I am excited to share my very first published article, which explores the thoughts of the 17th-century Moroccan scholar al-Ḥasan al-Yūsī on the acquisition of knowledge from books.
In it, I discuss the importance of books for rural Sufi scholars in the Western Maghrib, the conditions they set for acquiring knowledge directly from books (and not just from their teachers!), and the laborious process of collating and correcting manuscripts.
If you're curious about how pre-modern scholars ensured the accuracy of the knowledge in their handwritten books - and why this was so important to them - please take a look! If you don't have access, feel free to contact me.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/24519197-bja10059
Some of you may remember the little writing crisis I had about a year ago. Thanks to your valuable advice, this piece finally came together! 🙏 It's been a bit of a rollercoaster, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.