His genealogical tree also includes John Lewis Burckhardt (1784–1817), the explorer who discovered the Nabatean city of Petra and the Egyptian temples of Abu Simbel.

[13] Parallel with this, he took up an apprenticeship in zellij tile-making with a master craftsman from Fez, who urged him to memorize the Alfiyya of Ibn Malik, a didactic poem of a thousand verses which sets out all the rules of Arabic grammar; Burckhardt remained ever grateful to him for this.

[17] Burckhardt's complete integration into local life made him suspect in the eyes of the French authorities, who ordered him to leave the country.

[a] The journal also published his translations of Sufi treatises by Al-Ghazali, Ibn Arabi, Abd al-Karim al-Jili and al-Arabi al-Darqawî.

[27] The quality of Urs Graf's publications brought it a worldwide reputation in its domain,[28] and in October 1950, in a private audience, Burckhardt presented Pope Pius XII[b] with a quadrichromic facsimile in three volumes of the celebrated Book of Kells (Evangeliorum quatuor codex Cenannensis), a gospel in the Celtic tradition dating from 800 A.D., published by his company.

[32] Following Guénon, Coomaraswamy and Schuon, Burckhardt became identified as one of the great 20th century spokesmen of the philosophia perennis, "that 'uncreated wisdom' expressed in Platonism, the Vedanta, Sufism, Taoism and other authentic esoteric and sapiential teachings".

"[40] For the first two years Burkhardt, with drawing board and camera, singlehandedly made an inventory of the outstanding buildings, religious and secular, from the exterior and the interior, to evaluate their state of conservation.

[41] Over the three following years he led an interdisciplinary team tasked with establishing a master plan for the rehabilitation of the monuments and the urban fabric, including handcrafts "whose role is to create an ambiance that allows spiritual values to shine through.

Without ever erring into simplification or vulgarization, he managed to present key ideas clearly: fundamental notions that he developed from several angles with a benevolent deliberateness....

In one hour of conversation in a calm tone, punctuated by silences that had nothing hesitant about them but on the contrary facilitated reflection and assimilation, he would set forth several major topics, each illustrated by particularly striking examples.

So it was that in 1978 and 1979, together with the Egyptian Right Livelihood Award laureate Hassan Fathy and Jean-Louis Michon, he oversaw the office of the American architects tasked with these plans, in order that the principles and spirit of traditional Muslim architecture be respected.

[51] In 1981, despite a debilitating neuropathy, Burckhardt went for the last time to Fez as guest of honour at the inauguration by the Director-General of UNESCO of the international campaign for the conservation of the medina.