83

Chapter 5

THE DEVELOPMENT AND SPATIAL LAYOUT OF PHYSICAL SETTINGS

other informal places or nearby mosques, from the fourth Islamic century onwards, While the mystical tradition of Islam initially flourished in private houses and early period of evolution, which is still obscure, these structures grew into durable buildingsfoundations appear and edbecame that became a characteristic the primary feature centres of associat the urbaned with and Sufism. rural Aftphysicaler an landscape. Some were large-​scale hospices, lavishly endowed by the members of the

could reside, receive their meals, and conduct their rituals. Many others were modest ruling elites of Iran and the Near East for the benefit of groups of Sufis, where they circles of disciples and typically comprising their tombs. A substantial number of works haveresidences noted andthe importancemeeting places of the built rapid by growthor for indi of vidualthe structures Sufi mast thaters gaveand materialitytheir small

recently have scholars started highlighting the temporal and regional variations of this processto the Islamic and the spiritual range oftr aditionfunctions and and inscribed designations Sufi religiosity of different in space. physical Ho wever,settings, onl asy 1 The construction and diffusion of spiritual and charismatic authority in the medieval well as the changes in their characteristic features over time.

Syrian milieu were never confined to any single type of physical setting or pious disciplesfoundation. constructed Instead, the their life identities stories of andthis loyaltiesbook’s subjects around ofta particularen demonstrate training that master such shapingregardless took of placehis place wherever of residence. the revered Nor Sufidid mastthe cosmopolitaners sat amid his world adher whereents. Asmasters such, and companions travelled from one place to another—visiting​ each other, forging and maintaining ties that cut across geographical and political boundaries—​fade away

country helped entrench the masters who presided over them in their regional and local altogether. However, the proliferation of Sufi structures of various types across the

1 Examples are the contributions made by Nathan Hofer and Ethel Sara Wolper. Focusing on Egypt

founded in the country according to the functions and relational structures that occurred within theduring buildings the A yyubidrather thanand theear lyterms Mamlu usedk periodsto denote (1173– them: 1325),​Hofer, PopularizationHofer typifies ofthe Sufism Sufi , structurespeciallyes tekkes or zāwiyas—​in Anatolia from the mid thirteenth to the mid fourteenth century, shows how their structural and36, 51–spatial54.​ Warrangementsolper, studying served the pra oliferationwide range of ofdervish functional lodges— designations:​called Ethel Sara Wolper, Cities and Saints: Sufism and the Transformation of Urban Space in Medieval Anatolia (University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2003), 25–32.​ See also Ephrat, Spiritual Wayfarers, zāwiya that was

115–16,​ for the changes in the character and functions of the Sufi structure called founded in Ayyubid and Mamluk Jerusalem and the flexibility with which the term was used. 84

84 emplacements of Authority and Holiness settings and furthered the concentration of authority in their hands. A process of local

and gained momentum in the course of the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries. embedment, described in the first chapter of this book, began in the mid-​twelfth century

environmentThe spher createde dominat undered b ythe the Zangids, revered Ayyubids, Sufi mast ersand e earlyvolved Mamluks relatively and apart the fr supportom the official sphere governed by members of the ruling elites—e​ ven though the favourable this process. These masters of spiritual paths—sometimes​ settled, more frequently grantedimmigrants— to Sufi​established shaykhs ofthemsel recognizedves in particularvirtues and localities, social standingformed groups played of adisciples role in and companions and along the way won over the hearts of both the local population and members of the ruling elites. In view of their growing popularity in the public sphere and as a testimony to their religious piety, sultans, princes, provincial governors, and other wealthy patrons, including women of the royal families, applied the law of the pious endowment, the waqf 2 This interplay of internal dynamics and patronage by the powerful and wealthy became apparent in Syria from the Zangid period onwards., to build and support Sufi structures.

The second half of the twelfth century marked the beginning of patronage of Sufis and Sufi structures by the political rulers of Syria. Nūr al-​Dīn was the first sovereign to mastprovideers theand Sufis ensured who their came upkeep under withhis rule— regular​both revenues. natives andThe newstorycomers— about thewith​ house mor heal and material support. He enlarged the dwelling and gathering places of individual Sufi that assured the maintenance of the complex of the small mosque and lodge comes tobought mind f.or3 the venerated Shaykh Arslān al-​Dimashqī and its endowment with incomes called khānqāh The Ayyubids In addition and t oMamluks supporting followed individual the leadSufi shaof theykhs, Zangi Nūr sovereign,al-​Dīn built and hospices, under their rule state-s,​founded and endo andwed funded them establishmentsliberally for the knownbenefit as of khānqāhdifferents, Sufi as well groups. as less

of the khānqāh changed as well: while the early khānqāhs in the Ayyubid and Mamluk official, privately sponsored Sufi structures, became increasingly common. The functions the later foundations often also served as centres of legal education, in much the same waysultanates that madrasa were placess did. f orConstituting the instruction a marker of Sufism of the de rapprochementvoted exclusively between to housing mystical Sufis,

establishments founded in Cairo and the Syrian principal cities ruled by the Mamluks wasand sojuristic complete Islam that,, the byfusion the endof educationalof the Mamluk and period, devotional it had acti becomevities inincreasingly the royal

2

For a somewhat different interpretation of this dynamic, see Ovamid Anjum’s argument that the development of Sufi institutions which enjoyed lavish endowments from Mamluk patrons servGovernmentality,”ed to accelerate in Sufismthe change and Society: from the Arrangements fluidity of theof the ear Mysticallier mystical in the wMuslimayfarers World to the, ed. mor Johne structured, authoritarian, master–dis​ ciple relationship. Ovamid Anjum, “Medieval Authority and 3 J. Curry and Erik S. Ohlander (Abingdon: Routledge, 2012), 80–81.​ See the first story cited in Chapter 1. 85

