Shaikha Camille Adams Helminski

Shaikha Camille Adams Helminski, who has been within the Mevlevi tradition of Sufism for more than 35 years, is Co-Director of The Threshold Society, a non-profit organization rooted within the traditions of Sufism and dedicated to facilitating the direct personal experience of the Divine. She has helped to increase awareness of the integral contribution of women to the spiritual path of Islam with her book, Women of Sufism: A Hidden Treasure. As co-founder of Threshold Books she helped to bring into English many classic Sufi texts, and has co-translated a number of volumes of Sufi literature, including Jewels of Remembrance (excerpts of the Mathnawi of Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi) and The Rumi Daybook, with her husband, Kabir. Camille is the first woman to translate a substantial portion of the Qur’an into English: The Light of Dawn: Daily Readings from the Holy Qur’an. She has authored two anthologies, The Book of Character, and The Book of Nature: A Sourcebook on Nature and the Environment, as part of a new curriculum for Islamic education. Her most recent publications are Rumi’s Sun: The Teachings of Shams of Tabriz, and Rumi and His Friends, and Words from the East, poetic reflections. 

Camille has been a core faculty member of the Spiritual Paths Foundation, which promotes peace, respect, and mutual understanding between peoples of diverse religious and spiritual traditions through programs in Interspirituality rooted in contemplative practice. She has, also, been designated as one of the spiritual leaders of WISE (Women’s Initiative in Islamic Spirituality and Equality).