The
year is 1868; the place, Damascus. A self-taught mystic calling himself
Abd el Matar left his wife, family, and home to found a group of
disciples in Damascus, the Shazlis,
basing it on a Sufi brotherhood established in the middle ages. About
forty or so people gathered about him to pray and seek God. In the words
of Isabel Burton, wife of the Sir Richard Francis Burton, the consul of
Damascus at the time, these Syrian peasants were praying “for
enlightenment before the throne of God”. [ 1,208 more word ]
