The writings of a mystic from Tlemcen, Muhammad ibn Yusuf Sanusi

[Sanusi, Muhammad ibn Yusuf]. Kitab al-sughra fi’ al-tawhid. [The Smaller Tract on the Principles of Faith, or, The Lesser Creed].

€ 1,500.00

A theological treatise more commonly known as "Al-Sanusiyyah Al-Sughra" (The Short Version of As-Sanusiyyah) or as "Umm al-Barahin" (The Mother of All Proofs). Mohamed ibn Youssef Sanoussi (1435/36-1490) was a North African theologian who lived as a mystic in Tlemcen, Algeria. Unlike Averroes or al-Ghazali, Sanusi espoused a democratic and rational conception of theology that appealed not to the elite but to any man endowed with reason. He sought to establish practical faith through logical proof.

As stated in the colophon, the present manuscript was copied by one Ahmad ibn Ali. Recto of first leaf somewhat soiled, with later ink notes and paper repairs; the beginning of the text on the verso is only slightly affected. Light soiling and inkblots throughout, with a few marginal wormholes and dampstains. Later marginal notes; verso of f. 56 has text which is not contained in ruled margins and has thus been trimmed slightly along fore-edge.