The Principles of Sufism

A Note on the Text

xx A Note on the Text This Arabic edition and English translation of The Principles of Sufism are based on al-Muntakhab fī uṣūl al-rutab fī ʿilm al-taṣawwuf, manuscript 318 (Taṣawwuf Taymūr) in Cairo’s Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyyah, and dated 1071/1661. ʿĀʾishah’s writings have been carefully read and copied in Arabic for centuries, and so they deserve a reasonable counterpart in English. Further, when translating her verse, I have been concerned not only with a poem’s form and content, but also with its tones, moods, and deeper meanings. Toward this end, my own method of translation generally follows that laid out by Robert Bly in The Eight Stages of Translation.13 All translations, including of the Qurʾān, are my own. Dates are generally cited in their Islamic/Ḥijrī year followed by their Common Era equivalent : e.g., 923/1517. Notes to the Introduction 1 This account of the life and work of ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah is drawn from Homerin, “Living Love,” 211–16, and Emanations, 11–27. 2 ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah, Mawrid, 104–5; also quoted in Rabābiʿah, ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah, 53. 3 Ibn al-Ḥanbalī al-Ḥalabī, Durr al-ḥabab, 1:2:1063–64. 4 Homerin, “Writing,” 396–97. 5 For a tentative list of ʿĀʾishah’s works, see Homerin, “ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah.” 6 ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah, Qawl. 7 ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah, Fatḥ. 8 ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah, Dīwān Fayḍ al-faḍl, 326. 9 ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah, Dīwān Fayḍ al-faḍl, 73, 193. 10 ʿĀʾishah al-Bāʿūniyyah, Dīwān Fayḍ al-faḍl, 237–51, and Homerin, Emanations, 96–139. 11 For more on ʿĀʾishah’s views on remembrance, see Homerin, “Recalling.” 12 See Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, 43. 13 Bly, Eight Stages, 13–49. ...