BI 54
Author : Quṭb al-Dīn Muḥammad al-Qasṭallānī
Editors: Edited by Ahmad Gomaa Abd al-Hamid
1st edition, Beirut, 2015
“Iqtidāʾ al-ġāfil bi-htidāʾ al-ʿāqil” is the work of Quṭb al-Dīn Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Qasṭallānī. Born in Cairo in 614/1217 to an Andalusian family, he studied and worked mostly in Mecca where he died in 686/1287. He was a renowned Shafi’i and Maliki jurist as well as a famous Sufi master. He is best known for his attacks on monadic Sufism, in particular Ibn Sabʿīn who died in Mecca 668 or 669 / between 1269 and 1271.
The edited text is a polemical refutation of contemporary Sufi practices, which in Qasṭallān’s eyes contradicted the true nature of taṣawwuf, favoring outward appearance over inner essence:
اشتغلوا بعمارةِ ظواهرِهم عن بواطنِهم، وبإصلاحِ مَعاشِهم عنِ النظرِ في مَعادِهم، جعَلوا الفقرَ حِرفةً بها يَكتسبون، ودَكاكِينَ لها يَعمُرونَ… وتوهّموا أنّهم مع ذلك إلى اللهِ واصلونَ، كلّا إنّهم عن ربّهم يومئذٍ لَمَحْجُوبون... جَلَبُوا العَوَامَّ بلِينٍ في الكلامِ وبَذلِ الطعام... وظنُّوا بأنّ الطريقَ خِرقةٌ تُلقى على الجسدِ أو الراس... أو رقصٌ وسماعٌ وانخلاعٌ وانطباعٌ بين شبابٍ ونِسوان، ومآكِلُ متنوّعةٌ من أعداد ألوان...
The edition of the text is based on three manuscripts, one from Damascus, two from Istanbul. It was prepared by Dr Ahmad Gomaa Abd al-Hamid, who is a researcher at al-Azhar University in Cairo. He holds a doctorate in editing and manuscript sciences from the Institute of Arab Research and Studies (IARS) of the Arab League. Currently he works on a project editing the collected works on taṣawwuf by al-Suyūtī, of which two volumes have been published.