Sama (Sufism)
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Sama, literally Listening, is a Sufi ritual performed as part of the meditation and prayer practice known as Dhikr. It is discussed by al-Ghazali in his The Alchemy of Happiness.
Whirling Dervishes in Istanbul, Turkey
Alevi/Bektashi Sama
Sufis performing Sama before Shaykh Nizam al-Din Awliya. Miniature from the Timurid copy of the Khamsa of Amir Khusrau. Herat, 1485.
Shaykh Safi dancing in a sama. Ṣafvat al-Ṣafā ("life of Shaykh Ṣafī al-Dīn"), by Ismāʿil bin Bazzāz, completed in September 1582 in Shirāz
Sufi whirling
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Sufi whirling is a form of physically active meditation which originated among certain Sufi groups, and which is still practiced by the Sufi dervishes of the Mevlevi order and other orders such as the
Sama (Sufism)
…but Allah" in the apprentices beating of the gold and was so entranced in happiness he stretched out both of his arms and started spinning in a circle (sufi whirling). With that the practice of Sama and the dervishes of the Mevlevi order were born. Similarly, Abu Sa`id, (357 A.H.) (967 C.E.) was born in Mayhana, a…
Whirling Dervishes, at Rumi Fest 2007
Mevlevi dervishes whirling in Pera by Jean-Baptiste van Mour
Turkish whirling dervishes of Mevlevi Order, bowing in unison during the Sema ceremony