Occult Blockbusters of the Islamicate World II: Arabic and Persian
Sponsoring Organization(s)
Research Group on Manuscript Evidence; Societas Magica
Organizer Name
Matthew Melvin-Koushki
Organizer Affiliation
Univ. of South Carolina
Presider Name
Liana Saif
Presider Affiliation
Univ. of Oxford
Paper Title 1
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's Hidden Secret and Islamic Occult Soteriology
Presenter 1 Name
Michael Noble
Presenter 1 Affiliation
Warburg Institute
Paper Title 2
A Sorcerer's Handbook: Al-Sakkaki's Thirteenth-Century Complete Book
Presenter 2 Name
Emily Selove
Presenter 2 Affiliation
Univ. of Exeter
Paper Title 3
"If you don't learn alchemy, you'll learn eloquence": The Golden Slivers by Ibn Arfa‘ Ra’s
Presenter 3 Name
Nicholas G. Harris
Presenter 3 Affiliation
Univ. of Pennsylvania
Paper Title 4
Kāshifī's Qasimian Secrets: The Safavid Imperialization of a Timurid Manual of Magic
Presenter 4 Name
Matthew Melvin-Koushki
Start Date
12-5-2018 3:30 PM
Session Location
Bernhard 204
Description
The Picatrix, as is well known, was without question historically the most popular of all Arabic occult-scientific manuals—but only in Latin Europe. While the original Goal of the Sage (Ghāyat al-ḥakīm) was certainly long prized in the Islamicate world as well, other Arabic and Persian manuals came to far outstrip it in popularity and influence from the 12th century onward, and circulated over geographical areas equally vast. Due to persistent eurocentrism, however, these occult blockbusters of the Islamicate world remain virtually unknown to the scholarship on medieval and early modern Western (Islamo-Judeo-Christianate) occultism. To help rectify this gross imbalance, this panel presents four Islamicate occult-scientific manuals, three in Arabic and one in Persian, that too enjoyed blockbuster status over centuries.
Matthew Melvin-Koushki
Occult Blockbusters of the Islamicate World II: Arabic and Persian
Bernhard 204
The Picatrix, as is well known, was without question historically the most popular of all Arabic occult-scientific manuals—but only in Latin Europe. While the original Goal of the Sage (Ghāyat al-ḥakīm) was certainly long prized in the Islamicate world as well, other Arabic and Persian manuals came to far outstrip it in popularity and influence from the 12th century onward, and circulated over geographical areas equally vast. Due to persistent eurocentrism, however, these occult blockbusters of the Islamicate world remain virtually unknown to the scholarship on medieval and early modern Western (Islamo-Judeo-Christianate) occultism. To help rectify this gross imbalance, this panel presents four Islamicate occult-scientific manuals, three in Arabic and one in Persian, that too enjoyed blockbuster status over centuries.
Matthew Melvin-Koushki