![]() ![]() Presently Timbuktu is located in the West African country of Mali close to the Niger River ' at its northern-most bend, on the fringes of the Sahara desert' (Minicka 2008:145). King (1986:85) regarded Timbuktu as 'a university town at least as long as has Oxford'. These two cities developed into the intellectual capital for Muslim scholarship. According to him, some of them settled in Timbuktu while others settled in Jenne. At the establishment of the Mali Empire, after the disintegration of Ghana in the 11 th CE, King (1986:85) records that many Muslims were scattered abroad. In the middle of the 8 th CE Islam flourished and made its way from the North Africa across the trans-Sahara trade routes to West Africa (Clarke 1992:9 Vine 2007:74-75). This occurred when the Prophet Muhammed sent a group of Muslims to Ethiopia to seek refuge from persecution by the inhabitants of Mecca. History records that Africa had its first taste of Islam in 612 CE. Keywords: Timbuktu, ascetism, ethics, mysticism, Islam, Sufi In the exegesis of the translated work, Qur'anic verses were incorporated to lend support to the text where necessary. ![]() Therefore this manuscript is not only a mystical text but also contributes to Islamic ethics. The context addresses a reciprocal relationship between God and humanity and how humanity can experience the highest form of happiness in this world and the hereafter. From the eighty-eight lines, eighty-three are dedicated to theosophical ethical thoughts as well as to the spiritual sarcasm of the author. Of significance, aside from the translation, is the exegetical analysis of the manuscript which was translated and written simultaneously in a poetic form so as to bring forth the intended beauty of the author of the manuscript. The authors of this article were involved in the translation and exegesis of the manuscript. article is based on a Timbuktu manuscript listed in a digital form on the Library of Congress - Global Gateway. IDepartment of Science of Religion and Missiology, Faculty of Theology, University of Pretoria. Maniraj Sukdaven I Asgher Mukhtar II Hamid Fernana III ![]() A Timbuktu manuscript expressing the mystical thoughts of Yusuf-ibn-Said ![]()
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