Revelation of the Veiled is held in high esteem as the first important treatise on Sufism in Persian. The date of the completion of the book cannot be determined with any certainty. It must have taken Hujwiri a long time to write it in Lahore without his personal collection of books. He was a prolific writer, perceptive and discriminating in his choice of topics.
Revelation of the Veiled was written in response to the request of one Abu Sa'eed Al-Hujwiri who put the following questions to him: "Explain to me the true meaning of the Path of Sufism and the nature of the stations' (maqamat) of the Sufis, and explain their doctrines and saying, and make clear to me their mystical allegories, and the nature of Divine Love and how it is manifested in human hearts, and why the intellect is unable to reach the essence thereof, and why the soul recoils from the reality thereof, and why the spirit is lulled in the purity thereof; and explain the practical aspect of Sufism which are connected with these theories."
Revelation of the Veiled begins with a chapter on ilm. Hujwiri introduces the concept of experiential knowledge toward the end of the chapter.
When Ali-Hujwiri was asked what is Sufism? he replied, "In our times this science has been in reality obliterated, especially in this region, for people are all occupied with pleasure, and have turned away from satisfying .
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