Islamic Sensory History, Volume 2: 600–1500 presents a selection of texts translated into English from Arabic and Persian. These selected texts all offer illustrative engagements with issues related to the sensorium in different times, places, and social milieus throughout the early and medieval history of Islamic societies. Each chapter is prefaced by an introductory essay by the translator, with specific attention to the role of the senses in the translated text’s language, genre, and social context.
Contributors
Eyad Abuali, Tanvir Ahmed, Hanif Amin Beidokhti, Shahzad Bashir, Maroussia Bednarkiewicz, David Bennett, Hinrich Biesterfeldt, Julie Bonnéric, Adam Bursi, Fatih Han, Rotraud Hansberger, Jan Hogendijk, Domenico Ingenito, Anya King, Hannelies Koloska, Christian Lange, Danilo Marino, Richard McGregor, Pernilla Myrne, Nawal Nasrallah, Zhinia Noorian, Austin O’Malley, Franz Rosenthal (†), Everett K. Rowson, Abdelhamid I. Sabra (†), George Sawa, Asghar Seyed-Gohrab, Jocelyn Sharlet, Cornelis van Lit, Geert Jan van Gelder, James Weaver, Ines Weinrich, Brannon Wheeler, Alan Williams, Cyrus Ali Zargar.
Christian Lange is Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Utrecht University. His research focuses on premodern Islamic intellectual and cultural history, particularly in the areas of Islamic eschatology, Islamic law and legal theory, Islamic mysticism, and the Muslim sensorium.
Adam Bursi works at Fortress Press in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His research studies early Islam in dialogue with other late antique religions, focusing on the roles of relics, pilgrimage, and healing in the formation and performance of communal membership among early Muslims.
Contributors
Eyad Abuali, Tanvir Ahmed, Hanif Amin Beidokhti, Shahzad Bashir, Maroussia Bednarkiewicz, David Bennett, Hinrich Biesterfeldt, Julie Bonnéric, Adam Bursi, Fatih Han, Rotraud Hansberger, Jan Hogendijk, Domenico Ingenito, Anya King, Hannelies Koloska, Christian Lange, Danilo Marino, Richard McGregor, Pernilla Myrne, Nawal Nasrallah, Zhinia Noorian, Austin O’Malley, Franz Rosenthal (†), Everett K. Rowson, Abelhamid I. Sabra (†), George Sawa, Asghar Seyed-Gohrab, Jocelyn Sharlet, Cornelis van Lit, Geert Jan van Gelder, James Weaver, Ines Weinrich, Brannon Wheeler, Alan Williams, Cyrus Ali Zargar.
Acknowledgments Abbreviations Note on Dates, Transliteration, and Citation Notes on Contributors
Part 1: Scriptural Foundations
1 The Senses in the Qurʾān Hannelies Koloska
2 Ibn Isḥāq (d. ca. 151/768) on Vision in the Prophet’s Biography Richard McGregor
3 Ibn Abī Shayba (d. 235/849) on the Senses in the Afterlife Christian Lange
4 Ibn Abī l-Dunyā (d. 281/894) on Scrupulous Sensory Piety among Early Muslim Ascetics Adam Bursi
5 Ibn Bābawayh (d. 381/991) on the Shiʿi Sensorium Christian Lange
6 Ibn al-Athīr (d. 606/1210) on the Prophet’s Sense of Smell Christian Lange
Part 2: Literary and Aesthetic Perspectives
7 Al-Jāḥiẓ (d. 255/869) on Animal and Human Sensation Christian Lange
8 Ibn Sayyār al-Warrāq (fl. Mid-fourth/Mid-tenth Century) on Multisensory Dining and Wining Nawal Nasrallah
9 Al-Sarī al-Raffāʾ’s (d. 362/973) Invitations to Delight Jocelyn Sharlet
10 Abū l-Faraj al-Iṣbahānī (d. 360/971) on the Conditions and Effects of Music George Sawa
11 ʿAlī b. Naṣr al-Kātib (fl. Late Fourth/Tenth Century) on Erotic Sensations Pernilla Myrne
12 Ibn Jubayr (d. 614/1217) on the Illumination of the Sacred Mosque in Mecca Julie Bonnéric
