Research Catalog

Title

Epistles of the Brethern of Purity : the call to god. An Arabic critical edition and English translation of Epistle 48 / edited and translated by Abbas Hamdani and Abdallah Soufan ; foreword by Nader El-Bizri.

Author

Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ, author.

Publication

Oxford : Oxford University Press in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, 2019.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

• Hamdani, Abbas
• Soufan, Abdallah
• Institute of Ismaili Studies.

Description

xxiii, 213, 274 pages; 24 cm.

Summary

The Brethren of Purity, the anonymous adepts of a tenth-century esoteric fraternity based in Basra and Baghdad, hold an eminent position in the history of science and philosophy in Islam due to the wide reception and assimilation of their monumental encyclopaedia, the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity. This compendium contains fifty-two epistles offering synoptic accounts of the classical sciences and philosophies of the age; divided into four classificatory parts, it treats themes in mathematics, logic, natural philosophy, psychology, metaphysics, and theology, in addition to didactic fables. 0Epistle 48 belongs to the fourth part dealing with Divine-Legal matters. It deals specifically with methods that should be employed in advocating for the cause of the fraternity, and in calling different segments of society to join its ranks. The targeted segments include philosophers, kings, Shi'is, and administrators. Special templates for preachers engaging with these particular categories are provided throughout. It also addresses issues of governance and the ideal city, while emphasizing again the primacy of the soul over the body, and the need for followers to know themselves. The Epistle ends with a story based on the famous Bilawhar wa-Budhasaf, given as an illustration of a successful mission. Epistle 48 reveals, more than any other epistle, the political nature of the fraternity and its mission, being, as the editors argue, part of the Fatimid missionary efforts in the period preceding the establishment of the Fatimid Dynasty.

Series Statement

• Epistles of the Brethren of Purity
• Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ. Rasāʼil. Oxford University Press.

Uniform Title

Rasāʼil. 48. English

Alternative Title

• Rasāʼil. 48.
• ‏رسائل اخوان الصفاء وخلان الوفاء (48):‏ ‏الرسالة الثامنة والاربعون في كيفية الدعوة الى الله والى صفوة الاخوة وهيى الرسالة السابعة من القسم الرابع في العلوم النموسية الالهية
• Rasāʼil Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ wa-khullān al-wafāʼ (48): al-risālah al-thāminah wa-al-arbaʻūn fī kayfīyah al-daʻwah ilá Allāh wa-ilá ṣafwah al-ukhuwwah wa-hiyá al-risālah al-sābiʻah min al-qism al-rābiʻ fī al-ʻulūm al-namūsīyah al-ilāhīyah
• Call to God. An Arabic critical edition and English translation of Epistle 48

Subjects

• Islamic philosophy
• Islam > Doctrines
• Islamic philosophy > Early works to 1800
• Islam > Doctrines > Early works to 1800
• God (Islam)
• Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ Rasāʼil 48
• Early works
• Rasāʼil (Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ)

Genre/Form

Early works.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Language (note)

• Text in English and Arabic.

Call Number

JFE 19-9727

ISBN

• 9780198838982
• 0198838980

LCCN

2019390233

OCLC

• 1088911582
• 1088911582

Author

Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ, author.

Title

Epistles of the Brethern of Purity : the call to god. An Arabic critical edition and English translation of Epistle 48 / edited and translated by Abbas Hamdani and Abdallah Soufan ; foreword by Nader El-Bizri.

Publisher

Oxford : Oxford University Press in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, 2019.

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Series

Epistles of the Brethren of Purity

Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʼ. Rasāʼil. Oxford University Press.

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Language

Text in English and Arabic.

Added Author

Hamdani, Abbas, editor.

Soufan, Abdallah, editor.

Institute of Ismaili Studies.

Research Call Number

JFE 19-9727