In this article author Michel Valsan uses the recent French translation of Un Saint Musulman du Vingtième Siècle: Le Cheikh al-‘Alawī (A Sufi Saint of the Twentieth Century: Shaikh Ahmad al-Alawi) by Martin Lings, to discuss the life of its subject, the influential Algerian Sufi master, Shaikh Ahmed al' Alawi. Vâlsan focuses upon the "initiatic function" of the Shaikh as illustrated through some of the many visions that disciples had of him along with the prophetic presence of Jesus, who plays an important role in certain aspects of esoteric Islam.

"The Human Margin" may be one of the most important essays written by the prolific Schuon. It is a detailed, carefully developed explanation of how and why the divine influence "always allows for a 'human margin' [within revealed religious traditions] where it exerts itself only in an indirect fashion, yielding to ethnic or cultural factors." This margin takes into account human limitations and imperfections as well as the best of human qualities, providing a diversity of doctrinal interpretations and spiritual paths that can accommodate the full range of human types and conditions. Schuon surveys many traditions and doctrines, but focuses on Christian forms to illustrate his thesis, which is central to understanding what has been called the underlying unity of religions, as well as theological divergences within a single tradition.

Author Philip Sherrard distinguishes between "sexual love" as it is commonly understood and the "sacramental form of sexual love [which] is not simply a human emotion or impulse or even a created cosmic or elemental force. Still less is it to be identified simply with a bodily or a somato-psychic energy. It is, in its origins, a spiritual energy. It is rooted in divine life itself and its principle, so to say, is placed by God in man and woman in their creation. Hence, to be united in this love is to find oneself returned to oneself, to one's full being and primal condition." Using mostly Christian sources, he shows that the "highest spiritual potentialities" can be unlocked through the sacramentalization of this most physical and natural of acts.

Ananda K. Coomaraswamy explores the innocent-sounding question "Why exhibit works of art?" Beyond the task of protecting valuable relics, exhibiting works of art must have an educational purpose. In delving into the significance of this purpose, Coomaraswamy covers topics such as the vanity of much of modern art, the necessity of understanding the techniques and uses of ancient art (going beyond the limitations of our own modern psychology and aesthetics), the Platonic view of the arts, and more. This well structured discussion is an excellent primer on the Traditionalist/Perennialist view on the meaning of "art" and its proper usages in real, everyday lives outside of the confines of a museum.

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