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تصوف اسلامی و رابطۀ انسان و خدا
کتابی که با عنوان تصوف اسلامی و رابطه انسان و خدا اکنون در دسترس خوانندگان زبان فارسی قرار میگیرد، عنوان اصلی آن به زبان انگلیسی فکر شخصیت در تصوف است و چون کلمه «شخصیت» معنایی را که مورد نظر مؤلف است در زبان فارسی القا نمیکرد، ناگزیر عنوانترجمه فارسی را عوض کرد تا موضوع کتاب و مقصود مؤلف از عنوانترجمه قابل درک باشد. این کتاب یکی از معروفترین تحقیقات استاد نیکلسون در زمینه تصوف اسلامی است و جای آن در زبان فارسی خالی بود.
محمدرضا شفیعی کدکنی در آغاز قصدترجمه تمامی کتاب را نداشت فقط آن قسمتهایی را که در باب مولوی، درین کتاب آمده بود، برای خود (به عنوان موادی در تهیه کتابی در باب مولانا) ترجمه کرد و بعد متوجه شد کهترجمه تمامی کتاب هم میتواند جویندگان فرهنگ اسلامی و تصوف ایرانی را سودمند باشد.
محمدرضا شفیعی کدکنی در آغاز قصدترجمه تمامی کتاب را نداشت فقط آن قسمتهایی را که در باب مولوی، درین کتاب آمده بود، برای خود (به عنوان موادی در تهیه کتابی در باب مولانا) ترجمه کرد و بعد متوجه شد کهترجمه تمامی کتاب هم میتواند جویندگان فرهنگ اسلامی و تصوف ایرانی را سودمند باشد.
255 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
3 people are currently reading
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About the author
Reynold Alleyne Nicholson
161 books59 followers Reynold Alleyne Nicholson, was the greatest Rumi scholar in the English language. He was a professor for many years at Cambridge Universtiy, in England. He dedicated his life to the study of Islamic mysticism and was able to study and translate major sufi texts in Arabic, Persian, and Ottoman Turkish. That a Western scholar of "the first rank" dedicated much of his life to the study and translation of Rumi's poetry was very fortunate.
His monumental achievement was his work on Rumi's Masnavi (done in eight volumes, published between 1925-1940). He produced the first critical Persian edition of Rumi's Masnavi, the first full translation of it into English, and the first commentary on the entire work in English. This work has been highly influential in the field of Rumi studies, world-wide. His critical Persian text has been re-printed many times in Iran and his commentary has been so highly respected there, that it has been translated into Persian (by Hasan Lâhûtî, 1995).
Nicholson also produced two volumes which condensed his work on the Masnavi and which were aimed at the popular level: "Tales of Mystic Meaning" (1931) and "Rumi: Poet and Mystic" (1950).
His earliest translations of selected ghazals from Rumi's Divan ("Selected Poems from the Díváni Shamsi Tabríz," 1898) has been superceded by A. J. Arberry's translations ("Mystical Poems of Rumi," 1968; "Mystical Poems of Rumi: Second Selection," 1979), in that Arberry used a superior edition of the Divan (done by Foruzanfar). Arberry re-translated all of the ghazals previously translated Nicholson (his teacher and predecessor at Cambridge University) based on the superior edition, minus seven ghazals which were not in the earliest manuscripts of the Divan (and therefore are no longer considered by scholars to be authentic Rumi poems (Nicholson's numbers IV, VIII, XII, XVII, XXXI, XXXIII, and XLIV).
His monumental achievement was his work on Rumi's Masnavi (done in eight volumes, published between 1925-1940). He produced the first critical Persian edition of Rumi's Masnavi, the first full translation of it into English, and the first commentary on the entire work in English. This work has been highly influential in the field of Rumi studies, world-wide. His critical Persian text has been re-printed many times in Iran and his commentary has been so highly respected there, that it has been translated into Persian (by Hasan Lâhûtî, 1995).
Nicholson also produced two volumes which condensed his work on the Masnavi and which were aimed at the popular level: "Tales of Mystic Meaning" (1931) and "Rumi: Poet and Mystic" (1950).
His earliest translations of selected ghazals from Rumi's Divan ("Selected Poems from the Díváni Shamsi Tabríz," 1898) has been superceded by A. J. Arberry's translations ("Mystical Poems of Rumi," 1968; "Mystical Poems of Rumi: Second Selection," 1979), in that Arberry used a superior edition of the Divan (done by Foruzanfar). Arberry re-translated all of the ghazals previously translated Nicholson (his teacher and predecessor at Cambridge University) based on the superior edition, minus seven ghazals which were not in the earliest manuscripts of the Divan (and therefore are no longer considered by scholars to be authentic Rumi poems (Nicholson's numbers IV, VIII, XII, XVII, XXXI, XXXIII, and XLIV).
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 30, 2026
Written by an Orientalist, this slim work carries a sincerity that pierced through my own distance from the inner heart of Islam. Here, Sufism is presented not as abstraction or escape, but as an intimate turning toward God. Faith ceases to feel transactional, no longer driven by fear or reward, instead it becomes a love so consuming that the self disappears, a devotion that the devotee no longer asks what it might gain, but only how completely it can belong.
Hallaj’s words, in which he places divine presence above Paradise itself, speak of a love so absolute that even Paradise becomes secondary to nearness to God. Likewise, Rabiʿa’s confession that her love for Allah left no space even to hate Iblis reflects a devotion so complete that fear, hatred, and self-interest dissolve. These are not words of rebellion against God, but expressions of sincerity, of ikhlas in its purest form. Reading them, I felt my heart softened. After months of engaging Islam more through argument, rituals, and politics, this book returned me to the heart, to love, to presence, to remembrance of Allah.
Despite writing as an outsider, the author understood something essential, that Sufism is not pantheism, nor emotional excess, but a deeply personal practice rooted in intimacy with God. His work reminded me that Islam isn’t only law and creed, but also longing, surrender, and love that transcends material reality. This book did more than inform me. It reopened a door I had unknowingly closed. For that, I can only say Alhamdulillah.
Hallaj’s words, in which he places divine presence above Paradise itself, speak of a love so absolute that even Paradise becomes secondary to nearness to God. Likewise, Rabiʿa’s confession that her love for Allah left no space even to hate Iblis reflects a devotion so complete that fear, hatred, and self-interest dissolve. These are not words of rebellion against God, but expressions of sincerity, of ikhlas in its purest form. Reading them, I felt my heart softened. After months of engaging Islam more through argument, rituals, and politics, this book returned me to the heart, to love, to presence, to remembrance of Allah.
Despite writing as an outsider, the author understood something essential, that Sufism is not pantheism, nor emotional excess, but a deeply personal practice rooted in intimacy with God. His work reminded me that Islam isn’t only law and creed, but also longing, surrender, and love that transcends material reality. This book did more than inform me. It reopened a door I had unknowingly closed. For that, I can only say Alhamdulillah.
Displaying 1 of 1 review