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

 

برزخ

The term Barzakh -  "Obstacle", "Barrier", "Ithmus" etc. and its Islamic and Babi-Baha'i Interpretations,

Stephen Lambden, UC Merced. 2025. 

 

The term Barzakh in the Qur'an

There are three references to Barzakh in the Qur'an

 

 

 

 

 

The term Barzakh in select Islamic Mystics, Philosophers and Irfani thinkers

  • The term Barzach in the thought of Shihab al-Din Yahya Suhrawardi (              ).

 

  • The term Barzach in the thought of Muhyi al-Din Ibn al-Arabi ( 638/1240).

In his great magnum opus al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya (The Meccan Disclosures) Ibn al-`Aeabi makes numerous and complex references to Barzach. This Qur'anic term he defines in several different often complinetary ways. In the al-Istilihat al-Sufiyya, "The Technical Terminology of the Sufis", for example, he states: 

From Istilihat al-Sufiyya in Rasa'il ibn al-`Arabi (pp. 529 -541), ed. Muhammad Shihab al-Din al-`Arabi. Beirut: Dar Sadir, 1997, p. 540.

Three translations by Stephen Lambden

"The Barzakh: [indicates] The World which is Witnessed (`alam al-mashud) between the world of Inner Meaning (`alam al-ma`ani) and the world of corporealities (`alam al-ajsam; Ar. jism = body, pl. ajsam; bodies. cf. Q.63:4)

"The Barzakh: The Universe which is Observable-Evident (`alam al-mashud) between the world of Inner Meaning (`alam al-ma`ani) and the World of Corporealities (`alam al-ajsam) [bodily things, Ar. jism, pl. ajsam; cf. Q.63:4)



"The Barzakh: The Universe which is Observable-Evident (`alam al-mashud) between the world of Inner Meaning (`alam al-ma`ani) and the World of Corporealities (`alam al-ajsam) [bodily things,"

 

 

 

 

  • The term Barzach in the thought of `Abd al-Razzaq al-Kashani (              ).

 

 

  • The term Barzach in the thouht of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i  (d.1241/1826).

 

  • The tem Barzach in the thought of Sayyid Kazim al-Husayni al-Rashti (d.1243/1843). 

Barzakh in Babi-Baha'i Thought

  • Barzakh in the Thought of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab (1819-1850)

 

  • Barzakh in the Thought of Sayyid Mirza Husayn `Ali Nuri, Baha'u'llah (1817-1892)

 

  • Barzakh in the Thought of `Abd al-Baha' Abbas (1844-1921).