The Functions of Angels in Sufi Literature

Louise Gallorini (Autor)

Buch | Hardcover

372 Seiten

2025
Brill (Verlag)
9789004716070 (ISBN)

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This book is a literary study tracing the roles and functions of angels as characters in pre-Mongol or “classical” Sufi literature (7th-12th century CE), based on functions outlined from their roles in the Qurʾān.

This book is a literary study tracing the roles and functions of angels as characters in Sufi literature, based on their functions outlined in the Qurʾān. If you pick up any book discussing Islam or islamic theology, you will probably find angels in it - one never thinks much about them, and they often seem marginal. However, whether real or a simple literary device, what are the angels’ real functions in a text? This study proposes to outline their functions, and more specifically what classical Sufi literature (7th-12th century CE) makes of them.

Louise Gallorini, Ph.D. (2021), Arabic and Near Eastern Languages Department, American University of Beirut. Currently an independent researcher, her latest publication is an upcoming article on al-Bisṭāmī (to be published in Brill’s IHC series).

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Abstract

Introduction

1 Preliminary remarks

2 Angels in the Quran

3 Angels in Sufi commentarial literature

4 Last remarks

1 Angels in Sufi Tafsīr: the Basic Quranic Functions

1 Some introductory remarks on the selected tafsīr

2 Reviewing angels in the tafsīr

3 Presentation of the basic Quranic functions of angels

4 The narrative function of angels in the tafsīr

5 The theological function in the tafsīr

6 The religious praxis function in the tafsīr

7 Concluding thoughts

2 Angels in Sufi Tafsīr: General Quranic Functions

1 Presentation of the general Quranic functions of angels

2 The cosmological function in the tafsīr

3 The role of messenger: the classic cosmological function in tafsīr

4 An overlooked cosmological function in tafsīr: angels as testers

5 Concluding thoughts

3 Angels in Sufi Tafsīr: Two Sufi Functions

1 Of angels, the jinn and the Devil in the Quran

2 The function of cosmological enrichment in the tafsīr

3 The case of Gabriel, Michael, and other named angels in the tafsīr

4 The symbolic function of angels in the tafsīr

5 Concluding thoughts on angels in the Sufi tafsīr

4 Angelic Roles and Functions in the Sufi Miʿrāj

1 The “heavenly ascension” or miʿrāj in Islam

2 The Sufi miʿrāj

3 The miʿrāj of Abū Yazīd al-Bisṭāmī

4 The miʿrāj of Ibn ʿArabī

5 Concluding thoughts

5 Angels In al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya by Ibn ʿArabī

1 Presentation of the work

2 Building on the angelic general Quranic functions

3 Building on the Basic Quranic Functions: Angels in Relationship to Humans, Spirits and Other Beings

4 The symbolic function: the mystical meta-function of angels

5 Concluding thoughts

Conclusion

Appendix1—Angels in Arabia: In and around the Quran

Appendix2—Verses in Musḥaf Order

Appendix3—List of Verses Mentioned in Each Tafsīr

Appendix4—Angelic Hierarchies

Bibliography

Index

Erscheinungsdatum	05.04.2025
Reihe/Serie	Islamic History and Civilization ; 218
Verlagsort	Leiden
Sprache	arabisch; englisch
Maße	155 x 235 mm
Gewicht	809 g
Themenwelt	Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Religionsgeschichte
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Islam
ISBN-13	9789004716070 / 9789004716070
Zustand	Neuware