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Document Details :

Title: Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī's waṣiyya to Sufi Novices
Subtitle: A Testimony to Eleventh Century Sufism
Author(s): SALAMAH-QUDSI, Arin
Journal: Le Muséon
Volume: 132    Issue: 3-4   Date: 2019   
Pages: 509-534
DOI: 10.2143/MUS.132.3.3287192

Abstract :
This paper seeks to examine al-Qushayrī’s (d. 1072) piece of spiritual advice that he directs to the Sufi novices of his days (al-waṣiyya li-l-murīdīn). This waṣiyya differs structurally and thematically from the rest of Qushayrī’s Risāla. Conceptually, it relates more to Sufi communal life than the rest of the text. In analyzing waṣiyya and its constituent divisions both structurally and thematically, this paper attempts to show that waṣiyya was an independent literary unit added to Risāla. It does so by demonstrating that waṣiyya is more successful in connecting to the Sufi reality of Qushayrī both spiritually and culturally. This paper also shows that several parts of waṣiyya clearly correspond to later, well-established discussions of Sufi communal life and praxis.

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