(no subject)
A Shadhili bibliography, inspired by ijtihad_alkitab's post.
***Danner, Victor and Thackston, Wheeler M. Ibn 'Ata' Illah: The Book of Wisdom / Kwaja Abdullah Ansari: Intimate Conversations. New York: Paulist Press, 1978 (& later).
A good translation of the core of Shadhili tariqa thought as expressed in literature, the Hikam have become one of the classics of Islamic literature. Anyone who's read my journal knows how highly I regard the Hikam, so I'll stop there. Danner first published his translation in an expensive academic edition; it's out of print but in libraries. The newer edition is revised, has fuller commentary drawn from the traditional secondary literature, and comes with another book by an earlier sufi, in this case an ecstatic Hanbali. Take that, Hanbali-haters!
Darqawi, Mawlay al-ʿArabi al-. The Darqawi Way: Letters from the Shaykh to the Fuqara. Translated by Aisha Bewley. Cambridge: Diwan Press, 1981.
This is not about Imam Abu al-Hassan al-Shadhili himself: these are the powerful letters of a major reviver of the way following in the tariqa. Mawlay al-Darqawi lived in Morocco two hundred years ago & had an enormous movement. Many current Shadhili lines all through the Arabic world come from his movement. Get it from here; it's expensive elsewhere. There's a more widely available, partial translation by Titus Burkhart, that I regard as inferior; some reviewer mentions 'intrusive Masonic vocabulary.'
Douglas, Elmer H. The Mystical Teachings of al-Shadhili: Including his Life, Prayers, Letters,a nd Followers; a translation from the Arabic of Ibn al-Sabbagh's Durrat al-Asrar wa Tuhfat al-Abrar. Albany: State University Press of New York, 1993.
A great resource on the Shaykh, though written in stilted Academickese: a hagiography from not long after his lifetime, with many supplications, sermons, letters, and annecdotes. Missing an index like almost every book in this field.
Durkee, ʿAbdullāh Nūr ad-Dīn. School of the Shādhdhuliyya: Orisons. Alexandria: Daru-l-Kutub, 1991.
Arabic, transliterations & translations of Abu al-Hasan's litanies (=orisons), visualization and energy flow exercises for those rooted in Qur'an and Sunnah, and other devotions of the later order, such as a Thursday night hadrah ceremony from an Egyptian branch. Introduced with 90-some pages of essays on the continuing place of Imam al-Shadhili & reflections on the meanings of his works. There is a newer edition I don't have, available from Shaykh Durkee's site.
Iskandarī, Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh al-. The Key to Salvation: A Sufi Manual of Invocation. Translated and edited by Mary Ann Koury Danner. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1996.
A manual of dhikr, with a long section of beautiful supplications from minor hadith collections.
***―――. The Subtle Blessings in the Saintly Lives of Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mursī and His Master Abū al-Ḥasan: Kitāb latāʾif al-minan fī manāqib Abī ’l-ʿAbbās al-Mursī wa shaykhihi Abī ’l-Ḥasan. Translated and edited by Nancy Roberts. Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2005.
I love this book! The third Shadhili shaykh, Ibn Ata Allah, writes about his master Abu al-Abbas, and his master Abu al-Hassan. The love, wisdom, ma'rifah, and uprightness of these men comes through powerfully. An inspired, inspired translation, with interesting appendices on contemp. Egyptian sufi women the author has benefited from.
―――. The Book of Illumination: Kitāb al-tanwīr fī isqāṭ al-tadbīr. Translated by Scott Kugle. Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2005.
Isqat al-tadbir (destruction of self-direction) is Ibn Ata Allah's companion piece to the Hikam: very short, and judge by some commentators to be more worthwhile than many long classics. The title refers to the inclusive mystical virtue of turning away from the self, purifying awareness through the Name, and reliance on Allah; it is a key Shadhili concept. This translation is written in circumlocutions to avoid attaching the pronoun "he" to Allah, and other quirks I can't remember, but AFAIK it's the only version in a European language of a major work.
