A Note on Transliteration, Names, and Translation
In transliterating Arabic, Persian, Ottoman and Turkish words and names, we have followed standard rules as stipulated by the new edition of the Encyclopedia of Islam (EI3). The letter ʿayn is represented by ʿ and ʿayn (ʿ) by ʾ. To make this handbook more accessible for the non-specialist reader, we have dispensed with diacritics and macrons for full vowels in the main text (except for chapter 6 that analyses a work written in Chaghatay Turkish). We have also frequently indicated the plural form by adding an English “s” (zawiyas, tekkes, mashhads, shaykhs, pirs).
As this collection examines Sufism and saintly spheres through case studies rooted in particular places and times, there are variations in designating terms for religious practice, belief and place. Several words and names (in particular when citing or drawing on translated texts) are given in the vernacular languages: for example, Haci/Hajji; Khidr/Khizr; Mecca/Makkah; mawlid/mulid; dhikr/zikr. Language variations are noted in the Index of this volume. Anglicized place and corporate names are given in their familiar form: for example, The Holy Land; Anatolia; Aleppo; Mamluks; Ottomans.
All translations of the primary sources are our own. Translations of Qurʾanic verses are cited from M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qurʾan, Oxford 2004.