Mikhail Horowitz’s Illumination is an inspiring portrait of Pir Vilayat, brimming with unique observations drawn from long years of closeness. Thank you for this wonderful work.
Pir Zia Inayat Khan, son and successor of Pir Vilayat Khan and present head of the Sufi/Inayati Order, founded by his father
This is a wonderful book. Pir Vilayat’s story needs to be told. Mikhail manages to honor him and his great gifts while at the same time allowing for his humanness. I loved the chapter on music, a legacy that Mikhail himself helped to create and no one else could have written. I am especially grateful for the treatment of the war years and their effect on Vilayat and his family. Pir Vilayat helped so many discover the spiritual purpose of their lives and recognize their deepest callings. Mikhail captures his extraordinary capacity to see into the soul’s of people and articulate the qualities and gifts that are contained in their Divine Inheritance. He also renders a blessed service in the many quotes that he has unearthed and also to those interested in Pir Vilayat’s training and his early experiences of Suffism. I believe that he has done a brilliant job in helping preserve Pir Vilayat’s legacy.
Atum O’Kane, Retreat guide, Sufi teacher, Secretary General of the Sufi Order for twelve years and founder and director of the Spiritual Guidance Wisdom School.
Mikhail is the ideal witness to keep alive our sense of that most extraordinary Sufi, Pir Vilayat Inayat-Khan (1916-2004). Even though Pir Vilayat left the earth plane thirteen years ago now, he remains very much alive in the hearts of thousands who encountered him.
Mikhail often traveled with him, and was his point man for the wonderful music he incorporated into his teaching. Mikhail’s personal memories, supplemented by an astonishing array of things Pir Vilayat said about his own experience, give this memoir/biography a liveliness and authenticity that will make it precious to the many people who knew Pir Vilayat. It is also an ideal introduction for those who did not have the good fortune to encounter Pir Vilayat in person. All who read this book will have their sense of human possibility expanded.
Donald Sharif Graham, Professor of Comparative Religion, editor of The Complete Works of Hazrat Inayat Khan.
