Rene Guenon

René Jean-Marie-Joseph Guénon, also known as Abdalwahid Yahia, was a French-Egyptian intellectual who wrote on topics ranging from esotericism, "sacred science" and "traditional studies" to symbolism and initiation. In his writings, Guénon proposes to hand down Eastern metaphysics and traditions, these doctrines being defined by him as of "universal character", and adapt them to western readers "while keeping strictly faithful to their spirit". Initiated into Islamic esotericism from as early as 1910 when he was 24, Guénon mainly wrote and published in French, and his works have been translated into more than twenty languages; he also wrote in Arabic an article for the journal Al Marifah. He was born in Blois, France, and later moved to Cairo, Egypt, where he died in 1951. Guénon's work is generally divided into four major themes: metaphysical principles, initiation and esotericism, symbolism, and criticism of the modern world and "neo-spiritualism".