Abstract Rumi’s Masnavi is one of the most profound works of Persian mystical literature, rich in metaphors and allegories, and it conveys spiritual concepts and religious meaning. The metaphor of the way plays a central role in illustrating the spiritual journey toward unity with the divine. This article explores the concept of the way in the Masnavi by analysing conceptual metaphors that...
Abstract This article analyzes the ritual mobilization of the Prophet and his family as concrete symbols in the collective rituals of the Sufi communities in pre-war Aleppo, Syria. The members of the family of the Prophet did not stand simply as holy figures who derived their sacred character their role in the sacred history of Islam, but they were also connected to mystical states and...
ʿ Abd al-Kar ī m al-Qu š ayr ī ’ s (d. 456/1072) statement “ praiseworthy speech is talking to God with the tongue of the heart ” 1 evokes a fundamental assumption shared across the Su fi tradition: that the encounter between God and the seeker unfolds in a mode of expression not reducible to ordinary speech. This “ tongue of the heart ” signals a register in which metaphor becomes...
Abstract A manuscript entitled Ongγod qar-a sakiγus-un teüke sudur bičig orosiba , written in the Classical Mongolian script, was acquired by Henning Haslund-Christensen in the Barga area of the Chakhar province of Inner Mongolia during the Royal Danish Geographical Society’s Central Asian Expedition (1938–1939). The text is currently preserved in the Royal Library of Copenhagen. Scholars who...