figures of the classical period. Classical S:u ̄f ̄ı literature sur-
vives because it still has the ability to touch the spirits of
modern men and women. It is in this continued interaction
between shaykh and mur ̄ıd that hope for the future of Sufism
resides.
SEE ALSO Darw ̄ısh; Dhikr; Folk Religion, article on Folk
Islam; Ghaza ̄l ̄ı, Abu ̄ H:a ̄mid al-; H:alla ̄j, al-; Ibn al-EArab ̄ı;
Madrasah; Mawlid; MiEra ̄j; Nubu ̄wah; Nu ̄r Muh:ammad;
Ru ̄m ̄ı, Jala ̄l al-D ̄ın; Sama ̄E; S:uh:bah; T:ar ̄ıqah; Wala ̄yah.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
By far the best introduction to Sufism in English is Annemarie
Schimmel’s Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill, N.C.,
1975). Other introductory texts of interest are A. J. Arberry’s
Sufism: An Account of the Mystics of Islam (1950; reprint,
London, 1979) and Reynold A. Nicholson’s The Mystics of
Islam (1914; reprint, London, 1963). The most astute treat-
ment of the development of early Sufism, especially its rela-
tionship to QurDa ̄nic exegesis, is Paul Nwyia’s Exégèse co-
ranique et language mystique (Beirut, 1970).
There are a number of monographs dealing with one or other of
the early S:u ̄f ̄ı ascetics. Margaret Smith’s two works, Ra ̄biEa
the Mystic and Her Fellow-Saints in Islam (Cambridge, 1928)
and An Early Mystic of Baghdad: A Study of the Life and
Teaching of H:a ̄rith b. Asad Al-Muh:a ̄sibi, A. D. 781–A. D.
857 (1935, reprint, New York, 1973), are both excellent, as
well as Nicholson’s study of Abu ̄ SaE ̄ıd ibn Ab ̄ı al-Khayr in
Studies in Islamic Mysticism (1921; reprint, Cambridge,
1976).
There are two excellent English translations of S:u ̄f ̄ı manuals,
Nicholson’s translation of al-Hujw ̄ır ̄ı’s Kashf al-Mah:ju ̄b:
The Oldest Persian Treatise on Sufism, 2d ed. (London,
1936), and Arberry’s translation of al-Kala ̄ba ̄dh ̄ı’s Kita ̄b al-
taEarruf under the title The Doctrine of the Sufis (Cambridge,
1935). Several chapters of Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s S:ufi Essays
(London, 1972) deal with stations and states and the master-
disciple relationship.
No study of the ecstatics in Sufism is complete without Louis
Massignon’s extraordinary work on al-H:alla ̄j, translated into
English by Herbert Mason as The Passion of Al-H:alla ̄j: Mystic
and Martyr of Islam, 4 vols. (Princeton, N. J., 1982). Carl W.
Ernst’s Words of Ecstasy in Sufism (Albany, 1984) is extremely
helpful as well. Reynold A. Nicholson’s The Idea of Personali-
ty in Sufism (1964; reprint, Lahore, 1970) is a lucid explora-
tion of the psychology of ecstatic utterances.
There is an excellent translation by Wheeler Thackston of
Ans:ar ̄ı’s Muna ̄ja ̄t in The Book of Wisdom and Intimate Con-
versations, translated and edited by Wheeler Thackston and
Victor Danner (New York, 1978). The premier scholar of
Ans:ar ̄ı is Serge de Laugier de Beaurecueil, whose bibliogra-
phy of Ans:ar ̄ı provides much useful information and some
fine translations: Khwa ̄dja EAbdulla ̄h Ans:ar ̄ı, 396–481 H./
1006–1089: Mystique H:anbalite (Beirut, 1965).
