This thesis seeks to add to our conception of the role of commentaries and the workings within the networks of medieval Muslim intellectuals, by analysing the way in which the Persian mystic Sayyid...Show moreThis thesis seeks to add to our conception of the role of commentaries and the workings within the networks of medieval Muslim intellectuals, by analysing the way in which the Persian mystic Sayyid ʿAli Hamadani treats and defines the mystical symbolism of the Egyptian mystic Ibn al-Farid's Khamriyya. The translation and analysis of Hamadani's commentary (Masharib al-Adhwaq) supports the view that mystical authors often composed commentaries on poetry mainly to present and support their own theosophical system. Hence, the analysis of Masharib al-Adhwaq reveals many of the basic concepts of Islamic mysticism that can be traced back to such eminent scholars as Ibn ʿArabi or al-Ghazali. This thesis also seeks to contribute to our understandings of the way Persian authors employed prosimetry (i.e. the mixing of prose and verse). The analysis of the interactions between Ibn al-Farid's verses and Hamadani's prose and verse explanations suggests a dialectic between the prose and poetry passages that reflects both the explicit and the implicit intention behind writing a mystical commentary.Show less
