Saïd Amir Arjomand's Kings and Dervishes is a pioneering study of the emergence and development of Sufism during the formation of the Persianate world. Whereas Sufi doctrine was expressed in the New Persian language, its social organization was detached from the civic movement among the urban craftsmen and artisans known as the fotovva(t) and was politically shaped by multiple forces—first by the revival of Persian kingship, and then by the emergence of the Turko-Mongolian empires.
The intermingling of Sufism's developmental path with the transformation of the Persianate political regimes resulted in the progressive appropriation of royal symbols by the Sufi shaykhs. The original Sufi world renunciation gave way first to world accommodation and the medieval love mysticism of Jalāl al-Din Rumi and Hāfez of Shiraz, and then to world domination. This comprehensive work of historical sociology traces these spiritual and political evolutions over the course of some six centuries, showing how the Sufi saints' symbolic sovereignty was eventually made real in the imperial kingship of the Persianate world's early modern empires.
Saïd Amir Arjomand is Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Stony Brook University, the founding editor of the Journal of Persianate Studies, and author of Messianism and Sociopolitical Revolution in Medieval Islam and Revolutions of the End of Time.
"This book makes a significant contribution to the history of Islam and Iran, and its greatest value lies in its synthetic treatment of Sufism and kingship using a comparative, longue durée approach. Given its historical depth and geographical range, there is nothing comparable in circulation."—A. Azfar Moin, author of The Millennial Sovereign: Sacred Kingship and Sainthood in Islam
"Original, highly persuasive, and deeply insightful. Kings and Dervishes is an impressive culmination of Saïd Arjomand's many decades of research and reflection on diverse combinations of religious and political (or sacral and earthly) concepts of sovereignty and legitimacy. In addition, the book engages in comparative perspective with not only Islam and Sufism but also several other religious cultures and makes numerous secondary contributions—among them a compelling demonstration of the primary, rather than peripheral, role of Khurasan and Iran in the formation of Sufism."—Louise Marlow, author of Counsel for Kings: Wisdom and Politics in Tenth-Century Iran
320 pp.6 x 9
9780520401686$95.00|£80.00Hardcover
Mar 2025