From Blessed Lips: the Textualization of Abu Saʿid’s Dicta and Deeds

Abstract This paper examines the formation and development of the Abu Saʿid Abuʾl-Kheyr hagiographic tradition. It shows how reports about the eleventh-century saint circulated within a shrine community of his descendants and disciples, both orally and in ad hoc notes, before being set down in writi...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: O’Malley, Austin (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2019
In: Journal of Persianate studies
Year: 2019, Volume: 12, Issue: 1, Pages: 5-31
Further subjects:B Mysticism
B Islam
B Sainthood
B Hagiography
B textuality
B Sufism
B Orality
B Abu Saʿid
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Summary:Abstract This paper examines the formation and development of the Abu Saʿid Abuʾl-Kheyr hagiographic tradition. It shows how reports about the eleventh-century saint circulated within a shrine community of his descendants and disciples, both orally and in ad hoc notes, before being set down in writing. It argues that the Asrār al-towhid, the largest and best-known hagiography devoted to Abu Saʿid, is not a natural outgrowth of this oral material, but a reworking for a broad audience of outsiders in light of the shrine community’s destruction by the Ghuzz Turks in the 1150s. In the case of the Asrār, textualization involved substantial rhetorical and linguistic changes in order to open up the material to a literary public of non-initiates; it also implied a new understanding of how Abu Saʿid’s blessings would manifest themselves in the world.
ISSN:1874-7167
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of Persianate studies
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/18747167-12341330