Review: [untitled]Author(s): William ChittickReviewed work(s):

Ibn Arab, ou la qute du soufre rouge by Claude AddasSource: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 111, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1991), pp. 161-162Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/603781Accessed: 29/11/2008 17:33

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of several, mainly Persian, texts, and ample indexes to all sections. The introductory matter describes the problems con- nected with the study of Isfarayini's works and the manu- scripts utilized in the study. It then devotes twenty pages to an analysis of the scanty biographical references to the author, discussing in some detail, for example, his affiliation with various masters of the Kubrawi order (such as Ahmad-i Gurpanl) and the forty years he spent in Baghdad as a Sufi master. Details are provided about his relationships with some of his disciples, including 'Ala' al-Dawla Simnanl, and evi- dence for links with various high officials, including the I1- khanid sultans Takuidar and Ghazan Khan and viziers such as Sa'd al-Din SawajL.

The second part of the introduction devotes forty-five pages to "the mystical way" in the teachings of the shaykh. IsfarayinT placed primary emphasis upon the training of disciples and is less concerned with the theory which was discussed in detail by earlier Kubrawi masters, such as Najm al-Din Razi or his own disciple Simnani. Landolt analyzes Isfarayini's views on the two basic pillars of Sufi practice, dhikr and the shaykh. Like other Kubrawi authors dealt with in important studies by Fritz Meier and Henry Corbin, IsfarayinT pays a great deal of attention to the ability of the master to guide the psycho- logical and spiritual development of disciples, in particular as related to the disciple's experience of the subtle centers (latd'if) of his own being. Landolt's study here is an impor- tant contribution to Sufi psychology. The introductory sec- tion is supplemented by copious footnotes, illustrating the extreme care of the author to dot every i. With notes, the translation of the first of the edited texts, Kashif al-asrar, takes up the remaining eighty pages of the French section. The Persian text includes, along with Kdshif al-asrar, six short treatises (three in Arabic) written in answer to questions and chosen "rather arbitrarily" (p. 14) from the available material, and a forty-page treatise called Risala dar rawish-i suluk wa khalwat-nishnL.

The editions and translation show the same careful scholar- ship found in the introduction, though the translation is not quite as literal as one might have expected. The texts are intrinsically of great interest, not only for the practical side of Sufi teaching which Landolt emphasizes, but also for the manner in which the author integrates all of his teachings into the doctrine of the divine names and attributes. He is as concerned to do this as was Ibn al-'Arabi, though his termi- nology and approach are more reminiscent of Najm al-Din Razl, or, slightly further afield, Jalal al-Din Rfum. Especially interesting are the several autobiographical sections. In one the author tells us in surprising and entertaining detail about his attempts to balance his own legitimate needs with those of the ants who depended upon the same discarded grain which he was gathering from the road.

The translation adds an important work to the increasing library of Sufi texts available in European languages. Since

of several, mainly Persian, texts, and ample indexes to all sections. The introductory matter describes the problems con- nected with the study of Isfarayini's works and the manu- scripts utilized in the study. It then devotes twenty pages to an analysis of the scanty biographical references to the author, discussing in some detail, for example, his affiliation with various masters of the Kubrawi order (such as Ahmad-i Gurpanl) and the forty years he spent in Baghdad as a Sufi master. Details are provided about his relationships with some of his disciples, including 'Ala' al-Dawla Simnanl, and evi- dence for links with various high officials, including the I1- khanid sultans Takuidar and Ghazan Khan and viziers such as Sa'd al-Din SawajL.

