Introduction
Part One Islamic Philosophy
Chapter One: The Humors (al-akhlāṭ) and Character Traits (al-akhlāq) According to the Brethren of Purity
Chapter Two: Virtue Ethics in Avicenna’s Philosophical Allegories
Chapter Three: The Virtues, from Philosophy to Scripture: Refining Character Traits in Miskawayh and Ghazālī
Chapter Four: Reason, Revelation, and Discovering the Virtuous in Ibn Ṭufayl’s Literary Thought Experiment
Chapter Five: From Humors to Pure Light: Knowledge and Virtue in the Allegories of Suhrawardī
Part Two Sufism
Chapter Six: The Soul’s Constant Returning: Repentance (Tawba) in the Sufi Legacy of Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq
Chapter Seven: Distancing Oneself from the Worldly: Renunciation (Zuhd) According to al-Muḥāsibī and al-Sarrāj
Chapter Eight: Self-Awareness that Leads to Self-Loss: Futuwwa as a Compound Virtue in the Legacy of Anṣārī
Chapter Nine: The Completion of Ethics: Self-Annihilation (Fanāʾ) Through the Lens of ʿAṭṭār
Chapter Ten: Virtue in the Narrative Poetry of Rūmī
Conclusion: A Brief Case for Relevance
Acknowledgments
Bibliography
Index
A rich, engaging and approachable work on understanding Islamic virtue ethics through philosophical, mystical and literary texts
Cyrus Ali Zargar is Associate Professor in Religion at Augustana College, in Rock Island, Illinois, where his primary research interest is the literature of medieval Sufism in Arabic and Persian.
‘The Polished Mirror is the perfect title for Zargar’s erudite and
eloquent book, for it reflects with superb analytical clarity the
views of a wide range of thinkers on the subject of ethics.
Justifiably going beyond writings that explicitly deal with the
topic, he draws together various strands of Islamic tradition,
clarifying both the links and similarities that join them and the
distinctions that separate them. A major contribution to Islamic
studies, from which both established scholars and those new to the
field stand to gain significantly.’
*Hamid Algar, Professor Emeritus of Persian and Islamic Studies,
University of California, Berkeley*
‘Students of Islamic ethics have long felt the need for a more
sustained and unified insight into the rich history of reflection
on the virtues in the Islamic world. Ambitious in scope yet
accessible throughout, this book explores the distinctive
contributions of a number of key figures working across both sides
of the permeable boundary between philosophy and Sufism. Anyone
with an interest in how thinkers in the medieval Islamic world
engaged with the “science of the states of the heart” – in its many
permutations – will find a valuable companion in Cyrus Ali Zargar’s
book.’
*Sophia Vasalou, Fellow in Philosophical Theology, University of
Birmingham*
‘Comprehensive in its scope, and drawing on intellectual luminaries
ranging from Muḥāsibī to Avicenna, Zargar’s erudite study offers
the first major analysis of virtue ethics in classical Islam. It
will set the stage for future research in the field.’
*Atif Khalil, Associate Professor, Dept. of Religious Studies,
University of Lethbridge, and author of Repentance and the
Return to God: Tawba in Early Sufism*
‘This fine study, supported by careful analysis of primary texts,
illustrates the congruence of Islamic philosophy and Sufism on the
issue of achieving self-perfection, to which human beings are
called both by prophetic wisdom and by rational acumen.’
*William C. Chittick, Distinguished Professor of Islamic Studies,
Stony Brook University*
‘Far too much of previous scholarship on Muslim ethics has obsessed
over the question of its indebtedness to Greek (and Persian)
antecedents. Cyrus Zargar’s The Polished Mirror is a
brilliant way of reframing the conversation about ethics in the
spiritual and intellectual cosmos of Islamic thought. Zargar
masterfully navigates the worlds of ethics, philosophy, mysticism,
narrative, and poetry to offer us a rich tapestry. The result is
far more than merely a groundbreaking way of rethinking ethics in
Islam. It is a groundbreaking study of the interconnectedness of
the Islamic spiritual, ethical, and intellectual universes through
studying Ibn Sina, Rumi, Brethren of Purity, Ghazali, Suhrawardi,
and others. Enthusiastically recommended for all students of
Islamic studies, ethics, and mysticism.’
*Omid Safi, Director, Duke Islamic Studies Center*
‘The Polished Mirror is an incredible, even paradigm-shifting work
in Islamic Studies.’
*Mohammed Rustom, associate professor of Islamic studies, Carleton
University, and author of Inrushes of the Spirit: The Mystical
Theology of ʿAyn al-Quḍāt*
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