Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

5 results found

fakir

(Encyclopedia)fakir fäkērˈ, fāˈkər [key], [Arab.,=poverty], in Islam, usually an initiate in a Sufi order. The title fakir is borne with the understanding that poverty is the need to be in relation to God. Th...

dervish

(Encyclopedia)dervish dûrˈvĭsh [key], see fakir; Rumi, Jalal ad-Din. ...

Ivanov, Vsevolod Vyacheslavovich

(Encyclopedia)Ivanov, Vsevolod Vyacheslavovich ēväˈnôf [key], 1895–1963, Russian short-story writer, novelist, and dramatist, b. Siberia. Ivanov had an adventurous early life as a sailor, circus performer, f...

asceticism

(Encyclopedia)asceticism əsĕtˈĭsĭzəm [key], rejection of bodily pleasures through sustained self-denial and self-mortification, with the objective of strengthening spiritual life. Asceticism has been common i...

Islam

(Encyclopedia)Islam ĭslämˈ, ĭsˈläm [key], [Arab.,=submission to God], world religion founded by the Prophet Muhammad. Founded in the 7th cent., Islam is the youngest of the three monotheistic world religions ...

Browse by Subject