The second part of the introduction devotes forty-five pages to "the mystical way" in the teachings of the shaykh. IsfarayinT placed primary emphasis upon the training of disciples and is less concerned with the theory which was discussed in detail by earlier Kubrawi masters, such as Najm al-Din Razi or his own disciple Simnani. Landolt analyzes Isfarayini's views on the two basic pillars of Sufi practice, dhikr and the shaykh. Like other Kubrawi authors dealt with in important studies by Fritz Meier and Henry Corbin, IsfarayinT pays a great deal of attention to the ability of the master to guide the psycho- logical and spiritual development of disciples, in particular as related to the disciple's experience of the subtle centers (latd'if) of his own being. Landolt's study here is an impor- tant contribution to Sufi psychology. The introductory sec- tion is supplemented by copious footnotes, illustrating the extreme care of the author to dot every i. With notes, the translation of the first of the edited texts, Kashif al-asrar, takes up the remaining eighty pages of the French section. The Persian text includes, along with Kdshif al-asrar, six short treatises (three in Arabic) written in answer to questions and chosen "rather arbitrarily" (p. 14) from the available material, and a forty-page treatise called Risala dar rawish-i suluk wa khalwat-nishnL.

The editions and translation show the same careful scholar- ship found in the introduction, though the translation is not quite as literal as one might have expected. The texts are intrinsically of great interest, not only for the practical side of Sufi teaching which Landolt emphasizes, but also for the manner in which the author integrates all of his teachings into the doctrine of the divine names and attributes. He is as concerned to do this as was Ibn al-'Arabi, though his termi- nology and approach are more reminiscent of Najm al-Din Razl, or, slightly further afield, Jalal al-Din Rfum. Especially interesting are the several autobiographical sections. In one the author tells us in surprising and entertaining detail about his attempts to balance his own legitimate needs with those of the ants who depended upon the same discarded grain which he was gathering from the road.

The translation adds an important work to the increasing library of Sufi texts available in European languages. Since

many people will buy the book not for the careful historical and textual scholarship but for the door it opens into the universe of the practical teachings of Islamic spirituality, one is disappointed that Landolt left more than half of his texts untranslated. In any case, he has rendered a service to all those interested in Sufism and the development of Islamic psychology.

WILLIAM CHITTICK STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT STONY BROOK

Ibn ArabL, ou la quete du soufre rouge. By CLAUDE ADDAS. Bibliotheque des sciences humaines. Paris: EDITIONS GAL- LIMARD, 1989. Pp. 407. FF 130.

Anyone even slightly familiar with Sufism or Islamic intel- lectual history over the past 600 years has heard the name of Ibn al-'Arabi (560-638/1165-1240). Despite his fame, few orientalists have had the temerity to undertake studies of his works, whether because of the sheer volume of the corpus, the vast range of the subject matter, or the notorious difficulty of the technical terminology. But it has been widely recognized that, from the time they were put into writing, Ibn al-'Arabi's works have been widely influential in the expression of Islamic intellectual and spiritual teachings on every level, from the most sophisticated to the most popular.

Up until now, there have been three basic sources for Ibn al-'Arabi's life, the later two (Corbin's Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 5ArabT and Austin's Sufis of Andalusia) greatly indebted to Asin Palacios' El Islam cristianizido. The tendentiousness of this last work is announced in the title, while Corbin's skill at reading his own ideas into Muslim thought is well known (and in the case of Ibn al-'Arabi, this comes out even in biographical details). Austin provides a brief summary of what appeared to be the facts found in the first two works. Claude Addas' book represents a major departure from these earlier works. Not only has she gone through practically the whole corpus of Ibn al-'Arabi's writ- ings, whether printed or in manuscript, but she has also sifted through a great volume of contemporary and later material. She has added a wealth of carefully documented detail to what was already known, while correcting many misconceptions and common mistakes. She has discussed practically all the persons and places which are known to have been connected with Ibn al-'Arabi's life, offering factual information which will be of interest to all scholars concerned with the personali- ties of the time, including several kings and princes from Andalusia to Anatolia. The detailed discussions of contempo- rary Sufis, theologians, and fuqahd3 are especially valuable.

many people will buy the book not for the careful historical and textual scholarship but for the door it opens into the universe of the practical teachings of Islamic spirituality, one is disappointed that Landolt left more than half of his texts untranslated. In any case, he has rendered a service to all those interested in Sufism and the development of Islamic psychology.

