Celebrating

ASUFI MASTER

A Collection of Works on the Occasionof the SecondInternationalSymposiumon

Shah Nematollah Vali

Sponsored University Leiden, Netherlands by: The of October-2003

.\!rtuttgh Srtli Snit'tt'ltntnotas

high ,stttnltnls ol .scholorshilt, utknov'lcdges aul ultprctialas

nul .rptllings untlprottrtttciuliott.s ttsel b.t'uuthor,\ li(ii li.strclxtn( ics ii ltf)nui(ittlirttt,s und notutit)n sl.tit'.s. rturnt,.s tutd Jttts lrusel on cut h uullurrs pt'otttttt(ieliott.\ t t g i t t n. l'iars crptt:s.sul in lubli<tttion.s ol Sinorgh Suli Srx iat.r'uta lho'sc ol thc autht t(I)rcs(nt tIto.scoI Sinorglt Su/i Stxiclt'.

Celebrating

A Sufi Master

hy Sufi Society AIsoPttblished Simorgh

The Teachingsof A Sufi Master

By Dr. SeyedMostafaAzmayesh

CelebratingA Sufi Master

A Collectionof Works On the Occasionof the First InternationalSymposiumon Shah Nematollah VaIi

Celebrating

A Sufi Master
A Collectionof Works of on the Occasion the SecondInternationalSymposiumon

ShahNematollahVali

Sponsoredby: University of Leiden The Netherlands October 2003

Contents
Preface Another Remembranceof Shah NematollahVali Dr. Nour 'AliTobondeh Abu al-Khayr A Quatrain Attributed to Abu Saoid Interpreted by Shah Nematollah . Azmoyesh Dr. Seyed Mostofo Shah NematollahVali on Rind and Rindi Dr.JonisEshots Shah NematollahVali in Turkish Literature and the Appearanceof Nematollahisamong Ottoman Qalandaris Dr. MohmudErol Kilig Principles:An Epistle by Shah NematollahVali Tronslotion comments ond by Dr. MuhommodLegenhousen Hazrat Sultan'AliShah Gonabadi T'heRenewerof the NematollahiOrder in lran Dr. Shohrom Pazouki Shah NematollahVali: An Heir to two Mystical Literary Traditions Dr. Nosro//ohPouriovody . . .. 9 II

19 . . .. .. ...26

. . .. 35 53

69

84

An ThreeNematollahiShrines: ArchitecturalStudv . . . . ...... 92 Dr. Mehrdod Qayyoomi On Sufismand the "Social" Motthiisvon den Bos le Comment a 6t6 gErE Sanctuairede Shah-eVali? Porizi Dr. Bostani ... I 13 ...... 120

Preface
The Second Intemational Symposium, the doctrine, on writings,and the life of the greatIranianSufi masterShahNematollah Vali (d. 834/ 1431) was held in October2003at theUniversityof Leiden,The Netherlands. The first Symposium took placein2002 at SanJoseState University, manydifficulties, entryvisasfor the Califbrnia; despite suchasobtaining travelingto the US to participate the event. Howeverthe in scholars numberof world scholars with varisecond Symposium hosted greater a ous areas expertise of who presented their valuable research the subon ject. Once again,the nameof the greatmasterwas revivedin the West teachings his collection works and of anddifferentaspects his spiritual of were reintroduced. Rescarchers, who study the development the Islamic schoolof of thoughtsin Iran, often agreethat Sufismsignifiesthe essence hearl and of Islam. It has alwaysbeena part of the lranianway of lif-eand has influenced philosophy, and the the arts,culturalevents, specially, Persian (Farsi).Sufism represents only a theoretical language not schoolof in thought, alsoa way of life immersed love of God as the originator but in Vali, is not only of all things.For this reason, lran, ShahNematollah knorvnas a gnosticor a poet,but alsoa Sufi master. Today'sNematollahi Orderis the continuation the Ma'rufi Order. of datingbackto the founderof the orderShahNematollah Vali, who holds (Ma'rufiyya prominence thehistoryof Sufism.TheMa'rufiyyaSilsileh in (Nematollahi Nernatollahi Order), Order)cameto be known as Silsileh (AH) fapproximately towards endof thethirteenth the century earlytwenline,thelateHajj Sultan Shah Ali Gonabadi tiethcenfuryl. Along thesame position helda special social. spiritual, scholarly and amonghis follower s. Thus, the silsile h (o rder) a fte r h im wa s n a lle d " Ne ma t o lla lii frorn Mahan.Kerman Gonabadi" andtheCenterof theorderwasrelocated

10

on The Sccondlnternational Sunrposinttr ShshNenntollah Vali

SilsilehNematollahiGonabadiis the Khorasan.At present, to Gonabad, orderin lran. mostwidely recognized However,it must be noted that the esotericteachingsand mystical doctrineof ShahNematollahVali is not limited to Islam and [ran. Anyto spiritualgrowthcanusehis wisdomandteachings illuonewho seeks rninatea path towardsenlightenment. In an age of great spiritual defiof I ciency, hopethefollowingcollection works,which is theresultof the SecondSymposium,can bring about more positiveattentionto Shah Nematollah'sschoolof thoughtand his vast spiritualknowledge. The ef1brtto revive Shah Nematollah'steachingsin the West was The the andarranged Symposiums. leadby Dr. Azmayeshwho organized of and assistance the foleventswere madepossibleby the cooperation Sufi, Paris;Stichting organizations; lowing individualsand Quintessence Inter Cultural BonyadErfan Nematollahi, Canada; SimoergNetherland; Center,USA; ICC, UK; and Simorgh Sufi Society,USA. Other distingparticipatedand cooperated many in uishedscholarsand organizations gratitudeto many people who contributedto this We offer our aspects. for effort. Foremostamong them is Dr. Legenhousen his invaluable publicationpossible. scholarlycontributionsto make this Shahram Pazouki

1l

Another Remembranceof

ShahNematollahVali
Haii Dr. Nour 'Ali Tabandeht opportunityto speakatroutShah very gratelulfor another I am indeecl a result I arn thankful to all those who rnade NematollahVali. and as efforts towardsthis end and have madethis seminarpossible.I am sure with the Of will thatnoneof thosein attendance be disappointed. course, professors who will be speakinS, presence the many esteemed of You privy to much interestinginformation, and thereforeI will not will be takeup too much of your tirne. The luminosity of this glowing star of IrartianSufism has shone throughoutthe world and he is among the imporlant figures who have Sufis and social thinkers' the attracted attentionof poets,philosophers, ofwhich biography, Mentionwill definitelybemadeof ShahNematollah's his although earlylife, andin otherwords andhavestudied, you areaware occureveryday his normallife, is not whatwe want to focuson because and influencethe lives of all in the sameway. happento everyone rences is As the placeof his birth, Kooh-banAn wherethis greatpersonality of upon his travelsin search the Truth, suchas is mentionedin embarked He "Thosein search ofAllah, find yourselves!" found theDivdn-eShams'. journeysand travelstowardsreachinghis goal himself and he undertook of the reached presence Shaykh'AbdullahYdf i in until he eventually and training.After that himself to his guidance Meccaand surrendered journeys to all cornersof the Islamic world of HazratShahmade many that time until he arrived at Kooh-banin and thereat the city of Mahan, for he built a zawiyyah2 his spiritualwayfaring and for the training of his thereuntil the end of his days. remaining novices, journey,he himselfis an example what of On the pathof his spiritual aboutthepriority of knowledge(nta'ri/at) in he hasmentioned his epistles

72

\,'sli orr Tlrc Sccttrtd IrLtcrutrtiornl Surrrttositnn Slnlr Nertrntollnh

(.Hol).FIesaysthat this issueis depenclent the on over mysticalstates is of the the source the klowledge.Whenever knowledge fiori-r source of it than a mysticalstate.[Je addsthat acknowledge, is more honorable quiredknowledge of'a lower rank thanniysticalstates in this case is and that is, the relationthat is states more definite.But if the knowledge. are thisknowlmanifest theworld ofunveiling, in knorvledge, becomes called This is rvhatis meantby edgeis rrore importantthan mystical states. through unveiling. knowledge obtained of He himself was in search Allah, and as was usual,he beganhis pursuitof it in the exotericsciences. Alierthis search and realizingthat this knowledgealonecould not guideman, he tunredto spiritualstates many sciences" discovered and armedwith the weaponof the acquired He somesixty odd of rvhichareavailable, sciences. rvrotemanliepistles, of and it is saidthat therewere aboutthreehundred them.At any rateof his knowledgethrclugh thesesixty odd epistles, acquiledanclrevealed is mysticalstates show.n. In order that we can undcrstand small exampleof his knorvledge a by storyutentioned the throughunveiling,we will refer to an interesting 'conceming biograthe mysticDdrdshuk0h his bookSaftin al-Awlit,ri in ut phy of his shaykjr.r sayseverymorninghe went to be at the service of He alsoattend bento who weredevoted him u,oulcl to his guide,andothers to efit from what he might happen say.Onc morninghe noticedthat his the feelingphysicallyunwell.as if he had a fbver.He asked shaykhr,vas shaykhabouthis health.I-lerepliedtliat the previousnight he liad not him much. ran and slept, a f-ever, hada pimpleon liis eyelidthatbothered to as In short.thercwas somesuchdiscussion this.Oneof thosedevoted withvery upset,and because being so upsethe became of him became drawn and cut off from this world. After a periodwhen the novicehad his to and he returned his normalstate, asked shaykh ordera cucumber to prescription his and to put the seedsorr his eye. The shaykhaccepted Afterward,someone his it carried out.Fortunately. illnesswasalleviated. "l{ow is it thatyou arethe shaykh andhe is thenovice, the asked shaykh, "l replied, yet you did not understand matter, he did?"The shaykh the but illnessand good healthto be guestsfrom God. So, althoughI consider was aboutto seeka curein the usualway',I was not upset.But this Sufi of thathe wastakento a world where became upsetbecause rny illness so he saw the realitiesof things.the very world wherethe Prophetasked

Vttli Arnther Rcnrt'rttbrnrtt'c of Shnlt!,lcmttttlltth

13

God, 'O my God! Showme thingsasthey arel'r In thatworld, whereone of of of canseethe realities all creatures God.he alsofoundthatattribute Afler he returnedfrom that spiritualjourney, he brought the cucumber. backthatsouve n ir.": tliroughunveiling.in which thereis no doubtand This is knowledge himselfalso ShahNematollah thanthe rlystical state. it is moreelevatetl of had passed throughall of the stages whicli he makesmention. Aside from this, Ifazrat ShahNematollahalso held spiritualinfluhis to and and ence within thesociety hetrained spread benevolettce people fiom him. It is even of all sociallevels,and manyof the rulersbenefited 'fhe held well known thatTamerlane6 him in greatrespect. point mustbe thingsonly in we madeherethat unfbrtunately havethe habit of seeing to black and wirite. and sincewe know Tamerlane have beena bloodhe anything may havedoneto be tliirstyman.someof us do not consider good. This is the fault of pasthistorians, all of the detailsabouta but personor a societyneedto be explained. The goodmustbe seenasgood and the bad seenas bad.Tlie prophetLot did not cursethe peoplein his meaning society, but says:(Verily,I am one v,ho abhors),our deed.s),7 It not to that he was averse tlieir deeds, to them as persons. was not by took over the world. He showedgreatrealonethat Tamerlane carnage leaders thosein whom thepeople towardreligious and spect andcouftesy placed He theyweredevoted. wasalsoa friendof theirtrustandto rvhorn from the It the Islamicsciences. is well knownthat he donated procceds he in trust to ShaykhSaf-iuddin Ardibili. Likeu'ise, six hundredvillages Vali in greatesteem. Oncebecause some of alsoheld ShahNematollah Nematollah Vali saidto him: occasion. Shah My lringdontis a v,orld v'ithrtul end. Yottrkingtlom is f|om Khstct to Shiruz. the who Also Shaiirukh" sonof Tamerlane, afterhis fatherbecame the witnessedhis fa t h e rsre s p e c tf o r Ha z ra t S h a h r uler of Kho rasa n , Nematollah and he hirnselffbllowedthis pattern.It is obviousthat this provideda reason forjealousyand evenat one ofthe gatherings respect Khalilulldh.the eldestson and succeswhereHaz.rat ShahBurhhnuddin a sorof ShahNematollah Vali paidthe sameShahrukh visit,he roderight sat up to the buildingdoorand,aswas his custom, right nextto theAmir.

14

Internationgl SvntLtsiurtr ShahNenntollahVaIi on TlrcSccond

out at Oneof thosepresent the gathering, of his ownjealousysaid:"How had observed the much betterit would have beenif llazrat Burhdnuddin he the towarcl rulerandbecause king is the leader, the necessary etiquette shouldnot haveriddenright up to the doorof thebuilding,nor satnextto alsoadding otherthings all standing," theking,because paytheirrespects "My fathervisited the king's said: of this sort. In rcply. Burhhnuddin fatherin the very samemannerand alsoit is not properin rny rank that I expects that I standin shouldstand.I heardmy fathersay,'If someone "' was also that is his or herpresence person illegitinlate. This in actuality "Do not interfere. This doesnot Tlie a metaphor. king saidto thecourtier: grcat respect was paid to HazratShah i,vhat concernyou." -fhis shor.r's Nematollah Vali. that the IndianKingshad As a resultof the greatrespect aud interest was repeatedly invitedto that ShahNematollah Vali for Shi'ism,Haz,rat Khalilulldhthere,wherehe stayed country.He sent Shahtsurhdnuddin liis brothers andothermembers his family of fbr sometime, and because they beand marriedindian princesses formedrelationships, practically they remainedthere cameresidents that land. Even afterHazratShah. of and for sometime the NematollahiOrder spreadthroughoutIndia. that the founder ln many writings and books it hasbeenmentioned Vali. This Order is ShahNematollah and originatorof the Nematollahi rvith matdubiousto thosenot acquainted might be somewhat statement the ters of mysticism.Tliis is because words 'fbunder' and 'originator' are usually used for foundersor originatorsof new schoolsof thought, A or sects religions. principletenetof Sufism and 'ifidn is that the perreligiousleader missionfor training mustbe receivedfrom an authorized and it is not sufficient if attainedonly from books, otherwiseif it r'vas to sufficient attainthis from books,theQur'anwhich is themostsublime In all of books,would havebeenableto guideall people. that case, those borethe includingthe Khawirrij,whoseforeheads who readthe Qur'an, marks of prolongedprostrationsin prayer,should have beenreformed. Who is this leader? Therefore, mustbe trairiedby a guideanda leader. one Accordingto Mou,lanafRumi]: Sincetnonya devil hus the /ace of'a man, Onemustnot give oneishandtojust ett_t'one.8

Another Renrcntbrsnce ShahNematollahVnIi of

15

Towardsthe end of the Prophet's(ce)era and after him at the time ofhad a Abu Bakr,MusailimdhKadhdhdb created religion,andAswad 'Ansi but because therewasno spirialsodid the same, thesesoondisappeared base behindit. Our Wali 'Ali ('a) is known asthe tual,socialor scientific he leaderof the Sufis and leaderof the Shi'ia because receiveddirect the trainingfrom the Prophet(ce).and'Ali ('a) is calledImam because 'Ali ('a) we know his Prophet(re)specified this. In the sameway. after he by son Hasanto be lmam, because was explicitly appointed Imam 'Ali. Fromthis it canbe reasoned everyleader that mustbe chosen the by previous andImamswerenot choone.In the sameway thatthe Prophet ratherby Allah, the leaders follow mustindirectly that senby thepeople, be chosenthrough divine inspiration,meaningthat every leader must his afterhim, andthis is thevery situation thatoccurred choose successor in the periodof the twelve Shi'ite Imams. and After theoccultation thetwelfth lmam.the issues education of of training in lslamic law (shar{'ah) andthe spiritualpath(tariqah)became The Imam dispatched the work of shar['ah to the jurispruseparated. fiom lmam Sddiq('a): "It is a resportsibility of dents, suchas is narrated jurisprudentwho has self-control,protectshis the peopleto follow any religion,opposes carnaldesires his and follows the ordersof his Mowla (Master)."Therefore,it is obligatoryon every religiouslyduty-bound personto searchfor and follow any of the jurisprudents who possess not belief.But This concerns actionand thesecharacteristics. of course for in the periodof occultation the Imam the permission spiritualiniof guidancewas given to JunaydBaghdadiand he was tiation (bay'ah) and giventhe permission choose successor thatsuccessor do the his to to and This connection the of sameand so on until the day of Resurrection. presence the spiritualleaderis called 'silsilah' (chainor of continuous order) in Sufism. Thereforewhen silsila/r Nematollahi is mentionedit Nematollah which ShahSeyed Vali had refers the chainor permission, to part of a chain.Otherthantlris,ShahNernatollah at the time, him being religiousleadership his shaykh.Hazrat to Vali wasno differentasconcems Hazrat Shah Burhdnuddin ShaykhAbdullah Ydfi'i or his successor Accordingto variouscircumstances Khalilulldh,andtheywereall equal. greatmysticsandreligiousleaders, excelled overoththe andsituations, in ers, e.g. socially,or when the period calledfbr specificchanges the given.Because this,the orderwasthereafter named of orderor in rulings

16

Vnli Svrnttosiwn ShnhNernntollnh on The Secoud lnternotittrtnl

the order, meaning order leader, Suhrawardiyyah e.g. afterthatparticular which means the Suhrawardi Nernatollahi or afterShaykhShahabuddin shaykhsand then sameorder where ShahNematollahwas one of the becamethe spiritual pillar (qutb) and after HazratShaliNematollahVali famousunderthe nameof this greatpersonalit,v. became which led to the for of Now the reasons the uniqueness HazratShah, characmostpresent the outstanding in orderbeingnamedafterhim. are teristics of the order and for further information we must refer to the relevantdetailedbooks,but here I will mentionsomeof the important witli work, while beingidle is issues. Oneis the matterof beingoccupied matteris observing balance a between in Another unacceptable this order. and intoxication(sukr),and yet anof spiritualstates sobriety(rcahv,) '. Of course but thereareotherissues, of otherbeingthe elimination sanld discussion. for now they arenot part ofthe present we will discuss here,is that of samii'andmusic. The matterwhich Music comesfrom the order and hartnonyof soundsand voices.e.g. when you sit down next to a mountainriver, the soundsof the small waterfalls, the river and the leavesof the treesas they make contact of form a special musicwhich movesthemystic. together with oneanother, mcaningattention Allah and His remembrance. to an inner movement. prohibited. it canbe saidthatmusicitselfcannotbe generally Therefore, story: In oneof his poems, Sa'ditellsthe follorving al Last night a /bwl c:ried lhe morning. aud ptttience werec'aniedawavvvith tolerance c:ottst:iorl.v?c'.s.t. Reason and One of'nty sincerefi'iends. his Whenmy voice reac'hecl ears, "l clic{ believethat.vou Saitl, not be so confu.sed the noiseof a /owl!" at Could humunit,v: I said, "This is rtotu condition./br praise,and I he silent."' ,gittgs Thatthefbv,l This itself is a type of musicor in otherwordssamd'.Followingthis, Sa'disays: a Thecamel,by the song of its driver, r'eaches stateand dances.

\,'ali of ArtLtthcrRcnrcrnltrtutce Sltnlt l'',lcntatollah

17

ln this line thereis an allusionro Huda. I{udd was a specificmusic which excitedthe camelsand they in turn sungby the camelherdsmen [t that would be stirredto nrovement. hasbeennamated thereoncewas a The and travel to Isfahan. to that was destined leave Baghdad caravan song,(Huda).They moved forsanga verv attractive camelfrerdsman ran ward all night and he sangall niglit.The carnels the wholeway suclt that they arrivedin Isfahanin the motning, but all of the camelsdied hearlbeats. and from exhaustion increasecl The obviouseffectthat of The principleeff-ect music is undeniable. in the pathof drawingmannearto Allah musichason man may be used but of and to the remembrance humanand spiritualresponsibilities; it path away fiom God and to sunender camaldeto may alsoleadto the sires. in Thus,musiccanbe considered two ways:firstly,musicwhichdraws voice man towardsGod, e.g. the rcadingof Sufi booksin a rnelodious practicein Sufi gatherings, what Sa'di expresses or which is now the This is aboutthe cock'scrorvwhich is at the time of the rnorningprayer. to God; and.of course, type of music this music,which drawsman close In to cannotbe prohibited. contrasl this, tliereis musicwhich pulls man the musicof todayis of this lattertype.meanawayfrom God. Much of the of conscquence this musicis thatit causes inciteing that a necessary instincts and lusts.In sucha caseit is obviousthat mumentof feelings, to andthis is the very musicwhich is ref-erred in lslamas sic is prohibited man away from God. ghina is musicwhich drau,s ghind. In actuality. is hor,v it that somewould placea universal With sucha distinction. thereis an ambiguous distinction prohibitionon music?fhis is because a to between divinemusic andghinti,andit is impossible forntulate critethe boundarybetweenthem. In reality,those rion by which to specity for man'smoralitygeneras who view themselves respottsible protecting if prohibitmusicso that thescdeviations not occur.Flowever, the do ally on but type, it is acceptable; this also depends the music is of di'u'inc have person inrrolved. Because this,manypastSufis,suchasGhazali, of banned musicand the samd'. at tirnesallowedand at othertin-res hasbeenleft behindfor us frorn thosegoneby is that today,at What Vali, poems followersof ShahNematollah of the gatherings the sincere voicesso that the attention of the greatSufi poetsare readin melodious and to the meaning of thoselisteningis drawnboth to the musiccreated

18

lilte on Vnli Tlrc Second rtrfitionnl Svrttuosiunr ShahNentatttlhth

resultingin their -spiritual Thus. the music of of the poerns, elevation. is sanlit'.which in additionto music also involvesceftainmovements, prohibitedby the NematollahiOrder.The good of this prohibitioncan probablybe seen understood moreclearlytoday.But ShahNematollah and Vali neverhimselfprohibited music. In the biography of Hazrat Sultan 'Alishah, one of Hazrat Shah Nematollah Vali's successors was martyred A.H. 1327 it is writwho in , "Do you give me permission of ten that one of his followersasked him: in In to play an instrument?" was answered the negative. explanation He the of his request, pupil saidthat the lateHazratMushthq(referringto the famous of Sufi master the QdjdrperiodMushtdq'Alishah)playedthetdr (aneastern (like) Mushtdq He stringinstrument). wastold: "You become "Do you like," andthendo asyou like." The famousstatenrent whatever "Gain faith. and then you may do as is as of the Sufi masters interpreted you like." This means like thatif you gainfaith and,for example, become Mushtdq, thenyou will not want anythingotherthanAllah, and so,then you can do what you like; not that you can do any improperact that you may like. I In conclusion, would againlike to thankall thoseinvolvedin this Mostafa Azrnayesh particular, in who initiated it; Seminar. Dr. Seyed and in and andI hopethatexperts thefleld benefitfrom this seminar thatsuch seminarsare held fbr other great scholarsand mystics of lran, so that peoplein general and thoseof our countrycan be proudof their society andreligion. Notes:
I
l

FIaii Dr. Nou r ' Ali l- abandeh is t hc c ur r c nt O u r b o f t h e N e r n a t o l l a h i S u l t a n 'Alisha hi(Go na badi) r der . O This is a placcfbr the gathering Sufis.also servingirsa placeof retreat. of and Sakinutal-.1*'liyi'. ecl.-l'arachand JalaliNa'ini (Tchtan:Elmi, 1965). it Vol. 4, p. I 32. A similarhadithis narratcd 'Awdliul-Li 'dli. cd. Ibn Abu Jumhnrat-Ahsd'i, Tlris story is a summary r'atherthan a direot quotation fi'om the one told in Sakinat alpp Au,lit'ti', . I 38 -1 39. in and r.vcstcrn Asia:ruler of Sarnarqand369 1405.[Tr.l 1 Tartarconqucror southcrn (2 6:1 68 ). Qn r'an lvlathnavi. I. 316. Bk. Yusufi (Tehran:1368i1989), ed. 97. Sa'di, Golistt)n. Gholam Flusayn

19

A Quatrain Attributed to Abu Sa'idAbu al-Khayr Interpretedby ShahNematollah

Dr. SeyedMostafaAzmayeshl

qt,* J)\-;-a p;l-.(-j o1[-.Ja-i c_;.5r,r Cp sr5.-*-*; ) alys .:; irJa-o OLt; OIt 4+- Jtt.5JJj \-r-tE-40;.:.fua F.*.|j JlJit Thehura hasqueued to visitm),Beloved up Rezwantappedon his hand in astonishment A black beauh,spot put ttp a tent aroundhis cheeks Abda! in.fbcrr-has takenthe ntusha.fbetween hands. hi,g

This quatrain attributed ShaykhAbuSa'idAbu al-Khayr, great is to a Sufi masterof the fourth centuryof the hegira(between A.H. 357 and 440),of Khorasan the norlh regionof Iran.It is not to be foundin the in two booksaboutthis famousmysticwritten by his followerssometirne afterhis death.r Wetakenoticeof this quatrainin an independent book underthename of Kalamdt-eManium-eShatkh Abu Sa'fd, copiedbya calligrapher about A.H. 950, existingtodayin the libraryof the museum Kabul. of One of the more fantasticfeaturesof this book is that eachquatrain has cometo have a specificpractical use as an invocation, one comif plies with the necessary conditionsfor its recitation.For example, the purpose the twentiethquatrainis to bring rain, the sixtiethserves of to poemsare invocations, cureillnesses, so on. In this way, these and used

Vnli orr httcrrntirtturlSttittttositrnr Sltnhlrlarnntollilr Tlta Scccrtd

for and seers a positiveand white magic. by healers thatthe Shaykli one ln this book hor,vever, cannotfind any indication one Consequently, can himsclf usedhis poctry for this sofi of purpose. this of fbllorvers adc'pts and discovered usage thatthe Shaykh's conclude and collccpoemsin the courseof tir-ne. throughpersonal their master's tive experience. about havehadtlie opposing opinioris On the otirerhand,researchers to of the attribution the quatrains ShaykhAbu Sa'icl.llow ever.evenif his the Shaykhwas not the real authorof all of thesequatrains, disciples in hearcl someof them rccitcdby their nlaster the Sufi reunions. quatrains, rvhich,because in Now, we areinterested only oneof these language, u,asintetpreted b-v and henneneutic of its mysticalcharacter The There are at leastsix of thesecotrmentaries. some Sufi masters. was by Shaykh Anothercommentary authorof one of them is unknorvn. 'UbaydAllahAhrar, Naqshbandi (fiom 806masterofthe ninthcentury a to 895).rAnother commentarywas written by Shaykh Muharnmad Threeother masterof the ninth century. Maghribi anotherNaqshbandi Vali, (from 731 to 834), werewrittenby ShahNernatollah commentaries in to two belonging the library of the NationalMuseumof Afghanistan Kabul,and a third one to a privatelibrary in Iran.a of Accordingto Sa'id Nafisi. one of the two manuscripts Kabul's museumis namedRisaltthHurit'ivah, and the name of anotherone is Risc)lah. Now we will havea look at the third commentaryeditedby Nafisi. The hura has queuedup to visit my Bebved the Hura meansthe soulsthat havethe ability to contemplate beauty of of God. Beautyis the epiphanyor divine appearance the divine esthe of At to sence thedivineessence. this stage blackness the ink of being had not yet beenwritten on the pageof the book of the worlds,and the The sultanof the curtainof was still deniedto beings. nameof existence the tent of "Allah was, and therewas nothingwith Him"-about which someverifierssaid,"Now it is the sameas then"- wantedto bring His perfections beforeHis gazelaccordingto the Hadithl^"1 was a hidden the to to treasure I wanted be known.so I created creation be known". and

A Quntrtirt Attributed to Abi Ss'id Abu Al-Kltoyr

21

He saw Himself by Himself. Everything tlie worldsthat existsnow in in a developed way, appeared during this manifestation a way of conby traction.So, all of the entitiesof contingent thingsthat in this time are witnessed God in the aspectof their realization, that timc were by in witnessed tlreaspect divineknowledge. in of The advanced Suflscall the one who sees"existence," FIis seeing,"light," what is seen,"the wit"knowledge,"and the apnessed," perception what is witnessed, the of pearance the Truth iri His beauty, "Beauty". But that is the magnifiof cence the beauty; of and beautyhasits rank nearthe Light. This refersto the appearance the worlds of the Light of the Trutli tlrroughall the to (Allah is the Light of'theheavens particles, the Qur'an states: as and the earth. Thepat'ableof'His Light is a niche whereinis a lantp) (24:35).For this reason perception the prophets of the awliyd is not ableto the of and perceive magnificence thc Beauty, the Prophet Allah saidin the of as of "I answer a question to ofAbu Zar Ghafdri. sawa liglit." In thesame way. Allah says:(rfte eyescannot,see Him, and He seesthe eyes)(6:103). However,the I-ight of Beauty,being the manifestation God through of everything, might be visible after long periodsof solitudefor the companionsof the Unity, by following the Prophet. the Prophetsaid:"I As haveseen Lord in the guiseof a youngman dressed green."So,all my in thesesoulswho reached stateof the God's Beautyby following the the Prophet, namedHura. May God allow this to us as well as to our are companions. Rezwsn tappedon his ltand in astonishment Rezwc)n signifies intellects the supported the t-lolySpirit.The inby tel l ect two d ivisions. has [First,]theintellectis usedin thejargonof themysticsandthelearned for a lucid substance God created the brainsand that shinesits that in light in the heart.By this light the heart seesthe invisibleworld. The invisibleworlds are composed six layers.First, the invisibleof the of soul; second, invisibleof the heart;third, the invisibleof the spirit; the fourth,the invisibleof the secret; fifth, the invisibleof the hidden;and sixth,the invisible the invisibles. the invisible the invisibles of tsut of is hiddenfrom all creatures. otherinvisibles revealed theperiect The are to verifiers andmatureprecise onesby way of insight.Insightis a facultyof

22

ort The Secttnd hiarnntionttl Syrnposittrrt ShnhNenntollahVsli

insightperceives ob.jects, theheart;in the sameway asthe eyeperceives except illumination by be the interiors things.Insightcannot acquired of in of that substance the brain.which was saidto be the intellect. of division of intellectis] the intellectin the language [The second that (philosophers) the soul'sknowledgeof its essence, is, is the sages of things,but it falls shorl of the perception its own the soul perceives by essence. Whenever, divine graceand by following the sharf'ah of the and constant obedience much spiritualdiscipline, soul Muhammad, call it "inFrornthat momentonward,the sages knowsits own essence. said, be tellect".Wherethe Lord God,may IJismagnificence magnified, -28),by pleasing!)(89:27 (O soulat peoce Returnto vour Lord,pleased, ! the signifies this kind of intellect.So,pleasing(Rezwan) soul He means intellects that havebeenmentioned. A bluck beautyspotput up a tent uround his cheeks who acquired the of The beautyspotsignifies existence the traveller '), the stateof unity (/hrq) fbllowing the stateof distinction Qarn that is, and cut becomes off from all carnalpleasures material whenthe traveller . in desires orderto attainreal desires, He closesfirst his eyesfrom the and multiplicityof the rvorldswith the hopeof tlie unity of the E,ssence (sav'cid al+rah.i,lit.black face)to his the appfies kohl of being notlring and his of The realapplier kohl illuminates eyesby his owu lights, eyes. his eyeswitnessthc liglrtsof lrnity. In his vierv no more thau one light himselfand all thingsasone light. The interand appears, at lastire sees pretation his stateis this: of the und thesoul are illuntinoted! O Youbv ,r-hom universe Whois /igurcd. In the e1,es o/-all it is YoLr Besidethe surto/-Your/ace Thehrtrizonsare like buseparticles. himselfand all tlringsas one light, he imagines When at lasthe sees and the one illuminatedare both missing, that the one who illuminates The magnifiandthe objectof worshipareannulled. andthe worshipper that asidefrom him, his of cence unity dominates heart,andhe imagines to thereis nothingelse.He begins boastof hrsbeingandclaimsto adore

A QutrtrainAttriltutcd to Alti Sn'idAbtr AI-Khayr

himself.The blackbeautyspotis this being. Abdul-in.fear-has his taken the muslruJ'betw'een hands.

is of Abdalis saidof the essence the travellerandmusha.f saidof the The travelleris a personwho has abandoned religion of Muhamrriad. is Whenthetraveller overwhelmed himselfandrnixedwith nothingness. to by the beingof unity,aswas saidwith regard the first line of thepoem, so that he saw himself,and took regardof nothingelse,and when he is to broughtback from drunkenness sobriety,from dreamingto wakefulI{e his ness, sees own pastbeingand unrealself-adoration. finds his he and own way, and takeshold of the skirt of the religionof Muhammad, The end of the epistle. himselfat the stationof servitude. occupies Remarks of the Translator suchasLawd'ah, in Nematollah explained someof his treatises, Shah by can NukdtandJcimi'al-Latd'ifthateverything be seen light,andlight invisibledue to proximity by is perceivable light. But, objectsbecome to and distance light. Allah is light, light on light, and the light of the to and everywhere, is nearer us than He and heavens the earth. is present see ourjugularveins.So,it is dueto proximitythatonecannot God.Shah perfector imperfect. The imperfecexplains that a humanbeingis either of in tion is described the follorvingphrase the Qur'an: (Their evesat'e (24'.46). the contrary, perthe To not blind, but their heartslack insight.) f'ectman is one whoseinner eyesin his heartareopen. the to It is necessaly developinner vision to understand reality of aspect of the facultyfor perceiving esoteric unity.lnnervisionis a heart's things. by the that if one perceives hiddendimensions ones Shahexplarns is namedrult), an6if the hearl's tlris innervision duringhis dreams, case the energyreaches brain,one can seethe divine light and the invisible worlds evenby the ordinaryeyes,andthis caseis namedruyat. this kind of viAccordingto Shah,what leadsthe seekertoachieve andthe faceof God-is the kohl sion-to find the Divine manifestation to instructs students the path of the teacher of wisdom.Thus, the Suf-r (kahhiil) The beautictan unity. inner vision, and to discover developing

24

Vnlt Stnnpttsiunr ShnhNerfi{ttollnh on Tlrc Second Intentationnl

is kohl to the seekers eyesto openthem.The student thenableto applies says: of behold f-ace God in all things,includinghimself.He who sees the In our e.ve,s seerseesthe Truth the In ear:hatom, the sun rppears. the develops hidden In this state. kohl applieror the Sufi teacher the protects gives him wisdom and hurnbleness, of capacities the student, and of him from the dangers self-adoration, inviteshim to hold on to richness and hasa placebetween In servitude. that momentthe student he poorness and while amidstthe plurality of creatures. is at eachrnor.l'ith unity. mentin contact 'Ali if he couldseeGod.He replied that asked Shahsaidthata person "l He he wouldneverprayto a Lord thathe couldnot see. said, havenever Allah beforeit. afterit, with it andin it." seen thingwithoutseeing a unity is the basicseaccording Shah'sexplanafion, to ln conclusion, depends the development on this and cliscovering secret cretof creation, of The spirituallessons a Sufr and hiddenfaculties. of the inner senses to teaclier like alchemickohl, which pennitsto the students obsetve are and in everywhere themirrorof everything, consequently God'spresence of to leam to love all things.The principlemessage Sufismis this Love. and is by This message celebrated mysticssuchas ShahNematollah MowlanaJalalal-Din Rumi when the lattersays: O Muslims,v'hat c'ouldI do I ctntncithera Muslint.nor a Hindu Irleithera Christion,nor a Jev,, Nor a Zoroastrian. Neitherfront the East, nor.fhnt the Wrest. I I elintinatedclttcti4, Unit1, I disc'overed I is Linit.v w-hat see Unitltis v:hatLseek Unity is tvhat I speak Unitr i.t what Lsirtg.

