TheBayanal-sa’adafimaqamatal-’ibada(TheElucidationofBlissconcerningtheSpiritualStationsofWorship)isacentralworkinthemodernintellectualandreligioushistoryofIranandShi’iIslam.AQur’aniccommentary(tafsir)bySultan’AliShahGunabadi(d.1909),itrepresentsamaturesynthesisbetweenTwelverShi’ismandSufism.InthisfirstdetailedstudyofSultan’AliShah’sBayan,AlessandroCancianarguesthatthiscommentaryrepresentsthefoundationalactofmodernTwelverShi’iorganisedSufism.CancianfirstexplorestheintellectualcontextsofIranianShi’ismandSufism,beforeintroducingtheauthorandthetext.TheeponymousmasterofthelargestbranchoftheNi’matullahiSufiorder(theGunabadiyya),Sultan’AliShahwasareligiousscholartaughtbysomeofthemostauthoritativeShi’iulamaofhistime;aphilosopherintheAkbarian/SadriantraditionwhostudiedwithsuperstarQajarphilosopherMullaHadiSabzawari(d.1873);andamasterofmysticismwhodrewfromtheclassicaltraditionofPersianandPersianateSufism.CancianshowshowtheseelementscoalescedintotheformationofaShi’iSufitariqa,makingacredibleclaimforNi’matullahiSufilegitimacywithintheTwelverShi’iestablishmentandinfluencingsubsequentQur’anicexegesisinIran.Cancianthenprovidesathematicandgenealogicalanalysisofthetextalongsideastudyofitsimpactandlegacy.AtranslationofSultan’AliShah’sownintroduction,outlininghishermeneuticalapproachandtheologicalandphilosophicalprinciples,isprovidedinanappendix.ThisbookwillappealtoscholarsinarangeofdisciplineswithinIslamicstudies,includingQur’anicexegesis,Shi’istudies,Sufistudies,mysticism,andtheintellectualhistoryofIran.
mysticism MYSTICISM SHI SULTAN
