Ahmad al-Ghazālī, Remembrance, and the Metaphysics of Love

✍ Scribed by Joseph E. B. Lumbard

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Year: 2016
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 271
• Series: SUNY series in Islam
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

The teachings of Aḥmad al-Ghazālī changed the course of Persian Sufism forever, paving the way for luminaries such as Rūmī, Aṭṭār, and Ḥāfiẓ. Yet he remains a poorly understood thinker, with many treatises incorrectly attributed to him and conflicting accounts in the historiographical literature. This work provides the first examination of Aḥmad al-Ghazālī and his work in Western scholarly literature. Joseph E. B. Lumbard seeks to ascertain the authenticity of works attributed to this author, trace the development of the dominant trends in the biographical literature, and reconstruct the life and times of Aḥmad al-Ghazālī with particular attention to his relationship with his more famous brother, Abū Hamid al-Ghazālī. Lumbard's findings revolutionize our understanding of Aḥmad al-Ghazālī writings, allowing for focus on his central teachings regarding Divine Love and the remembrance of God.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Why Study Aḥmad al-Ghazālī?
Initiatic Influence
Literary Influence
Studies on Aḥmad al-Ghazālī
The Goal of this Book
Part I:Life and History
Chapter 1 Sources for the Aḥmad al-Ghazālī Tradition
Works by Aḥmad al-Ghazālī
Primary Sources for al-Ghazālī’s Vita
Accounts from Individual Sufis
Biographical Literature
Original Sources
Middle Sources
Derivative Sources
Summary
Chapter 2The Life and Times of Aḥmad al-Ghazālī
The Saljuqs
The Stages of Aḥmad al-Ghazālī’s Life
Education and Training
Ṭūs
Jurjān
Ṭūs and Nishapur
Shaykh Aḥmad and Imām Abū Ḥāmid
Nishapur
Baghdad
Travels of Aḥmad al-Ghazālī
After Baghdad
Itinerant Preaching
Last Years, Death, and Tomb
Part II:Practice and Teachings
Chapter 3Aḥmad al-Ghazālī’s Spiritual Practice
Spiritual Practice
Shariah
Dhikr
Remembrance of Death
Night Vigil
Khalwah and ʿUzlah
Samāʿ
Shāhid-bāzī
Summary of Practice
Chapter 4The Roots of Aḥmad al-Ghazālī’s Teachings
Satanology
Love
Love in Sufi Literature Before the 6th/12th Century
Shaqīq Balkhī
Ad-Daylamī—ʿAṭf al-alif
Ad-Daylamī’s View of Love
al-Ḥusayn b. Manṣūr al-Ḥallāj
Other Sufis of the Early Middle Period
As-Sarrāj—Kitāb al-Lumaʿ
Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī
al-Kalābādhī—Kitāb at-Taʿarruf
Al-Mustamlī—Sharḥ-i Taʿarruf
al-Qushayrī’s Risālah
al-Hujwīrī’s Kashf al-Maḥjūb
ʿAbdullāh Anṣārī
Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī
Man’s Love for God
Attaining to ʿIshq
God’s Love for Man
Summary
Chapter 5Aḥmad al-Ghazālī’s Metaphysics of Love
Between Form and Meaning
Poetry
Interpretation
The Oneness of Love
Love’s Two Beginnings
The Descent of the Spirit
The Heart
Beauty and Love
The Stages of the Path
Love for What is Other
Contrast Between the Lover and the Beloved
The Two Faces of Desire
The Pain of Love
Union between the Lover and the Beloved
Complete Love
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Works by Aḥmad al-Ghazālī
Works Attributed to Aḥmad al-Ghazālī
Selected Bibliography
Index

✦ Subjects

Ahmad Al-Ghazali; islam; islamic; deen; deeni; quran; qur'an; koran; muslim; faith; holy; god; allah; allaah; word; god's word; revelation; scripture; muhammad; mohammad; hadith; ahadith; hadis; hadeeth; hadees; ahadeeth; ahadees; ahadis; seerah; sirah; seerat; sirat; nabi; dua; prayer; book