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Ibn al-'Arabi is still known as "the Great Sheik" among the surviving Sufi orders. Born in Muslim Spain, he has become famous in the West as the greatest mystical thinker of Islamic civilization. He was a great philosopher, theologian, and poet. William Chittick takes a major step toward exposing the breadth and depth of Ibn al-'Arabi's vision. The book offers his view of spiritual perfection and explains his theology, ontology, epistemology, hermeneutics, and soteriology. The clear language, unencumbered by methodological jargon, makes it accessible to those familiar with other spiritual traditions, while its scholarly precision will appeal to specialists. Beginning with a survey of Ibn al-...
"Umar Ibn al-Farid is the most venerated mystical poet in Arabic. An accomplished Sufi as well as a respected poet, his poetry blends the two traditions - classical Arabic poetry and Islamic mysticism - in a body of work with a distinctly devotional and mystical character. Th. Emil Homerin makes available here two of Ibn al-Farid's poems that have long been considered classics of Islamic mystical literature. The Wine Ode, a poem in praise of wine as well as a love poem, can also be seen as an extended meditation on the presence of divine love in the universe. The Poem of the Sufi Way, one of the longest poems ever composed in Arabic, and the most famous one rhyming in "T," begins as a love p...
Sufism, the name given to Islamic mysticism, has been the subject of many studies, but the orders through the organizational aspect of the Sufi spirit was expressed has been neglected. This book, one of the earliest modern examinations of the historical developments of Sufism, offers a clear and detailed account of the Sufi schools and orders, from the second century of Islam to modern times.
Considers what is known of acclaimed early Sufi master Ab? Bakr al-Shibl? and how he was characterized in various times and places. Early Sufi master Ab? Bakr al-Shibl? (d. 946) is both famous and unknown. One of the pioneers of Islamic mysticism, he left no writings, but his legacy was passed down orally, and he has been acclaimed from his own time to the present. Accounts of Shibl? present a fascinating figure: an eccentric with a showy red beard, a lover of poetry and wit, an ascetic who embraced altered states of consciousness, and, for a time, a disturbed man confined to an insane asylum. Kenneth Avery offers a contemporary interpretation of Shibl?s thought and his importance in the h...
"Covers the origins of Sufism and early influences, particularly from Christianity; the rise of the great Sufi organizations; the thought of Sufism's main theorist and systemizer, Ibn Arabi; Rumi and the Whirling Dervishes; relations with Shi'ism in Iran; Sufism in the heyday of the great empires in Iran, India, and Turkey; and relations with Turkey and Egypt during the nineteenth century as well as Sufi practices in the twentieth century."--Page 4 of cover.
Previously published only as separate essays, Sufi Thought and Action - assembled and introduced by Idries Shah - covers an extraordinary diversity of Sufi ideas and activities in many countries and cultures. Included in the volume are papers on Sufi Principles and Learning Methods; Ritual, Initiation and Secrets in Sufi Circles; and Key Concepts in Sufi Understanding. The volume stands as a clear and simple handbook to many facets of Sufi study and thought. Shah's introduction begins, 'The object of Sufi spiritual teaching can be expressed as: to help to refine the individual's consciousness so that it may reach the Radiances of Truth, from which one is cut off by ordinary activities of the world'.
The Naqshbandiyya order has attracted increasing scholarly attention over the last two decades, yet so far there has been no attempt to present a comprehensive picture of the evolution of the rich organization and ideational Naqshbandiyyah tradition This book is therefore by now a highly desirable contribution that will fill this gap in the literature of this important Sufi order Spanning almost a millennium in time and most of the Muslim world in space, this book provides a comprehensive overview of the important Naqshbandiyyah Sufi order
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If anyone puts thorns on my way out of animosity Every flower in the garden of his life remain thornless - Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya The lives of Sufis are replete with stories of tantalizing miracles and unforgettable anecdotes of wisdom. The 101 Sufi tales in this book show pursuits of ethical and moral conduct in Sufi spirituality - a vibrant movement within Islamic traditions across time and space. Committed in their love for God, the Sufis found love in all His Creations. Large numbers of followers and devotees have continued to throng Sufi shrines seeking blessings and benediction. The stories of mystical exercises and charitable endeavour in this book illustrate their role and continuing relevance in shaping a pluralistic, diverse and tolerant Indian society. Exactly as the Sufis focused on soul searching and right conduct for themselves and all those around them, these stories are nuggets of wisdom which guide people to become better human beings.
'Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulusi (1641 to1731) was the most outstanding scholarly Sufi of Ottoman Syria. He was regarded as the leading religious poet of his time and as an excellent commentator of classical Sufi texts. At the popular level, he has been read as an interpreter of symbolic dreams. Moreover, he played a crucial role in the transmission of the teachings of the Naqshabandiyya in the Ottoman Empire, and he contributed to the eighteenth-century Sufi revival via his disciples. This pioneering book analyzes important aspects of al-Nabulusi's work and places him in the historical context.