Early Modern Trends in Islamic Theology: 'abd Al-Ghani Al-Nabulusi and His Network of Scholarship (Studies and Texts) (Sapientia Islamica)

The present volume is dedicated to the study of al-Ghani al-Nabulusi (1641-1731), an outstanding religious scholar, sufi thinker and man of letters from 17th to 18th century Ottoman Syria. With its focus on a careful examination of Nabulusi's multifaceted and enriching textual corpus, the present volume offers an in-depth analysis of both his thought and his intellectual milieu. The essays presented here reflect the wide spectrum of Nabulusi's interests, from scriptural exegesis to theology, from jurisprudence to mysticism, from philosophy to poetry, ethics and aesthetics. The interdisciplinary character of the present volume contributes to a better appreciation of Nabulusi's impact on the diversified intellectual and religious history of the 17th to 18th century world of Islam, described until recently as a time of 'stagnation' and 'decline'. Acknowledgments 6 Table of Contents 8 Note on Transliteration and Dates 12 Introduction: ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī and the Intellectual and Religious History of the 17th–18th-Century World of Islam • Lejla Demiri and Samuela Pagani 14 Part I: Studies 42 ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī, the Doctrine of the Unity of Being and the Beginnings of the Arab Renaissance • Bakri Aladdin 44 Jawāhir al-nuṣūṣ fī ḥall kalimāt al-Fuṣūṣ: ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī’s Commentary on Ibn ʿArabī’s Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam • Denis Gril 62 Some of ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī’s Kalām Writings • Jawad Anwar Qureshi 72 The Relationship between Kalām and Akbarian Theology in the Thought of ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī • Steven Styer 86 The Legacy of Ibrāhīm al-Kūrānī and Its Influence on the Writings of ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī • Atallah S. Copty 110 Words in Action: ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī as a Jurist • Astrid Meier 120 ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī’s Commentary on Birgivî Mehmed Efendi’s al-Ṭarīqa al-muḥammadiyya: Early Modern Ottoman Debates on Bidʿa fī l-ʿāda • Katharina Ivanyi 150 Reading Mehmed Birgivî with ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī: Contested Interpretations of Birgivî’s al-Ṭarīqa al-muḥammadiyya in the 17th–18th-Century Ottoman Empire • Jonathan Parkes Allen 166 Timeless Typologies and New Individualities: ʿAbd al-Ghanīal-Nābulusī, Niyâzî-i Mısrî and the Sufi Theory of Sainthood in the Early Modern Ottoman World • Samuela Pagani 184 ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī and Abū l-Mawāhib al-Ḥanbalī: Scholarly Networking in Damascus and Beyond • John O. Voll 208 Nābulusian Sufism in the Ottoman Realm: The Case of Şeyhülislam Mustafa Âşir Efendi • Erdal Toprakyaran 224 Confounding Dichotomies: Elite and Popular, Spiritual and Secular, Pious and Joyous in the Travel Writing of ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī • Steve Tamari 238 ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī’s Spiritual Journey (Riḥla) to the Beqaa Valley • Samir Mahmoud 250 The Art of Forgetfulness: ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī on Memory and Morality • Nir Shafir 276 Islamic Science and Cosmology in the Post-Copernican Period: Reflections on ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī’s Views • Samer Akkach 290 Part II: Texts 310 What Makes Us Human? ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī’s Reflections on Human Nature • Serkan Ince 312 Badhl al-iḥsān fī taḥqīq maʿnā l-insān 316 ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī’s Treatise in Defence of Niyâzî-i Mısrî • Samuela Pagani 330 Al-Ḥāmil fī l-falak wa-l-maḥmūl fī l-fulk fī iṭlāq al-nubuw wawa-l-risāla wa-l-khilāfa wa-l-mulk 338 Lejla DemiriDeath as an Existential Quality (Amr Wujūdī): ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī’s Commentary on Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazzālī’s Poetry 376 Al-Kawkab al-mutalālī sharḥ qaṣīdat al-Ghazzālī 392 Bibliography 436 List of Contributors 466 Index 472 The present volume is dedicated to the study of ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī (1641-1731), an outstanding religious scholar, sufi thinker and man of letters from 17th-18th-century Ottoman Syria. With its focus on a careful examination of Nābulusī's multifaceted and enriching textual corpus, the present volume offers an in-depth analysis of both his thought and his intellectual milieu. The essays presented here reflect the wide spectrum of Nābulusī's interests, from scriptural exegesis to theology, from jurisprudence to mysticism, from philosophy to poetry, ethics and aesthetics. Bringing together expertise in Islamic mysticism, theology and jurisprudence, Ottoman studies, and the social and cultural history of the Middle East, it explores Nābulusī's work and persona. The studies included in Part I of this volume remind us that Nābulusī's legacy has many surprises in store for us, and Part II is dedicated to critical editions of three of Nābulusī's short, but nevertheless important, treatises. This volume is intended to be the first of many further publications that would bring together the expertise of numerous Nābulusī scholars across disciplines. The interdisciplinary character of the present volume contributes to a better appreciation of Nābulusī's multifaceted impact on the diversified intellectual and religious history of the 17th-18th-century world of Islam, described until recently as a time of'stagnation'and'decline'. The present volume is dedicated to the study of 'Abd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī (1641-1731), an outstanding religious scholar, sufi thinker and man of letters from 17th-18th-century Ottoman Syria. With its focus on a careful examination of Nābulusī's multifaceted and enriching textual corpus, the present volume offers an in-depth analysis of both his thought and his intellectual milieu. The essays presented here reflect the wide spectrum of Nābulusī's interests, from scriptural exegesis to theology, from jurisprudence to mysticism, from philosophy to poetry, ethics and aesthetics. The interdisciplinary character of the present volume contributes to a better appreciation of Nābulusī's impact on the diversified intellectual and religious history of the 17th-18th-century world of Islam, described until recently as a time of 'stagnation' and 'decline'