PukhtunWomen

The first book I chose to review is Afghan Caravan edited by Safia Shah and is a compilation of material from her father Idries Shah's great treasure of works. A mystic and multifaceted a man, Idries Shah, passed away in November 1996. His literary achievements covered a range of subjects and disciplines, that amounted to a resource on Sufi living, learning and thinking. He was a Sufi exemplar and teacher, that is to say, a mystic and this book seems to be a tribute by his daughter Safia Shah. The book also includes articles by Safia's grandmother and Idries Shah's mother Morag Murray Abdullah and various family members and other people who wrote about the Afghans, their customs and their country: some non-fiction historical & personal accounts, folktales & legends.

Published by

The Octagon Press Ltd,.
P.O. Box 227. London N6 4E W, England..

The editor of the book Safia Shah is the daughter of Idries Shah and sister of Tahir Shah and Saira Shah who are more familiar names in the US. Her family has made a lot of literary contributions to the world, from grandfather Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah and grandmother Morag Murray Abdullah to her aunt Amina Shah and uncle Omar Ali Shah.

Like her brother and sister she too was educated at Bryanston school. She then went onto the Sorbonne and the University of Grenoble. She has been an editor and research assistant with the Institute of Cultural Research, and has worked with Afghan refugees in the North-West Frontier area, as well as reporting on social issues there. She is currently a freelance writer, and edits for the Institute of Health Sciences. For further biodata, see: The World's Who's Who of Women, 1993, under Safia Shah.

Safia has collected articles by Idres Shah and together with folk stories compiled a book that can be used as a source about people who came to Aghanistan like the British Soldiiers and the wife who followed her Afghan husband home.

The book covers everything from an exert from a British book called "How to fight Afghans" to the legend of Rustam's well near Kabul. There's a whole section on humour featuring delightful Mulla Nasrudin stories, The Land of Fools, and Lateef the thief.

My two favorites parts of the book are called "Heard in the teahouse" from which "Good Reason" was taken and "Wisdom" from which "Speak First and Lose" was taken. There is no bibliography in the back of this book and only some of the works are cited as being from other books. There are a few nice stories cited from Afghanistan of the Afghans by Sirdar Ikbal Ali Shah. I have so far been unable to find that book though.