Thus Spake the Dervish : Sufism, Language, and the Religious Margins in Central Asia, 1400-1900

Thus Spake the Dervish explores the unfamiliar history of marginal Sufis, known as dervishes, in early modern and modern Central Asia over a period of 500 years. It draws on various sources (Persian chronicles and treatises, Turkic literature, Russian and French ethnography, the author's fieldwork) to examine five successive cases, each of which corresponds to a time period, a specific socially marginal space, and a particular use of mystical language. Including an extensive selection of writings by dervishes, this book demonstrates the diversity and tenacity of Central Asian Sufism over a long period. Here translated into a Western language for the first time, the extracts from primary texts by marginal Sufis allow a rare insight into their world. The original French edition of this book, Ainsi parlait le dervice, was published by Editions du Cerf (Paris, France). Translated by Caroline Kraabel. Contents 5 Acknowledgments 7 Figures 8 Introduction 11 1 A Manifesto: The Qalandarnāma, by Amīr Ḥusayn Harawī 21 2 In Search of the Margins 26 Chapter 1 38 In the Streets of Herat 38 1 A Presentation of the ʿAlī Shīr Nawāʾī’s Maḥbūb al-qulūb 38 2 Musicians, Singers, Storytellers 43 3 Ruffians, Bohemians, Paupers 48 4 Real and False Dervishes 52 5 Other Sources: Names and Words 58 Chapter 2 69 Outside the Madrasas of Bukhara 69 1 About the Ādāb al-ṭarīq, by Ḥājjī ʿAbd al-Raḥīm 69 2 The Head of the Dervish 71 3 The Trunk and the Arms 81 4 The Lower Body 98 5 From Lexis to Relics 107 Chapter 3 114 In the Ruins of Aksu 114 1 Kharābātī, a People’s Poet 114 2 To Peasants, Artisans, Doctors and the Powerful 130 3 The Call to Renunciation 138 4 On the Paradox of Language 149 Chapter 4 154 In the Depths of the Grottoes of Central Asia 154 1 Silences in Khotan 154 2 Whispers in Tashkent and Samarkand 163 3 Graffiti in Manguistaou 173 4 Legends in Fergana and Pamir 184 Chapter 5 193 On the Road with Cantors and Itinerants 193 1 The maddāḥ in Uzbekistan and Xinjiang 193 2 Abdāl tili, the Language of Outsiders 205 3 Argot and Mystical Language 210 Conclusion: Dervishes Yesterday and Today 216 Bibliography 221 Index of Names 233 Index of Places 238