A Perfumed Scorpion by Idries Shah

‘…an invigorating and abrasive book, like jumping into icy water – hard to do, but you’re glad you have done it.’

Books and Bookmen

Available worldwide in all formats – including ebook and audio – on Amazon. In the USA go to Amazon.com, in the UK Amazon.co.uk, in India Amazon.in. You can also order Oriental Magic in paperback and hardback from your local bookstore — and in the UK and USA we also recommend bookshop.org; and in Australia and New Zealand Booktopia.

The ‘perfuming of a scorpion’, referred to by the great Sufi teacher Bahaudin Naqshband of Bukhara, symbolises hypocrisy and self-deception: both in the individual and in institutions.

In A Perfumed Scorpion, Idries Shah directs attention to both the perfume and the scorpion – the overlay and the reality – bringing into focus the conditioned behaviour and self-deception that are common in Western minds.

Crammed with illustrative anecdotes from contemporary life, the book is nonetheless rooted in the teaching patterns of Rumi, Hafiz, Jami, and many other great Eastern sages. It deals with the need to break loose from old mental habits, in order to pursue a path to self-development based on clarity and sincerity.

Using the powerful wisdom of the classical masters, A Perfumed Scorpion blends a fast-paced look at today's world with the timeless teachings of the Sufis.