85 Development and Layout

madrasa, khānqāh, and difficultosometimes t distinguishjāmiʿ (congregational the establishments mosque) arethat often support useded interchangeably. the activities of4 the mystics from those that provided for the jurists. Similarly, the terms endowments of khānqāhs was a clear indication of their recognition as disseminators of the messagePatronage of Islamof Sufis alongside by members the leaders of the of theruling traditional elites thr legalough schools. the f oundationBeginning withand

sunna, as part of their thepublic Great policy Seljuk of spatronizing in the mid-​ele Sunniventh scholarship century, the in new exchange alien elit fores ideological supported support. mainstr eamThe khānqāhSufism, thor thusoughly functioned grounded as an in ideological the Qurʾan branch and the of prtheophetic state apparatus, in the sense

endowing rulers as supporters and defenders of Islam. Funded by endowment trusts that the Sufis who lived there wittingly or unwittingly participated in legitimizing the the khānqāh might have been used as another instrument of public policy to bolster the forrulers’ the prestige.benefit of5 Atleg thealist same Sufis time, and asguar in diansthe cases of faith of other and housedcharitable in gfoundationslorious buildings, in the public sphere, such as mosques, madrasas, and shrines, the foundation of khānqāhs was considered an act of piety, one that could have established a bond of shared values

even outright legitimized the rule of the royal donor. Architectural patronage of khānqāh, likebetween that ofthe other rulers pious and establishments,the beneficiaries may and thusgener alsoate publicbe seen opinion as a means that condonedof acquiring or cultural capital by the possessors of political and economic capital. The formal institutional structure of the khānqāh, however, could hardly contain the activities and energy of the growing numbers of medieval Muslim men and women

mode of life to avoid the patronage of the ruling elite and distance themselves from an whoestablishment self-​identifie thatd aswas Sufis. founded No less by important the powerful was theand wish wealthy of Sufis and pursuing closely associated an ascetic

their disciples continued to gather in mosques and private homes. Alternatively, they with the official sphere. It is no wonder, then, that informal groups of Sufi masters and

4 For examples of this blending in Mamluk Cairo, see Jonathan Berkey, The Transmission of Knowledge in Medieval Cairo: A Social History of Islamic Education (Princeton: Princeton University

al-​Tarbiya al-ʿA​ rabiyya al-Islāmi​ yya (Amman: n.p., Press, 1992), 47–50​ , 56–60.​ On this subject generTheally, Evolution see Muḥammad of a Sufi Muḥam Institution:mad Amīn, The “al-Khanqah​Awqāf wal-​taʿlīm fī Miṣr fī zamān al-​Ayyūbiyyīn,” in 1990),development 3:817– of​18; the and Egyptian Leonor khānqāh E. Fernandes, as a multipurpose foundation are germane for the Syrian (Berlin: Schwarts, 1988), 20, 33, 39–41.​ Fernandes’ observations concerning the stages inW aqfthe, Education and Politics region, although these changes began earlier in Syria than in Egypt. On which, see Mahamid, 5 For the political claims that motivated the construction and endowment of institutions , 208–9.​ The Politics of Knowledge in Pre-​modern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina of religious learning, see especially Omid Safi, in Medieval Islamic Society: The Development of Institutions of Learning from the Tenth to the Press,Fifteenth 2006), Century,” xxv, xxix Studies–​xxx, in 4– Society​5, 96– and97;​ Historyand Said Amir Arjomand, “The Law, Agency, and Polity

41 (1999): 263–92.​ 86

86 emplacements of Authority and Holiness

mostly as a zāwiya and sometimes as a ribāṭ. Apparently, this was the tendency in medievalwould congr Syriaegate beginning in the much in the mor Zangide modest period. and less organized Sufi foundation known

fromWhatever the outset the between terms used the tkhānqāho denote and the thefoundations zāwiya. Unlikeassociat theed legallywith Sufism, established their khānqāhpatterns of development, and their changing functions, a significant distinction existed supervision, the zāwiya was the dominion of an individual shaykh and his successors designed by its founders and patrons to serve a group ofzāwiya Sufis was under founded their on the private initiative of the shaykh who presided over it. The shaykh, or one of his associates,and was consist builtently or bought associat a buildinged with forits firstthe purpose shaykh. Tofypically, living and the providing a space for his spiritual guidance. In these cases, the shaykh and his successors were often buried in or near their home zāwiya. The hereditary lodge became6 common in the Syrian milieu from the thirteenth zāwiya on the outskirts

century onwards. Such, as we have seen, 7w Moreover,as the Yūnusiyya even when sultans and other powerfulof Damascus and that wealthy was headed patrons b ystarted the sons to ofbuild its f ounder,or fund Sha zāwiyaykh Ys,ūnus the ibnendowment Yūsuf al- ​ forShibānī, the waqfafter of his the death zāwiya (in was 619/ of1222).​ a personal nature in that it was dedicated by a

particular benefactor to a particular beneficiary and, after his death, to his heirs. In thrthisoughout respect Egyptwe mig andht consider Syria. He Sultan dedicated al-​Nāṣir a waqfMuḥammad ibn Qalāwūn (r. 1293–94,​ 1299–(d. 710/1309,​ 1310)​ 1310– and41),​ his w sonsho w asand kno evenwn aspurchased an enthusiastic houses supporaroundter his of zāwiyathe Sufis to accommodate disciples and guests. This type of zāwiya to Sha, involvingykh ʿUthmān the patronage al-​Dīn R ūmīof a particular shaykh, which became commonplace8 in late Mamluk Egypt, can be traced back to the Ayyubid era in Syria.9 Provincial governors and military commanders (amīrs) who rose to power in the politically disintegrated Syrian Ayyubid domain probably sought to secure their properties as well as to acquire status and spiritual

benefita characteristic by dedicating feature buildings of the entirefor mast Syrianers of landscape,the spiritual paths. alongside other old and new By the close of the thirteenth century, Sufi structures of various types had become

6 Éric Geoffroy makes these observations about the zāwiyas that were founded in Syria and Egypt in the late Mamluk period: Geoffroy, Le Soufisme the zāwiya and the khānqāh Islamic, 168.Studies For Presented the fundamental to Charles diff J. erenceAdams, betwed. Waeleen as developed in Egypt, see Donald P. Little, “TheThe NaturEvolutione of Khānqāhs,of the Sufi InstitutionRibāṭs, and Zāwiyas under the Mamlūks,” in Hallaq and Donald P. Little (Leiden: Brill, 1991), 93–96;​ and Fernandes, 7 See Chapter 1, p. 22. , 16–​32. 8 al-Dāris​ 9 For the establishment and proliferation of zāwiyas of this type across Mamluk Egypt, especially al-​Nuʿaymī, , 2:202. in Cairo, see Hofer, Popularization of Sufism

