TAWBA IN THE SUFI PSYCHOLOGY OF ABU TÀLIB AL-MAKKI
Journal of Islamic Studies Advance Access published August 20, 2012 Journal of Islamic Studies (2012) pp. 1 of 31 doi:10.1093/jis/ets053 TAWBA IN THE SUFI PSYCHOLOGY OF ABU TÀLIB AL-MAKKI (d. 996) ATIF KHALIL University of Lethbridge INTRODUCTION Abü Talib al-Makki stands as one of the most influential writers of the early period of Sufism. Dhahabi (d. 1348) referred to him as a ‘leader (imam), renunciant (zahid), and enlightened one (arif ), the shaykh of the Sufis’. 1 Unfortunately, as in the case of many of the early figures associated with the Sufi tradition, very little is known about his life. 2 Insofar as its details are concerned, what we can be more or less certain of is that he was born in the Persian province of Jibal and grew up in Makka, where he studied under Ibn al-A‘rabi (d. 952), a disciple of Junayd (d. 910), as well as other Makkan masters. 3 According to Ibn 1 Shams al-Din Abü ‘Abd Allah al-Dhahabi, Siyar a'lam al-nubula (ed. Shu‘ayb A