The Sufi Doctrine of Man: Ṣadr Al-Dīn Al-Qūnawī's Metaphysical Anthropology

by Richard Todd

In The Sufi Doctrine of Man, Richard Todd examines the life and thought of Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī (13th century C.E.), Ibn 'Arabī's chief disciple and a key figure in the development of Sufi metaphysics.

Genres: Islam

246 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 15, 2014

Reviews

[Halima · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t know where to begin with writing this review. This book is heavy. There is depth in this review of the life’s work of Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Qūnawī that I do not have the tools to describe. Much like the metaphysical contents of the subject of this book, this book is ineffable in its attempts to tackle the magnitude of the teachings of Qūnawī.

For those who do not know, as I also did not know previously, Qūnawī was the disciple of the more famous Sufi Master from Andalusia, Ibn Al Arabī. At the time of his death, Qūnawī was one of only two people given ijaza to teach the works of Ibn Al Arabī, though Qūnawī himself extrapolated and continued to cultivate the spiritual seeds planted by his master.

Qūnawī’s work is for an even more limited audience, though. Purposefully esoteric by nature of the aspirational spiritual station he seeks to describe, Qūnawī knows that his learnings will speak to only a select few. If you are familiar with Qur’an, you may identify these people as the “forerunners” [See Surah Waqiah 56:10]. The epitome of a sincere and undistracted believer’s aspirations. But few will be aware of this let alone aspire for it. Most will become occupied with all else or satisfied with their experience at a limited spiritual station. For them, the road doesn’t stretch beyond. And until a Muslim [someone in submission to God] has worked deeply on himself, has known the attributes of God and practiced the necessary ibadat and polished the heart, only then would he or she be *potentially* capable of discerning the bejewelled caverns of Qūnawī’s contribution to the Sufi world. If I had read this book even just a year ago, much of its contents would have missed me. And even with where I am at it was still exceedingly difficult to read, thus I had to take so much time over it. The reader of this book must be ripe. And God’s will (entangled with ones own) is deeply implicated in this ripening process.

Richard Todd swims through a great volume of material, which as an aspirational Muslim reader and seeker of knowledge, demonstrates to me a great deal of ikhlaas (sincerity). As a Muslim reader, I am often cynical about reading translations and commentary on Muslim historical figures and their teachings when they are tackled by non Muslims, in particular white Europeans. I do not know if Richard Todd is a believer or a Muslim but I did find that this was a very respectful and diligently researched body of work, where as narrator and the bridging voice between extracts of Qūnawī, Todd remains an observer, almost imperceptible at times. He allows Qūnawī to speak. Oftentimes, as Muslims, we have to navigate through a cesspool of orientalist writing on our history but in this case I am pleased to find an honest body of work. I recommend Muslims interested in Sufi writing to read the work of Qūnawī as I have found it to be most enriching.

At the juncture of the spiritual journey my life has currently led me to, this book benefited me greatly. I know that I happened upon it completely by providence. I was meant to read this now.

If you ever see this review, thank you for writing this book, Richard.

[Muhammad Yusra · Rating 4 out of 5]

My 2nd Raya book. al-Qūnawī was the stepson and the first disciple of Ibn ʿArabī. And in continuing the tradition of his stepfather-master, al-Qūnawī left his own indelible legacy. He rendered the Akbarian school of Waḥdat al-Wujūd more rationally comprehensible.

But one most distinctive topic that he elaborated was on the doctrine of man or anthropology, which assumes a more metaphysical overtone - and which became the basis of the doctrine of Insān Kāmil by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Jāmī.

Man, he said, is the most perfect culmination of all the Divine Manifestations (al-tajalliyāt al-ilāhiyya). All the realities of things (ḥaqāʾiq al-ʾashyāʾ) are comprehended within his being. And this nature of the origin of man defines the mission of his existence, which is to ascend to (or to return to) this perfect origin by means of maʿrifah.

And he also describes the hierarchical spiritual degrees of man. Some men are created with excellent potential spiritual dispositions and some are with lesser degrees of excellence. However, this excellence requires active efforts from man himself. Because if not, no amount of potential spiritual discernment could make him the perfect man, the Insān Kāmil.