, 52–​53. 87

87 Development and Layout pious foundations, contributing to anchoring Islamic presence and asserting its political and cultural dominance over the land.10 Apparent in the Jerusalem area following the

restoration of Islamic rule in the city in 1187, the significance of the proliferation of

foundations specifically associated with Sufism11 both to deepening the Islamization of space and to the creation of new Islamic spaces dominated by the Sufis became evident inother areas of Bilād al-​Shām areas as well. The Andalusian traveller Ibn Jubayr, travelling to Syria from Iraq and the East in 580/​ describes1184, provides the buildings us with (calledan early, ribāṭ first-s inhand​ this t estimonydescription) of thethat visibi stoodlity in of the the great buildings cities thatof Mosul, housed Aleppo, the Sufis and Damascus,and the aur anda of along religious the transportationdomination and routes piety connecting they evoked. them, He al-ṭ​āʾifa al-ṣūfi​ yya) dwelling in them as “kings of this land.” In the mind of the famous traveller, this was as magnificent royal palaces, and the affiliates to the Sufi group ( them inhabit places that resembled heaven on earth.12 becauseDrawing God hadon selectedallotted totestimonies the Sufis the by harv contemporaryest of this earth and and later its surplus,historians ha vingand geographers, the following discussion centres on the patterns of development and

and their suburban districts from the mid-​twelfth to the mid-​fourteenth century. spatial expansion of Sufi structures in the major cities of Damascus and Aleppo

Such an examination will serve to cast light on the affinity between their character, location,centre of andhis spherefunctional of domination and symbolic and designations. as a social space Mor efor specificall the visibley, it manifestation will advance anof understandinghis authority and of venerationthe evolution that of will the belodge discussed of the inSufi the mast followinger and chapter.God’s Friend as the

10 For a study that offers insightful observations on the landscape as a fundamental ingredient

Hayden, The Power of Place: Urban Landscapes as Public History (Cambridge: Cambridge University in creating, transforming, and projecting cultural dominance and political hegemony, see Dolores to the social, political, and sensual-e​xperimental dimensions involved in the process of the productionPress, 1985). and Her transformation discussion of of“the the sense historic of placecultural and landscape the politics and of emphasizes space” (pp. the15– relationship20)​ points of scholarship on landscape history to work on cultural identity. 11 and early Mamluk periods, see Nimrod Luz, “Aspects of Islamisation of Space and Society in MamlukOn the Jerusalem significa nceand of its Sufi Hinterland,” structures Mamluk to the Islamization Studies Review of the Jerusalem area in the Ayyubid

and Early Mamluk Jerusalem,” in Conversion, Sufism, Revival and Reform 6 (2002): in Islam:133– Essa54;​ ysNimr in Memoryod Luz, of“Sufi Nehemia Brotherhoods Levtzion in the Urban Landscape: Islamisation and Religious Radicalization in Ayyubid

the Sacred Geography, ed.of BilādAharon al- La​Shāmyish: A(T elChapter Aviv: in Van the Leer Islamisation Jerusalem of Institut Syria’se/ Landscape,”​Hakkibbutz HameuchadJerusalem Studies Publishing in Arabic House, and Islam2012) 25, 178– (2001):206​ 153–(in Hebr70,​ onew). the See int ensivealso Y . and Frenkel, deliberate “Baybars policy and of

of the thirteenth century. Islamization of the landscape initiated by the Mamluk sultan al-​Ẓāhir al-​Baybars in the second half 12 Ibn Jubayr, Riḥla Ibn Jubayr

(Beirut: n.p., 1984), 256–​57. 88

88 emplacements of Authority and Holiness A View from Damascus Damascus of the Ayyubid and early Mamluk periods offers an obvious focal point for

spheres. During these periods, the city re-​ascended as a prime Islamic centre, the studying the relationship of the historical conditions to the creation of Sufi-​dominated

politicalof operation. rulers Henri granted Pouzet the providedSufis unpr aecedented comprehensive support survey, the buildingof individuals of Sufi and structur variouses accelerated, and increasing numbers of Sufis adopted the major Syrian city as their centre in the city and its environs during the thirteenth century, and who were incorporated as agroups vital component of mystics, ofascetics, religious and life ho andly men structure. with affiliation13 Still, questions to spiritual remain paths regarding who settled the dynamics and variations of this process and its tangible material manifestations in the

The primary source on the development of pious foundations of various types in medievalphysical en Damascusvironment is and al-Dāris​ sacred fī ttaʾrīkhopography al-madāris​ of the city.

khānqāh bs,y ribāṭthe fifts, eenth-and zāwiyas​century — hist​stoodorian in ofand Dama aroundscus, the ʿA citybd al- by​Qādir the mid- al-​Nuʿa​fourteenthymī. According century. 14to More the ethanxtensive three- list​quart he ersprovides, of the fphysicalorty-​nine structures Sufi structur for es—which​variously we can called determine the period of foundation (listed in Table 1) made their appearance in Ayyubid and early Mamluk times (i.e. around the end

the overall increase in their number that they had become an integral part of the urban of the third reign of the Mamluk sultan Naṣīr al-​Dīn Muḥammad, d. 741/1340).​ Such was

fabric of Damascus and the countryside surrounding the city. Several structures housing Sufi masters and some of their. Accounts disciples of or the built history by a wofealthy this khānqāh patron for the benefit of a group of Sufis predate the Ayyubid period. Among them, we find the hospice called the Sumaysāṭiyya Khānqāh well illustrate the role and ramifications of the support granted to Sufidynamic mast ofers the by transformation the rulers of Damascus of a modest and lodge, the changes independently that som ownedetimes and occurr operated,ed in the character of the Sufi foundation. More specifically, the accounts demonstrate the ḥadīth scholar and astronomer whose ancestors (or he into a state-​endowed foundation. The beginning of the Sumaysāṭiyya was due to Shaykh EʿAlīuphrates, al-​Suma inysāṭī Anatolia). (d. 453/ 1061),​Establishing a himself in the city, he bought a building, in the himself) came to Damascus from the ancient city of Somosata (Sumaysāṭ; on the upper

vicinity of the Great Mosque, that was formerly15 In the thecourse palace of the of thesubsequent Umayyad two caliph centuries, ʿUmar ibn ʿAbd al-​ʿAzīz ibn Marwān (r. 717–20).​ He was buried in this house, which he left as an endowment for use by his Sufi disciples. the Sumaysāṭiyya would become one of the most significant Sufi establishments in Syria 13 Pouzet, Damas La Principauté ayyubide d’Alep, 419–22.​ , 207–43.​ On a similar trend in Ayyubid Aleppo, see Eddé, 14 al-Dāris​ , 2:141–205​ . 15 al-Dāris​ al-​Bidāya al-​Nuʿaymī, al-​Nuʿaymī, , 2:151–53;​ and Ibn Kathīr, , 12:363. 89