A QuntrnirtAttributed to Alti Ss'id AItu Al-Khntlr

25

is of The Sufismis the application kohl. A Sufi teacher one who apintroplieskolrl (kahhiil),capable curingthe blind. ShahNematollah of himselfwith this characterization: duces O O seeker, seeker! I have the Coal d'Wisdom fbr your ill et,es I give .sightto the born blind.

Notes:
Paris and Mostalh Azmayeshhas a doctoratcin Islamic Law from Sorbonnc. Dr. Scy'cd "Comparativc rcscarchcr Religious Studics"fionr the Universityof Lyonnc.I{e is a scholar. and lecturer. ed. Shuvhh Ahu Su'idAbu ul-Khu;,t', IraiAfshir Jamiilal-DinAbu Ruh. Htildt va Sulthantrn-e (Tchrarr: 34 I ); Muharnmacl .4.trdr l-Tov'hid Muqdnuit-eShar Abi Su'id, ed. o kh Munavar. I li Sha f i Kad k ani( l"c hr an:ll75) . 1 llu Firsted itcd by Valc nt in. lok of s k y undc r t hc na r l e R i , i d / a / r i 'i . t 'u h ( S t . P c t e r s b u r g :8 9 9 ) : (Tehran:13I 3). Bahrnanvar latcr cditcdby '\hn.rad volumc of Rasi'il-e can be founclin thc fbr.rrth The first conlnentaryof ShdhNcrnatollah with thc in9NemutolluhL'ali(Tchran:Khaniqah.I -1.18), I 5. His third comrncntary Shcih in tcrpretations ofAhrAr andMaghribi arc cluotcd tlrcvolunreofAbu Sa'id'spoctryby Sa'id intcrprctation ShiihNernatollah by far Nafisi,(-lchran: Sanir'i.1323).,,\s asI knolv.theseoond Vali has not yct beenedited.

26

ShahNematollahVali
on Rind and Rindi
Dr. lanisEshotsl

It is no secretto the peopleof tastingthat the term rincl,like most satisfactorily other key ternrsof Persianmysticism,doesnot translate and into any modernWestemlanguage, I shallmakeno effort to translate in it. Instead, orderto give someinitial notionof the rind andrindi (the givenby Muhammad here g of state bein a rind),1shallqr.tote thedefinition "The RoseGardenrt A,\tsteru: of Ldhrji,the commentator M. Shabistari's (nu'et) (attsdfl.attributes s rind is onewho hasgot rid of lall] description (ta'ttlt.ytutat) (ahkant)of multiplicity of entifications and and properties plane by (i.e.,all particular characteristics) the off hasshaven everythir,g whereforehe is trot delimitedby any limita(rantlah)of annihilation, tion".2 meallsmysticwho hasfreedhimthe As we see, tennrind generally relatedto the Etymologically, word is supposedly self from all bounds. of the plane (a tool usedfor smoothing surface randah-a carpenter's pieceof wood, an shaves uneven wood):the ideais that,like a carpenter (limitations), characteristics ofTfromhis selfall particular therind shal'es "shaven one." the thusbecoming Rind (along with love, wine, kharubat and saqi)is one of the key in mystical lexicon.The word appears at terms of ShahNematollah's on treatise the Besides, Shahhasa special leastonequafterof his poems. (The levels entitledMaratib-eRindan and rindsandtheir states stations, is ntartabah usedin the sense the throughout treatise of rinds).llou'ever, "division" ratherthanin themeaning Ispiritual]level". of of "section"or oraldiscourses) of (whichis probably concise version Sliah's a Thetreatise Ibn al-'Arabi or of a contains brief exposition the key mysticalideasof

VaI! ShahNentLttollttlt LtnRind and Rindi

what is commonlyknown as the principlesof the schoolof wahdatrtl(1a'a1,yunar) theAbsoof particular as existents entifications wujud(e.g., of lute Being;five levelsof the entification Being;themostholy andthe Ibn that Shahregards etc.).it appears the holy effusions; fixed entities, of explanation tl.reoretical to al-'Arabi'steachings be the most adequate gnostic ('arifl of the practicalmystical experience an accomplished Ibn (Hence,if we want to undcrstand al-'Arabi properly,somekind of not apparently on mysticalexperience our own partis a must.r)However, knew Arabic well enoughto readIbn al-'Arabi's all of Shah'sdisciples and theirnativelanguage sincethey werePersians. own works.Besides, was, in all likelihood, mysticalsymbolism its poetrywith its elaborated distheoretical to much more appealing them than highly sophisticated coursesin Arabic. (I would l,entureto say that this has somethingto do with the Persiannational characterand its predominantlyaesthetic (zawqi)-may be even sybaritic-attitude to life, due to which the imto of ages wine,saqi andkharabatappeal it muchmorethanthoseof the (al-qiyamah of "greater al-kubra)or the "self-disclosure the Esrising" zati) of the Reat.) sence"(ta.jalli-1,e I shallnow quotetheghazalwith the radiJ-"rind'from the fifth chapMaratib-e Rindan,which containsa sketchyportrait of ter of the treatise the rind, and then examineevery ba1'tin detail. q/-a cup of'u'ine. in The rind is alwa-vs the compan)) The rind is perntanentlyin love,drunk and deva";tated. The veil o.fthe wretchedrenounceris his [acts ofl obedience, But, in our path, the rind has no veil. cttpso.fwine, Sincethe rind drinks countless How can the intellect count hint [/br anythingJ. to oflife, andvethehasbroughtwater his lipsof'thewater Hislipsare./ull Isn't the rind is like a cup o/ /bam.full o.fwater. he path the rind./indsa companion, goesthat way, On whichetter He doesnot rentainat a v,tttersource,nor stayswit/t a mirage. This unboundone i.snot bound by anything. ! How can he be botutdby knowledgeand a book? Nematollah, s Seekthe Seved path o.f'rindi.frorn and is [alv'ays] right.a Becausethe rind makesno mistakes

28

'l'lrc

o: t Stco r t l I r Llt , r r r Lt iic ; t itit 11111t o5i1t tlitri t t h i l c t t r n t o l i o i r\ ', r l t -l

plain: thc sole busrThc rneaningof thc f\rst ltuvt is outrvardl\,'cjuitc ness of Lherind is drinking 'l'it'tc.whcrclirrc ire is alu'ays dntttk anci ititoxicatedto thc dcgrce that hc is unable to nccourttfor liis acttons--itt ()n sinc.:he savstirat one word. he is a hopclcssclruniiard. thr:oiher liancl. that probabll'his"ranrr-"nti:lht love. we crursupposrl he is perrnanentll,in [-ct as bc understoocl thc wituessing ,rf titc bcautv of his t-'clrtvccl. tts. - "r'r'inc" (,tltnrab). ntrrittting oJ'tlrc kcy rvorcls horvevcr, clrcckthe tn;,,stlcltl "drurri<crrncss tji:vastatirlt-t" "a cup of 'uvinc" ru:r-t,.sltrtruh'1and (f \ntu.tlit'u kharahi\. of Onc gfrtssarry rnl.slicuitcnirs iulls rrs ihal shurtit ts tlcttcrallvirtr tri'ieri'tl arrillhc aitractioncf tite ltcnl Eir;;/rrr. allusionto thc clriinkc-rulcss taste !avii. passioriatr: c q'l.rii17)ancltlrc lcrr ye huqq\. [Jcsir]c:i" griossllrv the (:crilrT-c' rvinc.s Anttthcr glosslrv .sttl.t"l lllso iikcr;e<1to arc of ir-itoxjcatiou "Sltui'rtl;i s the tumrtlt of'lovc (shttr-r givcs a rnorc spccilic llclinitron". 'ishq),accotlpiinicd bv aciiortsuhir,'liciir.rsc it ircoltlc'sretltroacit; is pc"cr.tp"\lutn.t" lttl"ti" (irl;l-i'ltu;itu!1.""'Iltc itt culiar to thc fblk of pcrf'cctroir u'iitc" i.c."thc h,:ario1'tlrctl-tvr;tic. is a receptacle this s;rrrituai of -kr is llowcver, Ithinl< thlt rinolirc:'intcrprt:talion also possible. Slraii firrm is a cup o1'tlinc.sincc it is thc locuso1' Nematollah.e\/er\/ r','itncsscd itttoric;ition What rnakcstltc lrnr.l's manil'estatittn one of (ioil's niiurcs. of pen'nancnt exactly his allilit-v u'itucssa srngleurcaningin an inf-!nitc 1o rs multitudeof fbnns.
v'iIttc.s,s Bct;trttse oI thc jcuIous.t' of t!ri.; dt'turkett I11'1'1'Ig.1:; i',lo-onelclseJ lit.t in thc alxicla of khurulruf .'

(ira.rr o kittrrilt) alludes to subt-ucrln tunr. "drunk anrl dcr''astated" reachingthe uftrrost dar.sulir).ri.t-'.,1o sion in the intorication (rstr{a/irtttl 'fliis "leaving the outer intoxicaiion.alain. inclicates degreeof the lattcr. and inner bourrdsiind turning thc fhcc q,ith urrdivrdcdattentiotttor.vilrds olrvhat is otherthan thc R-cal. the Rcal"')and. henci:.taking no heeci bctlveenthe renouncer(:oltid) Tlre secondbayt is bascdon a contrurst of and the rind.'Thc tlrst is veilcd tl'orn the Rcal by his r'vitne.csing iris o\\in pioLrsdeecis.f Ic takcs pricle in thcm ancihopes to rcceivc a re\\ertl (ul-dunvu] I for thcm rn the lrcleralier.le ltasrcnounccd (:uhmta) this r.vorld fbr thc sake o1'the otltcr onc tul-ui;hiroh\. h't turn. lhe rincl bas no busibl,wittiusstttg nesslvitlt tliis world atttl tltc otltcr ouc: hc is:;o absorkrecl

Vsli orr Rirul trrd Rir:/'t Shahllcnrcttolltth

the Realin everyform and imagethathc doesnot carefbr anythingelsesincehe knowsfor surethatthereis nothingbut theReal,he has or rather, of lifted the veils of the two worlds.This takesus to the problern himnnt "you areworthwhatyou aspire fthereto (aspiration). Sufraxiomsays: A that the fore do not spendyour hinntcl on trifles]." Let us remember of his Lord "at a distance two bows' lengthor Prophetcould approach "his sightneverswerved went wrong" nor because closer(53:9)r(tonly ( 53:I 7) .r r andwitty by which is elegant on based a wordplay, The third ba.y11s We deepin its meaning. aretold perhaps exceptionally not its form, but rindi is inperrnanent intoxication, that,sincebeinga rind presupposes (the 'aql the intellect('aqt).None of the counterparts with compatible By and the rind) takethe other seriously. doing so, the rind showshis and (ziraki),but the intellect-its arrogance wilfulness.rz perspicacity In the fourlh bavt Shahplays with his favorite imagesof foam and a water,indicatingtliat they represent singlereality of water,thoughthe cretwo pafticularlevelsof existence in difference the intensityof these an illusion of duality (imaginethat you are drinking water from a ates cupthat is madeof ice!). of Divan the images water thatin Shah's mentioning It may be r,vorlh and foam and wine and cup appearmore than a hundredtimes and that of and Shahis alwayskeeuto point to theironeness the illusorycharacter the differenceand otherness. Fill with w'aterthe c'up[that is madeJ('.fbam, Find the c'upand the v:ine by nteanso.feachother. are In reali4:they are one, [butJ the nante:; tw'o. like, call it "cup"; i/ t-ou like, call it "tt'ine".t3 U),ou hiddenin the imageryof foam andwater.is grave The actualmessage, and andtremendous difficult to bearfor our vanity: Weare the /bam that hasbuilt a tentof'windon the v'ater.ll antl In this sea, w'ear w-avs, we are our ow'nveil. go.t: When wave.lall.r. out't'gos thc

Vali on lntcrnstionslSamposirttrt ShahNematollalr TJrc Second

(hawa):the "wave" is our soul our The "wind" is apparently caprice or self (na/s),the "foam" might be the soulaswell asthe body.Both the The a foam and the wave are illusory and do not possess real existence. secret rindi, hence,is removingthe illusion of I-nessand otherness. of of Beyondthis illusion("wave" or "foam") liestheocean non-entification. everything Him as WhentheReallifts the veil of illusion,themysticsees and Him as everything. In the fifth bayt. Shahtells us that the rind is not at all particularas he Besides, companions. the regards itineraryof his travelsandtraveling is a restless creaturewho never remainsat one place for a considerable I remindsus of the qalandars. periodof tirne.This laxity andrestlessness think the followers of suchqalandarishaykhsasJamalal-Din Savajiand of Quib al-Din Haydartried to imitateoutwardlythe innerstates therinds: shavingthe hair and beardsand wanderingfrom placeto place symbolThey believedthat imitation and ized separation breakingattachments. (taqliil gradually changesinto realizarion(tahqiq) and that frequently repeatedactions form acquiredqualities (malakat). But the "traveling to as companion"alsocanbe understood anythingthat belongs any of the psychic or spiritual: whatever form the rind three domains.--sensory. he him to theReal.I{owever, neverbecomes it takes encounters, instantly ("water source")of a captiveof any particularmanif'estation the Real much lessof an illusion of "what is other than He" (i.e.. a form or an somesort of beingof its own, different as imagewitnessed possessing from the beingof the Real). of In the sixthba1,t, Shahexplicitly confirmsthe implicit message the first five ba1,ts: b1t This unbotmd(mutlaq)one i,snot bound (muqa.vyad) anything. and meaning "breakingattachments" "removing of Thus,the deeper limitations.Having lifted illusory images"is the lifting of all sortsof them, the rind seesthat: all and a traveling companion, is He. A neighbor;an intintate.friend rags and in kingissatin, all is I{e. In pauper'.s of In theussernbly separationand in the closetof gathering,all is He. B.rGod, all is He, then[again], hy God, all is He!t6

Vsli on Rind snd Rirtdr ShahI'lemrttollah

a1 JI

in can In f'act, this experience be expressed one wotd"h6". i.e.,"He". Knowledge mentionedin the secondhemistich,is definitely the or (bahthi)or formal (ra,smi) one,not God'sknowledge that discoursive of a perfectmystic.Likewise,the book is the book of formal knowledge, ', i.e.,the book of 'Lrlanla'and.fbqaha not the book of God-or perhaps of Shahwants to say that, due to the unboundedness the rindlg mashrah ("drinkingplace"),the very notionsof "knowledge"and "book" aretoo narrowto conveyhis expericnce. that,in the first line, Turning to the final baltt of the ghazal,I assume "Seyed"asthe Prophet, that Shahregards the i.e., we shouldunderstand path Prophetas an exemplaryrintl and views his path asthe most perf'ect while claiminghimselfto be an inheritorof this of rindi ever traveled, is that path. the Anotherway to interpret hemistich to suppose "Seyed"is "God's blessing". In Shahhimselfand to read"Nematollah"literallyas is the this case, message that, in orderto find the pathof rindi, traveledby (which,however, can only be to Shah,one needs obtainGod's blessing given by God himself,not obtained one'sown efforts).The second by to why it is necessary (try to) find this path:"the rind explains hemistich one" and is [always]right". i.e.,he is the "preserved makesno mistakes that (ma'sum)-preserved and exactlyby his unboundedness knowledge "all is He". In brief, one comes to the conclusionthat, accordingto Shah of Nematollah,the key characteristics the rind are his lofty aspiration (himmat'1, (tajric{)from the illusory existence "what is other of separation (ziraki))to seethe true stateof than God" and ability (i.e.,perspicacity to the things,that is, to seethe Real in all things,or rather, seethe Real by with the light of the Real.The spiritualstationpossessed the rindis Kharabarliterallymeans oneness, known askharabat. also thatof essential (in part of town, whereall sorlsof illegalbusinesses particuthe lawless lar w,ineselling.gambling and prostitution)prosperand where the ri.ncls to peopleandvagabonds) dwell. In the mysticalsense, (read:the lawless becomea kharabati(a habitudof the kharabat)meansto becomefree from the boundsof the illusory self. thus reachingthe stationof oneon ness-the process, succinctly chancterizedas "dropping ascripti s".I7 Shahis carefulto underlinethat the stationof a perfectrind is above pl. one,the substitute", abdal).The of thestation thebadal("thechanged

32

ttit lrrlt:rttttir:ttn! Srttttltt.t:;irrtn Shttlt Nt'rttoiollnir\t'rt,'i 7'irt'Sr,r'orlrJ

latter mcans a m./stic rr'ho hits cxpcrienceritltc "cltangc of bell-lll''or thc and u'ttir goorJ "changeo1'character". God har repiaced evrl tritit:; lris i-e.beautifuloncs. hc to Thu-. in a pocm clcvoted Shnviiltr\hnrad.larrr. savs: Thc Sltaykhol l,slant,ll:ttuttl .Jr.trn, Llho,se hru:clltnrtrtleu deud itatrl ulit't: It ts suid llnt "ltis ttittr ht:tcnt( /totlt)"'. Don'l ha d titttit't', tiott'!,{il_l'. [L'hui r{itl tltit ltrrpltt:rt'l' Htsweyer, Iknol' lltul iltt'rr i,sf ortolhcr t'inrl, x'lto.trburrtl l'tc<'tttttt' aittltlvr;f v'itrt' lltntrr;tit tt .sing!t'rtllt'tit'tittrtContplelel.t, i,\ hueithtt'tvine not' hortt'.t' l4i iil hi.shci'ra!: , qrttlt:rti'itl ts! tlrt't'atta. ttntl ttt hrt.s hrr:; gort<: Hi,s.suSiar Althortgh thc cltuirgt:of rhurttr'let' is gootl. It is hetter lo itt't't:tmenofliittg (ln sltu-t"). ol iVetnutollahv'ho is tha t'ttmtnant:!er tha intnk, Hittt.'' lhxtu54h hint,:elluttd gainctl suit,si.gtt'ttt'c pu.ssctl ,,11'q1'.fi'onr Ha.s rincl nrcansto becomcnothing (and.tiicreIlence. to become a pcrf"ect fbre, evcrything).'{lrus,it ts ttot cluitcproper to spcak of tlre "llcw ciernotion" in caseo1'thci'ind, though thcseconcepts ation" or "substantial I oi and citaractcr. rvoulcl aremost hclpfLrlin explarnmgthc chatrge being; propose two clues that mi.qhtbc of sorne use in orclerlo cxplain fhe clif-ference betwecn tlte rind and the boctul(both takcn fion-rthe Marutih-e Rindun) . F irst, I tlrrnk that thc rind can bc dcscribctlils one wlro irasrcachecl nearnessto God by obligatory',vorks (qrtrh ul-/hrrr'id) and the budui as u'orks (.qurbulto ncat'ness God bv sttpct-crogatotry trnewho has reachccl naw'a/il).ln tlrc flrst casc. tirc scrvaritbccomes thc hcaring anclthc sight of God. God is hiddenand thc si:r\"iurtis nrarrillst.ln tlrc sccoutlcase.it is God who becomcsthe irearinganclthe sight of ltis servant.fiod is nlanlcluc is basedon tltc gradatior-l Thc scctttrtl fest and the servantis hiclden.r" (self-disclosurcs) of'the Rcal. Sliali adntils lhat somc of manifestations son)e tlie rind.s are only able to r'vittrcss ntanifbstatiotlof I Iis acts(.tt/"alJ, rintl,s. of experiencethe nranif'estation Ilis attributcs (ti/ht). Thc pe-rl'ect how'cvcr. kntl.l. that the ncts arc cuncomitants of tlte attrihutes and lhc It attributesare companiotisof thc l:.ssence. might nttt bc ittlprrlpctto tlrc mani{bstahavc expuricnced dcscribethc abclulsas thc mvstics r.vlro

SluthNenntolloh Vsli on Ritrti gntl Rirrdi

the and the perfectrinds asthosewho haveexperienced tion of attributes which is saidto destroy manifestation of manifestation the E,ssence-the its locusof manif-estation:r(' mitrors. nor There neithet'alevel,nor a loars of'ntani/bstation, [are thercJ i,s Thereis no name. Whatare the attributes?2| "The essential is manifestation receivedby a realizerwho is comstates propand descriptions, pletelyvoid of thenecessary contingent and is This emptiness not totallydifferentfrom the emptiness erties names. of but of the Real,but it is flike a] flash of lightning,which appears, does not last,as our Prophetsaid:'l havea time with God, when no prophet why this me',22 the reason and sentout or angelbroughtnearembraces of manifestation doesnot last is the propertyof all-comprehensiveness the realityof humanbeing".2l In otherwords,the reality of a humanbeing is tike a mirror which By reflectsGod'snamesin their totalrty. virtue of beinga mirror,it cana not be void of imagessavefor a moment.Hence,rvhatdistinguishes recognize the Real in perfectrind from other mysticsis his ability to he every image and to know Him by every name.In this sense, is the (taught... the names, all possessor the stationof Adam.to whom God of ( of r hem ) 2:31).24 that, like That said, I would like to coticludewith the assertion 'ashiq(lover) andmast(drunk),rind is a symbolby means of qalandar, qualities to namewhathas and qualifywhat is above to which we attempt the first of all, to presenre teffns, be a rind means, to no name.In practical of loftiness one'shimntctt. Thednmk lover dor:snot seekafi.langexceptthe Friend. Hint.:' doesnot seekawone exceDt Nematollah

Notes
I 2 I Universityof Latvia.Latvia golshune ra:.5'r'cd.. Tehran,1992.p.636. M.Lahij. Mclitth al-i .iu:.l .shurh One shouldmind thc lr'ordsof Aqa SayyidRae Larian(d.185i or 1854):"Thc tcachingof is thc "Fr-raie" the work of a qalandar"(M. SadughiSoha""A Bio-Bibliogtaphyof Post

34

The Second International Syntpositutt on Shah Nemstollah VnIi

Tehran:IranianAcademy of Philosophy, Mystics and Philosophels". Sadr-pl-Muta'allihn p. 1 9 80 . 4 7). ' : n r i 1978, p. 232. v Rus u' i1, . l, Tehr an. S h alr Nema tolla h, 2002, Tehran' Imant,35'r'ed., "Sharh-e in: mokhtctstrr-e es(eluhttt" R. M. Khomeini,Divttn-e p. 3-ll. "Mo,slulihtttx'u lo'bit'at-e Dit,un-e 'ShahNi'motullah Wali", in Shah Nematollah, Divan' of with the introduction S. Nafisi.2'"red.,Tehran,1999,p. 726. Div S ha hNema tolla h, or t .p. 37. Divun, p. 732. ShahNematollal"r,

Divan. p. i26. ShahNematollah, ' t,' TheIIolt' 'rsr,translated AbdullahYusufAli. London:Wordsworth Editions2000,p. by Qur' 455" tt TheLIol.t' 'an,p. 455. Qur rr Cf'.the ball (uhich is sometimes to wrongly attributed Hafiz): If rou see lhe intellet't, iakt' hin ond bring hin quickfi'to trs, lo he Bet'ctuse has desertedlhe .service the king o/ rinds. (ShahNematolTah. Divan. p. 105). l1 S ha hNe rna tolla h. c t n, p.542. Div rr S ha hNema tolla h, an, p. 114. Div 15 S ha hNcma tolla h. an. p. 51. Div l6 'Abd al-Rahrran Jarn,"Lar.vah",in: M. M. T. Majlis, Risale-vetashv'qttl-salifrr, with the Fatima Publishers Tehran:t'r*r-e and F. 'lraq's Luu,curri', of attachment A. Janr'sLuv,u.vih (W. Chittick' Stiism; A Short 1996,p.62. We have consultcdW. Chittick's translation, 2000, p. 75) as well. Introtluction,Oxfbrd: Onewcill<l r7 M. Shabistar, al-'.ia:",p.763. Ru:, in'.M. Lahil, "tr4a/utlt Gol.shun-e 1' Shalr Divan, p. 608. Nematollah. l') See:ShahNematollah, v. Ra.sa'rl. I, pp. 242-243. r{' ShahNernatollah, p. 23 l. Rctsa'il, l. v. :l Ras a' il,v . l. p. 254. S ha hNema tolla h, rr The English translationof the lladith is fiom: W. Chittick. The Seff-Disclo.sures God: of New York: SUNY Press1998,p. 4j7. o/ Principle.s Ihn ol-'Arabi 'sCosmologt'. rr ShahNernatollah. v. Rct.su'il, I, p. 254.

rr The English translntionis from W Chittick, The Self-Disclosure, 421. yt. 15 ShahNematollah, Divatt,p. 442.

35

ShahNematollah Vali in Turkish Literature of and the Appearance Nematollahisamong Ottoman Qalandaris
Dr. Mahmud Erol Kilicl

there is a city, that is my dominion. Wherever to I Sometimes go to lran sometimes Turan. I havea hundredthousandTurkswithin me. I Wherever want to go, I go like a king.2

Introduction is The aim of this research to look for the footprints of Sufi master from classicalTurkish (73011330 83411431) I Shah NematollahYali of and in sources general, there-appearance theNematollahiOrder(Tariqdervishgroupssuchas Qalandarisin i Nematollahi)amongtheOttoman particular.I will be very happy if I am able to contributeanythingto the world-wide "Nematollahi Studies". into three chronologicalperiods.In the I have divided my research the first period, I will investigate place of "Turk" or "Turkish" in Shah Nematollah'slife and the name of ShahNematollahin "Turkish" literature in return. Since the figure of "Nematollah Vali" was Seenamong so-called thosewho playeda role in transferring Qalandari,Haydari and Batini thoughtsinto Anatolian Sufi groups,the secondperiod of my reIn is search somehowprovocative. the last part I will distinguishthe true "Sliah Nematollah" from other "shaykh Nematollahs"who are always confusedin Turkish historicalstudies.

