Early Shaykhism : Bibliographies, Notes and Translations = الشيخية

الشيخ أحمد بن زين الدين الإحسائي

 Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā’ī  (d. 1241/1826)  

Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā’ī

(d. 1241/1826)

Stephen Lambden UC Merced
IN PROGRESS AND UNDER REVISION - Last updated 08-04-2023.

 

• Materials for the Study of Shaykhism I - Arabic, Persian + Sources.
• Materials for the Study of Shaykhism II - Western Language Sources.
• Hyperlinks to Shaykhi Websites and related studies.

 

• A brief biography of Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā’ī
• Select Ijāzas ("Religious Authorizations") written for Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā’ī.
• Biographical Notes and Sources for the life of Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā’ī (d.1241/1826) I.
• Biographical Notes and Sources for the life of Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā’ī (d.1241/1826) II Select Western Sources.
• Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i : An Annotated, Alphabetical, Bibliographical Survey of the Writings of Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā’ī including select mss., printed texts, Urls and PDf downloads.

 

• Moojan Momen, BSBM1 - uncorrected 1st ed. Newcastle upon Tyne, 1991. BSBM1-C.pdf
• BSBM1 2^nd expanded Web edition (ed. S. Lambden) UC Merced,  2015.

 

Towards a reprint of the Jawāmi` al-kalim ("The Comprehensive Discourse") a 19th century compilation of the writings of  Shaykh Aḥmad b. Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā'ī  (d. 1241/1826). Extracts from the lithograph printing ...

SELECT TRANSLATIONS FROM WRITINGS OF SHAYKH AHMAD

• The text of the al-Ziyāra al-jāmi`a al-kabīra of the 10th Imam `Ali al-Hadi (d. 254/868).
• PDf. Ziyara jk.pdf 
• A translation of al-Ziyāra al-jāmi`a al-kabīra of the 10th Imam `Ali al-Hadi (d. 254/868). 
• Some Notes on select twelver Shi`i commentaries on the Ziyarat al-Jami`a al-kabira. 
• Introduction to and extracts in translation from the Sharh al-Ziyāra al-jāmi`a al-kabīra of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i (d.1241/1826).  
• The Tafsir Surat al-Tawhid (Commentary on the Surah of the Divine Unity [= Q. 114) of of Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā’ī.
• PDf. The Arabic text :  T-Tawhid.
• A Risala of Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā’ī in Reply to some brethren of Isfahan.  
• A Risala of Shaykh Ahmad in responce to questions of Mullā Muhammad Ḥusayn al-Anārī.
• PDf. The Arabic text : 
• Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā’ī  on an Islamicate Delphic Maxim - Introduction
• Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā’ī  on an Islamicate Delphic Maxim - Translation.
• PDf. The Arabic text : al-Ahsa'i-man arafa.pdf
• Select texts of Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā’ī on the Isra'-Mi`raj of the Prophet Muhammad.
• Uncorrected Stephen Lambden Powerpoint Presentation on Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā’ī = PP_-_Twin Shining Lights 1-Shaykh_Ahmad.pdf

SAYYID KAZIM RASHTI

السيد كاظم بن السيد قاسم الحسيني الرشتي

Sayyid Kāẓim ibn Sayyid Qāsim al-Ḥusaynī al-Rashtī

(d.1259/1843)

•  A Brief Biography of Sayyid Kāẓim al-Husayni  al-Rashtī.
• Sayyid Kāzim al-Rashtī : An Annotated, Alphabetical, Bibliographical Survey of the Writings of Sayyid Kazim Rashtī including select mss. materials, printed texts and Urls.
• Sayyid Kāẓim al-Rashtī : Bibliography A - Arabic, Persian, etc.
• Sayyid Kāẓim al-Rashtī : Bibliography B - Western Languages.
• Āqā Ḥajjī `Abu'l-Qāsim Khān al-Ibrahīmī  (d. 1389/1969), Fihrist –B Sayyid Kāẓim ibn Sayyid Qāsim al-Ḥusaynī al-Rashtī (d.1259/1843).  Stephen Lambden, BSBM 2. Fihrist –B Sayyid Kāẓim al-Rashtī.
• Uncorrected Stephen Lambden Powerpoint Presentation on Sayyid Kāzim Rashtī  =  PP Twin Shining Lights 2-Sayyid Kazim Rashti.pdf

