Early Islamic Mysticism

Winner of Iran’s 31st World Book of the Year Prize

From the publisher:

“Sculpting the Self is a masterpiece. It is among the finest explorations of selfhood and subjectivity in contemporary philosophical literature. Muhammad Faruque’s approach is breathtakingly erudite, analytically precise, and extraordinarily synoptic. He draws effectively on a wide range of Western philosophical literature-classical, modern, and contemporary; on classical and recent Indian philosophy; on contemporary cognitive science; and especially, and with great nuance, on a great swath of the Islamic tradition from the medieval period through the work of Muhammad Iqbal. Each of these many threads is spun with great care. But most impressive is the skill with which they are woven into a profoundly illuminating tapestry. Sculpting the Self is not only a superb exploration of selfhood, but a master class in the practice of cross-cultural philosophy.”
—Jay L. Garfield, Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities, Smith College and Visiting Professor of Buddhist Philosophy, Harvard Divinity School

"Philosophically dense but yet eminently accessible, this book is a landmark publication in the fields of Islamic Studies and the study of religion more broadly."
—New Books Network in Religious Studies

“Sculpting the Self is a rare but essential treat that presents a creative analysis of major thinkers in Islam, and demonstrates how one might fruitfully read their work to move towards a truly global study of selfhood and philosophy.”
—Sajjad Rizvi, University of Exeter

“Sculpting the Self is an impressive book. Situated at the crossroads between Western and Islamic philosophies of the self, both modern and non-modern, it offers a new way forward: a ‘multidimensional’ model that is richer, more expansive, and more inclusive than most theories available today. Smart, deeply informed, and engaging, Faruque’s book will be a cornerstone for future thinking about the elusive entity we call the self.”
—James I. Porter, Irving Stone Professor of Literature, Departments of Rhetoric and Classics, UC Berkeley

“In Sculpting the Self we are guided along the maze of the concept of the self in Islamic philosophy by one of the most promising, young global philosophers writing today. Muhammad Faruque’s breadth in this work is extraordinary, bringing many key pre-modern and modern Muslim philosophers from Iran and India into conversation with various currents in philosophy, consciousness studies, evolutionary theory, and neuroscience. The result is nothing less than a sophisticated, first of its kind account of Islamic philosophical conceptions of selfhood, personhood, and identity.”
—Mohammed Rustom, author of Inrushes of the Heart: The Sufi Philosophy of 'Ayn al-Qudat

“Faruque has delivered a tour de force study of selfhood across time and tradition. His expertise in Islamic thought, together with his facility with a wide range of sources and approaches, succeeds in bringing the self’s full spectrum into view. The ambition of his project is as rare as it is refreshing.”
—Charles M. Stang, Professor of Early Christian Thought and Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School

“Faruque’s book is a welcome attempt to engage the various strands of Islamic philosophical psychology with contemporary work on subjectivity and selfhood in the philosophy of mind and the cognitive sciences. The approach is novel and should initiate a vigorous discussion concerning the contemporary relevance of the history of Islamic thought.”
—Jari Kaukua, University of Jyväskylä

“The variety of voices and sources, both Western and non-Western, bring to life the model of a multidimensional self especially in contrast to the reductionist models that Faruque critiques.”
—Sayeh Meisami, University of Dayton

“. . . a great survey on the study of self. Faruque develops a unique perspective in combining neuroscience and philosophy and offers a great conversation between Western, Islamic, and Eastern philosophers.”
—Ramazan Kilinc, University of Nebraska at Omaha

"This cross-cultural analysis of human identity or the self provides a brilliant and wide-spanning philosophical understanding of the current epistemological challenges in understanding selfhood. Faruque has amassed an extraordinary amount of source material in several European and Islamic languages by bringing the Islamic tradition into dialogue with the metaphysics of the East and West, including modern disciplines such as cognitive science, consciousness studies, evolutionary theory, and neuroscience—that offer a remarkable study of selfhood... This work will be important for mental health professionals seeking to better understand human identity as it is informed by the diverse cultures and their knowledge systems."
—The Humanistic Psychologist

"Explaining theories and conceptions of selfhood and subjectivity across Western, Islamic and Indian sources is no easy task; it is even more difficult to do so clearly, cogently and in a manner comprehensible to non-experts. ...Yet this is what Muhammad Faruque does in Sculpting the Self."
—Islam and Christian-Musim Relations