Jt r

'l'lrt St,rtr t t i lr r iint nliit t ( r l: lllt ir lt os ir un r t t t S l r n l rN l t t n t r t l l n l r l / r t l i

l. Shah Nematollah V'ali's'lurkish F'riendsand Follolvers (Jl'coursrof bcrng a "Sc.1'-cd".dcsccntlant titc ProphctMultatrttlad, a aboi-ri SlrahNcrnatollah's ethnic origin. Apart tlrcrecan be no cJiscussir.lr rnorc about tlre mcaning o1'the tiorn that point. let rnc rcrnind vou {.)r1cc tcrrn rrl-/n.r'itn tl-Kintil in Isianrrc tlreosoplrvrvhiclr is being translalcil As into Wcslcnr lanuuagcsns "Univcrsal Mar-.,". Rurrti clcarll, pointcd Marr" is a man rvho sitslvith scventytrvo naliilnsancl out. "-l-hcLJniversal rvlro secscvcl',y crcatirxrof'(iod as a particullirrnanilestatiort [{is atof of \4an, I bclicr,'c tlrat in thc tritlutcs.LJccausc heing such a t-lrtiversal lnany tiifl-erent clrarracters. r'accs nrantlcol'1hcrlrercvcf Shah Nr,:nratollah irndcoloursmust hirvc bccrrgathcrcd.too. And I atn surethat many 1:rcoplc. knockt--d thc door of his kltuniqulr Aralrs.I'crsrilLrs, lndrans,'l-urks c1c.. at anti dividir, ordcr to ask hirn fo slrou'thenr holv to firrgettheir accidcrttal frrr<1 thcil inrnrorlalanciuniflrrnginncr sclvcs.This ing botliiv sc!r,cs arrci rrrctaphoricitl siryingcxpliiinscractlv what I rvantto mctttiotthcre: rrilrr'n 1108),after spcnciing a thc Kur-dishSufi Abri'l-Wafil al-Kuruii(d. -s01i met longtrnrcsceking:r spiritualnrastcr'. SlraykliMa.jdal-Din al-Baghdadi. an Arab" lrr,: said: "/ rr'.r,r' Kui'tllill lo.s't u niqlti l',ut bccunteun Aruh tltis'nrrtrtting''. So Vaii was a unifying figure among pcople,aricl in his lil'c ShalrNcnratollalr like Rumi's tonrb in Konya. ltas firr centuricsalicl his clclth lris tonrl-;, foi' on beenr centrco1'pilgriinagc drvine lovers.Theseverses.engravecl rn rn the porial of Rumi's tor-nl"r. firctmight havebcen erivisaged thc portal quths (lil.erally.pole,s,masters)rvltcthcr in Konya of ail tlre iornbs o1'the, or irr Mtrhan:"/1r.r'Stlrtt't'bt'cunte ka'hu.fitt'divirtelovct's'- So the inru ('orn( ht'rc lo l',acotrtc pt:t'/i't'l ". ltcrli'ct nritn his We will in','cs;tigatc rcliitionshipwith this cthno-culturalgroup called "'l'urk" fitirrr an anll'rropologicalpoint clf vtew. Whor Shah NcmatollaliVrli rvas lroin irr Alcppo. Syria. in 730 (1330) the city was politic:ally of under the control u1'thelVlanrlr,rks Egypt. wlro werc f'urrda'furkish Kiilemcn trihes.At that time wc knor,v tltat a very mcntaily of large populationof Turl'r'rrnans callcd "l-iirkrnan-i Sham" werc living itt Aleppo's tcn'itorv.who rvcre basicaily o1'the Shanrlu.Alihar. Br:gdilrr. and lnallu. Khiidaberrclelil Nar'ekiyyatribes.'Amons thosetribcs wc sec) tlrat sc;rnc especiailll tirnc later thc'"Shrnrlu" tribe would plav a vcrv itttportant nrle in llre tirrrnationo1'tlrcSalirvid statein lran, as well. It lri:ls

Vnli ShaltNerruttolltth in TurkishLiterature

J/

werefollowersof Shaykh beensaidthatmostof theAleppo'sTurkomans Also manyIranianSufis, with whom we will deallater.s usaynal-Akhlati, immigrated to had fiom Khorasan andTransoxiana, already specifically In this land, mainly during the Fatimidperiod.6 the sameyear as Shah a Nematollah's bifth, furthernofih,on theway to establishing new world (d.75911357) defeated underSultanOrhanGhazi order, seeOttomans we awayfrom Istanbul. kilometres a at the Byzantines Philokrene, hundred His father,the founder of the Ottoman Empire, Othman Ghazi and his Sufi masterShaykhEdebaliboth had diedjust four years ago in 7261 birth, a KhorasaniSufl 1326. And five yearsafter ShahNematollah's to Vali died two hundredkilometres the nofth, in calledHajji Baktash Neithersaweachotherbut sometime latertheirtariqas CentralAnatolia. a met andmixed with eachotherin Anotoliaandshared commondestiny in the historyof Sufismwhich we rvill seein more detailin the second birth (730/1330) part of our research. the sameyear as Nematollah's In of anotherfamousAnatolian Sufi and the khali/-ahh ShaykhAlauddin al-Ardabili,Shaykh 'Ali who was the khali/ahhof ShaykhSadraddin His faBaba]was born in Qaysari. Hamidtiddinal-Aqsarayi fSomuncu who might was ShaykhHajji BayramVali (d.833/1430) mouskhalifLtft in havemet with Nematollah Azerbaijan. Around the age of twenty the young Nematollahwas in a cave for threeyearson retreatin a tnountaincalledJabal al-Muqattarr in Qasral'Ayn which wasnearto Cairo.T This caveactuallywasaJalali-Qalctndari Vali entered Khaniqah (later BaktashiTekia) where ShahNernatollah severaltimes of fbrty days retreat.According to historianssuch as alal-Hatiband Ibn Battutatherewere someQalandari Maqrizi, al-Safadi, areasince600/1200.* in Cairo and Fustat khaniqahs Aleppo,Damascus, A famousNematollahiauthorMa'sum 'Ali Shirazisaysthis in iarayiq ctl-Haqiiyiqand adds that his retreatexperiencewas written in Arabic and fixed on the portalof this cave-tekia. calligraphy alsomet thereHajji 'Ali ShahNematollah Accordingto samesource Baba and Hajji Lotfullah Baba who were the guardiansof this cave at somemiraclesof him they both become that time and upon witnessing shared his murids.EitherMa'sum 'Ali Shirazior someTurkishhistorians Baba'stomb was in that cave.But some the sameideathat Kayghusuz Abdal was alive in Cairo most believed that Kayghusuz otherhistorians

ort InternntiornlSvmrtLtsiurn ShslrNenotolldhVali Thc Secontl

Who was probablyaround sameyears of Shah Nematollahwas there.e Babathen?This Turkish Sufi who was known amongEgypKayghusuz was born or tian peopleas 'Abdulldh al-Maghdravi Shaykhal-Maghdravi town calledTekc in Antalya,a seesidetown of today'ssouthem in the Turkey.It hasbeensaidthat he was a sonof the govemorof this province. Whenhe initiatedinto to turiqa he gaveup all rvorldly thingsandwent to and Carrothen Mecca,Aleppo,Damascus Cairo again.FIewas a khalifah of Abdal Musa who was a famousQalandari fiom Antalya. Kayghusuz on Abdal haswritten somesmalltreatises Sufismwhich eventheir names Vali'sworks,suchas-/awharnanta, Nematollah styleof Shah werein same Vuiuclnanta, etc... Sara.wlatna, Wedo not have Budulananta, Manharnuma, any historicalproof whetherShahNematollahVali and 'Abdullirh almet or Maglraravi KayghusuzAbdal eachothereitherin thiscave-khaniqah else.But the fact that ShahNematollahVali's residingat or somewhere khaniqahwould be very leasttlrrecyearsin thisHa1:dttri-.lalali-Qalandari in point of his furtherre-appearance AnatolianSufi circlesas a importarrt Shaykh.We may thrnk that before "al-Tariqa alQalandari/l{aydari " might havebeeninitiatedinto this tariqa and Yd/i'iv1,a, ShahNematollah al-Ydrf i's dispresenred sorneof their moodsevenwhen he laterbecame arnongdervishordersciple. I believethat at that time the relationships historialrs evenalnongfar ends--wereltot asstrictasmodemcategorizing it thought.In many cases is not so easyto distinguishsomeordersfrom this Nematollah chose Qalandari of the Otherwise question why Shah others. so placefor his retreat couldnot be answered easily. wastakingbal,'a Nematollah We saw,at the ageof twenty fbur, Seyed 'Abdullah Ydfl'i (d.768/1367) and spending from the hand of Shaykh unnearlysevenyearswith him in Mecca,trainingin spiritualsciences d e r his guidan ce .A n Ottoma n histo ria n o f S u f is m, Ha ririz a d h a (d.129911882), wrotea hugeencyclopaedic work on all who Kemaluddin called Tibyanu Vesuilal-Haqaiq.fi Bayani Salasil alturuq al-St4/iyya "al-Tariqa al-Yir/i'iy),o" to be an offshoot of the Taraiq considered Akbariyya branchof the Qadiriyya (YaJi'iyya-iAkbarillta-i Qadiriyya) and meeting point of "Qadiriyyv", "Akbariyya", "Sohrawardiyya", "Rifai'iyya", "shazliyya" and "Madyaniyya" orders.r(' After spending his sometime r,vith Shaykhal-Yafi'i he went to Cairo again.We don't Abdal this time in Cairo or not. whetherhe met Kayghusuz knor,r'exactly

ShahNemstollah Vali in TurkishLitersttre

39

show ShahNematollahVali as a follower of SomeNematollahisources SeyedMuhammadAfitabi in Cairo, too, without giving any information manthatKdtib abouthim.rrWe don't know whetherthis manwasthe same ChelebinamesasAfitabi-i Marzifuni from Merzifon in NorthernAnatolia Whatwe definitelyknow is thatatthis time hemet anotherAnatolian or not.12 Sufi; SeyedHusayn al-Akhlati. It has been said that SeyedNematollah unstudiedoccultism('ulum al-ghar[ba)and numerology('ilm al-huru./) of Who was this SeyedHusaynal-Akhlati der the guidance this master.13 then?According to some written Sufi chains (silsilenamelhe was the khalifith of SeyedAbu'l-Fath al-Saidi,the khalifah of Abu Madyan alMagribi,'a which was from the samechainas Shaykh'AbdullahYdf i. He was born in Ahklat, Bitlis in EastemAnatolia and had many disciplesall and over the Middle East,mainly in Aleppo,Damascus Cairo.According of to the book, Sharafinnta,he foresawthe Timur's occupation Iran and with 12,000mur[dsand went to Cairo via Anatolia and left his homeland Among his discipleswe seealso anotherfamousAnatolian Damascus.l5 ShaykhBadraddinMahmud of Sufi and contemporary ShahNematollah, by who would later on be executed al-simavnavi(76011359 82011417) ideas.Badraddin too, after of OttomanGrand-Muftibecause his heretical (d.816) Sharifal-Jurjani of he studied science logic in Cairowith Seyed the he came to Aleppo. According to some legendarynarrativesin a welManaqibnamaon him, on that occasion"a thousandof Turkoman " and what is more,thejurist of Aleppo who previcomedhint in Aleppo mur{d becamehis of the ouslyhadannounced deathsentence SeyedNasimi the consider abovementioned is too. What is interesting that somesources Nasimi-who waskilled in a very tragic famous Turkishhurufi poetSeyed way in Aleppo in 807/1404-as Nematollah'smur{ds rather than Hiisayn al-Akhlati sentShaykhBadraddintoTabi'z as his Fadzlullah's.r6 as khaldah where he met Timur and he wantedto take him to Samarqand According to his his mtiii, as well as to marry him with his daughter. in refusedit and escaped dervishclothesfrom Tabrizto Manaqibnamahe points the siis Egypt via Akhlat. What is interesting that someschclars the multaneityandsimilarity between lives of ShahNematollahand Shaykh and In Badraddin.'7 Anatolia tariq-i Badraddiniyyar8 tariq-i Nematollahi to but undertheirnames wereassimilated the Baktashiyya, didn't continue re orders. Futuwwatiyyaand Golshaniyya to cameEastaround76311362 Ardabil We sawthatShahNematollah

40

'1'l ii r o rt,l l rt t cr t ro t i ot tnl Sv trr ltosi ttrto tt Slnh N t trto lt:i l rtl r \,' i ol t t,'

(d.794i1392). sottolthc prothe with ShaykhSarlral-Din 1\4usa rncctir.rg Shaykh Safiyr-uddinal-Arclabili,and Qasin-r-i gcnilor of'the Saiavicls. his Anwar. llc said lirat tlLri'ing shorl stay irt Ardabrl he tastedthc stageof "lot'e litr thr'sakr d Grxl" (ul-huitit li'llrth) fionr the Sufl tnastcrs of praiscsShaykh lbrahinT Zalricl-iGilani who u'as in tlrc posrArdatril.11e o1'Safar.vi5rya Khalvatiyyitorclcrsin liis poetry (Diand tion of lbLrntlcr t'cut^1't.75). alter a short stay ilt Azerbaijanwe san'him rn (lcrrtrirl And lvhrrrc spenthis timc mostly in retreat hc Asra,lirst rn Sarnarcland lkhnlvu) sitch exin the cavcs t-rfSanrarqanil.'fhisintcnsivc spiritual lif'c car-rsed things (l,urumtt)liont liirn that althoughhc was in a statcof traordiriary to by isolalionliom pcoplc,da-o" day some'furkish ttomadsstarted gathcr around lrrm. llc gaincd a largc nunrber o1'nturicls frorn among thcm. I thcir speaking of think that in ordcr lo gain tltc syrtrpathy ltomirdicper:ple iltstrumenl.So rne can think that Shah langueige nriglrt be att intpttrtattt 'furk as is;h languagcor clialect wcll. lr-r \/ali u as speakingtirc Nentatollah "furkish tvortls likc "Yasak", his poetry we- lvittrcsscdiris using sumc '"liry". ancl"l:.ncu" ctc. But we arc not sure wltethcr hc learnecl "'Yarlig:'", it rvhcn he was a r:hilclin Aleppo. or alnong thc KJlenrensin (latro or ljor cxample he saysin his pocn'r; or latcr in Azcrbaii.jan J'urkistan. o t W'h Ic bt:i tt51t.\ .t'()tt' {t'(!.r'4'
l ' t t t t t t . l ' r t t t t ' ! l L t( ' L ' i.: o lll' ( :\' /.vl( ' /1 ( ' ( '

Diirt't tall tttt' unt' ntt)ra Ttrrl;i,gh n'ot'rl.s knov'inq v'ho "1" und "Thotr". Till t,ott l;tttttt'.t'ourse!/ b.,,, (l) iv c n.p. t r 0. 1 ).

of o1'ur-rity of tirc We seethatbesrclcs irtrplicatron a vcry liigh t-ncaning someslylisticar1inthistttltcltt'onic ul-ultiurl/healsonrirkes being(rr,rrlrclut (Arabtc,l'et'sian. Ttrrkish), and (tnulu;nruu) threclanguages pttcn't usirrg 'Ihe first line is in r\rabic, (muununo). tirneirtclLrclcs a ridclle nt tlrcsarrrc But but !inc rvithPcrsian cndsiri TLrrkish. in Turkthcnthe seconcl starts which hil cantphras;"Scn.seni ,sen,vcli" a ish lrcqurrtes pail ol a lamous "Knor,v poct"n sa-vs he [hat; yoursclf'. ltr other mcans
"lf .t,otrrt'ttnllo lLtslc'oltt'lrtslclolia lhe v'a.r'ol lhc tr|/inc-ltearer ! l.s [)ntnkt,n 7 Lrr/. lot,t' ilc.tprti tltc souis" p. lDivun. I 72)

Shlh Nemrtollah Vnli irr TurkishLiterature

47

Mowlana SedidtiddinNasrollahreportedvery importantnews from his Turkistanlife. I{e said that only in a day nearly 900 Turkic nomads had taken from him a bay'a hand in hand on an open plain (sahra) and But to initiatedinto his tariqo in a singleceremony. according Nernatollahi of was eitherthe master Amir Kulal (d.77211370)-who sources Shaykh Naqshband Amir Timur- jealouslyinformedTimur of this or Bahauddin ceremonyand warnedhim that thoseTurks were all fully armedat that It ceremony. has beensaid that he told Timur that if he would claim the that neitherin But kingdom,nobodycould stophim.20 it is very strange we sources could not Manaqib ol-Amir Kiilal nor in otherNaqshbandi What is more,it find any proof fbr this claim,thereis no mentionof it.2r has been reportedthat Shah Nematollabrecited the versesbelow afler this ceremonialgatheringwith local Turks; Wherever there is u city, thcttis my dominion to I Sometimes go to lran sometimes Turan within nte I have a hundredthousandTLrrks WhereverI vtant to go, I go like a king.
(Divon.p. 579).

by verses werebeinginterpreted Timur's sermetaphorical So,these him andclaiminga worldly Vali's challenging vantsas ShahNematollah at him. And unfortunately, the so sultanate, that Timur begunsuspecting resultedShahNematollahVali's end this kind of counter-propaganda But it seemsthat his Turkistanlife left an expulsionfrom Transoxiana. effecton him. He neverforgot this land and its peopleeven unforgettable when he was far away from them in Kerman. He sentmany lettersto his there.Oncehe sadlysaid: adherents O gentle east wind, tJ-),o,go towards Turkistan Sendour greetingsto.friends In spirit we are in with our dear fbllov,s Hor,-ever much our body is in Kerman.
( Div an. 6 0 1 .) p.

At aroundthe year 775 he went to Heratwherehe rnarriedthe daughter of Amir Htiseyn al-Harawi. We knorv that for some reasons

42

on InttnrationnlSvnwLtsittrtr ShnhNenwtollahVali Thc Sccond

didn't who was famousNaqshbandi Jami (d.898/1493) Abdurrahman NaJithat al-Uns Sufi hagiography include namein his lamousPersian his (ed. by Abidi, Tehran1996).In at completed aroundyear of 8U3/1478 someSufis of "having/allen into the accuses that book he sometimes the valleya/ di,;helief(baha) and of'neglec:ting shari'a and the sunnaof' the Prophet"(p. l0). But his'furkish student'Ali Shir Nawai (d.9071 Turkish in 901 with some this book into Chaghatayi l50i) translated coffectionsand additionsunder the title of Nasaltimal-mahnbbamin some Jami neglected Nawai saysthat because al-.futuu,wa. shamn):im Turkishand lndian Sufis in his book, he addednearly 170 Sufisto his is mainly from those lands.What is interesting that he intranslation years amongthemtoo. Seventy cludesrhenameof "SeyedNematollah" deathNawai saysabouthim: "SeyedNematollahNematollah's after in in his may God sanctify soul-was residing the city <-l114taan Kerman (batini) in pro'iince.[{e wasperl'ect the exoteric(zahiri)andin the esoteric of The with piety and ascetism. emperors his time, and sciences dressed And many the especially kings of India were his mtrr[dsand believers. fiom this land.Seyed gifts andendless vows hadbeingsentto his ser-vice this was his in rvasinterested poetrytoo and had a Divan. For example "We c'cune - w'ecould shov, God His crea' into tha wnrid so couplet; tures."Fiistomb is in thatcity."::A few yearslaterafterNawai,an OttoNafahatinto translated Lami'i Chelebi(d.9391532) rnarrNaqsbandi, underthe nameof Futuh language is AnatolianTurkishrn'hich theOttornan but al-Mujahidin(ed.by S. LJluda M. Kara,Istanbul1995) he alsoomitit lie because translated directlyfrom Jami's tedthe nameof Nernatollah work. Narvai's work withoutconsultating Persian Vali settleddown in Mahannear In his later lifc, ShahNernatollah Kermanwherehe spentthe restof his lif-etor almost25 yearsuntil he After his dcathhrs tariqa, at the handof his passed away in 83411431.I flrst towards the East, to ShahKhalil Allah, spread sonand his successor by this For manygeneratiolts orderwas controlled thememup to Inclia. al-Din Muhammad But bersof thefamily in Deccan. afterMir ShahShams out Orderpassed of the familyto Mir of tll the leadership the Nematollahi Order MahrnudDakkani.In thatperiodthe very natureof the Nematollahi which we will focuson later. towardsQutb-Shahis" to started change

ShahNenutolloh Vali in TurkishLiternture

Aa LiJ

not who decided to go to India On the otherhand,the Nematollahis first had goodrelationswith Turkishorigin preferredto stayin Persia and Safavids.Shah Ismail Hatayi-who was the semi-mythic Sufi master accor di ng to A n a tolian Qizilb a shs -a p p o in t e d Mir Niz a me d d in Thani, as sadr (prime minister) Abdulbaqi,a son of SeyedNematollah who was killed by humayun(vice president) first and thenwakil-i nafis-i ln the Ottomansat the battleof Chaldiranin920.2a the yearsaround960l descendants Nematollah's betweetl wereevensomemarriages 1555there cenand the Safavidhouse.By the middle of the eleventh/seventeenth membersof the family held the postsof naqib andkaldntari in tury the Nematollahiswere trying to interwe Yazd.Furthermore seeeven Some pret someof the versesfrom the Divan of ShahNematollahVali as fore(which was In seeingShahlsmail's government. the book of Mahdawi-va attributedto him) it hasbeenreportedthat he saidthat beforethe appearby will anceof Imam Mahdi the city of Constantinople be conquered And then Muslimswith the Mahdi's singleshoutingof Allaho Akbar.2s gradually we see the changing Sufi characterof Iranian Nernatollahis even to a gang towardsa social fratemity (iiwanmardi) and sometimes (1587-1629)the spontagroup.26 exampleby the ageof ShahAbbas| For into rituallike performances wrestling "were transformed neousSports d H ut,dan s " . a o ized /i ghts behveen t *^ .filtuww t.factions: N ematoIIahis an The VenetiantravellerMncentio d'Allessandri "who visited Tabrizand reign, says that the city qfQazvin was Qazvin during Shah Thhmasbis Nematollahiand four were divided into two factions:.five wards w*ere Haydari... Neither the King nor anv one else could put a stop to it".27 Shi'ite in those Orderbecame saidthatthe Nematollahi Somehistorians But graduallydied out in lran.28 at claysin the fifteenth centuryand then (d.121111796) sawtherevival we Deccani thehandof Ma'sum'Ali Shah back againto its homeof the NematollahiOrder,who broughtthis order land in Iran. After that we witnessthe division of the NematollahiOrder such as Kawsariyya,Safi 'Ali-Shahiyya, into different subdivisions, Munis'Ali-Shahiyya.2e Shamsiyya, Gonabadiyya, that there From this bdef history of the Nematollahiswe understood aredifferentintellectualand spiritualperiodsof this order,too. As a matter of fact. this is a common fact of all Sufi orders.There is a proverb amongTurkish Sufis summarizingthisfact very well: "The colour o/'the presentmaster". by tariqa is determined the tasteo.f'the

, i4

'/'irr'liler,ir , / I t t lt t ' r t it ! it , t : r t5y t r t 1t p. ; i11111 i r L i lN r 'l l o f r r . 1 . i t I ; ', i r rtt' S l i

At thc clrii ol.our llrrit historical pcnocl wliich starls \vrlll !liiirlr in u/ith his passing lt\\'irv \4;ilrir; Ncnutolhh Vrli's ironrin A lcirpoanrjr:nrls wL: in Syril lutclin Lre-r,pt sr.ii'. wc cnn sa),'asr sunrlnarylhirt irr ltis a -rut'ufh -lirrkishSrrfls.Arirl in ltis ('crilrlii A5riur hir-nin closc cont:rctrvith sonrc irrlkxvcr:; \i.'rth \\,iro11rsccrtis it tiiat lrc {;i)rrtinir{'(i nrany'l'urkislr dayshe hacl lriqkeep in rrtirtiltltrt:-^cr rr'hilc irc wlll; rn K.{:rnralr. rnirsl. Wet t() corrcsponcl iiunr lirs pcrst;nal lrlb hoping tilat tlrcy nrigirtlrelp u., irr tolrcal iinccrkilcs itt Nt-rnltollail's lc-lrppciu'ance AttaIrliitn ii;rll tl'rcunricrstiurdrnq erl'Shalr lilcrahl'e u,hich rl,c r,r'illtical it,ith in tlle scctitrdperiod itl'tturrcscari:l: II. l'he Nematollalri Order and AnzrtolianQalanrlaris: I ilre rl1-nry r-cscirrclrrvill artall,se lurthcr intpurI ll ln tlrissucolrrlpart tit;ti Slitr lt t() the Nentutollttititxdtl on,\rratrrili;.rn grr)ups. s,.:cnts r')r.-: liti:' prot-ricrnaticisctrc i:. sorncltttw ll scpal.aldcasc tl'tlnr thut tll'3iii:'h l,lcnrifol lalr irimsell. ol'"rlrc trttltc {ittr; hrslorrcaltlocun-ir:nt;l c,trlyda-vs Ac,:irrrlirtq t,.r:;ort-tc A rrato!ia (l*{rc,.)ii i'i i. u,lto iit :;rJnlc \,". iir l'niilts ihurc wcr'cs()mcStrfi iiqLrrcs \t{i r.;l:tss. s{)inesoul'ct:s ln cxti';rut-tiltiiri"y in closc con{actw;th thc nrlirrg iulr','strc nttribrrtcci thern as hclpilril thc r'.tlct-s.'l'hc 1o rics havi: l"recn tttlttt'i, itt:lp and hitstnttr" Aceortliiill io flrtl:;clcs,. iicvcclin tlrcir" s;piritua! wcrc tntl'ir/.s'ol'cr:rtain tnasl,.rrts. \t'lrc\\,r:ir' Srrll So solll'ccs ailriic sr,rilans ir thcrr,iutrl t$'0 lrasic!iroilpli:lrrsl rUlr|r Irrgcnrfiri. '1\ can catcqorisc: tlicy'/ \, c1iltie.s thcv !v*rc vr-r'v ! thitt o1'rc-ligiotr:; Sulis u'irriv;crc s()i;b-servrlnl tlrt urajorily ol'tlrc rcligious coninrunifyin<;{ur-litt:r rulct:. cofficrlb1'thc Anll sccortel rvr:t'e Sufl:; u,i;ri wcrc ntalginrl rlcni:;hcs rvho nri)sll'\''-'\ r,l'lrclc lvas unsrritablc tltr:tnto !ive. "' S(',rrr: it l'br ti'onrcasti:;l larrcls capccl (lentral Asia" s,r)rr';c ii{l{i: of thcln r:arnc ll'our llaghilaii, sonrc fj'oni rrl'lit*:rl trl Klrorasanand sonrc ll'oin Azcrbai.jirn Asiir N4iuoran{l s()nte: surr-ir lhem Scyccls oi anclcvett soutt:scuti-t:rr/11:r w'cre<lcrvisir-soitiicrs^ pr-:r'i;11i1i1li1ics likc ''\'crii l:rqirler"{Ltkc lJulirrnunttt lihn'lz). un-knou,r] cir! b&tlon-i Rturt' u'liiclt lrr ivrittcrrriourcc\thr-irclrtrrtronr)anrcwas ",.1 ":irlr of.thcI-andof'Anatt;lia Dcrvishes or oiAnalolil'" as bc translatc:d '",^.bdals o1'dt:rvr.lr sources colnc across \\/e s()tlc nanrt:s Actually, in the iri:rtorical frr,sutt'i,9, zllti.r.Attci strtiit: groups li"trrnthis peliod llkc Haulu;'is, [N/uliti,;. tirrre latcr wc scc sot',icothcr nanrcs also sui:lt tis ,1hnt'tl s (liilitl',). Rukta:;his, fluruli,setc...rr 5otric <tf'{ltc h,latrlavi;,Qu/nnr!uri,s, .!u,,t'lul;i,;, As hetcrodox" a tnatiero! lttt't.1ltr.: historilns callcrlsomc of thosc qr()ilps

ShnhI'JenntollahVali irt TurkishLiterature

amongthoseSufi groupsof the formative period of the real differences with Ottomansare still an enigma.Most of them are so interconnected eachother that it is very difficult to make an easydiffbrentiationamong them.A Qalandariat the sametime could be a Hurufi or a Baktashi.Or a Wafai could appearunder the cloak of a Haydari. Somemodernhistorians classify Ottoman Qalandarigroups as "marginal" and divided into Haydari, Qalanderi,Torlak,Ishik,Jami, ShamsiandNematollahisubdiof aspects thosegroupswere the visions.12 commonphilosophical The of things ideaof theunity of being(wahdatal-wtjud). explanation created letters(ilm alwith the science of in andmany other subjects accordance in huruJ),disinterest peoplesopinion towardsthem (malamat),prefering to travel rather than to settle down (sayyaha)and believing in twelve of and the appearance Imam infallible Imams as their spiritual chain33 (Mahdism) etc.That is why especiallyarnong Mahdi at the end of time we Qalandarigroupsand in their sources seesomeNematollahimotifs with which we want to deal more here. As far as we know, the earliestOttomansourcethat mentionedShah Hadaiq alname was Nav'izade 'Atai's (d.104511635) Nematollahi's "The NematollahiOrdercomesfrom SeyedKhalil from Haqaiq.He says: NematollahVali from 'Abdullah Ydf i from Ahmad Ghazali. Seyed [Nematollah]died in 867 and was buried at Mahan,one of the towns of Fuqara[of his khaniqah] Kerman. He has a khaniqahand a ziyaratqah. Shaykhsfof this khaniqah]are descenare mostly traveller-dervishes. The dantsof the Prophet'shousehold."ra famoussixteenthcenfuryOttomenin man traveller, Awliya Chelebi(d.1095/1684), his Sayahatnama tions the NematollahiOrder threetimes. ln the first place he countsthe Sufi orders.In the second Nematollahi Order by name among f-amous " including a Persianpoem of Shah place he quotesa "Futuwwatnama (Taj).It hasbeen of Nematollah the symbolism the dervishheaddress on reportedthat ShahNematollahwas wearinga greendervishhat of twelve parts(on iki terkli).In the third placehe reportsthe meetingof a Golshani ShaykhcalledShaykhSaibin Shaykh('Ashik Vali) with a Nematollahi Mustafa reports in his TabaqatalThen historian Jalalzada Cairo.rs mamalik that in 1542when Sultan Kanuni Stilaimanreturnedfrom his Budin battle a big crowd were meeting in Edirne to greet him. Among them there were groups of dervishessuch as Haydariyan,Cavlakiyan,

'[ha Sccotdhrtcrnstiorutl Vnli SurtnLtsitmr ShalrNcmtttollttlr on

Wh Q a lander an,Jamiya n and Nema tollahiy a n . r6 o we re t h o s e "Nematollahiyan"? PaulRicaut,a L)uropean travellerin Ottomanlandsin centurysaysthat the NematollahiOrdercameto the land the seventeenth of the Ottomans fic tirneof ChelebiMehmedI (d.l42l) and he gives at Von somedetailsof their zikr ceremony.rT Hammersaidthat thosenames groupsofAnatolia in the earlydaysof the Ottoof aruq werethe den'ish Hindilar [layderis, tsektashis, Babayis, Wefayis. nranEmpire NematollaArs, in Istanbulwas the placeof refugefor al! thosewanderingderTekkcsi A and visitedlstanbul. frierrdof secretary dragoman vishesfrom Indiarvl'ro States ofAmerica at istanbul, JohnP.Brolvn, of tire legationof the Unitcd part of that tekiyabelong hactr to him (at aroundI tt67)that the greater said Chistis, Kubrawis, matollahrs Ne and of Naqhbandis. to the order Qadiris. FuadKopriilii (d.1966) mentions ln tirnesProfbssor Qalandaris.rs modern figuresof the Safavid namc alnongthe constructive ShahNematollah's Professor Y A. in And religiousunderstandinElAnat<llia.'r" most recently the as of considers Nematollahi an offshoot the OcakofAnkaraUniversity Ordsl in his book on Otton'lan Ilaydari-Qalandari Qalandariyl,a.a" that in his youth Shah wt: In the firsl partof our re-*earch sawalready groupsin Nematollalr Vali rvasamongthe so-callecl Qalandari-llaydari from I{usaynal-Akhlatiandideasof the of Cairo,studied scicnce letters out lbn al-ArabifrornYafi'i. As Il. G. Brownepointed clearlythat he has and "nuqtaviyya"in his poetry:"Most a tcndencytowards"hurufi1,va" vcrscsillustrat? doctrirtc v,ahdat the of al-wuiudwhile a irf Nenratollahis of certainproportionusethe favouriteillustration the 'point' (nuqta)of In which the circle is only a manifcstation.."ar his Divan we seethat Vali praisesShaykhQutbuddint{aydarwho was the ShahNematollah initial sect founder theHaydari-Qalandari andhis followcrswith these of l{aydar. . . andthosefi iendsof Qutbuddin words:"l lovethatQutbuddin Haydar."(Divutr,p. 326) before I Qutbuddin laydardiedin I 201 which is almosttwo centuries ShahNematollah's birth. So ShahNematollahmust have known hirn throughhis followcrs o1'thattime whetherin Cairo or in Iran. In that poemlrealsouses narnad, someHaydarisymbolssuchas:taj, halqa-gush, with Haydari etc. So, it is clearthat he inust havebeenin closecontact groupsafter ShaykhQutbuddinFlaydar. Like }laflz, his poetryalsohas But meanings.a2 at many "rendi", "lauhuli", "kharabati" metaphoric

Vali Liternture Nemstolloh in Turkish Shah

47

the begi nn ing of two pages o f a Pe rs ia nt re a t is ec a lle d Ris a le -i Qalandariyyarvhich was found in Cairo National Library (Tal'at, PerVali. was attributed ShahNematollah to sian.nu: 1174),4r treatise this he is Now if-thissmalltreatise really a work of ShahNematollah, might He havewritten it while he was in Cairo amongthosekinds of dervishes. of startswith the interpretation the word qalandar in five differentqualito ties which were equivalent the numberof the lettersof qalandar in the Arabic alphabet.What is important in that treatiseis that the author's criticismof so-called Qalandarsof thattime who werewanderingaround the He asbeggars. saysthat they were infidels who destroyed very pillars fbr to of the religionof Islam.This point, it seems me. is very important of differentiatinghis understanding qalandar from malahida. Four Qalandaritreatiseswere written in 1079 at the time of Shah in SiilaymanSafawi (published the book of lyin-i Qalandari, ed.by Mir of We seemany inter-diffusions Abidini - MehranAfshari,Tehran1376). The Nematollahi,Haltdari andSa/awi motifs again.aa first treatisewas on the mannersof the Order (khurde-itariq) where ShahNematollah'sname is countedamongthe namesof SultanQutbuddinHaydar,Ahmad-i Jam, that also in the Mir Ghiyasuddin, SeyedJamaletc. lt is very interesting (nasabnama), genealogical Seyed Jalaluddin trees ShahNematollah of Yali treatise, Abbaswereincluded(p. 183-184).In the second HaydarandShah poetcalledHusamiwherethenames silsila composed a by thereis another Vali and ShahIsmail of ShahNematollah Vali, HaydarTuni, I-lajji Baktash placed on the same line (p. 223-230).In anotherplace Safawi rvere Nematollah's khali/hh(p. 239).[n thethird Haydarbecame Shah Qutbuddin (p. 279) andpoemsof ShahNematollah on treatise sawthe same we silsila "seven valleys" (hq/i vadi) (p.306). And I saw the sameFutuwwati I in manuscript titled / Qalandari Nematollahisynthesis a fifty pagePersian Kitabu tariqati./i adab al-sulukal-filqara wa arkanuhamin al-ibtida' ila. written in al-intiha on the credo and mannersof Nematollahidervishes 1033 1624by someone 1 calledal-Faqir'Abdullahal-Husayni.a5 III. Others called "Shaykh NematollahVali' in Turkish Sufi Literature: On the other hand we saw that in Turkish Sufi literaturethere are with each someothers called"Nematollah Vali" who havebeenconfused

48

t at I fftr'.-{cr-tr r t , t r l: r t t it t t t r t il! S; 1ilt 1t a: - iit r t tr S I t L t lN c r r l r l i r r / / r i lli'i i l r

(,1{fu-':r r:.r thc rtrherlbl solld lilnc.-i lie fir:;t \.r/as lbuntlct ()i'tllc ltrllJtl'r1'(1 'l'he :icconi!''Ntlt:riilitilrt:i Mahntud"t" Ahi tir,'rcnl..lenuttollair Anatoli,,r. khalifahI of thc fanrous()ttotnan Ktr[rayi ]ih'r'v!:ir '''rilti was th,-^ V'irli" (]t!(]': And tll,-'[l]it1l lJ-t3i in fJtirsa,'r l'tr1.9 Sultiin al-iJukharivultoclietirr1 r,.'ith SlrilltNcltliit0ll;tlt's illr lll()l'ccollfiist:d eVC'll $ v,'orl.:s;(.)fC narncatrcl jrlc:ntl,tollah Sl'::rykli lltMalttnttil;ri-Nakh.ii''lttir. rt'lrs b. nanle wrrl llabil lle'i'rk{ill!'.i trr r-iri-'il Aclshclirr in strrtlicrl lahri;r atrci bpnr ln Nekhchiya:r. 1u/r) \olull'lc:;tll'Sltii rrrl''i' urd in 920i li l.i" llrr \i'ils a l.rafir'ihhartrii '..vroi.o ()ti er']lnu)L'lrt.ri-y{t'ulshtri'i lla:." iiLit iit :tiitttl:ll Arabrc ;rnrllt []crsii.rit rn ncai stLI(iiL's l1'lrll'r':ilr"onlt:tt-lprtratv rls ltrary cltlli)iJLtcs ivcllas itl ,.;!.,r.t1f jl'L:iil titel i:li:'i: ltitn r''i;it:li \\ llfiritiulerits'r licirr!itt"tis;1ak,:ltlV wL-'tLt ir:icS r,!'.il'k i:' :-l!ctt-lainli;tit Vll i's i!'. ( onclusicn: (rl) ir. i',lts,.:t! lllr l'rt l ,'' rirrih ,/orith()sct'ipriillgi, Irriitrrlii f rl.c t3 sli;rr,.: 0Il scrtrc!r tllr st;b1lct: Vali titiclr{ltrl"''': , i\s corlntl)ll tlritcfi-cat lli.tt titnc,SlrahNcttratrllialt llril in litiutr:nct{tt'itiQ lris i:ie 1',otttot'c bccn ilrti;rtutlililrrarrilcxpcrrcnc*tl ol' talc-rtts :rl-4klrl:rti iri' an;rrtlnci.; ;rl-\'if i. tit,: occttlti:;t ortctrtt:il .shrit'i'u irr wctr- c()rnl]incd hitti. yct !i :ilri'illi' Iirvilarrs lnd thc rlaltnrltrinii;ods ci1'l kinrltlt tlrtliothrrVin iris lil.' t:rtd,:t'it t1ltccp thr.:rrr that lrc lu,llla.!'cd ultich ! tltLritgitt uf-Ncrnlit.rlllhi hrstoi'r,'. pe-ri,rii in ihc suo(rnLl ':, tv' Vali's l"f:rsol!'rl lhi: ftrct'tiirirly indcpcndclttlrorn ShirhNctlririolillir supcriiirilvfionl tlic t't'iiyirtt:', transicr"ring starludto clrrrngc'. ogs structul'c indiflcrt:ntbchnviours.[)itfi:rcni sttbtJ:r'islott:r approachto thc.r"c!ati'rel,v titis wcre brtrn tlonr the nrain body. And rri the dttc c(tursL'of'titrrr': lt.tt' i'i uitli S iirr', thr: rlcncy.structurciib-y politic:rland iileologtcitittt;lrtitlge'; ttcu' ilc rvish gr()tlllri Ltntlrr' Sh;lll pO\ /er, gaVit l-ril'tirtu S()-ciilltrcl i.rh'sttll:ltc. N crnrttcl - irurthcrstructrtre o!'1hc\rrmatrlllahi was all amalgatl;rtjonol',ffn,nrrrr ittrtl Huruli, !t'trtqlu*'i, if i'r;ii':li ()ir!rtuilttri,l'ltt.t'i/rit'i,,iu!tili, A4ttlcttitnti. 'lcr:ot'cvcnrvitlrllieg/lirlrl rif lihi'i:;rrr trincsu'rth thc Shi-i:;rl of ilrc Siafar,r.'ls, .*, Becauscpovcrfy (/itqt'),trai'cIlrng arrd prcacltitlg r"cru thcir lrit:,ir' ctllllpitlgnr. irilrr cletvislt thc anr,;ng rlany wcstr'v;rrd sitcialchirractcrisfics^ l:tli,iitls*. to llecl theAn:ttolilrtt rnuslhavc trave of nrcmbcrs tlrisr;r<lcr *ri'the Nrtn.ltqiiliilr thc lvc u,itness rc-birlii ot'Siri'h tVith thoscentigr'atiolls clrtlit thc ttttr'icr ()aiandari/lla)'dari Vali amongAnaltlititttdcrvish qrt)ttl"is

Vsli Literature Shoh Nenwtollah in Turkish

/10

and his namestaftsto be seenin Ahi, Fi.itiiwwatiand Baktashilitureical (Stilbank). treatises - Because those abovementioneddifferent heterodoxordershave fadedaway today,we can assert that someNematollahimotifs-I mean the furtherKawsari,Safi 'Ali-Shahi,Gonabadi, Shamsior Munis 'AliShahiversions-could haveremainsof "Baktashism"in them.aswell as in "Alawism" in modernTurkey today.a" - So, in the study of the Sufism of Anatolia in generaland in the study of heterodoxmovements Anatolia in particular,historiansmust of not neglectthe positionof ShahNematollah Vali and the Nematollahi Order, too. I believe that this can shed upon a light on some obscure points of the studiesof the area.