SELECT TEXTS AND TRANSLATIONS FROM THE WRITINGS OF SAYYID KAZIM

• Some extracts from the Tafsīr āyat al-kursī  (Commentary upon the verse of the Throne [= Q. 2:255]) of Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī .
• Some extracts from the Sharh al-Qasida al-Lamiyya (The Ode Rhyming in the Letter "L") of Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī.
• The Risālah fī  sharḥ wa tafsīr ism al-a`ẓam: The Treatise in Commentary upon the [graphical form of] the Mightiest Name of God. Introduction and Annotated Translation. PDf. SOAS ms. : Rashti-Sharh al-ism al-a`zam.pdf
• `The treatise of Sayyid Kāzim Rashtī on the Shī`ī graphical form of the Mightiest Name of God (al-ism al-a'zam)'. Paper and abstract. PDf-2004 Abstract = SKR-ism.pdf
• The Commentary of Sayyid Kāẓim al-Ḥusaynī al-Rashtī (d.1259/1843) on the  دعاء السمات Du`a al-Simat (The Prayer of the Signs). 
• PDf. Lambden 2007 Trans. Du`a al-Simat : Du`a al-simat-trans. Lambden.pdf
• Lambden Trans. of the Sharh Du`a al-simat ("Prayer of the Signs") of Sayyid Kazim Rashti.
• Some Early Shaykhi Interpretations of the Basmala, Shaykh Ahmad ibn Zayn al-Din al-Ahsa'i (d.1241/1826) and Sayyid Kazim al-Husayni al-Rashti (d. 1259/1843). 2023-4.

THE KIRMANI SHAYKHI LEADERS AND THEIR WRITINGS 

  

Ḥajji Mīrzā Muhammad Karīm Khān Kirmānī

(1225-1288 AH /1810- 1871 CE)

•  Biographical Notes
• Sources for the Biography of Muhammad Karīm Khān Kirmānī
• Ḥajji Mīrzā Muhammad Karīm Khān Kirmānī I
• Ḥajji Mīrzā Muhammad Karīm Khān Kirmānī II
• Karim Khan Kirmanī : An Annotated, Alphabetical, Bibliographical Survey of the Writings of Karim Khan Kirmanī including select mss. printed materials, PDfs and Urls.
• An early Epistle of the Bāb to Ḥajji Mirza Muhammad Kārim Khān Kirmānī (d.1871 CE) as cited in Kirman's  own Risāla al-Shihāb al-thāqib fī  rajm al-nawāṣib ("The Piercing Thunderbolt for the Stoning of the Enemies"). Translation Stephen Lambden.
• The Anti-Babi Writings of Karīm Khān Kirmānī

  

 The 2nd  Kirmānī Shaykhī leader 

 Āqā Ḥajjī Muhammad Khān Kirmānī

(1263-1324/1846-1906).

The Kirmani Shaykhī  leader and the son of Muhammad Karim Khān Kirmānī.

Biography

• Muhammad Khān Kirmānī : An Annotated, Alphabetical, Bibliographical Survey of the Writings of Muhammad Khān Kirmānī  including select mss. printed materials, PDfs and Urls.
• Muhammad Rahim Khan Kirmani (d. 1889), elder brother of Muhammad Khan Kirmani and his supporters, the Natiqis (pl. Nawatiq).
• The 1878 Shaykhi-Balasari conflict in Kirman.

• Hajji Mirza Muhammad Baqir son of Muhammad Ja`far son of Muhammad Sadiq [Isfahani] Hamadani (1239/1823-4, d. Jandaq, 1319/1901) and his writings.

  The 3rd  Kirmānī Shaykhī leader 

  

Āqā Ḥajjī Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān  al-Kirmani al-Ibrahīmi (1276-1360/1859-1941), brother of 2nd  Kirmānī Shaykhī leader.

Biography

• Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān al-Kirmani al-Ibrahīmi : An Annotated, Alphabetical, Bibliographical Survey of the Writings of Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān al-Ibrahīmi including select mss. printed materials, PDfs and Urls.

  The 4th  Kirmānī Shaykhī leader 

  

Āqā Ḥajjī `Abu'l-Qāsim b. Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān Kirmani al-Ibrahīmī (1314-1389/1896-1969), son of the 3rd  Kirmānī Shaykhī leader.  

Biography

`Abu'l-Qāsim ibn Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān al-Ibrahīmī: An Annotated, Alphabetical, Bibliographical Survey of the Writings of `Abu'l-Qāsim b. Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān al-Ibrahīmī  including select mss. printed materials, PDfs and Urls.

  The 5th  Kirmani Shaykhī leader 

 

  Ḥajjī  Sarkar Aqa,`Abd al-Riḍā' Khān al-Ibrahīmī

(1340-1400/1921- 26th Dec. 1979)

  Biography 

• Bibliography `Abd al-Riḍā' Khān al-Ibrahīmī : An Annotated, Alphabetical, Bibliographical Survey of the Writings of `Abd al-Riḍā' Khān al-Ibrahīmī  including select mss. printed materials, PDfs and Urls.

