Classic Sufism and Gnosis

The term "gnosis" in classic Sufism has a range of meanings that need to beconsidered in its varieties of expression as found in the literature and language of theSufis in that period. The gauge for this chapter is the identification of a series of termsthat correspond with "gnosis," but which are not singularly sufficient definitions. These are tadjalli (theophany), dhawq (taste), and ma'rifa (intuitive knowledge). Gnoseology is here used to convey a general approach to the theory of metaphysicalknowledge among well-known mystics of Islam, and will be explored accordingly. As such, this chapter provides an outline of the development of the categories ofknowledge among Sufis of the classic period. Earlier Sufis were not inept or deficientin their "gnoseology"; rather, despite the paucity of information on early figures, what can be gleaned from the later biographical tradition is at the very least enough to suggest that these early Sufis had a profound interaction with their religion (AliHujwuri [flor. 1030], Kashf al-Mahjoub IX-XII). The activity of Sufi gnoseology is an early occurrence, and continues to be developed in greater detail by Sufis exposedto Hellenic thought. This later period (for which there is an abundance of material sources) offers relevant exegeses on theosophy, emanationist ontology, and complex metaphysics in the writings of mystics based on Avicennian principles, some of whom categorize a reformulation of familiar terms – tadjalli, dhawq, and ma’rifa – in their theory of knowledge.