Arin Salamah Qudsi | University of Haifa (original) (raw)
Papers by Arin Salamah Qudsi
The purpose of this article is to examine the intersections between the corpus of sayings in the ... more The purpose of this article is to examine the intersections between the corpus of sayings in the Sufi tradition and the changing realities in the period between the third/ninth and seventh/thirteenth centuries. The main hypothesis is that masters’ sayings were neither expressions of abstract theories nor mere responses to changing forms of religious identities but rather a powerful engine for the shifts then occurring in the Sufi tradition as a whole. This notion is examined from two realms. The first is an examination of the ways Sufi sayings went far beyond being a vessel for mystical themes and acted as an effective instrument in the hands of Sufi masters in their quest for authority. Sufi sayings helped masters build the foundations for a shared Sufi “science” transmitted through generations of Sufis and contributed, thereby, to establishing a powerful collective identi-ty and institution. In the second realm, this paper categorizes the bulk of sayings according to prevalent themes, structures, and performativity to propose major outlines of the development of these sayings across time. There were three significant phases in the development of Sufi sayings: the first refers to the late second/eighth and early third/ninth centuries; the second to the fourth/tenth and fifth/eleventh centuries; and the third covers the period from the sixth/twelfth century onwards. Inspired by speech act theory and other theories on the performativity of language, I argue that Sufi sayings, including ecstatic utterances, were designated as social acts seeking to change the basics of religious consciousness.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
يعكسُ كتابُ تحفةِ البررة التصوّف الإسلاميّ كما تطوّر خلال القرن الهجريّ السادس في الأطراف الشرقيّ... more يعكسُ كتابُ تحفةِ البررة التصوّف الإسلاميّ كما تطوّر خلال القرن الهجريّ السادس في الأطراف الشرقيّة لدار الإسلام. هو خطّ روحيّ لا يتعارض مع التصوّف الذي ينعكس واضحًا في كتابات العراقيّين أمثال أبي حفص وأبي النجيب السهرورديّ؛ بيد أنّه يتّخذ لسانًا أكثر تلوّنًا في عرض الصور الرمزيّة، ويركن بشكل بارز إلى حشد الأمثال، التشبيهات والاستعارات التي تضفي على المعالجات النظريّة تنوّعًا لونيًّا بارزًا.
ومن ذلك مثلًا نزوع مجد الدين البغداديّ إلى تطوير فكرة القلب باعتباره مرآة تنعكس الصور فيها، تلك الفكرة التي كان أبو حامد الغزاليّ أبرز من صقلها، فلا يتوقّف عند كون المرآة مصقولة حتّى تنطبع الصور المحاذية لها، بل يتطرّق إلى تفاصيل رائعة تصف حركة الانطباع، وظروفها من ناحية هواء البيت الذي إن كان مظلمًا حال دون انطباع الصور في المرآة، ثمّ ينظر في الكوّة التي في البيت، ومكانها من حيث الشمس ومدارها، واصفًا انطباع قرص الشمس في المرآة ودخول أشعة الشمس من الكوّة وتنويرها لها. هذا التصوير المدهش لا نلقى مثيلًا له في التآليف الصوفيّة التي برزت إلى المشهد الصوفيّ الفكريّ في تلك الحقبة من الزمان.
الكرمل: دراسات في اللغة والأدب, 2023
يهدف هذا المقال إلى تسليط الضوء على أحد أقدم نصوص التراجم التي أُفرِدَت للنّساء في التاريخ الإسلا... more يهدف هذا المقال إلى تسليط الضوء على أحد أقدم نصوص التراجم التي أُفرِدَت للنّساء في التاريخ الإسلامي، وهو ذِكْر النِّسوة المتعبِّدات الصوفيات لشيخ التصوُّف في نيسابور أبي عبد الرحمن السُّلمي (ت. 412/1021)، وذلك من خلال إجراء معاينة ذات محورين اثنين: الأول هو محور المعالجة التحليلية لعناصر الخطاب المكوِّن لمجموعة التراجم بالاستناد إلى الطرح السيمانتيكي/الدلالي الذي يعتمد على تناول بُنى الجُمَل المستعملة في تعريف الشخصيات النسائيَّة. أما المحور الثاني فيستند إلى مقارنة بنية التراجم النسائية بين كلٍّ من نص السلمي وكتاب صفة الصفوة لابن الجوزي الذي وُضع في القرن السادس/الثاني عشر. ومع أنَّ الورع النسائي في ذِكْر النِّسوة يبدو متشابها في خواصه العامة مع الورع الذكوري المعاصر له؛ إلا أن الممارسات التعبدية التي تكشفها تراجم النساء ما زالت تشي بسمات وخواصّ مميزة. وبالعدول إلى مقارنة خطاب التراجم النسائية لدى السلمي وابن الجوزي نجد السلمي أكثر إصغاءً لأصوات النساء وأقل حرصًا من ابن الجوزي على أن تعكس تراجمهنّ ورع الذكور من معارفهنّ وأقاربهنّ.
