The Mazhar al-'aja'ib is the devotional work written to expound upon the teachings of Agha-yi Buzurg, a female religious master active in the early 16th century in Bukhara. The work was produced in 16th century Central Asia, when the region underwent major socio-economic and religio-political changes in the aftermath of the downfall of the Timurid dynasty and the establishment of the Shibanid dynasty in Mavarannahr and the Safavid dynasty in Iran. In its portrayal of Agha-yi Buzurg, the Mazhar al-'aja'ib represents a tradition that maintained an egalitarian conception of gender in the spiritual equality of women and men, attesting to the presence of multiple voices in Muslim discourse and challenging conventional ways of thinking about gender history in early modern Central Asia.

MEN WHO HAVE WALKED WITH GOD BEING THE STORY OF MYSTICISM THROUGH THE AGES TOLD IN THE BIOGRAPHIES OF REPRESENTATIVE SEERS AND SAINTS WITH EXCERPTS FROM THEIR WRITINGS AND SAYINGS B Y Sheldon Cheney New York Alfred A. Knopf 1948 THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK, PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF, INC. Copyright 1943 by Sheldon Cheney. All rights rc emd. No fart of this book may be reproduced in any form unthout permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce not more than three illustrations in a review to bo printed in a magazine or newspaper. Manufactured in the United States of America Published simultaneously in Canada by The Bpmm Press PUBLISHED SEPTEMBER 20, 1045 REPRINTED FOUR TIMES SIXTH PRINTING, MAY 1948 Contents Preface viii I The Golden Age and the Mystic Poet LAO-TSE 1 II The BUDDHA, the Great Light, and the Bliss of NIRVANA 38 III The Age of Reason in Greece PYTHAGORAS and PLATO 86 IV The Tardy Flowering of Greek Mysticism PLOTINUS 118 V Christian Mysticism, from the Founders to SAINT BERNARD 143 VI The Medieval Flowering ECKHART and the Friends of GOD 176 VII FRA ANGELICO, the Saintly Painter and Tool of GOD 212 VIII JACOB BOEHME, the Shoemaker-Illuminate of the Reformation 238 IX BROTHER LAWRENCE, the Lay Monk Who Attained Unclouded Vision 285 X A Mystic in the Age of Enlightened Scepticism WILLIAM BLAKE 309 Afterword 378 A Descriptive Reading List, with Acknowledgments 385 Index 395 List of Illustrations FOLLOWING PAGE Lao-Tse on a Water Buffalo. Chinese, Sung 10 Sage in Contemplation. In the style of Ma Yuan 20 Sage in Contemplation under a Pine Tree. By Ma Yuan 84 An Arahat Entering into Nirvana. By Lin Ting-Kuei 80 Socrates102 Christ Appearing to the Apostles. By William Blake 146 Saint Paul By El Greco 154 Augustine Recording His Vision of the City of God 160 Saint Bernard. By El Greco 170 Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata, School of Giotto 178 Meeting of Saint Francis and Saint Dominic, By Fra Angelico 182 The Garden of Paradise. School of Cologne, about 1400 204 The Annunciation. By Fra Angelico 216 Portrait of Fra Angelico. By Carlo Dolci The Naming of Saint John. By Fra Angelico 222 The Visitation, By Fra Angelico The Annunciation. By Fra Angelico 226 The Annunciation. By Fra Angelico Coronation of the Virgin. By Fra Angelico 232 The Nativity, By Fra Angelico j The Flight into Egypt. By Fra Angelico 286 vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FOLLOWING PAGE Glad Day. By William Blake 250 When the Morning Stars Sang Together. By William Blake 318 Then a Spirit Passed before My Face. By William Blake 326 338 356 362 Saint Paul Preaching at Athens. By William Blake Satan Rousing the Rebel Angels. By William Blake The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed with the Sun. By William Blake Satan Smiting Job with Boils. By William Blake Then Went Satan Forth from the Presence of the Lord. By William Blake The Ancient of Days Laying out the Circle of the Earth. By William Blake Blake Dethroning Urizen. By William Blake The Angel of the Revelation. By William Blake 374 THE author and the publisher wish to record their thanks to the De partment of Education and Museum Extension of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and to the Photograph Library, School of the Fine Arts, Yale University, for providing certain of the illustrations of Fra Angeli co s paintings and to Miss Elizabeth Mongan of the Print Department of the NationalGallery, Washington, for exceptional aid in assembling the photographs of William Blakes drawings and prints. Our indebted ness to museum directors and to photographers is more directly re corded in the captions under individual illustrations. vii gjr PBEPACE JlN THE final analysis there is only one subject of permanent interest, the soul. It is a truth easily forgotten in the press of prac tical undertakings...

