Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt Subtle Allusions

564 Pages·2017·5.87 MB·Latvian

Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt
Subtle Allusions
Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt
Subtle Allusions
Great Commentaries
on the Holy Qurʾān
Sūras 1–4
Abū l-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Qushayrī
Translated by
Kristin Zahra Sands
Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt
Subtle Allusions
Great Commentaries
on the Holy Qurʾān
Sūras 1–4
Abū l-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Karīm al-Qushayrī
Translated by
Kristin Zahra Sands
Royal Aal al-Bayt
Institute for
Islamic Thought
FONS VITAE
2017
First published in 2017 by
Fons Vitae
49 Mockingbird Valley Drive
Louisville, KY 40207
http://www.fonsvitae.com
© 2017 Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought
Amman, Jordan
Great Commentaries on the Holy Qurʾān: ISSN: 1943-1821
Volume VII: Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt, Subtle Allusions
ISBN 978189 1785 214
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017944069
No part of this book may be reproduced
in any form without prior permission of
the publishers. All rights reserved.
Printed in USA

Contents
General Editor’s Introduction and Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Introduction to the Translation ...............................ix
Plates: Manuscripts and Printed Edition.....................xxvii
Author’s Introduction.........................................1
Sūrat al-Fātiḥa [1] ............................................3
Sūrat al-Baqara [2] ..........................................21
Sūrat Āl ʿImrān [3] ........................................ 248
Sūrat al-Nisāʾ [4]...........................................374
Bibliography...............................................475
Qurʾān Index ............................................. 479
Ḥadīth Index ..............................................483
Poetry Index ..............................................485
People and Places Index.................................... 489
Subject Index..............................................491

