STUDIES IN ISLAMIC MYSTICISM BY REYNOLD ALLEYNE NICHOLSON LITT. D.,
LL. D. LECTURER IN PERSIAN IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE FORMERLY
FELLOW OF TRINITY COLLEGE CAMBRIDGE AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS I 92 I
TO EDWARD GRANVILLE BROWNE WHOSE TEACHING AND EXAMPLE FIRST
INSPIRED ME TO PURSUE THE STUDY OF ORIENTAL LITERATURE PREFACE As
was explained . in the preface to my Studies in Islamic Poetry, the
following essays conclude a series of five, which fall into two
groups and are therefore published in separate volumes. While
mysticism, save for a few casual references, found no place in the
studies on the Lubdbu l-Albdb of Awff and the Luzumiyydt of Abu VA1
al-Maarrf, in these now brought together it has taken entire
possession of the field. Ibnu l-Frid, indeed, is an exquisite poet
and the picture of Abii Safd ibn Abi 1-Khayr, drawn by pious faith
and coloured with legendary romance, may be looked upon as a work
of art in its way. But on the whole the literary interest of the
present volume is subordinate to the religious and philosophical. I
have tried to make the reader acquainted with three iifis famous in
the East and worthy of being known in Europe. Most of what has
hitherto been written concerning Abii Safd begins and ends with the
quatrains passing as his, though for the chief part, at any rate
they were neither composed nor recited by him. As to Jflf, the
masterly sketch in Dr Muhammad Iqbdls Development of Metaphysics in
Persia stands almost alone. Ibuu l-F ri J. had the misfortune to be
translated by Von Hammer, and the first intelligent or intelligible
version of his great Tdiyya appeared in Italy four years ago. It
will be seen that the subjects chosen illustrate different
aspectsof tifism and exhibit racial contrasts, of which perhaps the
importance has not yet been sufficiently recognised. Abii Safd, the
free-thinking free-living dervish, is a Persian through and
through, while Ibnu l-Fdri4 in the form of his poetry as well as in
the individuality of his spiritual enthusiasm display the narrower
and tenser genius of the Semite. Nearly a v third of this volume is
concerned with a type of iifism, which- vi Preface as represented
by Ibnu l- Arabf and Jfli possesses great interest for students of
medieval thought and may even claim a certain significance in
relation to modern philosophical and theological problems.
Mysticism is such a vital element in Islam that without some
understanding of its ideas and of the forms which they assume we
should seek in vain to penetrate below the surface of Mohammedan
religious life. The forms may be fantastic and the ideas difficult
to grasp nevertheless we shall do well to follow them, for in their
company East and West often meet and feel themselves akin. I regret
that I have not been able to make full use of several books and
articles published during the final stages of the war or soon
afterwards, which only came into my hands when these studies were
already in the press. Tor Andraes Die person Muhammeds in lehre und
glauben seiner gemeinde Upsala, 1917 contains by far the best
survey that has yet appeared of the sources, historical evolution
and general characteristics of the Mohammedan Logos doctrine. This,
as I have said, is the real subject of the Insdnu l-Kdmtt. Its
roots lie, of course, in Hellenism. Andrae shows how the notion of
the ffeio avQg rros passed over into Islam through the Shiites and
became embodied in theImdm, regarded as the living representative
of God and as a semi-divine person ality on whom the world depends
for its existence. Many Shiites were in close touch with iifism,
and there can be no doubt that, as Ibn Khaldiin observed, the Shf
ite Imdm is the prototype of the iifistic Qutb. It was inevitable
that the attributes of the Imm and Qutb should be transferred to
the Prophet, so that even amongst orthodox Moslems the belief in
his pre-existence rapidly gained ground...
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