The meditation known in Arabic as naẓar ila'l-murd (), "contemplation of the beardless" or Shahidbaazi () is a

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

practice of spiritual realization.

Peter Lamborn Wilson Peter Lamborn Wilson (October 20, 1945 – May 22, 2022) was an American anarchist author and poet, primarily known for his concept of Temporary Autonomous Zones, short-lived spaces which elude formal structures of control. During the 1970s, Wils ...

claims this as the use of "imaginal

yoga Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...

" to transmute erotic desire into spiritual consciousness. It was practiced by

Awhad al-Din Kermani Awḥad al-Dīn Ḥāmid ibn Abi ʾl-Fakhr Kirmānī (Persian: اوحدالدین حامد بن ابی الفخر; died 21 March 1238) was a Persian poet and Ṣūfī mystic. Kirmānī studied under Rukn al-Dīn al-Sijāsī and joined the '' ṭ ...

Richard Francis Burton Captain (British Army and Royal Marines), Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, Order of St Michael and St George, KCMG, Royal Geographical Society#Fellowship, FRGS, (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, army officer, orien ...

's translation of ''

The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night ''The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night'' (1888), subtitled ''A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights Entertainments'', is the only complete English language translation of ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (the ''Arabian Nig ...

'' (commonly called ''

The Arabian Nights ''One Thousand and One Nights'' (, ), is a collection of Middle Eastern folktales compiled in the Arabic language during the Islamic Golden Age. It is often known in English as ''The Arabian Nights'', from the first English-language edition () ...

'' in English) included collections of stories that were often sexual in content and were considered

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

at the time of publication. In particular, the ''Terminal Essay'' in volume 10 of ''The Arabian Nights'' contained a 14,000 word essay entitled "Pederasty" (Volume 10, section IV, D) in which Burton speculated and opined that male homosexuality was prevalent in an area of the southern latitudes named by him the "

Sotadic zone Captain Sir Richard Francis Burton, KCMG, FRGS, (19 March 1821 – 20 October 1890) was a British explorer, army officer, orientalist writer and scholar. He was famed for his travels and explorations in Asia, Africa and South America, as well ...

". Rumors about Burton's own sexuality were already circulating and were further incited by this work.

Criticism

Islamic theologians condemned the custom of contemplating the beauty of boys. Nazar was denounced and deemed a

heretic Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Christianity, Judai ...

Ibn Taymiyya Ibn Taymiyya (; 22 January 1263 – 26 September 1328)Ibn Taymiyya, Taqi al-Din Ahmad, The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195125580.001.0001/acref-9780195125580-e-959 was a Sunni Muslim schola ...

(1263–1328). Those who engaged with in it were duly punished.

Notes

{{reflist Sufism

Criticism

See also

Notes