The Station of Coyness and Supplication in Abū al-Ḥasan al-Kharaqānī

Abstract

This study, which is about the life and spiritual personality of Abū al-Ḥasan al-Kharaqānī (d. 425/1033), aims to reveal why he is one of the greatest figures in the history of Sufism as well as to shed light on his spiritual personality. Based on the comments of famous Sufis about his spiritual personality and the clues about the high level of his spiritual personality in his words about Sufism, it has been tried to underline his Sufi personality regarding his spiritual level. His closeness to God as a perfect Sufi at a high spiritual state, known as “the station (maqām) of coyness and supplication” in Sufism, and the nature of this spiritual rank he acquired have been tried to be revealed, based on his own words and the words of the Sufis who knew him. Coyness, which is granted to very few people in Sufism, is tried to be revealed in his ecstatic utterances (shataḥāt), which sometimes became the subject of controversy, were also examined under a separate heading. The aim of the study is to reveal the spiritual personality of Abū al-Ḥasan Kharaqānī as much as possible, who wandered in the high levels of the maqām of coyness and supplication and to try to introduce his Sufi identity.

Keywords

• al-kharaqānī
• sufism
• coyness
• supplication
• maqām