Caravan of Dreams (book)

Caravan of Dreams is a book by Idries Shah first published in 1968 by Octagon Press as part of his presentation of traditional Eastern teachings and Sufi ideas for contemporary society. New editions of the book were published in 2015 by The Idries Shah Foundation.

Shah relates the title to three traditional sources: the story of Maruf the Cobbler, which can be found in the One Thousand and One Nights; a proverb which says, “The Dog may bark, but the Caravan moves on”; and some verses from the Sufi Master Bahaudin Naqshband which read:

“Here we are, all of us: in a dream-caravan.
A caravan, but a dream – a dream, but a caravan.
And we know which are the dreams.
Therein lies the hope.”