An Intellectual History of Printed Muslim Devotional Works in 19th-Century Cairo and Beyond

This paper is an intellectual history of the 19th-century production of Dala’il al-Khayrat (Waymarks of Benefits, written by Muhammad Bin Sulayman al-Jazuli al-Shadhili, d.1465), a heavily celebrated book of blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad in the Islamic tradition of tasawwuf (often translated as Sufism). In the first half-century of its existence (1820s-1870s), the press at Bulaq (Cairo) –arguably the first major Arabic-language book press– published multiple editions of Dala’il amongst other devotional texts. Using Dala’il as an example, this paper suggests that Bulaq produced such works because they were lucrative and easy to sell, despite low literacy rates (some estimates point to a figure of 3%). My presentation highlights the materiality of the printed works, the intellectual substance of Dala’il, and the institutions surrounding the text in Egypt. The material component of the presentation covers the question of the transition from manuscript to print, the intellectual component studies the text’s structure and content, and the institutional component considers the extent of the book's local readership and impact on other presses outside of Egypt. This presentation contributes to both the history of the Arabic-language book and the history of 19^th-century tasawwuf. More specifically, it aims to apply intellectual history techniques to book history, using the content and materiality of a given book to approximate its audience. With regards to tasawwuf and Sufi studies, it seeks to establish the intellectual weight of devotional works.