SUFIISM, sT)Tlft!-iz'm (from Am snfi, mystic, clad in woolen, from /1/', wool ; less plausibly de rived from Gk. 0.0496s, sophos, wise). A coherent and organized system of Mohammedan mysticism.
Formerly Sufis were called U;-afu, 'Gnostics' or `theosophists.' To-day the most CO111111011 name is Fakirs, or Dervishes, 'the poor,' but it must be understood that not all the poor in Persia, Egypt, or Turkey, the main homes of Sufiism, are Der vishes, and that not all who are called or pretend to be Dervishes are Sufis. Aship Pasha (A.n. 1332) aptly said: "He who forsakes the world is a Dervish; he whom the world forsakes is a The origin of Sufiism is disputed. Some Sufis say that "The seeds of Sufiism were sown in the time of Adam. germed in that of Nub (Noah), budded in that of Ibrahim (Abraham), and began to develop in the time of Musa (Moses) ; reached maturity in Isa (Jesus), and produced pure wine in :Mohammed." The word Snfiism seems to have been first adopted by Abu Hashim, a Sy rian (A.n. 780). Abul Said Alm] Ehair (about 820) is mentioned as founder, while Al Ushairi (1073) states that the name was in common use about 815. Mythical tales give the origin to Rabin al Adawiyya (752), a pious woman much spoken of in Sufiism. There seems to be historic evidence to prove that, in spite of Mohammed's precautions against mysti cism, it originated with his favorite Ali. Those who maintain that Suliism has its origin in the Vedanta (q.v.) place it, of course, much further back in time. Despite certain analogues, as the Persian pir, or sage, who corresponds to the guru, or teacher, of India_ who initiates the neophyte into the esoteric mysteries, there are ma ny fundamental differences between the two systems. Max Muller (Gifford Lectures of 1892), who only knew Sufiism second hand, derives it from the Vedanta and quotes Sir William Jones, who knew less than himself, on its principal doctrines. Both overlook the fun damental difference between the two. Sufiism is radically theistic and seldom swerves far from the Koran's intense belief in the One. The Vedanta is pantheistic with occasional theistic phraseol ogy. The Sufi's are so strongly devoted to the Beloved (viz. God) that they look for Divinity everywhere and see Divinity anywhere; the su perficial observer therefore easily comes to regard the Sufis' love pantheistically, and com pares it with the Vedantic• doctrine of absolute pantheism, summed up in the phrase tat train °Si, That (the Universal Spirit) thou art.' It
may, however, be admitted that later Sufiism shows forms of expression very similar to Ve danta. but also that no historic connection has been proved. It cannot be denied that the intel lectual forms given to most of the Sufi doctrines in Persia are from foreign sources. Among his toric• forces which thus have molded Sufiism must be mentioned especially the Peripatetic philosophy, Neo-Platonism. and Zoroastrianism. The latter's formalism lent itself admirably to the Arabic intellect, and its doctrines of Light harmonized well with Suffistic ascetic notions of the One. From Greek sources came dialectics and cosmological notions. The latter, though com mon in Sufiism. are alien to its primitive nature. The Greek influence is traceable to the philoso phers, Diogenes. Hermias• Priscian, Damascius, Isidore. and Simplicius, whom .Jus tinian's intolerance drove into exile and who came to Nushirwan's court. The rich symbolism of Sadism is either of Zoroastrian origin or indigenous, except its Alexander legends.
A few really great Sufis lived before the close of the second century of the Hejira (815). Among them and those immediately after are to be mentioned the Egyptian Dhun-Xun (859). who introduced the doctrine of ecstasy and mystical stages; Sirri Sagvati (S67), who introduced unification ; Junaid ( 910 ) who reduced Sufiism to writing; and Al-Nallaj, who became famous because he went about crying "1 am the true for which he was put to death by torture (921). The Fihrist (987) represents him as a 'wily conjurer,' but Sufis consider his death the result of the workings of the occult law which brings death upon him who divulges divine secrets. Ghazali (q.v.) 01. 1111) and Jalal-ud-Din Hum' (q.v.) (d. 1273) were the two most famous Doctors in Sufiism. Omar Khayyam (d. reckoned by some as a Sufi, became known to the West through Fitz Gerald's brilliant quatrains. Nizami (q.v.l. Farid-ud-Din Attar (q.v.), Sadi (q.v.), Shamsi, Hafiz (q.v.), Anvari, Jami (q.v.), and Hatifi (q.v.) are sub-poets of renown. Jami (d. 1492) has been called the last Sufi, and with some justice. After him Sufiism slowly declined, but the nineteenth century saw its powerful revival in Turkey, though its Turkish representative names are almost unknown out side of Turkey. From Turkey and Egypt comes what may be called a Neo-Snfiism.