The Muslim mystic who fasted in his cradle – what does a 19th century MS tell of the 13th century saint?
In this paper, the author discusses the problem of interpreting literary sources, using one specific example, namely that of a Muslim saint of the 13th century, as depicted in a 19th century manuscript. The problem is examined on three different levels: 1) the form, 2) the contents, and 3) the conte...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Donner Institute
1999-02-01
|
| Series: | Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journal.fi/scripta/article/view/67265 |
| Summary: | In this paper, the author discusses the problem of interpreting literary sources, using one specific example, namely that of a Muslim saint of the 13th century, as depicted in a 19th century manuscript. The problem is examined on three different levels: 1) the form, 2) the contents, and 3) the context. We can see that the 19th century Muslim saint does not tell so much of a 13th century saint but of the 19th century ideals — and that this statement is due to a 20th century re-reading of the sources. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 0582-3226 2343-4937 |