"In the perusal of contemporary philosophical literature, one rarely comes upon a work that engages in an analytic penetration of a philosophical topic with such erudition and cosmopolitanism. Faruque’s study draws on primary philosophical work from English, German, French, ancient Greek, Persian, Arabic, Urdu sources and then supplements them with the latest and most cutting-edge scientific and historical studies; this is all done in an elegant and inclusive manner. Indeed, this study is not only a comprehensive philosophical treatment of selfhood, but it is also a blueprint for an exemplary philosophical analysis which is not cramped by scholarly parochialism endemic to the run-of-the-mill academic essays."
—Comparative Philosophy

Grâce à cette traduction, le public italien a désormais accès à l’une des références majeures du soufisme. Le Ta‘arruf li-maḏab ahl al-taṣawwuf, comme l’explique le titre, a été écrit pour que son lecteur puisse « prendre connaissance par lui-même de la doctrine des hommes de la voie spirituelle ». Il appartient à ces quelques ouvrages composés dans la seconde moitié du IVème/Xème siècle.
Denis Gril

This is an annotation composed as footnotes upon the: Sawq’l-Umma Ila Ittiba` as-Sunna of my spiritual master, my doctrine of belief, my lamp, my support, my spiritual path, my guide and proof, the reviver of the Sunna, the knower of Allah, the nucleus of the spiritual poles, the Imam of the Awliyya, the light of the age, the renewer of the religion, the Sword of Truth, Amir’l-Mu’mineen Shehu Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman, known as Dan Fuduye`, may Allah ta`ala engulf him in his mercy Amen. Throughout this annotation I will henceforth refer to him as ‘the Shehu’. I have composed this commentary in order to make manifest what I have extracted from the secrets of this revered book as well as the spiritual openings embodied in adherence to the Muhammadan Sunna in order to disseminate its sublime blessings and overflowing advantages.
Ii nitially completed the typing of the book: Sawq’l-Umma Ila Ittiba`’s-Sunna with the best help of Allah and His success on Tuesday, the 27th of the month of Ramadan in the year  1422 A.H. – December 13, 2001. I completed its first commentary on Friday before the juma` prayer on the 21st  of Jumad’l-Akhir in the year 1423 – August 20, 2003 from his hijra may Allah bless him and grant him peace. I then competed a second commentary upon it along with an editing, annotation, and review on Thursday, the 27th  from the month of Jumad’l-Awwal in the year 1431 – May 11, 2010 from his hijra, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. I I named the commentary: Tawq’l-Lum`a wa Itmaam’n-Ni`ma Fee Sharh `Ala Sawq’l-Umma Ila Ittiba` as-Sunna: (The Desire for Illumination and Completion of Blessings through a Commentary upon the Mobilization of the Umma towards Following the Sunna).

In medieval Sufism, one’s rank as a spiritual master was often measured by the success of one’s pupils.  For that reason among others, Abū al-Jannāb Aḥmad b. ‘Umar, known as Najm al-Dīn Kubrā (d. 618/1221), was one of the most highly regarded masters in the medieval Sufi tradition, so much so that he was called “the saint-manufacturer.”  Why was this figure so effective? One reason might lie in his ability to communicate the most effective, and indeed quickest, path to ethical and spiritual success. That path appears in one of his treatises as the path of volitional death, the virtue that underlies all other virtues. This article explores the meaning and implications of volition death in the thought of Najm al-Dīn Kubrā and its implications for Islamic ethics and eschatology.

Abū Ismāʿīl ʿAbdallāh al-Harawī al-Anṣārī (d. 481/1089) places the refinement of human character traits, what we would call “the virtues,” toward the middle of one’s journey, following in this placement models of the Sufi states and stations that preceded him. By considering the structure and logic of Anṣārī’s waystations, readers of Sufi texts can appreciate the place of the refinement of character traits as transitional. The wayfarer proceeds from a perfection of the bodily heart to a more receptive and sublime perfection of the spirit, from action to reception. That receptive state ultimately becomes union (al-jamʿ), which Anṣārī calls “the terminus of the stations of the wayfarers and the outermost, coastal portion of the ocean of tawḥīd,” that is, it is the periphery of knowing God’s oneness (tawḥīd), that side or edge of God’s oneness accessible to humans.  In this, Anṣārī frames the Sufi stations as a pathway to union and direct knowledge. While this structure, one leading to union, proved inspiriting to many commentators, it also aroused the condemnation of two Ḥanbalī thinkers who opposed what some have called “monist” (or, from their perspective, al-Ittiḥādiyya, the “People of Unification”) resonances in Islamic ethics, namely, Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn Taymiyya (d. 728/1328) and Shams al-Dīn ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350).  There are weighty epistemological differences that come out in the commentaries despite the brevity of Anṣārī’s ethical treatise. The key concern here will be to consider commentators’ responses to the structure of Anṣārī’s treatise vis-à-vis its most disputed proclamation—namely, that the waystations end with union with God.

