One of the foremost thirteenth-century Persian mystics, 'Aziz Nasaffi with his simple manner of explaining God, His Essence, Attributes and Acts in the language of theologians and philosophers provides the Western reader with an overview of all the major interpretations of medieval Islamic thought. One of his main achievements was to synthesize the ideas of prominent Sufi masters such as Ibn 'Arabi, Najm al-Din Kubra and Abu Hafs 'Umar Suhrawardi into a coherent whole, thus establishing his own place as an authority of speculative Sufism. At the same time, Nasaffi's explanations of various Muslim religious doctrines - supererogatory worship, asceticism and devotion to God - cast light on the practical aspect of Sufism. Hence the popularity, wherever Persian was spoken, of his works, manuscripts of which were collected in libraries and private collections all over the Muslim world.
Providing the first comprehensive selection in English of Nasaffi's treatises, Dr Ridgeon's work offers the Western student of Islam a much-needed guide to the speculative and practical dimensions of Sufism. The first two treatises are short but complete works (entitled 'The Most Sublime Goal' and 'Quintessence of Realities') which focus on various Islamic doctrines concerning the nature of God, Friendship of God and Prophecy, the World, Man, his Origin and Return to God. The third text is an independent chapter from another of Nasaffi's works entitled 'The Unveiling of Realities' which describes mystical experience and the different paths towards God pursued by the Su fi and the Unitarian.
