The Thomas Merton Center at Bellarmine University

MERTON'S CORRESPONDENCE WITH:
Lings, Martin, 1909-2005

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Descriptive Summary

Record Group: Section A - Correspondence

Dates of materials: 1965

Volume: 6 item(s); 7 pg(s)

Scope and Content

This is a file in the correspondence of Thomas Merton under the heading: "Lings, Martin".

Biography

Martin Lings (also using the nom de plume, Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din) was a scholar from England who wrote many books on Sufism, Islam, and the mystical traditions. Inspired by the French Muslim René Guénon, he converted to Islam in the 1940's and spent over a decade in Cairo. After leaving Egypt due to political unrest in 1952, he spent much of his career at the British Library and the British Museum. Lings first writes at the suggestion of Marco Pallis, asking if Merton would review his book, Ancient Beliefs and Modern Superstitions. (Sources: The Hidden Ground of Love, p. 453. / Eaton, Gai. "Obituary - Martin Lings: Islamic scholar concerned with spiritual crisis." The Guardian Unlimited online. 27 May 2005. Bellarmine College Library. Accessed 8 Sept. 2005. ‹http://www.guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2763,1493343,00.html›.)

Usage Guidelines and Restrictions

Related Information and Links

See also published letters from Merton to Lings in The Hidden Ground of Love, pp. 453-454.

Other Finding Aids

If the person in correspondence with Merton has full text records in the Merton Center Digital Collections, there will be a numeric link to them below.
   

Series List

This Record Sub-Group is not divided into Series and is arranged chronologically.

Container List

SeriesDateTypeTo/FromFirst LinesPubFull TextNotes
 1965/04/19 HLSto MertonI am sending you a copy of my new book, which I hope you will be able to review. It's a very little   
 1965/04/24 TL[c]from MertonYour new book reached me this morning, and I must say it looks extremely interesting. I am notYes  
 1965/04/27 HLSto MertonI was very glad to receive your letter this morning. I am afraid I don't know if one recent book   
 1965/06/15 HLSto MertonThank you very much for sending me the review of my book on the Shaikh Al-'Alawi,   
 1965/06/20 TL[c]from MertonThanks for your kind letter. I should be interested to see your review of the Nasr book.Yes  
 undated/no/no other MARTIN LINGS  biographical information
        

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