Awhad al-Din Kirmani and the controversy of the Sufi gaze

Awhad al-Din Kirmani was one of the greatest and most colourful Persian Sufis of the medieval period; he was celebrated in his own lifetime by a large number of like-minded followers and other Sufi masters. And yet his form of Sufism was the subject of much discussion within the Islamic world, as it elicited responses ranging from praise and commendation to reproach and contempt within a generation of his death.

This book assesses the few comments written about Kirmani by his contemporaries, and also provides a translation from his Persian hagiography which was written in the generation after his death.