Customer Reviews

Al-Qushayri's Epistle on Sufism: Al-Risala al-qushayriyya fi 'ilm al-tasawwuf (Great Books of Islamic Civilization)

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I have sat with shaykhs who have often referenced the original manuscript, who have been authorized to teach such texts. What I have heard from they, who have taken the text from someone who took the text from someone who took... all the way back to the original author, has been very different than that which I found in Knysh's translation. There does not seem to be any evidence suggesting that the translator is a Muslim. An unbeliever translating a book about experiential knowledge of Allah would be quite absurd. For an orientalist writing book reports who doesn't care about what Muslims believe or what the original author (Al-Qushayri) intended, this may be fine. For a Muslim, taking one's deen (religion) from such sources is problematic. Sama should not have been translated as music, but rather audition. I do not know what word the author was translating, but he insinuated that 'longing,' as opposed to having 'hope,' for the mercy of Allah is blameworthy. Tell that to the vast majority of English-speaking sufi shaykhs who use the word longing in a positive connotation when speaking about love, in longing to return to one's Lord. This is just after a few glances through the book. Add it to another long list of failed attempts at translating this classic.