This voluminous book of more than six hundred pages is different from other books written on Iqbal. It deals with the evolution of the thought process of Muslim thinkers, who had continued the old philosophical background of Zoroastrianism and Christianity while synthesizing their Philosophy, in the light of Islamic teachngs. It was written to introduce Allama Iqbal's philosophy from the perspective of the oriental philosophical tradition. Undoubtedly, Iqbal was also influenced by the Western philosophers but he has mainly followed the Eastern sages, in his poetry and ideology. In this book, the author has tried to introduce diverse philosophers, starting from pre-Islamic Persian prophet Mani. Then he diverts to early days founders of Sufism like Bayazid Bistami and includes Junnayd Baghdadi. Then he writes extensively about Hussain Bin Mansur Hallaj and his work, how it influenced the thoughts of the predecessor of Iqbal like Hojvairi, Attar, and Rumi, as well as Iqbal himself. Then, the book deals with Mohyuddin Ibn e Arabi (the only non- Persian character), Shahab Al-Din Suharwardi, and his philosophy of illumination, and Senai Ghazanvi (the great sage, who brought Quranic terminology in his posterity). There are two chapters about Jalal Al-Din Rumi, as Iqbal was mainly under his influence. There is a discussion about studies of Rumi in the Indian Subcontinent, especially Shah Abdullatif Bhatia of Sindh. The book deals with Shiekh Mahmud Shabestry and his work "Gulshan e Raz" and its revival in Iqbal's poetry and thoughts. The book deals with Tahirih Qurrat Al-Ayn, whose religious stance is kept aside but Iqbal was impressed by her iconoclastic approach in challenging the Kind and clergy of her time just before the mid-nineteenth century.
This book has two chapters about Mirza Asadullah Khan Ghalib. In fact, Iqbal had studied the Persian side of Iqbal and has an altogether different approach while studying and quoting Ghalib, as the greatest traditionalist intellectual of his times, who saw the old culture of Muslim glory in India, meeting its end but still retained his eastern spirit. He guided Sir Syed for modern education and a progressive approach. Hali was a link between Ghalib and Iqbal. The last chapter is about Quranic influence on Iqbal's thoughts, in the light of the prevailing syllabus of seminaries and Muslim educational tradition.