The second half of Touraine’s new book is his proposal to “think differently” — penser autrement. It is a continuation of an argument he has been developing in a series of books since 1992: that we don’t need faith in either God or Progress, but in ourselves.

His [Sufi mystic Shams’] stern but gentle manner and his preachings of love arouse strong reactions, ranging from murderous hostility on the part of Islamic zealots to almost total identification by Rumi, from respect and devotion by outcasts whom he has consoled and aided to the one kind of love he cannot allow himself, the passionate, carnal kind.