Pure Gold : Al-Ibriz [English] HB

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Pure Gold from the Words of Sayyidi 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Dabbagh, -
Al-Dhahab al-Ibriz min Kalam Sayyidi 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Dabbagh,
[A4-] Hardback - 1016 pages,
Published by E.J. Brill.
by Ahmad b. al-Mubarak al-Lamaṭi
A Translation with Notes and an Outline by: John O'Kane & Bernd Radtke

Description :

Around 1720 in Fez Ahmad b. al-Mubarak al-Lamaṭi, may Allah have mercy upon him, a religious scholar, wrote down the words and teachings of the Sufi master 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Dabbagh, may Allah have mercy upon him. Al-Dabbagh shunned religious studies but, having reached illumination and met with the Prophet Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, he was able to explain any obscurities in the Qurʾan, hadiths and sayings of earlier Sufis.

The resulting book, known as the Ibriz, describes how al-Dabbagh attained illumination and access to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, as well as his teachings about the Council of the godly that regulates the world, relations between master and disciple, the darkness in men’s bodies, Adam’s creation, Barzakh, Paradise and Hell, and much more besides.

This ‘encyclopaedia’ of Sufism with its many teaching stories and illustrations provides a window onto social life and religious ideas in Fez a generation or so before powerful outside forces began to play a role in the radical transformation of Morocco.

Biographical note

John O'Kane, B.A. (1963) in Classics, Princeton University, is an independent scholar. His translations include The Secrets of God's Mystical Oneness (Mazda, 1992), Fritz Meier, Essays on Islamic Piety and Mysticism (Brill, 1999) and The Feats of the Knowers of God (Manaqeb al-‘arefin) by Shams al-Dīn Aḥmad-e Aflākī (Brill, 2002).

Bernd Radtke (born 1944) has taught at the universities of Basel, Bergen (Norway) and Utrecht. His field of specialization is Islamic cultural and intellectual history (Geistesgeschichte), in particular Islamic mysticism.

Review :

[...] a treasure trove of information..This translation will undoubtedly expand scholarly awareness of this little-read but influential book, which reflects a still understudied period in the development of Sufi thought and practice._---_{Valerie J. Hoffman, Islamic Africa,
2010}.

**As with all E.J.Brill's Academic books, this is a scholarly publication, released after years of research and printed to a very high specification. The high price is the Recommended Retail Price set by the publishers. Madani Propagation are the leading EJ Brill (Islamic Books) distributer of this much sought after work.

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