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This is the first detailed study of an important Qur'anic commentary (tafsir) by Sultan 'Ali Shah Gunabadi (d. 1909), the eponymous master of the largest branch of the Ni'matullahi Sufi order (the Gunabadiyya).
List of contents
- Note on Transliteration, Conventions and Abbreviations
- Preface and Acknowledgments
- Map
- Section I
- 1: Introduction: The Emergence of Twelver Shi'i Sufism in Early Modern Iran
- 2: Shi'i Sufism
- 3: Qur'anic Exegesis between Shi'ism and Mysticism
- Section II
- 4: Sufism in Early Modern Iran
- 5: From Ni'matullahiyya to Gunabadiyya
- 6: Sultan 'Ali Shah Gunabadi (d. 1909): His Life and Legacy
- Section III
- 7: The Tafsir Bayan al-sa'ada: An Introduction
- 8: A Shi'i Sufi tafsir
- 9: Themes, Methods and Positioning
- 10: A Neglected Legacy: The Bayan al-sa'ada and its Reception in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Centuries
- Appendix I
- Annotated Translation of Sultan 'Ali Shah's Introduction to the Bayan al-sa'ada fi maqamat al-'ibada
- Appendix II
- The Structure of the Bayan al-sa'ada through its Subheadings
- Illustrations
- Bibliography
- Index of Qur'anic Citations
- General Index
About the author
Alessandro Cancian is a Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, where he works on Shi'i Sufism, Qur'anic exegesis, and the intellectual and religious history of pre-modern Iran. A historian of religions and anthropologist, he has published books and articles on religious education in Shi'i Islam, Shi'i Sufism, and Qur'anic exegesis. He edited Approaches to the Qur'an in Contemporary Iran (Oxford, 2019).
Summary
This is the first detailed study of an important Qur'anic commentary (tafsir) by Sultan 'Ali Shah Gunabadi (d. 1909), the eponymous master of the largest branch of the Ni'matullahi Sufi order (the Gunabadiyya).
Additional text
A refreshingly innovative and exciting study of a neglected field. Cancian makes a valuable contribution to our understanding of modern Qurʼanic exegesis, the study of Sufism in Shiʻi contexts, in addition to the modern intellectual history of Iran. Sulṭān ʻAlī Shāh's works are rare treats ranging over a number of the traditional Islamic humanities, and their significance and lasting legacy are drawn out, explained and demonstrated with great skill. Texts and contexts are treated with care, empathy and theoretical sophistication. Cancian's work ought to be essential reading for students and specialists alike interested in the intersection of religion, culture and politics in modern Iran.
