A critical edition and study of Haqq al-yaqin fi aqidat al-muhaqqiqin of Shams Al-Din Sumatra`i

Abstract

This study is a discussion on the thoughts of Shams al-Din al-Sumatra’i who was a scholar at the court of the illustrious Sultan Iskandar Muda of 17th century Acheh. His thoughts and teachings are here studied by using the primary text of Haqq al-Yaqin fi Aqidat al-Muhaqqiqin as the basis of understanding. The aim of this study is to provide a critical edition and provide for the first time an annotated translation into English of the text. The text had been gathered from three different manuscripts and a critical edition produced in a Romanized transliterated version. In the course of this study various primary and secondary sources connected to Ibn al-Arabi and the various scholars from his school had been consulted. Notably ‘Abd al-Razak Kashāni’s Istilahat al-Sufiyyah and Jurjani’s kitab al-Ta’rifat. In understanding the Shaykh al-Akbar himself, recourse had been towards Suad Hakim’s Mu’jam al-Sufi which contains a study of technical terms connected to his teachings. The result is an annotated text with extensive notes and explanation on the main concepts within Ibn al-‘Arabi’s main conception of metaphysics which were followed by Shams al-Din. The objective of the above had been two fold i.e. to trace the various influences upon the metaphysical teachings of Shams al-Din and to comprehend his teachings as seen in the Haqq al-Yaqin fi Aqidat al-Muhaqqiqin. Was he merely a follower of Hamzah? Did he based his metaphysical teachings exclusively on Hamzah’s teachings or upon al-Burhanpuri? Throughout the course of the this study it is found that Shams al-Din’s metaphysical teachings especially his view on ontology were more complicated and advanced if compared to Hamzah and though he believed in the 7 levels of Being, nevertheless his reliance on al-Burhanpuri here is very nominal. In fact he was more influenced by Jāmi’s Naqd al-Nusus, Gulshan-I Raz of Shabistari and Mafatih al-I’jaz the commentary on the later by Lahiji than upon the Tuhfah al-mursalah of alBurhanpuri. Quotations and similarities from these texts as well as Hamzah’s own poetry abound in this text indicating Shams al-Din’s ability to weave them together to produce a coherent text of Malay muslim metaphysics which is unique.