第2章 dedication

I dedicate this book to

My parents

Khadijah Matin, Ishmawil K. Abdul-Matin, and Auntie Amina

My siblings

Karim Jr., Jehan, Adilah, Tauhirah, and Ali

In loving memory of my grandparents

Samuel Graham Nixon Sr. and Lena Bailey Nixon

William Gaitha Pegg Sr. and Wilma Hayes Pegg

My wife

Fatima Ashraf

O You who have set out on the path of inner development, do not read my book only as a poetical work, or a book of magic, but read it with understanding; and for this a man must be hungry for something, dissatisfied with himself and this world.

—Farid Ud-Din Attar