Using the original, little-known writings of Sufis Muhammad and 'Ali Wafa', this book explores the development of the idea of Islamic sainthood in the post-Ibn 'Arabi period.

Using the original writings of two Egyptian Sufis, Muḥammad Wafāʼ and his son 'Alī, this book shows how the Islamic idea of sainthood developed in the medieval period. Although without a church to canonize its "saints," the Islamic tradition nevertheless debated and developed a variety of ideas concerning miracles, sanctity, saintly intermediaries, and pious role models. In the writings of the Wafāʼs, a complete mystical worldview unfolds, one with a distinct doctrine of sainthood and a novel understanding of the apocalypse. Using almost entirely unedited manuscript sources, author Richard J. A. McGregor shows in detail how Muḥammad and 'Alī Wafāʼ drew on earlier philosophical and gnostic currents to construct their own mystical theories and notes their debt to the Sufi order of the Shadhiliyya, the mystic al-Tirmidhī, and the great Sufi thinker Ibn ʿArabī. Notably, although located firmly within the Sunni tradition, the Wafāʼs felt free to draw on Shi'ite ideas for the construction of their own theory of the final great saint.

Egyptian alchemy and Sufism, with a coherent explanation of fundamentals and practices. This book explains how Ancient Egypt is the origin of alchemy and present-day Sufism, and how the mystics of Egypt camouflage their practices with a thin layer of Islam. The book also explains the progression of the mystical Way towards enlightenment, with a coherent explanation of its fundamentals and practices. It shows the correspondence between the Ancient Egyptian calendar of events and the cosmic cycles of the universe. This Expanded Edition of the book is divided into four parts containing a total of 13 chapters and five appendices. Part I: The Hidden Treasure consists of two chapters: Chapter 1: Egyptian Mysticism and Islamized Sufism will cover the differences between dogmatic and mystical routes and how ancient Egypt is the source of Sufism and alchemy. Chapter 2: The Treasure Within will cover the limitations of humans' organ of perceptions and how to find realities with such limitations. Part II: Transformation From Dust To Gold consists of five chapters—3 through 7: Chapter 3: The Alchemist Way will cover the source of alchemy as being Ancient Egypt; and the progression along the alchemist way; and the role of a guide in the process. Chapter 4: The Purification Process will cover both outer and inner purifications through the process of living in the world. Chapter 5: Basic Practices will cover general practices by the Egyptian mystics to increase their awareness of the real world. Chapter 6: The Way to Revelations will cover the methods by which a mystical aspirant can find knowledge through revelations. Chapter 7: The Heavenly Helpers will cover the role and duty of those who attained super natural powers, to help others on earth. Part III: The Public Visitation Fairs has four chapters—chapters 8 through 11: Chapter 8: The Cyclical Renewal Festivals will cover the importance of holding and participating in annual festivals. Chapter 9: Samples of Ancient-Present Festivals will cover about a dozen annual ancient egyptian festivals and how many of them are very familiar and being observed throughout the western world. Chapter 10: The Egyptian Spirited Fairs (Mouleds) will cover the main elements of a typical festival Chapter 11: Egyptian Themes of Saint's Nick Traditional Festivities will cover a comparison between the commonly known Saint Nick's Christmas traditions with a typical Ancient Egyptian festival of a folk-saint. Part IV: Come One Come All has two chapters—12 through 13. Chapter 12: Fellowship Formations covers the general structure and practices to form/participate in a mystical fellowship. Chapter 13: Auset (Isis)—The Model Philosopher covers the principles and practices of Sufism as found in the Ancient Egyptian allegory of Isis and Osiris. The contents of the five appendices are self evident from each's title, as follows: Appendix A: Miscellaneous Sufi Terms and Their Ancient Egyptian Roots Appendix B: Sleeping With the Enemy (Surviving Islam) Appendix C: Zikr—The Ecstatic Practice Appendix D: Reaching the Hearts and Minds (Effective Communication) Appendix E: The Egyptian vs. The Latin Calendar.

A new history of Islamic practice told through the aesthetic reception of medieval religious objects.

A study of the 100,000-year-old spiritual science of ancient Egypt • Examines the metaphysical structure of our universe as seen by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Celts, showing that each is based on the same central concepts from time immemorial • Reveals that the ancient Egyptians believed in reincarnation and a spiritual evolutionary process • Explains the connections between the movements of Orion and Sirius and the story of Osiris and Isis, the importance of the Pleiades and circumpolar stars to the Egyptians, and the fundamental unity of the Egyptian pantheon • Investigates the people who colonized greater Egypt 100,000 years ago, descendants of the Atlanteans In Esoteric Egypt, J. S. Gordon reveals how the sacred science and wisdom tradition of ancient Egypt--the Land of Khem--stems from an advanced prehistoric worldwide civilization. Examining the metaphysical structure of our universe as seen by the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Celts, he shows that each tradition is merely a variation on the central concepts of the precession of the equinoxes and the obliquity of the ecliptic pole. He explores the connections between the cyclical movements of Orion and Sirius and the story of Osiris and Isis, the importance of the Pleiades and the circumpolar stars, and the ancient tradition of man as a divine being “born from the substance of the stars.” He investigates the people who colonized greater Egypt 100,000 years ago, the progenitors of ancient Egyptian civilization descended from the 4th- and 5th-Root Race Atlanteans. Gordon explores the magical and esoteric meanings behind Egyptian sacred ritual and temple art, drawing parallels to the Mystery School process of initiation. Explaining the fundamental unity of the Egyptian pantheon and the structure of the after-death state, he shows that the Egyptians clearly believed in reincarnation and a spiritual evolutionary process. Revealing the ancient sacred science of the Land of Khem, teachings passed down from the earliest times, he examines the psychospiritual nature of the human being and the function of our spiritual identity and our souls.

