Themes of Love in Islamic Mystical Theology by William Chittick

Abstract:

“Muslim scholars who talked about love agreed that it is indefinable. In discussions of human love, they typically limited themselves to describing its symptoms, characteristics, and consequences. They summarized these along the lines of “yearning for union.” By using the word union, they were saying that the goal of lovers is to come together, not to stay apart. They understood love as the energy that brings about the encounter of God and man…”