APPENDIX A:
Islamic
Sufi Maqamat & the Maqamat of Bahya
Ibn Paquda
Chapter Two of the Manual for Novices outlined the Suluk al-Khass (Special Path) of the
Egyptian Hasidim. The focus of that
chapter was on the Maimuni authors and on the system that was adopted by
their circle. In this appendix we make
supplementary mention of some
of the Islamic-Sufi authors whose systems inspired
the terminology, the structure, and many
of the characteristic philosophical attitudes that
became a major part of the mediaeval Jewish Sufi Path—and of other forms of Jewish mysticism in later
times. In this context,it would
have been remiss of us
to omit a brief outline of the Maqamat of Bahya Ibn Paquda, for in many ways he
is a precursor of the system which was further developed by the Egyptian Hasidic
Movement. This appendix aims to highlight the close interrelationship of these sources and
their contribution to our own Path.
oooOooo
The Maqamat in Islamic Sufism
One of the widely known
Islamic-Sufi statements concerning maqamat comes from Shaqiq
Al-Balkhi (d.810) though he refers to them as “manzila”. Al-Balkhi’s manual for Muslim Pietists
posits four Stations:
THE
FOUR MAQAMAT of AL BALKHI
1: ASCETICISM
involving fasting and a renewable
forty day solitary retreat
2: FEAR/AWE
involving contemplation on human mortality
and on Divine judgement
3: DESIRE
involving the contemplation of
blissful Paradise and including a further forty day retreat
4: LOVE
involving contemplation on Divine Light and including a further forty day seclusion, [ after which the adept becomes “Beloved of God”. ]
The progress of an aspirant is
described in stages that must be
attained gradually. It is
significant that Al-Balkhi also explains that one may remain at one of these stations for as much as an entire
lifetime without progressing higher. Each according to their Divinely
determined personal capabilities.
The Kitab al-Luma’ fi‘l Tasawwuf[1] of Al-Sarraj (d.988), develops one of the first lists of Sufi maqamat and
presents the following order of progression:
THE
SEVEN MAQAMAT of AL SARRAJ
1: Tawba REPENTANCE
2: Wara‘ FEAR/AWE OF G-D
3: Zuhd
RENUNCIATION(ASCETICISM)
4: Faqr POVERTY
5: Sabr PATIENCE
6: Tawwakul RELIANCE
7: Rida CONTENTMENT
Closer to Cairo, the cradle of the
mediaeval Jewish-Sufi movement, Dhul-Nun al-Misri (Zul the Egyptian 796-859)
the full-time recluse and Sufi Saint,
posited lists of eight[2] and
also eighteen stations and Al- Qushayri (d.1072) listed fifty maqamat.
It should be remembered that this list
appeared in his Risala—a comprehensive manual in epistle
form which was certainly available to the circle of
Rabbenu Abraham ben haRambam, a copy even being discovered in the Cairo Geniza itself.
Amongst the fifty maqamat of
Al-Qushayri[3] we
might note the following, since they re-appear with great frequency in our own
Jewish maqamat manuals :
THE
MAQAMAT OF THE RISALA—Al Qushayri
1
REPENTANCE Tawba
“Tawba” being synonomous with "Teshuva”.
Al-Ghazali and Ibn Arabi also state
that this is the first
of the stations.
3
SECLUSION Khalwa
Referring to isolation retreats of
some duration
4
RECLUSION ’Uzla
Meaning a general withdrawal from
unnecessary and distracting social activity
6
ABSTINENCE Wara‘
Taken to refer to the
renunciation of power,fame,and the
passions.
7
ASCETICISM Zuhd
Which is moderating one’s desire for
things that are permitted
19
TRUST in GOD Tawwakul
Viewed as a consequent of true faith
in G-d, and in total submission to God. One who has attained this
state is satisfied with all that
G-d sends and experiences
equanimity.
23
CONTEMPLATION Muraqaba
32
RECOLLECTION of the DIVINE Zhikr
This is a reference to (i) the meditative practice of
reciting and contemplating the Divine
Names; and (ii) the more general continuous and contemplative remembrance of
G-d, but also (as in Al-Ghazali) it refers to (iii) meditating on the Divine
Attributes and imitating them.
42
PURITY Tassawuf
46
UNITY Tawhid
48
GNOSIS Ma’rifa
49
LOVE Mahabba
Al-Qushayri describes this Maqamat as being
a “State”—something that is granted by
Divine Benificence and not through human effort. For Al Ghazali, and for the majority of
Jewish Sufi Masters, this is the last of
the Maqamat, with Shawq being a consequential state it produces.
50 LONGING
Shawq
for “union with/meeting”
God
From this point in time onwards, we find countless Islamic-Sufi
lists of maqamat in Sufi manuals, some of which employ hundreds
of Stations with detailed sub-units, but most seem to make prominent use of the
stages of progress mentioned above. It
is to be hoped that by comparing the
materials in this Manual's Chapter Two with those given here in this Appendix, the
reader will clearly see that the Sufic manuals of the Maimuni dynasty
copy both the Islamic lists and their contents heavily. [4]
oooOooo
Turning
now to consider the Jewish system of Maqamat that appears
in the Hidaya (Duties of the
Heart) of Rabbenu Bahya Ibn Paquda (1050–1120).
THE MAQAMAT OF BAHYA IBN PAQUDA
Perhaps the most popular manual of
Jewish Spirituality/Musar that is contructed on a maqamat framework is al-Hidaya
ila Fara’id ̣al-Qulub (Duties of the Heart) of Rabbenu Bahya
Ibn Paquda.
