Synopsis "Early Philosophical ṢŪfism (Islamic History and Thought)"
This study challenges the conventional image of the tenth-century Sufi mystic Al-Husayn Ibn Man r al- all (d. 929) as an anti-philosophical mystic. Unlike the predominantly theological or text-historical studies which constitute much of the scholarly literature on all , this study is completely philosophical in nature, placing all within the tradition of Graeco-Arabic philosophy and emphasizing, in a positive light, his continuity with the pagan Neoplatonism of Plotinus and Proclus. For anyone interested in the origins of philosophical thought in Sufism, who wishes to understand the vast influence that Greek philosophy has had on the development of medieval Islamic mysticism in its formative period, this study will, therefore, be essential reading. Besides calling attention to several important aspects of all s thought that have been under emphasized or neglected altogether in previous studies, this one represents the first of its kind in the exploration of all as a philosopher, that is, as an exponent of metaphysical and theological ideas. That all was an astonishing and admirable mystic, a great literary talent and a superb Sufi poet, is undeniable. However, the extended answer, which is my thesis, argues that all of these other facets must be understood in terms of all s being as a philosopher, namely, as a thinker incorporating Neoplatonic modes of reasoning and argumentation as a result of his immersion in the Graeco-Arabic renaissance of the ninth and tenth centuries. Thus, rather than treating him as a mystic with no interest in philosophical matters, only driven by an irrational urge to experience a super-sensible reality, this study brings to the fore the Neoplatonic logic in all s thought, providing an analytical exposition of the philosophical reasoning and conceptualization underlying his Sufism.