13 Abū l-Majd Tabrīzī (d. after 736/1336) on the Debate between the Ear and the Eye Tanvir Ahmed and Shahzad Bashir
14 Al-Maqrīzī (d. 845/1442) on the History of the Call to Prayer in Egypt Maroussia Bednarkiewicz
15 Al-Badrī (d. 894/1489) on Hashish and the Senses Danilo Marino and Franz Rosenthal
16 Al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505) on the Four Princes of Perfume Geert Jan van Gelder
Part 3: Philosophical and Scientific Perspectives
17 Al-Kindī (d. after 256/870) on the Effects of Music, Colors, and Scents Adam Bursi and Anya King
18 The Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ (Fourth/Tenth Century) on Sense and Sensibilia Christian Lange
19 Abū Zayd al-Balkhī (d. 322/934) on the Nature and Therapeutic Use of Odorous Substances Hinrich Biesterfeldt and Everett K. Rowson
20 Ibn al-Jazzār (d. 369/979–80) on Smell, Perfume, and Health Anya King
21 Ibn al-Haytham (d. ca. 432/1040) on Vision Jan Hogendijk and Abdelhamid I. Sabra
22 Suhrawardī (d. 587/1191) on Eyesight and Vision Hanif Amin Beidokhti
23 Ibn Rushd (d. 595/1198) on Sense Perception Rotraud Hansberger
24 Al-Jildakī (fl. 8th/14th Century) on the Alchemy of the Senses Christian Lange
25 Nakhshabī (d. 751/1350) on the Nose Zhinia Noorian
Part 4: Theological Perspectives
26 Al-Naẓẓām (d. ca. 230/845) on the Physics of Sensory Perception James Weaver
27 Al-Ashʿarī (d. 324/935–6) on Muʿtazilite Claims about the Senses and Sense Perception David Bennett
28 Al-Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār (d. 415/1025) on the Impossibility of Seeing God Fatih Han
29 Ibn Sīnā (d. 428/1037) on Dismissing Sense Perception and on the Eternal Sense Cornelis van Lit
30 Al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) on Visionary Experiences and the Internal and External Senses Domenico Ingenito
31 Al-Khāzin al-Baghdādī (d. 741/1340) on the Evil Eye Christian Lange
32 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350) on the Virtues of the Eye and the Ear Christian Lange
Part 5: Spiritual and Mystical Perspectives
33 Al-Ghazālī (d. 505/1111) on Listening to Music Ines Weinrich
34 The Taʾwīlāt Najmiyya (7th/13th Century) on the Body, the Soul, and the Senses Eyad Abuali
35 ʿAṭṭār (d. 618/1221) on the Wayfarer’s Encounter with the Senses Cyrus Ali Zargar
36 Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) on the Masters of Sensation Christian Lange
37 Najm al-Dīn Rāzī Dāya (d. 654/1256) on the Sequence of Visionary Lights Austin O’Malley
38 Rūmī (d. 627/1273) on Sensory Perception Asghar Seyed-Gohrab and Alan Williams
39 Saʿdī (d. 691/1292) on the Senses, the Body, and Imagination Domenico Ingenito
Part 6: Legal and Ethical Perspectives
40 Ibn Abī Zayd (d. 386/996) on Scent, Sight, Taste, and Touch during the Ḥajj Adam Bursi
41 Al-Qudūrī (d. 428/1037) on Purity Brannon Wheeler
42 Al-Sarakhsī (d. ca. 490/1096) on the Protocol of the Gaze Christian Lange
43 Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 543/1148) on Touching the Qurʾān Christian Lange
44 Al-Nawawī (d. 676/1277) on Kissing and Handshaking Christian Lange
45 Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya (d. 751/1350) on the Legal Status of the Senses Christian Lange
Index of Names Index of Terms
From undergraduate students to academics and scholars from both inside and outside of Islamic Studies, Religious Studies, Cultural Studies, Anthropology, History, and Literature.