Paul Ballanfat studied Philosophy and Islamic Studies as well as Arabic, Turkish and Persian. He currently teaches at Galatasaray University in Istanbul, Turkey. He has concentrated on Sufism in Persian and Turkish culture, and is author of several books in French, including translations of Ruzbehan Baqli Shirazi’s The Spirits’ Procession and The Unveiling of Secrets, and Najm al-din Kubra’s The Blossoming of Beauty and the Scents of Majesty. His most recent books are Messianisme et sainteté: les poèmes du mystique ottoman Niyâzî Mısrî (Paris 2012), and Unité et spiritualité: le courant Hamzevî-Melȃmî dans l'empire ottoman (Paris, 2013).