A Study of the Relationship with Animals in Practical Mysticism

This article surveys the presence of animals in the consciousness of the Sufis. The writer argues that animals, apart from Sufi texts, allegorical tales and the subjective discourse of mysticism, are also present in the practical life of these 'men of light.' Sufis, due to their love of solitude and their travels in the wilderness, were intimate with animals. They donot look down upon animals with an air of superiority; in their view, what makes human beings superior to animals is abstinence from sin. Sufis treat animals with sympathy. Talking to animals, understanding them and having extraordinary connections with them gain an uncanny dimension in the works of these poets.The writer has limited the scope of the research to a chronological study of mystical texts from the beginning to the eighth century A.H.