1st Edition
Spiritual Path, Spiritual Reality Selected Writings of Shaykh Yusuf of Macassar
A prominent mystic and renowned anti-colonial warrior from Indonesia, Shaykh Yusuf of Macassar (1626–1699), was exiled to South Africa where he played a pioneering role in laying the foundations of Islam. Offering a rich translation of Shaykh Yusuf’s Arabic writings, Spiritual Path, Spiritual Reality fills an important gap on the works devoted to the spiritual dimension in the Muslim intellectual archive.
The introduction gives insight into his life and an understanding of how his mysticism was connected to his political engagement. Focusing on Islamic mysticism – known as Ṣūfīsm – the volume covers areas of spiritual discipline of the self, metaphysics and gnostic knowledge. The style is pedagogical with an instructive tone in keeping with the Ṣūfī path.
1. Introduction: The worldview of Shaykh Yusuf
Auwais Rafudeen
Translations
2. Providential gift: A breeze from Ceylon (Al Nafh̟at al-Ṣaylānīyyah fi l-Minḥat al- Rah̟mānīyyah)
Yousuf Dadoo
3. The essence of secrets (Zubdat al-Asrār)
Suleman Dangor
4. Consolation for the eyes (Qurrat al-‘Ayn)
Yousuf Dadoo
5. Conditions of the verified gnostic (Shurūṭ al-‘Ārif al-Muḥaqqiq)
Suleman Dangor
6. The crown of secrets regarding gnostic realisation (Tāj al-Asrār fī taḥqīq Mashārib al-‘Ārifīn)
Suleman Dangor
7. A gift regarding the virtues of remembrance (Tuḥfat al-Amr fī Faḍīlat al- Dhikr)
Suleman Dangor
8. The goals of the spiritual wayfarers (Maṭālib al-Sālikīn)
Suleman Dangor
9. The secret of secrets (Sirr al-Asrār)
Suleman Dangor
10. The gift of goodness to the people of innermost secrets (Tuḥfat al-Abrār li Ahl al-Asrār)
Ebrahiem Moos
11. The method of remembering God (Kayfīyyat al-Dhikr)
Ebrahiem Moos
12. A saving bequest (Waṣīyyah Munjīyyah)
Ebrahiem Moos
13. The sequence of remembering God (Tartīb al-Dhikr)
Yousuf Dadoo and Auwais Rafudeen
14. The essential, indispensable existence (Wājib al-Wujūd)
Yousuf Dadoo
15. The specification of remembering God (Ikhtiṣāṣ al-Dhikr)
Yousuf Dadoo and Auwais Rafudeen
16. The meaning of existence (Ma‘nā al-Wujūd)
Yousuf Dadoo and Auwais Rafudeen
17. The meaning of the phrase "There is no god but God" (Ma‘nā Qaul Lā ilāha illa llāh)
Yousuf Dadoo and Auwais Rafudeen
18. Twenty attributes (Ishrīn S̟ifah)
Yousuf Dadoo and Auwais Rafudeen
19. The reality of the soul (H̟aqīqat al-Rūh̟)
Yousuf Dadoo and Auwais Rafudeen
20. The permanent archetypes (Al ‘Ayān al-Thābitah)
Muhammad Jaami and Auwais Rafudeen
Transcription of the Arabic originals Nadia Sabah
Biography
Yousuf Dadoo, Emeritus Professor at the University of South Africa (UNISA), has taught and headed Arabic and Islamic Studies at UNISA for 29 years. He has authored and co-authored more than 50 publications and supervised more than 30 masters and doctoral students.
Auwais Rafudeen is Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Arabic at UNISA where he specialises in Arabic and Islamic Studies. He has published on various aspects of Islam in South Africa.
