The Kashf al-Mahjub

The Kashf al-Mahjub
By Ali Hujwiri (trans. Reynold A. Nicholson)

The Kashf al-Mahjub ("Unveiling of the Veiled") is the oldest surviving Persian treatise on Sufism, written in the 11th century by Ali ibn Uthman al-Hujwiri, a saint whose shrine in Lahore remains one of South Asia's most visited pilgrimage sites. The work systematically surveys the doctrines, practices, and personalities of early Sufism, making it an essential primary source for understanding the formation of Islamic mysticism.

This edition is Reynold A. Nicholson's 1911 English translation, part of the E.J.W. Gibb Memorial Series, long regarded as the standard scholarly rendering of the text into English.

A public-domain work, offered as a free digital edition by Nile Book Store.

Excerpt

Know that in this our time the science of Ṣúfiism is obsolete, especially in this country. The whole people is occupied with following its lusts and has turned its back on the path of quietism, while the 'ulamá and those who pretend to learning have formed a conception of Ṣúfiism which is quite contrary to its fundamental principles.

High and low alike are content with empty professions: blind conformity has taken the place of spiritual enthusiasm. The vulgar say, "We know God," and the elect, satisfied if they feel in their hearts a longing for the next world, say, "This desire is vision and ardent love." Everyone makes pretensions, none attains to reality.