Description

Treatises on the Sufi Way is a translation into English of five of Sulami’s treatises that portray the breadth of classical Sufi wisdom and the extent of Sulami’s own contribution in preserving and teaching this wisdom:

• The Ways of Companionship and Good Fellowship
• Proper Comportment in the Presence of Sufi Masters and Maintaining Reverence for Them
• Treatise on the Essence of Poverty and its Ways
• Explanation of the States of the Sufis
• Treatise on Shame

Taken together the treatises present an introduction to Sufism including the relationship between the aspirant and the spiritual master, good fellowship between companions on the Sufi path, the centrality of spiritual poverty before God, the proper sense of shame and remorse for sin that mark true piety, and the different ecstatic states that Sufis undergo. The five treatises, translated into English for the first time, combine theoretical and mystical elements of Sulami’s teaching with his concrete and practical advice for Sufi aspirants.

In Treatises on the Sufi Way, Dr Jason Welle provides a general introduction to: the life of Sulami, the Sufism practised in Khurasan during the fifth/eleventh century, the importance of Prophetic traditions for this school of Sufism and Sulami’s own literary corpus.  In addition, Dr Welle includes an introduction to each of the five treatises and extensive notes.

Abu ʿAbd al-Rahman al-Sulami (d. 412/1021) was one of the most influential leaders in the formative period of Sufism. His tremendous contribution to early Sufism includes the training of a generation of scholars—including Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri (d. 465/1072)—and an extensive literary corpus which brings together and transmits many teachings of early Sufi masters that might otherwise have been lost.

Dr Jason Welle is Assistant Professor of Comparative Theology at Boston College. His research focuses on Islamic mysticism, on the Franciscan tradition, and on Muslim-Christian relations, particularly in the Middle Ages. He is the author of Companionship and Virtue in Classical Sufism: The Contribution of al-Sulami.