Gnostic Apocalypse and Islam: Qur’an, exegesis, messianism, and the literary origins of the Babi Religion

Of the several works on the rise and development of the Babi movement, especially those dealing with the life and work of its founder, Sayyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi, few deal directly with the compelling and complex web of mysticism, theology and philosophy found in his earliest compositions. This book examines that intricate and sometimes dazzling corpus for what it has to tell us about the literary making of the Babi movement, its relationship to the wider religious milieu and its profound debt to esoteric Islam, especially Shi’ism. The book will be of interest to students and scholars of Qur’an Commentary, Mysticism, Shi’ism, the modern history of Iran, comparative apocalyptic and messianism.