Sufism: The Mysticism of Islam - Softcover

Nicholson, Reynold A.

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9781604441949: Sufism: The Mysticism of Islam

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1604441941 ISBN 13: 9781604441949

Publisher: IndoEuropeanPublishing.com, 2010

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Experts: Sufism, the religious philosophy of Islam, is described in the oldest extant definition as the apprehension of divine realities, and Mohammedan mystics are fond of calling themselves Ahl al-Haqq, 'the followers of the Real.' In attempting to set forth their central doctrines from this point of view, I shall draw to some extent on materials which I have collected during the last twenty years for a general history of Islamic mysticism-a subject so vast and many-sided that several large volumes would be required to do it anything like justice. Here I can only sketch in broad outline certain principles, methods, and characteristic features of the inner life as it has been lived by Moslems of every class and condition from the eighth century of our era to the present day... The Sufi who sets out to seek God calls himself a 'traveler' (salik); he advances by slow 'stages' (maqamat) along a 'path' (tariqat) to the goal of union with Reality...

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About the Author

Reynold Alleyne Nicholson, or R. A. Nicholson, (August 18, 1868 - August 27, 1945) was an eminent English orientalist, scholar of both Islamic literature and Islamic mysticism, and widely regarded as one of the greatest Rumi scholars and translators in the English language. Son of paleontologist Henry Alleyne Nicholson, Nicholson was born in Keighley, Yorkshire, England; he died in Chester, Cheshire, England. He was educated at Aberdeen University and the University of Cambridge, Nicholson was lecturer in the Persian language (1902-26) and Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic at Cambridge University (1926-1933). He is considered a leading scholar in Islamic literature and Islamic mysticism who exercised a lasting influence on Islamic studies. He was able to study and translate major Sufi texts in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish to English. Nicholson wrote two very influential books: Literary History of The Arabs (1907) and The Mystics of Islam (1914).

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