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