Abu Ismaïl Abdullah al-Herawi al-Ansari or Khajah Abdullah Ansari of Herat (4 May 1006 – 8 March 1089), also known as Pir-i Herat (sage of Herat), Shaykh al-Islām was a famous Persian Sufi who lived in the 11th century in Herat. One of the outstanding figures in Khorasan in his century: commentator of the Qur’an,…
‘Abdallah ibn ‘Alawi al-Haddad was a Yemeni Islamic scholar. He lived his entire life in the town of Tarim in Yemen’s Valley of Hadhramawt and died there in 1720 CE. He was an adherent to the Ash’ari Sunni Creed of Faith, while in Islamic jurisprudence, he was a Sunni Muslim of Shafi’i school. Abdallah ibn…
The eleventh-century Persian Sufi saint and mystic Sheikh Ali Hisam-ad-Din Naqshbandi was also known as Hazrat Shaykh Ali Hujwiri or Data Ganj Bakhsh. His book “Kashf al-Mahjub” (Unveiling the Veiled), which is still very important in Sufi literature, is especially well-known. It is regarded as one of the first Persian treatises on Sufism. There are…
Abul Hasan ash-Shadhili was born in Morocco in 1187 and died in Egypt in 1258. He was a leading figure in the Shadhili Sufi order, which is one of the most important Sufi orders in the world. He was a prolific writer and his works are still studied by Sufis today. Ash-Shadhili’s teachings are based…
Sophocles was an ancient Greek tragedian, known as one of three from whom at least one play has survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those of Aeschylus; and earlier than, or contemporary with, those of Euripides. Sophocles Quotes 1. “Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud.” —…
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world literature. His extant works include comedies, farces, tragicomedies, comédie-ballets, and more. Molière Quotes 1. “Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit.” — Molière…
Alexei Maximovich Peshkov (28 March 1868 – 18 June 1936), popularly known as Maxim Gorky, was a Russian and Soviet writer and socialist political thinker and proponent. He was nominated five times for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Before his success as an author, he travelled widely across the Russian Empire changing jobs frequently, experiences…
Eric Arthur Blair was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterized by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitarianism, and support of democratic socialism. George Orwell Quotes 1. “Journalism is printing what someone else does not want printed. Everything else is public…
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, poet, author, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism and Gothic fiction in the United States, and of American literature. Edgar Allan Poe…
Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist and social critic who created some of the world’s best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and…