This book provides an avenue for students to explore the Nile—the world's longest river—and better understand its larger role in society in the past, present, and future. The Nile River has been the most important natural resource for Egyptians and other Africans who live along its shores for thousands of years, bringing life to an otherwise arid and bleak desert region. Without the Nile, civilizations in Egypt could not have achieved such success. The physical, cultural, religious, and political impacts of this mighty riverway are enormous. This one-volume encyclopedia explores a breadth of topics related to the Nile River, from ancient irrigation techniques to 19th-century exploration and from current environmental controversies to concerns regarding man-made Lake Nasser. Readers will be able to explore beyond the physical aspects of the world's longest river to achieve an understanding of the Nile River's larger role in society. After a preface and introduction that provides general background information on the source, tributaries, and mouth of the Nile, the encyclopedia presents thematic essays that cover topics such as the Nile's physical geography; history; environmental issues and controversies; culture, religion, and legend; and politics. More than 100 entries cover key individuals, specific locations, geology and structure, significant expeditions, gods and deities, and folklore related to the Nile. In addition, the work provides an appendix of primary document excerpts from explorers' journals and more recent legislation on damming as well as an appendix of place names, interesting sidebars, and a helpful chronology of key events.

This book represents the first continuous history of Sufism in Palestine. Covering the period between the rise of Islam and the spread of Ottoman rule and drawing on vast biographical material and complementary evidence, the book describes the social trajectory that Sufism followed. The narrative centers on the process by which ascetics, mystics, and holy figures living in medieval Palestine and collectively labeled "Sufis," disseminated their traditions, formed communities, and helped shape an Islamic society and space. The work makes an original contribution to the study of the diffusion of Islam's religious traditions and the formation of communities of believers in medieval Palestine, as well as the Islamization of Palestinian landscape and the spread of popular religiosity in this area. The study of the area-specific is placed within the broader context of the history of Sufism, and the book is laced with observations about the historical social dimensions of Islamic mysticism in general. Central to its subject matters are the diffusion of Sufi traditions, the extension of the social horizons of Sufism, and the emergence of institutions and public spaces around the Sufi friend of God. As such, the book is of interest to historians in the fields of Sufism, Islam, and the Near East.

In Power Brokers in Ottoman Egypt, Side Emre documents the biography of Ibrahim-i Gulshani and the history of the Khalwati-Gulshani order of dervishes (c. 1440-1600). Set mainly in Mamluk-Egypt, and in the century following the region’s conquest by the Ottomans, this book analyzes sociopolitical dialogues at the geographic peripheries of an empire through the actions of and official responses to the Gulshaniyya network. Emre argues that the members of this Sufi order exerted social and political leverage and contributed significantly to the political culture of the empire and Egypt. The Gulshanis are uncovered as unexpected figures among the roster of influential players, in contrast with empire-centered historiographies that depict Ottoman ruling and learned elites as the primary shapers and narrators of the fates of conquered provinces and peoples. The Gulshanis’ political and cultural legacy is situated within an analysis of perceptions of Sufism in the early modern Ottoman world.

Visualizing Sufism approaches the question of the presence of graphic materials in Islamic mystical literature from a broad and comprehensive perspective. To this goal, an international group of specialists in the field worked on largely manuscript and unpublished sources with the aim of analyzing the use of visual elements in the works of some key figures of Islamic mysticism—Ibn al-ʿArabī, Aḥmad al-Būnī, Saʿd al-Dīn Ḥamūyeh, al-Shaʿrānī—, and in intellectual networks—Ḥurūfiyya and Bektashiyya, Shīrīn Maghribī and his connections. The result is the most extensive collection of specimens of Sufi graphic materials ever brought together and discussed in a single volume. By virtue of the object of study investigated in the chapters of this book, in addition to the history of Sufism, questions are raised that touch upon numerous areas in the field of Islamic Studies, including intellectual history, codicology, and art history. Contributors Elizabeth R. Alexandrin, Noah Gardiner, Ali Karjoo-Ravary, Evyn Kropf, Giovanni Maria Martini, Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, and Sophie Tyser.