Forthcoming in Journal of Semitic Studies , 2023
Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 2019
Studying food culture in early Sufism has been paid little scholarly attention, though it is able... more Studying food culture in early Sufism has been paid little scholarly attention, though it is able to afford us a way of reconstructing one of the pillars of early Sufi practice. This paper examines two aspects of Sufi food culture-individual and communal 'food fashions' with a special focus on 4th/10th-century Sufism. The exploration of early Sufi social relations is closely bound up with the food culture and eating manners of early Sufis. This profoundly social activity played a large role in forming and transforming collective Sufi identity. Al-Makkī's Qūt al-qulūb gains a special reference being the most important textbook on eating customs in the period under investigation.
Al-Masaq, 2012
While autobiography as a special genre increasingly occupies an important position in modern scho... more While autobiography as a special genre increasingly occupies an important position in modern scholarship, independent Sufi autobiographies still require additional and detailed examination. The current paper seeks to examine two spiritual autobiographies known very well in the history of Sufism: Al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī's Badʾ shaʾn, and Rūzbihān al-Baqlī's Kashf al-asrār. References to these works in modern research do not go beyond the assumption that they may represent visionary autobiographies, dreams, and mystical, extraordinary experiences and states. In the framework of this paper, we consider it essential to regard both texts as serious indicators of different realities, contexts, and mystic discourses.
Umde Journal of Religious Inquiries, 2021
This Turkish translation was published by Zeynep İrem Ceven in Umde Journal of Religious Inquirie... more This Turkish translation was published by Zeynep İrem Ceven in Umde Journal of Religious Inquiries, vol. 4,2 (2021): 259-290
Orientalia Suecana
This paper seeks to examine the individual case of Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥusayn (d. 304/916-917), the earl... more This paper seeks to examine the individual case of Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥusayn (d. 304/916-917), the early mystic of Rayy whose biography reflects the diversity and complexity of Sufi piety during the third/ninth century. The paper explores Ibn al-Ḥusayn's main spiritual worldviews manifested through a body of statements and letters or letter fragments attributed to him in the sources. His tense relationships with Sufi contemporaries, particularly those of the Baghdadi mainstream led by al-Junayd are also examined. It further investigates Ibn al-Ḥusayn's homoerotic statements and crosschecks them with a wide range of data that portray him as a mystic with a strong malāmatī temperament. By focusing on Ibn al-Ḥusayn's image in basic Sufi and non-Sufi biographies, the paper argues that what appears to be homoerotic implications in his provocative statements were a protest against the powerful and patronizing elite of Baghdadi Sufis.
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2021
and in Umayyad al-Andalus, and the Almoravid and Almohad West. Fatimid Cairo is not studied per s... more and in Umayyad al-Andalus, and the Almoravid and Almohad West. Fatimid Cairo is not studied per se but is treated only as an explanatory counter-model. It is therefore a Sunni point of view that is developed, contrary to what the mention of Cairo in the title might suggest. In addition, of the seven thinkers studied, only one, al-Ġazālī, is oriental. However, his presence in Akhtar’s book is due to the major role his writings played in the West in the twelfth century. Thus the perspective of the book is decidedly centred on pre-modern Western Sunnism. This very “Western” orientation of the book is confirmed by the absence of references to Makram Abbès’s books on al-Māwardī (Islam et politique à l’âge classique. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2009; and ʿAlī Ibn-Muḥammad al-Māwardī and Makram Abbès, De l’éthique du prince et du gouvernement de l’État. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2015) or the articulation of religion and politics in the classical period of Islam despite the fa...