89 Development and Layout Khānqāhs, zāwiyas, and ribāṭs founded in Damascus up to the mid-f​ourteenth century. Table 1. Period of Inside the Outside the Outskirts al-​Ṣāliḥiyya Total establishment city walls city walls, of (Mt. Qāsyūn) close to the Damascus gates and cemeteries Z = 2 2 Zangid period Before the Seljuk/​ Zangid period K = 2 (1154–74)​ K = 2 R = 1 R = 1 6 Ayyubid period Z = 2 Z = 1 Z = 3 22 K = 1 K = 3 K = 2 K = 2 Z = 6 (1174–1260)​ R = 2 Early Mamluk Z = 2 Z = 3 Z = 1 Z = 4 period K = 1 K = 1 K = 1 K = 1 16 R = 1 R = 1 Exact period K = 1 K = 1 3 (1260–1350)​ unknown Total 17 10 14 49 R = 1 Key: Z: zāwiya ribāṭ; K: khānqāh. 8 ; R:

scholarsespecially coming after wfromealthy eastern Ayyubid Iran and and Mamluk Baghdad. officials The prestige dedicat anded larimportancege endowments of the for its maintenancekhānq āhand were upk eepsuch and that f orits lodgingsshaykhs heldfor a the succession formal position of foreign of shaykhSufis and al- ​ shuyūkh Sumaysāṭiyya in the lat (lite eleventh., master century of the mast as parters; ofi.e. the the bureaucratization chief Sufi). Nūr al- ​Dīnof the was learned the first society to establish in the city.in Syria the prestigious stipendiary position that had been instituted in Seljuk Bagdad 16 eTh sultan appointed ʿImād al-​Dīn ʿUmar al-​Ḥamawayh (d. 563/1167),​ a Khurasani shaykh and one of the senior Sufi masters of the time, askhānq supervisorāh of all Sufi affairs and establishments in the major Syrian cities, including Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, Hama, and Baalbek, and located the office in the Sumaysāṭi in Damascus. The office would stay within ʿImād al-​Dīn’s family for another three generations and become one of the more prestigious and influential offices in Ayyubid and early Mamluk Syria, carrying a substantial stipend and wielding influence with the ruling elites. Usually, the sultan

16 shaykh al-shu​ yūkh in Baghdad and its adoption by the ruler of

1173–On1325,​ the cr” eationJournal of of the Sufi office Studies of Damascus, see Nathan Hofer, “The Origins and Development of the office of the ‘Chief Sufi’ in Egypt, 3 (2014): 8–9.​ 90

90 emplacements of Authority and Holiness himself appointed the shaykh al-​shuyūkh; less frequently, his delegate in the region (the governor) was in charge.17 Accounts of the khānqāhs, ribāṭs, and zāwiyās founded in Damascus during the period covered here bring to light the distinctions between their patterns of development and spatial layout. Several large-​scale sponsored khānqhās were founded by members of the ruling classes inside the city and others outside its walls. It is noteworthy that already under the Zangids, khānqhās were often located in the heart of old Damascus, neighbouring the Umayyad Mosque and the citadel. The religious and political centrality of this area can hardly be overestimated. Examples of prestigious khānqhā

s founded there include al-​Najmiyya west Although of the Gr noeat deedsMosque, of al-endowment​Andalusiyya, or remnantsdedicated haveto western survived Sufi that immigr mightants have and allowed situat18ed us nor toth reconstruct of the mosque, the and al-​Shihābiyya inside al-​Faraj Gate, north of the citadel.

dimensions and architectural structure of these Sufi establishments, we may surmise thatpurchase regardless expensive of the lands density in the of proximity the area, ofthe the buildings Great Mosque. were sufficiently spacious to houseNoticeable groups ofalready Sufis. during Moreover, the Zangid naturally, reign, onl they people foundation of means of endowed and statur khānqāhe coulds in the hinterland of old Damascus became increasingly apparent under their successors.19

Damascus from the south and west, with plenty of water for daily use and agriculture. Channels and branches of the Baradā river supplied the oasis of al-​Ghūṭa, surrounding as al-​Sharafayn (the upper and the lower), members of the ruling elite dedicated vast landsIn the asfertile waqf and open spaces that extend between the old city and Mt. Qāsyūn, known palaces, orchards, and promenades (mutanazzahāt).20 Later historians of Damascus for the foundation of Sufi establishments and situated them close to their

itsdepict places the f orbeaut promenading,y of the landscape leisure, and of amusement,al-​Sharafayn. as ʿA wellbdallāh as its A religiousbū l-​Baqāʾ institutions al-​Badrī, writing in the late fifteenth century, extols the merits of each part of al-​Sharafayn, with

17 al-Dāris​ of the shaykhs of the khānqāh were documented in a voluminous work completed in the early On the shaykhs of the Sumaysāṭiyya, see al-​Nuʿaymī, , 2:151, 161. The appointments Ṣubḥ al-aʿshā​ fī ṣināʿat al-inshā​ fourteenth409–15.​ century by the Egyptian writer and scribe of the scroll in the Mamluk chancery Aḥmad ibn ʿAlī al-​Qalqashandī. Al-​Qalqashandī, (Beirut: n.p., 1987), 12:101–3,​ 18 khānqhā al-​Dāris 19 For more on the location of khānqāhs in Damascus under the Zangid, Ayyubid and early On these s, see al-​Nuʿaymī, , 2:141, 161–62,​ 174–77.​ Journal of the Royal Asian Society 25 Mamluks, see Daphna Ephrat and Hatim Mahamid, “The Creation of Sufi Spheres in Medieval Damascus (Mid-​6th/​12th to Mid-​8th/​14th Centuries),” 20 (January 2015): 189–209.​ On the development of a unique recreational culture in this part of al-​Ghūṭa during the (d.medie 1135/val ​1740),and Ott” omanBulletin periods, d’études see orientales Georgina Hafteh, “The Garden Culture of Damascus: New Observations Based on the Accounts of ʿAbd Allāh al-​Badrī (d. 894/189)​ and Ibn Kannān al-​Ṣāīlḥī 61 (December 2012): 297–325.​ See also Mouton, 91