“Transcending Character as a Quest for Union: The Place of al-Jamʿ in Sufi Ethical Commentaries on Khwāja ʿAbdallāh Anṣārī’s Waystations,” Mysticism and Ethics in Islam, edited by Bilal Orfali, Atif Khalil, and Mohammed Rustom. Beirut: American University of Beirut Press, 2022. Pp. 163-186.

This article investigates the role of magic in the confessional identity of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā as it is articulated in the 52nd epistle on magic, and informed by the rest of their Rasāʾil (Epistles). To achieve this, the author revisits the long scholarly tradition of speculation about their denominational commitment that has seen them affiliated one way or the other to Ismailism, seeing its esoteric foundations as the platform onto which their magic and astrology were cultivated. Rather this article argues that the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ aimed with their Rasāʾil to establish an anti-sectarian religio-political reform that they refer to as the Third Way. Its strategy comprises: reconciling revelation and philosophy; valuing the message of religions other than Islam (Christianity, Judaism, Brahmans, and Sabians); and addressing some Shiʿa specific practices and doctrines which it scrutinizes. The Ikhwān mitigate the doctrinal boundaries between Shiʿism and other denominations by adopting a more equable position which is consonant with Zaydi and Ibadi attitudes toward the contentious issues of imamate, caliphate, and wilāya/walāya. So, the Ikhwān see magic as the conceptual and practical pivot of the Third Way, since it is the culmination of philosophy and revelation, becoming a suitable concept to signify the self-enlightenment of the accountable imam achieved through knowledge of the Divine and Nature and the abandonment of physical attachment, which constitute the only conditions of legitimacy. It is also an appropriate tool for regulating state guardianship and sublimating the temporal state itself into a sacred city instead of investing sacral power into a single person.

The leading idea of the book is to focus on the common roots of Islamic and Western traditions and to increase awareness of the chances of systematic philosophical dispute, with the aim to promote a substantial dialogue on an academic level. Most of the collected papers in this edition are results of contributions to a workshop, organized by the editors of the volume, as an integrated part of a visit to the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute (IKERI) of Qom by a delegation of philosophers from the University of Innsbruck in May 2008. The organizational frame of the workshop and also of this edition is the partnership between the IKERI and the University of Innsbruck—the first formal high-level academic partnership between an Iranian Institution and a European University. The contributions in this edition investigate the topic “Soul” in an interdisciplinary and comparative way: Psychologists, Philosophers, and Theologians from both, Islamic and Western traditions, should be brought into dialogue with the focus on the general theme.

This is an annotation composed as footnotes upon the: Sawq’l-Umma Ila Ittiba` as-Sunna of my spiritual master, my doctrine of belief, my lamp, my support, my spiritual path, my guide and proof, the reviver of the Sunna, the knower of Allah, the nucleus of the spiritual poles, the Imam of the Awliyya, the light of the age, the renewer of the religion, the Sword of Truth, Amir’l-Mu’mineen Shehu Uthman ibn Muhammad ibn Uthman, known as Dan Fuduye`, may Allah ta`ala engulf him in his mercy Amen. Throughout this annotation I will henceforth refer to him as ‘the Shehu’. I have composed this commentary in order to make manifest what I have extracted from the secrets of this revered book as well as the spiritual openings embodied in adherence to the Muhammadan Sunna in order to disseminate its sublime blessings and overflowing advantages. Ii nitially completed the typing of the book: Sawq’l-Umma Ila Ittiba`’s-Sunna with the best help of Allah and His success on Tuesday, the 27th of the month of Ramadan in the year 1422 A.H. – December 13, 2001. I completed its first commentary on Friday before the juma` prayer on the 21st of Jumad’l-Akhir in the year 1423 – August 20, 2003 from his hijra may Allah bless him and grant him peace. I then competed a second commentary upon it along with an editing, annotation, and review on Thursday, the 27th from the month of Jumad’l-Awwal in the year 1431 – May 11, 2010 from his hijra, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. I I named the commentary: Tawq’l-Lum`a wa Itmaam’n-Ni`ma Fee Sharh `Ala Sawq’l-Umma Ila Ittiba` as-Sunna: (The Desire for Illumination and Completion of Blessings through a Commentary upon the Mobilization of the Umma towards Following the Sunna).

