SOAS Research Online

Abstract

Ibrahim ibn Adham is a Sufi saint who lived in the second century A.H. (or eighth century A.D.) He spent most of his life in the area of the Eastern mediterranean but his legend, in some form or other, has spread through the Arabic-speaking world and has blossomed especially in non-Arabic-speaking Muslim communities, such as the Persian and Malay. He is one of those figures who are frequently mentioned in the literature but have never been systematically studied. The Malay version of his legend is called the Hikayat Sultan Ibrahim ibn Adham; this has never been published, though abridged versions of it were published repeatedly in the last century and in the first quarter of this. Part Two of this thesis consists of an edition of the Malay hikayat, together with an English translation, and notes. Part Three includes a study of Ibn Adham from the earliest and most informative sources, mostly Arabic. Other literary material on him, including all that found in Malay, is considered in Part One of the thesis and in Appendices "A" to "H".