side of Islamic mysticism, and devoted especial care to constructing a stable theosophical system. If Sufism had given birth to nothing more than a lofty ethic and a subtle metaphysic, it might have been allowed that the movement had made a substantial contribution to human thought and experience. But when Sufism gripped the mind and soul of Iran, and the abounding poetic imagination of the Persians discovered this new theatre to display itself, Islamic mysticism developed aesthetically in a manner soaring high above the ranges of pure speculation. Classical Persian poetry is to a very notable extent Sufi in content and inspiration.
