ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī (Author) ʿAfīf al-Dīn al-Tilimsānī (d. 690/1291) was a North African scholar and Sufi poet who studied under the influential Andalusian mystic Ibn al-ʿArabī. He is the author of several commentaries, the most important of which is The Divine Names. Yousef Casewit (Edited and Translated by) Yousef Casewit is Associate Professor of Qurʾanic Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School. He is the author of The Mystics of al-Andalus: Ibn Barrajān and Islamic Thought in the Twelfth Century.
Al-Tilimsani’s eloquent and profound commentary on the Divine Names is a masterpiece of this important genre of Islamic theological literature, bridging theoretical and practical discussions and containing brilliant accounts of the nature of language, humanity, the cosmos, the Divine, and the various relationships amongst them. Casewit’s lucid translations convey the compelling combination of intellectual depth and aesthetic beauty that characterizes the original work. In addition to providing important contextualization for the work, Casewit’s book is the first major study of ʿAfif al-Din al-Tilimsani in English, introducing this profoundly original Sufi thinker, poet, and student of Ibn al-ʿArabi to a general audience. -- Oludamini Ogunnaike, Associate Professor of African Religious Thought, UVA The near-total neglect in modern Western scholarship of [al-Tilimsānī] is as baffling as it is regrettable. . . . With his new edition and translation of [The Divine Names], Yousef Casewit has therefore rendered a major service to the field of Islamic Studies and the broader reading public alike. * Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies *