This volume is the first to focus specifically on esoteric interpretation as a phenomenon in the field of 河顎姻a稼ic exegesis and to show the plurality of ways it has been manifested in different Muslim traditions. Concern with the inner, spiritual implications of the 河顎姻a稼Muslims believe that the Holy 河顎姻a稼 contains divine revelations to the Prophet Muhammed received in Mecca and Medina over a period of 23 years in the early 7th century CE. More has usually been associated with mystical and Sufi trends in Islam. However, there have also been exegetes among the Shia, as well as among philosophers, who sought to supplement their understanding of the 河顎姻a稼s apparent meaning by eliciting deeper significations through contemplation of the verses.
The Spirit and the Letter examines the multiplicity of these esoteric approaches, covering a period that extends from the third/ninth century to the present. It includes chapters on philosophical and Shii exegetes, such as Ibn S朝n偵 (d. 428/1037) and Mull偵 畊adr偵 (d. 1045/1636), in addition to studies of a range of Sufi perspectives, from al-Sulam朝 (d. 412/1021) and al-Qushayr朝 (d. 465/1072) to R笛zbih偵n Baql朝 (d. 606/1209), as well as representatives of the Ibn 平Arab朝 and Kubr偵w朝 schools. Considered together, the range of studies in this volume enable us to see what these approaches have in common and how they differ, and how the hermeneutics and content of exegesis are affected by doctrinal and ideological perspectives of various traditions and periods. Furthermore, they deepen our understanding of what actually constitutes esoteric interpretation and the need to look beyond the letter to the spirit of the 河顎姻a稼ic word.
Notes on Contributors
Note on Transliteration, Conventions and Abbreviations
Preface
Introduction, Annabel Keeler and Sajjad Rizvi
Part I: Comparative Hermeneutics
1. The Countless Faces of Understanding: On 鴛壊岳庄稼恢偵畊, Mystical Listening and Sufi Exegesis, Sara Sviri
2. The Interpretation of the Arabic Letters in Early Sufism: Sulam朝s Shar畍 ma平偵n朝 al-畍ur笛f, Gerhard B旦wering
3. Towards a Prophetology of Love: The Figure of Jacob in Sufi Commentaries on S笛rat Y笛suf, Annabel Keeler
4. Making it Plain: Sufi Commentaries in English in the Twentieth Century, Kristin Zahra Sands
Part II: Commentators and Texts in Focus
5. Outlines of Early Ismaili-Fatimid 河顎姻a稼 Exegesis, Meir M. Bar-Asher
6. Ibn S朝n偵s 河顎姻a稼ic Hermeneutics, Peter Heath
7. Qushayr朝s Exegetical Encounter with the 珂庄平姻偵逮, Martin Nguyen
8. Shahrast偵n朝’s Maf偵t朝畍 al-asr偵r: A Medieval Ismaili System of Hermeneutics?, Toby Mayer
9. Q笛naw朝’s Scriptural Hermeneutics, Richard Todd
10. Eschatology and Hermeneutics in K偵sh偵n朝’s Ta幣w朝l偵t al-Qur幣偵n, Pierre Lory
11. Simn偵n朝 and Hermeneutics, Paul Ballanfat
12. Speech, Book, and Healing Knowledge: The 河顎姻a稼ic Hermeneutics of Mull偵 畊adr偵, Janis Esots
13. Aspects of Mystical Hermeneutics and the Theory of the Oneness of Being (wa畍dat al-wuj笛d) in the work of 平Abd al-Ghan朝 al-N偵bulus朝 (d. 1143/1731), Bakri Aladdin
14. The Sufi Hermeneutics of Ibn 平Aj朝ba (d. 1224/1809): A Study of Some Eschatological Verses of the 河顎姻a稼, Mahmut Ay
15. Beyond the Letter: Explanation (岳温韓壊朝姻) versus Adaptation (岳温畊b朝援) in 畊ab偵畊ab偵平朝 s 温鉛-珂朝噛偵稼, Amin Ehteshami and Sajjad Rizvi
Bibliography
Index of 河顎姻a稼ic Citations
General Index
Keeler, Rizvi, and their authors have undoubtedly made a major achievement in bringing such a wide variety of sources together in The Spirit and the Letter. Aside from the fact that the articles theyve collected span enough traditions and periods to appeal to Islamic studies scholars of a variety of different stripes, their ability to find terms that can coherently render such a variety comprehensible is in its own right a major contribution to the field.
Robert Landau Ames, Reading Religion
Annabel Keeler is an Affiliated Researcher at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and a Research Associate of Wolfson College, both at the University of Cambridge. Her research interests include Sufi exegesis, early to classical Islamic mysticism, Persian literature and prophetology. She is the author of Sufi Hermeneutics: The 河顎姻a稼 Commentary of Rash朝d al-D朝n Maybud朝 (Oxford, 2006) and co-translator of the commentary of Sahl al-Tustar朝, under the title, Tafs朝r al-Tustar朝 (Kentucky, 2011).
Sajjad Rizvi is Associate Professor of Islamic Intellectual History at the University of Exeter. Trained as a historian at Oxford and Cambridge, he has previously taught at the universities of Cambridge and Bristol. A specialist of Islamic thought in the Islamic East, he is the author of Mull偵 畊adr偵 Sh朝r偵z朝 (Oxford, 2007) and Mulla 畊adr偵 and Metaphysics (London, 2009), and is currently working on a study of the same thinker’s noetics. His future projects include a comparative history of philosophy in the Persianate eighteenth century, and an intellectual history of Islamic philosophical traditions in India from 1500 to 1900.