Notes
Professor IslamicMysticismat MarmaraUniversityin Istanbul. of Vali, Divan, p. 579. ShahNematollah Ttictt'l-drifin Menkiheleri (Manaqib tt4jal-ari.finSeyed Abu'l-Wu.fa), translatcdinto Turkish by Eyiip Asik, Istanbul 2000,p. 10. Ibn al-Adim. Ziibdeal-halehfi rarikh ul-Halab,ed. by S. Dehhan,Damascus 1954,Vol.ll. p 3l SeeMichel Balivet, Islan Mystique et Rivolulion .4rnie Dans Les Balkans Otlornuns: Vie du CheikhBedreddin "Hallni des Turcs" (1358-1416), le Istanbul1995,p. 53. R. StephenHumphreys. Tov,ards Historl, of Aleppo und DamascLrs the Eurly Middle A In Ages, 635- | 260 C.f., Islamic Arca StudicsWorking Papcr ScriesNo. 2, Tokyo I 998, p. I 314 . Ma'suinr 'Ali Shirazi notes this montain as "Jabul-i Cu1,71s1r". Turuiq al-Huquiq,Tehran 19 01 , Vol. III, p. 3. Vol. 2, Bulak 1270,p.433; al-Safadi, al-Makrizi,el-Hitcrt, ul-VaJi al-v,u.l-oy,ur, 2, p. bi Vol. 443;M. al-Hatib,Fustutol-Adulc,ed. by O. Turan,Istanbul1953,p.559; Ibn Battuta, a/Rihla ,vo l. I, p. 63. Ahmad Sirri Baba. al-Ri:;alutti'l-ahnaditta /i tarihi'l-tarikati'l-riliweri'l-baktashiyu biMisri'l-nrtthru.sa, Misir'da Bekrasilik.Istanbul l. p. 193 Cairo 1934,p. l3; Fuad KoprLili.i, l2; Hamid Algar, "Nematullahiyya", EncylopediactfIslan2, Vol. VIII. pp. 44-48. Lib. IbrahimEf., nu. 430-432, Siilaymaniya Vol. III. fol. 263b-265a. Althoughllaririzadhe listed aproximatly 193 Sufi order in this wolk including"al-Yti/i'itt'n" it seemsthat he forgot "Nematollahiyya". But SadikVijdani(d. 1938)who nradca complcmcnt it callcd on Tbntttr-i turuq-i 'alin,qi (lstanbul,l34l/1922) include"Nematollahiyya"as a branchof Yo/i'irva-i Mudt:eniyya.Then he gaves'Abdulldh Ydf i's silsi/a like this:Sat'ed .,lbdiilqadir ul-Jilani, ShaykhJamaluddin Yunus el-Qassar,Sha-,,kh ul-Akbur lrfttht,iddin al-Arabi, Sha.vkh 'Izuddin Ahmad al-Va.siti,Shavkh Nainuddin al-lslhhani, ShaykhRodhit't,iidtlinIbrtthim

50

'fhe

Stcontl InterrratiLtnsl Svmttosiunt on Sltilt Ncttrttttillah Vali

ul-MukAi,Shur'lihlmun .lbduliah ul-Yili'i ibid, p. 15 Hamitl lrarzarn,

tl tl rf

3. ed. Kushfir':-:unur, by G. Fluegcl.Vol. p. 262 Kritib C'hclctri. I N<:nutttlluh ali, pp. 67-68.Tchran 1995. Hanritl[rarzam Shrrh , > in athal-Saidi Kar.naludd al-Kuii ' SalehBcrhcri> Shavkh'AbdulldhYatl'r. Scycd Abu'l-F ibid" p.56. Sr'eIlarnid Farzarn, Geoftioy, Vali ser'Eric Fol the Sufi groupsin SyriaandIlgypt at thr:timc of ShahNematolluh ]l,lumeloul't lcs PretniersOttornans. el r'r,.r[,t'soufisne ert Egtytteet (n Svric;^Srrrrs Dcrnier.s 19 Durita s 95 . which was attributed quotesthis intbnlation from Manaqibal-\\'asilin l-atiil (tl.99011582) ki lnrrraerbuh-lturikultenbuzilurclitli NesimiFazlullohi l-atifi says;". toShahNcrrratollah. degiiltliir hclki l,lcmutoiluhitliir.Gert,i fra:l'o irisnri,tt't ilm-i hunrfi andan gilrtni';idi. Illtt trbdulu t'hrar olupt'iirinli". t'erniiot-kes-i L'li ir,ianuiolluh ;;ikkesin Iekcnli t,eilm il .srlitidt:t'le that some ed. Lzrtitl,1i':l:iretii's-,st.r'uru, bv Ridvan ('anirn,Artkara2000,p. 524. lt secrns ihosetlr'ofigurcsin one personthcy cornbincd in ot|cl soulccs ordcr to solvcthis problorn F' alityrlithg iring hi s nant eas "F' u: / ulluh. Yc nt t i". or e x a n - r p l c s c c S h c h b c n <l c r z l i d c A h n t a d lstanbulla7'1.p. .i35. 7'ut Hilnri. /.slrrrrr ihi, ctl.byRiza l'rtrr"

t5

I ls

Mich cl Ralirct.l/r ir l.P s . l. in ot',ier Tekirdag. familicsfrorn lladraddini/Ciolshani of With thc only excepti(-rn onc or tr.vo lstanbul Bedreddin, sec Michcl Balivct, ibirl; Miifid Yiikscl, Sc.t'h For ShaykhBadraddin 20 02 ,pp . l8-{;i. al-Kerntani.al-Risuiu.ctl.tryJcan Aubin, Tchran 1983.pp.37-38; Harr'rid Abdtrrrazzrik Farzam. ibid. p. 76. 2002.pp. 65-66. Nuksl,ent!.lstanbul NecdctTosun,Bahcietidin ('haghatayi'l-urkish this: "St'ted Nernutolluh kaddesu'llcihtt like Narviri's words irr original Mdhtin digut kintitle sdkinirkendiirlcr.Ztihirivti ht)tini 'ulrtmida rtihuhu Kirmdn t,ilti)'etinin bile tiriste. Zurntinninseltitini husi,stiI{inr!usttinmiilAinin ntelikleri ktinil t'e ziihd ii takt't't tuh/i'r,ettt':r bi-nihln'etol miilkdin Kirmdnga Mir hitlmetiga unu miiriclii muhlis innisler. I,'e t,iberiirler irmi:;. Mir na:rngu dogi mesgil holut irnislar. Vedivt)nlari dngi bar Yehu eltt'itt ultrnindur. Bett; /lr;.r p-,roi.1l*: Lo Fdt"{ l9lt 4r b l*t u nin ,shamarim ul-ntuhubba kintdediii'.'Ali Shir Nawai, Nusufint ki Kubri hemrind ht:m-o! Istanbul 1979.p. 393. But Nawai ornittedthc nameof al-fiitun'\'u,ecl.by Kcnral Erasl:rn, of ShahNcmatollahfrom his otlrerbooks on the biographyies pocts calledMojolis ul-Nafais al(cd. by'Ali Asghar tlikmat. T,:hran,1944).On thc other hand his friend Dawlatshah ul-Shu"aru (d.900/1495) his who dedicatcd u'ork 10t\awai inhis al-Tuazkira Samarqandi Vali's nanrcwith grcatrespects. includcsShahNernatollah Actrrallytherearc tu,o placc in the world callcdas sarncas idahan.Ihe first Mahan was a to belonged Bayram 'Ali district bclongcdto city of Marw and prescntly town in Khorasan claimcdthatthc fathcrof SaljiiqiTurkswcrc OghuzTurks Somciristorians in Turktnanistan. o1-Sulayrnan and bcforecomingto r\natoliathcy wcrc living in Mahanundcrthc leadclship to Shaherniglated Aleppo and dicd thcrc.Tlris city alsowas known as thc Shah.Sulaytnarr Sec agaisntBcni Un.ravya. Oruq Bey. Tevarih-i city of uprisingof Abu Muslim Klrorasani (Enciopcdia Ai-i Osmun,cd. by Fr. Babingcr.Ilannovcr 1925,pp. 5-12; Tiirk ''lnsikktpedi,si Vol. 23. pp. I 5l- l 5- 1. ofTurk). Ankara 1976, Ankara2001,p. 172, trans.by FlicabiK>rlang>c. Idris-i Bidlis!,Salimfirth-Nt)ttrc',

Vsli irt TurkishLitersture SltshNernutollslr

IJarnid Irarzam.b i d., pp. 378-380. i
l6

51

Ir/un u uduh dur usri so[av'i, Vol. I, pp. 64-67. I{arnid Algar, ibirl., Ahmad Tan.rirndari, o/ Monarch tnd llessiuhs; Culturul Landscapas I:urll lv[otlern Kathryn Babayan.,l.1t,s;ics, /r'arr. Boston2002,pp. 224-5. Ncw Alan A. Godlas, "Ni'nratullahiyah". The Enq'c'lopediao./'rheNfodernIslunic ll'ory'ri, Ytrrk 19 95 . Vol. 3, p. 252. dur turiqi Ni'matulluhiy.t'u lrun, Tchran1979. Massorrd Ilornayouni.Tarilihi.silsiluhari Dervishcs", Ma":hriq,Linisee,Colin Lnbcr, "l-he \L/andering Fol thosckind o1'dcn'ishes pp. 36- 50. vcrsityo f Ma nc hes t er1980. , Sufi.snt: "lrarly Sufisrn EastcrnAnatolia", ('ktssicolPersiurr in in l(ararnustaf'a. SccAhnretT. liron !t's Origin.rto Runli,ed. by l-conardLewisohn.i.ondon 1993.pp. 175-198;Same (.inruly l:rictrds: Dervi.shGroups in thc Islunic Later A,[iddlePt:riod ]100atrthor.Gr.rrlis Duns Le.skrritories Du Beylicut 1-5-50, Utah 1994;Ahmct Yaflar Ocak, Las I'Iilieux SoLtfis in De"s Abdulun-iRum ( I300- I3891, TheErnirote.ed.by Elizabcth Ottontun t Lc Prcltleme e Zacharidou, Cretc UniversityPrcss,1993. Ankara 1992, YasarOcak,0snunli liltpdrolorlugunduMurjinul Sufilik.Kalenderift'r', Ahrrret
n 15 |

Ma'sum) rvasbeingconsidfrxrrtccn innocents irnams(chardah Togcthcr r.vith Prophet. the Sce Shabak, IJur-ufis Baktashis. and of crcdas epiphanics God in commonby Nematollahis, New York 1987.p. 108. l\,f Nloosa, Iirtrenti,rtShiites, atti '"Ttrriq-i Ni'natulluhi: Ahmutl Ghuz:trli, 'Abtlulldh Yu/i'i, Netnatollnh Vali, Sel'ei y1rn,,t. Kirmun e'nrulitulen lVcihrtnnttm kan,gll. mt'dfundur.Khaniqah ve Se.ied mule.sen<:867. Nev'izade Setcacieni.sini Seyedzudt'!erlzri'. :iyaretguh suhihidir. Fukorasi ekser.sev.t'uhtir. 'Atai, Haluiq al-lIuquiq. cd. by AhdiilkadirOzcan.Istanbul1985,p. 64. Orhun,tuikGdloay,l stanbul1996,Vol. I , pp. I 65. 2 I 7; Evliya Cclcbi.Scvthutnune ctl.ht'. . Vo l. 2 , p. 26 8. "Sadatvc ahfiyasi,ulcma ve kiiberasi. ebrarve ahyari,sigarvc kibari, ubbadvc sulchasi. BabaYiSufilcri vc vc F-irka-i vc kafl'e-iahalive e:alisi Bcktasileri, aammc-ienarlr bcrayasi, mtittck-lcr ve taifc-i f{aydariyan Ccvlakileri.Ziimrc-i Edhcmilcrivc reyyasidervisler. vc kalcnderiyan,Haci Bayramiler, Giiruh-i Nematollahilerve Camiler tttglar vc alcmlcr publ.by P.Kappert, Wiesbadcn 98I , I Tubukarii'l-Memulik. kaldirip...", lalzadcMr-rstafa. Cle p. 3'18b; YaflarOcak.i6irl, p. 104. A. Paul Ricar-rt. Hi.stoiretle l'Etut Pr[sent tle I'Enpire ()tlonan. Paris 1670.p.455 cd. John P. Brown, The [)en'ishes or Orientul Sltirituctlism, by with notcs tI. A. Rose,L-ond on I 9 27 , p. 37 l. ed. Fuad Kopriilii,Anudolu'duI.slttmil'er, by Mehmct Kanar,Istanbul2{\03,p.77.
1l)

AlrrnetYasarOcak,ibld. Ankara 1992. Per,sia, Lonclon1905,Vol.3. p.470. D. G. Browne,A Literan'Histor.t'o.f Drr,anof not Of coursc\\,emr-lst fbrget the possibilityof addingsorle ncw poemsto tl-re Vali duc to course- tirle. Also see.Janis[,sots,"Shah Nemabllah Vali of ShahNernatollah Kcrmani as a Mystical Poct: Threel-rendsof Islamic Mysticisrnand Three Basesof His Poetry", CelabrtttingA Stt/i Md.ster:A C'ollectiono_/Ilorks on the Ot'crtsiono/ the Firsl p.58-75. I/ali,SanJosc,2002, on Irttt't'irtttionol S.r'nposiunt ShuhNcrnatollcrh SadcttinKocatiirk."KalcnderiyyeTarikati Ilc llgili Bir RisaleUzerine",AL'DTCFDogu Dillt'ri, Ankara 1985,Vol. IY,pp.37-4'7.

52

The Second International Swnposium on Shah Nemqtollsh Vnli

Anatolia on of 'o For Turkishperspective the consequences Safawiand Sufi marriagespeciallyir.r ve Devletinin OrtayaQikisi", seeMazlum Uyar, "safcviler Oncesi Iran'da Tasavr,'uf Sat-evi pp. No: 7-8 (2000-2001). 85Dergisi,No: 3 (1999),pp. 121-137, AkademikArastilmolar 9 8. a5 IstanbulSiilayrnaniya Library,Haci Mahmud,No: 3144. Konya 1991. Kurulu.su, '6 Mikail Bayram,Ahi Evrenve ,4hi Teskilatinin a' Baldirzadc, Rat,za-i Bursa 2000, p. 265. Avliva, ed. by Mefail Hizli - Murat Yurtsever, ]s Sec Yasar Kurt, Nehcut,ani ye Tasavr.,u{i (OMIJSBE, Unpublished Ph.D. thesis), Tefsiri, Sarnsun-998. I Istanbul 1927; 'e See,Baha Said, "Bektdsiler", Tiirk \urdu, \bl. l9l5, pp. 187126,188127, Ahmet T. Karamustafa,"Kalcnders,Abddls, Haydcris: The Fomation of the Bektdsiyyein the SixteenthClentury",rn SilleymanThe SecondAnd His Time,ed. by H. Inalcik, Istanbul pp 1 99 3, . l2 t-12 9.

53

Principles: An Epistleby ShahNematollahValil

Translation and commenti by Hail Dr. Muhammad LegenhausenJ

as of existence it is in Accordingto the Suflsandthe masters theology, general is thanuniversaland particuitself,that is, not conditioned,a rnore and mentaland extemal. and absolute restricted lar, singularand general,s Couplet: and over both absoluteness non-absolutenessl Absolute(' Withoutneedof'being describedas evenor odd.8 Principle 1. of underthe conditionthatthereis the Considering realityq existence the of nothingwith it, it is saidto be the levelof oneness,r0 station the alland comprehensive,lr the realityof realities.r2 Couplet: of'nameand attributes.ta It is absolute over the restrictionst3 you mightsev essence.t6 is Essencets not its name,though for and is Rather essence saidof it for understandine. absolute incomparability.rT Principle 2. Ilowever. nor is Existence neithercalledan existent a non-existent.rE this. is Understand necessary existencere known as an existent.

54

lnternationql Sunrposiunr ShahNernatollahVnIi on The Second

Couplet: well said This is a precise distinction, A subtlepearl, well pierced.zo Principle 3. of thatis, and by Hoqqt'is pureexistence,22 is one2r theunity24 reality, of its realizationin the correctknowlecige the verifier doesnot dependon unity or on the conceptualization the opposite of the conceptuahzationof to of unity. or on intellectionaboutunity as opposed multiplicity. Rather reality,not [merely]established.2s established unity is an establishing Line of verse: Wesaid unity, howeverit is understood, of Not in order to refer to the idea26 unity, as is imaginedby veiled minds.27 Principle 4. and is of existence the sameas its essence; The existence necessary t h e existence co n tin g r'n te xiste n ceis a d d it io n a lt o c o n t in g e n t of is of existence from the whatnesses.2s Ratherthe existence contingent existence. treasury the generosity2e necessary of of Couplet: we Ll/hatever have is all His generosity. His generosity/br us is His existence. Principle 5. is with entificationr0 inclusive of all The first level associated which is specificto the real huoneness, a entifications, comprehensive man,whoseform is Adam.r' Couplet: Krtot the.faceand meaningoJAdam. Know yoursclf and know the cosmos.

Tlrc Teachirtgs ShnhNonrtollah Vali of

Principle6. the The first intellect,I that is, the tabletof the decree, highestpen is but of andtheAdam of meaning the simplest existents; it is not void of first intellectis itself a whatness to composition because the intellectual rnultiAnd of thepropefties3r contingent of is which existence attributed. plicity', is one for it.ra tlrere Principle 7. in l'he fixed entitiesrs formsof the divinenames the fdivine]cogare prcsence36 arerealities theworld. Insof-ar theyarefixed in of as nitive and in knowledgebut are non-existent the externalworld, they have not Allah, the Exalted,says,(All thingsare the scentof existence. smelled pcrishingbut I{is face)(28:88). Couplet: Frornpre-eternih,to post-eternitlti7 is like this. Thespeechrt the mysticsis also like this. Principle8. is although someareblameThe realityof no existent blameworthy, worthy because base attributes.Yrru know that an existentwithout of is Thereand existence cannotbe an existent, existence puregoodness.rT is fore,an existent, with regardto its existence, not void of goodness. Couplet: an Although lblis is .tupremely evil doer, Look ot his existence. it is not bad.38 lbr Principle9. is of The nobility of the indicator3e because the nobility of what it exis of indicates.a('The cosmos an indicatorof the existence necessary istence. Couplet: Whateveris, whethergood or had, All can hat,ethis nobilitv.

56

on The Second International Sumttosiuttt ShahNenntollah Vali

Perfectioncharacterizes to the extentof one'sdivine characterisone in tics,ar and imperfectionis accordingto weakness this. Nobility is by Him], andbaseness by the abundance is of the fewness intermediaries [to of them.a2 Principle 10. and of The vastest greatest thingsaremercy,theheartof manandknowlRegarding vastness mercy,Haqq, the exalted,said (My mercy the of edge. (7:156).On the vastness mercyandknowledge, by of embrac:es things) all all He compr"ehend thing,s thetongueof theprophets said:(O ottrLord! You (40:7).On the vastness the heartof the 'drif of of mercyand know'led4e) in me, Allah, He said: "Neither My earthnor My heavencomprehends but the heartof My pureand piousbelieverseryant."a3 Stanza: The treasurethat was hidden from the eyesof all the world,aa Becamemani/bstto me; I am the.familiarof that treasure. The treasurethat doesnotJit tn an.ytreastuy exists, But it fits in a corner qf my heart. Wheredo I fit in being? Principle 11. of constantlyrequestthe assistance the Contingententified existents presence necessary that is, Haqq, and absolutegenerosity, of existence, the exaltedand holy, assiststhem from the treasuryof generositywith existence. Couplet: such as I, A deservingdrunken rogue,as Wouldseethat the cup bearergave someof that wine to me.a6 Principle 12. The singleentity,extemally,showsitself as a multiplicity of entities; and the numerousentities,internally,are a singleentity.l7 Quatrain: An entity appears externally as entities. In evety entily,an entiQ is shownto us.

The Tenchings ShahNemntollsh Vali of

57

In the world showinggoblet it is perfectly shou,n. Look at it, so that it showsyou! Principle13. Couplet: gives existence and capacity The most holy el/usionas to the capacitated the name"Interior". by is in of The existence the fixed entities thepresence knowledge by of thatis. moreholy thanthemixtureof multiplicity themostholy effusion, This is thedisclorealities. andthe imperfections contingent of of names and love, which is what bringsaboutthe existence casureof essential pacities entities. of of by effusionis the disclosure the names the love of the apSacred pearance what is requiredby the entitiesin the externalworld. Sacred of this. the effusion succeeds most holy effusion.Understand Principle 14. Himself to everyenHaqq, the exalted, everymoment,discloses at tity, through the one of the names,accordingto, (Every day He is in a of state)(55:29).One of the divine affairsis sentdown from the presence onenessao unity,so from unity to the level of intellect,and from the to and intellectualto that of the tablet. and from that of the tablet to universal nature,and from the universalnatureto cotporealmatter. Line of verse: After this,the throne,then its.fbotstool.5l When one of the divine affails is sentdown from the sevenheavens. and passes throughthe levels of universaland particularuntil it reaches man, it takeson the coloring of all of theselevels.The coming down of a mentioned levelsoccurs a singlemoment.5l at divineaffairthroughall these

Couplet:
In its conting down, no time passes, Rather, not even a ntoment pass;es.

on The Second lntcrnational Sumpositutt ShahNenntollsh VaIi

that havedominatedit arepeeledoff with a spiriAfter this. the states Then from Him it tual peeling, and it retums to the divine presence.s3 and originates, to Him it returns. Couplet: Theguest is dear.Hold him as dear. that dear friend. Di not debase Principle 15. is of The existence multiplicity in namessa the sameas the divine by in are essence, one aspect.They55 manifested the forms of the flxed entitiesaccordingto different states. Couplet: Knou, univ and oluralit:t in this wnv. Call /brth the inclusiveunity. An attribute.56 attributeis an with a determinate A nameis the essence intellectualrelation,not an entified affair, and in relationto the external world thcy are nothing.Therefore,the multiplicity of the namesis with Whenregardto attributes, and the unity of the nalnesis by the essence. with a realletter, hasmeaning.ss it letter evera perspectival5T is contbined this. Understand Principle 16. By correct knowledge and explicit unveiling, it is verified for the of existof verifier that the existence the world is by the disclosure real5e of The existence ence.It is manifestinthe mirrorsof the fixed entities. real existential disclosure.60 without is the entities impossible Couplet: His whateverit is, has its existenceJiom generosity. An existent, to others is His existence.6l ThegenerosiQo/'His existence Principle 17. in Haqq appears62 the mirrors of creation,and In the first disclosure is creation hidden.63

Thc Teachings ShahNenntollsh Vali o.f

59

Couplet: First, our statewas this wa1,. reucheshere saysthis. Whoever in Haqq appears tiremirrorsof the existence disclosure In the second of Haqq, andHaqq is hidden. which is the stationof disclosure, However,in the comprehensive itself,and crein perfection, Haqq is witnessed creation MuHarnmadan tn ationis witnessed Haqq Himself. Couplet: in Look at the light o/ the .cLtn the moon. other. Look at creationand Haqq [reflectedJin eac:h Principle18. universaland particular,specificand general,mental and Existence, is of from the aspect existencet'o one, and extemal,andabsolute restricted, The is andby resfiictionsandrespects6snunterous. divinenamesaremany but to according concepts,('6 in view of what they aretrue of, they areone. Couplet: has An essencr: a hundredthousandnatnesby appearance,6i and Find that as one until you know,68 peacebe untoyou. Principle 19. mirrors areshownvariously,while the in numerous Representations6e and on of is thing represented one and the tnimors, account entification is one. but restriction, unlimited,T') the utmostTl are Couplet: Zayd, 'Am4 Bakr and Khdlid, all /bttr Are ntan itsel/, be well au,areo/ this! Principle20. is The exteriorof everylocusof-manifcstation fiom thedivinename, The locus is fi'om the name,the Interior.Tr and the Exterior,T2 its interior

'fhe Se Vnli cond International Svnwosiuntorr Shahlr'lentatollnh

is with respectto oneness the sameas the one who of manifbstation, manifests. The collection of all individuals of the world, are loci of while the perfectman manifestation the names l{aqq, individually, of of The the comprehensive name,generally. is the locusof manifestation of in reality of the locus of manifestation, reality, returnsto the one who is manifests, and the reality of Haqq. the exaltedand sacred, unknor.vn. Therefore, reality of nothing is known. the Poetry: I havenot ttnderstood reality o/'anything. the How can I understand, while vou are in it? Principle21. is Stoppingat oneness the level of a unitarianwho is veiled from in at creation thejoining with Haqq. Stopping thepluralityof theworld is from covered thejob of one coveredwho is in the desertof separation, IIaqq by creation. Haqq by Haqq in intellecBut the verifier is the one who witnesses forms.This is the mcaning tual, entified,spiritual,imaginaland sensory Allah in it."7a of, "l did not seeanythingwithout seeing Couplet: Sincethe light q/ my eyes is.fiomthe light ql I{is beauty, I look at the light of His face b1,His light. Principle 22. of Every individualin the world is the locusof manifestation one of with specificparticularities. the divinenames Couplet: hov,everthey are viewed Therogue and the a,ccetic, In /brm and meaning,look at God. of The existence bubblesis by water,and the appearance wateris of by bubbles.

The Tcnchings ShnhNanntollnh Vsli o.f

67

Couplet: From the cup ofbubbles, drink w'ater, FintJthat v)aterin thesebubbles.l5 Principle23. of The existence a numberis by repetition the unit. The elaboraof A tion of the levelsof unity areby number. numberis half the sum of its predecessor successor.Tt'The sum is the double,andtwo is one least and The in andone,which aresummed a singleform so thattwo is obtained. exceptby finitude(numerosity), principles any numberdo not appear of fore, not explained exceptby number.There and the levelsof unity are theremust be numberand finitude. and tens,hundreds thousands, In everylevel of the levelsof unities, of With the repetition one more,the odd beunity hascome repeatcdly. comeseven,but without it, it rs odd. TheApostleof Allah said,"VerilyAllah is odd;He lovesthe odd." Couplet: The odd such that other than Him thereis no rtne. i,gthe root of number,but is not a nuntber. Principle 24. existof of lf it were not for the generosity the existence necessary the existence existcnts, world of beingwould not to which granted ence, therewor:ld realities, if therewereno intellectualuniversal be.Likewise. in andattributes theentifiedloci no of appear principles thedivinenanles of manifestation. Co u p let : Theremust be a hright mirror For tlte light o/'His beautyto be shown. Principle 25. (as The first entity to be madedeterminate an entifiedthing) is the of is of man,and the obtainingof entities by the elaboration him, reality (entifications). of andthe numerosity the namesis by determinations

62

Vali on IntentstionnlStlntposium ShslrI'Jematollah The Second

Couplet: It is entilied by the entificationsof'things. The v'aveand bubblesare hoth from tt'ater. Principle 26. is of The divineidentity,by the manif-estation royal sovereignty, disof in the mirrors of the loci of manifestation the infinite names, closed you are) arrdaccordingto the principle, (and He is with you, wherever (57 4), He is lvith all. Rather, realityof Him is all, andF{ewith all the the as in appears someof the loci of manifestation, in names and attributes in tlreperfectone and thequibs;andwith someappears some.Therefore, of the single identity, accordingto the manifestation the namesand atand in more excellently someloci of rnanifestation in tributes,appears others[merely]excellently. Couplet: Thatone is ntoreexcellent:this one is excellent; By identitv they are one, O intelligentone! Principle 27. thatthe moverandthe stopper in Whoeveris annihilated things,sees and from all things: from oneself of thingsis llaqq.lf one is annihilated Couplet: IIaqq remains,anclother than Haqq is nothing. Other than Haqq, the self is nothing; nothing is in viev'. is but Annihilationis a relationwe haveto ourselves, subsistence a relation we have to Haqq. You are free, so take whateverrelation you for considerto be more appropriate yourself. Principle 28. are disclosures obtainedby thosewho are Lightning-likeessential empty of all attributesand statesand from the principles of necessity, is emptinessTTnot This completeand absolute namesand contingency. of opposed the absoluteness Haqq. to

The Tbnchings ShahNernltollnh Vlli o"f

63

Couplet: I constantl.v this ernptines,s, see Even thoughit doesnot last fbr more than a moment. Principle 29. permitted. is Knowledgeof its depthis absoExistence absolutely lutely fbrbidden.

