Caravan of Dreams (book)

Caravan of Dreams

Front cover of Caravan of Dreams (2015)
Author	Idries Shah
Cover artist	Renata Alvares
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Published	1968-2015
Publisher	The Idries Shah Foundation, ISF Publishing
Publication date	1968, 2015
Media type	Print (Paperback & eBook). Audiobook
Pages	260
ISBN	(ISF paperback edition, 2015)
Preceded by	Tales of the Dervishes
Followed by	Reflections

Caravan of Dreams is a book by Idries Shah first published in 1968 by Octagon Press as part of his presentation of traditional Eastern teachings and Sufi ideas for contemporary society. New editions of the book were published in 2015 by The Idries Shah Foundation.

Shah relates the title to three traditional sources: the story of Maruf the Cobbler, which can be found in the One Thousand and One Nights; a proverb which says, “The Dog may bark, but the Caravan moves on”; and some verses from the Sufi Master Bahaudin Naqshband which read:

“Here we are, all of us: in a dream-caravan.
A caravan, but a dream – a dream, but a caravan.
And we know which are the dreams.
Therein lies the hope.”

The book contains sections on the Traditions (Hadiths) of the Prophet Muhammad (primarily from the Mishkat of Al-Baghawi of Herat), the adventures of the Mulla Nasrudin, thoughts from Omar Khayyam, meditations of Rumi, and the definitions of Mulla Do-Piaza, as well as sayings from many classical Sufi Masters like Saadi, Bahaudin Naqshband and Khwaja Ahrar. Also included are some excerpts about Islamic culture and history from Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire and from Shah's earlier book of travels, Destination Mecca. Two anecdotes are about Shah's great-great grandfather, Jan-Fishan Khan.