ABSTRACT
The formative period of Sufi literature (from the fourth/tenth to sixth/twelfth centuries) saw the emergence of a variety of writings from Sufi authors in many parts of the Islamic empire.1 Several different styles and genres were adopted, primarily of a descriptive, didactic or biographical nature. Often highly creative, these writings reflected the spiritual development of the Sufi path at the forefront of Islamic piety and asceticism within politically and socially turbulent times.
