ABSTRACT
In Chapter 6 we saw that Nīsābūrī's work in science affected his presentations of the natural world in his Qur'ān commentary, but that science and falsafa did not affect his discussions of emanation. In this chapter I will use Nīsābūrī's statements in GQ about the purification of the soul and the soul's attaining gnosis (ma'rifa) in order to explore his views on the extent to which study of science and falsafa could aid the soul in accomplishing that goal. And to the extent that the study of science and falsafa could not assist the soul in attaining gnosis, what role did esoteric and/or ṣūfī beliefs and practice play? 1
