About the author
Martin Lings (24 January 1909 – 12 May 2005), also known as Abū Bakr Sirāj ad-Dīn, was an English writer, Islamic scholar, and philosopher. A student of the Swiss metaphysician Frithjof Schuon and an authority on the work of William Shakespeare, he is best known as the author of Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources. == Early life and education == Lings was born in Burnage, Manchester, in 1909 to a Protestant family. He began travelling at a young age, spending significant time in the United States because of his father's employment. He attended Clifton College and went on to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he gained a BA in English Language and Literature. At Magdalen, he was a student and then a close friend of C. S. Lewis. After graduating from Oxford Lings went to Vytautas Magnus University, in Lithuania, where he taught Anglo-Saxon and Middle English. At Oxford he discovered the writings of René Guénon, a French metaphysician and Muslim convert, and Frithjof Schuon, a German spiritual authority, metaphysician and Perennialist. In 1938, Lings went to Basel to meet Schuon and embraced the branch of the Alawiyya tariqa led by Schuon.
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💬 What our editors say about Martin Lings's books
“Lings’ biography stands as an authoritative testament to early Islamic history, blending scholarly rigor with a narrative that feels both intimate and grand. However, readers expecting dry, purely secular historiography or…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources (Edition, Revised, Revised)
“Martin Lings presents a compelling, albeit specialized, interpretation of Shakespeare’s later plays as mystical maps rather than mere drama. The analysis is rigorous and deeply rooted in esoteric symbolism, offering a fresh…”
Esoterica Books editorial team, Occult literature desk · on Shakespeare's Window Into the Soul: The Mystical Wisdom in Shakespeare's Characters (Revised)
