Wahdat al-wujud in later sufism :an anotated translation and critical commentary of al-Nabulsi Idah al-Maqsud

Abstract

This study focuses on the treatise of "I?a? al-maq?ud min ma?na Wa?dat al-Wujud" written by a Damascene scholar, Abd al-Ghani al-Nabulsi (1641-1731). This treatise is considered as one of the best written apology on the doctrine of Wa?dat al-Wujud (Unity of Existence) that echoed by many previous Sufis. The study consists of three main parts: verification, translation, and commentary. The verification part begins with a comparative and analytic study of the five texts of the treatise (three manuscripts and two published texts). It aims at three things. One, to discover the quantity of modifications occurred in these texts. Two, to rectify errors mentioned in the texts.And three, to produce a new and better text for this treatise. As for the translation, it is an endeavor to convert the text from its original language, which is Arabic, into English coupled with commentary on numerous issues such as deducing fact, translation on figures, critique, explanation, etc. Through this research, many important results are unveiled. First, many modifications occurred in the published texts simply because its verifier failed to refer to the original manuscript of the treatise. Second, many mistakes are detected in this treatise, some are linguistic while other related to its content. Third, based on historical study on political, social, and religious condition of al-Nabulsi`s era, it is clear that the main motivation for him to release this treatise is due to the wide-spreading injustice toward ta?awwufand the actual practice of Wa?dat al-Wujud. Forth, al-Nabulsi believed that Unity of Existence is taw?id in essence, therefore the disagreement on this subject is in fact literal. At last, there are still many manuscripts of this treatise stored in libraries and individual collections around the world. Therefore, it is recommended for the future researcher to consult and to look at the rest of these manuscripts so that an accurate text of the treatise can be produced