Preceding John of the Cross: The Forgotten History of Spiritual Darkness

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Introduction: More than a Mystical Catchphrase

When people today hear “spiritual darkness” or “the Dark Night of the Soul,” they usually think of John of the Cross, the 16th-century Spanish mystic. Indeed, he gave the expression Noche Oscura its enduring literary and theological form, so much so that the phrase seems inseparable from his name.

But the story of this image reaches much further back—into the deserts of Egypt, into struggles described centuries before John’s time, and even into the Islamic mystical tradition. This article traces the lineage of “spiritual darkness” from the Egyptian desert fathers through medieval Andalusia to John of the Cross—and shows that “dark nights” have long been seen not only as trials to be endured but as necessary steps toward God.

1. The Desert Fathers: Origins of the Christian Teaching on Inner Darkness

1.1 The Movement into the Egyptian Desert

In the 3rd and 4th centuries, men and women withdrew from Egypt’s cities into the desert, seeking God without distraction. They became known as Desert Fathers and Mothers. Among the most famous was Anthony the Great (251–356), often considered the first hermit.

Their goal was radical communion with God through asceticism, prayer, and silence. Yet solitude did not always bring peace. Many reported seasons of dryness and heaviness when all joy in prayer disappeared. They felt abandoned by God—and precisely this experience was seen as a test of faith.

1.2 John Cassian and “Spiritual Dryness”

The monk and theologian John Cassian (ca. 360–435) carried these desert insights westward. Having lived among Egyptian monks, he recorded their wisdom in two major works:

  • De institutis coenobiorum (Institutes of the Monastic Life)
  • Collationes (Conferences with the Fathers)

One of his most striking themes is acedia—a mix of spiritual apathy, meaninglessness, and inner paralysis. Cassian describes it as a deep form of spiritual darkness that tempts the monk to believe God is distant and prayer pointless.

For Cassian, though, this was not failure but purification: a test of whether the seeker loves God for God’s sake, or only for the “consolations” of devotion.

1.3 The Purpose of Darkness in Early Mysticism

The Desert Fathers already expressed three ideas later echoed in John of the Cross:

  1. Darkness as testing – God withdraws felt presence to strengthen faith.
  2. Purification of the heart – stripping away false securities and spiritual pride.
  3. Transition to deeper union – enduring the darkness leads to a purer relationship with God.

2. Islamic Mysticism – Sufism and “Disappearing into Darkness”

2.1 Spain as a Cultural Bridge

In John of the Cross’ Spain, Catholicism dominated—but traces of nearly eight centuries of Muslim rule still remained. From 711 to 1492, Islamic culture flourished in al-Andalus. Even after the Reconquista, Christian scholars were steeped in Arabic texts and ideas, including mystical writings.

2.2 Sufism – The Inner Path to God

Sufism is Islam’s mystical path, aiming at direct experience of God—often described as the annihilation of the self (fanāʾ) in divine presence.

Here too we find the imagery of spiritual darkness:

  • Ibn ʿArabi (1165–1240) speaks of a “Sea of Perplexity” the seeker must cross.
  • Ibn ʿAbbād of Ronda (1332–1390) writes of God’s “hiddenness” as a trial leading to purification.

2.3 Parallels with John of the Cross

The Spanish scholar Miguel Asín Palacios (1871–1944) highlighted resonances between John and Ibn ʿAbbād:

  • Both describe the withdrawal of divine sweetness as a necessary stage.
  • Both use images of night and darkness for the felt absence of God.
  • Both see this not as punishment but as God’s loving strategy to draw the soul deeper.

Whether John knew these ideas directly is debated—but Spain’s intercultural context makes influence at least plausible.

3. From the Desert to Spain – A Spiritual Genealogy

Period & Place Key Figures Image/Term Meaning
4th c., Egypt Desert Fathers Acedia, spiritual dryness Testing, purification
5th c., Gaul John Cassian Doctrine of acedia (Conferences) Transmission into Western monasticism
8th–15th c., Andalusia Sufis (Ibn ʿArabi, Ibn ʿAbbād) Night, divine hiddenness Purification, self-annihilation
16th c., Spain John of the Cross Noche Oscura Systematic mysticism in poetry & commentary

 

Photo by Eric Prouzed on Unsplash 

4. John of the Cross – The Culmination

John of the Cross did not merely inherit a concept—he transformed it. He gave the “dark night” systematic clarity and clothed it in passionate poetry.

He distinguished two phases:

  • Night of the Senses – detachment from worldly and sensual pleasures
  • Night of the Spirit – profound God-forsakenness that purifies the soul’s core

Unlike the Desert Fathers’ stark prose, John spoke in the language of love poetry. For him, darkness became paradoxical: painful, yet luminous with promise.

5. Spiritual Darkness – A Universal Pattern

Whether in the cells of Egyptian hermits, the verses of Sufi poets, or John’s Spanish hymns, the experience appears remarkably consistent:

  • A state of emptiness and distance from God
  • Understood not as permanent loss but as a passage
  • Leading to unconditional surrender and deeper union

The evidence suggests: the “dark night of the soul” is not only a Christian idea but a universal spiritual pattern.

Conclusion

The “dark night” has many roots: it grows out of Egypt’s deserts, travels through Sufi writings, blossoms in Spanish mysticism, and lives on in spiritual narratives today.

John of the Cross gave it a name and a peerless literary form—but its heartbeat echoes across traditions: God sometimes hides, in order to give more deeply.

References

Asín Palacios, M. (1931). Saint John of the Cross and Islam. Catholic Univ. of America Press.

Cassian, J. (1997). Conferences (B. Ramsey, Trans.). Paulist Press. (Orig. ca. 426)

Chittick, W. C. (1989). The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi. SUNY Press.

Coleman Barks (Übs.): The Essential Rumi. HarperOne.

Fideler, David: Love's Alchemy: Poems from the Sufi Tradition.

Harmless, W. (2004). Desert Christians: An Introduction to the Literature of Early Monasticism. Oxford Univ. Press.

Ibn ʿAbbād of Ronda. (1986). Letters on the Spiritual Path (J. Renard, Trans.). Paulist Press.

Ibn ʿArabi. (1981). The Bezels of Wisdom (R. W. J. Austin, Trans.). Paulist Press.

John of the Cross. (2003). The Dark Night of the Soul (U. Dobhan, Ed.). Herder. (Orig. 1618)

McGinn, B. (1991). The Foundations of Mysticism: Origins to the Fifth Century. Crossroad.

Ward, B. (2003). The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection. Cistercian Publications.

Authored by Rebekka Waldesruh

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