In reviewing this book, Seyyed Hossein Nasr gives high praise to the translator, stating that "serious students of Sufism…must be…grateful for [Titus Burckhardt's] having turned to this much lesser known category of Sufi writings consisting of letters, addresses and table-talks of Sufi masters, an excellent example of which is found in these letters of Shaikh ad-Darqawi. Dr. Nasr notes that these letters from a renowned Sufi master deal less with doctrine and more with "concrete problems and questions of the spiritual life and are often answers to specific questions posed by disciples. Hence they represent a precious treasury of instructions that are of value particularly to those who aspire to walk upon the path of realization and whose interest in Sufism and the spiritual life in general is more practical than theoretical." Since its initial publication, this book has become a classic of Sufi studies.

The text begins with a short introduction by Martin Lings to the geographical presence of Sufi branches having Darqawi lineage. The Shaikh Al-`Arabi Ad-Darqawi (1760-1823) was a great Moroccan saint, from whose disciples many branchings of his Sufi Order spread. The Letters of this great Muslim sage contain wonderful spiritual and mystical counsel to his disciples. Titus Burckhardt's translations from the Arabic of the original were compiled into a short book, and this text provides several representative samples from that book.