Notes
in Ha:t'at-e SeycdNout'ul-Din Tlris treatisehas bccn translatcdfrorn "Usr-rl", Risdleh-hu-r'e (Tehran: KhaniqahNcmatollah. ShuhNemutolluhfuli, Vol. 2, ed. Dr. JavddNourbakhsh to datcd accoldingto the lranian royalistcalcndar2536, corrcsponding 1977),3-59-369. Vali rvasbom in Allepo oiroa730il3l0 and lived for a hunThe author', ShahNcrnatollah his Although dred years.Hc dicd in Mahan ncar Kcnran, w-here shrineis still rnaintained. hc is remembered more for his revival of Sufism in Iran and for his poetry than for his work 'ijtiu,his cssays inclndca nurnbcr thcologyof Sufism,or theoretical on tlre philosophical sr.rbjcct u'hichdisplayhis familiaritywith the worksof QunawiandQaysari of workson tl.ris in thc sr:hool ibn 'Arabr. of thc couldnot havebeenaccomplishcd I *'ould not ha'n'e understood tcxt and thc translation and lvithor:t assistance I)r. Arnir Divani. Infeliciticsin the translation misunderstandthc of rcsponsibility. ingsfbund in thc comments entirclymy o\\,'n arc professorat the Imam Khorncini E,ducation Lcgcnhauscnis associate Hajj Dr. Muhan-rrnad Institutc. and Research Qom. (u'ujud)is the n-rain topic of theorctical mysticism or'ir/dn. which is a sort of Existence philosophical that is with ttbsoluta theologyof the Sufis,who identily God with cxistcncc, suchas thoseindicated the by cxistence, the senscofexistcnccwithout any conditions in ne((ssut'\' exlernal e.ri.slencc, adjectivesin the tcrrnsmenlol exi:itence. ltarlicular e.rislen(e, noil-necesserj'e.ri.stence, 1b spcakof cxistcncein this perfectly generalway ctc. existence, (ld aboutits instantiation. ttr is witlroutany stipulations, not conditioned hi shari shu-r,'), i.c. as speakof existcncc it is in itself (rnirrhut'thuh ux'o h uu,a),frotn thc aspcctof it bcing it, or that is. as it is in itself.'fhis sort of view is oficn confuscdwith pantheisrn. worseyct, panentheisrl. Panthcism involvcssolrc sort of identification God with the world. of r.r''ith thing in thc world, nor with the According to 'iitin, God is not identifled wrth eacl.t God is not rncrcological sum of things that is thc v;orld, as in sornefonns of pantheisnr. philosophy. n'hich is also labcledpanthcistic. as taken to be a substancc in Spinozistic thc Panentheisnt tlrcvicw thatthe world is in God as thc llnitc is'"vithin infinitc or as cells is ofany suchrelationofinclusionto be found in arein an organism. thcrcis no possibility but theoretical Sufism. is The Here lvc find a typical paradox. Absoluteexistence "morc gcncralthan... general". is paradox in ways.By singulurexisteirce meantthe existence a of may bc resolved several is of Ry singlething. e.g.,this man or that llou'cr'. generale.ristt'ncc meantthc oxistcncc thc of variouskinds of things.such as hnman existencc. cxistcnce man in generalor thc to existence flowers.Absolutccxistcnccis not restricted eithcr of thcscbut extcndsto of

o+

The SecondInterngtionnl Svnwosiunr ort Shah Nernatollnh Vali

than singularand "general", both and in this scnseis more "gencral",i.e.,more extensive, of i.c. cxistence pluralities thingsor typesof things. of ln fiom tics or rcstrictions. Englishwe What is absolute, muilttqis what is frec or rclcased but :use or.'er the senseof transcending, it u'ould be closer to Arabic and Farsi if in ub,solute So, we wcrc to say ob"solute fiom, meaningunlettered6-r,. the line also could be translatcd " "Unbountledhy unbountledne.s.s hotndeclness, and as'. -fhe paradoxagain appears the couplet.Existence itself is cxistence it is without in as in This is not to deny its bcing onc way or anothor. regardto its being one way or another. ak Likewise we can spe of Socratesin himself, without regardto the fact that he was Cireek phikrsopher. consider To existcncc This is not to deny thathe was a Cireek or a philosophcr. This is absolute. that it is in any sense it is absolutely to consider without regardto thc f'act regardto it. Qaysari asrdefiom it, only to consider existcnce not b deny'thisf-act, "vithout qualifiedas absoltttc or becomes to explainsin his introduction the Frrsl.s tirat cxistcnce or ofthe levelsof its sclf'-disclosttre tnantgenelalor particnlar. etc..bccausc oonditionctl, fbstation. is Thc suggestion that just as numbcr itself is neithereithernor odd. but only particular in rnanit-estationsnurrberareevenor odd. likewiseexistence itselfis beyondbeingab.soof u,hich arc merely trvo levcls of the manifestationof or lule c.ristent.e conditionetlexi.\tence, for The analogyhas its limitations,hor.vever, numbcr.in itself, could bc described cxistencc. cxistence should while absolute of as beingneitherevcn nor odd because its universality. It negative condition. for as not be described beingnon-absolute, this would be yet anothcr with rcgardto the pairs of in rvould be bettcr to say that existence itself is indctcrminate exceptthat one shouldnot to that can be ascribed thc variouslevelsofexistence, opposites rcstriction conditionin which or to in so doing imagincthis indetern'rinacy be a partioular manifest. bccomes existencc haqiqat
t!

a hudin'ah . jam'a l-jttnt' huqiqahal- huqd'iq and signifies quwul (sing. r7a,i.'d), rvhich tcrm is also usedfor adverb,s translates Restriction.s any sort of qualification. Thc words for namc (lsn) and attributcs(sifat) arealso used for noun artdadjectives,makof tcrms.Theological discussions God include ing the linc into a pun on thc grammatical nominalized are The divinc names gencrally of discussions thc divinenamesand attributes. verb forms prefixcd u,'iththe definite article. Without thc article they can bc used as adjectives.and are saidto referto the divine attributcs.

tl

)\ d hit said that out of piety, one shouldonly lefer to God by the namesand atl6 It is sometimes (al-dhdt)is not amongthc Hirnsclf in the Qul'an. E.ssence tributesHe hasuscdto describe divine names. l7 To asscrt (la,s/rbii). (tonzih)is the opposite assening Although sirnilarity of incomparability or of the God is not an cssence, term is usedto aid in ourunderstandingbyr'"'ay comparison by of by asserting similarity,and this is balanced the asseltion incomparability using the tcrm a b,so lttte (nu i la q) it A non-existent a na'd um,lrom'udun, nought,parallelto the construction e,ri,tlcfll, of is wuj utl. mav'jtttl, from e.rislence. r" The standardproof-sfbr the cxistence of God found in Islamic philosophy are proofs of

The 'lcnchingsof ShahI"lenntollnh Vali

65

necessary cxistence. x'tijibul-v'u.jud.

l0

a and rosalieswas considcrcd claft requiringthc l'he fine picrcing ofbeads fcrrnccklaces utmostprecision. Asidc tiom its religioususe,the lcrm huqq is usedfor Haqq is God, as thc Tmtli or Reality. rca lity.rig ht. one' s duc , t m t h, andlv hat is aut h e n tIin t h c p l u r a l , h u q t t q i s u s e d f o r r i g h t s . c. Th efa cto far nat t er is a huqiquh( pl. haqn' ir 7) , a l t h o u g h t h e t c r m i s a l s o u s e d f o r t h e c o r c in ta is engages rcsearch hqiq, A truth abor-rt somcthing. researcher a mu hutliq, one r.vho thc of which is the pr"rrsuit tmth. Sometimcs tcnn nn huqiq(verifier)is uscdfbr an 'rirf onc rvho kncrwsthe truths that arc found on the path of spiritual u'ayfaring. Finally, Iu hutlutl is real. realization thc scnscin u'hioha thing occursor becomes in is cxistence unmired or unadultcratcd. Purccxistcnce wLtf ucl-crila&e,

li tl

v'tihid x'uhtlut truth. independent ofwhcthcr it is provento bc The unity ofrcality is a flxed, unshakeablc so by anyone. nrufhunt

t7 :E

I.c.. thosewho arc vcilcd tl'omthe directknowlcdgeof reality. theologyandphilosophy thatcouldbe translatcd Arabic tcrmsuscdin Islarnic Thcrc arc tr'"'o was ratherliterally into Arabic as mr) hityah, i.e., Aristotlc's/i y'.s/1, translatcd as esscnce. the tcchnicalrerm.mcihittalr,for which Chittick appropriatcly what is that,which becamc servcsas a use Other suggests rrsingthc tcrm t1,rrrl/?c.!,r. translators quidditt,bt'tlwhotness tertntranslatcd Thc otherAristotelian etyrnology. reminderof thc Arabic-Greek convcnient r or which in Arabic is thc ovn'ne and so, into Ilnglishasessencc, morc appropriately is oaslzr. possessor attributes. tlht)t.Somctimcshuqiqatis usedas a synonymfor dhdt. of the is.7ar1 for hcrc,alsousedin thc following couplel. gerrcrosity Thcrc is a play on word sounds is and cxistence x'ulud. by It theme of Sufi mctaphysics. is the process which the divine Entificationrs a rna.jor gracccreatively dctcrminate entitiesas distinctloci of dir,inemanif-cstation. emanatcs human,but is alsothc first being,andas suchthc paradigm Adam is not only thc f irst hr-untrn in prophctand pcrt-ect man. In Farsithe u'orciis alsouscd for man generally. the scnscof humanbcing. accouttts of took over much of the nco-Platonist The'uralti,likc the Muslim philosophcrs. as thc of and crranatiorr. describc proccss ernanation havingthe first intcllect('aqlux'v,ul) on thcrcarea series ofconditionsthat can be plaoed as thc first crcatcdthing. For Qaysari. ipseity.thc unity. thc pervasive that resultin viewing lt at thc levelsofoneness, existcncc i\ rvhcn r-xistL'nce intcrior.and only after thesedo wc arriveat the first intellect, absolute being in it, which is the level of the namc o1'thc takcn as conditiorred only on universals (Lnl i a/lord of thc first intellect, callcd thc tabletof thc decree Mcrciful (ul-Ra hmcin)" al-a'lti). mothcrof the book and thc highestpen (al-clulunt c1cr|c)),thc aningjur/gnrcrrls. hcrc is a hkam(sing. lui'nr). litcrallynre Thc word translated properties as and part ofa rnultitudc. existcncc In otherwords,it is a contingent to Thc fixcd cntitics ('aycinthdbit) arc cxplicitly statedbv ibn 'Arabi to correspond thc (Sce althoughhe crcdits the Mu'tazilites for the tcrn-r. whatncsses the philosophcrs. of of Cllrittick.Thc Sili Parh o/'Knou'lerlgc,83-8tt.20.1;and TheSel/'-Disclo.sure Gotl. xxxviii. to on thc idca in his introduction his commentary thc Fus as as 389 n.9.) Qaysariexplains havc cognitivefornrsin tlrc knou'lcdgeof the Exfollows: "Knou.'thatthe divine narnes

66

The Sectnttl lnternationnl Svnwosiurn on Shah Neffiatollah Vali

s. His knower of His essence, narrcs and l{is attribute In the altcd.for He is thc cssential of teminology of the folk of Allah. thesecognitivc forms, regardless whetherthey are enlilies.insoiaras they are the sameas the cssence, generalor particular, oalled.fi,rcd are rclations. the terminolIn and in determinate in which is disclosed particularentifications amongthesecognitiveforms the ogy of the folk of thcory (the philosophcrs). generalitics (huwitvat). are and their particularities callcdipseities and are callcdwhatnesses rcalitics, ( Whatnesses gcncral fbrrls of thc namesthat are cntified in the cognitivepresence are hadrah 'ilni.t't'alr)by tlre first entification.Thesefonns are effusedfrorn thc divine essence love and thc' bccattse essential of by the most holy effusionand the first self-disclosure and to scckingofthe keysofthe occultthatarcnnknownexcept Him for theirmanifestation pcrfections." tl-reir see For an explanationof the presen(.e,\. William Chittick, TheSt(i Puth of Knov'ledge,4f. Ibn 'Arabi and his followers use thc tcrm pre.sence hairuh) as if it were an honorarytitle, \ like Hi.r Honot'or fli.s Eminence.but fbr realms rathcr than people, such as the sensory etc.The Ierffrpre,\ence the world, the rcalnrof dilinc knowledge, rcalm of divine lordship, called the Fii,e five levels of divine nranit'estation, is also used by Qaysarito designatc absence, which is the of s Tlre Dit'inePre.senc'r,s. fivc Presenceare:( 1) thc Presence absolute of whoseworld is the r.r'orld thc fixed entities; of salneas the Presencc divine knowlcdgc, world. Then come two (41 the Presence absolute witnessing. whosc *'otld is serrsible of which is of thesewith a commonname:thc Presence relativcabsense Presences betu,ccn (2) and (3) onc closcr to tiivided into two Prescnccs. one for what is closerto absence were introduced is I'hc rvitnessing. fifth Presencc (5)the perfectrnan.The Fivc Presence.s From al-Q unawi to alby Q unawi.SceWilliam C. Chittick,"The Fivc Divinc Presences: 12 Qaysari"ThelvluslintW/orltl (1982),pp. 107-128. kJtayrnn hi to but not to his 1blir is the dcvil who temptedAdarn and Evc. Evil is ascribed his deeds, therncin Sufi u'ritings.For a brief review, sce Annemarie This is a standard existence. o/ Deciphering the Signs God (Albany: SUNY Press.1994.pp.232-233. Schimmel, datl
t" tnud ltt I

Or morals,virtues.akhlaq. status, the in and is In Principle8. a distinction nradebctweenmoraljr"rdgment ontological ln doesnot carry ovcl'to reflectpoorly on existence. Prinscnse that a ncgativeevaluation nobility and the moral is affirmed:greatcr the bctrvecn ontological ciple 9, thc connection itselfalwayshaspositivcvalue,even Existence to to accrues what is nearer pureexistcncc. very faintly. if it appears It collections. is in This hadith is ficquentlycited in Sufl texts,but is not in the standard |v[ahlar al-Batuu (V 2e;. lll. Ghazili's Ihtt) (lil. 1.-5.; l2) and Faye Kdshdni's but collections, This is an allusionto the lamous hadith qudsi,not found in the standard often narlatedin Sufi texts: "l was a ffeasurcbut was not known, so I loved to be known; I and madc Myself known to them. so thcy came to know Me." See created the creatures of Chittick,TheSelf-Disc\osure (iotl, pp. 21,22.70.2l1,329. The rend is a characterdcvcloped in the poetry of Hafiz, a clever person who seemsto sincere faith. an of the disregard outwardaspccts religionwhile maintaining exquisitely its r.vith wine drinkingreaches pingiven to the imageryassociated Thc spiritualmeanings much earlier. naclein Hafiz, but had becomefairly standardized ol ul-x'dhidah) is explainedby Chittick in !'he SeU'-Disclostte God, The single entity ('d-ir? to of 72f. It is in ibn 'Arabi's discnssion this topic that he comesclosest using the expres-

Vnli l'lrc Tettchings Shnh Nenratttllnh o.i

67

by sior-r lttlut ul-wuj rl1 which woultl later bc usedas a labcl fbr thc vicw advanc:ed I'rirr rlo and his fbiior.r'ers. would givc risc to much controversy. and thc arc In ibn 'Arabi's school. two levclsof gtaccor cffusiorr distinguished, highcrof u'hich (./u.t'ialel/ir.sion is called thc nost hol.t'elfirsiort(/itt'i ul-uqdus) anclthc lcxtcr, ^rzrc'r'erl nuqoddus|.As Qaysaricxplains:"'Divine effusionis dividcd into the most l.rolycffusion capacitics rrc and saclcdcfhision.By thc fonncr thc fixcd entitiesand thcir fnndantcntal in alon-u in and obtaincci krror.vlcdge, by thc lattcr.tlrosccntitiesarc obtainccl thc ot-ttsidc to follows{'romthcrn.ShaykhIibn 'Arabi] alludcs this in his r.vith rvhatthc,v-. inrplyancl r.i,'hat first seckin-q ercept by His most holy cfTusion.'l-his saying.'The reccptoris not obtained gocsbackto thc nanre l:irst (ul-Au'trul)andthe Interior (al-Bdiin),thcn throughthcseit tltc h '1 l s g rrc:hu ekto r lr r '1. , r r r t r t - iAht rlt ant ll/ r , E. r t r ' r 'i , , t 't r t l - i , r l t i rc c.r t t s e l r s t n L 'sa r t di n t c ti o r t in and in and lastncss cxtcrioritvarc established the ity arc cstablished cognitivccxistcnce, outrvard c.ristcncc." hulrul u hodirut n'i h lli.t'ur as 5t Thc tlrlonc ( rrrlr) i:; mcntioncdin conncctionwith thc fbotstool(/cu:si) rclatedto thc rcand thc lcvel of thc fixetl stat's, highcstand ncxt highcstcosrnicreaims,the empyrcan of sircctivcll;but fl'ornas early as thc tir.r.rc Tustari(d. 283/896)thc throncand footstoolof (lod arc lrkcncdto tlrc hcartand brcastof man.SeeGerhard L'ision Btiwcring.The I'!.r'stital W o l F.-risla ntt ' in( ' lus . v it t lls lar r ( I li- r lin: alt er d c G r u y t c r ,1 9 8 0 ) , p . 1 6 3 . procc-\s. Imanation or cffusronis not a tcr])pi)ral thc of and its asccntfbrm a circle.The As Qaysarierplairrs. levclsof thc dcsccnt existence ls while the levelafterthis world is onc lcvcl prior to this w'orldis onc of the lcr"e of'dcsccnt. o f th c levelsof : is c c nt . ()r ttotrrirttt/ntultipli,ir.t'(liuthrat to u.sni'i.t'uh). rct-crring thc multiplicity ot'thc divinc but nantcs. That is. 1l're divinc rrarncs. lior erarnpic.onc tr1'thc clivincnamcsis lhe Pou.,c/itl(al-Qudir).Thc tcrm. lha Powelill, prnt't'/il1. rcfersto the divinc osscncc throughmcntionof the attributc, 'tibtiri.wh, rnorcusuallyonet'incls 'tibri'ri.u'hich is translatedby Chittick r Pcrspeci itul herc is i in as Thc root of the word and could also bc translatcd somc cases subjet:live. as trtt'ntol. ( 'abr')has a nreaning of or,'cr, i'tiburi thus takesthe mcanir-rg pcrtainingttr and of'crossing pcrspcctive. rcspcct. The lvord c,.rnsiderltion. onc means ofcrossing" fiom one approach, or or authorized. i tihir is alsousccl thc scnse in ofvalidity, in thc scnsc ofsorrethingcrcdible. t i v lo gicallyor flnanc iallv alid. lik e a pr oof or a c h c c k .P c r h a p s l r e s e n s e s t h a t i n r v h i c ha In cnablingone to reachthe dcstinatron. any case,the tenn has an clossingis sr,rcccssfirl. that is not found in suchtcrrnsas ntenluland.suhf ective.1nAyatr-rllah evaltratir.'c dinrcnsion (Binghamton: 1999)thc followlnstt'ut'tions GlobalPublications. Misbii h's Philo.:ophitul in g cxp lan at ion giv c n: is -lhc tcrnr i'tiht)t'i (respectivul), in disu'hich is frcquentlyerroountered philosophical v a . cussio nsis c nr ploy ed' "v ilh ar iousm c anin g s n d i s r e a l l y e q u i v o o a lO n c m u s t t a k c , s() arnorrg rncanings as n()tto confisc thcm or makenristakes. its carcto ilistingnish arc intclligiblcs, whcthcllogicai philosophical, callcdi'tl6dri, or ln onc-scnse, secondary all by is as arrileventhe conccpt cxistcncc countcd i'tihiri. This tcrrnis uscdcxtcmsively of s 'intcllcctt'tl i 'tihdri' with thismeanbooksof h is he r-rse Sha-vkh al-lshrricl. in r,'arious and in g. rvhich in the lanis Another scnseoll llhzir'1 spccificdlirr legal and ethicalconccpts,

68

The Second [nterrrntiortnl Stlnryosium on ShcthNernntollrtliVnli

guageof recentscholars arc called 'r,alueconcepts'.In a third sensc, only conccpts and with thc help of u'hich haveno extenral rnentalinstanccs rvhichare constructed or the laculty ofirrraginationare called i'tihari, srichas thc conceptofa ghoul. These with I'libiri alsohasanother sense be contrastcd to are callcd'fantastic'. concepts alsc, (usalttt) which is employedin discussions the fundarncntality of o1-cxfirndanrcntality (usrilotmahuv'i.vdt), which (a.srilat and istence v'ul ud) or firndamentality whatness of in will b e nre nti oned it s pr opc rplac c .( pp. 122- 1 2 3 ) . 5' Anotherway of puttingthis point is that a lctterof creditonly hasworth whcn it is backed up by cash. 5' Or tlivine,huqqitni. t'" Again, real nrcans is huqqtini.or divine."fhe disclosurr: one in'"vhichdivine or real existcn ci is nra tlcrn an iles t . Lr C'ompariPrinciple4, abovc. :r)lrr: manifest. exterior, "r That is, bccomes Interior. Driilr. "r 6a rnin huythual-v'uiud ": i 'tibtirtit "" nrttfhumdt ''- iLrhur 6i That is. you shoulddiscovcrthat it is one so that you find it terbe so and knorv it. 6' tamalhdlitt. tt' bi haii 1t hudid,what is at the furthestlimit. The usage hereis unusual. 12 Al-zdhir 73 Al-Bdiin 7r This is a famoussayingattributed Imam 'Aliu, to 75 Thereis a lovely allitcration the Persian: "in cibdar in hubiih dun,t)b." in 1'' The first numbcr was considered be two, because nunbcr rvas so definedthat it requircd to a predecessor. Zero doesn'tcount! " ./iriigh

69

Hazr at Sultan'AliShah Gonabadi The Renewer of the Nematollahi Order in Iran

Pazouki' Dr. Shahrant

Sufism is the spiritualreality of Islatn,even if it was not known as it speaking. pror,'es Phenomenologically of "Sufism"at theinception Islanr. to to of to be the essence Islam,whtchgiveslif-e it, like the soulgiveslif-e its outer shari'at, lslam hastwo aspects: the body.In Sufi tenninology, or or dimension, body, andtariqat,its innerdimension. soul.Thesetwo joined in the person the Prophet, little by but of wereinseparably aspects littlc throughthe historyof islam,therewere pcoplewho paid attention only to theshari'at, Islamiclaq and evenconfinedIslamto this. Often to or thefirclaha 'ulamdtook this attitude.In contrast therntherewcre reality or tariqat,who becamcfathe peoplewho ernphasized sptritr-ral mousas Sufis. ruiers,but of The propagation Islantwasnot throughthe swordof-the word ot'theSufis.The cuttingswordsof SultanMahmud by the heartfelt Afshdrdid not makeIslaminfluentialamongthe or Ghaznavi Nddir Shah and lif'e giving breathof Sufi Hindus.It was by the spiritualattraction NematollahVali or Mir Seyed of such as the successors Shah masters Muslim. 'Ali Hamaddni that they became from the truth and deviated the Whenever Muslimswere weakened this was of Islam,great Sufis tried to renew and revive it. Sometimes whose revival finds written done explicitly,as in the caseof Ghazali. al-Din (The Revival of the Religious form in his f'amousllryii '111u,, \hli. Nematoltahi it and Sciences), sometimes rvasimplicit,aswith Shah of The ideaof renewalin Islamwas not a mereaccident history,but It is reportedin a hadith that lie by was foreseen the Prophethimself.

Tltc Sccottd lntcrntttirnnlSvnwosiun on Sluh NanatolltthVali

years, said,"Verily,at the beginning everyhundred of God raises one for this communityof lslarnwho renewsit's religionfor it." Regardless of the soundness thts hadith,and whetherwhat is mean is exactlyone of century, rvhichis beyondthe scopeof this paper, ideaof a revivalof the Islam and that it must be renewed a mannerappropriate the times, in to was in the mindsof thc Muslims. in Sufismrtself-. from tirne to tirne deviations occurred. The use of "f-alse expressions suchas, Sufl claimant"and "true Sufi claimant",in bookssuchasJdmi'sNaluhdtal-Uns.bears rvitness thisphenomenon.2 to Among themostpromrnent criticsof suchdeviations werethe Suti rnasters.They werethe true reformers and renewers Sufism. of ( Sufisrn usuallysutfered thehands two groups: I ) pseudo-Sufis has at of who fancythattheinwardaspects Islamsuf ice for themandthattheymay of consciously its abandon outwardprecepts; (2) those./itqahd restrict and who their understanding Islam to its outwardaspects ignole its interior. of and Eachof thesegroupshas an incomplete understanding Islam.one with of respect shari'at andthe otherwith regard tariqat.This is why the Sufi to to shaykhs wereusuallyconfionted thesetwo groups.Renewal by and reformationof Sr-rfisrn mostolten rcquired re-balancing shari'at andtariqat a of in orderto preserue originalfonnation.It is this effort at balancing its that prompted greatSufi shaykhs takeintoconsideration circumstances the to the of their timesin orderto makereligiousprecepts appropriate them.This to enabled themto present Islamin a morecomplete fashion to keepit from and "One who is deviaticrn. a hudith attr-ibuted the Imams.it is reported, ln to conscious his timesis not in danser beinsconfounded." of of Shah NematollahVali One of the greatest reformersand renewersof Sufism was Shah Vali.His wasoneof themostcatastrophic Nematollah timesfor theMuslims, especially Iran, which had sufleredthroughthe attacksol the in MongolsandtheTirnurids afterthem.[n reiigious affairstherewere Sufi pretenders theonehand, on who did not practice Sufiteachings, hypoand gain.In his criticalpreachcrs theother, on who usedreligionfbr personal poetry,Hafrz reproaches both groups,thus bearingwitnessto the situation in lran. Whentlrereligious teachers fallenso far astray, relihad the giousethosof the conlmonpcopleof the time would alsohavebeenin a state degeneration. of

fl rcrst Sultsrr'AliShnhConnltaLii

77

of Vali.asmaster theMa'ruft Orderl ln tlrose days,ShahNematollahi 'AbdullahYef i, tried to improveboth the inand successor Shaykh to and He the conditions. exposed misdeeds ward andthe outwardreligious pscudo-tcachingsthecuffentSufi pretenders, criticized and bothSunni of to of callcduponSunnis retumto thesunnah the andSlri'ite'ulamr).lle Prophet lovc fbr theAhl al-Bayt,while he remindedShi'itesthat the of of u'alayttt.rratherthanpoints rrrainpilfarofshi'ismistheforgottentrutlt Thus,he refused be a ra/izi (onewho reto crflaw and political rssues. the of or tlre Companions the Prophet) khciriii(onewho reiected -iectcri l eader ship 'A li).5 of The NematollahiOrder Duc to the difficultiesfbcedby the Sufis in Iran afler the deathof to the Shalr Nematollah, qutbsof the Ordermovecl India at the invitation Duringthis time,from the Bahmani the Deccan. of AhmadShah of Sultan because the of end of the Safavids until the end of the Zandi dynasty, political upheaval [ran,the kings' rejectionof Sufismand tlie soverin most with the government, eigntyof thc 'ulanciu,hohad goodrelations Althoughthe clandestinely.6 of tireSufi orderseitl,er left lran or operated was itself basedon a Sufi Ordeq the attitudetakenby Safaviclynasty so themwas very exclusivist, that they did not permitthe frec operation when Reza continued until 1190/1776, This situation cf other orders. 'AliSlrahDeccani, who was thenqulb of theOrder,senttwo of his authoThhir Deccani, lran. to Hazrat Ma'Sum 'AliShahandShah rizccl slra-vkhs, l-he latterdicd soonafterarrivingin Iran,or on the way, and the revival of the Orderin Iran was left to the formerandone of his main disciples. the in Thesetwo behaved a way that attracted Nour 'AliShah Isfahani. attentionof the peoplewho had long forgottenSufism.Many people, inclLrding someof the prominent'ulama,suchas SeyedBahr al 'Ulum (d. l21211197) 'Abd al-Samad (who was killed in 12161 Hamaddrii and curent thcir lbllowers,and Sufismbecame I flOl by Wahhribis). became 'ulamd Sufism, however, to of in iran again. Tlreopposition someof the someof the Qdjdrikings to kill the contrnued, they evenpersuaded and to on Sufi shaykhs thepretexfthatthey sought takeoverthe governntent. or of Onecanmentionthernarlyrdom Mushthq'AliShahin Kermdn, that 'AliShah in Kenr-rdnShali the orderof the inat of his discipleMuzatfar ibn fluentialiurist.known as tlie "Sufl-killer".Muhammad Bihbihdni.

The Second Internntional on Vali Svmnosiunt ShnhNemotollah

After Nour 'AliShah,the Nematollahi the Orderbecame mostpopupopular, pretenders it lar Sufi orderin Iran.Whenever Sufismbecomes to was abound. During the time when Rahmat'AliShah(d. 12181186l) the popular, partbecause quth of theOrder,Sufismbecame especially in the After Rahmat'AliShah the Qejdrking, MuhammadShah,entered Order. (l) passed away,the Nematollahis divided into threebranches: the folfollowlowersof Hajj Muhammad Kirzim Isfahdni Sa'ddat'AliShah;(2) ers of the uncle of Rahmat 'AliShah, Hajj Muhammad,famous as Munawwar'AliShah;and(3) the followersof Mirzd HasanSafi,famous due about asSafi 'AliShah.This divisionfirst appeared to thedifferences by the explicit decree Rahmat'AliShah that he shouldbe succeeded of of Sa'ddat'AliShah.After sometime, the opponents Sa'ddat'AliShah 'AliShahaccording which attributed Rahnrat to to brought another decree despitethe fact that Munawwar 'AliShah was to be the successor, Munawwar 'AliShah himself admittedthat he had not received dethe with Sa'ddat creepersonally. Safi 'AliShah first renewedhis covenant 'AliShah,and deniedthe validity of the decree Munawwar'AliShah. of However,after Sa'ddat'AliShah refusedto appointhim as shaykh,he broke his covenantivith him and becamea discipleof ivlunawwar 'AliShah.After sometime. he alsorejected leadership Munawwar the of 'AliShah and proclain-red himselfqutb.In this way the Nematollahi Order broke up into threechains:first, the Sultan'AliShahi or Gonabadi chain;second, Dhul RiydsataynT the chain,which is the main and largest chain;and third. the Safi 'AliShahi chain. Sultan 'AliShah as Master of the NematollahiOrder of The Sultan'AliShahichaintakesits nameafterthe successor Sa'drdat 'AliShah,Haij Mulld SultanMuhamniad Sultan'AliShah,who wastrorn in inA.I{.L.12511A.D. 1835. in Gonabad Khorasdn He was one of the most distinguished famous 'ulamdand Sufis and of his time, suchthat in most of the booksof that time his namcis mentioned.8 the ageof threehe was facedwith the loss of his father.Even At was apparent all so that amongthe at sucha tenderage,his excellence to peopleand tribesof Baydukht and Gonabadhe was known for his intelin ligence, wit, dignity and poise.After finishinghis elementary studies he Baydukht,due to a lack of sufficientmeans, temporarilysuspended his studies, because his enthusiasm eagerness, the age of but of and at

H ttzrtrt Sttlt trrt' AI i Shah Gonabed r

he to and madegreatstrides, such seventeen, continued pursuestudies yearnings. no his Tlierethat his localteachers longersatisfied scientific his fore,he setout by fbot for the holy city of N4ashhad pursue studies to wherehe spentsometime and benefitcd from the presence the scliolof profiarsthere.From there,he thenwent to Najaf, Iraq,werehe became of cient in .fiqh, usul, and ta/isir(exegesis the Qur'an). Under famous for fitqahii, suchas ShaykhMurtizd Ansdri,and was given permission he and ijtihdd in /iqh. On his return from Najaf-, went to Sabzavdr, under IIajj l\4ullaHddi Sabzavdri. he the directionof the famousphilosopher, philosophy, philosophyand Mulla illuminationist studiedperipatetic philosophy. distinguished He himselfaboveall tlie othersfudents Sadrd's of Sabzavari, wrote marginalia the famousbook of Mulla Sadrd, and to Asltir Attaining masteryof thesesciences not satisfyhis thirst fbr did knowledge, which he beganto seekfrom the hearlsof the Sufis.At that 'AliShah,together witlr time, the qutb of theNematollal-ri Order,Sa'ddat Mulla Hdrdi,lvho devoted wentto Sabzavdr. was to someof his disciples, qutb.cancelled classes suggested his students with rhe hrs and that come liim to visit Sa'ddat'AliShali. At that very first session, late Hajj the to Mulla Sultan Muhammadwas attracted the Sa'ddat'AliShah, evcn but to thoughtlie latterwas not one of the 'ulamci, he did not sunender returncdto Gonabad. Finally,in A.LI.L. 1279, him. and after sometime placeof residence lsfalran. in he setoffon foot for Sa'ddat'AliShah's passionate innerfire he went to hirn andwas initiatedin spiritual With a wayfaringtoward God. Just as Mowlavi followed the illiterateShams 'AliShah.I{e spent Tabriz|hebecame followerof theunlearned a Sa'drdat little time on the variousstages o1'thejourney torvardAllah, and was master guidance the Sufi novicesandwas given for of authorized the by 'AliShah the spiritual title of Sultan'AliShah.In A.H.L. 1293,Sa'ddat passed him as the quth of the away and Sultan 'AliShah succeeded NematollahiOrder.Sultan 'AliShah becamerenowned throughoutthe This reIslamic world fbr both his knowledgeand spiritualguidance. in of thoscwho wereagainst his sulted incitingthejealousy his enemies, in 1909, won marhe way.As a result, unfortunately, A.H.L. 1327lA.D. Ilis Gonabad. tyrdom by beingstrangled. graveis in Baydukht, I{e haswrittenmanyepistles books,themostimportant which and of on are:his greatShi'ite Sufi commentary the Qur'an in 'Arabic in four arLd oversized volumes,Bat,anal-Sa'udat;Sa'ddat Nr)meh; Mcjnta' al-

