The Dissolution of Individuality in Persian Sufism

Abstract

The word Suf. has its etymological origins, as many researchers note,¹ in the Arabic su, which means wool. Sufi refers, therefore, to those who wear garments of wool. However, this meaning of the word Sufi cannot cover the spiritual thought that characterizes Islamic Sufism. Sufism as the generally accepted name for Islamic mysticism is, like other kinds of mysticism, a spiritual experience that, according to Sufis, can be understood neither by sensual nor rational methods. It is, indeed, a manifold phenomenon, the analysis of which, if at all possible, requires several volumes. It is more difficult still to understand the way Sufis apprehend the world. Considering neither experience nor reason as adequate instruments for understanding the whole of existence, Sufis use different methods. To obtain knowledge about the world by means of myths, to employ rational modes for interpreting the phenomenal world and to use intuition for understanding the cosmos as a whole are some of these methods. It goes without saying that these methods, especially the last one, do not have the same content, structure and social effect when employed by different peoples and in the framework of divergent cultures. In this respect, Sufism might be regarded as an intuitive way of comprehending the world, an epistemological method for interpreting it and a technique for spiritually mastering it based on the Islamic world-view. In a word, it can be considered as a special way of thinking and living.