About The Book

In the Islamic Sufi tradition, it is said, "Qualify yourself with the qualities of God." Compiled from classical Arabic and Turkish texts of Al-Ghazali, Ibn Arabi, Djili, and Abdul Qadir Jilani, among others, these are the divine attributes by which God manifests Himself in the world and by which He completes the spiritual life of man.

In this volume, Tosun Bayrak, a shaykh of the Jerrahi order based in Istanbul, explains how to use these Names for the transformation of the soul--"to see that the human being is the microcosm of the macrocosm where God's attributes are reflected." Sheikh Tosun describes the barrier, "they know the Name, but not the Named." How can one come to love God--without knowing Him? The Sheikh answers that we do so through knowing His Divine Qualities in our own selves. "To assume the angelic character which is innate but hidden in the human being, we have to choose from Divine Attributes as we can and try to live our daily lives according to them. Then, God willing, this effort will help our imitation become real."

The Name and the Named presents these attributes which combine in various proportions to create the universe we see before us, but these names are all contained in the Name, or word Allah. Therefore, when one repeats this Name, one participates in stating the entire manifested creation. Also included are the 201 traditional names or qualities of the Prophet Muhammad.

About The Author

Sheikh Tosun Bayrak al-Jerrahi al-Halveti (Istanbul: 1926) is an author, translator and Sufi. He served as a government official in Ankara, Honorary Consul of Turkey in Morocco and is the Sheikh of the Jerrahi-Halveti Order in America.He studied Biological Sciences at Robert College, Istanbul; Art, Architecture, and Art History in the Studios of Bernard Leger and Andre Lhote in Paris; Architecture at the University of California, Berkeley; and History of Art at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London. He received a Masters in Fine Arts from Rutgers University.

A retired professor of art and art history from Fairleigh Dickinson University, New Jersey, he has exhibited widely in the United Statesand is also a Guggenheim fellow.He retired from the art world in the 1970s and devoted his life to the study and teaching of Islam and Sufism. In 1970 Bayrak met Muzaffer Ozak Ashki al-Jerrahi who became his teacher. Bayrak is now a Sheikh of the Helveti-Jerrahi order residing near the Jerrahi Order of America mosque in Spring Valley, New York.He has been spiritual guide of the Jerrahi Order of the Americas, (the primary Western branch of the Halveti-Jerrahi Order of Dervishes) since 1977.Sheikh Tosun Bayrak has translated dozens of books on Islamic spirituality, but he is particularly known for his efforts on the works of the Sufi mystic Ibn Arabi. His translations of classic works of Sufism include Abdul Qadir Al-Jilani Secret of Secrets (Islamic Texts Society, 1992), Inspirations (Threshold Books), The Book of Sufi Chivalry (Inner Traditions, 1991), Suhrawardi: The Shape of Light (Fons Vitae, 1998), The Name and the Named: Divine Attributes of God (Fons Vitae, 2000), and Imam Birgivi The Path of Muhammad (World Wisdom, 2005).

Other interpreted and compiled works by Sheikh Tosun Bayrak include The Way of The Sufi Chivalry (Kitab al-Futtuwah by Ibn al-Husayn al-Sulami), Inner Traditions International; The Most Beautiful Names and Inspirations on the Path of Blame by Sheikh Badruddin of Simawna, Threshold Books; The Secret of Secrets: Hadrat 'Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani, The Islamic Texts Society; Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom (At-Tadbirat al-ilahiyyah fi islah al-mamlakat al-insaniyyah by Ibn 'Arabi) and The Shape of Light (Hayakal Al-Nur by Suhrawardi), both published by Fons Vitae.

William C. Chittick (Introduction) is Professor of Comparative Studies at State University of New York, Stony Brook. He has published numerous books, among them, Imaginal Worlds: Ibn al-'Arabi and the Problem of Religious Diversity; Faith and Practice of Islam: Three Thirteenth Century Sufi Texts; The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-'Arabi's Metaphysics of Imagination; The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi; and A Shi'ite Anthology, all published by SUNY Press.

Cover: Calligraphy from the shrine in Fez of the great Moroccan saint Moulay Idris, taken from a photo by Haajar Gouverneur. It says "Allah," the word in Arabic for the Name of God.