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Yahya Suhrawardi Maqtul: Allegory of Beauty and Love

  • Leonard Lewisohn
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Windows on the House of Islam
This chapter is in the book Windows on the House of Islam
© 1998 University of California Press, Berkeley

© 1998 University of California Press, Berkeley

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Contents VII
  3. List of Illustrations XIII
  4. Preface XVII
  5. PART 1: Foundations Prophetic Revelation
  6. Introduction 1
  7. TEXTS FROM THE QUR'AN
  8. Surat ar-Rahman, The Merciful 2
  9. Writing Sacred Text 5
  10. Surat Yusuf 6
  11. Hadith: Prophetic and Sacred 24
  12. Sacred Text and Architecture 26
  13. VARIETIES OF QURAN INTERPRETATION
  14. Introduction 29
  15. Three Commentaries on Surat al-Fatiha, The Opening 29
  16. Ibn Taymiya: Treatise on the Principles of Tafsir 35
  17. Sacred Text and the Mihrab 43
  18. Al-Ghazali: The Canons of Ta'wil 48
  19. EXPERIENCING QUR'AN
  20. Nawawi: Etiquette in Recitation 55
  21. PART II: Devotion: Ritual and Personal Prayer
  22. Introduction 59
  23. ON THE FIVE PILLARS
  24. Sharaf ad-Din Maneri: On the Necessity of Proper Intention 59
  25. Nurcholish Madjid: Worship as an Institution of Faith 65
  26. Tabari: Hadith on the Five Daily Ritual Prayers 74
  27. Ritual and Creed in Moses' Conversation with God 78
  28. Hamka: Qur an Commentary on Pilgrimage Ritual 85
  29. DEVOTION BEYOND DUTY
  30. Prayers of Holy Women 92
  31. Rites of Passage and Popular Practice
  32. Marthiya: Imam Husayn's Conversation with God 95
  33. Madih: Three Contemporary Poems Honoring Imam Riza 98
  34. Na't: Poem in Praise of Muhammad 102
  35. Ginan: Isma'ili Petition of a Yearning Soul 103
  36. Sermon for a Special Occasion
  37. A Radio Mawlid Sermon 107
  38. PART III: Inspiration: Edification and Ethics
  39. EXEMPLARY MODELS
  40. The Prophet: From Devotion to Edification
  41. Acrostic Poem in Praise of Muhammad 119
  42. Na't in Praise of Muhammad 123
  43. Taha Hussein: Interpreting Muhammad's Life in Modern Times 124
  44. Collections of Holy Lives
  45. Asiya, an Exemplary Woman in Tha'labi's Stories of the Prophets 130
  46. Munawi's Life of Rabi'a al-cAdawiya 132
  47. Three Women of Iberia 135
  48. Holy Women of Morocco and Egypt 137
  49. The Life of Sufi Badhni 139
  50. Jabarti's Account of Adi al-Bayyumi 141
  51. WISDOM LITERATURE
  52. The Qur'anic Paradigm of Wisdom: Surat Luqman 144
  53. Morals for the Masses
  54. Aphorisms of Ali 149
  55. Sayings Attributed to Mu'in ad-Din Chishti 155
  56. ENCOUNTERING THE EXEMPLARY PERSONS
  57. Storytelling as Entertainment
  58. Telling Tales: A Miracle of Mulla Hadda 159
  59. Edifying Anecdotes: Ziya' ad-Din Nakhshabi 162
  60. PART IV: Aesthetics: From Allegory to Arabesque
  61. LITERATURE AND SPIRITUALITY
  62. Interpreting Religious Poetry
  63. Mir Ali-Shir Nawa'i: A Poet's Intentions 169
  64. Shams ad-Din Lahiji: Commentary on Shabistari's Garden of Mystery 172
  65. Allegory
  66. Yahya Suhrawardi Maqtul: Allegory of Beauty and Love 180
  67. PRINCIPAL POETIC FORMS
  68. Introduction 184
  69. Didactic Poetry
  70. Sana'i of Ghazna: Two Teaching Parables 185
  71. Mude Kala: Gayo Didactic Religious Poetry 189
  72. Lyric Poetry
  73. Ibn al-Farid: Kubaiyat, Ghazal, Qasida 194
  74. Munawi's Literary Hagiography of Ibn al-Farid 202
  75. Jalal ad-Din Rumi: Ghazal 208