74

VsIi Surnttosiunt Slnh Nerrtntollnh on Thc Second hLlernational

Su'ridiit,all of whosetitles alludeto his master,Sa'ddat'AliShah. Hc al-Nd'imin. al-Mu'ntinin,Thnbih Nanteh,Bishdrat alsoautlroredl4/aliiltctt Iyzdh,andTawzih. 'AliShah the Nernatollah, timesof Sultan As duringtheperiodoi'Shah of werecritical.It was the time of the encounter lran with modernWestnew concepts. includingsciwhenthe people confronted em civilization, what was socialones.Naturally,somecompletelyrejected entific and During this time, submittecl. while otiterssuperficially and new,, strange jurisprudence. of which is based ijtihddandthe derivation preon Shi"ite of with the needs the times,had becomestagnated. ceptsin accordance of of who Most of the f-uqahd, rvcrenot conscious the situation the modof aboutthe outwardaspects religionand only ern world, were zealous aspects Westemcivilizatiotl,as of the into consideration outwarcl took to weil. which theyjudgedto be cotrtraq/ Islarn" a Sulism was also undergorng crisis.Thc oppositionof the fuqahd maintained. that beganat the end of the Safavidperiodwas vigorousl), to contrary boththe also apparently The practice thepseudo-Sufis r,vas of modernists well as Islan,iclau'. Taking all this into account,Ilazrat as true 'AliShah was confiontedrvith three groupsu'ho opposed Sultan and Sufism:( 1) someof the fuqahd, thepseudo-Sufis, (3) someof'the 12) in All rnodernists. threegroupsweretakeninto consideration his attempt to renewSufism. Sultan'AliShahwasa philosoAsidefrom his positionof leadership, positions jurisprudential and pheranda laqih, andboth his philosopliical He of by rverecolored his mysticism. was a student Mulla Hddi opinions of who Sabzawdrri, was at that time the most famousproponent a philoof sophicalsystembasedon Sufism derivcdfrom the teachings Mulla a and he himself adopted systemof philosophythat mostly folSadrd, for lowedin this tradition.In fiqh, he was a muitahid,whosepermission by was granted the greatShi'ite faqih of the time,AyatollahHajj Utihdd he Neverlheless, did not issueany fatwis as a mujtahid, Mirzd Sliirdzi." oftariqatandshari'at to it he because considered necessary keepthe realms flowever. sorneof his iuridical opinionsmay be found in his separate. viewsshowthathe wascomFIis ai-Sa'ddat. jurisprudential tafsir,Baydrn into account conditions pletelyawareof the needto take contetnporary he aboutlslamiclaW and accordingly, viewed decisions when reaching having of as musicand chess lawful, the People the Book as essentially

H trzrnt SuIt nrr' Al i Shnh Ctnr ttltndi

and takingmore ritual purity,slaveryanclopium smokingas prohibited, tantamount beingprohibited.r0 to thanone wif-cat a time as The Prohibition of Opium currentin the Fat East,India tliat rvas becoming Oneof the badhabits tirne was smokingopium. This was a resultof the anclIran during that practice becompolicies someEnropean was countries.rrfhis of colonial ing u'idespread amongsorne the Sufisfbr manyyearsto the point that of They usedto saythat to be a dera it would be consiclered Sufi custom. To vish one shouldsnrokeopium or hashish. justify this, they clairned of tliat it promotedecstasy the attainmcnt the Sufi goal of annihilaand that thenothingness comesfiom srnoking that fand.Thcy imagined tion, According Mowlana: to as of opiumis thesame thenothingness mysticism. be sobriety nta.r' deliveretl./i'om In ordet'tltat /ot' a vt'hilethe.v t s), t ttt.si ott.ttt,.s c ft the Theyl6t- upon themselves opproltriumof wine and muriiututo.t) in Mysticalnothingncss corles fi-omGod, not from changes physioAgarn,Mowlanasays: chemistry. l,,lothingne.t.s should cornefi'om Gotl, o/ So that the beuut.y- God muy he seenin it.tl The disadvantage smokingopiumfrom thepoint of view of mystiof proihe in cal experience Suflsmis that one couldconfuse hallucirtation fiom God for ducedby the useof the drug with the unveilingor opening led which everySufi waits.From a socialpoint of view,the practice first The disadvantages public hygiene for to inactivityand thento idleness. the these reasons Sultan'AliShah strictlyprohibited areclearto all. F-or social use of opium amonghis fbllowersat a time when its subsequent to malaise had not yet become apparent, the extentof cursingthosewho smokedit. He would not acceptanyonewho smokedopiurn as a Sufi with novice.In his commentary fhe Qur'an,Baydnal-Sa'drdat, regard on (They ask 1,ou conceming wine and lots.Say:in both these to the verse, the is great sin... (2:219)).he pronounced prohibitionof opium on the

76

'l'ltcSct:ortd Vnlt lrtturrstiorrnlSii'rrtltttsiutrr Shth Nctrrtttollnlt otr

grounds tlie This pronounccment thatit violates rightsof onesi'aculties.'' to srnce nonc of the 'ularnh at ttraltimc appeared be quiterevolutionary. liadsaidanything aboutrt. The prohibitron alsobecame greatollstacle a o1'the color,ialists rverctrying to makctlrepeople u'ho to the activities weakanddependent thenr. on and viceregent, llazrat Aftcr l"lazrat Sultan 'AliShah, his grandson 'AliShah Gonabadi, rvrotea scparate Nour book entitledDhu ul-Fuqtir: In On the Prohibitiottof SmokingOltium.t5 that book he saysthat since from theternptatrons Satan, become had currentin this sin.that results of nrost the citiesof lran,andnoneof the 'ulamrihadpaidany'attentiorr of for u'ho arefarriiliar with this problern try to to to it, it is obligatory tirose is rcpelit. Tlie langua-ee this bool< sinrpleand lucid in a way thatordiof narypeople couldunderstand evil of it. the From the time of LlazratSultan'AhSlrah,the prohibitionagainst of smokingopiurn has beenone of tlre characteristics the Nematollahi Orderof Sutism. Sultan'AliShahiGonabadi The Abandonmentof Idleness ln Islam,theoutwardis not scparate tiom theinward.Any work done with the intentionof pleasing God is considered be an act of worsl-rip. to r.l,ith worshipis no excuse abandoning fbr worldly aflairs. So.occupation "Thereis no monasticisrn Islam."In Suflsm.in speThe Prophet saic1, in suclr ciai circumstances, as duringthe tamingof tlie camalsoul,instrucBefore divinecomrnissioning the the of tionsmaybe givenfbr seclusion. in Prophet, spenttirne in seclusion the caveof Hera"Due to drvine he the attraction. somctimes it occursthat a Sufl abandons rvorld.In all of is ratherthanthe rule.Occupation thcseinstances, solitude the er^ception e.g..architecture, with the afis and craftsiri traditionalIslamicsocieties. journey toward God. This is calligraphy, ctc., were integrated with the wlry anyone who rvants becomea.falitl\ and enterthe way of Sufisrn, to therervercSufisrvho hadto occupyhimselfwith a craftor art. However, madeuseof the ideaof khulval,or both irrtentionally unintentionally and for and Tlreyrnatle pretextof a seclusion, an excuse idleness begging. as with one'sIot, Reza. reliance God alone.lav'aklrul. on and contentment turnedinto gatheras a Sufi manner. This is rvhy someof the khdnat1dhs ing places tlie lazy. for Vali. this badcustonr was coml)urins the time of ShahNematollah

I In z rn Strtntr' Al i Shnh C i :tr t l rsbLtd i

77

mon amongmany Sufis.Althoughhe practiced seclusioll manytimes.he with sorne rvork andnot to try to instructed follor.vers bc occupicd his to gain money throughSuflsrn.He himself usedto farm and praised this He occupation.i'- saidthatlaborwas a sortof alchemy.rt Thecustomof mendicancy current was alnongmanySufisduringthe tirneof llaz,rat Sultar,'AliShali. who strictlyprohibited his fbllowers all from beingidle and withoutwork. Ilc gavereasons this prohibition fbr based rertional on argument, commonscnse and religiousprinciples. [{c for said,"Everyoneshouldwork for a living ancl tl-re sakeof the improve ment of the world. One shoulcl occupyhimself with any r,r,ork that hc religiouslar4 includinglarming,trading,or inlikcs and is not against "ldleness against place says, is dustry."r' anotlicr ln lre civilization. too.":it This instruction, especially themodemworld,andwith theappearin of thatnecessitates social close relations theoccuand ance civil society pationof eachmemberof societywith a work w,as rnuchneeded that at time.At tlie sametime, as a Sufi master, warnedhis followersagainst he taking pride iri worldly gainsand wealthor being covetous thcreof.I{e "One should poorevenif onehaslimitless said, consider himself wealth. ." . No one takesmore than a singleshroud1'rorn world. Wlien onc bethis comesawareof tliis truth.he will understand he is poorin tliis worlcl that andneedyto Goc'|... Improvement the rvorldis by no means . of contrary/ to dervishood."rr taughtthat any work, includingprayerand fasting. I1e but alsotradingandf-arming, witlr theintention performing of Gocl's comr,vorship.r2 Earningnloneyis not opposed reliance God. nrancls. is to on He saystltatthe/ttqr- sliouldwork but consider results his work to the of be frorn God.rr HazratSultan'AliShahlike ShahNcmatollah Vali usedto farm. and he often had calloused hands.Once,someone cameto his houseto ask him aboutalchemy. was not in the houseat the time, but was in his He garden. The man went into the garden. liim, beforehc and aftergreeting couldaskanythingaboutit,IIazraI Sultan'AliShahshou,ed handsto his "This is our alchemy! him and sard, We toil and benefltfrom it."raIIe who neglected even usedto rebukef-armers their lands,saying."11'an hasthe capacity delivcring300 kilos of wheat,delivers earththat of only 270 kilos of wlieatbecause neghgence, f-armer be heldresponof the will siblefor the remainder.":s 'AliShah. prohibition idleness become After Hazrat has Sultan the of

Vali orr The Sccottd Irtterrtttiorurl Surrraosittrn ShnhNantatLtlllh

Gonabadi Order,and of one of the main characteristics the Nematollahi qutb.s ltavethemselves workedand advised their folall the subsequent lowers do so.aswell. to Socialand PoliticalAflairs of so school thought, it hasnothEssentially, Sufismrsnot a political politicalaffairs politics.[]lorr.'ever, haveentered Sufis into ing to do with rather thanas Sufls. as individuals the ordained lslarnhavebeendivided by Generally speaking. dr-rties of by the Sut\shaykh.s the NerlatollahiOrderinto threekinds: (1) Precepts the ,sltari'utthat must be obtainedfrour a qualified of (experlin Islamiclaw); mujtuhid (2) Preccpts from thecurrentSufi that o1'the tat'it1ut mustbe obtained nlaster: (3) Pcrsonal precepts be discerned the indiviclual himself.One to by personally by discover one'sresponsibilities one'sown religious should thinkingand rcasoning. views aboutsocialaffairsis outand Thus. interf-erence cxpressing in of sidetlie scope toriqut andtbe/itqarddo not expectinstructions such r:f are frclmthe authorities the Order.One'sworks andintentions regards pure1brthe sakeof Allah. and one'sown responsibilities are tclbe madc views on of The to be discovereci. authorities the Orderwill not express questions tliat it is not irnagined tliesearedutiesof tariqat.16 tliat so sucl-r of crisisin Iranin thefirst decade thefwentiDuringtheconstitutional 'AliShah abouttheir duethcentury, when thefiqara askedtlazrarSultan "l I farmerfiom a village. don't knowwhat lo ties,heusecl say. aura sirnple monarchy mean."27 left it to thenito figure Ile constitutional absolute and to At time,he gaveadvice therulersnot to do out fur themselves. thesame people. exanrple, his book Wbldvat lttiimeh, thereis a For in injustice the to "'C)n and of Explaining Sovereignty the Treatment Subchapter entrtled. jects."in which he severely rulersof'the country, and says, criticized the "In thismatter, of takeastlreirexample first caliphs Islam; the theyshould they shouldtakeas their example the and if their time was too long ago, rulersof tlre West,who do not live in luxury make the country flourish, provideease their sLrbjects who fill the treasury."rs for and of Hazrert Sultan'AliShah lived duringthe dictatorship the QdjdrdyThe to nasty and its oppclsition the refbnr of the lranianconstitutiou.

FlazrstSultttn 'AliShnhGatnbndi

ideaof a constitution oneof thefirst politicalconcepts was from the\d/est 'ttlanu).likeBihbahdni to enterlran. Someof the approved it as conof sistent with Islam.r,vhile others, suchasFazlullhh Nouri, disappror,'ed of it as againstIslam.Natr-rrally. formationof political groupsand inthe triguewere cunent.The/ilqard were unceftain their dutiesin this reof gard.Thus,he advised /irqardto employtheir reason the based faith. on The Lack of Restrictions Special to Garb amongtlie Sufis was r,vearing One of the old custorns specialgarments, suchaswoolens, patciied a cloak,andotheritems. SlialiNematollah Vali did not restricthimself or his followersto any specialclothingby rvhich they could be designated Sufls. He sometimes as wore a wlirte u,oolr<lbe, sometilnes long gowri.r"To contrary his practice. and a the of many of his fbllowersagainbeganwearingdistinctive dress, is menas Ken-ndni, authorof his biography:"The the tioned by 'Abd al-Razzaq clothingworn by his dervislies was absolutely worn by him or his not children."r(r prohibitiono1'der-vish The vestments was only temporarily 'AliShah Deccanifbr severalcenturies later b,vtlazrat Rcza cancelled llazratMa'Sum'AliShahand['lazrat two of his authorized shaykhs, Nour 'AliShah I, 'r,vhom haclsentto Iran.Thesetwo greatmen entered he fran wearing special dervish robes andcarrying characteristic the dervish bowl to andax.This policywasenacted atfract attention thearrivalof Sufism to in lran whereit had beenoutlaweci many years.sr for llazrat Sultan 'AliShah once again prohibitedhis followers from wearingany distinctivcSufi clotlring. usedto say:"Servitude God He to doesnot depend any special on clothes. the Qur'anit is written,'The In 'r2 (taqwu)is tlte ba.st." With this rule,no difference g(trmento./'piety could be madeout bctweenSufi Muslimsandthe other"people the country, of protected tl'reir andtheirparlicular beliefsremained in heafts. This rule is still currentin theNernatollahi Gonabadi Order,which hasbeenreissued by the qutbs at\er Haz.rat Sultan 'AliShal'r.rl The Revival of Whld!,at (ristilal)of the Prophet Walq,atis the inwardaspect then-rission of to guidethe people.lt is the source tariqat in Islam,or Sufism.The outof rvardaspect this missionis bringingtlte,thari'al, which is concerned of with religiousprecepts. Accordingto the Qur'an. the period of risalat

80

'[Ju SccottLl Vttli Irttcnmtiortnl Svrrrltttsiu..r ShnhNenrntollLth Lnr

but cameto an end with the passinllaway of the Prophet. the penod of v'alu1,s11extends the end of time. Il'aldyatis the main pillar of both until In referto the same tr-uth. Accordingly, bothof these Shi'ismandSufism. the of bothShi'iteandSufl theory. station v'ulavatcannotbe filled by the 'Alito be his sucor elite.The Prophet chose of choice the people o1'an with divine command.In tlie samemanner.each ccssorin accordance one. This is why Wuli must be ap;loinicdby tlie preceding succeeding fbr to orderstracetheir permissiorr guidance Imam 'Ali. almostall Suf-i a of Shi'isrnbecame setof theological Over tlie colrrse thc ccnturies. and coLrpled with a political moventent, teachings and jurisprudential On v'ultiyatwas confinedto a political interpretation. the other hand. neglected issueof walci.lut. the therer,vere Suflswho completely in One of the rnarnissues the revival of Sufisrnis tlie revival of the hicl-r especialiy is evidentafterthe fall of ideaof v:aliitarin Sutl books.vn of the the 'Abbasiddynastyancl r,veakening thepoliticalpowerof theAhl ul-Sunnah. in th l Jndoubtedl),. e rra in p roble m addrc s s e d wo rk s o f S h a h aspects views aboutwhich and the Nematollah Vali is waldt'nt, various the at arediscussed lengtliin manyof hisworks.IIe raised topicof v'alavot this that to suchprominence the Sufisrvouldunderstand to be the source the of Sufismitself. On the otherhand.he addresses official Sunniand or whatit reallymeans be a trueSunni Shi'itc. to asking Shi'itepclsitions, (sunnah) theProphet, of tradition thatto be a Sunniis to follow,the I{e says rvho To requisites love fbrthe Ahl al-Ba1'r. the Shi'ites. is oneof rvhose heterowho were considered u,ereinibmousat the time as rafizi (tlrose he the of of to dox because theirrefusal accept authority thefirst caliphs). threecaliphs, it but saysthatto be Shi'ite doesnot meancursingthe f-rrst 'Ali. In oneof his poems says: he follow'ing means I nnt rtota rtilizite,but I ctnt und enemrof'theMu'tu:ilite. a put'cbeliever, I huve the religion of'mv ancestor(the Prutphat) alier hint,I am the lbllov,erol''Ali tlte trlfuli.]a of in the thatbelieving thev,alir:ut 'Ali He reminded officialShi'ites unless thereis a heartf-elt is not merelya matterof words.It is impossible In of connection discipleship. a poemhe says:

I ItrzrLrt ltnn' Al iShtrhCorutbrttli Su

81

yotr do not hovethe v'akiyato/ that Wali('A/i), Although rtf httu.s! wuld.t'ut. .t'ott ttbout. Youshoulclknow w,hat .yotlare hoa.sting LVe have raised the bannerol his v'alayat" Wht:shoultl the drum he beatt:nv'hile under the ntg?]' In the teachings u,orksof the maftyr Hazrar and Sultan'AliShah,the with the difTerence in the time of Shah that issueof waldyatis renewed. Nematollah Vali, sincethe religion of the majority of the lranianpoputhernprirnarily, r.vhile the caseof Hazrat in lacewas Sunni.he addressed Sultan'AliShah, his polernicwas directedprinrarilyat thoseu'ho had afterthe Safavidperiod inherited nominallyShi'itc affiliationbecause a populace mostlyShi'itc,.In mostof his books, was including the Iranian al-Sa'adah. main topic is his lris Sufl commentary the Qur'an,Bo1Q11 on IIis llcimeh. book, Wulc)yat v,alti..vat its differentdimensions. Persian and presentais an independent treatisc specifically devoted a Sufi/Shi'ite to of tion of the topic of v,alciyatAt the very begrnning the bclok,hc says: "Many haveerred, is thinkingthatv,alcb,al love,or the mereverbalclaim or of book,he says: of tlreImamate v:alii!,ctt theAhl al-Ilat /."r" ln another "Tlroservhosef'athers were Shi'ite think that they are Shi'ite because they imaginethis to be no more thanthe verbalclairnof the wulc\'atof 'A1i....They didn't understand allything Shi'ismexcept namc.''r? of its 'fhus.his main intention to shorv Sufi dimension Shi'ism.i.e., is the of to u,alu.r'ctt, the nominalShi'iteswlio hadconflnedit to a verbalclaim or and to jurisprudence thecrlogy. pointsthat he madeaboutwolci.llnt the rssue is Among the irnportant for espeof having permission authorityrn Sufism.This topic became followingthe afterthecompeting claimsto succession cially highlighted passing Rahmat'AliShah. thefailure somc obcy and of to awayof Hazrat I lazratSa'ddat'AliShah. his authorized successor" of is As it hasbeensaid,one of the main principles vtald.vat that the from his predecessor. These master the Ordershouldhavepennission of permissions guidance for chainor series reachshouldform an unbroken ing backto Imam 'Ali. This is lr'hy the word silsilah(chain)is usedfor tlie Sufr orders.During thc tirne o{'llazrat Sultan'AliShah, sinceihere sectarian divisionsof the orders.and therewere manv were numerous

62

()tt Vttli lrrtt'rrrntiortnl Sqn4tttsiunt Slwll NernatttLltth Tlrc Sccorttl

therewas all withouthavingany permission, who ciaimedto be lrlasters Ile needto dcalwith this issue. refbrsto this problemin manyof intense of he his works. For exampie. says:"Knor,l'thatthe treeof the shaykhs He to everySufi orderof thepasthasbeenrecorded."r* continues explain (rrnss) tlie shaykh necessary support is to of thattheexplicitauthorization the clairn of being a shaykh,and is neededby the novice in order to tlre recognize one underwhosedilectionhe couldenterthe tariqat.This another to sougl'rt protectthis authorization.ln is why tlre Suf-ishaykhs "ln to placehe says, everyreligious affairit is necessary havethepermissioriof the religiousauthorityof the time."r') Gonabadi Order,havingexplicitauthorizaNow in the Nernatollahi the tion hasbecorne most impoftantcriterionfor spirituaiguidance.

Notes
' I ' : 5 proltssorof philosophy the UnivcrsityolTchranand at Pazor.rki an associatc is Dr. Shahrarr and Rc ligiousSt ud r e s . th e Ira nia n Aca dcnr l' Philos ophv of ' Abd a l-Rah uriin p ul.l'int i. , \ iuluhit L' ns , 2ndc d. . ( Tehr a n :1 3 7 3 ) . p . 9 - 1 2 . Rcza.the Eighth Shi'itc Intam. This OrdcrgocsthroughMa'rLrfKarkhi to It.narn it with God and ancl 17?ltiyut litcrally mcans/r.,./r'lr(,s,i in Sull tcrrninology meansfi'iendship For r..6.1s1r',p.'/'1. llis guardianship. firrthcrinfirnlation aboutthis c()t.)ccpt pocrrr:; thc lbllot'inq lincs: Among l-ris arc tl O utrr v'ho urc u lot,t'rrtl lhc housaltold 'Ali.' I'ott urt'u pt:r'/ctl l,t'Iievar,uttiqtrt'. ('hoo.s<' v'ut ol'Iht' ,sttttnuli v'ltit'his otrt'rcligittrt, tltt vill bc lo,st urtdtottlitset.l. Othervisc.t'ou ll'ho i.: tht rt)liii/ fhc ertent.t ,lhu Btl;r'.) of U:ltois lhe khtirLt.ji.'}Thc ancrtrtof 'Ali. (Tehran: l-)55),pp.688-9. ll'rtli.cd.JavadNurbakhsh ,Yi nruttrlltihi Kullit,tir-c.1.sh'ur-1,Shirh " r Za S cc Hir.1.y vn al 'A bidin Shir v aniNf as f' Alis hilh. lt ut l t i 'i qu 1 - S i 1 't i h u h . p . 2 6 . and The Dhul Riyisataynchain is narnedafler flie su(:cessor son of Munawwar 'Alishrjh, ',,\li DhLrllliyisatayn. fiunousas Wafa 'Alishdh. 'l'hcrc tlrrce by and abouthim: RrTruri ul-Shu.t'itin, liis viccgercnt son.Nour'Alishdh arc brroks 'lltn vu 'lfiin,by anotherof i\irbiquh-.r'c Shultidiult. h1' Kavlan Qazvini: trnd, Gonabadi; of Thc lasto1'thcsc the nrostcomrrrehcnsivc thc thrce is . Rt':u I.ris sr-rccessors. )li.shult.

'

llrn " Nttltiglteh-.t't" va lrltut. p. 20E. r' Althotrghthrs is not prohibitedin Islarniclar.v. that in rnodemtimes it is practihc-judged jus g wiv e s .w h i l e o n c o f t h c c o n d i t i o n s i v c n s to cally imp ossib le m air r t r r in t ic i ant t r t t g r \ ' ! ' r al rnorethanonc rvif'cis that onebe.justto thcrn. of in thc Qur'an fbr the penriissibilrty har,ing r1 Manv hiskrrians thlt tinrehavepointcdout this dangerous.problem. examplc, E'timid For of u,ith Sultin conternporary tire al-Salianah. authorol-thetamousbook..ffa 'tithirvu ul-,4thdr, 'Alishah. sa-vs. thsseycars thc colonialists "ln har.'c broughtnarcoticswhich they have

Hnzrat Sultan 'AIiShnhConnbndi

83

in the circulated India into lran, and tl-rev bcganto encourare cultivationof it in KermAn. From this product.calledthe poppy.thc narcoticopium is made." t) il'lalhnuvi, 225. In Nicholson'seditionthe ooupletendswith:nrnr, meaningminstrelsy, VI, from cannabis. but in someothereditionstherc is bang,a drink prcpared lr This coupletis not found in Nicholson'scditionof thc Mathntvi. Vol. l, p. 194. 't Bqtiut al-Su'tidat, t: I)hu u|-Fuqr)r,3rd (Tehran. pp. 1359), l4-15.My rcspcctcd fricnd,Dr. Leonard Lewisohn, ed.. in his article,"An Introduction the History of ModernPersian to Sufism,PartI." publishcd Vol.61, (London: 1998),has inthe Btrlletind the Schoolo/ Orientuland Aft'ic'on Sluclies, rristakenly translatedtahrirn (prohibition) as lauding the virtue.s. rt' Literally, forgiveness, t a /ir1rirneans youth; br"ris uscd to refer to a personwho has k indness, and bralcry. Futurtutwas on(jof the rites in the path of Sufism. t'- SceMujtrrLt'eh Thrjotneh-ye ,|hv'dl-e,Shuh NemotolluhL'uliKertndn ed.,JeanAubin, 106. l, dur tt' Ibid., 106.L-r he fiom us. Do goodand onc of his poems. says:"Listen to a good instn-tction you will find good as a \vagc.Do farrning;and do not beg.Earnirourliving lawfully.If you arc searchingfbr alchenry,seck it fi'ornthe dark carth." te Majn n' a l-Su' t idit . pp.419- 2128. t" 'lln Nt)bigheh-t't' t,ct'\fidn,p.179. )t Ibid. ): Mujnu' ul-Sa'ddcit, 421. p. )j lbid.. pp.224,323. \ Nihigheh-r'e'llnt vu'lrfiin, p. 112 ): Ibid ., p.2 21 . r" See TheSili Poth: An Introdut:tiortto Ihe Ni 'ntutttllahiSultan'Alishdhi Order,ed. Slrahrarn (Tehran: 2002),pp. 79-81. Pazouki, HaqiqatPr"rblications, :1 Nibigheh-t'e 'llm vtt 'l(iin, p. 122. )t p. lluldvut Ndtnch(Tehran:1380i2001). 161. r" Concerninghis drcss, scc Mujmu'eh t{ar Tarjomeh-re Ahv'dl-e Shdh Ni'rnatullah Wali Kermdni,ed.,JeanAubin. pp. 28, -104. '\' Ibid., p. 28. 'l ': See,Hdjj Dr. Nour'AliTabandch, "HazratSeyedNour al-Din ShahNi'matullahWali," in 'llcin Irun, No. 15, pp. l8-19. 'llnr Ncibigheh-t'e va 'l/'dn,p.179.

scc 'r For exarnplc, Pand-eSdlih.p. l13. ta Div'rin-eShah Ni'matulloh Wuli,p. 689. " Ih id., p .15 5. p. -n WaldyatNc)nteh., 12 11 Mttjrrttt'al-Sa'titlt)t,p. 209. Ndmeh,p.240. '^ Walil,ctt t') Mujrttct'al-Su'aditl, p. 339.

84

ShahNematollahVali: An Heir to two Mystical Literary Traditions

Pouriavadv' Dr. Nasro/lah

Nour al-Din ShahNematollah Vali ( 133I-1437)is primarily known as a Sufi and the founder of the order that is namedafter him. an order in a which has experienced revival in the pasttwo centuries Iran. What is fame in Iran in recentdecades the has addedto ShahNernatollah's publication his Sufi treatises, which are almostall in Persian, well as of In as his divan of Poetry. his proservorks,Shahis obviouslya follower and an interpreterof the works of the AndalusianSufi Writer Muhyi alparticularly Fusrrs his al-Hikam.Shah'sprose Din Ibn 'Arabi (d.1240), works, in fact, cannotbe understood without someknowledgeof the contermsthatwereusedby Ibn 'Arabi andhis earlycomcepts andtechnical particularly 'Abd al-Razzdq Kdshirni,who compileda rather rnentators, which was developed lbn by list extensive of Sufi vocabulary Qstildhdl) 'Arabi's followers.2 fact,ShahNematollah In wasoneof the first translainto Persian. tors of Kdshdni's Sufi vocabulary The impactof the ideasand terminologyof Ibn 'Arabi's Schoolon in is ShahNematollah not only discernable the latter'sproseworks,but lines,containing lyric a alsoin his Divan of Poetry, work of some14,000 'is). ln poetry (ghazals)as well as shorl mathnatt,is and quatrains(rubc) and fact, it is preciselybecause Shah'suse of Ibn 'Arabi's concepts of writershavecriticized in terminology his divan that somecontemporary value.rThesecritics Shah'spoetry for its lack of artisticand aesthetic ghuzalsare nothingbut expositions the mystical of believethat Shah's 'Arabi, expressed the technical in Sufi termsand metaof doctrines Ibn phorswhich are alien to the traditionalPersianlove poetry andghazals,

\hli: Atr IIcir lo Trlo Mysticnl LiteruryTraditiorts Sltttlr Ncrrrttollsh

the type of poetry that one finds, for example,in the Divans of Attdr, Sa'di,and aboveall ShahNeniatollah's contemporary Hafez. poetryhingeson the The criticismmadeagainst ShahNematollah's assumption that theseSufl technicalterms do not sit comfortablywith the language Persian love poetry.This criticism is no doubt true for of thosepoemsin wliich he hasheavilyusedsuchterminology; however, it ignores manypoemsu,hicharecomposed purelyin the classical the Persianstyle.whcreneithertechnical terrns philosophical-mystical nor conceptsof Ibn 'Arabi's schoolfeatureat all. In fact, it can be arguedthat Shah,as a poet,was not only underthe influence Ibn 'Arabi's school, of but ratlierhe was also following the traditionof classical Persian love poetry the traditionwhich was developed poetssuchas 'Attar, Sa'di, by andFakhral-Din 'lraqi. In this paper, shalltry to showby way of some I how Shahdrew on thesetu'o traditionsinhis ghazals. examples The centralideain many of the verses ShahNematollah's of divan is (tuahdat-e that of the transcendent ttnity of existence wu.jufi.It is repeatedly statedby Shali,through diff-erent metaphors, that there is only one (.Haqq), Real Existence, narnelyGod or the Truth/Reality while everything elsethathastheappearance realityis nothingbut imagination. of In fact, the whole cosmos,accordingto Ibn 'Arabi and his followers,is made up of images.even though they are createdby the Real. Shah Nematollah expresses ideaquiteexplicitlyin a great this number verses. of To cite only two examples:a LI/e all nothing but imoges, are and.1'g1 realin'we are Him. in Hov' can therebe aw other being in thi.g worltl und the hereafierexceptthe One Being.s Thev,holeuniver,ge btrt His Intugination, is And in that ImaginationHis Beautycan beperceived.6 ShahNematollah expresses sameideausingthe metaphor the the of oceanor the all encompassing (daryd-ye sea muhft)and the bubblesor wavesformins on the surface it. of

Vali Itrternatirmal Svntuositnrt ShahNenmtollah orr The Second

Weare all nothing but itnages and yet in reality we are Him, Weare all httbble:t. yet in our essencev)e are the sea.7 We are drowned in the all ent'ompassing sea, Weare the wave,sand the bubbles, yet our essenceis water.n and the sea, The v,aves, the bubble,s,the w'atet", All lbur of'them. lbr us, ure hul ona.o

The bubble or foam is water and a part of the ocean,yet there is identity,as it were,andmakes in something it which givesit its separate The cause the bubble'sidentityis nothing of it distinctfrom the Ocean. and inside it, and the air is nothing tangibleor substantial, for but the air Humanbeings,who it this reason is a good symbolof the imagination. on the oceanof Being,think that they eachhavetheir are like bubbles existence. But in reality they are all parts own identity,and independent Being; or for that matter,they cannotevenbe said to be of the oceanof parts,fbr they are in cornplete unity with the One. If humanbeingsthink it possess independent and an existence their own identities, is that they imagi.e. Eachperson because the air in theirhead, theirimaginations. of for ines a separate existence his or herself,but it is only a figment of imagination. on The w'holeworld is like a re.flec'tion the surface of'water, like a dreamv,hichappearsin sleep."t which Shahusesto express oneness Being the of Anothermetaphor is that of the cup andtlrewine.The air insidethe bubblewhich imagines (zdt)of the an identityand being for itself is the cup,while the essence which is water,is like the wine insidethe cup. bubble, v,ater, Frtr us, the wuvesand the seo ere both essentially Youma),think of the wine and the cup as the bubble.tt

