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EARLY PHILOSOPHICAL ṢŪFISMThe Neoplatonic Thought of Ḥusayn Ibn Manṣūr al-Ḥallāğ&#160;Saer El-Jaichi, 2018&#160;This study challenges the conventional image of the tenth-century Sufi mystic Al-Husayn Ibn Manṣūr&#160;al-Ḥallāğ (d. 929) as an anti-philosophical mystic. Unlike the predominantly theological or text-historical studies which constitute much of the scholarly literature on Ḥallāğ, this study is completely philosophical in nature, placing Ḥallāğ within the tradition of Graeco-Arabic philosophy and emphasizing, in a positive light, his continuity with the pagan Neoplatonism of Plotinus and Proclus.For anyone interested in the origins of philosophical thought in Ṣūfism, who wishes to understand the vast influence that Greek philosophy has had on the development of medieval Islamic mysticism in its formative period, this study will, therefore, be essential reading. Besides calling attention to several important aspects of Ḥallāğ’s thought that have been underemphasized or neglected altogether in previous studies, this one represents the first of its kind in the exploration of Ḥallāğ as a philosopher, that is, as an exponent of metaphysical and theological ideas. That Ḥallāğ was an astonishing and admirable mystic, a great literary talent and a superb Sufi poet, is undeniable. However, the extended answer, which is my thesis, argues that all of these other facets must be understood in terms of Ḥallāğ’s being as a philosopher, namely, as a thinker incorporating Neoplatonic modes of reasoning and argumentation as a result of his immersion in the Graeco-Arabic renaissance of the ninth and tenth centuries. Thus, rather than treating him as a mystic with no interest in philosophical matters, only driven by an irrational urge to experience a super-sensible reality, this study brings to the fore the Neoplatonic logic in Ḥallāğ’s thought, providing an analytical exposition of the philosophical reasoning and conceptualization underlying his Ṣūfism.(Text by the author)&#160;Table of Contents PrefaceAbbreviations and TransliterationIntroductionMethodological considerationsThe Arabic Neoplatonic TextsStructure of the bookChapter I. God’s Unknowability:&#160;Tanzīh&#160;as Neoplatonic&#160;Via NegativaI.1 The theological debate in medieval Islam regarding the via negativa: a brief overviewI.2 The attributes of God as seen from Ḥallāğ’s perspectiveI.3 The inadequacy of human language to express GodI.4 Ḥallāğ’s&#160;via negativa&#160;and the Neoplatonic account of God’s non-beingI.5 Final remarksChapter II. The Theophanic Creator-God: The&#160;Muʿill&#160;as One and MultipleII.1 Causation as non-reciprocal dependenceII.2 Contemplation as the principal mode of creationII.3 Participation as the principle of existenceII.4 Participation in Plotinus and the APII.5 Ḥallāğ’s concept the&#160;Muʿill&#160;and Neoplatonic Self-contemplationII.5.1 God’s contemplative role in&#160;Ḥallāğ’s creation accountII.6 Is Ḥallāğ&#160;a pantheist?II.7 Final remarksChapter III. The Experience of Divine Love, Creation and CosmologyIII.1 Context: The One as source and ultimate goal of all beingsIII.2 The idea of “the Good”III.3 The final cause in the Aristotelian contextIII.4 God as a final cause in the AP and ḤallāğIII.5 Neoplatonic reversion and its repercussions in ḤallāğIII.6 Divine&#160;ʿIšq: the source, vehicle and goal of divine self-communicationIII.6.1 Text in context: the&#160;faṣl fīʾl-ʿišqIII.6.2 God’s self-identical solitudeIII.6.3 God’s eternal act of self-intellection as self-desireIII.6.4 God’s self-desire as a means of His self-communicationIII.6.5 The procession of Intellect due to God’s radiationIII.7 Final remarksChapter IV. The Neoplatonic Role of the Primordial Muḥammad in&#160;Ḥallāğ’s CosmologyIV.1 Emanation through the light of the lampIV.2&#160;Muḥammad’s primordial participation in God’s nūrIV.3 Muḥammad’s demiurgic roleIV.4 The archetypal ideal and final purpose of the cosmosIV.5 Final remarksConclusionChapter IChapter IIChapter IIIChapter IVBibliographyIndex