Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity

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The '''''Encyclopedia of the Epistles of Purity''''' {{efn|({{langx|ar|رسائل إخوان الصفا}}, Rasā'il Ikhwān al-ṣafā') also variously known as the '''''Epistles of the Brethren of Sincerity''''', '''''Epistles of the Brethren of Purity''''' and '''''Epistles of the Brethren of Purity and Loyal Friends'''''}} is an [[esoteric]] [[Islamic]] text written by an unknown group of mysterious writers called the"Having been hidden within the cloak of secrecy from its very inception, the ''Rasa'il'' have provided many points of contention and have been a constant source of dispute among both Muslim and Western scholars. The identification of the authors, or possibly one author, the place and time of writing and propagation of their works, the nature of the secret brotherhood the outer manifestation of which comprises the ''Rasa'il'' - these and many secondary questions have remained without answer." Nasr (1964), pg 25. [[Brethren of Purity]] during the [[Buyid dynasty|Buyid era]]."The work only professes to be an epitome, an outline; its authors lay claim to no originality, they only summarize what others have thought and discovered. What they do lay claim to is system and completeness. The work does profess to contain a ''systematized'', harmonious and co-ordinated view of the universe and life, its origin and destiny, formed out of many discordant, incoherent views; and it does claim to be a 'complete account of all things' - to contain, in epitome, all that was known at the time it was written.

The '''''Encyclopedia of the Epistles of Purity''''' {{efn|({{langx|ar|رسائل إخوان الصفا}}, Rasā'il Ikhwān al-ṣafā') also variously known as the '''''Epistles of the Brethren of Sincerity''''', '''''Epistles of the Brethren of Purity''''' and '''''Epistles of the Brethren of Purity and Loyal Friends'''''}} is an [[Eastern esotericism|esoteric]] [[Islamic]] text written by an unknown group of mysterious writers called the"Having been hidden within the cloak of secrecy from its very inception, the ''Rasa'il'' have provided many points of contention and have been a constant source of dispute among both Muslim and Western scholars. The identification of the authors, or possibly one author, the place and time of writing and propagation of their works, the nature of the secret brotherhood the outer manifestation of which comprises the ''Rasa'il'' - these and many secondary questions have remained without answer." Nasr (1964), pg 25. [[Brethren of Purity]] during the [[Buyid dynasty|Buyid era]]."The work only professes to be an epitome, an outline; its authors lay claim to no originality, they only summarize what others have thought and discovered. What they do lay claim to is system and completeness. The work does profess to contain a ''systematized'', harmonious and co-ordinated view of the universe and life, its origin and destiny, formed out of many discordant, incoherent views; and it does claim to be a 'complete account of all things' - to contain, in epitome, all that was known at the time it was written.

It refers to more profound and special treatises for fuller information on the several sciences it touches upon, but it does claim to touch on all sciences, all departments of knowledge, and to set forth their leading results. In effect, it is, by its own showing, a 'hand-encyclopedia of Arabian philosophy in the tenth century'. It is not easy to exaggerate the importance of this encyclopedia. Its value lies in its completeness, in its systematizing of the results of Persian study." [[Stanley Lane-Poole]] (1883), pages 190, 191. Composed of 52 [[treatise]]s, it had a great influence on later intellectual leading lights of the Muslim world"It is probable that they have influenced some of the most prominent thinkers of Islam, such as al-Ghazzali (d. 1111A.D.) and Ibn al-Arabi (d. 1240 A.D.)." van Reijn (1995), pg. "v"."The ''Rasa'il'' were widely read by most learned men of later periods, including Ibn Sina and al-Ghazzali, have continued to be read up to our own times, and have been translated into [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], and [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]. From the number of manuscripts present in various libraries in the Muslim world, it must be considered among the most popular of Islamic works on learning." Nasr (1964), pg. 36 and was transmitted as far abroad within the [[Muslim world]] as [[al-Andalus]].Van Reijn (1945), pg "v""But they produced this enormous encyclopaedia, and um, everybody read it and we know that it was widely read by mathematicians in Spain, and by philosophers in Spain. Most crucially of all, it was read by Muhyi-I-din - [[Ibn Arabi|Ibn al-Arabi]], er, the most famous [[Sufi]] that Spain produced, or indeed one of the most famous Sufis in the history of Islamic mysticism - er, he died in 1240. Er, he absorbed a lot of their ideas and he was in turn read by these ministers of the [[Nasrid dynasty|Nasrid]] monarch [[Ibn al-Khatib]], and [[Ibn al-Zamrak]], both of whom had strong, mystical tendencies." [[Robert Irwin (writer)|Robert Irwin]]; [https://web.archive.org/web/20040911040506/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/muhammad/footsteps/scripts/prog3.html "In the Footsteps of Muhammad"], [[wiktionary:transcript|transcript]] of a [[BBC]] program

It refers to more profound and special treatises for fuller information on the several sciences it touches upon, but it does claim to touch on all sciences, all departments of knowledge, and to set forth their leading results. In effect, it is, by its own showing, a 'hand-encyclopedia of Arabian philosophy in the tenth century'. It is not easy to exaggerate the importance of this encyclopedia. Its value lies in its completeness, in its systematizing of the results of Persian study." [[Stanley Lane-Poole]] (1883), pages 190, 191. Composed of 52 [[treatise]]s, it had a great influence on later intellectual leading lights of the Muslim world"It is probable that they have influenced some of the most prominent thinkers of Islam, such as al-Ghazzali (d. 1111A.D.) and Ibn al-Arabi (d. 1240 A.D.)." van Reijn (1995), pg. "v"."The ''Rasa'il'' were widely read by most learned men of later periods, including Ibn Sina and al-Ghazzali, have continued to be read up to our own times, and have been translated into [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], and [[Hindustani language|Hindustani]]. From the number of manuscripts present in various libraries in the Muslim world, it must be considered among the most popular of Islamic works on learning." Nasr (1964), pg. 36 and was transmitted as far abroad within the [[Muslim world]] as [[al-Andalus]].Van Reijn (1945), pg "v""But they produced this enormous encyclopaedia, and um, everybody read it and we know that it was widely read by mathematicians in Spain, and by philosophers in Spain. Most crucially of all, it was read by Muhyi-I-din - [[Ibn Arabi|Ibn al-Arabi]], er, the most famous [[Sufi]] that Spain produced, or indeed one of the most famous Sufis in the history of Islamic mysticism - er, he died in 1240. Er, he absorbed a lot of their ideas and he was in turn read by these ministers of the [[Nasrid dynasty|Nasrid]] monarch [[Ibn al-Khatib]], and [[Ibn al-Zamrak]], both of whom had strong, mystical tendencies." [[Robert Irwin (writer)|Robert Irwin]]; [https://web.archive.org/web/20040911040506/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/muhammad/footsteps/scripts/prog3.html "In the Footsteps of Muhammad"], [[wiktionary:transcript|transcript]] of a [[BBC]] program