The Sufi thinker 'Abd al-Karim al-Jili (d. 1408) is best-known for his treatment of the idea of the Perfect Human, yet his masterpiece, al-Insan al-kamil (The Perfect Human), is in fact a wide-ranging compendium of Sufi metaphysical thought in the Ibn 'Arabian tradition. One of the major topics treated in that work is sacred history, the story of God's revelation of the truth to humanity through His prophets and scriptures. Fitzroy Morrissey provides here the first in-depth study of this important section of al-Jili's major work and the key ideas contained within it. Through a translation and analysis of the key passages on the Qur'an, Torah, Psalms and Gospel, it shows how al-Jili's view of sacred history is conditioned by his Ibn 'Arabian Sufi metaphysics, whereby the phenomenal world is viewed as a manifestation of God, and the prophets and scriptures as special places where the divine attributes appear more completely. It also looks at how this idea influences al-Jili's understanding of the hierarchy of prophets, scriptures and religions. The book argues that, contrary to common assumptions, al-Jili's Sufi metaphysical view of sacred history is in keeping with the common medieval Muslim view of sacred history, whereby the Qur'an is viewed as the best of scriptures, Muhammad as the best of prophets, and Islam as the best religion. The book therefore not only gives an insight into a key text within medieval Sufi thought, but also has ramifications for our understanding of medieval Sufi views on the relationship between Islam and other religions.

The Macarian writings are among the most important and influential works of the early Christian ascetic and mystical tradition. This book offers an introduction to the work of Macarius-Symeon (commonly referred to as Pseudo-Macarius), outlining the lineaments of his teaching and the historical context of his works. The book goes on to examine and re-evaluate the complex question of his relationship with the Messalian tendency and to explore the nature of his theological and spiritual legacy in the later Christian tradition. In so doing the book also offers substantial treatments of the work of Mark the Monk, Diadochus of Photice, Abba Isaiah, and Maximus Confessor. It stands therefore not only as an exploration of the teaching and legacy of Macarius-Symeon but also as a chapter in the history of the Christian spiritual tradition.

The articles collected in Scholar and Kabbalist: The Life and Work of Gershom Scholem present diverse biographical aspects and the scholarly oeuvre of arguably the most influential Jewish-Israeli intellectual of the 20th century. Immigrating to Palestine in 1923, Gershom Scholem became one of the founders of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was the first to establish Jewish Mysticism as a scholarly discipline. The articles collected here reflect the diversity of Scholem's intellectual scope including his contribution to Jewish Studies as a scholar of Kabbalah, religion and history, as a bibliophile, and an expert librarian of Judaica. Central aspects of Scholem's impact on Jewish historiography, literature and art in Israel, Europe and the US, are presented to the reader for the first time.

Christopher Melchert proposes to historicize Islamic renunciant piety (zuhd). As the conquest period wound down in the early eighth century c.e., renunciants set out to maintain the contempt of worldly comfort and loyalty to a greater cause that had characterized the community of Muslims in the seventh century. Instead of reckless endangerment on the battlefield, they cultivated intense fear of the Last Judgement to come. They spent nights weeping, reciting the Qur'an, and performing supererogatory ritual prayers. They stressed other-worldliness to the extent of minimizing good works in this world. Then the decline of tribute from the conquered peoples and conversion to Islam made it increasingly unfeasible for most Muslims to keep up any such regime. Professional differentiation also provoked increasing criticism of austerity. Finally, in the later ninth century, a form of Sufism emerged that would accommodate those willing and able to spend most of their time on religious devotions, those willing and able to spend their time on other religious pursuits such as law and hadith, and those unwilling or unable to do either.

Sufism is the subject of intensive discussion and debate. Yet, it is also true that the study of contemporary Sufism has been overlooked by the fields of Middle Eastern, Islamic and religious studies. The networks, political agendas, development of new rituals and the organisation of Sufism, especially in the West, have not been studied comprehensively enough, despite growing interest in Islamic mysticism. This book sets out to fill the gap.It is not only timely, in that it offers the first sustained treatment of Sufism in the context of modern Muslim communities; but it is also innovative, in that it broadens the purview of the study of Sufism to look at the subject right across international boundaries, from Canada to Brazil, and from Denmark to the UK and USA. Subjects discussed include: the politics of Sufism; the remaking of Turkish Sufism; tradition and cultural creativity among Syrian Sufi communities; the globalization of Sufi networks, and their transplantation in America; Iranian Sufism in London; and Naqshbandi Sufism in Sweden.The practice of Sufism has become especially important for young people - particularly young women - to find an adequate framework within which to explore Muslim spirituality in dialogue with modernity. And in its thorough examination of how Sufi rituals, traditions and theologies have been adapted by late-modern religiosity, this volume will make indispensable reading for all scholars and students of modern Islam.Sufism is fashionable, important and sellable. Contemporary Sufism has been neglected in the literature - until now. This title is unique in its international scope and comprehensive treatment of modern western Sufi communities.