  76. Muhammad Shirin Maghribi: Ghazal 209
  77. Nuri and Shad: Nacts 212
  78. Bibi Hayati: Ghazal 214
  79. PART V: Community: Society, Institutions, and Patronage
  80. Introduction 217
  81. SOCIAL AND HISTORICAL CONTEXTS
  82. Religion, Society, and Culture
  83. Shaykh Luqman: A Contemporary Life in a Traditional Context 218
  84. INSTITUTIONAL TEXTS
  85. Public Support
  86. Historical Epigraphy of Mamluk Sultan Faraj ibn Barquq 223
  87. Two Waqf Documents: Sultan Barquq and Khwaja Ahrar
  88. Mamluk Sultan Barquq's Waqf 226
  89. A Central Asian Waqf of Naqshbandi Sufi Master Khwaja Ahrar 231
  90. Private Discipline
  91. Shihab ad-Din TJmar Suhrawardi: Treatises on Sufi Chivalry 235
  92. PATRONAGE AND THEARTS
  93. Women as Patrons of Architecture
  94. Sitt ash-Sham of Damascus 244
  95. Works of Timurid and Ottoman Women 245
  96. Building Community and Community Patronage
  97. Architectural Past, Present, and Future in America 249
  98. Chronicles of Royal Patronage
  99. Ibn Marzuq: Sultan Abu 'l-Hasan 'Ali's Architectural Patronage 250
  100. Khwandamir: The Rediscovery and Refurbishment of 'Ali's Tomb 261
  101. Sultan-Husayn Mirza: Apologia 265
  102. PART VI: Pedagogy: Fanning Spark into Flame
  103. ADVANCED INTERPRETATION OF FOUNDATIONAL ISSUES
  104. Teaching Islam in Medieval Iran: Ahmad Sam'ani's Refreshment of Spirits 269
  105. Teaching across Cultures
  106. Islam in China: Wang Daiyu's Real Commentary on the True Teaching 278
  107. From Arabic into Javanese: The Gift Addressed to the Spirit of the Prophet 283
  108. FROM THE GREAT TEACHERS
  109. Between Sermon and Seminar
  110. Women as Scholars and Teachers 286
  111. Teaching with Pictures: Three Paintings of Bawa Muhaiyaddeen 290
  112. Borrowed Notes
  113. Muhammad Husayni Gesu Daraz on Love 296
  114. Keeping in Touch
  115. Shaykh Husayn: A Letter on the True Names of God 298
  116. REQUIRED READING FOR MYSTICS
  117. Advice for Inexperienced Travelers
  118. Majd ad-Din Baghdadi: Treatise on Journeying 301
  119. Mystical Geography
  120. Vahidi: The Seven Invocations and the Seven Journeys 311
  121. Languages of the Spirit
  122. Sayyid Jafar Sajjadi: Lexicon of Mystical Terms 317
  123. PART VII: Experience: Testimony, Paradigm, and Critique
  124. HEART SPEAKS TO HEART
  125. Soul on Pilgrimage
  126. The Diary of Ahmad Wahib 325
  127. Muhammad as Mystical Model
  128. Tabari: Muhammad's Night Journey and Ascension 336
  129. BEYOND STORY TELLING
  130. Introduction 345
  131. Saying the Unsayable
  132. Rabia's Dream 345
  133. Amir Khusraw of Delhi's Poetic Vision 347
  134. Gesu Daraz's Vision of Jesus 349
  135. Visionary Experiences of ‘Ali al-Bayyumi 350
  136. Ahmad Wahib's Dream 352
  137. Explaining the Unexplainable
  138. Tabari: The Correct Interpretation of the Micraj Narrative 353
  139. Al-Ghazali: Treatise on the Intimate Knowledge of God 355
  140. EVALUATING EXPERIENCE
  141. The Science of Hearts
  142. Sharaf ad-Din Maneri: A Letter on the Qualities of Spiritual Guides 359
  143. Sayyid Ahmad Khan: Treatise on Visualizing the Shaykh 368
  144. Traveling Companions
  145. Hasan Palasi's Encounter with Shaykh Kujuji 375
  146. Appendix 1: Text Distribution
  147. Appendix 2: Art Program Distribution 389
  148. Notes 393
  149. Suggestions for Further Reading 405
  150. About the Contributors 409
  151. Index of Qur’anic Citations 413
  152. General Index 417
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