This paper sheds light on Arabic Sufi prose from the third/ninth to the seventh/thirteenth centur... more This paper sheds light on Arabic Sufi prose from the third/ninth to the seventh/thirteenth centuries. It begins with the “Sufi act,” a wide range of conditions that the Sufi embarks upon under the influence of the mystical states in his life, codes of behavior, interactions with others as well as his writing skills and activities. The paper then proposes a general study model for approaching Sufi prose based on its complex links with both the Sufi act and Arabic literary art during early medieval Islam. This model is based on two dominant features. The first captures the spiritual basis of the mystical moment (“texts with lived-experience features”), and the second describes more “rational” attempts to canonize the Sufi experience (“texts with post-experience features”). These features are not strict paradigmatic categories but, rather, indicators to discern the general tone, style and discourse structures that dominates each text.
Religions, 2021
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy
This article examines the representation of human beings’ redemption in Islamic tradition with a ... more This article examines the representation of human beings’ redemption in Islamic tradition with a special focus on the Sufi perspective. This is done using Islamic scriptures and semantics. There is no homogenous Sufi perspective on the question of human redemption. However, it is still worthwhile to look for references to human redemption in Sufi discussions of the high state of unification. The human being plays an essential role in this experience, while their responsibility for others’ spiritual redemption becomes greater after returning to the normal state of being. Beside the individualistic experience of redemption, both Islam in general and taṣawwuf in particular hint at a form of collective deliverance from depravity.
Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
This paper discusses the theoretical basis of the Sufi term jadhb (the effortless attraction of m... more This paper discusses the theoretical basis of the Sufi term jadhb (the effortless attraction of man by God), and examines the different approaches towards the figure of majdhūb as developed and presented in Sufi compendia and both Sufi and non-Sufi biographies of the period between the fourth/tenth and the tenth/sixteenth centuries. It suggests that there are three major phases in the development of the theoretical basis of jadhb. The first stage covers the period between the fourth/tenth century and the first half of the sixth/twelfth century. Jadhb during this stage was not discussed as a separate technical term, and its early foundations were embedded particularly in the early discussions of tawba (repentance) beside other expressions such as ghayba and fanā’. The period that began with the late part of the sixth/twelfth century and reached the early part of the seventh/thirteenth century was distinguished by attempts of later Sufi authors to moderate the problematic aspects of j...
Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Mar 23, 2017
The purpose of this article is to examine the intersections between the corpus of sayings in the ... more The purpose of this article is to examine the intersections between the corpus of sayings in the Sufi tradition and the changing realities in the period between the third/ninth and seventh/thirteenth centuries. The main hypothesis is that masters’ sayings were neither expressions of abstract theories nor mere responses to changing forms of religious identities but rather a powerful engine for the shifts then occurring in the Sufi tradition as a whole. This notion is examined from two realms. The first is an examination of the ways Sufi sayings went far beyond being a vessel for mystical themes and acted as an effective instrument in the hands of Sufi masters in their quest for authority. Sufi sayings helped masters build the foundations for a shared Sufi “science” transmitted through generations of Sufis and contributed, thereby, to establishing a powerful collective identi-ty and institution. In the second realm, this paper categorizes the bulk of sayings according to prevalent themes, structures, and performativity to propose major outlines of the development of these sayings across time. There were three significant phases in the development of Sufi sayings: the first refers to the late second/eighth and early third/ninth centuries; the second to the fourth/tenth and fifth/eleventh centuries; and the third covers the period from the sixth/twelfth century onwards. Inspired by speech act theory and other theories on the performativity of language, I argue that Sufi sayings, including ecstatic utterances, were designated as social acts seeking to change the basics of religious consciousness.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
يعكسُ كتابُ تحفةِ البررة التصوّف الإسلاميّ كما تطوّر خلال القرن الهجريّ السادس في الأطراف الشرقيّ... more يعكسُ كتابُ تحفةِ البررة التصوّف الإسلاميّ كما تطوّر خلال القرن الهجريّ السادس في الأطراف الشرقيّة لدار الإسلام. هو خطّ روحيّ لا يتعارض مع التصوّف الذي ينعكس واضحًا في كتابات العراقيّين أمثال أبي حفص وأبي النجيب السهرورديّ؛ بيد أنّه يتّخذ لسانًا أكثر تلوّنًا في عرض الصور الرمزيّة، ويركن بشكل بارز إلى حشد الأمثال، التشبيهات والاستعارات التي تضفي على المعالجات النظريّة تنوّعًا لونيًّا بارزًا.
