The Kashf al-mahjúb: The oldest Persian treatise on SúfiismHujviri, ‘Ali ibn ‘Usman
Islamic
The Kashf al-mahjúb: The oldest Persian treatise on Súfiism
Hujviri, ‘Ali ibn ‘Usman
Sufism -- Early works to 1800
Its full title is _Ri`áyat li-ḥuqúq Allah_, “The observance of what is
due to God.”
Footnote 68:
This reading is given in the _Ṭabaqát al-Ṣúfiyya_ of Abú `Abd
al-Raḥmán al-Sulamí (British Museum MS., Add. 18,520, f. 13_a_).
14. ABÚ SULAYMÁN DÁWUD B. NUṢAYR AL-ṬÁ´Í.
He was a pupil of Abú Ḥanífa and a contemporary of Fuḍayl and Ibráhím b.
Adham. In Ṣúfiism he was a disciple of Ḥabíb Rá`í. He was deeply versed
in all the sciences and unrivalled in jurisprudence (_fiqh_); but he
went into seclusion and turned his back on authority, and took the path
of asceticism and piety. It is related that he said to one of his
disciples: “If thou desirest welfare, bid farewell to this world, and if
thou desirest grace (_karámat_), pronounce the _takbír_[69] over the
next world,” i.e. both these are places of veiling (places which prevent
thee from seeing God). Every kind of tranquillity (_farághat_) depends
on these two counsels. Whoever would be tranquil in body, let him turn
his back on this world; and whoever would be tranquil in heart, let him
clear his heart of all desire for the next world. It is a well-known
story that Dáwud used constantly to associate with Muḥammad b.
al-Ḥasan,[70] but would never receive the Cadi Abú Yúsuf. On being asked
why he honoured one of these eminent divines but refused to admit the
other to his presence, he replied that Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan had become a
theologian after being rich and wealthy, and theology was the cause of
his religious advancement and worldly abasement, whereas Abú Yúsuf had
become a theologian after being poor and despised, and had made theology
the means of gaining wealth and power. It is related that Ma`rúf Karkhí
said: “I never saw anyone who held worldly goods in less account than
Dáwud Ṭá´í; the world and its people had no value whatsoever in his
eyes, and he used to regard dervishes (_fuqará_) as perfect although
they were corrupt.”
Footnote 69:
The _takbír_, i.e. the words _Allah akbar_, “God is most great,” is
pronounced four times in Moslem funeral prayers.
Footnote 70:
Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan and Abú Yúsuf were celebrated lawyers of the
Ḥanafite school. See Brockelmann, i, 171.
15. ABU ´L-ḤASAN SARÍ B. MUGHALLIS AL-SAQAṬÍ.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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