Welcome to our book review site www.go-pdf.online!
You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Tafsir as Mystical Experience: Intimacy and Ecstasy in Quran Commentary
In Tafsir as Mystical Experience, Todd Lawson shows how the Quran may be engaged with for meaning and understanding, the usual goal of mystical exegesis, and also how it may be engaged with through tafsīr in a quest for spiritual or mystical experience. In this earliest of the Báb’s extended works, written before his public claim to be the return of the hidden Imam, the act of reading is shown to be something akin to holy communion in which the sacred text is both entrance upon and destination of the mystic quest. The Quran here is a door to an “abode of glory” and an abiding spiritual encounter with the divine through the prophet, his daughter Fāṭima and the twelve Imams of Ithna-ʿasharī Shiʿism who inhabit the letters, words, verses and suras of the Book. Cover calligraphy by Burhan Zahrai of Quran 53:11
ʿAlāʾ al-Dawla al-Simnānī Between Spiritual Authority and Political Power: A Persian Lord and Intellectual in the Heart of the Ilkhanate
In ʿAlāʾ al-Dawla al-Simnānī between Spiritual Authority and Political Power: A Persian Lord and Intellectual in the Heart of the Ilkhanate, Giovanni Maria Martini investigates the personality of a major figure in the socio-political and cultural landscape of Mongol Iran. In pursuing this objective, the author follows parallel paths: Chapter 1 provides the most updated reconstruction of Simnānī’s (d. 736/1336) biography, which, thanks to its unique features, emerges as a cross-section of Iranian society and as a microhistory of the complex relationships between a Sufi master, Persian elites and Mongol rulers during the Ilkhanid period; Chapter 2 contains a study on the phenomenon of Arabic-Persian diglossia in Simnānī’s written work, arguing for its socio-religious function; in Chapters 3 to 6 the critical editions of two important, interrelated treatises by Simnānī are presented; finally, Chapter 7 offers the first full-length annotated translation of a long work by Simnānī ever to appear in a Western language.
The Throne Carrier of God
This book constitutes a comprehensive investigation of the life and teachings of one of the most famous Sufis of the Iranian world. Simnānī spent his early life as a courtier at the Ilkhanid Mongol court and was a cherished companion of the emperor Arghun. After a mystical experience on the battlefield, he turned his back on a life of luxury and became a Sufi. He advanced rapidly in his spiritual quest and soon became one of the most influential Sufi masters in Iran. Working primarily from the most Arabic and Persian manuscripts of Simnānī’s writings, the author has analyzed Simnānī's thinking to show the overall coherence of his world-view and to demonstrate the importance of his ideas to the development of Islamic mysticism. Along with this analysis, the author provides a detailed account of Simnānī's life and times, as well as a systematic description of Simnānī's instructions for Sufi practioners of all levels.
Religion and Society in Qajar Iran
Gleave brings together studies by experts in the area of religion in nineteenth-century Iran in order to present new insights into Qajar religion, political and cultural history. Key topics covered include the relationship between religion and the state, the importance of archival materials for the study of religion, the developments of Qajar religious thought, the position of religious minorities in Qajar Iran, the relationship between religion and Qajar culture, and the centrality of Shi'ite hierarchy and the state.
Philosophy in Qajar Iran
During its Qajar period (1210–1344/1795–1925), Iran witnessed some lively and significant philosophical discourse. Yet apart from studies devoted to individual figures such as Mullā Hādī Sabzawārī and Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsāʾī, modern scholarship has paid little attention to the animated discussions and vibrant traditions of philosophy that continued in Iran during this period. The articles assembled in this book present an account of the life, works and philosophical challenges taken up by seven major philosophers of the Qajar period. As a collection, the articles convey the range and diversity of Qajar philosophical thinking. Besides indigenous thoughts, the book also deals with the reception of European philosophy in Iran at the time.
Creation and Resurrection
Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani was a prolific author of many seminal Islamic texts, and is known as the "intellectual missionary" of Fatimid Ismailism. He wrestled with a variety of key theological and philosophical issues during his career, and succeeded in outlining an alternative vision of Islam which has a surprisingly modern appeal. His important work Kashf al-Mahjub (literally "the unveiling of the hidden") is published here under the rubric Creation and Resurrection. Although the original Arabic text appears to have been lost, a near-contemporaneous Persian translation has survived and was edited for the first time by the late Henry Corbin. This new edition of the Persian text, published alongside the first complete English translation and introduction, enables this fascinating work to be read and appreciated anew by a fresh generation of scholars and readers interested in the history of early Islamic philosophy and theology.
Towards a Shi‘i Mediterranean Empire
"The Imam-caliph Al-Mu'izz li Din Allah, founder of Cairo, transformed the emergent Fatimid state from a regional power of limited influence to an impressive Mediterranean empire whose authority extended from the shores of the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean. His vision and dynamism contributed to the high watermark of Fatimid success in establishing a Shi'I empire, which contributed to the cultural and intellectual efflorescence of the Muslim world [...] The writings of the erudite 15th Mamluk scholar Taqi al-Din al-Maqrizi, presented here for the first time in English, document this Fatimid triumph of the Shi'i, and provide one of the most comprehensive accounts of the era [...] In this text , the only complete history of the Fatimids written by a medieval Sunni historian, al-Maqrizi demonstrates a critical discernment regarding the value and limitations of his sources that is unusual among medieval Muslim historians of the time." -- book jacket.
Islamic Studies
None