ومن ذلك مثلًا نزوع مجد الدين البغداديّ إلى تطوير فكرة القلب باعتباره مرآة تنعكس الصور فيها، تلك الفكرة التي كان أبو حامد الغزاليّ أبرز من صقلها، فلا يتوقّف عند كون المرآة مصقولة حتّى تنطبع الصور المحاذية لها، بل يتطرّق إلى تفاصيل رائعة تصف حركة الانطباع، وظروفها من ناحية هواء البيت الذي إن كان مظلمًا حال دون انطباع الصور في المرآة، ثمّ ينظر في الكوّة التي في البيت، ومكانها من حيث الشمس ومدارها، واصفًا انطباع قرص الشمس في المرآة ودخول أشعة الشمس من الكوّة وتنويرها لها. هذا التصوير المدهش لا نلقى مثيلًا له في التآليف الصوفيّة التي برزت إلى المشهد الصوفيّ الفكريّ في تلك الحقبة من الزمان.
الكرمل: دراسات في اللغة والأدب, 2023
يهدف هذا المقال إلى تسليط الضوء على أحد أقدم نصوص التراجم التي أُفرِدَت للنّساء في التاريخ الإسلا... more يهدف هذا المقال إلى تسليط الضوء على أحد أقدم نصوص التراجم التي أُفرِدَت للنّساء في التاريخ الإسلامي، وهو ذِكْر النِّسوة المتعبِّدات الصوفيات لشيخ التصوُّف في نيسابور أبي عبد الرحمن السُّلمي (ت. 412/1021)، وذلك من خلال إجراء معاينة ذات محورين اثنين: الأول هو محور المعالجة التحليلية لعناصر الخطاب المكوِّن لمجموعة التراجم بالاستناد إلى الطرح السيمانتيكي/الدلالي الذي يعتمد على تناول بُنى الجُمَل المستعملة في تعريف الشخصيات النسائيَّة. أما المحور الثاني فيستند إلى مقارنة بنية التراجم النسائية بين كلٍّ من نص السلمي وكتاب صفة الصفوة لابن الجوزي الذي وُضع في القرن السادس/الثاني عشر. ومع أنَّ الورع النسائي في ذِكْر النِّسوة يبدو متشابها في خواصه العامة مع الورع الذكوري المعاصر له؛ إلا أن الممارسات التعبدية التي تكشفها تراجم النساء ما زالت تشي بسمات وخواصّ مميزة. وبالعدول إلى مقارنة خطاب التراجم النسائية لدى السلمي وابن الجوزي نجد السلمي أكثر إصغاءً لأصوات النساء وأقل حرصًا من ابن الجوزي على أن تعكس تراجمهنّ ورع الذكور من معارفهنّ وأقاربهنّ.
Forthcoming in Journal of Semitic Studies , 2023
Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae, 2019
Studying food culture in early Sufism has been paid little scholarly attention, though it is able... more Studying food culture in early Sufism has been paid little scholarly attention, though it is able to afford us a way of reconstructing one of the pillars of early Sufi practice. This paper examines two aspects of Sufi food culture-individual and communal 'food fashions' with a special focus on 4th/10th-century Sufism. The exploration of early Sufi social relations is closely bound up with the food culture and eating manners of early Sufis. This profoundly social activity played a large role in forming and transforming collective Sufi identity. Al-Makkī's Qūt al-qulūb gains a special reference being the most important textbook on eating customs in the period under investigation.
