Martin Lings (1909-2005) was a leading member of the “Traditionalist” or “Perennialist” school and an acclaimed author, editor, translator, scholar, Arabist, and poet whose work centers on the relationship between God and man through religious doctrine, scripture, symbolism, literature, and art. He was an accomplished metaphysician and essayist who often turned to the world’s great spiritual traditions for examples, though he is best known for his writings on Islam and its esoteric tradition, Sufism. Dr. Lings was also a long-time friend and associate of Frithjof Schuon, recording some of his thoughts and memories of the latter in some of the film clips found on this site.
Dr. Lings co-edited The Underlying Religion (2007) with Clinton Minnar. This book is a survey of central perennialist ideas and authors. In addition, World Wisdom will be publishing The Essential Martin Lings (forthcoming), an anthology of his work.
For more information on Dr. Martin Lings, click here.
