Sufi Hermeneutics: The Qur'an Commentary of Rashīd Al-Dīn Maybudī (Book report)
The title is a book in the Quranic field, by Annabel Keeler and published by Oxford University Press as one of the Qur'anic Studies Series. The following is a report of the book.[1]
Overview
• Winner of 15th Iran International Book of the Year Award
• Provides the first major study in a Western language of Rashid al-Din Maybudi's Persian commentary on the Qur'an
• Explores how hermeneutics and doctrine interact in the writing of a Sufi commentary on the Qur'an and introduces an important Persian tafsir to new audiences
• Contributes to the study of the history of Sufism; the development of mystical approaches to the Qur'an; and Qur'anic exegesis
• Examines the doctrine of mystical love at a crucial juncture in Sufi history
Description
This is the first major study in a Western language of Rashid al-Din Maybudi's Persian commentary on the Qur'an Kashf al-asrar wa 'uddat al-abrar (Unveiling of Mysteries and Provision of the Righteous). Annabel Keeler explores the interplay between scriptural exegesis and mystical doctrine in a twelfth-century Sufi commentary on the Qur'an. Previously little-known outside the Persian-speaking world, it is increasingly recognized as a key work in the development of Sufi Qur'anic interpretation. This volume provides invaluable background for anyone wanting to gain a deeper understanding of Persian mystical poetry and prose, and other major works of Sufi literature.
Table of Contents
Foreword, Gerhard Bowering
Note on transliteration
Introduction
Part I: Hermeneutics
1:The Hermeneutics of the Kashf al-asrar
2:The Hermeneutics of Mystical Commentary
Part II: Mystical Doctrine
3:The Development of Love Mysticism in Khurasan
4:God and the Creation
5:Aspects of Spiritual Guidance
6:Mystical Theology and the Way of Love
Part III: Maybudi's Mystical Interpretation of the Stories of the Prophets
7:Prolegomenon: Prophets in the Qur'an and in Sufi Exegesis
8:The Story of Abraham
9:The Story of Moses
10:The Story of Joseph
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index of Qur'anic citations
Index
Author Information
Annabel Keeler, Affiliated Researcher, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge
Annabel Keeler is an Affiliated Researcher at the Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies and a Research Associate of Wolfson College, both at the University of Cambridge. Her research interests include Sufi exegesis, early to 'classical' Islamic mysticism, Persian literature and prophetology. As well as being the author of Sufi Hermeneutics: The Qur'an Commentary of Rashīd al-Dīn Maybudī (Oxford, 2006), she is co-translator of the commentary of Sahl al-Tustarī, under the title Tafsīr al-Tustarī (Kentucky, 2011) and co-editor of The Spirit and the Letter: Approaches to the Esoteric Interpretation of the Qur'an (Oxford, 2016).
Contributors:
Gerhard Bowering