91 Development and Layout with their bountiful endowments and beautiful landscaping.21 About 200 years later, Ibn

in al-​Sharafayn, as well as several palaces.”22 Kannān al-​Ṣālīḥī, writkhānqes, “Oneāhs can, both find in plenty Damascus of domiciles and outside and or itschards walls, f orwere promenades often set close to madrasas of the same endowers and were named after them. The choice of their Significantly, the members of the royal families and the ruling elite as benefactors of pious establishments location was not simply a mattkhānqerāh of, forspatial instance, proximity. was founded It signified by thethe Ayyubidpiety and princess role of

madrof all asatypes. Al-​Ḥusāmiyya 23 khānqāh beside Sitt al-​Shām in madrmemoryasa of her son Ḥusām al-​Dīn ibn Lājīn, and located beside her —​al-​Shāmiyya al-​Barr24 andāniyya. al-​Shibli Otheryya e khānqāhxamples oppositeare the Khātūn the Shibliyya madrasa theof the Khātūni same yyadonor, the amīr, which was endowed by Khātūn bint Muʿīn,25 wife of Sultan Nūr al-​DīnAs (andfor the lat erribāṭ of Saladin),s of Damascus, although there are no details of the activities that took place in them, it seems Shibl that, al- apart​Dawla from Kāfūr being (d. 623/ a centre​1226). for whoever sought the shaykh’s guidance, they served as a hostel providing food and shelter for foreigners Frequently, ribāṭs were founded by members of the ruling elite and located inside the26 city gates along the main roads toand serve devout newcomers poor people— and residents.​Sufi and Suchnon-​Sufi was alik thee. ribāṭ ribāṭ al-​Bayānī. Built by Nūr al-​Dīn andstraight named road aft acrosser its oldsha Damascusykh Muḥa.mmad27 Abū l-​Bayān, the al-​Bayānī stood in the neigAlreadyhbourhood in Ayyubidof Darb al-times,​Ḥajar ,some inside of Bāb the Shar state-qī (the​founded city ’sand east endowedern gate), ribāṭnears the of

sciences, especially for the teaching of ḥadīth. Damascus began housing both Sufi rituals and classes28 ribāṭ in andthe rlatereligious functioned and traditional also a centre for the teaching and transmission of ḥadīth (dār Thus, al-​ḥadīth for ),e xample,as well as al- a ​Nāṣirmadrasaiyya. al-​Barrāniyya (founded in 654/1256)​ began as a

Damas, 12–15,​ on the richness of the gardens and verges of this area where notables purchased

21 Nuzhat al-​anām fī maḥāsin al-​shām lands, and the fertile countryside and abode of the rural population of al-​Ghūṭa. 22 al-Ma​ wākib al-​islāmiyya fī l-​mamālik wal-maḥāsin​ ʿAbdallāh Abū a-​Baqāʾ al-​Badrī, (Beirut: n.p., 1980), 41–50.​ al-shāmi​ yya Muḥammad ibn Kannān al-​Ṣālīḥī, 23 al-Dāris​ , 2:143–44.​ (Damascus: n.p., 1992), 1:205. 24 al-Dāris​ Al-​Nuʿaymī, 25 al-​Dāris al-Bidā​ ya Al-​Nuʿaymī, , 1:503, 507–8,​ 2:144–46.​ 26 ribaṭ Al-​Nuʿaymī, , 2:136, 1:531–32;​ Ibn Kathīr, , 13:105–6.​ al-​Awqāf wa-ḥa​ yat al-​ijtimāʿiyya fī Miṣr 648–​923/​ 1250–On​1517 the term and the designation of the foundation as a place of refuge for Sufis or non-​Sufi poor in Mamluk Egypt, see Muḥammad Amīn, 27 ribāṭ, see Chapter 1, p. 21. (Cairo: Dār al-​Nahda, 1980), 111. 28 For a list of the individuals appointed to teach in the ribāṭ and holding the endowed position of On Abū l-​Bayān and the foundation of his the mashaykha al-​Dāris, 1:117, 119–22.​

, see al-​Nuʿaymī, 92

92 emplacements of Authority and Holiness Concurrently it became common for the endowment of the khānqāh to make provision

schools that were normally held in the college of law, or for madrasa forprovide the supporta setting offor lessons their rituals. in Islamic jurisprudence according to one or more legal The term zāwiya could signify a particular corner in a large mosque,s to house but Sufis in andthe Ayyubid and Mamluk periods, it often referred to a small mosque or independent building that served as a residence of a shaykh and some of his disciples and as a forum for holding teaching sessions and gatherings. Such physical structures made their early appearance in Damascus in the vicinity of the Umayyad mosque and soon developed in the residential quarters inside the city and outside its walls (see Table 1 and Figure 4 below). Some ascetics coming from foreign Muslim lands settled in the city quarters not far from the gates and the Great Mosque.29 whose home zāwiya the Egyptian ascetic (al-z​ āhid al-​qudwa Examples are the Egyptian Ṭayy al-​Maṣrī, zāwiya stood near Bāb al-​Salām, northeast of the Umayyad30 mosque;zāwiya ands, outside old Damascus, stood close to large) mosquesBahā al- ​Dīnand mainHārūn cemeteries. al-​Marāgī, Examples master of are a that stood in the al-​Ṣāgha al-​ʿAtīqa quarter south of the mosque. Other

the lodge near Jarrāḥ mosque, in the vicinity of Bāb al-​Ṣaghīr cemetery (the Cemetery of

the Small Gate), the one near Tankiz mosque, west of Bāb al-​Naṣr in the31 vicinity of the Ṣūfiyya cemetery (the Cemetery of the Sufis), or the one near al-​Tawba mosque, in the vicinityburied— ofcompanions​ al-​Daḥdāḥ cemet (ṣaḥabaery,) andnorth relatives of Bāb al- of ​Fthearādīs Prophet, (Figure 4 leaders, belo w).warriors, Regular scholars, visits to the Damascene cemeteries where venerated figures were (or were believed to be)32

and God’s Friends—w​ ere probably a strong motive of Sufi33 shaykhs to settle near them. One of these was Shaykh Shams al-​Dīn al-​Salsabīlī al-​Maṣrī (d. 770/​1368) who directed hisas ast piouseps to act,the cemetalone eryor withof Bāb one’s al-​Ṣag disciples,hīr every in Satur a zāwiyaday. near a cemetery or even in the Nograveyard less significant itself. In seemsthis respect, to be thewe wishmay considerto be secluded the shaykhs and cut of offthe frantinomianom others

the thirteenth century as a manifestation of their aspiration for extreme poverty. Qalandariyya who took up residence in the Bāb al-​Ṣaghīr cemetery in the second half of