Thanks to decades of modern scholarly research, its adoption and
borrowings from Islamic-Sufi manuals are no longer a mystery.[5] Though Rabbenu Bahya disguised some of the
Islamic sources he was using, the text was the first work of Jewish
spirituality to be based on Islamic Sufi maqamat, and the first such work to be written in clear
admiration of the Muslim Sufi manuals he had studied in depth.
The work was translated into hebrew and heavily edited as Hovot
HaLevavot by Ibn Tibbon (c.1150-1230) who was more wary of the borrowings,
and who even deleted or re-attributed Islamic-sourced passages to Jewish sources.
[6]
The Hidaya opens with a detailed and lengthy exposition of theological and ethical principles, and it is only in the fourth treatise that the maqamat are introduced and discussed.
The
Seven Maqamat of the Hidaya (Ibn Paquda)
The Hidaya must have been one of the most important
manuals of reference used by the early Egyptian Pietists at the time of
HaRambam, and so it is not surprising that
its influence is clearly apparent
in the Kifaya of Rabbenu Abraham ben HaRambam.
But Rabbenu Bahya’s use of a maqamat
schema differs enormously from that of Rabbenu Abraham in its intention. In a
crucial manner, they had a very different perspective on the nature and
the ultimate purpose of the Suluk al-Khass itself. I hope it will assist your understanding of my
contention here if we now consider some
of the points of divergence between the Suluk of Ibn Paquda, and that of Abraham ben HaRambam.
Similarities between the two are
apparent as they share common spiritual roots, but the path of the Hidaya differs from that of the Kifaya in both its goal and its
method. For example:
- The aim of the Hidaya is to guide each and every
Jew towards the most perfect observance of the Law that is possible, an observance
which involves both outward thoroughness
and inner devotion, and which leads to a deep level of love of
G-d. The Kifaya goes
much further by outlining a plan for a community and a movement
of members aspiring to attain prophecy.
- The Hidaya is critical of external solitude and
withdrawal from society, but the Kifaya makes this the ultimate (if
rare) ideal practice.
- The Hidaya insists upon
moderation in asceticism, the Kifaya warns against excess yet it
still stretches its most zealous members to the very limit. The Kifaya’s perceived “elitism”
may well have been off-putting to the average Jew who would find the moderation of Ibn Paquda less
daunting.
- The Hidaya’s lasting popularity may (in part) stem
from its being easily accessible to all and because it is focussed on the individual
whereas the Suluk al-Khass of the Egyptian Pietists was also a congregational and a sectarian path at its
heart even though its members practiced extreme forms of solitude.
But perhaps the most significant
difference between the two is that the
writings of Rabbenu Abraham were little short of revolutionary in their
proposal that the Special Way of the Jewish-Sufi was the restored path of the
Sons of of the Prophets, the B’nei ha-Neviím— and that its goal was
nothing less than the training of new
prophets. Elisha Russ Fishbane writes:
...the biblical model of
Elijah and Elisha, and of the institution of the “disciples of the prophets”
more generally, served as the primary mechanism by which the pietist movement
sought both to train its disciples in the prophetic path (al-maslak al-nabawī) and, equally important,
to perpetuate itself in future generations.[7]
An anonymous member of the mediaeval
Jewish Sufi community of Rabbenu Abraham writes:
“Moses ordained that the
elite (al-khawāss)
of Israel ̣—and, in the days of Moses, all of them were of the elite—be guided
toward the path of those who experience proximity to [God], may He be exalted
...[God] originally intended that all of them become prophets, as it says “You
shall be unto Me [a kingdom of priests and a holy nation]” (Ex. 19:6). We have,
however, been promised the same [for the future]: “You shall be called priests
of the Lord” (Is. 61:6).”[8]
Our twenty-first century Tariqa Eliyahu HaNabi is devoted to
renewing the practice of the Suluk al-Khass and the
Derech HaTemimut of the Maarat HaLev in hopeful preparation for the time when that
same promise will be fulfilled.
©Nachman
Davies
Safed
Feb 2 2026
[1] See
pp204 & foll in Sufism: an introduction; Farida Khanam, Goodword Books, New Delhi, 2006
for Al-Saraj on Maqamat,see Abu Nasr al Sarraj ,Kitab al Luma’ fi’l tasawwuf, ed. R.A.Nicholson, London, 1914 (one of the earliest Sufi manuals).
[2] These included thankfulness (shukr), contentment (rida), fear (khawf ), and hope (raja)
[3] This information is presented and discussed in Sufism; Carl W.Ernst, Shambala,Boulder, 2011,p104
[4] In his Deux traités de mystique juive, Paul Fenton has identified countless borrowings from Islamic sources in the Murshid of Rabbenu David ben Joshua. He provides clear evidence from comparisons with manuscripts by Al-Hallaj, Al-Qushayri, Al-Saraj, Ibn Sina,and most especially—the lhya’ ‘ulum ad-din of Al-Ghazali, and the Ishraqi works of Suhrawardi.
[5] Islamic-Sufi sources used by Ibn Paquda include manuals by Sulami, Abu Nuaym, al Qurayshi, and al Muhasibi. See especially: D. Lobel, A Sufi-Jewish Dialogue: Philosophy and Mysticism in Bahya ibn Paquda’s Duties of the Heart ,Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2007.
[6] See Menahem Mansoor’s introduction in: The Book of Direction to the Duties of the Heart, trans Menahem Mansoor, Littman/Liverpool University,2004
[7] Russ-Fishbane
E, Russ-Fishbane, E.Judaism, Sufism, and the Pietists of Medieval
Egypt: A Study of Abraham Maimonides and His Times, OUP, 2015, p.130
[8] From
manuscript: TS Ar. 16.60a, ll. 18–19, 25–7 translated in Russ-Fishbane, p.131