Sufi Master and Qur’an Scholar Abū’l-Qāsim al-Qushayrī and the Latā’if al-Ishārāt By Martin Tran Nguyen (Oxford: Oxford University Press in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies Qur’anic Studies Series, 2012. 303 pages.)

Abstract

Over the past few years, an increasing number of academic publications have
focused on the life and work of the Sufi master and theologian Abū l-Qāsim
‘Abd al-Karīm b. Hawāzim al-Qushayrī (d. 465/1072 in Nishapur). While this
increased interest has filled in many gaps in our understanding of this man,
an important figure for the Islamic mystical tradition, Nguyen’s monograph
represents the first in-depth inquiry into Qushayrī and his doctrine.
Nguyen’s book, developed from his doctoral dissertation, concentrates on
the Laṭā’if al-Ishārāt (hereafter LI), typically considered a mystical exegetical
treatise but which Nguyen shows should be seen in a broader and more nuanced
light. He analyzes the text through the concept of “tradition,” reading it as the
result of a network of different cultural and spiritual influences. Their unification
in this exegetical treatise can be considered Qushayrī’s main achievement. As
such, Nguyen’s work represents a major contribution in the fields of Qur’anic
and Sufi studies as well as the broader field of medieval intellectual history.
The book’s nine chapters cover the following subjects: In the introduction
the author positions the LI vis-à-vis the different exegetical traditions (juridical,
encyclopedic, and theological), arguing that it belongs to what Walid A.
Saleh calls the “Nishapuri school” of exegesis. Thus, as Nguyen points out,
Qushayrī’s Tafsīr is “located and contextualized onto a number of different
but overlapping historical axes” (p. 16) ...