WILLIAM CHITTICK STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT STONY BROOK

Ibn ArabL, ou la quete du soufre rouge. By CLAUDE ADDAS. Bibliotheque des sciences humaines. Paris: EDITIONS GAL- LIMARD, 1989. Pp. 407. FF 130.

Anyone even slightly familiar with Sufism or Islamic intel- lectual history over the past 600 years has heard the name of Ibn al-'Arabi (560-638/1165-1240). Despite his fame, few orientalists have had the temerity to undertake studies of his works, whether because of the sheer volume of the corpus, the vast range of the subject matter, or the notorious difficulty of the technical terminology. But it has been widely recognized that, from the time they were put into writing, Ibn al-'Arabi's works have been widely influential in the expression of Islamic intellectual and spiritual teachings on every level, from the most sophisticated to the most popular.

Up until now, there have been three basic sources for Ibn al-'Arabi's life, the later two (Corbin's Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn 5ArabT and Austin's Sufis of Andalusia) greatly indebted to Asin Palacios' El Islam cristianizido. The tendentiousness of this last work is announced in the title, while Corbin's skill at reading his own ideas into Muslim thought is well known (and in the case of Ibn al-'Arabi, this comes out even in biographical details). Austin provides a brief summary of what appeared to be the facts found in the first two works. Claude Addas' book represents a major departure from these earlier works. Not only has she gone through practically the whole corpus of Ibn al-'Arabi's writ- ings, whether printed or in manuscript, but she has also sifted through a great volume of contemporary and later material. She has added a wealth of carefully documented detail to what was already known, while correcting many misconceptions and common mistakes. She has discussed practically all the persons and places which are known to have been connected with Ibn al-'Arabi's life, offering factual information which will be of interest to all scholars concerned with the personali- ties of the time, including several kings and princes from Andalusia to Anatolia. The detailed discussions of contempo- rary Sufis, theologians, and fuqahd3 are especially valuable.

161 161

Journal of the American Oriental Society 111.1 (1991) Journal of the American Oriental Society 111.1 (1991)

Addas' frequent references to and explanations of Ibn al- 'Arabi's doctrinal teachings are clear and accurate, with none of the tortuous philosophizing that makes Corbin's work so opaque and unrepresentative of the original.

The work is divided into an introduction, ten chapters, and a conclusion, the chapters being arranged according to the major outward and inward events of Ibn al-'Arabi's life. Five appendices provide a sixteen-page chronology and various charts and silsilsas showing the shaykh's relationships with other Sufis. The book's structure helps illustrate the intimate connection between Ibn al-'ArabT's doctrinal teachings and the development of his own career. Not that his teachings changed in any significant way from the time he put his first treatise into writing at the age of thirty. But his outward occupations were guided primarily by a series of visionary experiences which Addas has mapped out clearly and convin- cingly. Many studies, such as Affifi's Mystical Philosophy of Muhyid-din Ibnul-Arabf, Izutsu's Sufism and Taoism, and much of the derivative literature, have tended to push into the background the fact that Ibn al-'ArabT was not a "philoso- pher" in any ordinary sense of the term. He did not think out a "system," even though his works are internally coherent and provide numerous germs for the later systematic discussions which were to grow up among his followers. His works repre- sent a torrent of visionary knowledge resulting from the "opening" (futuh) of the door to the unseen world, whereby he entered into the ranks of the men of the invisible hierarchy (rijal al-ghayb). Why do his works present what are arguably the most seminal and sophisticated meditations upon the Islamic sciences, ranging from grammar and fiqh to cosmol- ogy and metaphysics, to be found in all of Islamic thought? From the point of view of Ibn al-'ArabT and his followers- and this has to be made explicit in a scholarly presentation of his life-this is because his works were written under the inspiration of the very sources of these sciences. The visionary connection to the world of imagination, where one can en- counter the loci of manifestation (mazahir) for the spiritual realities of the prophets and the friends of God, is the root of everything Ibn al-'Arabi wrote. Michel Chodkiewicz has re- minded us in his outstanding study of Ibn al-'Arabi's concept of walaya, Le Sceau des saints, that Ibn al-'Arabi's teachings are all connected to his own personal experience of the role of the wall in human history. It is one of the great merits of Addas' work that she has conclusively demonstrated the truth of this statement by relating it to the details of Ibn al-'ArabT's career.