29 In this regard, George Maqdisi observed that zāwiyas developed near the large mosques of khān (hostel) and ribāṭ developed in Iraq and the East. See George Makdisi, The Rise of Colleges: Institutions of SyriaLearning and inEgypt Islam to and serv thee the West Sufi shaykhs and their followers in the same way that the 30 zāwiya al-Dur​ ar, (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1981), 20–22, 33–​ 34.​ al-Bidā​ ya, 14:344. On these s, see al-​Nuʿaymī, 2:203, 204–5;​ on al-​Marāghī, see Ibn Ḥajar, 31 al-​Dāris 4:389–99;​ Ibn Kathīr, 32 For these and other examples, see al-​Nuʿaymī, , 2:167, 204, 209–12.​ Nuzhat al-​anām For a description of BābRiḥlat al- ibn​Ṣag Baṭṭūṭahīr and other cemeteries around Damascus as objects of pious visits, see al-​Badrī, , 221–25,​ and the account of the famous traveler Muḥammad 33 al-​Dāris ibn Ibrāhīm ibn Baṭṭūṭa, (Beirut: Dār Ṣadr, 1992), 97–99.​ Al-​Nuʿaymī, , 2:162. 93

93 Development and Layout

Damascus. (Drawn by the author.) Figure 4. The spatial layout of Sufi establishments in mid-​fourteenth-​century

Several other zāwiya

and ascetic groups accuseds st ofood deviant west of practices old Damascus. and heretic In the beliefs rural landscapeerected their of al- lodges.​Ghūṭa,34 far from public spheres and outside of the established social order, some antinomian Sufi

1257),The examples with their of the conical followers caps of ( ṭarāṭīrthe Ḥarīri) andyya shaved and the beards, mendicants they wereof the condemned Qalandariyya– by ​ Ḥaydariyya come to mind. It is related that when the latter entered Damascus (in 655/​

34 See about these zāwiya al-​Dāris, 2:197–99,​ 212, 213–17.​

s, al-​Nuʿaymī, 94

94 emplacements of Authority and Holiness the public for violating the established norms, and they eventually left the city to follow 35 zāwiya their shaykh, Ḥaydar. of DamascusEvene mor (Figure conspicuous 4). Nearly was half the of concentr the zāwiyaations established of Sufi structur in Damascuses of the up to the type in the area of Mt. Qāsyūn and the quarter of Ṣāliḥiyya in the northern suburbs

mid-century​fourteenth. century clustered in the mount and the Ṣāliḥiyya which was founded by Ḥanbalī36 religious scholars who migrated from Palestine toz Sāwiyayria in the mid-​twelfth Most of these Sufi structures seem to have developed independently of the

financial support of the rulers. These included the Armawī (north of37 Rawḍa cemetery), the Dāwūdiyya and ʿImādiyya–​Maqdisiyya (on the mount), the Qawāmiyya Bālisiseekingyya to (w beest near of Mtits .sacred Qāsyūn sites. on the In his bank Kitāb of theal-ishār​ Yazīdāt ri fīver), maʿrifat and al-manzi​ yārāty others., perhaps the The holiness of Mt. Qāsyūn probably drew many ascetics, both locals and newcomers,

first guide for pilgrimage sites in Syria, the famous scholar and traveller ʿAlī ibn Abī Bakr al-​Harawī (d. 611/​1215) mentions three holy sanctuaries in Mt. Qāsyūn: Maghārat al-​ Damprophets (the areGrotto said of to Blood) have starvedin which to Cain death. is said to have killed Abel; Maghārat Ādam (the Grotto of Adam) in which he lived; and Magharat38 al-​Jūʿ (the Cave of Hunger), wheremawḍi forty al-dam​ ), his prayer and supplication will not Ibn fail.” al-​Ḥa39wrānī writes about the merits of Mt. Qāsyūn and its pilgrimage sites, saying, “Whoever comes to the site of blood ( it and visit there the ancient sites because of the presence Yūsuf of ibn the al- prophets,​Hādī (919/ the 1503),​saints author(awliyāʾ of the first historical work devotedulamāʾ to), the and Ṣāliḥi beforeyya, that writ thees, presence “Travellers of the frequent burial places of the prophets.”40 At the) and same the time,scholars during of religion the Crusader (ʿ and Ayyubid periods, the mount and the

Ṣāliḥiyya served as a secure refuge from political upheavals as well as an arena for a

35 al-Dāris​ 36 Dynamism in the Urban Society of Al-​Nuʿaymī, , 2:212. Damascus: The Ṣāliḥiyya Quarter from the Twelfth to the Twentieth Centuries (Leiden: Brill, 2015), chap.On 1. the early history of the Ṣāliḥiyya, see Toru Miura, 37 al-Dāris​ account of the many great zāwiya wa-bihā​ al-z​ awāya al-​mufakhkhama) in his al-Ma​ Forwākib details, al-islāmi​ see Al-yya​Nuʿaymī, , 2:196–97,​ 201–2,​ 205–6,​ 208. See also Ibn Kannān’s s in al-​Ṣāliḥiyya ( 38 A Lonely Wayfarer’s Guide to Pilgrimage, ʿAlī b. Abī Bakr al-​Harawī’s Kitāb , 1:278–79.​ al-Ishār​ āt fī Maʿrifāt al-​Ziyārāt, translated with an introduction by Josef W. Meri (Princeton: On which see

Princeton University Press, 2004), 24. On the ancient holy sites of Mt. Qāsyūn, Sourdel-​Thomine, 39 al-Ishār​ āt Riḥlat ibn Baṭṭuṭa, “Les Anciens Lieux,” 71. al-Qalāʾid​ al-j​awhariyya fī taʾrīkh al-ṣāliḥi​ yya, 2 vols. Ibn al-​Ḥawrānī, , 106. See also the accounts of Ibn Baṭṭuṭa, 101–2;​ and Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī Ibn Ṭūlūn, 40 Cited by Meri, The Cult of Saints (Damascus: Majmaʿ al-​Lugha al-​ʿArabiyya, 1980), 1:87, regarding the merits of Mt. Qāsyūn. , 51. 95

95 Development and Layout variety of religious venues.41 To be secluded on the mount and its slope—de​ voting one’s life to pious acts, spiritual exercises, and mystical exertions (mujāhadāt), away from public life and the spaces surrounding the powerful and the wealthy—​seems therefore

tomode be another of life, disassociatingsignificant moti themselvesvation for establishingfrom the rulers Sufi andfoundations avoiding ther theire. Indeed,patronage. the shaykhs who made Mt. Qāsyūn their home are typically portrayed as pursuing an ascetic