Islamic Images and Ideas: Essays on Sacred Symbolism, edited by John Andrew Morrow, is a collection of twenty-four essays written by a wide range of scholars and academics and has a clear objective, as stated in the Acknowledgements, which is to demonstrate a ‘vision of unity as opposed to division, peace as opposed to conflict, and harmony as opposed to discord.’ The essays are produced from the Sunni, Shi'i (or ‘Shi’ite’, as most authors in this volume appear to prefer) and Sufi traditions in an attempt to show that ‘differences in interpretation are not detrimental or damaging to Islam.’ Even so, the Acknowledgements opens with a statement which, from an academic perspective, could be said to be somewhat value-laden and subjective: that the image of Islam
has been tarnished by ‘misguided Muslims’.

In his early works on the soul, the philosopher Ibn Kammūna (d. 683/1284) addresses what he considers insufficiencies in Avicenna's proofs for the eternity (and immateriality) of the rational soul. He argues that these propositions can be established through a demonstrative proof only if such a proof includes the premise that the human soul is eternal a parte ante (pre-eternal). To explain this relatively original position, the paper shows why Ibn Kammūna thought he must reject the consensus of his predecessors and contemporaries, interprets Ibn Kammūna's critique of Avicenna as a continuation of earlier critical approaches, and outlines Ibn Kammūna's proofs for the eternity a parte ante of the soul.

This paper brings together an account of an early muslim woman's dream with texts relating to the 'holy man' and the spiritual hierarchy in early islam. both dream account and the holy men texts were authored by the dreamer's husband, the third/ ninth century mystic al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī, in whose oeuvre the holy man, al-walī, the 'friend of god', occupies a central position. his writings had a significant impact on the teachings on wilāya in islamic mysticism early and late. The dream and the texts reveal a historical and religious setting in which the god-man communication was seen as bequeathed from the prophets to the 'friends of god', the awliyā'. al-Tirmidhī's writings offer an early vision of a non-sectarian ideology of the awliyāʼ, which allowed for people with specific qualities to be heralded as carriers of divine inspiration and authority. The veneration of the holy men in early islam, be they the awliyāʼ or shīʽite imāms reflects the beliefs, traditions and images which pervaded the religious scene in late antiquity prior to the rise of islam. in judaism, christianity, * The material for this paper has been collected and assimilated for a very long time. i first encountered the image of the myrtle at its heart while working on my PhD dissertation on al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī under the supervision of Prof. shaul shaked: it is to shaul shaked that my deepest gratitude goes, for input included in this paper and much beyond. During the years in which this paper has been a work-in-progress i benefited from comments of friends and colleagues. i would like to thank specifically those to whom i have shown various drafts: ella almagor, meir bar-asher, brouria bitton-ashkeloni, sarah japhet, menachem Kister, Ze'ev maghen, guy stroumsa and sarah stroumsa. i have not always followed each and every piece of advice given me — the responsibility for all shortcomings, therefore, is my own. finally, special thanks go to two young scholars with whom i have been working closely as supervisor: to michael ebstein for his constant wise assistance and to guy ron-gilboa, especially for spotting the lacunae in my acquaintance with ancient mesopotamian sources; both helped in widening and corroborating comparative and philological aspects of this paper.

