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The Kashf al-Maḥjúb (“The Unveiling of the Veiled”)

ʿAli b. ʿUthmán al-Hujwírí · tr. R. A. Nicholson · 1911 · 148,181 words

The oldest Persian treatise on Sufism: poverty, the Sufi path, the early masters, and the “veils” lifted one by one from knowledge of God.

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Introduction

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

O Lord, bestow on us mercy from Thyself and provide for us a right course of action!

Praise be to God, who hath revealed the secrets of His kingdom to His Saints, and hath disclosed the mysteries of His power to His intimates, and hath shed the blood of Lovers with the sword of His glory, and hath let the hearts of Gnostics taste the joy of His communion! He it is that bringeth dead hearts to life by the radiance of the perception of His eternity and His majesty, and reanimates them with the comforting spirit of knowledge by divulging His Names.

And peace be upon His Apostle, Muḥammad, and his family and his companions and his wives!

`Alí b. `Uthmán b. `Alí al-Jullábí al-Ghaznawí al-Hujwírí (may God be well pleased with him!) says as follows:—

I have asked God’s blessing, and have cleared my heart of motives related to self, and have set to work in accordance with your invitation—may God make you happy!—and have firmly resolved to fulfil all your wishes by means of this book. I have entitled it “The Revelation of The Mystery”. Knowing what you desire, I have arranged the book in divisions suitable to your purpose. Now I pray God to aid and prosper me in its completion, and I divest myself of my own strength and ability in word and deed. It is God that gives success.

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Contents

  1. Preface
  2. Introduction
  3. Chapter I: On the Affirmation of Knowledge
  4. Chapter II: On Poverty
  5. Chapter III: On Ṣúfiism
  6. Chapter IV: On the Wearing of Patched Frocks (Muraqqa`át)
  7. Chapter V: On the Different Opinions held concerning Poverty and Purity
  8. Chapter VI: On Blame (Malámat)
  9. Chapter VII: Concerning their Imáms who belonged to the Companions
  10. Chapter VIII: Concerning their Imáms who belonged to the House of the Prophet
  11. Chapter IX: Concerning the People of the Veranda (Ahl-i Ṣuffa)
  12. Chapter X: Concerning their Imáms who belonged to the Followers (al-Tábi`ún)
  13. Chapter XI: Concerning their Imáms who lived subsequently to the Followers (al-Tábi`ún) down to our day
  14. Chapter XII: Concerning the principal Ṣúfís of recent times
  15. Chapter XIII: A brief account of the modern Ṣúfís in different countries
  16. Chapter XIV: Concerning the Doctrines held by the different sects of Ṣúfís
  17. Chapter XV: The Uncovering of the First Veil: Concerning the Gnosis of God (ma`rifat Allah)
  18. Chapter XVI: The Uncovering of the Second Veil: Concerning Unification (tawḥíd)
  19. Chapter XVII: The Uncovering of the Third Veil: Concerning Faith (ímán)
  20. Chapter XVIII: The Uncovering of the Fourth Veil: Concerning Purification from Foulness
  21. Chapter XIX: The Uncovering of the Fifth Veil: Concerning Prayer (al-ṣalát)
  22. Chapter XX: The Uncovering of the Sixth Veil: Concerning Alms (al-zakát)
  23. Chapter XXI: The Uncovering of the Seventh Veil: On Fasting (al-ṣawm)
  24. Chapter XXII: The Uncovering of the Eighth Veil: Concerning the Pilgrimage
  25. Chapter XXIII: The Uncovering of the Ninth Veil
  26. CHAPTER XXIV. The Uncovering of the Tenth Veil
  27. Chapter XXV: The Uncovering of the Eleventh Veil: Concerning Audition (samá`)

About this edition

Source: Project Gutenberg #64786

Public domain: Public domain in the US (published 1911) and in countries where copyright lasts 70 years after death (Nicholson died 1945).

What’s included: Nicholson’s preface and introduction and all twenty-five chapters. Footnotes and the index are not included.

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