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My HathiTrust collection “Sufism through Space and Time” gathers a wide diversity of Sufi sources into one accessible place. I used my prior knowledge of important Sufi figures, Sufi movements, and Sufi art styles as a criteria to search for related sources. The Sawyer Seminar lightning talk by Heather Christensen of HathiTrust, inspired me to do more research about the upside-down book in the top right corner of the interactive map. Fixing errors within the system was a great added aspect of making my Sufi collection . I wanted to include different languages, ideologies, and time periods. While individuals disagree about who is considered a “Sufi,” I took an objective self-identifying approach. I let individuals decide who they deem authentic and instead focused on showcasing the complexity of Sufism.

I made sure gender representation was an active part of my collection making, especially given the rich history of Sufi women. The legend of Rabai for instance, describes a woman who outwits and outmatches the acclaimed Hasan Basri. Their interaction demonstrates the legacy of fierce women throughout Middle East history.

In this PDF we see Rabia laugh off Hasan’s marriage proposal by calling him worldly for even suggesting such a contract. She demonstrates her greater commitment to piety. Later she explains how ridiculous thinking about marriage is when cosmic existential debates are unsolved. Sufism lives on to the modern day. For instance, activist Sayyid Jamal al-Din Afghani was involved with recent pan-Islamic and neo-Sufi movements. A book about Afghani’s work was featured (upside-down) on the Keynote graphic. If the book had a “Sufi” tag it would be helpful for users to connect with other works. See how I made the connection in the video below! A classmate’s blog post that caught my attention was by Zara Fields. The intriguing collection focuses on “various love poems from famous Arab authors throughout time.” My personal collection is on Sufism and is rich with MENA Sufi poets. From Zara’s collection, I learn more about Arabic poetry fundamentals which influence Sufi poetry. You can discover her fascinating collection here.