Preface and Acknowledgments
Abbreviations
Transliteration of Persian and Arabic
Introduction
Part I. Ecstatic Expression in Sufism
A. The Literature and Theory of Ecstatic Expressions
1. Classical Sufism up to Ruzbihan
2. Later Developments
B. Topics and Forms of Expression
1. Selfhood
2. Transcendence of the Created
3. Knowledge and Unknowing
4. Madness, Audacity, and Boasting
5. Testimony
C. Conclusions
Part II. Ecstatic Expressions on Faith and Infidelity
A. Faith and Infidelity in Early Islam, and the Sufi Concept of
Faith
B. Hallaj
C. `Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani
D. Ruzbihan Baqli
Part III. The Spirit and the Letter
A. Three Sufi Trials
1. Nuri
2. Hallaj
3. `Ayn al-Qudat
B. Sufism, the Law, and the Question of Heresy
1. Libertinism and Incarnationism in Heresiography
2. Ecstatic Expressions and the Law
3. Sufi Responses: Martyrdom, Crime, Persecution
Conclusion: Comparisons and Interpretations
Notes
Appendix: Ruzbihan's Account of Bayazid's Vision
Selected Bibliography
Indexes
Carl W. Ernst is Assistant Professor of Religion at Pomona College.
"An excellent survey of ecstatic sayings in Islamic mysticism." —
James E. Royster, Cleveland State University, in The Muslim
World
"A serious and thoughtful study of one of the most fascinating
dimensions of Sufi literature and mystical thought." — William
Chittick, State University of New York at Stony Brook, in Middle
East Studies Association Bulletin
"A volume rooted in sound, careful scholarship which deserves a
place not only on the bookshelf of every student of Sufism, but on
the shelves of scholars of world religions generally." — Ian
Netton, University of Essex, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic
Society
"A significant contribution to the study of Islam and mysticism." —
Th. Emil Homerin, Rochester University, in The Journal of Religion
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