A Comprehensive Database for Early Islamic Thought and Spirituality: The Kitāb al-Lumaʿ by ʾAbū Naṣr as-Sarrāǧ aṭ-Ṭūsī (d. 378/988)

This paper explores ʾAbū Naṣr as-Sarrāǧ’s Kitāb al-Lumaʿ as the earliest comprehensive database for the study of early Islamic thought and spirituality. It represents a preliminary attempt to lay the groundwork for the examination of this distinctive encyclopaedia. After situating as-Sarrāǧ’s work within its broad socio-religious contextand re-evaluating the well-known assumption that as-Sarrāǧ was an external observer of Sufism and not an active Sufi master, the discussion is divided into two main sections: a macro-level analysis and a micro-level examination. The macro section focuses on the organization of data and the presentation of the semantics of as-Sarrāǧ’s personal voice. The micro section delves into the various types of corpora contained within his work.