Born in 1909, the English scholar, thinker and translator Martin Lings embraced Islam and took the name Abu Bakr Siraj ad-Din. He belonged to the Shadhili Sufi tradition; his best-known work is the widely acclaimed biography 'Muhammad: His Life Based on the Earliest Sources'. He produced important works on symbolism and Sufism. He died on 12 May 2005 in Westerham, Kent, and was buried in his own garden in a simple ceremony.