In his book Generations of Sufis, AbÅ« Ê¿Abd al-RaḥmÄn al-SulamÄ« (died 1021), the Sufi master of Nishapur and ShafiÊ¿i traditionist and historian, collected the teachings of 105 Sufi masters who lived between the 2nd/8th and the 4th/10th centuries. Sulami gives a short biography of each master with representative quotations from his teachings. He thereby illustrates the numerous approaches to the spiritual path and the unity of its principles. One of the oldest works of the sort, it assembles the doctrinal foundations from which medieval Sufism developed. It is a key reference which influenced all Sufi literature and even historiography. This is the first translation of a work of this type to be published in a European language.
Jean-Jacques Thibon (Ph.D. 2002) is Professor of Islamic Studies at Inalco (Paris). He has published a monograph entitled LâÅuvre dâAbÅ« Ê¿Abd al-RaḥmÄn al-SulamÄ« and a number of translations and articles on Sufis and Sufism in medieval times.
Informateurs de Sulamī Glossaire des termes techniques Bibliographie
Index
All those interested in the formative period of Sufism, in its masters, doctrine and spiritual path in medieval times, in AbÅ« âAbd al-RaḥmÄn al-SulamÄ« and in mysticism in general.