First published on the basis of Mr. Nikos Bayraktaris' personal notes:
Θεματολογία Ψυχικών Επιστημών κατά τον κ. Μουχάμαντ Σαμσαντίν Μεγαλομμάτη
(Subject matter on Spiritual Sciences as per Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis)
https://greeksoftheorient.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/%CE%B8%CE%B5%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%BF%CE%B3%CE%AF%CE%B1-%CF%88%CF%85%CF%87%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8E%CE%BD-%CE%B5%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7%CE%BC%CF%8E%CE%BD-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%AC-%CF%84/
Republished here: Divina Studia – Ψυχικές Επιστήμες
https://profmegalommatistextsingreek.wordpress.com/divina-studia-%CF%88%CF%85%CF%87%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AD%CF%82-%CE%B5%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B5%CF%82/

This work Taysuur'l-Ma`asuri'l-Ma'muul fi at-Tawassul bi Allahi wa'l-Qur'an wa'r-rasuul (The Facilitation of Anticipated Hardships Regarding Taking as Intermediacy Allah, the Qur'an and the Messenger) by Shaykh Ahmadu Bamba the founder of the famous Muridiyya Tareeqa is one of the best examples the elevated status which African Muslims have given to Allah, the Qur'an and our master Muhammad, upon him blessings and peace. I took ijaaza in this wird in 1996 from the Muridiyya Khalifa, the descendent of Shaykh al-Baka'i when he had visited the Bay area in California.

THIS IS AN UPDATED VERSION OF THE ONE ALREADY PUBLISHED ON THIS SITE. SOME SECONDARY REFERENCES HAVE BEEN REPLACED WITH PRIMARY REFERENCES

This paper aims to engage in a critical comparison of the spiritual authority of the awliyā’ in the Shī‘ī and Sufi traditions in order to examine an area of Islamic belief which remains unclearly defined.  Similarities between Shī‘ī and Sufi doctrine have long been noted, but little analysis has been made on how and why these developed.  Taking a central tenet of both, walāya, the paper discusses several of its key aspects as they appear recorded in Shī‘ī hadīth collections, and as they appear later in one of the earliest Sunnī Sufi treatises. By extension, it seeks to explore the identity of the awliyā’ and their role in relation to the Twelve Imams. It also traces the reabsorption into Shī‘ī culture of the the Sufi definition of walāya, taking as two examples the works of one branch of the Dhahabī Order and those of Allamah Tabataba’i, a popular mystic and scholar of twentieth century Iran.

This paper brings together an account of an early muslim woman's dream with texts relating to the 'holy man' and the spiritual hierarchy in early islam. both dream account and the holy men texts were authored by the dreamer's husband, the third/ ninth century mystic al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī, in whose oeuvre the holy man, al-walī, the 'friend of god', occupies a central position. his writings had a significant impact on the teachings on wilāya in islamic mysticism early and late. The dream and the texts reveal a historical and religious setting in which the god-man communication was seen as bequeathed from the prophets to the 'friends of god', the awliyā'. al-Tirmidhī's writings offer an early vision of a non-sectarian ideology of the awliyāʼ, which allowed for people with specific qualities to be heralded as carriers of divine inspiration and authority. The veneration of the holy men in early islam, be they the awliyāʼ or shīʽite imāms reflects the beliefs, traditions and images which pervaded the religious scene in late antiquity prior to the rise of islam. in judaism, christianity, * The material for this paper has been collected and assimilated for a very long time. i first encountered the image of the myrtle at its heart while working on my PhD dissertation on al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī under the supervision of Prof. shaul shaked: it is to shaul shaked that my deepest gratitude goes, for input included in this paper and much beyond. During the years in which this paper has been a work-in-progress i benefited from comments of friends and colleagues. i would like to thank specifically those to whom i have shown various drafts: ella almagor, meir bar-asher, brouria bitton-ashkeloni, sarah japhet, menachem Kister, Ze'ev maghen, guy stroumsa and sarah stroumsa. i have not always followed each and every piece of advice given me — the responsibility for all shortcomings, therefore, is my own. finally, special thanks go to two young scholars with whom i have been working closely as supervisor: to michael ebstein for his constant wise assistance and to guy ron-gilboa, especially for spotting the lacunae in my acquaintance with ancient mesopotamian sources; both helped in widening and corroborating comparative and philological aspects of this paper.

In the early Sufi tradition tawba was conceived not simply as repentance, or returning to God from a particular sin, but as a broader and much more encompassing process of " interior conversion " in which a nominal allegiance to the religion of one's birth was replaced by a complete and unwavering commitment to the spiritual life. Ibrāhīm b. Adham's (d. 161/778–9) tawba remains perhaps the most well-known of such accounts. Found in virtually all the major biographical and hagiographical sources which deal with the formative period of Sufism, it contains elements both uncannily similar to that of Buddha's own conversion intertwined with distinctively Islamic motifs, whether they involve a scrupulous concern for lawful sustenance, hearing a Qur'anic admonishment through the words of an invisible caller (hātif), an overriding concern for final Judgement and the welfare of the soul after death, or an encounter with Khiḍr through whom certain mysteries of the Way are disclosed.