Subtle Allusions • | vii
General Editor’s Introduction and Foreword
The Great Commentaries on the Holy Qurʾān project (www.altafsir.com) of the
Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought, Amman, Jordan (www.aalalbayt.
org) is pleased to make available for the first time ever in English translation one of
the most significant works of Sufi Qurʾān commentaries of the eleventh century.
Al-Qushayrī’s commentary, known as Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt, along with other works
that appear in the Great Commentaries series, elucidates the meanings of
specific Qurʾānic verses.
Previously published titles in this series include Tafsīr al-Tustarī, Tafsīr
al-Jalālyan, Tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās, Kashf al-asrār, and Asbāb al-Nuzul of al-Waḥidī.
HRH Prince Dr. Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal
Professor of Islamic Philosophy, Jordan University;
Founder and Director of the Great Tafsir Project;
Chairman of the Board of Trustees,
Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought
Amman, Jordan
2017 ce/1437 ah
viii | • Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my gratitude to HRH Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad
and the Royal Aal al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought for inviting me to
participate in the Great Commentaries of the Holy Qurʾān project. The
value of this project is incalculable and hopefully will continue with many
more volumes to come. Without the support of the Institute, I would never
have embarked on what turned out to be a quite lengthy, but personally
very rewarding, endeavor of reading, pondering, and translating the first
part of Abūʾl Qāsim al-Qushayrī’s Laṭāʾif al-Ishārāt (Subtle Allusions).
I would also like to thank my dear friend Gray Henry of Fons Vitae
for her relentless energy and good cheer throughout the even lengthier
task of publishing the books in this series. For this volume, Valerie Turner
was a remarkably careful and thoughtful copy editor and proof reader.
Muhammad Hozien did splendid work typesetting it. Early versions of the
translation were read by several individuals. Yousef Meri provided very
helpful comments on initial portions of the work and Khalid Williams
gave excellent feedback on the entire translation. Everett Rowson was kind
enough to look over and discuss the author’s introduction and commentary
on Sūrat al-Fātiḥa with me at length. His comments on this particularly
difficult part of the work were invaluable. Of course, any errors that remain
in the translation are entirely my own. Annabel Keeler very generously
supplied me with digital copies of the two manuscripts consulted for the
translation.
Additional support for this translation came through a Simpson Grant in
Support of Faculty Research and a sabbatical provided by Sarah Lawrence
College. I had access to New York University’s Bobst Library throughout
the project thanks to the sponsorship of NYU’s Department of Middle
Eastern and Islamic Studies.
Lastly, I would like to acknowledge the importance of a Qurʾān study
group that met for more than two and a half years in New York City, in
which we read through and discussed nearly every line of this translation.
It was my enormous good fortune to work with this remarkable group of
serious thinkers and practitioners. The publication of this translation is
dedicated to them.
Subtle Allusions • | ix
Introduction to the Translation
Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt (Subtle Allusions) is a line-by-line commentary
on the Qurʾān written by Abū l-Qāsim ʿAbd al-Karīm b. Hawāzin
al-Qushayrī (d. 465/1072). As its title suggests, this is not a simple
work. Rather, its richness, depth, and nuance place it among the most
important and illuminating works on the Qurʾān. Al-Qushayrī was a scholar
with a refined and sharp mind honed through his extensive education in
belles lettres (adab) and the religious sciences. The Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt reflects
his mastery of the literary, exegetical, theological, and juridical discourses
of his time. But al-Qushayrī was also a spiritual master who employed his
intellectual abilities and literary sensibilities in writing the Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt
only insofar as they supported his primary objective, which was to pro-
vide very practical advice to the members of his Sufi community. When
he comments on the various legal, ethical, theological, and metaphysical
dimensions of Qurʾānic verses, al-Qushayrī continually focuses on the
guidance they provide for spiritual aspirants (murīdūn), those who seek
deeper knowledge and intimacy with God. The Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt includes
the interpretations of al-Qushayrī and many other (unnamed) Sufis; it can
therefore be read as a compilation of their transmitted wisdom. It can also
be read, however, as a guidebook for those who long to attain their own
understanding of the Book, as well as their own understanding of God’s
signs in the world and in themselves. The “Teacher” (al-ustādh), as he was
referred to in some later Sufi writings, speaks of the wisdom of the past,
but always with the aim of fostering the attainment of wisdom among the
living.1
The Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt can easily be categorized as a Sufi commentary on
the Qurʾān even though the words “Sufi” (ṣūfī) and “Sufism” (taṣawwuf)
rarely appear in the work.2 It is noteworthy that the words occur so infre-
quently, given al-Qushayrī’s key role in expanding the use of these terms
elsewhere. His widely-read and influential al-Risāla (Epistle) on Sufism,
1 The pedagogical intent of the Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt has been explored by Annabel Keeler in
her “Ṣūfī tafsīr as a Mirror: al-Qushayrī the murshīd in his Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt,” Journal of
Qur’anic Studies 8 (2006), 1–21; and Martin Nguyen’s Sufi Master and Qur’an Scholar:
Abū’l-Qāsim al-Qushayrī and the Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
2012).
2 In the portion translated here the word “Sufis” (al-ṣūfiyya) appears only once (in the
commentary on Qurʾān 2:113), and only one Sufi authority is identified by name (in the
commentary on Qurʾān 2:4).
x | • Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt
which was written concurrently with the Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt, was al-Qushayrī’s
attempt to rigorously defend and define the core elements of Sufism as a
body of religiously and spiritually authoritative thought and practice.3 But
while the Risāla can be seen as an attempt to define and shape a tradition,
the Laṭāʾif al-ishārāt avoids naming this tradition or the individuals associ-
ated with it. The result is a greater emphasis on the rich descriptive terms
used to refer to those who have embarked on the “spiritual way or path”
(ṭarīqa). At the most basic level, these travelers are “those who possess
spiritual desire or aspiration” (murīdūn) and “those who seek” (qāṣidūn
or ṭālibūn). Those who are further along the path are described as “those
who possess deeper knowledge of reality” (ʿārifūn or ahl al-ḥaqāʾiq), “those
who have embraced spiritual poverty” (fuqarāʾ), “lovers of God” (aḥbāb or
muḥibbūn), “ecstatic finders of God” (wājidūn), “friends of God” (awliyāʾ),
and “those who see nothing but God in everything” (muwaḥḥidūn). The
more advanced individuals on the path have actualized spiritual potentiali-
ties that represent the quintessence of human states (ṣafāʾ al-aḥwāl). When
al-Qushayrī speaks of the spiritual elect (khuṣūṣ or khawāṣṣ), he has in
mind these rare individuals and those who seek to emulate them, in contrast
to “ordinary people” (ʿawāmm) who are Muslims but are not drawn to this
spiritual path, or shy away from its demands. Although al-Qushayrī has in
mind a spiritual hierarchy, it does not necessarily imply an external elite of
Sufi leaders and practitioners; indeed he speaks approvingly of individuals
of high spiritual worth who prefer to remain hidden and unrecognized. He
also repeatedly criticizes those who make unwarranted claims to spiritual
authority, and emphasizes instead the overwhelming authority of what
is truly real (istīlāʾ sulṭān al-ḥaqīqa). His repeated use of the terms “elect”
(khuṣūṣ or khawāṣṣ) and “ordinary people” (ʿawāmm) is therefore best
understood as a way of distinguishing between those whose goal is the
attainment of knowledge of deeper realities and higher states of intimacy
with God, and those with more basic religious aspirations. Al-Qushayrī in
no way dismisses salfivic concerns, but he repeatedly differentiates between
the desire for the rewards of the gardens of paradise and the desire for
God Himself.
Al-Qushayrī’s deeper concerns are reflected in the way in which he
refers to God, more often using the word al-ḥaqq than the proper noun
Allāh. When used to refer to God, al-ḥaqq can be translated as the “Real”
or the “Ultimate Reality,” but it also has the sense of what is rightfully
due. Al-Qushayrī draws on both of these meanings in his references to
al-ḥaqq, and in doing so emphasizes the divine invitation to human beings
3 See Jawid Mojaddedi, “Legitimizing Sufism in al-Qushayri’s ‘Risala,’” Studia Islamica
90 (2000), 37–50, and Nguyen, Sufi Master and Qur’an Scholar, 55–87.