`Ayn al-Qudat al-Hamadhani, His Work, and His Connection with the Early Chishti Mystics

`Ayn al-Qudat (AD 1096/98–1131) was a significant scholar of Islamic mysticism whose teachings inspired others and especially the early Chishti mystics of India. This article discusses the importance of `Ayn al-Qudat through an analysis of his work and his reception by medieval and modern scholars. It argues that marginal manuscript evidence from `Ayn al-Qudat's writing suggests the possibility of contact between him and his teacher, Ahmad ibn Muhammad Ghazzali (d. AD 1126), and their contemporary Chishti mystic sheikh, Qutb al-Din Mawdud (d. AD 1133).