There are a number of fine translations of EAt:t:a ̄r’s mathnav ̄ıs: The
Ila ̄h ̄ı-na ̄ma or Book of God, translated by J. A. Boyle (Man-
chester, 1976); Le livre de l’épreuve (Mus ̄ıbatna ̄ma), translat-
ed by Isabelle de Gastines (Paris, 1981); and The Conference
of the Birds, translated by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis
(London, 1984). The best comprehensive study of EAt:t:a ̄r and
his work remains Helmut Ritter’s Das Meer der Seele (Leiden,
1955).
Henry Corbin has written extensively on Islamic gnosticism, Is-
lamic Neoplatonism, and Ibn EArab ̄ı. Works such as Creative
Imagination in the S:u ̄fism of Ibn EArab ̄ı (Princeton, N.J.,
1969) demonstrate his extraordinary erudition and propose
provocative syntheses that must be evaluated with care. A
new translation of Ibn EArab ̄ı’s Fus:u ̄s: al-h:ikam by R. W. J.
Austin under the title The Bezels of Wisdom (New York,
1980) is excellent. Toshihiko Izutsu’s comparative study of
Sufism and Taoism, A Comparative Study of the Key Philo-
sophical Concepts in Sufism and Taoism (Tokyo, 1966), also
serves as an excellent introduction to Ibn EArab ̄ı’s thought.
Finally, in his Studies in Islamic Mysticism (1921; reprint,
Cambridge, 1976) Reynold A. Nicholson provides a very
lucid analysis of the idea of the Perfect Human Being as it
originated with Ibn EArab ̄ı and was later developed by al-J ̄ıl ̄ı.
The best translations of Ru ̄m ̄ı’s work are by Reynold A. Nichol-
son, especially The Mathnawi of Jala ̄luDddin Ru ̄m ̄ı, 8 vols.
(London, 1925–1971). Annemarie Schimmel’s The Trium-
phal Sun: A Study of the Works of Jala ̄loddin Rumi (London,
1978) is a solid introduction to his writings, as is William
C. Chittick’s The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings
of Rumi (Albany, N.Y., 1983). Schimmel’s As Through a Veil:
Mystical Poetry in Islam (New York, 1982) places Ru ̄m ̄ı in
the wider context of the poetic tradition in Sufism.
There are many studies of individual S:u ̄f ̄ı orders. The best general
work, however, is J. Spencer Trimingham’s The Sufi Orders
in Islam (New York, 1971). The role of the fraternities in the
Indian subcontinent is extremely well presented in Annema-
rie Schimmel’s Islam in the Indian Subcontinent (Leiden,
1980). An English translation by Victor Danner of Ibn EAt:a ̄D
Alla ̄h’s H:ikam can be found in Thackston and Danner’s The
Book of Wisdom and Intimate Conversations (cited above). A
superb French translation and commentary of the same text,
together with a thorough analysis of the early development
of the Sha-dhil ̄ıyah can be found in Paul Nwyia’s Ibn
EAt:a ̄DAlla ̄h et la naissance de la confrérie ˇsa ̄dilite (Beirut,
1972). One of the more interesting treatments of a S:u ̄f ̄ı in
the modern period is Martin Lings’s study of the life and
writings of Shaykh Ah:mad al-EAlaw ̄ı, A Moslem Saint of the
Twentieth Century, 2d ed. (Berkeley, Calif., 1973).
PETER J. AWN (1987)S:UH:BAH (lit., “companionship”). In mystical parlance,
s:uh:bah can refer to (1) a mystic’s return from seclusion
(Euzlah) to human society; (2) the company of the spiritual
mentor, which a new entrant to the mystical fold needs for
spiritual training; and (3) social contact with all human be-
ings. The value of s:uh:bah was first to be appreciated when
those near the Prophet became known as s:ah:a ̄bah
(“companions”), since they had the privilege of being in his
company. Thereafter mystics looked upon the “company” of
a superior mystic-master as a way to spiritual development.
The spiritual guide (pir or shaykh) came to occupy a high
position on account of his capacity to influence the thought
and character of those who came near him.S:UH:BAH 8825