***Danner, Victor and Thackston, Wheeler M. Ibn 'Ata' Illah: The Book of Wisdom / Kwaja Abdullah Ansari: Intimate Conversations. New York: Paulist Press, 1978 (& later).
A good translation of the core of Shadhili tariqa thought as expressed in literature, the Hikam have become one of the classics of Islamic literature. Anyone who's read my journal knows how highly I regard the Hikam, so I'll stop there. Danner first published his translation in an expensive academic edition; it's out of print but in libraries. The newer edition is revised, has fuller commentary drawn from the traditional secondary literature, and comes with another book by an earlier sufi, in this case an ecstatic Hanbali. Take that, Hanbali-haters!
Darqawi, Mawlay al-ʿArabi al-. The Darqawi Way: Letters from the Shaykh to the Fuqara. Translated by Aisha Bewley. Cambridge: Diwan Press, 1981.
This is not about Imam Abu al-Hassan al-Shadhili himself: these are the powerful letters of a major reviver of the way following in the tariqa. Mawlay al-Darqawi lived in Morocco two hundred years ago & had an enormous movement. Many current Shadhili lines all through the Arabic world come from his movement. Get it from here; it's expensive elsewhere. There's a more widely available, partial translation by Titus Burkhart, that I regard as inferior; some reviewer mentions 'intrusive Masonic vocabulary.'
Douglas, Elmer H. The Mystical Teachings of al-Shadhili: Including his Life, Prayers, Letters,a nd Followers; a translation from the Arabic of Ibn al-Sabbagh's Durrat al-Asrar wa Tuhfat al-Abrar. Albany: State University Press of New York, 1993.
A great resource on the Shaykh, though written in stilted Academickese: a hagiography from not long after his lifetime, with many supplications, sermons, letters, and annecdotes. Missing an index like almost every book in this field.
Durkee, ʿAbdullāh Nūr ad-Dīn. School of the Shādhdhuliyya: Orisons. Alexandria: Daru-l-Kutub, 1991.
Arabic, transliterations & translations of Abu al-Hasan's litanies (=orisons), visualization and energy flow exercises for those rooted in Qur'an and Sunnah, and other devotions of the later order, such as a Thursday night hadrah ceremony from an Egyptian branch. Introduced with 90-some pages of essays on the continuing place of Imam al-Shadhili & reflections on the meanings of his works. There is a newer edition I don't have, available from Shaykh Durkee's site.
Iskandarī, Ibn ʿAṭāʾ Allāh al-. The Key to Salvation: A Sufi Manual of Invocation. Translated and edited by Mary Ann Koury Danner. Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1996.
A manual of dhikr, with a long section of beautiful supplications from minor hadith collections.
***―――. The Subtle Blessings in the Saintly Lives of Abū al-ʿAbbās al-Mursī and His Master Abū al-Ḥasan: Kitāb latāʾif al-minan fī manāqib Abī ’l-ʿAbbās al-Mursī wa shaykhihi Abī ’l-Ḥasan. Translated and edited by Nancy Roberts. Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2005.
I love this book! The third Shadhili shaykh, Ibn Ata Allah, writes about his master Abu al-Abbas, and his master Abu al-Hassan. The love, wisdom, ma'rifah, and uprightness of these men comes through powerfully. An inspired, inspired translation, with interesting appendices on contemp. Egyptian sufi women the author has benefited from.
―――. The Book of Illumination: Kitāb al-tanwīr fī isqāṭ al-tadbīr. Translated by Scott Kugle. Louisville: Fons Vitae, 2005.
Isqat al-tadbir (destruction of self-direction) is Ibn Ata Allah's companion piece to the Hikam: very short, and judge by some commentators to be more worthwhile than many long classics. The title refers to the inclusive mystical virtue of turning away from the self, purifying awareness through the Name, and reliance on Allah; it is a key Shadhili concept. This translation is written in circumlocutions to avoid attaching the pronoun "he" to Allah, and other quirks I can't remember, but AFAIK it's the only version in a European language of a major work.