ShahNcmstolloh Vnli: An Heir to TtttoMysticnl L,iteraryTroditions

In another ghaza| Shah interpretsthe meaningsof the cup and the wine,by saying: I./youw'antto hnov,the meaning the terms 'cup' and 'wine', of Thenconsiderone as the body,11" other as the soul.t2 In his divan, Shahhas also barrowedfrom Ibn 'Arabi's schoolthe doctrineof the Divine Namesand Attributes. The whole world of creation,according this doctrine, to comesto be as the resultof the Divine Namesand Attributes,and every entity in this world is a locus of the manif'estation a Divine Nameor Attribute.ShahNematollah of usesthe metaphor a mirrorto represent idea.Thuseveryobjectis a locusor of this a mirror in which a particular Divine Attributeis reflected. In everymirror you can seekHim, Seurch.forthe One Nantedin all the names Read well the descriptiono.f'the Divine Names(in books) But seektheir nteaningin the Book o.fthings.'r Divine NamesandAttributesare many,but sincethey haveall originatedfrom the Divine Essence, theyareessentially one.Thus,theDivine Essence, which givesunity to the Namesand Attributes, reflectedin is everythingthroughtheseNamesandAttributes. Withevery) Am'ibute Yotn'Essence ctName is Observeone Realitl, in severalNarnes. Thus,seeuniQ and rnultiplicitl;together, One Realit,v" reflec'ted manltthings.ta in The verses havequoted far bearwitness whatthe contempowe so to rary criticsof Shah's poetryclaim.Evenmore so areverses which our in Sufi poettriesto express dogmaticbeliefs.Shahparticularlyexpounds his his creedin his qasidahsandmathnawis,suchas the rnathnawientitled " M anzttmal, e i mciNe!,,v . a" In someof his ghazals also,Shahexpresses type of belief.An this example suchverses of is:

InternatiortttlSunposiwn on ShahNematolkfuVali The Secontl

If'the skeptichas doubtsin the One I{ow can the Unitarianhavcsucha doubt.t5 his expresses belief in the ShahNematollah In the following verses, Sunnidoctrine: O, Youv,ho love thepeople ol Ali, Youare a perfect believer,unequalled. nrtisnt,v'hich is our path, on Ti'ead the wa1'7s7-St and in.lault.t(' will be lost,wandering. Otherwise ),ou of In the poem we have quoted,the mysticalaspect Shah'sghazals such andterminology, of aremostlyunderthe influence Ibn Arabi'sideas of namesand attributes God, etc-We as unity, multiplicity,the essence, and metaphors images usescertain how ShahNematollah havealsoseen these ideas.Many of thesemetaphorsare in fact borrowed to express and from traditional Persianghazals,particularly the metaphorof cr"rp that were wine. the tavern,the mirror, the seaand the bubble,metaphors outsideof of fbr alreadyestablished the expression mysticaldoctrines, conmentioned the Therefore, criticismof theabove Ibn 'Arabi's school. Ibn 'Arabi's poetry overuses temporarywriters who claim that Shah's employstwo is language ill-founded.In fact Shahextensively technical love poetry, Persian which were commonin classical setsof metaphors on andwine-drinking, namelythe termsrelatedto the tavem(kharabat) ('ishq-e majiiz{)and the beloved love the one hand,and to metaphorical (Shahid) the other. on ofpoetry in which Shahhasusedthe citedexamples We havealready and (i.e. two setsof metaphors thetavernandwin-drinking), first of these to thesemetaphors we have seenhow he makesit clearthat he is using type of metaphors mysticalideas.Similarly he usesthe second express makingit clearthatby in to related love andlove-making a mysticalway, from oneof hot lovehe means humanbut divinelove.To cite an example his ghazals: Youare the heartisbeloved,comfort ofthe soul-what can be done? Youare the Sultanof the universe-tuhat can be done'? appears;. In tt pure heart the reflectiono.f Your.fac:e

Slrah Nernntollnlt Vali: Art Hcir to TztoMrlstictrl Literary Traditiorts

89

[n that mirror Yousee Yourself'alone-what be done'? can Youore rntr king, and we Yourobedientslaves,' tr{hether suntmon disniss us-v,hal can be done?tj You or In the aboveverses, Shahis speaking a lover,composing as lyrics to his divine Belclved, and it could be that this ghazaland otherssimilar werecomposed while he was still young,for Shahhasotherlove poetry in whicli he speaks asa lover but asthe beloved, not whenhe is claiming to be a spiritualguide and master. the language love poetry,he In of claimsto bethecup-bearer himseli not theloverwho begsthecup-bearer for wine. I ctmthe drttnkencnp-bearerin the tavern o.fthe (Jniverse, TheKing in the v,inehouse of'the soul. I ant the vt:ctler life in the stream of existence, q/ I am the e.rsenc'e d'the spirit that givesliJbto the body. I am the c'upand the wine, the /brm and essence, I am the treasureand tolisntan,the manifestand the hidden. So strangeit is,I am my ow-n beloved,*),own lover, I crmthe ven, objec'toJ'my.seeking.ts Thoughthis ghazalobviouslyusesmetaphors wine-drinkingand of love,thereis no doubtthat it is a mysticalpoem.In love poetry,whether it is mysticalor not, the poet is the lover who speaks the pain of love of andhis or her separation from thebeloved. thepoetis a Sufi andspeaks If of'thecup-bearer handsonre youth(Shahid), and regardless thekind of of love he has iri mind, be it metaphoric divine,both the Sufi and nonor Sufi readerwill have his or her own readingof the poem. But in the above ghaz,al otherssimilar to it, the readercanunderstand in only and it one way, because thereis no ambiguity;he is talking aboutdivine love. In the last line, as we can see,Shahis claimingto be a spiritualmaster and the beloved,and this type of clairnis one that a non-Sufireader, or evena Sufi who is not in the poet'sown spiritualorder,(tar[qat).might not appreciate find appealing. or Readers love poetry,in general, of expect the poet to be in the role of lover,and speakof a humanbeloved, whethermetaphorically not. or SinceSliahrarely usesthe metaphors humanlove and the poetic of

Internatiorutl Srlrnposiunr ShahNenntollqhVali orr The Second

youth), detailed motif of Shahid-bdzl(playing gameswith a handsome of descriptions the belovedarehardlyfound in his divan. In the following ghazal,Shah speaksof getting completelydrunk, and seeinghis belovedin a dream and breakinghis vow of repentance in by beingcaptured his curl.All the images thispoemareusedto convey ghazals yet it a mysticalmeaning, aesthetically is oneofthe mostappealing it in because hasbeencomposed the styleof Perin his divan,precisely sian Sufi love poetry. Blind drunk I have collapsedin the Magian tavern, I Breakingmv vow of'repentance, havedrownedrnyselfin wine, Fancying that he might cometo nte in my dream, I /ixed the imageo/'him in my mind as I went to sleep. I submittedm),heart to his c:urland heb dragging me along, Like thosecttrls o/'his, I'm being twistedthis way and that, Thesun o/'his favor gently treatsme, My statesare radiantly clear,.forI am in the sun. thereare a hundredthousandlike me, In the quarter o./'love, Whohavegiven ttp their lives./brthe beloved.te of In the above ghazal.nc''ne Ibn Arabi's technicalterms have been yet used,neitherdoesthe poetclaim to be the spiritualguideor beloved, throughoutthe ghazalone can seethe depthof mystical meaning.There are not many ghazalsin Shah'sdivan in which every line showssuch in However, mostof Shah's poeticskill andtouches heartof thereader. the which arecomposed this poeticlanguage in ghazals, canfind verses one of It of loveandwine-drinking. may very wellbe thatif a selection Shah's ghazals were made,the artisticvalueand beautyof his poetrywould be betterappreciated.

Notes
I r Dr. NasrollahPourjavadyis a profcssorof philosophyat the Univelsity of 'lehran and is the Ccnter. directorof the UniversityPress and P. L. Wilson, of For a classification ShahNematollahproscworks, seeN. Pourjavadv Kings ol Love: the Poetn'ond Hi.storyo.f'theNemutollahi Su/i Order. (Tehran: 1978),pp. 47 -9.

Vnli: Shnlt.n'lcrrtntolltlr Art Hcir ltr lzco Mv;ticnl Lilctnrtl Trnditiorrs

qI

For this typc of criticisrno1'Sl.rah Ncrlatollah'spoctrv.sce:M. R. Shafl'i Kadkani,Ztbir-e Pdr.si:Ne gd lr i hi : indagi v u gha: ul- hiy c ' At ta r , ( T c h r a n : 1 3 7 8 ) . p p . 5 9 - 6 0 ; a n d B . 1362),p. 10. Klrorramshahi. Dhihn o :uhtin-e1t)lii. 2ncledition,(Ti.:hlan: All of my examplcsin this papcralc choscnat random tiom ShahNcmatollah's divan. I 13 lraveu scdth c f ir s t c dit ionofShah' s Di"' an, pub l i s h e d b y D r . J . N u r b a k h s h ( T e h r a n :4 7 ) . Gha :uln o. l- 100. Ghu:ol no. 541 Ghu:ul no. 32 Ghu :ul no .2. Glra:a lno . 6. Gha :uln o. 5 6"1. Gha :uln o.9 l5. Ghu:ul no. 1498. Ghrt:u lno . 1327. Ghu :uln o.8 l1. Ghu za lno .9 7- 1. Ghu zu lno . l5- l' 1. Ghu:ul no. 529. Gho:ul no. 1010. Gh u:u l n o.1 072.

L)2

ThreeNematollahi Shrines: An ArchitecturalStudy

Dr. MehrdadQayyoontit

has throughthe l{istorianstell us that Sr-rfism beenthe main streat.n coursc Iraniancultureduringits longhistoryin the Islamicperiod.it is of no surprise that this dominantculturalinfluencehas beenparticularly manifestin architecture. Suflsrnhas becngiven shapein most kinds of Flou,ever. canexpect works,both religiousandsecular. olle architectural more obviousinfluences buildingsthat have morc direct relationto on Khaniqahsandnrausoleums saints. of Sufisni.say of In this article.rvewill review threeexampies saints'maust.rleunrs by the Nematollahi Order in lran: the first onc is tlre shrincof Shait the is of' Nernatollah Mahan(nearKemran), second the tnausoleum in of Mushtdq'AliShah in Kerman,and the third is tlte tnausoleunr Sultan 'AliShah and the otlrerlvlastcrs the Orderin Bayrlukht, Cjonabad. of rnay leadolre to noticesomeo1'the Analysisof thesemonuntents itselfancl relatron the betrveen huildirtus the subtletics the architecture of andmeaning. andtlieirfunction in and T'hcbuildingo1'mausolcums tombsin iran starled the nirrth of fiom the ninthto thetwenticentury. Over the course elevencenturics this type oleth. cxcluding first centuryafterthe Mongol invasion, tlie in continuously variousst-yles. buildingwas constructcd point,we canclassify mausoleum architecture har,'as Froma stylistic (2) (l) mausolcurns, ing threemajortypes: bwer mausoleums, complex The drrring ninthto and(3) kiosk-likcmausoleurls. firsttypewascommon tl,e thirteenthcenturies and the last tu,o typeswere comrnonclr"rrrng fburtnilrrto century. the nineteenth In centuryconstructing teenth nineteenth but wererestored exrranded. and soleums not ascommon. monutnents was

TlrrceNcrrrtttollslti Shrirrr:s: Architr:ctttrtrl Arr Sttrtlq

93

E,ach mausoleum typicallv contairls one or lnore tombs,which belong to cithera religious a politrcal or figure.Beforethe Safavrds, relimausoleums usedto inclucle eitherShi'itelmamsor Sufi rnasters -uious andsairrts. Aftcrthe Safavids. shrines the Shi'iteImamswereexthe of panded new rnausoleums desccndants theprophet and fbr of andShi'rte Sufl saints werebuilt. The largestmausoleums Iran belongto Imam Reza,Hazrat-e iu 'Abd al 'Azim. all of whom aredescendants the Ma'sumah and Shah of prophet. ShahNematollah Vali'smausoleum thebiggest afterthese. is onc It is one of the threcrnonuments rve are aboutto review in this arthat ticle. In the last symposiurn, presented articleentirelyaboutthis I an monument. Ilere I shallbriefly reviewits physical dcvelopnrent, wc so will havemore time for tlic two othermonumcnts. l. Mahan, the shrineof ShahNematollah The shrineof ShahNematollahin Mahan u,asfoundedduring tlie Timurid period.in the flfleenthcentury. The construction the shrine of starled immediately alrnost afterthcsaint's death 1431. in The builclingof tlie shriners a vast complexrvith nranyclosedand patrons architects openspaces. Althoughditl'erent and built it in different phases throughflve centuries, is perceivecl an ir-itegrated it as contplex. The complexhasa linearorderthat rs oriented towardstheqtblah. Tlie parls of the complexfl'ornWestto Eastare:west lbrecourtand poftal,Muhamrnad Shahicourt,Mir Damddcourt,the central part of the complex. whichconsists thedomedsanctuary thenaves of and around it, Wakil al-Mulkicour1, linally'Atdbakicoufi. and The cornplex an entrance eachof its two ends. matterwhich has at No entrance choosc enter, stillmLlst we pass to we two caravanserai-like coLuts to reachthe dorncdsanctuary the tomb. To meetthe holy tomb,the and pilgrirn hasto passtheserntroductory spaces. The dorncdsanctuary was the flrst buildingerected the site.The on first phase tlrc complexdevelopmcnt buildingthe Shah'AbbAsi of was nave,in the westof the dorned sanctuar,v, the latesixteenth in century. irr the age of the Safavidking, Shah'Abbirs I. At the secondphase. they built the flrst cour-t. namedthe M[r Diintdtl or Shtth 'Abbasfcourt in the west sicleof tlie nave.The court probablyservedas a caravanserai fbr pilgrirnsand Sutls.The third phase wasaccomplished centuries tu,o later

L)4

Vsli hrtcrrttrtitttrnl SvntLtttsiurrt ShohI,,luntttollslt ttrr Tltc St'ct'nttl

Shah.The MuhammadShahi in thc age of the Qdjdr king, Nluhamrnad /asconstructed thc westsideof theprevious couft.T'hiscourtis on coufi \ road.In the lale o1'thecomplexfrom the old Kerrnan the old entrance developtlrc nineteenth century, ageof Ndsiral-Din ShahQijir, another ( l) rvhichsettle on othernaves, mentoccurrecl: the buildingof thetl-rree plan, tlie norttr.cast,and southsidcsof the dotneand form a U-shaped of probably olderbuildings. (2) thebuilding theWakil and replacing sonre pleasant couftof the complex, thc westside on al-Mulkicourt,the nrost ycarslater, Amir Nizinn Garusi,the ruler of of the main building.Sorne addeda second storyto century, Kermanprovincein the earlytwentieth theeastsidcof theWakilal-Mulkicout1, oit Througha vcstibule its eastside,the Wakil al-Mulki colrrtconand latestcouft of the complex,the'Atirbaki court, nectsto the vastest Atabak A'zam,the famouschancellor built by Nlirzd 'Ali 'Asgharkhan o f ' t h r cc niarkir rgs. Q quality of any spaceas it is Nobody can describe architectural the This fact is especially perceivecl the one who is present the space. in by successive couttsas dif-complex.'l'he of several use truc of this shrine ferentphases the pilgrim's pathto reachthe hearlof the complex;the in naves thatcircumatnbulate dome;several holy tornbwith its sky-colored around holy point;the navcswhich arefine andat the sametime pure the interiordomeoverthetomb, as andmystcrious, the sainthimself;andtl"re in which irnpresses soul as if one is ascending companywith the the meanswhich compatible saint'sspirit-all arc anrongthe architectural in of rvith certainel'fects ShahVali's spiritualpresence the shrine.The conrplcxhas no gildings,mirror works, or other luxuriousornaments; splendid and nevertlreless,is justly known asone of the nrostspiritual, it in purest religious, nationaland historicalmonuments lran. 2. Kerman, Mushtaqiyah (the mausoleum N{ushtaq'AIiShah) of located the old part of in The buildingcomplexcallcdMushtuqiyah, Torbat Khorasania Ken.nan city.lt contains tombof MirzAMuhammad the cenOrder.In the lateeighteenth farnous Sufi sheikhof the Ncrnatollahi a of tury,Mirzabecame disciple Fayd'AliShahandhis sonNour 'AliShah I, thc rnaster the Orderin the earlyQajarperiodin Iran,who bestowed of the Sufi title'Mushtaq'AliShahuponMirza.Titlesin the Ordergenerally

ThreeI'lenuttollohiShrines:An Architcctural Sttultl

referto thecharacter theperson whom thetitle is given.Therefore, of to the title of Mushtaq'AliShah canbe regarded an indicationof his character as asan eager loverof God. In 1791or 1792he,accompanied his master, by left Khorasan the shrineof ShahNematollahas a pilgrim and to lead fbr dervishes Kerman.In 1792,he was killed in Kermanby a mob. in Most likely, he was buried in a commoncemetery the city in a in tnud-brickbuilding of a local governor's tomb. In 1831,a Sufi shaykh namedKawthar'AliShah died in Kermanand was buriednearthe tomb of Mushtaq'AliShah.It was around1844when a Qajarprincess, called KhanBaji, who wasa followerof Kawthar'AliShah,replaced simple the mud-brickbuildingby an elaborate one.It is notable thatthe mausoleum was built in the reign of MuhammadShahQajar.He was the sameking who developed shrineof ShahNematollah, weli. the as The core of the Mushtaqiyah complex is a vast garden-like couft, wherethe closedspaces located its north and southsides. are at The east andwestwallsof thecourtaretransparent ones: simplycolonnades, which subtlyseparate courtfrom its adjacent the little gardens. transparent The walls makethe court look more spacious delightful. and The southern side of the court has a one-story one-layer building, consisting two small iwans and four small entrances, of which are locatedsymmetrically abouta portal,which oncewasthe main entrance of the complex. Looking at the court'splan,the north sideis similarto the southone. but higher and more decorated. Furthermore, elevatedand colored the domesaboveit makethis elevation look moreprominent. The mainpartof thecomplex, which is located thenorthpartof the at site, does not have the order and pure geometrythat was common in Islarnicarchitecture, although eachunit is fully ordered itself. in Analyzingit layerby layer,tlredesignof thenorth sidehasfour layers. The first layerconsists the aforementioned of smalliwansand conidors.The smalliwansarethe samesize;but the middleone,which leads to Kawthar'stomb,hasa more elaborate moqarnas vault. The second layeris symmetrical its two ends, is not in themiddle. at yet Kawthar'sdome,which is by far the most importantspace the comin plex, is not on the axis of symmetry. This spaceis a domedsanctuary with solid proportions, square a base,and a doubledome.The interior dome is a hemisphere decorated with an intersectine ribbed r,'ault.

Thc Sccorrd lricrwtitnnl Svntuttsitmr ShnhNentntollnlt on Vttli

moqarnos. and paintingon plaster. The exteriordome is a high tumip domewith an octagonal bascthat stands out in the overallview of tlic complex.The room in the southof this sanctuary actsas the common entrance both Kawthar'sand Mushtaq's to tombs. The third layerfi'omwcst to eastconsists 1A) a long corridorthat of: leadsto the court,(B) an octagonal space with cupola,(C) a spaccr,vith (D) two side-by-side cupolas, whichis iri facta smallmosque, Mushtacl's sanctuary (E) another ancl corridor. Themosque carries coupleof cupolas a decorated beautiful ribbed by vaultsandntoqurncrs.The doubleside-by-side is unusual cupoladesign amongthe known mosque modelsin the historyof lranianarchitecture . The spatialcon-rposition Mushtaq's of domedsanctuary similar to is Kawthar's, is smaller but andlessdecorated. thewestsideof Mushtaq's In sanctuary tlrercis another domedmausoleum belongs a Sufi nanrcd that to Shaykh[sma'il Harati.lt is newerand simplerthanthe two otherdomes. The fourthlayerconsists two cornerpatiosandtwo vestibules of bepatiosareunknown. tweenthem.The utility andfunctionof these Oneof reaches the north portal and is a part of the north enthe vestibules to trancesystem. The northportal,with ntoqat'nas vatlt andtrlc inscripttt'rn. physicalelement thenorlli elevation thc cornis the mostprominent in of plex. The elevationhas a beautifuland elaborate design,and are good examples Qajararchitecture. of 3. Gonabad,Sultani Shrine Complex Baydukht, village in Gonabad a areaof southemKhorasan, was the birthplace the late Sultan'AliShah,masterof the Nematollahi of Orcler in the latc Qajar period.In the springof 1909.he was rnartyred thc in courtof his house. sonandsuccessor, FIis Nour 'AliShah, buriedhim on topof a hill nearthevillage's cemetery. First, lcvcled topof thehill he the andmadea courl for the corningmausoleum. Thenhe built a smallroonr over the tomb and a srnallHusu.ynivvaft the west side of'the court. in Later. built a caravanserai Suf-is pilgrirns tlie tbot of thehill. hc fbr and at IIe also started build a greatsanctuary to over the tomb. but while the first phases construction werein progress l9l tl. he was poisone to of in cl 'AliShahand Reza'AliShah"rnadcevery death.Ilis successors. Salih effortto cornplete rnausoleum the complex, which rvasfinislicdin lL)27. We can identify threeperiocls the complexhistory:(l) thc firrrnain

ThracI"lcrnnfollnhi Sltriru,s: ArchitccturnlStudtt Art

97

tion period.in the ageof tlie lateNour'AliShah;(2) the institution and periocl, the ageo1'the consolidatior, in lateSalih'AliShah; "develop3) mentandcompletion period",in the ageot-thelateReza'AliShah. 'AliSiralr's Salih mainwork wasto complete mainbuildingconthe struction. replaced nrud-brickbuilding over the tornbby a great He the dorned building. Thenhe decorated mausoleum the inrerior with delightful stucco andmirror works.Fufthennore. developed Husat,nit),ah he the foundedby Nour 'AliShah in the west sideof the cour1. Anotherimportant steprvasto supplyrvatertbr the complexby a specialsubtemanean (qunaufor it. 'fhe projectstarled 1924andfinishedin t927.The canal tn ) waterappeared thesouthof thc maincourt,in theforthcoming in Kav,thur
coLlft.

Salih 'AliShah addcdtll,o courtsto the complex:the Pu1,[n court in the norlh andthe Kawtharcoult in the southof the mairrcor.irl. a fbnr in sirnilar caravanserais roomsfor pilgrirns. put a circular to with He pool in thecenter thelattcrcourl,fllled by thecanal. alsoordered buildof He the ing of a clock tower over the north cour-t 1966. in lt was the lastyearof Sdlih'AlrShah's life. They buriedhim in the shrine. beside grandfather. sonandsuccessor, his FIis Reza'AliShah. followedup on theshrine project. Thethirdphase theshrine in developrlent was to bc started. 'fhe Hu.scrt'ttit'.t,ah special position hasa among religious buildings of the Nernatollahi order: it is a combinationofkhaniclah placefirr anda lm am Husayn'sfunera l co mme mora t io nI.t r t h e s a mep e rio d , t h e Htrscr.r'niv1'ahthe west side of the main couft was devcloped. on They burlt a special courtfbr it, calledTilq,uh Firtlatt'.s or courtin 1968. When tlte Pdy[n coui-twas constructed the secondperiod, Reza in 'AliShahreplaced caravanserai by the lateNour 'AliShaliwith a a built new couft,named .ladidcouft.He built a libraryin the southof this court in l96fi. lle alsocornpleted mirrorworksin themausoleum the interior. Reza'AliShahpassed awayin 1992andis buriedbeside father. his Justflve years later, successor his Mahbub'AliShahdiedandwasburied beside them.Therefbre. shrinecontains tombsof fbur Sufi rnasthe the tersof the order,which increases impor-tance rts amongSufi rnonurnents. The Sr-rltdni shrinccomplexhas a iincarcomposition. oriented toward Qiblah.Tlie threecourlshavesuchan amangement: "Piyin" court. "tsala"(or rnain)couft.andKawtharcour1. sitehasa northward The slope,

98

'I'lrcSet:ortd Itttlnnliortsl Srlnrposiurrr ShnhNenuttolhtlt on Vnli

so a courthas a higherlevel if it is on the southsideof the other.Then Kawtharcourthasthehighest and PAyin couft hasthe lowestlevel.N{ain is entrance rn the nofth end with a portalin P6yincourl. No doubt,sucha layoutwas on purpose: when a pilgrim passes the northporlal and cntcrsthc lower court,he facesa charming view of the domedsanctuary. pilgrinr in his u'ay to the domedsanctuary. The where goal, must passthroughthe garden-like is the pilgrin.rage court and ascendthe stairsbetween two courts. the Pdyincouft hasroomsin its north and west sides. The eastsideis a simplewall and the south one has sonie delightful small iwans and a staircase the center. in Theseroomsand iwansvisuallyunify the court's threesides.Eaclisidehasa visualcentcr. which in the north sideis the portal. aforementioned enttance Levelsof the main anc'l Kawtharcourtsare not so diflbrent.The visr"ral rhythmsof theirspaces alsosimilar,which unifiesthetwo courts. are It scemsthat cach court is a cornbination a vast caravanserai a of and garden. The middleof eachsideclevation madeprominent a greater is by and higherir.van. The centralcastside iwan in Kawtharcourt is the entranceportalof the couft too. Thc nrajorphysical aspect thc complexis its combination sevof of openspace oftenthe mainphysical is eralcourts.In Iranianarchitecture" parlof a design. This is tme in cclnrplex kiosk-like and mausoleums, among t l i e m the Sul tdnico rnple x,which reca llst h e c o mp o s it io n f S h a h o Nematollah's shrine complex. re Wehavealrcady vicrvccl majorarchitectural tlie aspect theshrine in complexof ShahNematollah: linearcompcisition several its of courts. just one did Suclia linearcornposition rrotoccurelsewhere exceptin casc:the Sultdnishrinecomplexin Bayduklit,built roughly tlve centuriesafterthe shrine complex ShahNernatollah. of Tlie peopleburicd in thc shrine,rvho also fbundedit, were all the succcssors ShahNcmatollah. of Theyceftainlybuilt thecomplexaccording to a template:the shrineconrplexof tlieir holly predecessor. They r.vhich modifiedthetemplatc, originallywasdesigned a planesite,lirr for levelsin a stair-like a slopc, puttingcourts difl'crent by on composition. The sinrilarrty between two, which arefhenrostpronrinent the Sufi building complexes lran, is interesting. in Therefbre, Sultdnicomplexis the

q f 1'lir"it' lr,rclliriril I dt i SIr i rrcs: r\ tr Ar t'hi ! t't' ! t ri'tl St trt1

99

in thc climax iri the history of Sufi archltecture thc last trvo centurles. shrine architectureto t1'picallllausolcunl patConrparing the Sr-rltiini ie.rnsin the hlstory of Irattian afchitectllfe we call st:canothcr prtrlttin,--nt , in arc tlrat iispect:it seen-ts all of'the tlrrect5,,pes g,athercd its design.F irstli''. thc position of thc single nlain Scconcily. it is ;l curtrpiexnrausolcunt. buililrng in litc rnicldleof att open spaceshorvsa r;rmilarityto kiosk-likc itsclf is similar to a single towcr tnausolcttttt. i1,pc.Finirlly,the buildin-rl stafted in ihc late Qdidr perlod arld l'lie contpiex construction r'r,'its in its ','",as conslrlidated llnal cltaractcr the carly Pahlitviptriod whetrlrawas being replacedtry an ecleclictlne. l'herearchitccture irrnntr:rditii.rnal is in disorcler its clestgn not surylrislrlg. 1lre. sou-tc confusionanc'l on thc Ne verthclcss. ol,erall cornpositionrs basccl zlono tlrousantll'ear of cornbination [ralt i.xpericrice lranian architecturc. is a succc:ssful of rriiril ririrusttleum. Husu)'nit't'aft,schotli. and caravanseIai.khuttit1cth, havedelightfrrlsetes, small entrane aud ciasschambers irlr)sQlle . Roor-ns. 'fhe r:ontinuation the traditionalarchitecture rcflccteci iieitr is rings. of thc cottrpositiott to rlrrurt srnall ill'ans that are connectecl tnakc arcades. in tilc-rvi'rrk thc coufts' rcvetnlents, ot'flick zrndplasterirnd solnetrnrcs in in ihc;:ibl;ecl anclmoqan'ias.'auits thc pttrtals,farniliar on'iLt'uents thc porlals. artcl dorncd iranctuary. abo'tc all. thc charmittgcntrancc ('an rve re:jardthe continuatiori tiadititllras a synrbol o1-this;rhysical of r;t'thc cotttitruit',, the spiriiual traciitiontliat the I1'lastcrs tltc turiqoh crf nrcssctrgcrs'/ etttci h;rvc bcen tts patt'otts

Notes:
I is i ) r . t \ , 1 c h l d r i it .lir v1 ,,r sr .1 a n r cn r b cr o f th c tir cu lt-vof'.\rcl ti tcctr.rr,'atS hahi d f]chcsi rti [Jrl tr rrritv. Tlhnin

100

The Second International Svnaosirunon ShahNcmstollahVali

l. The shrineof ShahNematollah(air view)

lr1.'lunuBrLsidr ({rur! {(2alrrl

'.

