Acknowledgements
An abiding interest in the fifteenth-century author Aḥmad Zarrūq’s unique perspective on Sufism led me the topic of my 2009 doctoral thesis. In it, I presented a critical edition of the author’s Qawāʿid al-Taṣawwuf, based upon an examination of seven different manuscripts. At about the same time I got into a lively discussion with fellow Exeter graduate student, Abdul Karim Kocsenda, during which we came up with the idea of preparing a fresh English translation of the Qawāʿid that drew on my critical edition. An English version of the text had already been produced by Zaineb Istrabadi in 1988. It had constituted her dissertation at Indiana University in the U.S., a valuable contribution that remained unpublished. She intended to revise and submit it for publication, after correcting a number of errors and omissions, but a long illness made the project infeasible, and her untimely death in January 2021 intervened.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kocsenda moved on to other projects, whilst I continued working on the Zarrūq translation. A first draft was ready in 2010, but I found myself dissatisfied with its quality and decided to drop the initiative. Then, in the following year, I was invited to read a paper on Zarrūq at a conference organised by the Sufi Academy of al-ʿAshīra al-Muḥammadiyya, hosted by al-Azhar University, Cairo, in 2011. Among the scholars I met there was Zarrūq enthusiast Mohammad Abdul Samad Mehanna [Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Ṣamad Muhannā]. During our informal meetings over the course of the three-day conference he explained that he was composing a commentary on the Qawāʿid. He urged me to continue with my English translation of the critical edition because he found Dr. Istrabadi’s work incomplete in some aspects. I owe my decision to follow through with this endeavour to Professor Mehanna. After taking it up once again, I worked steadily and completed it in 2014. Meanwhile, Dr. Tryna Lyons, an American historian of South Asian art, was in Pakistan for her research. When we met in Multan, I asked her to review and edit my translation of the Qawāʿid. I am extremely grateful that she accepted my request.
Serendipitously, I discovered another manuscript of the Qawāʿid during a 2015 visit to Istanbul, at the invitation of the IRCICA (Research Centre for Islamic History, Art and Culture). I am indebted to Professor Halit Eren, Director General of the IRCICA, who assisted me in obtaining a copy of the manuscript. I was eager to incorporate this exciting new find from Istanbul into my translation, yet doing so delayed completion of the project even further. At about this time I left Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, and in early 2017 joined Government College University, Faisalabad. I had hoped to find more time there to finish up my several incomplete tasks, including the translation, but I found myself buried in administrative and official duties. The Qawāʿid translation languished once again.
In 2018, I attended a summer Arabic study programme in Egypt, held at the Arab Academy, Cairo. There I met my colleague Dr. Mehanna, who asked about my progress with the translation. I explained the situation, but he brushed off my excuses and advised me not to linger over it too much longer. I revisited the translation with renewed enthusiasm on my return home and was pleased to notify him of its completion when he visited Pakistan in 2018. For the past two years, the painstaking process of editing and re-editing has been going on in desultory fashion, most recently expedited by the free time I was afforded during the Covid-19 lockdown. Thank God, the work is now complete. I believe that Tryna Lyons’ careful reading and multiple revisions of this work exceeds that of a mere editor, although it goes without saying that responsibility for any shortcomings in the translation is entirely mine.
I am also grateful to my best teacher, Professor Robert Gleave, and my mentor and guide, Professor Saeed-ur-Rehman, who helped me understand certain complex passages in the Qawāʿid. I appreciate Mr. Ghulam Ghaus, who read over the translation and made some pertinent comments. Likewise, I am extremely grateful to the editors at Brill, especially Rachida Chih, Nienke Brienen-Moolenaar and Linda George, and to the anonymous readers for their valuable comments and insightful suggestions. I am also indebted to Dr. Alexandre Papas of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique for contributing the informative and erudite foreword to this book. As a well-travelled scholar and admirer of all things Sufi he is the ideal person to introduce Zarrūq to international readers. Last but not least, I extend my gratitude to my wife Fatima, who believes that my protracted project took time away from our family; however, she is willing to forgive me if it is published without further delay.