Texts of Islam

Oriental Mysticism: Preface

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This is a scholarly preface/introduction to a 19th-century academic work on Sufism, the mystical tradition within Islam, adapted from a Persian manuscript by 'Azíz bin Mohammed Nafasí. Palmer explains that Sufism attempts to reconcile philosophy with revealed religion through allegorical interpretation of doctrine, positioning itself between Indian pantheism and Quranic deism, and finding its primary expression in lyric poetry aimed at elevating readers toward spiritual contemplation. He identifies Sufism as the esoteric core of Shi'ite Islam, tracing its roots to the Quran itself. A distinctive claim is Palmer's stated intention (deferred to a future work) to argue that Sufism is actually a development of the "Primæval Religion of the Aryan race" — a characteristic 19th-century comparative-religion thesis that would have been controversial even then. He also discusses the Ahl i wahdat, a sub-branch emphasizing divine unity, and wrestles with translation challenges in rendering Persian theological terms into English. Someone deciding whether to read further would find this a period piece of Victorian Orientalist scholarship: erudite and sympathetic to its subject, but shaped by the racial and comparative-religion frameworks of its era.

Oriental Mysticism: Preface

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