Using the Arabic language as the tool for his case study, Burckhardt explores its influence on Islamic art and spirituality. The nomadic life of the Arabs contributed to the consistency of the Arab language because it is when a culture settles into one place that its language becomes attached to things and institutions and therefore finds its decay. He describes Arab linguistically as having an “auditive intuition”. It is based in active association, instead of static imagery. This relates to Islamic art as it is manifested by images and calligraphy that evoke rhythm and movement and stories that are formed from logic and rhetoric instead of the sedentary nature of a statue or a painting of a different culture and language. All of these things contribute to illustrating the spiritual nature of Islam in its incantations and litanies and Burckhardt uses these observations to draw conclusions regarding the theology and practice of the Islamic faith.

In this article, Burkhardt explains that Islamic artwork strives to represent two important aspects: (1) to preserve the “primordial dignity of man,” and (2) to visually remind people of Islam’s fundamental denial of idols and idolatry. The artwork serves to reinforce the idea that there should be nothing between man and the invisible presence of God.

Burckhardt comments on the symbolic importance of the image of the Heavenly Jerusalem, which first appeared in a medieval manuscript. He compares this image side-by-side with a drawing of the mandala of Vaikuntha, the home of the Hindu god, Vishnu. Also comparing relevant scriptural texts, Bruckhardt is more interested in the objective comparison of the two images/texts than in drawing conclusions as to why and how such similarities came into existence.

Burckhardt begins his article with an interesting comparison of the Virgin Mary’s intelligence, which he considers the highest possible for humans with the seven sciences, which he claims are an “expression of so many faculties of the soul”. He continues to address these sciences and classifies them as grammar, logic, and rhetoric, as the first three, and arithmetic, music, geometry and astronomy respectively. Apparently these seven sciences, which do not of course fit the term of science as used today, are represented by the seven planets. Other correlations related to these sciences include their relation to numbers, as well as their representation on the door of Chartres Cathedral.

Burckhardt examines the history and symbolism of the chess-board of its pieces. From its roots in India through its passages into Persia and into Europe the chess-board is both a military stratagem and a symbol of space and the universe, as well as a symbol of the nature of the soul and the relationship between will and fate.

Titus Burckhardt responds to a letter written in defense of Teilhard De Chardin, condemning Teilhard’s thesis; calling it “a Trojan horse to introduce materialism and progressism into the very bosom of the religion.”

Gai Eaton reviews Sacred Art in East and West: Its Principles and Methods by Titus Burckhardt, a book he calls “a study of what real art has been in the past and of what it still is in those few regions of the world that have not yet been completely overrun by modernism.” The book focuses on the sacred art of Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Taoism.

Esteemed author Titus Burckhardt reviews the writings and perspectives of Seyyed Hossein Nasr through four of his books: An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrine, Three Muslim Sages: Avicenna—Suhrawardî—Ibn Arabi, Islamic Studies, Essays on Law and Society, the Sciences, Philosophy and Sufism, and Ideals and Realities of Islam. Burckhardt examines not only the essential contents and messages of each of Nasr’s books, but also the author’s perspectives and influences. Burkhardt also provides a brief biography of Seyyed Nasr’s life, supplying useful background for Nasr’s writings and philosophies.

In his review of Alchemy, Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul by Titus Burckhardt, Seyyed Hossein Nasr highlights the point made in this book of the errors of the current interpretation of alchemy as either a precursor of modern chemistry or as a science of the psyche alone. For as to the latter he says that it is impossible to study the psyche “without reference to the luminous world of the Spirit which alone can comprehend the soul.” The reviewer praises the book for presenting all aspects of alchemy in the light of the Spirit including its relation to art, and particularly for the explanation of the correspondence between the alchemical process and the stages of the spiritual life.

The subject of Islamic art in various forms is the central topic of this article and the reader is given an in-depth analysis of the symbolism and meaning of this traditional art. The author’s goal is to approach the topic of this article without using the historical evidence of influence from other cultures as much as the historical background of how Islamic art reflects the original goals of that religion. Burckhardt also points out some of the problems of the approach that modern science takes towards Islamic art. The author also provides some intriguing comparisons between Islamic and Christian art and how the differences in form symbolically reflect differences in religious doctrine. Some of the specific subjects analyzed in this way include icons, or lack thereof, the architecture of mosques and basilicas, structural ornamentation and inscriptions within sacred structures.