For Sufism in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, this book will remain an important reference work, and for studies of Ibn al-'ArabT and his school it is now an indispen- sable companion-and in many instances a corrective-to Osman Yahia's Histoire et classification de l'oeuvre d'Ibn 'ArabL. The work is also a readable and exciting account of a

Addas' frequent references to and explanations of Ibn al- 'Arabi's doctrinal teachings are clear and accurate, with none of the tortuous philosophizing that makes Corbin's work so opaque and unrepresentative of the original.

The work is divided into an introduction, ten chapters, and a conclusion, the chapters being arranged according to the major outward and inward events of Ibn al-'Arabi's life. Five appendices provide a sixteen-page chronology and various charts and silsilsas showing the shaykh's relationships with other Sufis. The book's structure helps illustrate the intimate connection between Ibn al-'ArabT's doctrinal teachings and the development of his own career. Not that his teachings changed in any significant way from the time he put his first treatise into writing at the age of thirty. But his outward occupations were guided primarily by a series of visionary experiences which Addas has mapped out clearly and convin- cingly. Many studies, such as Affifi's Mystical Philosophy of Muhyid-din Ibnul-Arabf, Izutsu's Sufism and Taoism, and much of the derivative literature, have tended to push into the background the fact that Ibn al-'ArabT was not a "philoso- pher" in any ordinary sense of the term. He did not think out a "system," even though his works are internally coherent and provide numerous germs for the later systematic discussions which were to grow up among his followers. His works repre- sent a torrent of visionary knowledge resulting from the "opening" (futuh) of the door to the unseen world, whereby he entered into the ranks of the men of the invisible hierarchy (rijal al-ghayb). Why do his works present what are arguably the most seminal and sophisticated meditations upon the Islamic sciences, ranging from grammar and fiqh to cosmol- ogy and metaphysics, to be found in all of Islamic thought? From the point of view of Ibn al-'ArabT and his followers- and this has to be made explicit in a scholarly presentation of his life-this is because his works were written under the inspiration of the very sources of these sciences. The visionary connection to the world of imagination, where one can en- counter the loci of manifestation (mazahir) for the spiritual realities of the prophets and the friends of God, is the root of everything Ibn al-'Arabi wrote. Michel Chodkiewicz has re- minded us in his outstanding study of Ibn al-'Arabi's concept of walaya, Le Sceau des saints, that Ibn al-'Arabi's teachings are all connected to his own personal experience of the role of the wall in human history. It is one of the great merits of Addas' work that she has conclusively demonstrated the truth of this statement by relating it to the details of Ibn al-'ArabT's career.

For Sufism in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, this book will remain an important reference work, and for studies of Ibn al-'ArabT and his school it is now an indispen- sable companion-and in many instances a corrective-to Osman Yahia's Histoire et classification de l'oeuvre d'Ibn 'ArabL. The work is also a readable and exciting account of a

spiritual destiny which, in its details and coherence, is hardly paralleled in the annals of the world's religions.

WILLIAM CHITTICK STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT STONY BROOK

Prophecy Continuous: Aspects of AhmadT Religious Thought and its Medieval Background. By YOHANNAN FRIEDMANN. Comparative Studies on Muslim Societies, 9. Berkeley and Los Angeles: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, 1989. Pp. xvi + 218. $37.50.

