Identifying Mysticism in Early Esoteric Scriptural Hermeneutics: Sahl al-Tustarī’s (d. 283/896) Tafsīr Reconsidered

Abstract

Abstract:Much has been written on the rise of Sufi Qurʾān exegesis (tafsīr ṣūfī) with an emphasis on the continuity of exegetical practices in mysticism across time. In a break with this analysis, some historians have called into question whether Sufi tafsīr constitutes a distinct genre of Qurʾān exegesis, particularly given the extent to which it shares analytical categories and conceptual tools with the tafsīr genre more broadly. This article sheds new light on this debate by asking a simple question: What makes Sufi tafsīr “mystical” at the level of hermeneutics? The current study uses Sahl al-Tustarī’s (d. 283/896) tafsīr as a case study to identify the intersection of three key elements that formed the foundation of an influential hermeneutical method for mystical experience in early Islam: (1) the use of an esoteric scriptural hermeneutic based on an exterior-interior (ẓāhir-bāṭin) interpretive framework; (2) the use of the supererogatory invocation (dhikr) of the Names of God (al-asmāʾ al-ḥusnā); and (3) the achievement of a state of “certainty” (yaqīn) that facilitates the acquisition of mystical perception (baṣar) of God’s Oneness and the reception of knowledge (maʿrifa) and wisdom (ḥikma) from the unseen (al-ghayb). Tustarī’s integration of a unique hermeneutical methodology with a methodology of mystical experience constitutes a major hallmark of the writings of mystics in early Islam, and his synthesis found adherents among later philosophically oriented Sufis in the generations of Ibn al-ʿArabī (d. 638/1240) and Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī (d. ca. 587/1191). A key outcome of this study is the claim that there was an early tradition of mystical exegesis that was initiated by Sahl al-Tustarī and that transmitted in the writings of, among others, Abū Ṭālib al-Makkī (d. 386/996), IbnMasarra (d. 319/931), and Ibn Barrajān (d. 536/1141).