  The 6th  Kirmani-Iraqi Shaykhī leader

  

  Ḥajjī `Sayyid `Ali `Abd Allah al-Mūsāwī al-Ḥifzih of Basra (1317/1899- XXX).  

Biographical Notes

• Bibliography`Sayyid `Ali `Abd Allah al-Mūsāwī al-Ḥifzih   : An Annotated, Alphabetical, Bibliographical Survey of the Writings of `Sayyid `Ali `Abd Allah al-Mūsāwī al-Ḥifzih  including select mss. printed materials, PDfs and Urls.

 

 

  OTHER SHAYKHI LEADERS AND NOTABLES OF THE 19th-21st CENTURIES

^{Handwriting of Fatima Baraghani, Tahira ( d.1852).}

•  A Baraghānī - Qazvini Shi`i Shaykhi family and their writings. 
• The Adhirbayjani, Mamaqani Shaykhi leaders and their literary legacy. 2015
• A letter of the Bab to Mullā Ḥasan Gawhar (d.1266/1849) or Shaykh Ḥasan ibn `Alī  [of Qarāja Dāghī] al-Tabrīzi. 
• Prominent Adhirbayjani Shaykhis/ Usulis of the Thiqat al-Islam family.
• From Adhirbayjan to Kuwait: The al-Ḥāʼirī al-Iḥqāqī legacy.

 

STUDIES ON SHAYKHI DOCTRINAL PERSPECTIVES

• Towards a Bibliography of Anti-Shaykhi polemic in Twelver Shi`i and Sunni religious literatures.
• On the possible Hebrew-Judaic roots of the Ishraqi, Shi`i-Shaykhī term Hurqalya [sic.] and a survey of its Imami interpretations.
• On the Etymology of Hurqalya [sic.] / Havaqalya [sic.].
• The Early  Shaykhī interpretation of the Isra'-Mi`raj (Night Ascent and Ascension) and Babi-Baha'ī Responses thereto.
• Some Notes on the Shaykhī Cosmology and Psychology of Soul-Spirit-Mind and Intellect.

Some Cosmological Aspects of Shi`i-Shaykhi and Babi-Baha'i Gnosis.

Stephen Lambden, UC Merced. In Progress 2025-6

The various "Worlds", "Universes or Supra-Terrestrial Realms  according to Qur'amic and Post-Quranic Abrahamic- Islamic cosmology.

Based on various writings of Ibn al-`Arabi (638/1240)

• (1) `alam al-amr   "The world of the Command" :                                                                                 (Rasa'il Ibn `Arabi. Beirut: Dar Sadir,  1997, Istilihat, p. 539)
• (2) `alam al-khalq  "The world of the creation" :                                                                                   (Rasa'il Ibn `Arabi. Beirut: Dar Sadir,  Istilihat, p. 539)

Worth noting here is the use of al-amr in connection with the definition of al-Kursi, the celestial "Pedestal" or "Footstall" of God :

al-kursi -i [ndicates] the foundation of the Divine Command (mawdi` al-amr) and of the Prohibition [Culmination] (al-nahy).

Some furthe cosmological definitions in the Istilihat al-Sufiyya of Ibn al-`Arabi: 

Under the letter "M" (mim), the Great Shaykh, Ibn al-`Arabi includes several realms associated with the  world of the dominion or kingdom [of God] , commencing with the word al-mulk. They follow definitions of al-barzakh and al-jabarut (see below):

• al-Malakut  [indicates] the World of the Unseen (`alam al-ghayb) - cf. Q. 
• al-Malik al-Mulk [indicates that] "He is the Real One (huwa al-haqq) in the state expressing the metaphorical conditions (mujazat) of the servant (al-`abd) according to the nature of His Command (al-amr) relative to him. (Rasa'il, p.540).

• al-Mulk = "The Dominion",, "The Kingdom of God" indicates the world-Universe which is Shahada
• Mulk and Malakut

The world of the Kingdom or Kingdom of God = `ālam al-mulk wa'l-malakūt

• Nasut
• Jabarut

Jabarut :In the opinion of [`Ali ibn] `Abi Talib (d.40/661) it signifies the world of the Divine Grandeur (`alam al-`azimat) and in the opinon of many others it is indicative of the world of  the Intermediate [the intermediate world] (`alam al-wast)  

• Lahut,  the Divine World
• Hahut  the World of the Divine Ipseity, a transcendent realm which is the abode of the Deity or Godhead  cf. huwiyya = "He-ness"; the linking of H and W in Arabic.