One of these shaykhs was Shaykh Muḥammadw aqfibns ʿUmarand provide ibn Qa wāmsupport al-​Bālisī. to his Moulding disciples inhis his ascetic zāwiya conduct, which aftcontinueder his gr toandfather, survive solelythe celebr on theated support shaykh provided of Bālis, by he righteous refused individualsvarious offers and made wealthy by officials associates. to dedicat42 e

A View from Aleppo The Ayyubid period marked the epitome of the construction of pious foundations of

inall medie kinds valin theAleppo major are S notyrian as citycopious of Aleppo. as they Among are for themDamascus. were Accountsfoundations in the specificall writingsy ofdesigned historians for and of the associat city, edhowever, with the reveal Sufis. anotherDetails on indication Sufi and other of the pious link establishmentsbetween these establishments’ nature, location, and designation. The famous thirteenth-​century historian of northern Syria and Aleppo, Ibn

hinterland in the second half of the thirteenth century.43 His survey shows that during Shaddād, listed thirty-​one Sufi structures of various types that existed in the city and its all the khānqāhs were situated in the foothill of the citadel and the palace. According to the early phases of their development under the reign of Nūr al-​Dīn (1147–74),​ almost built three, all near the citadel, and his princes and associates another four, also close toNikita the Élisséeff,citadel.44 this was a way to be close to their protector patrons. Nūr al-​Dīn himself (called either khānqāhs or ribāṭs) clustered south of the citadel. The area beneath the citadel (taḥt al-​q Latalʿaer) gainedon, in theincreasing Ayyubid importance and early asMamluk Aleppo periods, was transformed Sufi foundations from a

ofmilitary this quart garrisoner to t othe a fcentreortified of palatial power cityentailed, due ina disproportionatelylarge part to al-​Malik large al-​Ẓahir number Ghāzī of (r. 1186–​1216), the sovereign and most celebrated architect of the city. The proximity

41

The clan of Banū Qudāma, for instance, found a refuge near the holy places on Mt. Qāsyūn after fleeing from a rural area of Nablus about fiftyal-Qalāʾid​ years after the Crusader occupation (in 1099) because of the harsh attitude of the Frankish local governor. On the causes of their immigration and 42 al-Dāris​ al-​Bidāya, 14:102–3.​ settlement on Mt. Qāsyūn, see Ibn Ṭūlūn, , 1:66–83.​ 43 al-ʿA​ lāq al-khaṭīr​ a fī dhikr umarāʾ al-​Shām wa-​l-​ al-​Nuʿaymī, , 2:209; Ibn Kathīr, Jazīra ʿIzz al-​Dīn Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn Shaddād, 44 Nikita Elisséeff, Nūr al-Dīn:​ un grande prince musulman de Syrie au temps des Croisades (Damascus: Manshūrāt Wizārāt al-​Maʿārif, 1991), 223–57.​ (511–​569/​1118–​1174)

(Damascus: Institut Français de Damas, 1967), 3:767. 96

96 emplacements of Authority and Holiness khānqāhs and ribāṭs were situated

aristocratic residences and pious institutions. Other thein al- Gr​Featarāfra Mosque and al- and​ʿAqaba— the citadel​the pr (Figureosperous 5 below). northern45 and northeastern quarters of the constructwalled cityed that by theirwere patronsinhabited outside by stat thee officials city gates who but pr obablynot far soug fromht them. to settle The close circles to A few other Sufi foundations were madrasas, khānqāhof patronss, andbroadened ribāṭs. Yasser as well. Tabbaa, Besides studying sultans the and history state officials, of architectural traditional patronage patrician in thefamilies city, pointsand women out that of thethis court notable pla yedfeature a significant was peculiar role toin Ayyubidthe foundation Aleppo. of 46

The Khānqāh al-​Qadīm, by the moat, adjacent to Dār-al-’Adl (court of grievances), and the Khānqāh al-​Farāfra, in the Farāfra quarter, present us with nearly unique evidence of the earliest history of the foundation in Aleppo. Built by Nūr al-​Dīn, whose name with the epithet “al-​Zahid” (The Ascetic) is inscribed on its portal, the Khānqāh aal- sub​Qadīmstantial survi buildingved well disposed enough aroundto be described a courtyard by withRāgheb a central al-​Ṭabbākh pool. Itin had the a ear prayerliest hall,decades a series of the of tw chambersentieth century that contained in his monumental stairs leading hist toory another of Aleppo. pool Ṭ abbākhof water, depicts and a monumental entrance.47 khānqāh to have survived in Aleppo to the present.

Khānqāh al-​Farāfra is the only The inscription on the densely carved portal of the magnificent building states that it was constructed during the reign of al-​Nāṣir II ibn al-​Malik al-​ʿAzīz in AH 635, the second year of the regency of Ḍayfa Khātūn, who ruled in the name of a young grandson until her death (in 641/1244).​ The name of the queen is also mentioned as the builder and patron of a structure inside Art and Bāb architectural al-​Arbaʿīn. Shestudies is pr byaised Ernst by Herzfeld,nearly all Yassercontemporary Tabbaa, chronicles for her justice,48 charity, and generosity, and especially her inclination to associatlearninged and with Sufism. the generous queen and contemporary madrasas. The heart of these complexesand others always point tincludedo similarities a courtyard in the withoverall an designornamented between fountain, the Khānqah a richly decoratedal-​Farāfra muqarnas portal, and buildings laid out around it, housing a mosque, a grand hall (iwān), madrasas by its additional buildings and, in particular, its relatively large number of living units.49 These living andunits li areving an cells. important Yet the indication Farāfra diff ofered the initialfrom mostdesignation of the of the khānqāh of the early

Sufi foundation of this type and the functions it served. 45 Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo (University

