World Thought in Translation: Advice for Callow Jurists and Gullible Mendicants

«Advice for Callow Jurists and Gullible Mendicants on Befriending Emirs»

This mirror for princes sheds light on the relationship between spiritual and political authority in early modern Egypt

This guide to political behavior and expediency offers advice to Sufi shaykhs, or spiritual guides, on how to interact and negotiate with powerful secular officials, judges, and treasurers, or emirs. Translated into English for the first time, it is a unique account of the relationship between spiritual and political authority in late medieval / early modern Islamic society.

ʻAbd al-Wahhāb ibn Aḥmad al-Sha'rani (1493-1565 or 1566), prominent jurist and scholar of early modern Sufism, and prolific writer.

Adam Sabra is professor of history and King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud Chair in Islamic Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He lives in Goleta, CA.