 

 

On               Barzakh              and      Hūrqalyā (Arabic = هورقليا = h-w-r-q-l-y-a  

The term Barzakh and its Islamic and Babi-Baha'i Interpretations

Barzakh  in the Qur'an

• Barzakh  in the Qur'an (1) 
• Barzakh  in the Qur'an (2) 
• Barzakh  in the Qur'an (3) 

 

• Barzakh in the Rasa'il Ikhwan al-safa' (XX the cent CE).

 

• Barzakh  in the writings of al-Ghazzali (d. 505/1111). 

 

• Barzakh  in the writings of Shihab al-Din Yahya Suhrawardi (d.    /   ). 

 

• Barzakh  in the writings of  Muhyi al-Din ibn al-`Arabi (d. 638 /1240). 

• al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya sect. 63 (as above) "On the Gnosis of the Eternity of the People  (fi'l-ma`rifat baqa' al-nas) in the Barzakh between the mortal world and [that of the Awakening on the Day of]  Resurrection (bayn al-dunya wa'l-ba`th)." Towards a Tentative Translation of section 63 by Stephen Lambden

Ibn al-`Arabi in his al-Istilahat al-sufiyya ("Sufi Lexicon") under the letter ` (`ayn) refers to two realms or "worlds" (`alam) commencing with the word "world" (first letter `) along with succinct definitions of these two realms, They are as printed within Rasa'il ibn al-`Arabi. ed. Muhammad Shihab al-Din `Arabi, Beirut: Dar Sadir, 1997. See Rasa'il Ibn `Arabi. Beirut: Dar Sadir,  Istilahat al-sufiyya, pp. 529-541)

• The succinct definition of al-Barzakh in the Istilahat al-Sufiyya  (The Sufi Lexicon") attributed to Ibn al-`Arabi (d. 638/1240). 

 

• Some further Barzakh references in the al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya  of Ibn al-`Arabi (d.638/1240). 
• The succinct definition of al-Barzakh in the Istilahat al-Sufiyya  attributed to `Abd al-Razzaq al-Kashani (d.           ). 

 

 Hūrqalyā (Arabic) = هورقليا = h-w-r-q-l-y-a  

For such as might wonder, Hūrqalyā (Arabic هورقليا = h-w-r-q-l-y-a [sic.], pointing uncertain) is a seven letter Arabic transliterated loanword probably originating in an Islamic context with Shihāb al-Dīn Yaḥyā Suhrawardī (d. [executed] Aleppo 587/1191) who is viewed as the founder of the Ishrāqī or Illuminationist school of Islamic philosophy. I have a lengthy paper in press (due 2024 after a fifteen year blockage!) which argues that etymologically and conceptually this word (to simplify) derives (probably as orally transmitted with a supplementary adjective) from a Hebrew (הָרָקִיעַ, hā-rāqîa`), Aramaic-Syriac or Mandaic form of   רָקִיעַ rāqîa`, a  word which is often indicative of a luminous, firmament or interworld spanning or linking "heaven" and "earth".  

 

The term Barzakh and its Babi-Baha'i Interpretations

The term Barzakh and its Islamic and Babi-Baha'i Interpretations

Barzakh ib the Writings of the Bab

Barzakh ib the Writings of the Bab

Barzakh ib the Writings of `Abdu'l-Baha' 

Barzakh ib the Writings of Baha'u'llah

 

 

 

 

 

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SHAYKHISM AND THE BABI AND BAHA'I RELIGIONS

• Shaykhī related materials in select early writings of the Bab.
• The Ziyarat-Nama (Visitation Supplication) of the Bab for Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā’ī (d. 1241/1826).    
• The Commentary of the Bāb on [a portion of] Sayyid Kāẓim Rashti's Sharḥ al-khuṭba al-ṭutunjiyya (The Commentary on the Sermon of the Gulf).   
• An Early Epistle of the Bāb to Karim Khān Kirmānī
• The Baraghāni family,  Early Shaykhism and the emergent Bābi Religion.
• Ṭāhira, Qurrat al-`Ayn (d. 1852), Shaykhī sage, poetess and Bābī Martyr.
• Mulla Jawād Viliyānī, The Babi then anti-Bābi cousin of Fātima Baraghānī, Ṭāhira.
• The Risāla of Qatil ibn al-Karbalā'ī translated from Fadil-i Mazandarāni, Kitāb-i Zuhur al-Haqq III
• The Babi-Baha'i exaltation of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i and Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī
• The Lawh-i qina' ("Tablet of the Veil") of Mirza Husayn `Ali, Bahā'-Allāh, An Introduction, Translation and Commentary. See  Lawḥ-i qinā' (The Tablet of the Veil). c. 1871?.
• An annotated Bibliography of Shaykhi anti-Bābi-Bahā'i polemic.
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