Shili i])bnir {S , l ; r ' d i

Nrlc

*'est l\rndl t(.Irr'l

2. The shrineof ShahNematollah(isometric view)

Threelrlematollnhi Shrinas: Arcliiectural Sfudy An

101

3. The shrineof ShahNematollah (the dome-external view)

zl.The shrineof Shah Nematollah (the dome- internal view)

I02

The Second IrilL:rnatiotrtrl Suumositwrorr SltahNenntollqh Voli

(Shah-'Abbisinave) 5. The shrineof ShahNernatollah

6. The shrineof Shah Nematollah(Ivtir-eDdmid court)

ThreeNcmntollshi Sfuines:An Architecturul Sttttltl

103

7. The shrineof ShahNematollah(Mohamrnad-Shahi court and eastentrance)

l{1lffig

8. Thc shrineof ShahNematollah(eastporlal and forecourl)

704

on The Second Intentational Svnryositurr ShahNenwtollsh Vnli

9. The shrineof ShahNematollah (Vakil-ol-Molki nave)

10.The shrineof ShahNematollah ('Atdbaki court)

'fhree lJernstollahiShrines:An Architecturol Stttth1

105

(the two domes) i l. Moshtdqiyeh

12.Moshtiqiyeh(isometric view)

106

VaIi lntarnstionnlSvnrprtsitrnr ShshNernstollah ort Tht' Sacoud

h
h

F;
J rx
I t ll

ll

t lt

tr
tttl

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l9*;

| 1 . l \4 o s h ta q i y c h l a nt tp

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fWf/l'./a:.1: ..,::.f . , , izr'i's. ,, ::il'!) t ,.:,,tt:t:tttttttt:rtt ..::a:::..:.::.::a'a: . , .

dome.internalview) 14.Moshtiqiyeh(Kou,sar

'f h r ce N enrs t olIqhi Slt i rrL:: Ar t Ar chit ect u r oI St trtly r s

r07

15. Moshtiqiyeh(Kowsirriwan and dome)

16.MoshtAqiyehldouble cupolasof the mosque)

108

Svmposium ShahNenntollnhVcrli on The Secttnd Internationnl

17. Soltini Shrine Complex (overall view)

\ \

18. Soltdni ShrineComplex (plan)

Th r cc I"lerrttrt oI Icrlt Shrirrc : An Ar chitectur nl St udy i s

109

19. Soltini Shrine Complex (uppercourt)

20. Soltdni Shrine Complex (main building)

i i()

'l itc St,cortti ltrtcrrrntiortttl Svrnrtttsiwrr Shtrh on NenntollahVnli

21. SoltAniShrine Complex (north portal, outer side)

22. Soltini ShrineComplex (northportal,inner side)

Tlree NenmtolhthiShrines:An Architectural Studtl

111

and the tombs) 23. Solttni Shrine Complex (sanctuary

24. SoltAniShrine Complex (lower court)

r72

'I'heSecond Intenutional Samposiumon ShahNematollahVali

25. SoltAniShrineComplex (southportal, inner side)

26. Soltini Shrine Complex (southportal, outer side)

113

On Sufism and the "Social"

v,q,v Bos/ M,errutJs orN/

This article is aboutthe interplaybetweenwhat I think are radically The method Shi'ism and social science. different traditions-theological adoptedhere is also somewhatof a hybrid. I explore,on the one hand, generalmodern Sufi social history in [ran, and engagein more detailed contentanalysisof highly specificSufi works on the other. Startingwith the first element,it is not very difficult to counterthe when studyingmodem Sufism notion of Sufism'sinherenttraditionalism century.But I was nevertheless in Iran-from roughly the latenineteenth to amazed find two books on the sociologyof Islam, written by a Sufi, when I was doing fieldwork in the autumn of 2001. However modern reluctance someSufis might havebeen,therealsohas beena noticeable amongthem. towardssocialscience At evenin this respect. the same have changed So,things apparently part in the new civil society, time, Sufis seeminglydid not really take climatethat a in specifically Khatami'sIran,despite new socio-political was far more lenientwith regardto all kinds of difference. previously,Sufi modernity Here, then, are the riddlesthat I address: by had been characterised a new orientationtoward the here-and-now, Sufism is largely abnew opportunities, notwithstanding but nowadays, a Sufi producesa stunning sentfrom the public sphere.Simultaneously, work suchas a mystic Sociologt of Islam, or, as I argue,Islamicsociology, rvhile the theme of 'the social' had been a marginal issuein traditional Sufi thought. the underscores What I argueis that curent quietismonly apparently view of Sufism as a traditionalistand otherworldlyspiritualwidespread ity. The first line of argumentagainstexplodingthe observedquietism aboutthe natureof Sufism,which I think is uninto a generalstatement

I 1.1

'l'lrcSacond lrtternstittrnlSvnrpLtsitutr ShahNematollah on Vali

ibundcd,is that this quietismis relativelynovel,that is, that Sufismhas b.-:corne involvedin socialand politicalaffairsafterthe Pahlaviera less ancl ven,strange it may sound, e as aftertheIslamicRepublic until Khatami. '[ire sccondline of argumentis to be found in the innovativeIslamic r;(rci(,logics,which I'll retumlater. to lnto Modernity To bcginwith, the fact of Sufi modernity and of a resilientSufismin itsclf runs counterto receivedwisdom about Sufism'seclipseafter or r.vith disintegration the Qajardynasty 1785- 925).Itfurnsout that the ( of I severulmasterswere active during the ConstitutionalRevolution, and wL're vcry much fbcused thinking up solutions the ills of Iranian on for socicty. secondheritage this period is the nation-state A of orientation thirtcontinued into the Pahlaviera. 'laking a similarly hugeleapin time, therelravebeenindications of Sufisrn's flourishingin the IslamicRepublic. Nevertheless, generSufis ally lravekepta low profileaftertherevolution, which had(at least) three rcasons. Traditional religious objections might havegotten of handin out lhe contextof the new rigid religious regime.Secondly, modernist rejectir-rns Sufisrr, basedon the perceived of anti-social identity of Sufism, carrictlthe samerisk. And thirdly, therewas potentialfor Sufi religiosity bcine readas a competitorfor spiritual authority. Nematollahi Sufisin Iran generally soughtaccommodation with the nervrcgime.[n the Sultan'Alishahi Order,a public recordof goodrelations between Order and respected the clergywas helpful.At the same tirnc,the Shi'iteorders oftensynrbolized uncoffupted, an non-regime religiosity"But while they were to somedegree counter-hegemonic symbolically,the ordersdo not appear actorsin lran's civil societyas it as ernergc<1 about1995. since Current Conditions The reasonable prospect was for this situation change to afterKhatami lrrought new climateto power tn 1997.Therewere additional a reasons lirr:this expectation. Thosefamiliarwith thework of 'Abdolkarim Soroush rvill he awarethat Sufism,thoughnot alwaysin a positivesense, an is irrportant topic fbr him. Indirectly, Sufism attaineda reformist aura tlrnruglrhis rvork, rnhichmight have facilitateda Sufi presence the in

On Sufism snd theSocial

115

public sphere. orientation towardsthe Lastly, Sufism'stwentieth-century in here-and-now Iran showedthat there was nothing intrinsic to Sufism to opposeit to worldliness.But as indicatedbefore,Sufis still kept their distance. Despiteimprovedconditions,cautioncannotbe ruled out as apartial explanationof Sufi quietism.In the midst of Iran's current ideological vulnerablewhen speakstrife, Sufis very likely would make themselves But there ing out in public for or againsta given politico-religiouscause. are other inhibitions as well, except for this particular externalfactor, which I think areat leastas importantin explainingSufism'svirtual absencefrom the public sphere. and Thereis no suchthing as a naturalcoalitionof religiousreformers in Sufis in Iran. Therewere physicalif subtlesignsof unease my internew 2001 views with two representative religiousthinkersin September it wheretalkstouchedupon Sufism.And conversely, is oftenfelt thatnonremainsexoteric, that is, shallow. Sufi religiousreformers'thought Now given this distant relation of Sufis to the realm of the social, Sufi expressocietyhasnot beencompletelyabsentfrom contemporary masterof theNematollahiOrder,Majzoob the sions.For example, present 'AliShah, publisheda collectionof essays socialand other worldly on from the periodbeforehe became matters. But thesereflectionsstemmed Qutb.The foreword explainsthat the writings arenot 'mystical' ('ir.fdni) but 'social'. In other words, despitethe fact that their writer was a Sufi, of the essays clearly do not provide Sufi conceptualisations society. to The sociologies Islam that I referred earlierareto my knowledge of that.Their writer is the first modernSultan'Alishahi effort to do precisely I a Sufi who studiedsociologyin theUnited States. mustwam thatthey do not straightforwardlyrepresentdoctrine in the Order, althoughthe writer for did obtainpermission his booksfrom threedifferentmasters. Sufi Sociology It may be a suitableway to start discussingthe books to point at a paradoxthat is symbolic of the project as well as its more problematic titlesmention'Sociology Islam',thebooks of features. While thePersian is turn out to be reallyabout'IslamicSociology.'This evidentfrom their are beginning,where centralquestions defined."What is the social and economicstructureof a healthy societyfrom a Qur'anic viewpoint?" is

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on The Second International Samrtosiunr ShahNemotollrh VaIi

within the realm of the sort of questionthat the authortypically presents sociology religion. of fusion of Islam and sociologyis paralleled an eraby The conceptual sureof temporaldifference.Thus, you find a treatmentof Ibn Khaldun apparatus, as and Karl Marx as if they were sharingthe sameconceptual if addressing and largesimilar issues, as if by implicationthey are by and on of situated the sametemporalplane.In this particularrespect 'fusion', nativism background theprojectis the 1960's to and 1970's oneintellectual of men like JalalAl-e Ahmad and 'Ali Shari'ati who were after definiat tions of the authenticself which, paradoxically, the sametime applied Westernframesof reference. with Shari'ati is that this A good reasonfor making the comparison ideologueis famed for his so-calledSociologyof Islam. Similaritiesbereferredto as tweenthe two projectsemergein what DaryushShayegan way of pointing to nativism,but fo'conceptualhybridisation'-another But in another cusingmore strongly on problematicepistemicfeatures. the Shari'ati'sSociologyof Islam,berespect, Sufi sociologistreverses causeShari'ati in the final analysisreadsIslam sociologicallywhile he sociologyIslamically.I think it is a sign of this fact that he reinterprets overlooksShari'ati'sheritage,while it is so obvious. Following thesepreliminaries,I analysethe books in more detail, Secwhich comesdown to, first, an overview of the larger arguments. of ondly, I try to find out what 'the Islamic social'consists in them, how the And thirdly, I analyse centralityof the doctrine this might be grasped. of waldyah.What I'm seekingto show here is that 'the Islamic social' and exactlyby the fact that the remainshighly abstract, that this is caused doctrineof waldyah is put in its place. one Startingwith the largerarguments, of the booksis titled A Theoamongwhom reticalSociologtof Islam.It treats variousMuslim thinkers, areSufisandmore specificallySultan'Alishahis.Of the Sultan'Alishahi masters, work focuseson the renownedReza 'Alishah, who died in the as 1992.Reza'Alishah's work is implicitly presented an exemplarysocial science. means rubbingout epistemic Filing this oeuvre under'socialscience' geography, folklore, travelogues, boundaries betweenmedievalIslamic Reportedly, Reza'AliShah considered anthropology. and contemporary The traveloguessuch as Ibn Battuta's 'scientific'and anthropological.

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were groundedin mystical views of safar fiourmaster'stravel(ogue)s neying).Travel was a duty for thesalik (wayfarer)and probablya metaphor for wayfaring itself, sayr-o-soluft. Here,then.the mysticalpath and merge. socialscience But exceptfor theseblurred boundaries, ceftaindistinctionsare also Historical Sociologyof Islam, the second constitutiveof the sociologies. book, is founded on anti-positivismand conceptsthat result from this that the authorsubsequently charts orientation.It meetsthe expectation of that he labelsa 'religiouspathology',consisting four major 'devianin throughout history.The cies'that have developed Muslim societies of most imporlant deviancyhad occurredin the interpretation the pillars faith inwaldyah. of Islam-and concerned Deviance regarding waldyah was the worst deviation. Things had seriouslygonewrong immediatelyafterthe deathof the Prophetand for this reasonhistoricalsociologywas devotedto, "finding a suitableanswerto this question: how rvasthe issueof the leadership society[. . .] of treatsnegative societal dealtwith in Islam?"So the historicalsociology consequences, Shi'ite drama of non-'Alid developments the after the demiseof the prophet. It comesas somewhat a surprise of that while the analyses deviant of Muslim societies ratherclearly delineated, solutionsofferedfor a are the healthy society in accordance with Qur'anic guidelinesremain highly abstract. There are references 'mystical prescriptionsand programs' to andwhat 'planning'wouldlook like on thebasisof 'Ali's Islam.But this or treatsmoral principlesunderlyingplanning,not the plansthemselves plans.Clearly, how theymight contrast with non-Shi'ite then,thediscussion is evocativemore than it is analytical. IslamicsocialoccuThese andothercases suggest thisparticular that pies what may be calledan epistemological nowhereland.A'nowhere words, that emergesthrough patching elements world', in Shayegan's from different epistemicorders,often in neglectof their particularhistojargonricity. The relationsof Shi'ite theological termsandsociological planning,technique-oriented, bourgeois sociologist-play this part in the two Isl am ic cio logie s. so In contrast the ratherelusivenatureof this Islamicsocial,the Shi'ite to conceptof waldyah occupiesa very centralplace in the two Islamic sociologies. Answering vital questions the 'appropriate on social, economic

I lti

7'lrcSccttrrd hrterrtntiLtnsl Sunu:tosium ShahNemqtollah on VaIi

anclpoliticalsystcms', sociologisms cut shortin the author'sexall are clarnation that,"the schoolof Shi'ism hasbeendiscemed the straight as rviry to Qur'atric v,ulir),ah".Here, waldyah means'cure' for the menMuslim societies. tronecl deviancies that cumently oppress That is, it is thcir socialessence. lsfariricsociologyin both works is itself a partof waldyah.First,Islamic sociologyforms part of a largeresoteric view of knowledgeas nrctaphor thedivine.Secondly, muchasknowledge of as involvedrealizIslan-ric ing Islamicpotential, sociology was intrinsicto Shi'ismandembodic'dby 'Ali: it had beensubsumed his being a 'perfectfriend of in (iod'. Fronrthis notion,the linkageextends Sufism,as the true Islam, to the booksstress, 'Ali's Islam,and'Ali's Islamis Shi'ismand Sufism is takcntogetlrer. 'T'hcse message not involvepolitical explications the authentic of do sociology any substantial in contemporary sense, theIslamicsociolobut giesrlo cxpandon relations between waldyah.societyandauthority. They to it opposevvulti.t,uh monarchyand loosely associate with democracy. I hc passags ends with the assertive claim that "deedsof true waldyah of i...1 nraybe seenas thc ultimateexample [...] politicaland socialpartici patorypluralism". I would say that it is perhapsbecause the circularity of the arguof mcnt-- proceeding fiorn andleading upto waldyah-thatthe idealsociopoliticalordcr playsno furthcrrole in the sociologies, any more prein Herelies a point of contrast with the moremundane termsof cisesense. 'ncw religiousthinking', nowadays Iran. The works are not like the in writrngso1'Soroush their relatingof mysticismandreformistideals. and 'l'heinterpletive principleis not developed hereinto the hermeneutics by radicallyrereads ite tradition-democratiwhi ch M u.i hi d Sha ta bestari Shi' cally" And there is no comparisonto the work of Kadivar either, who critically re-exanrined and thus very efl'ectivelyconfrontedthe main v,uI ti.),u tlreori h es. Now cndingmy observations the Islamicsociologies, 'social' of its throughhybrid conceptualisations as the 'sociological such shines unity of cxistcnce',with a predicatethat stemstiom a completely different It urriverse. rnaybe considered 'surrogate'in a comparison Durkheim's to firit social an authoritative early definitionof 'the social.'Durkheim's to that is exterconceptref-ers a sui generisclassof coercivephenomena

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nal to the individual-autonomy beingthe concept's centralelement. But what lies at the heartof the surrogate socialis the recurringattestation of mystical Shi'ite faith. This has beenstatedby the namegiverof the Sultan 'Alishahi order:"Waldyahis the last part but falso] the fundamentof all pillars of Islam, and the other pillars are [but] an introduction to u,aliiyah". I'd like to concludeby restatingmy initial statements Sufism. on Quietismdoestypify Sufismin Khatami'slran, but it is relativelynew in comparisonwith earlier twentieth-century Sufism. Secondly,there are the Islamic sociologies, which do not underscore otherworldliness. The Islamic sociologies' religiousconcepts the social are not a of primal regression into mystic traditionalismbut may be seenas a neotraditionalhybrid. This 'social'is traditionalin the senseof 'preDurkheimian', lacking autonomy,and in the senseof being elusive in theologicalabstraction-in comparisonwith the work of new religious thinkers who do often specify sociologicalimplications of their arguments. But on the other hand, this reading of waldyah into the social orderof thingsis alsoa quiteuniqueeffort in IranianSufismandpossibly beyondit to come to termswith this-worldly socialscience, society,and the social.

Notes:
I Matthijs van den Bos is an independent researcher the Netherlands in who is studyingSufism, especiallyits social aspects, contemporaryIran. in

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Comment a 6t6 9616le Sanctuaire de Shah-e Vali?l

Dr. BastaniParizi2

Une femme zoroastriennekermani-Varghanienne qui 6tait st6rile avait fait le veu dansle sanctuairede Nematollah Vali que si elle mettait un enfant au monde, elle mettrait un petit tapis devant le portail du sanctuairedu Shah. Elle a enfant6ea mis des Jumeauxau monde et bien s0r, elle avait et tenusapromesse au lieu d'un petit tapis,elle avaitmis deuxpetitstapis sur les deux cot6sdu portail d'entr6edu sanctuaire.3 Il y a Cinquanteans,lorsquej'enseignaisdansles lyc6esde kerman, mieux que la position de ces en entendant cette histoire,je comprenais deux guides spirituels 6tait la basede la b6n6dictionde la province de Kerman. des dansl'universit6de T6h6ran, Aprdsavoir travaill6pendant anndes je me suis pos6eune question:Commentont-6t6dirig6 ces sanctuaires qui pendant centsans?Les sanctuaires ont 6t6I'abri de lexportationet six de limportation?Dans ce bref article,je n'explique pas la biographiede ShahNematollahcar les autresI'expliqueront. des connuset deschercheurs En r6alit6,parlerenpr6sence professeurs "Porter I'eau ir la rividre." 6minents, c'est comme: Ou selonle proverbeanglais:"To carry coal to New castle".Ou selon le proverbearabe:"Porter la datteau Bassora" serala directionde cesbitiments et Ce quej'expliquerai bridvement, pieuses, manidred'accueildesconvives la I'organisation des fondations de et despdlerinsdu sanctuaire ShahNematollahVali car premidrement, c e l a r em onte d 600 a n s e t les voya g e u rsy v e n a ie n t d e I ' I n d e , de D'Azerbaidjand Iraq et tous les habitants la provincede Kerman.Les

Conune a'et'e nt g'er'e Snnctusire Shoh-e le de Vali?

1,21,

provinces Kermanet Sistanet Baloutchistan une 6tendu 250,000 de ont de quatridmegrandeprovince kilomdtreset etaientconsid6r6es comme la plus grandeque lAngleterre la moiti6 de la France. et d'Iran. Une 6tendue partiesitu6edansI'entr6edu golfe persique la mer d'Oman est La seule et plus grandeque les Pays-Basdans lequel se d6roulece s6minaired la memoirede ShahNematollah Vali grAce l'une desuniversit6s ce pays d de et le Dr. MostafaAzmayesh unecentaine savants les amisde Shah et des et Vali. Ce s6minaire s'estderoul6dansla cit6 universitaire Leyden. de J'ai commencd mon discours avecunehistoire6tonnante d'unedame qui zoroastrienne attachaitbeaucoup dimportance sanctuaire Shah au de pour les musulmans Nematollah, ce sanctuaire car n'6taitpasseulement y religions venaient. c'estI'un descaractdres Et et despersonnes d'autres du milieu socialde Kermanqui pendant sidcles consid6rait des le comme pour tousles tribusde Kerman.C'est pourquoi un lieu de rdconciliation des groupescomme les Kharidjites,les Isma6liens la p6riodedes de Saljoughians. Mazd6ens la p6riode les de d'Anoushiravan, J6suites les et leschr6tiens lesdisciples Ikhavin al-sa16, Zoroastriens d'autres et de les et groupesqui ont 6t6 entidrement ailleursexistentencoredansla province de Kerman et ont une vie pacifiquedontjai parl6 dansmes articlesdans le congrdsdesrecherches lAfrique du nord et de I'Est dansla ville de de qui Torontoen 1992.4 Mais bien sffr,les groupes soufiset dessavants des vivaient de longue date d Kerman, ont 6te d la tdte. Et plusieurs des personnages pr6islamique) le Qatari religieuxcommeMazdak(p6riode et qui le Kharidjite et HassanSabah(post-islamique) disait:"La sagesse suffisante insuffisante" v6cudesp6riodes Retraite der6flexion ou ont de et d Kerman.Toutcomme,l{amidolldin kermanilauteurdu livre de "le repos de la raison(Rahat-ol Aq1)"et Houjviri sisstani, ShaykhHassan Bulgari, ShaykhAbu IshaghKazeroni,KhajehNasirolldinTossi,Haje Molla Hadi et r6cemment,M. SallehAli shah,Haje ZeinollabedinShirvani, Haje AbbassAli Keyvan Ghazvini et M. Rashedet le d6funt Baba Reshad, le directeurde r6sistance ressortisant Moshtaghiehde Kerman. Une et de raisonplusimportante: Troissoufisconnus iraniens commeseyed Husseini dont la lignee spirituelle remonte d ShahabolldinSohravardi,Shaykh FakhredinIraqi et Shaykh Ohedin (Kermani) ont fait, la mme ann6e, une retraite dans le couvent de ShaykhOhedin et chacuna rapport6le fruit de cetteretraite sousforme un livre important au Shaykh.Shaykh Fakhrodine,le livre de "lamat oll asheghin",ShaykhOhedin,le livre de

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'fhe SccondInternational Sunwositutt ShahNematollahVaIi ort

5 " l'arji" et Amir SeyedHusseini, livre de "Zad oll mossaferine". le I Jnecentained intellectuelsconnusont r6sid6pendantdes ann6es dansla ville de Kerman. ShahNematollah l'un d'eux qui a voyag6entreDamaset la ville est et dc Khoye d'azarbaidjan la Transoxiane avait des milliers de diset ciples (selon un rapport 60,000) et qui a attire l'attention de Tamerlan, d'Asie. Dans la ville de Yazd, il a eu f 'r"rn deux grandsconqu6rants des danslesvillesde r6velations spirituelles enfin,il a fondeles 6coles et cles et Kouhbanan Mahan situ6ed 25 Kilomdtresde la ville de Kerman li ot) il estnroft. qui Il voyait datrsle ciel 6toil6 de kermandes choses ne se trouvent le pasailleurs. exemple, Par selonMehrabiKermani, lorsqu'iltraversait passage d'Imam ZadehZeyd etroitde Bolboluet serendaitau sanctuaire Khabisse, Shah Nourolldin NematollahVali des quil voyait la vo0te et d'lnram ZadeltZeyed, il Otaitseschaussures disait quil y a tellement rassembles le trajet qu'on ne peut pas facilementse frayer un sur danges cheminpour faire le pdlerinage.6 .f'ai entendudire que lorsqu'un des prtresconnusallait visiter la prds il d'Assise, descendait du portailde la ville torlrbc saintFranqois de et ct enle vait seschaussures allaitd pied commeBeshrHafl aupdlerinage. que .f'ai vu personnellement la ville de Kermana 6t6 en cong6penferm6 et desmilliers de dant quatrejclurset le marchea et6 entidrement pcrsonnes du avaientparticipeau cer6monie deuil et ceci d plusieursoccasions: Le jour du decdsde Dadsen, le m6decinanglaischr6tien de lhdpital tlc Morsalinede Kerman est mort du Typhus(il avait 6t6 contamin6par et son malade).On avait mis son corps dans Tondarestan puis I'avait trauslbre l'angleterre. en Le jour, que layatollahHaje Mirza MohammadReza est mort son du tombeauest encorele lieu de pdlerinage peupleau pied de TaqAli et j'ai conservri de beaucoup ceslettres6critspour am6liorerles conditions de de vie deszoroastriens Kerman. qui allait d la mine de russes l-e jour que l'autobusdes ing6nieurs le charbonde Hojedk, a eterenvers6, ville de kerman6tait au cong6et en qui russes travaillaientdansla dcuil pour la rnort de 20 ou 30 ing6nieurs et ville de Kermanalors quils etaientcommunistes ath6e.Et en ce qui lattitudedu peuplede Kermanvis d vis concenleI'espritde tol6rance,

Conmtenta'et'e g'er'e Sanctuoire Shah-eVsli? le de

LZJ

desing6nieurs russes, etait exemplaire avait consacrd quartierde la et un ville aux famillesdesing6nieurs russes. L'Histoire nous dit du vivant du ShahNematollahsa grandemaison et sonjardin6taient l'abri desr6fugi6s. Ainsi, selonle livre Manaqib,6dit6par le d6funtJeanAubin, recevait il les fils et les filles de Kerman lors des attaques l'arm6e etrangdre de et disait:"Ici, cestle lieu desenfantsch6ris".Apparemn-rent, a 6tEentene il dansle jardin de sa maison. Aprdsla mort de ShahNematollah, lieu estrest6l'abri desr6fugi6s ce et les sinistres.Nombreux soufis y r6sidaient.Plusieurspersonnes fortun6es, des gouverneurs des rois ont essay6 et dam6liorerles conditionsmaterielles daccueil pdlerins. on sentce point le jour mme des Et de la rnort de ShahNematollahle 6 avril 1431AhamadShahBahmanile roi de Dakanqui, consid6rait qu'il devaitsardgneau pouvoir spiritueldu ShahNematollah,avait envoy6des fonds suffisantsd Kerman et on les avait employ6pour r6pareret am6liorerle sanctuaire Seyed6minent. de C'est vrai que ShahNematollahportait lui-mdme des habits d'une 6toffegrossidre coton,le manteau de soufisavecun collier et une manche et un manteaude peau de mouton et un turbanblanc et il a mis sur ses dpaules manteau laine et parfois,il portait un saffauen feutreet ses un en disciplesetaientle plus souventdesclasses moyennes, travailleurset des desagriculteurs mais parmi sesdisciples,il y avait eu aussidesrois, des ministres,desgouverneurs despersonnes et riches.Commeon le sait,on premidrepierre de son mausolee des fonds envoy6s a mis la par Ahmad ShahBahmaniDakani (mort quatreansaprdsla mort de ShahNematollah) et il parait que le portail dentr6edu sanctuaire bois et en ivoire a 6te en aussienvoy6dlnde. Ahmad Shah6tait le disciple du ShahVali, et le ShahNematollaha confieunecouronne verted Molla GhotbolldinKermaniet lui a dit: "C'est la consignationde SultanAhmad Shah Bahmani, donne la lui". Deux grandsgouverneurs Kermaniens, BaktashKhan etAmir NezamGaroussi ont 6t6 enterr6s dansle sanctuaire ShahVali. de L'ensembledes bAtimentsdu sanctuaire Shah Nematollahest de compos6de 329 arcs et 4 cours de 4323, 2128 et 3836 et enfin3547 mdtres 4 grandsportiques. et Danstouteslesp6riodes historiques llran: de Des timouries,des Safavides, Ghadjarset despahlavis,on a r6par6 des cet ensemble y ont ajout6quelques et 6difices.Et l'eau de farmithanpasse

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Vali on Nematollsh TheSecond International Svnryosium Shah

au milieu d'une des cours.Je dois noter que l'6table desbdtimentsavait la capacite recevoir400 chevauxet ce qui donneune id6e du nombre de despdlerinsdansles p6riodesdiff6rents. Il y a cent ans,un disciple soufi qui avait r6sid6longtempsdansces bdtiments,6crit que le cierge br0lait toute la nuit jusqu'au matin et la portedu sanctuaire fermependantla nuit pendant3 heureset elle souvre se de bon matin. Un tel ensemblea besoin de fonds pieux. En plus des pieuses Gouk situ6es dansles r6gionsde Khabisse, fondations anciennes et d'autresr6gions,MohammadShahGhadjarqui avaitvisit6 ce tombeau au avantd'arriver au pouvoir (en 1832)et aprdsson accession pouvoir a trois sixidmede Farmithanqui est une fontainepleine d'eau et consacr6 SeyedMohammadAli deux sixidmede Baba Hussein.Et son r6gisseuq de de Kermani 6tait responsable payer les salairesdes salari6s, servant, de lecteurde coranet le muezzinqui 6tait environ 750 Tomansen 191I . Toutescespersonnes 6taienten chargede recevoirlespdlerins.On rapporte qu'ils acceptaient et toutesles personnes ils parlaientavec eux. Shah-e toute personne en cela il suivait lexemplede et Vali recevaitet acceptait je SeydAhmad Kabir et disait que si tous les maitresrefusentquelquun, selonsa capacit6....7 l'accepterai compl6terai et 6tait en 1911 environ 5000 Tomans. les revenusde ce sanctuaire Selonlerapportde chalesIssawi,une livre anglaise6tait I 6quivalentde 52 Gherandansla ville de Kerman.Trois ans aprds,trois kilos de pains Trois kilos de viandede bauf unit6 mon6taire) 6taitd 2 Gheran(ancienne Dans cetteann6e, et 6tait e 8 Gherans trois kilos de riz 6taitd 4 Gherans. grandecour, sesfrais annuels dansla une 6cole gratuitea 6t6 inaugurde la s6levaita mille tomanes, direction en fut confi6 a ShaykhAbbassAli Ghazvini. Karagany. de En r6alit6,celacompldtela sentence ShaykhAbolhassan Karagany: ll a 6tE6crit sur le portail du couventde ShaykhAbolhassan pas "quiconquey entre,donnezlui du pain et ne lui demandez son nom le couvent de car celui, qui vaut la vie auprdsde Dieu, bien s0r, dans ont Bolhassan, vaut du pain."8Et toutescespersonnes 6t6desh6ritiers il (Environ 480-542.I1 a 6t6 6crit dans les rouleaux de de saint B6noit. qui manuscritsde son couvent: "Accueillez bien toutes les personnes porte."' frappent d la porte comme si J6susfrappait d la bien les quatre Par ailleursI'un desdisciplesde ShahVali connaissait (Coran, I'ancien testament,l'6vangile, les psaumeet les livres saintsrO

Conmtenta'et'e g'er'e Ssnctuairetle Shah-eVali? lc

r25

livres sacr6s prophdtes Avesta)et le Shahportait soi-mmeun froc des et de derviche rapiece. S'il ne s'agit pas les quatrereligionsconnues, faut le consid6rer il commeles quatrecalifesd'aprdsles sunnites. Puis,Nasereddin Shah,en 6ditantun d6cret,a confirmd le farmithan (etje pr6senterai document consacr6 son datantde 1878). Les revenues 6taient24}Tomans en espdce 169Kharvarsde bl6 et et d'orge.Chaque KharvarValait300 kilos. D6sormais, y avait eu un d6saccord il entrele r6gisseur, surveillant le et lesprdtendants d ce propos, y beaucoup documents. r907,le et il de En safairedu regisseur6tait fixe. Mais en 1920,Ie ministre des fondations pieusesavait declar6que le salairedu r6gisseurest 444 tomanset 42g dinars.En 1937,lesrevenus consacr6s 6taient6000Tomans. y avait [Il eu une bibliothdquedu livre manuscritavantde la p6riodedu Shahvali c. T. D p6riodede Saljoghil. Il y avait aussiune pierre de poids sur la Pierretombaleen marbrequi remontaitd la p6riodedu grandDariushSur laquelle se trouve une 6criture cun6iformeet qui avait semble-t-ildes pouvoirsmagiques. La responsabilit6 fondationspieuses6tait un accueilchaleureux des despdlerinset des6trangers, tenuedesc6r6monies deuil danstoute la du la p6riodede I'ann6e-deux fois par semaineet durant la p6riodede Moharam(Ashura),-la direction bibliothdque, de fairedesvaisselles la et preparation th6, du caf6 et du narguil6dansI'anciennecour.Le docudu ment le plus exact qui existe Depuis 150 ans et montre le fait que l'organisationdu sanctuaire 6tait sousla responsabilit6 religieux qui du dirigeait les pridresdesvendredis kerman,M. SeyedJavad datede 27 de septembre 1856.le total desrevenus6taienten ce moment-ld128Tomans et 600 dinarsen espdce 66 Kharvarsde bl6. Tousles membresavaient et un salairepr6cis.Parexemple,le DervicheMohammadcheragh recevait annuellement Tornans espdce 1 Kharvar de bl6. on d6pensait 12 en et 36 Tomanspour les frais de lumidre et d'huile de ricin et 4 Tomanspour le th6 et le caf6 , 8 Tomanspour les meches. Haje SayahMahalati qui 6tait all6 20 ansaprdscettedated Kerman, 6crit:Le fils de derviche MohammadAli,FarashAstaneh au service 6tait deAgha Khan Mahalatien Inde. Le prix du toile qui couvraitle tombeau du sanctuaire 6tait 100 Tomanset Mirza Issa vazir qui 6tait en exil au Kerman,l'avait pay6en 1888.

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VaIi on Nematollah TlrcSccorrd lntentational Sunruosiunr Shah

de Il faut noter que ce mollah responsable la pridre de vendredi6tait connusd Kerman et on allume encoredes cierges l'un clespcrsonnages Il sur sorltombeau. 6tait marie avecla fille Ibrahim Khan Zahirolldolleh, la smur de l-laie MohammadKarim Khan, le chef des shaykhis.Il a eu une grande maison dans le quartier zoroastriende zarissefqui est aujourd'hui,le bureaucentralde I'universit6de Kerman. ann6es disson 6tait pendantquelques I-lajeMollah Hady Sabzevari ciple. Il avait eu un contactavectous les groupessurtoutles soufis. ll erlployait toujoursdesvers de Molavi et du Hafezlors de sesprdches le 3 et il dit quependants moisdhiversil commentait premierversdemathnavi. qu'un jour le fils de Agha SeyedHusseinqui lui Il a 6te rapport6 pour diriger la pridre du vendredi,avait dit d son pdre: succddera rigides et fanatiques Mon cher pdre,dansun pays oir des personnes ,par peur de se souiller,prennentle livre de Mowlana avecune pince et Hafez,est-ceune bonneattitudede citer tant de vers de ces nraudissent durant les pr6ches? deux poetes M. SeyedJavadauraitrepondu: "Mon fils, la bonneconvenance aucunrapportavecma mauvaise n'a situation". Tout le monde sait que ce vers appartientdHafez.

Notes ' :' ' Resuurcdu discoursprononccau congrds. Pro{isscur ii luniversit6de T6h6ran. zoroastrienne page 828: un sujet plus 6tonnant,Cohar, accoucheuse .lrmcoll uroghadamat pour une accoucheuse, avait fait le vau rpti ctair elle-nt6mest6rilc, et cela est un ddsastre quc si ellc dcvenaitenceinte, de elle illumineraitle sanctuaire ShaykhAli Babaconnucomme avecun moteur dlectriqueet elle a ShaykhGavri (C. 'f. D ShaykhdesGabres-zoroastriens) de Elle avait illumin6 le sanctuaire Shaykh. le disciple cniantecet avait tcnu sa promesse. de ShahNcmatollah vali qui etait situe dans le six kilomdtresde segotch(mahan. Principcsde l'tvolution de la tol6rancedansI'histoire dc Kerman. in contactsbetweenculpp. nrrcs.Editcdby A.Harrak, 1992,Ontario,Canada 374-383. Habibollsiar Rozatollsafa. Nafalratollonsc. et l-cs docuntcntset les sourccsutilis6esdans le principe de cet article sont en persan. Vali, 6dit6par JeanAubin, p. I 12. iloges dc ShahNenratollah (iuidc spirituel. pagc370,un rappottde l'6vdnement d6sert. du

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Vll dorantcp. 669. r" Morshcdolldin lshaqhBahrami.

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Lovers, ours is a different language seekers,ours is a different sign

O nightingales, ours is a sweeter song for our rose garden is in a different land O sweet tongued Khosrow and sweet scented Joseph and all you sugar loving parrots ours is a different tongue since love was revealed, mv soul has been in love with the Beloved whether openly or secretly,ours is a different revelation the heavenly sun resides in the forth sky but the glorious sun of the Lovers is in a different sky this world is the territory of the body the soul is the territory of the heart but the placeless domain of the Lovers is a different territory drunken Lovers sit at the tavern's gates prayerful asceticsat their corner of solitude but our throne sits at a different gate the Master is my pain and my cure He is from a different reality my soul is devoted to Him for He is the soul of my soul poetryof ShahNematollah VaIi Selected by Trnnslntion VrajeAbramian
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