Prophecy has always been a central part of the Islamic tradition, but never does it seem more significant than when its conventional interpretation is challenged. From its begin- ning just over a century ago, the Ahmadi movement has posed such a challenge for Islam in the south Asian subconti- nent, and the reverberations of the resulting controversies continue to be felt in the political life of Pakistan. Yohannan Friedmann, whose detailed studies of Islam in the subconti- nent are well known for their accuracy and erudition, has produced a scholarly monograph that explicates the Ahmadi concept of prophecy in terms of the competing prophetologies of medieval Islam. The result is an intellectual history that succeeds admirably in clarifying the problems raised by the Ahmadi movement.

The book is divided into four parts, beginning with a brief history of the Ahmadi movement, followed by an analysis of concepts of prophecy in medieval Islam, detailed considera- tion of the spiritual claims of Ghulam Ahmad, and a final sec- tion on the propagation of Islam in relation to the Ahmadis.

Friedmann makes clear that the colonial context was an essential aspect of the Ahmadi movement. On the one hand, the Ahmadis were trying to counter Christian missionary activity, acting according to their understanding of truejihad. Their doctrine that Jesus died in Kashmir is explainable as part of a strategy to demonstrate the superiority of Islam to Christianity, by showing that Jesus was not resurrected and will not return as the Messiah (that role was reserved for Ghulam Ahmad). On the other hand, because the British permitted the Ahmadis to proselytize, the Ahmadis never renounced their loyalty to British rule. In discussing the role of the AhmadTs in Pakistan, Friedmann has shown how they unexpectedly provoked major constitutional crises concern- ing the Islamic identity of Pakistan. In a fine piece of analysis (pp. 42-43), he comments on the ironic situation in which the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1973 assumed the position of theologians in defining who was and was not a Muslim. The subsequent anti-Ahmadi ordinance promulgated by Presi-

spiritual destiny which, in its details and coherence, is hardly paralleled in the annals of the world's religions.

WILLIAM CHITTICK STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK AT STONY BROOK

Prophecy Continuous: Aspects of AhmadT Religious Thought and its Medieval Background. By YOHANNAN FRIEDMANN. Comparative Studies on Muslim Societies, 9. Berkeley and Los Angeles: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS, 1989. Pp. xvi + 218. $37.50.

Prophecy has always been a central part of the Islamic tradition, but never does it seem more significant than when its conventional interpretation is challenged. From its begin- ning just over a century ago, the Ahmadi movement has posed such a challenge for Islam in the south Asian subconti- nent, and the reverberations of the resulting controversies continue to be felt in the political life of Pakistan. Yohannan Friedmann, whose detailed studies of Islam in the subconti- nent are well known for their accuracy and erudition, has produced a scholarly monograph that explicates the Ahmadi concept of prophecy in terms of the competing prophetologies of medieval Islam. The result is an intellectual history that succeeds admirably in clarifying the problems raised by the Ahmadi movement.

The book is divided into four parts, beginning with a brief history of the Ahmadi movement, followed by an analysis of concepts of prophecy in medieval Islam, detailed considera- tion of the spiritual claims of Ghulam Ahmad, and a final sec- tion on the propagation of Islam in relation to the Ahmadis.

Friedmann makes clear that the colonial context was an essential aspect of the Ahmadi movement. On the one hand, the Ahmadis were trying to counter Christian missionary activity, acting according to their understanding of truejihad. Their doctrine that Jesus died in Kashmir is explainable as part of a strategy to demonstrate the superiority of Islam to Christianity, by showing that Jesus was not resurrected and will not return as the Messiah (that role was reserved for Ghulam Ahmad). On the other hand, because the British permitted the Ahmadis to proselytize, the Ahmadis never renounced their loyalty to British rule. In discussing the role of the AhmadTs in Pakistan, Friedmann has shown how they unexpectedly provoked major constitutional crises concern- ing the Islamic identity of Pakistan. In a fine piece of analysis (pp. 42-43), he comments on the ironic situation in which the National Assembly of Pakistan in 1973 assumed the position of theologians in defining who was and was not a Muslim. The subsequent anti-Ahmadi ordinance promulgated by Presi-

