In his introduction to the anthology The Wisdom of the Sufis, Kenneth Cragg offers the Western reader valuable insight into the religion and richly poetic literature of the Middle East, and the esoteric, deeply experiential inner tradition of Islam. Bishop Cragg's selections of prayers and legends concern the task, search, and goal of the Sufi mystic-the dervish-and his introduction explains the unlikely growth of mysticism out of medieval orthodox Islam.