Sacred Illuminations
A Garland of Wisdom
An explication and translation of selected philosophical, mystical, and theological treatises and poems, by Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi.
Scholars, gnostics, poets, and philosophers from across the Islamic world have constituted a wellspring of wisdom for more than a thousand years. In Sacred Illuminations: A Garland of Wisdom, the Dean of The Shīʿah Institute, Dr Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi gathers together some of the most profound philosophical, mystical, and theological treatises, and poems from the Islamic tradition. Dr Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi’s precise explications and elegant translations present a major collection of vital texts and authors from the Arab world, Persia, South Asia and beyond, and capture the contemplative depth and spiritual rhapsodies of some of the most influential philosophers, mystics, theologians, and poets in Islamic history. Drawing upon the rich heritage of Arabic, Persian, and South Asian literature, Sacred Illuminations: A Garland of Wisdom is a compendium of insight and illumination that will enthral and enlighten scholars, students, and readers.
An ambitious and timely undertaking, Sacred Illuminations: A Garland of Wisdom will serve as a key anthology of intellectual and spiritual knowledge, making influential thinkers in the Islamic tradition – many of which are hitherto untranslated – available to a global audience for the very first time. In presenting reliable and accurate English translations together with clear summaries and interpretations of these important texts, Dr Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi’s work forms an indispensable compilation of and commentary upon Islamic wisdom, covering an array of the most crucial topics including theology (kalām), philosophy, mysticism, transcendental wisdom (al-ḥikmah al-mutaʿāliyah), gnosis (ʿirfān), and more. The first chapter to be published in this serialisation is al-Qāḍī Saʿīd Muḥammad b. Muḥammad Mufīd al-Qummī’s (1049/1640–1107/1696) The Spirit of Prayer (Ruḥ al-Ṣalāt). Further chapters of Sacred Illuminations: A Garland of Wisdom will cover a great variety of subjects and fields of knowledge, including the profession of the oneness of God (tawḥīd), self-knowledge (maʿrifat al-nafs), the mysteries of the Arabic script, philosophy, ethics, poetry, and many other important topics.
Sacred Illuminations: A Garland of Wisdom the sixth volume in The Shīʿah Library series.