162 162

Article Contentsp.161p.162

Issue Table of ContentsJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 111, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1991), pp. i-iv+1-217Front Matter [pp.i-iv]Sixteenth-Century Patterns of Art Patronage: Qiu Ying and the Xiang Family [pp.1-7]The Celebrated Cranes of Po Ch-i [pp.8-18]The Dowries of the Women of the Itti-Marduk-Balu Family [pp.19-37]A Timurid Educational and Charitable Foundation: The Ikhliyya Complex of Al Shr Nav in 15th-Century Herat and Its Endowment [pp.38-61]The Influence of Non-Austroasiatic Languages on Numeral Classification in Austroasiatic [pp.62-81]Review ArticlesEducation in Sung China [pp.83-93]A Recent Contribution on the History of the Tibetan Empire [pp.94-107]G. L. Possehl's and M. H. Raval's Harappan Civilization and Rojdi [pp.108-113]

Brief CommunicationsAl-Raqm or al-Ruqd? A Note on Srah 18:9 [pp.115-117]The Descent of the Nepalese Malla Dynasty as Reflected by Local Chroniclers [pp.118-122]

Book Reviewsuntitled [pp.123-124]untitled [pp.124-125]untitled [pp.125-126]untitled [pp.126-127]untitled [pp.127-128]untitled [pp.128-130]untitled [pp.130-133]untitled [pp.133-134]untitled [pp.134-135]untitled [pp.135-137]untitled [pp.138-139]untitled [p.139]untitled [pp.140-141]untitled [pp.141-145]untitled [pp.145-147]untitled [pp.147-148]untitled [pp.148-150]untitled [pp.150-151]untitled [pp.151-152]untitled [pp.152-153]untitled [pp.153-154]untitled [pp.154-155]untitled [pp.155-157]untitled [pp.157-158]untitled [pp.158-160]untitled [pp.160-161]untitled [pp.161-162]untitled [pp.162-163]untitled [pp.163-165]untitled [pp.165-166]untitled [pp.166-167]untitled [pp.167-169]untitled [pp.169-170]untitled [pp.170-171]untitled [pp.171-173]untitled [pp.173-174]untitled [pp.174-175]untitled [pp.175-178]untitled [pp.178-179]untitled [pp.179-183]untitled [p.185]untitled [pp.185-186]untitled [p.186]untitled [pp.186-187]untitled [pp.187-188]untitled [pp.188-190]untitled [pp.190-191]untitled [p.191]untitled [p.191]untitled [p.191]untitled [p.191]untitled [pp.191-192]untitled [p.192]untitled [p.192]untitled [pp.192-193]untitled [p.193]untitled [pp.193-194]untitled [p.194]untitled [p.194]untitled [pp.194-195]untitled [p.195]untitled [pp.195-196]untitled [p.196]untitled [pp.196-197]untitled [p.197]untitled [p.198]untitled [pp.198-199]untitled [p.199]untitled [pp.199-200]untitled [pp.200-201]untitled [p.201]untitled [pp.201-202]untitled [p.202]untitled [p.203]untitled [p.203]untitled [pp.203-204]untitled [p.204]untitled [pp.204-205]untitled [pp.205-206]untitled [p.206]untitled [pp.206-207]untitled [p.207]untitled [p.207]untitled [pp.207-208]untitled [p.208]untitled [pp.208-209]untitled [pp.209-210]untitled [p.210]untitled [pp.210-211]untitled [p.211]untitled [p.211]untitled [p.212]untitled [p.212]untitled [p.212]untitled [pp.212-213]untitled [pp.213-214]untitled [p.214]untitled [p.214]untitled [pp.214-215]untitled [p.215]untitled [pp.215-216]untitled [p.216]untitled [pp.216-217]

Back Matter