Sufism has not yet received fair treatment in any publication that has appeared in Western literature.
The reason is that no Western writer upon the subject has endeavored to understand it, either because of an intellectual bias or from willful perversion. Most treatises are written under strong dogmatic prejudices, or by persons intellectually and morally incapable of rising to the A B C of a spiritual philosophy.
The present attempt to represent the doctrines and practices of Sufism has been made in the hope of overcoming the effect of these evils. We have studied patiently Sufism from Sufi works and claim to be in full sympathy with our subject.
That which we here present to the judgment of the candid reader is a part of a larger work we have been engaged on for many years; a work designed as a text book for students in Mysticism. This fact, the intention of making a text book for reference on all mystic questions, will account for the unusual method adopted in this series of articles.
In the first part we shall give a resumé of Sufi doctrine with copious quotations from Sufi works. In the second we shall give a full exposition of Sufi practices and symbols.
The following is a partial list of works consulted and quoted without further reference:
Tholuck, Sufismus, sive theosophia persarum—Tholuck, Blüthensammlung der morgenl. Mystik—Malcolm, Hist. of Persia—Trans. of the lit. soc. of Bombay, vol. I, art. by Capt. Graham—J. von Hammer, Geschichte der Schönen Redekünste Persiens, mit einer Blüthenlese—Garcin de Tassy, la poesie phil. et rel. chez les Persans, in Rev. cont. 1856—Fleischer, uber die farbigen Lichterscheinungen der Sufis, in Zeitsh. f. morgl. Geselsch. vol. 16—G. P. Brown, The Dervishes, or Oriental Spiritualism—Journal of Am. Orient. Soc., vol. 8—The Dabistan, or school of sects—E. H. Palmer, Oriental Mysticism—Persian Poetry by S. Robinson—Th. P. Hughes, Dict. of Islam—Ousely, Biographical notices of Persian poets—Omar Khayyam, see ed. illust. by Vedder—Al Gazzali, la perle precieuse, par L. Gautier—Allegories recits poetiques traduit de l’arabe, du persan &c., par Garcin de Tassy—Al Gazzali, Alchemy of Happiness tr. by H. A. Homes—Hammer-Purgstall, Literatur-Geschichte der Araber—The works of Nizami, Saadi, Attar, Jellalladin Rumi, Hafiz, Jami, Hatifi, &c., in English, French, German and Latin translations—Lane’s transl. of the Quran—&c., &c.
PART I.—TEXTS.
Origin of Sufism.
It is generally conceded among the Sufis that one of the great founders of their system, as found in Islam, was the adopted son and son-in-law of the Prophet, Ali-ibn-Abi-Talib. But it is also admitted that their religious system has always existed in the world, prior to Mohammed. It is known that a tribe, Sufah, from whom possibly the name is derived, in “the time of ignorance” separated themselves from the world and devoted themselves to spiritual exercises like those of the present Sufis.