This annotated translation of selected works by the early Muslim mystic al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi of northeastern Iran, who died some time between 905 and 910 at about ninety years of age, was produced by the felicitous collaboration of two scholars. One of them, Bernd Radtke, has previously published studies in German on al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi and meticulously edited some of his works, while the other, John O'Kane, is known for his fine English translations of various Persian sources of Islamic mysticism. Though titled “Two Works,” the book actually includes three translations: (1) the translation of al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi's autobiography on pages 15–36 (which Radtke previously translated into German in Oriens 34 [1994]: 242–98); (2) the translation of al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi's Sirat al-awliya (The Way of Life of the Friends of God) on pages 38–211 (which, in a slightly different German translation, appeared as the first part of B. Radtke, Drei Schriften des Theosophen von Tirmid. Zweiter Teil: Übersetzung und Kommentar [Beirut, 1996], 9–154); and (3) the translation of an appendix of text passages selected from other works of al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi on pages 213–39, also previously published in German (Drei Schriften: Zweiter Teil, 154–74). The Introduction to the annotated translations is rather short, and its references are somewhat sparse and cryptic. The reader is frequently referred to Radtke's German dissertation on the author (cf. Bernd Radtke, Al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi: Ein islamischer Theosoph des 3./9. Jahrhunderts [Freiburg: Klaus Schwarz, 1980]) and to his edition of the Arabic texts written by al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi (Drei Schriften des Theosophen von Tirmid. Erster Teil: Die arabischen Texte [Beirut, 1992]).
Sviri, Sara: Perspectives on Early Islamic Mysticism. The World of al-Ḥakīm al-Tirmidhī and his Contemporaries. London/New York: Routledge 2020. XII, 364 S. 8° = Routledge Sufi Series 23. Hartbd. £ 115,00. ISBN 978-0-415-30283-8.
