Editing Fatima (section)

==Fatima in Oriental Studies==
The first substantial biography of Fatima, by Henri Lammens (1912), was mainly based on historical and Sunnite sources. Lammens’ rather antipathetic portrait of her was severely criticized by Louis Massignon, <ref>1969, I, pp. 570, 585 ff.</ref> who preferred to portray her both as an incarnation of divine vengeance <ref>1969, I, pp. 514-22, a study of Fatima’s cult based on Nosayri Shiʿite texts mainly from Syria.</ref> and especially as a compassionate mother akin to the Virgin Mary. <ref>Massignon, 1969, I, pp. 550-618; for parallels among Fatima, Moses’ sister Maryam, and Jesus’ mother, Maryam, see p. 584; idem, 1963, p. 267.</ref> Henri Corbin took up Massignon’s study of Fatima, but with particular stress on redemption; unlike Massignon’s “transhistorical” approach, his method was rooted in gnostic theosophy. While accepting the main parallels between Fatima and Mary, he focused on her role as eternal feminine archetype, Fatima as Sophia, a manifestation of God and the feminine element of the Prophet and the Imams, whose own theophanic and initiatory functions depended on their degree of fatemiya. <ref>1960, p. 113 ff.; 1971-72, index.</ref> Massignon’s original exposition of similarities between devotion to Mary and to Fatima, sometimes called Maryam Kobra, has been criticized, however; <ref>McAuliffe, 1981, pp. 27-28.</ref> the similarities remain partly conjectural, especially those involving the Marian cult at Fatima, Portugal. <ref>Massignon, I, pp. 615 ff.; Eilers, p. 98.</ref>

Corbin also drew parallels between Fatima and pre-Islamic Persian feminine archetypes embodied in Arədvi Sura Anahita. This connection was further stressed by Wilhelm Eilers in his study of Shiʿite holy water, heavenly and earthly waters having been part of Fatima’s dowry (mahr/mahriya), as was salt. <ref>Eilers, pp. 97 ff.; Massé, Croyances et coutumes, p. 225.</ref> In popular belief Fatima has been linked with archetypes and natural elements connected to fertility rites: khezr/Elias, the rainbow, the jasmine flower, and the pomegranate. <ref>Massé, Croyances et coutumes, pp. 158 n. 2, 179, 212; Ayoub, 1978, p. 45.</ref> She is also said to symbolize the cavern of the seven sleepers of Ephesus and the [https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-3/al-aqsa-mosque-COM_22686?s.num=21&s.start=20 Masjed al-Aqsa], the goal of Muhammad’s night journey.