The Qur'ān, the "Holy Writ" of Islam, builds its rationale of revelation on the scriptural model of biblical tradition. Embracing direct divine intervention in worldly affairs as the first principle within the constrictions of monotheistic theology, the Qur'ān resurrects biblical purview of an intermediary agency linking the transcendent divine with the terrestrial human, which the author of John"s Gospel identifies as "Logos". This article argues that the Qur'ānic conception of kalām-Allah, at a conceptual level, engages with John's mystical theology of the divine origin of the Logos-incarnate and reinterprets the conception as well as its application. This cornerstone of John's theology formulates a crucial basis for the Qur'ānic narrator's self-reflection through both content and form of revelation as such. Biblical literature written prior to Johannine appropriation of Logos does not cohere with John's mystical paradigm, which the Qur'ān, on the other hand, brings to a whole new level of theological maturation. The Qur'ān dialogues with John's Gospel at multiple levels on the principal question of God's personal interaction with humanity and presents its nuanced metaphysical construct in conversation with the Logos principle, but in distinction from John's incarnation theology.

The book Maqamat-i Zhendepil, written by Sadid-al Din Muhammad Qaznavi, on Sheikh Ahmad Namqi's Keramat (Wondrous States) is one of the linguistically valuable and significant works of literature which was edited by Mo'ayyed in 1340/1961. Maqamat mirrors popular thoughts, beliefs and habits of the people of that era. From the linguistic point of view, it contains colloquial words and expressions. Also thematically, it is considered as a Sufism-oriented book, which is also about the everyday life of those living in that era and geographical location (namely Torshiz, and Khorasan in general). There are flaws in the linguistic corrections and clarifications written by the editor. The purpose of this article is to use the examples found in other books of Dari literature and to refer to them in order to find these flaws and present them accurately.

کتاب‌ مقامات ژنده‌پیل، نوشتۀ سدیدالدین محمد غزنوی دربارۀ کرامات شیخ احمد نامقی از نوشته‌های ارج‌مند و پربار از دید زبانی است که نخست بار در سال ۱۳۴۰ به کوشش حشمت مؤید به چاپ رسید. این مقامات آینه‌ای است از طرز اندیشه و اعتقادات عوامانۀ گروهی از مردم آن روزگار و عادات ایشان. از نگر زبانی نیز می‌توان گفت که این مقامات از کتاب‌های برجستۀ مقامات‌نویسی و آگنده از اصطلاحات و واژگان گونه‌ای و عامیانه و گفتاری در زمینۀ تصوف و همچنین زندگانی روزمرۀ مردمان آن روزگار و به‌ویژه آن ناحیۀ مکانی (ترشیز و توسعاً خراسان بزرگ) است. در تصحیح و روشن‌گری‌های زبانی نوشته‌شدۀ مصحح لغزش‌هایی به چشم می‌خورد. هدف این نوشته این بود که با یاری‌گرفتن از نمونه‌های یافته از دیگر کتاب‌های ادب دری و یادکرد آن‌ها، این لغزش‌ها یافته و ریخت درست آن‌ها در میان نهاده شود.

Bigdeloo, M. (2022). Correction of Some Distortions in Maghāmāt-e Žendepil. Mysticism Studies in Literature, 1(1), 37-57. doi: 10.22054/msil.2022.57925.1010

The “war” between science and religion is quite well known, but it is probably not as extensive and overwhelming as most people might believe. Religion has far more problems with science than science has with religion. These two disciplines have coexisted for several centuries, at least since the scientific revolution in the seventeenth century, without either overcoming the other or thus winning the war. So it would seem that they are both necessary elements of the human endeavor as well as civilization and society as a whole. However, there is a fairly recent movement to bring science and religion together by finding a common ground for spirituality within science. Spirituality is usually equated to religion, but it really need not be tied inexorably and only to religion. Spirituality can be studied in a more general context outside of the traditional religions and within the context of science. Scholars and scientists have both found many common points of focus between science and spirituality and it was such common points that were explored by the conveners of the seminar and the learners attending the seminar.