Journal of the stylistic of Persian poem and prose
volume Number 19، number In Volume 2، May 2026 ، issue Number 120

Critical Correction of the Manaqib al-Ghousiyyah and Its Stylistic Study

Elaheh Yekkalam Kashani , Asghar Dadbeh (Author in Charge), Bahram Parvin Gonabadi

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Manaqib al-Ghawthiyya is among the most significant Sufi hagiographical works devoted to Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (470–561 AH / 1077–1166 CE) and constitutes a major source in the consolidation of the Qadiriyya ṭarīqa discourse across the Indian subcontinent and the broader Islamic world. Despite its historical and literary importance, no independent critical edition based on a systematic collation of manuscript witnesses has yet been produced; existing publications largely reproduce the 1883 Indian print without textual scrutiny. The present study aims to establish a reliable critical text and to analyze the stylistic and discursive features of the work.

METHODOLOGY: Four accessible manuscript copies were identified and collated. Employing an eclectic method of textual criticism, the base manuscript was determined and variant readings were recorded and examined at lexical, syntactic, and ḥadīth-transmission levels. Subsequently, the edited text was analyzed within a multi-layered stylistic framework encompassing lexical, syntactic, rhetorical, and discursive dimensions.

FINDINGS: Textual analysis reveals that the transmission history is marked by numerical errors, omissions in ḥadīth passages, and linguistic alterations, indicating that no single manuscript is sufficient in isolation. Stylistic examination demonstrates the predominance of Arabic vocabulary, syntactic amplification, dense rhetorical ornamentation, and frequent Qurʾanic and ḥadīth citations. These features, combined with performative narrative structures, generate a distinctly sermonic and ritualized tone.

CONCLUSION: The findings position Manaqib al-Ghawthiyya as a representative specimen of later Persian hagiographical prose, in which language and narrative function to consolidate the spiritual authority of the shaykh and to legitimize the institutional framework of the Qadiriyya order. Beyond providing a dependable critical text, this edition facilitates renewed historical and discursive readings within the broader evolution of Persian hagiographical writing.

Keyword
critical edition , Manaqib al- Ghawthiyya , Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani , prose stylistics , hagiography , Qadiriyya order.