Al-Masaq, 2012
While autobiography as a special genre increasingly occupies an important position in modern scho... more While autobiography as a special genre increasingly occupies an important position in modern scholarship, independent Sufi autobiographies still require additional and detailed examination. The current paper seeks to examine two spiritual autobiographies known very well in the history of Sufism: Al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī's Badʾ shaʾn, and Rūzbihān al-Baqlī's Kashf al-asrār. References to these works in modern research do not go beyond the assumption that they may represent visionary autobiographies, dreams, and mystical, extraordinary experiences and states. In the framework of this paper, we consider it essential to regard both texts as serious indicators of different realities, contexts, and mystic discourses.
Umde Journal of Religious Inquiries, 2021
This Turkish translation was published by Zeynep İrem Ceven in Umde Journal of Religious Inquirie... more This Turkish translation was published by Zeynep İrem Ceven in Umde Journal of Religious Inquiries, vol. 4,2 (2021): 259-290
Orientalia Suecana
This paper seeks to examine the individual case of Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥusayn (d. 304/916-917), the earl... more This paper seeks to examine the individual case of Yūsuf ibn al-Ḥusayn (d. 304/916-917), the early mystic of Rayy whose biography reflects the diversity and complexity of Sufi piety during the third/ninth century. The paper explores Ibn al-Ḥusayn's main spiritual worldviews manifested through a body of statements and letters or letter fragments attributed to him in the sources. His tense relationships with Sufi contemporaries, particularly those of the Baghdadi mainstream led by al-Junayd are also examined. It further investigates Ibn al-Ḥusayn's homoerotic statements and crosschecks them with a wide range of data that portray him as a mystic with a strong malāmatī temperament. By focusing on Ibn al-Ḥusayn's image in basic Sufi and non-Sufi biographies, the paper argues that what appears to be homoerotic implications in his provocative statements were a protest against the powerful and patronizing elite of Baghdadi Sufis.
Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 2021
and in Umayyad al-Andalus, and the Almoravid and Almohad West. Fatimid Cairo is not studied per s... more and in Umayyad al-Andalus, and the Almoravid and Almohad West. Fatimid Cairo is not studied per se but is treated only as an explanatory counter-model. It is therefore a Sunni point of view that is developed, contrary to what the mention of Cairo in the title might suggest. In addition, of the seven thinkers studied, only one, al-Ġazālī, is oriental. However, his presence in Akhtar’s book is due to the major role his writings played in the West in the twelfth century. Thus the perspective of the book is decidedly centred on pre-modern Western Sunnism. This very “Western” orientation of the book is confirmed by the absence of references to Makram Abbès’s books on al-Māwardī (Islam et politique à l’âge classique. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 2009; and ʿAlī Ibn-Muḥammad al-Māwardī and Makram Abbès, De l’éthique du prince et du gouvernement de l’État. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2015) or the articulation of religion and politics in the classical period of Islam despite the fa...
This paper sheds light on Arabic Sufi prose from the third/ninth to the seventh/thirteenth centur... more This paper sheds light on Arabic Sufi prose from the third/ninth to the seventh/thirteenth centuries. It begins with the “Sufi act,” a wide range of conditions that the Sufi embarks upon under the influence of the mystical states in his life, codes of behavior, interactions with others as well as his writing skills and activities. The paper then proposes a general study model for approaching Sufi prose based on its complex links with both the Sufi act and Arabic literary art during early medieval Islam. This model is based on two dominant features. The first captures the spiritual basis of the mystical moment (“texts with lived-experience features”), and the second describes more “rational” attempts to canonize the Sufi experience (“texts with post-experience features”). These features are not strict paradigmatic categories but, rather, indicators to discern the general tone, style and discourse structures that dominates each text.
Religions, 2021
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY
The Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy
This article examines the representation of human beings’ redemption in Islamic tradition with a ... more This article examines the representation of human beings’ redemption in Islamic tradition with a special focus on the Sufi perspective. This is done using Islamic scriptures and semantics. There is no homogenous Sufi perspective on the question of human redemption. However, it is still worthwhile to look for references to human redemption in Sufi discussions of the high state of unification. The human being plays an essential role in this experience, while their responsibility for others’ spiritual redemption becomes greater after returning to the normal state of being. Beside the individualistic experience of redemption, both Islam in general and taṣawwuf in particular hint at a form of collective deliverance from depravity.
Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society
This paper discusses the theoretical basis of the Sufi term jadhb (the effortless attraction of m... more This paper discusses the theoretical basis of the Sufi term jadhb (the effortless attraction of man by God), and examines the different approaches towards the figure of majdhūb as developed and presented in Sufi compendia and both Sufi and non-Sufi biographies of the period between the fourth/tenth and the tenth/sixteenth centuries. It suggests that there are three major phases in the development of the theoretical basis of jadhb. The first stage covers the period between the fourth/tenth century and the first half of the sixth/twelfth century. Jadhb during this stage was not discussed as a separate technical term, and its early foundations were embedded particularly in the early discussions of tawba (repentance) beside other expressions such as ghayba and fanā’. The period that began with the late part of the sixth/twelfth century and reached the early part of the seventh/thirteenth century was distinguished by attempts of later Sufi authors to moderate the problematic aspects of j...
Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Mar 23, 2017
My new book on al-Junayd al-Baghdadi is forthcoming! This book examines the character of Junayd ... more My new book on al-Junayd al-Baghdadi is forthcoming!
This book examines the character of Junayd as both an architect of the Sufi mainstream as well as a charismatic and pragmatic personality whose sophisticated relationships within Sufi circles as well as the broader circle of Islamic piety greatly impacted the development of Islamic thought in general and of Sufi thought in particular. Besides constructing a balanced portrait of Junayd, this book also examines Junayd’s legacy in order to flesh out some of the socio-religious and historical settings of that period.
Female Mystics and the Divine Feminine in the Global Sufi Experience, 2022
This book offers a specialized study focusing on the phenomenon of the female mystic and the divi... more This book offers a specialized study focusing on the phenomenon of the female mystic and the divine feminine in the global Sufi experience. Drawing on classical and modern periods, it presents a considered approach to the topic from the disciplines of literature, history, religion, philosophy, language and linguistics, and anthropology. Each author brings to bear expertise in their field of study when addressing the topic. Each piece, therefore, whilst standalone, contributes collectively to understanding about the female and feminine in Sufi experience. The book takes broad interest in subjectivity, literary and artistic productivity, and notable figures of importance, but narrows the purview of its examination to case studies, historical periods, and philosophical concerns of relevance. Focused areas of inquiry include: the economic power of Sufi women in history; the hierophanic dialectics of mystical Islamic poetry with regard to “the feminine” experience in Yunus Emre; the ontology of the sacred feminine and female mystic in classical Sufi poeisis; the mystical autochthonous presence in local Sufi praxis of Indonesia; reconfigurations of gendered understanding in Argentinian Sufism; and symbolism and spiritual psychology in Sufi cosmology. This book is an interdisciplinary publication with an international host of scholars from around the world: University of Amsterdam, University of St Gallen, University of Haifa, Western Sydney University, Monash University, and Australian National University.
Sufism and Early Islamic Piety: Personal and Communal Dynamics offers a new story about the forma... more Sufism and Early Islamic Piety: Personal and Communal Dynamics
offers a new story about the formative period of Sufism. Through a
fresh reading of diverse Sufi and non-Sufi sources, Arin Salamah-Qudsi
reveals the complexity of personal and communal aspects of Sufi piety
in the period between the ninth and thirteenth centuries. Her study also
sheds light on the interrelationships and conflicts of early Sufis through
emphasising that early Sufism was neither a quietist nor a completely
individual mode of piety. Salamah-Qudsi reveals how the early Sufis’
commitment to the Islamic ideal of family life led to different creative
arrangements among them in order to avoid contradictions with this
ideal and the mystical ideal of solitary life. Her book enables a deeper
understanding of the development of Sufism in light of the human
concerns and motivations of its founders.
This work seeks to put the focus of the life, work and teachings of the influential Sufi Sheikh A... more This work seeks to put the focus of the life, work and teachings of the influential Sufi Sheikh Abu Ḥafṣ ʿUmar al-Suhrawardī (d. 1234). It includes an introduction and six chapters ending with a conclusion. Among the four appendices that close the book, Appendix 4 contains excerpts from the writings of Suhrawardī which have not previously been published.