On which, see Yasser Tabbaa, 46 Tabbaa, Constructions of Power Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1997), 19–26.​ 47 Iʿlām al-nubalāʾ​ bi-​taʾrīkh Ḥalab al-​shahbāʾ , 39–​49. Rāgheb Muḥammad al-​Ṭabbākh, (Aleppo: Dār 48 Tabbaa, Constructions of Power and Piety al-​Qalam al-​ʿArabī, 1989), 2:28; 4:228. 49 For a detailed description of the building, see Tabbaa, Constructions of Power and Piety , 165–66.​ Ernst Herzfeld, MCIM: Syrie du Nord, pt. 2, Monuments et inscriptions d’Alep (Cairo: Institut Français , 164–68;​

d’Archéologie Orientale, 1954–56),​ 2:303–5.​ 97

97 Development and Layout

Constructions of Power and Piety in Medieval Aleppo Figure 5. Thirteenth-of the author andcentury​ the Uni Aleppo.versity (A ofdapted Pennsylvania from Yasser Press.) Tabbaa, , figure 4, with the permission

zāwiyas in Aleppo of the time, the best available information derived from historical and biographical accounts indicates that mostAs stood for the in muchthe alleys less officialthat branched and mor oute modest of the vast bazaar, in the heart of the old city

inhabitand theed centr mostlye of bypublic Sunni lif Aleppinee, or in the (Figure residential 5). There neig thehbourhood shaykhs dweltof Jallūm and (south interacted and withsouth memberswest of the of Gr theeat localMosque, society betw aroundeen Bāb them al-​Antaki as a yamatter and Bāb of course. Qinnasrīn) Examples that w asof zāwiyas in the heart of the old city are the zāwiya the neighbourhood of the candle-​makers and sellers, the zāwiya of the family of Shaykh of Shaykh Muḥammad al-​Aṭʿānī in 98

98 emplacements of Authority and Holiness

al- ​Ḥilawī in the small market of the stzāwiyaonemasons, and that of Shaykh Hilāl Ḥamdānī in thefor groupneighbourhood gatherings of and Jallūm. prayers Originall.50 Somey, a other small zāwiya mosques stood and aoutside residence the placecity’s ofgates its founder Shaykh Hilāl Ḥamdānī, the Hilāliyya was enlarged to serve as a space

thearound zāwiya the sar inea Aleppo known andas the its Shr outskirtsines (al- were​Maqāmāt), small- south​scale ofstructur the Bābes al-where​Naqām, disciples which orbitedconnect edaround the Ma theirqāmāt masters with the for city spiritual or its northernguidance en andvirons blessing, (Figure 5 prayer,). By andand dhikrlarge,.

offering accommodation and meals for travellers and visitors, and perhaps ritual spaces forOthers, both especiall residentsy thoseand visitors. situated51 in open areas outside the city’s gates, doubled as inns, As noted above, already in the Ayyubid period local military governors began to found or fund zāwiya evident in the areas surrounding Aleppo, where semi-independent​ governors managed to purchase privates for housesthe benefit or take of particularcontrol of Sufilands. mast Thus,ers. for This instance, trend w theas governorparticular ofly the city, amīr zāwiya there (in Jibān, took control of one of the priṭarīqavates andthat most put down beautiful roots leisur in thee r esortscity— overlooking the Quwayq river and52 the orchards of Aleppo and built a 631/and go1233)​ vernor for of the Homs, sha ykhsvisited of Aleppo,two of the he tookSufi advantage of his stay to buy a fertile piece ​al-​Aḥmadiyya and al-​Adhamiyya. Later on, when Sayf al-​Dīn Ṭashtamur, the commander income to the zāwiya of land in the village of Ḥaryatān in the city’s district. He then dedicated a share of its virtues and good deeds of and Sha ykhnever Muḥammad took anything al-​Jabrīnī from anyone, (d. 744/ was1343)​ forced that to st oodaccept in the neardonationby village.53 Nonetheless, of Bayt Jabrīn. the zāwiyaIt is related retained that its the character shaykh, washo the w asdomain well kno of wnits shaykhfor his and his successors.

elaborte khānqāh withThe the f oundationsupervision and of patrtheironage endowments, of Sufi stuctur helpedes regulatein medie theval Slifeyria, of particulartheir residentsly the and concentrate authoritys that housed in these groups masters’ of Sufis hands. and However, were headed from bthey sha start,ykhs the entrust shaykhsed of most prestigious khānqāh depended on the political rulers for their status. They received their appointments to s, first of Damascuskhānqāhs fromand lattheer Ayyubid also of andAleppo Mamluk and Hama,sultan or the governors of the principal Syrian cities and became state employees.54 Moreover, the lucrative office of the masters of the

50 For information about these and other zāwiyas in medieval Aleppo, see the modern work by Ḥiṭaṭ al-​Shām 51 For examples, see Mahamid, Waqf, Education and Politics, 219–20.​ Muḥammad Kurd ʿAlī, (Damascus: Maktabat al-​Nūrī, 1983), 5:145–46.​ 52 al-Durr​ al-munt​ akhab fī tāʾrīkh mamlakat Ḥalab

Abū al-​Faḍl Muḥammad ibn al-​Shiḥna, 53 Taʾrīkh ibn al-​Wardī (Damascus: n.p., 1984), 245. For his biography, see Zayn al-​Dīn ʿUmar Ibn al-​Muẓaffar ibn al-​Wardī, 54 Waqf, Education and Politics (Beirut: Maṭbaʿa al-​Ḥaydariyya, 1966), 2:327. On which, see Mahamid, , 217. 99

99 Development and Layout in the course of the late Mamluk period, as interdependent economic crises and political instability led to the collapse of the waqf, the khānqāh lost its initial designation as a 55 By that time, Syria—​both the great cities and the smaller towns and villages—had​ state-long been​support dotteded foundation with zāwiya housings that larcentredge numbers on particular of Sufis, shaykhsand it eventually and holy declined. men who

leadership status. Standing wherever the shaykhs dwelt and symbolizing their presence anddid notauthority, depend the on zāwiyaany officials, especially recognition when or containing formal institutional their gravesites, framework developed for their as centres of disciples and admirers and as focuses of domination and sanctity. In them, circles of masters, disciples, and companions crystallized, and to them lay believers turned to receive the shaykhs’ blessings, partake in the devotional life of their inhabitants, and, at times, to be provided with food and shelter. Such were the functional designations and the symbolic message of the zāwiya

s of the three Sufi masters and Friends of God whose saintly vitas are studied for this book: that of ʿAqīl al-​Manbijī in thelight town on the of Manbij,early evolution that of ʿA ofbdallāh these al-and​Yūnīnī other in lodges the village as the of Yspiritualūnīn in thedominion Beqaa Vofalley, the andshaykhs that whoof Ibn presided Qawām over al-​Bālisī them in and his as homet local spacesown of central Bālis. It to is the to lifethe ofst oriesthe community that shed

that we now turn.

55 For an extensive discussion of the various circumstances that effected the disruptions of waqf affairs in late Mamluk Syria, see Mahamid, Waqf, Education and Politics, 113–29.​ 100