Seeing God in Sufi Qur'an commentaries : crossings between this world and the otherworld / Pieter Coppens.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Coppens, Pieter, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Qurʼan--Commentaries.

Qurʼan.

Sufi literature--History and criticism.

Sufi literature.

Genre:

Commentaries.

Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Physical Description:

x, 294 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press, [2018]

Summary:

This history of Sufi conceptions of the hereafter often imagined as a place of corporeal reward (Paradise) or punishment (Hell) is built upon the study of five medieval Sufi Qur'an commentaries. Pieter Coppens shows that boundary crossing from this world to the otherworld, and vice versa, revolves around the idea of meeting with and the vision of God; a vision which for some Sufis is not limited to the hereafter. The Qur'anic texts selected for study all key verses on seeing God are placed in their broader religious and social context and are shown to provide a useful and varied source for the reconstruction of a history of Sufi eschatology and the vision of God.

Contents:

Main Questions and Objectives p. 2

The Study of Sufism in its Circles of Influence: Some Notes on Nomenclature p. 6

Sufism and 'Orthodoxy': Periphery and Centre? p. 10

History and Eschatology in Early Sufism p. 13

What is a 'Sufi' Qur'an Commentary? Defining the Genre p. 16

Using Tafsir as a Source for Intellectual History: Some Notes on Method and Sources p. 19

Structure of the Work p. 23

2 Sufi Qur'an Commentaries: The Rise of a Genre p. 39

Nishapur in the Fourth/Tenth and Fifth/Eleventh Centuries p. 40

Al-Sulami and his Commentary: Witness to the Formative Period of Sufism p. 46

Al-Qushayri and his Commentary p. 54

Maybudi and his Commentary p. 57

Al-Daylami and his Commentary p. 61

Ruzbihan al-Baqli and his Commentary p. 65

3 The Ultimate Boundary Crossing: Paradise and Hell in the Commentaries p. 83

Attitudes towards the Hereafter in the Formative Period of Sufism p. 83

Eschatological Commentary of al-Sulami's Major Sources p. 85

Eschatological Commentary in al-Qushayri's Lata'if al-isharat p. 97

Hierarchies in the Hereafter: Maybudi p. 100

Paradise as Sadaqa and Shirk: Al-Daylami's Tasdiq al-ma'arif p. 104

Eschatological Commentary in Ruzbihan's 'Ara'is al-bayan p. 109

4 The First Boundary Crossing: Adam Descending p. 135

Adam in the Qur'an p. 137

The Banishment of Adam in Tafsir, Narrative Religious Literature and Theology p. 138

The Banishment of Adam in Sufism: Non-tafsir Sources p. 140

Loss of Nearness and Vision: The Tafsir of al-Sulami p. 143

Teaching Good Manners: The Banishment in al-Qushayri p. 146

Elevation through Degradation: The Banishment in Maybudi p. 148

The Banishment in al-Daylami p. 151

The Banishment in Ruzbihan p. 151

5 Excursus: Embodying the Vision of God in Theology and Sufism p. 174

Theological Discussions on the Vision of God p. 176

A Typology of This-worldly Vision in Early Sufism p. 178

The Commentators on the Vision of God in their Non-tafsir Works p. 184

6 Arini: Declined at the Boundary? p. 201

Arini anzur ilayk: Q 7:143 between Exegesis and Theology p. 203

Polyvalence: The Early Sufi Readings in al-Sulami p. 208

From Sobriety to Intoxication: Al-Qushayri Reading Moses p. 214

Vision of the Heart as a Foretaste of Paradise: Maybudi p. 215

Vision through Annihilation (Fana): Al-Daylami p. 217

Indirect Vision through God's Attributes and Acts: Ruzbihan p. 218

7 A Vision at the Utmost Boundary p. 227

The Qur'an and the Night Journey p. 228

Divine or Angelic Manifestation: Readings of Surat al-Najm p. 229

Vision and Nearness: Al-Sulami p. 235

Angelic Manifestation: Al-Qushayri p. 236

Muhammad Surpassing Moses: Maybudi p. 237

Muhammad's Light Entering God's World: Al-Daylami p. 239

God Seeing God: Ruzbihan's Vision through Unification (Ittihad) p. 240.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781474435055

147443505X

OCLC:

1009247699