Veiled Woman; Veiled God: The Feminine Metaphor in Sufism

Author: Mary Von Aue

Advisor: Peter Awn

"Peering [closely] into the mystical approach of identifying the deity, we see a shift in focus towards assigning God not just the role of the Creator but of the Beloved. Sufis, through a variety of mediums, pursue direct union or communication with God, often lending itself to the comparison of a lover in his conquest. To further explore this face of God, I want to investigate the metaphors used in describing God, with specific regard to more feminine conceptions... to juxtapose the images of femininity in Sufism with the dynamis between Sufi lover and Beloved in an attempt to understand how the Beloved is not confined to feminine or masculine attributes."