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AD) mentioned these poems as ruba’i, years, ar-Raniri produced many works in the Heretics); (7) al-Fath al-Mubin ‘ala wrote mystical poems, but they are not
namely a quatrain within two misra’. 30 various fields such as theology, Qur’an al-Mulhidin (The Real Victory over the very well known. Among his poems is the
exegesis, hadith, Islamic law, and history, Apostates); and several works that Syair Ma‘rifa (Gnostic Poetry). His works
Although not in the form of poetry,
Shamsuddin al-Sumatrani wrote many and others. He was thus known to have discuss various other issues. are largely classified as belonging to the
works, especially mystical treatises beena highly productive scholar and Raniri’s efforts to introduce a new book literature discussed here.
around thirty works have attributed to
that belong to bookliterature. Among him, although not all of them were written pattern of Islamic mysticism in the Malay Linguistic Aspects of Book
these arethe Mir’at al-Mu’minin (Mirror during his seven years stay in Aceh. Archipelago was subsequently continued Literature
of the faithful), Mir’at al-Iman (Mirror of by Abdurrauf al-Singkili (1024-1105/1615-
faith), Zikarat al-Dairati qaba Qawsaini Based on the available sources, at least 1693), whose full name is ‘Abd al-Ra’uf In terms of language, the book literature
aw Adna (Circle ofTwo Bows Lengthor fifteen of ar-Raniri’sworks are related bin ‘Ali al-Jawi al -Fansuri as-Singkili. composed by the scholars discussed
Closer to God), Mir’at al- Muhaqqiqin to theology and mysticism: (1) Durrat He was a prolific writer. The Mir’at al- above and of a high intellectual
(Mirror of the Self-Prosecutors), Jawahir al-Fara’id bi Sharh al-Aqa’id (Precious Tullab is the first complete Islamic book level. Attempts not to use Arabic are
al-Haqa’iq (Pearl of Realities), Nur al- Jewels on the Explanation of Theology), in Malay Islamic literature. Al-Singkili vocabulary seem to have been strong,
Daqa’iq (Light of Subtleties), and Kitab a Malay-language book on faith, which most important work is the Tarjuman although Arabic influences remained,
al-Haraqah (Book of Gowns). is an adaptation of the Sharh al-Aqa’id al-Mustafid an interpretation (tafsir) of such as the use of: /adalah/, /yakni/, /dan/
Nasafiah bySa‘d al-Din al-Taftazani; (2) the Qur’an in Malay. Al-Singkili was the to support words or phrases. Hamzah
The next Muslim scholar who made Nubdhah fi Da‘wah az-Zil ma‘a Sahibihi Fansuri seemed to stress this aspect. As
important contributions to the (Brief description of the Indictment first person in the Malay-Indonesian a Sufi teacher, he wanted his students to
development of book literature is theShadow with the Companions), which Archipelago who wrote a complete
Nuruddin ar-Raniri. His full name is Nur contains the perverted notions of the interpretation of the Qur’an. come to exact understanding. Therefore,
al-Din Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Hasanji al- mystical doctrine of existential monism; Abdurrauf al-Singkili’sother important he deliberately wrote his works in Malay
and not in Arabic or Persian, “so all the
Hamid al-Shafi’i al-Ash‘ari al- ’Aydarusi (3) Lata’if al-Asrar (Subtlety of Secrets) works are Idhah Tawhid al-Bayan fi
al-Raniri (d. 1068/1658). He was born that discusses mysticism; (4) Asrar al- Masa’il A’yani, ‘Umdat al-Fi Muhtajin people who do not understand Arabic or
in Ranir, or Randir, an old harbor city on Ihsan fi Ma’rifah wa al-Ruh al-Rahman Suluk Maslak al-Mufarradin, Ta’bir Persian can comprehend it”, he wrote
in the opening of one of his works, the
the coast of Gujarat. Ar-Raniri came to (The Secret of Beauty to the Profound al-Bayan, Daqa`iq al-Huruf, Majmu’ 31
Aceh around 1637, soon after Iskandar Knowledge and Divine Spirit); (5) Tibyan al-Masa’il, Sakrat al-Mawt, Tanbih al- Sharabu l-’Ashiqin.
Muda and Shamsuddin had died. He Ma’rifah fi al-Adyan (Explanation of the Masyi, and many others. The books were The same statement is also valid for
was immediately granted the position Profound Knowledge on Religions); (5) written in Malay. Except latter is written Shamsuddin as-Sumatrani’s Mir’at al-
of Sheikh al-Islam and in this strong Hill al-Zhill (Deciphering the Shadow), in Arabic the other books an in Malay. If Mu’min 1601 M) in which he wrote “...
position he launched a religious reform which contains arguments against the Hamzah Fansuri was a follower of the because they do not know Arabic and
movement against the Sufi doctrine of heretical teachings of the Wujudiyyah; Qadiriyah mystical order, Abdurrauf was Persian but only the Pasai language....”
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wahdah al-wujud (existential monism). (6) Hujjah al-Siddiq li daf’i al-zindiq a follower of the Syattariyah Sufi order. Therefore, like Hamzah Fansuri, he wrote
During his stay in Aceh for about seven (Argument of the Righteous to Refute As an expert in Sufism, Abdurrauf also in Malay in an attempt to write a book

236 Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives Indonesian Islamic Culture in Historical Perspectives 237