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Lot Essay
Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali al-Tusi is considered by many as the greatest Muslim thinker of the Middle Ages. He wrote on philosophy, jurisprudence, logic, theology and Sufism. In common with other Persian intellectuals of his time, he commonly wrote in Arabic. Kimiya i sa'adat (The Alchemy of Happiness) is his first known work in Persian, his native language and one of the first works on Sufism written in Persian. It was composed some time between 1102 and 1106, at a time when the Persian language cultural tradition was given new impetus by such writers as Ferdowsi (934-1020 AD).
The style of illumination and script of this manuscript date it to the first part of the 14th century. It shows strong Ilkhanid influence and resembles the early manuscript illumination of the manuscripts of Rashid al-Din. Such is the popularity of the text that there exist a number of early copies of the text, for example in the British Library which contains an example dated 1274 (Add. 25,026). The Institute of Oriental Studies in St. Petersburg contains what is undoubtedly the earliest fragment of this work dated to the beginning of the 12th century (B4612).
The work formulates the majority of the principles of the Naqshbandiya-Khwajagan. Al-Ghazali also explains his own ideas on the Sufi path, which differ somewhat from principles he singles out elsewhere.
Khismatulin, A.A.: Kimiya-yi sa'adat by Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali al-Tusi: Some textual observations, in Manuscripta Orientalia, St. Petersburg, Vol. No. 3 September 1999, pp. 3-26.
The style of illumination and script of this manuscript date it to the first part of the 14th century. It shows strong Ilkhanid influence and resembles the early manuscript illumination of the manuscripts of Rashid al-Din. Such is the popularity of the text that there exist a number of early copies of the text, for example in the British Library which contains an example dated 1274 (Add. 25,026). The Institute of Oriental Studies in St. Petersburg contains what is undoubtedly the earliest fragment of this work dated to the beginning of the 12th century (B4612).
The work formulates the majority of the principles of the Naqshbandiya-Khwajagan. Al-Ghazali also explains his own ideas on the Sufi path, which differ somewhat from principles he singles out elsewhere.
Khismatulin, A.A.: Kimiya-yi sa'adat by Abu Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali al-Tusi: Some textual observations, in Manuscripta Orientalia, St. Petersburg, Vol. No. 3 September 1999, pp. 3-26.