"Noor (Noor-un-Nisa) Inayat Khan (19141944) is widely remembered as a hero and martyr of the Second World War. Some of those who honor her memory are aware that before the war she wrote stories for children. Until now, however, Noors mystical drama ""Aède of the Ocean and Land"" has remained virtually unknown. A fantastical creation, ""Aède"" shines a revealing light on Noors life and thought, reflecting her unique assimilation of the spiritual teachings of her father, Hazrat Inayat Khan. In ""Aède,"" Noor combines elements of Greek myth, Sufi esotericism, and personal experience to produce a gripping and surprising retelling of the Odyssey of Homer. The protagonist wrestles with monsters, colloquizes with nymphs, and sails the Mediterranean in search of home. Will Ulys reattain domestic bliss in Ithacaor does another destiny await him? Noor Inayat Khan delicately infuses Homers epic poem with Sufi philosophy and weaves a narrative that is at once an ode to her parents as well as her own interpretation of the journey of life. As gods and humans mingle in a world of conflict, soul-searching, and heroism, Noor layers her characters, understanding their frailties and their strengths. ""Aède of the Ocean and Land""written just before the writer herself would make her own brave journey in the Second World Waris a gem of a discovery, as relevant today as when it was written. Shrabani Basu, author of ""Victoria & Abdu"", This mystical dramatization of the ""Odyssey"" in the tradition of ancient Neoplatonic readings of Homer, melded with the influence of Sufism, is an important text for readers interested in the reception of Homer in the twentieth century. -- Emily Wilson, translator of ""The Odyssey"""
Noor Inayat Khan (1914-1944) was the eldest child of the renowned Indian philosopher Hazrat Inayat Khan and his American wife Ameena Begum. Noor studied psychology and music in Paris and wrote stories for children, including the collection Twenty Jataka Tales, first published in 1939. Following the Nazi occupation of France, Noor was recruited by Winston Churchill's Special Operations Executive. As an undercover agent in Paris, she served as a key link between the SOE and the French Resistance. Betrayed and captured, she was executed at Dachau, posthumously receiving the George Cross and Croix de Guerre. Pir Zia Inayat Khan, PhD, carries the Sufi lineage of his grandfather, Hazrat Inayat Khan. His previous books include Saracen Chivalry: Counsels on Valor, Generosity and the Mystical Quest and Mingled Waters: Sufism & the Mystical Unity of Religions.
