Bāyazīd: The Life and Teachings of the Mystic Abū Yazīd al-Basṭāmī (d. ca. 234/848), Based on the Earliest Sources

Abū Yazīd al-Basṭāmī (d. ca 234/848), popularly known as "Bāyazīd", remains one of the most celebrated yet controversial figures in the history of Islamic mysticism. This in-depth study of his life and teachings is based on the earliest available sources. The book sets out in detail what is known of Bāyazīd's family, his education, his disciples and associates. It explores the distinctive rhetoric that has made some of his sayings so memorable, and shows how his mode of expression adds a sense of urgency, often drama, to quite conventional doctrines of Sufism. Through the varied corpus of his sayings, this study traces Bāyazīd's teachings concerning many aspects of the mystical path, as well as his reflections on God, the Prophet, heaven and hell. Having considered his role as spiritual master, his favourable view of women and his place in the wider community, the study then turns to the controversial side of Bāyazīd: his apparently blasphemous utterances, and his so-called miʿrāj . The book goes on to explore how the two seemingly contradictory sides to Bāyazīd might be reconciled, and finally, provides a brief survey of the extent of his influence on later Sufism and its literature. Front Cover ‎Half-Title Page ‎Series Title Page ‎Title Page ‎Copyright Page ‎Contents ‎Preface ‎Notes on Transliteration, Conventions and Translations ‎Introduction ‎Part 1. Bāyazīd’s Life and His Speech ‎Chapter 1. Bāyazīd’s Life and His Teachers ‎1. Family Background in Basṭām ‎2. Bāyazīd’s Education and His Teachers ‎3. Bāyazīd as a Spiritual Master in Basṭām: Veneration and Censure ‎Chapter 2. Bāyazīd’s Disciples and Associates ‎1. Bāyazīd’s Close Disciples ‎2. Other Associates of Bāyazīd ‎Chapter 3. The Question of Bāyazīd’s Dates ‎Chapter 4. Bāyazīd’s Speech ‎1. The Corpus of Bāyazīd’s Sayings ‎2. Modes of Expression and Rhetoric in the Speech of Bāyazīd ‎Part 2. Teachings of Bāyazīd, Fundamentals ‎Chapter 5. The Path and Its Pitfalls ‎1. Spiritual Psychology in Third-/Ninth-Century Islamic Mysticism ‎2. Bāyazīd’s Understanding of the Inner Make-Up of the Human Being ‎3. Pitfalls of the Path ‎Chapter 6. On Some of the Pillars and Tenets of Islam ‎1. Observing the Obligatory Practices ‎2. The Hajj ‎3. Messengers of God and the Prophet ‎4. Paradise and Hell ‎Chapter 7. What Bāyazīd Says about God ‎1. God, His Names and Attributes ‎2. Divine Transcendence and Inaccessibility ‎3. Intimacy ‎4. Awareness of God versus Heedlessness ‎5. Nothing but Him ‎Part 3. Further Dimensions of the Spiritual Path ‎Chapter 8. Spiritual Virtues, Stations, and States ‎1. Poverty ‎2. Submission to the Divine Will ‎3. Complete Trust in God (tawakkul) ‎4. Humility versus Arrogance ‎5. Mindfulness of God (taqwā) and Veracity (ṣidq) ‎6. Annihilation (fanaʾ) and Subsistence (baqāʾ) ‎7. Unification (jamʿ) and Separation (tafriqa) ‎Chapter 9. What Bāyazīd Says about Knowledge and Love ‎1. Knowledge ‎2. Love ‎Chapter 10. Absence and Presence, Veils and Mirrors ‎1. Absence (ghayba) and Presence (ḥuḍūr) ‎2. Veils and Veiling ‎3. Mirrors ‎Part 4. Bāyazīd as Spiritual Master and in the Community ‎Chapter 11. Bāyazīd as Spiritual Master ‎1. Bāyazīd’s Homilies and Counsel to His Disciples ‎2. Explanations of the Path for Others ‎3. Female Disciples of Bāyazīd ‎Chapter 12. Bāyazīd in the Wider Community ‎1. Different Paths among the Muslims ‎2. Bāyazīd under Censure: Challenges and Critiques ‎3. Critique and Corrective ‎4. Bāyazīd and His Zoroastrian Neighbours ‎Part 5. Bāyazīd’s Autobiographical Accounts ‎Chapter 13. Bāyazīd’s Accounts of His Spiritual Journey ‎1. The Beginning of the Path and the Struggle with the Nafs ‎2. Becoming Free from the Self ‎3. Descriptions of the Whole Journey ‎Chapter 14. Spiritual Peregrination, Flight, and the Miʿrāj ‎Chapter 15. The Longer Miʿrāj Narratives ‎Part 6. Controversy, Paradox, and Contradiction ‎Chapter 16. Shaṭḥiyyāt, Paradoxes, and Paradoxical Statements ‎1. Definitions and Translations of the Shaṭḥ ‎2. Ecstatic Utterances of Bāyazīd ‎3. Paradoxes and the Paradoxical ‎4. A Few Other Controversial Sayings ‎Chapter 17. Apparent Contradictions ‎1. Bāyazīd and “Miracles” ‎2. The Sense of Pride (iftikhār) versus the Acknowledgement of Neediness (iftiqār) ‎Part 7. After Bāyazīd ‎Chapter 18. The Impact and Influence of Bāyazīd on Islamic Mysticism ‎1. Early Responses to Bāyazīd ‎2. Later Responses to the Shaṭḥiyyāt ‎3. Bāyazīd’s Wider Corpus in Sufi Literature ‎4. Bāyazīd among Love Mystics ‎5. ʿAṭṭār and Rūmī ‎6. Ibn ʿArabī ‎7. Influence versus Appropriation ‎8. Abū l-Ḥasan Kharaqānī ‎9. A Glimpse at Bāyazīd’s Literary Influence ‎Conclusion ‎Closing Remarks ‎Bibliography ‎Index of People and Places ‎Index of Subjects and Terms Back Cover "Abu Yazid al-Bastami (d. ca 234/848), popularly known as "Bayazid", remains one of the most celebrated yet controversial figures in the history of Islamic mysticism. This in-depth study of his life and teachings is based on the earliest available sources. The book sets out in detail what is known of Bayazid's family, his education, his disciples and associates. It explores the distinctive rhetoric that has made some of his sayings so memorable, and shows how his mode of expression adds a sense of urgency, often drama, to quite conventional doctrines of Sufism. Through the varied corpus of his sayings, this study traces Bayazid's teachings concerning many aspects of the mystical path, as well as his reflections on God, the Prophet, heaven and hell. Having considered his role as spiritual master, his favourable view of women and his place in the wider community, the study then turns to the controversial side of Bayazid: his apparently blasphemous utterances, and his so-called mi'raj. The book goes on to explore how the two seemingly contradictory sides to Bayazid might be reconciled, and finally, provides a brief survey of the extent of his influence on later Sufism and its literature"-- Provided by publisher