Tuḥfat al-Barara fī al-Masā’il al-‘Ashara by Majd al-Dīn al-Baghdādī, Edited and Prefaced

Majd al-Dīn Abū Sa’īd Sharaf ibn Mu’ayyid ibn Muḥammad ibn Abū al-Fatḥ al-Baghdādī al-Khwārazmī was an outstanding pupil of Najm al-Dīn al-Kubrā (d. 618) and a prominent mystic in the sixth and early seventh centuries. Majd al-Dīn al-Baghdādī wrote some books, including Zubdat al-‘Awālī wa Ḥilyat al-Amālī, al-Arba’īn known as Salwat al-Murīdīn fī Faḍā’il Dhikr Rabb al-‘Ālamīn, an essay on journey known as al-Sayr wa al-Ṭayr, al-‘Uzla wa al-Khalwa, and most importantly, Tuḥfat al-Barara fī al-Masā’il al-‘Ashara. The latter is his most important book written in Arabic. In fact, it consists of Majd al-Dīn al-Baghdādī’s answers to questions by one of his disciples (murid) called Aḥmad ibn ‘Alī ibn Muhadhdhab al-Khwārī. Aḥmad asked him questions about the most important Sufi issues and concerns of the time about practices and beliefs of Sufis. Here are the ten problems dealt with in the book: manners of Sufis in their attitudes and practices, Sufi clothing, masterhood (shaykhīyya), its reality and the conditions of a Sufi master, definition of “following” (disciplehood), the need of the disciple to the master, how to seclude and stay away from people, how to encounter dangers occurring to the mystical traveler during his revelations, khirqa (Sufi cloak) and its origin and function and when the mystical traveler is qualified for the reception of the khirqa, the possibility of a revelation to the mystical traveler as to his exemption from religious obligations, deviation from religious obligations and avoidance of obligatory acts, companionship with unjust rulers and kings. The book contains an epilogue devoted to the problem of sama dance. There are 8 manuscripts of the book available to us. The present essay is edited based on these manuscripts. In the preface, the author’s life and work are recounted.