Mystical Literature
Year:2010 | Volume:1 | Issue:2|Papers Count:7

Joy is a positive state and an intrinsic part of mind. It is a range of both material and spiritual pleasures accompanied by happiness and other positive passions. In psychology it is based on positive mindset, in sociology on sense of well-being, and in Gnosticism and religion on fulfillment of God’s will. Examination of the historical attitude to joy in the Iranian culture and literature shows that the ancient Iranians were joyful people, and Iran was considered as a land of joy and worship. In the Sasaniyan period due to economic downfall and weakening of religious beliefs, and other transformations and events, the specter of insecurity engulfed the country. With the formation of Ghaznavi d, and even Samani d dynasties a new sense of security, as well as cultural and economic recovery emerged, but what constituted joy was essentially of an external type. However, the flourishing growth of the period did not last long and the subsequent political and social situation brought about a depressing atmosphere for the Iranians. In the same period determinism and subjectivism grew in Iran and joy took a subjective dimension to itself. Molavi, who grew up in such an atmosphere, and was under the tutelage of many scholars of the time, let joy run in his heart and reflected it in his poems. An examination of his poems shows that joy for him was of a subjective sort and concepts such as love, the beloved, and freedom from the self of fundamental importance. From Molavi’s viewpoint, love has multiple functions and the beloved gives meaning to life; thus, he endeavors to join his beloved so as to reach perfect self-actualization, and achieve everlasting joy.

The most important part of Ayn al- Quat’s intellectual system is based on Muhammad (pbuh) and his presence gives sense to almost all the terms and concepts in Ayn al- Quat’s works. To achieve knowledge and perceive manifestation of God’s beauty, a seeker has to come to an understanding of Muhammad’s position and behold meanings in the mirror of his existence. This article attempts to depict an overall picture of Muhammad’s demonstration in Ayn al- Quat’s writings by focusing on two important and detailed works of his: Tamhidat and Nameha. It concludes that while bestowing perfection and embellishment to all aspects of Ayn al- Quat’s ideology, Muhammad is regarded as a veil that must be left in order for the Beloved to be observed directly and the lover to be annihilated into His existence.

The Ghessat al-Ghorbat al-Gharbiya (Story of western alienation) is one of the most striking symbolic treatises of Sohrevardi. In this story, ‘sheikh of illumination’ depicts the meeting of the luminous human with its divine mate as a dream like experience in the form of a spiritual journey. It is the story of descent of soul and its captivity in the chains of material word. It portraits the carnal soul’s struggles in passing the obstacles and ends with arriving at Tour-e-Sina and the father’s mythical temple and visiting him. The archetypes have a special function in advancing the theme of this story and picturing its events. Therefore, a Jungian archetypal approach has been adopted. The archetypal situations and characters that have been considered specially are respectively as follows: quest and yearn, rebirth, journey, conversion of multiplicity to unity, passing through water and fire; and those of characters: the wise old man, anima, and shadow.

Shams al-din Mohammad Tabrizi is one of the greatest theosophists of the seventh century AH. He brought a fundamental transformation to the life and thoughts of Maulana Jalal al-din Muhammad. Arguably, the only work remained of Shams is Maghalat-e Shams Tabrizi which is a collection of his discussions with Maulana or his disciples written down by their students. However, Maulana’s Divan-e Shams is a dedication and allusion to Sham’s mysteries. Prophetic Hadith was of paramount importance for Shams. He believed that only the possessors of gnosis and those who are united with God can decipher the in depth meaning of Hadith. He revealed novel mysteries in prophetic Hadith which are not mentioned in Qur’an and were not noticed by his preceding Gnostics. In this paper, Sham’s approach to Hadith interpretation is discussed, and his hermeneutic methods toward it is analyzed.

Khorasan and Baghdad mystical schools are linked together by Jibāl (or the non-Arab Iraq) school. Many researchers have studied thoughts and works of the masters of Khorasan and Baghdad schools; nevertheless, several of the underlying intellectual and mystical structures of these schools still remain unknown. Consequently, these figures are usually considered as obscure masters, having eccentric ideas, even blamed or rejected by other masters.This article introduces one of the most prominent mystics of the late fourth and early fifth century AH, namely, Ja’far ibn Mohammad ibn Hossein Abhari, known as Baba Ja’far, the writer of Adab al-Foqara’ (The Manners of the Seekers of Truth).There is no trace of him and no mention of his book in Persian mystical texts. However, in some Arabic biographies or treatises written about Jibal school, Baba Ja’far has been regarded as a great mystic, poet, and scholar of Hadith, holding an important position in the mystical thought of that region. Basing the focus of this study on classical texts and sources, a new portrait of this mystic is being depicted.

This article is an attempt to analyze Mualana’s approach to the concept of inference or reasoning in Mathnavi. Primarily, the definition of inference is provided and its various types are distinguished, then, the application of each type is studied in Mathnavi and a number of examples are given to illustrate Maulana’s approach to the act of reasoning. Moreover, the relation between Maulana, the author, and his addressee’s conception is discussed in details. It is demonstrated that Maulana applied reasoning to enhance addressee’s conception rather than to prove a claim. He particularly applied logical reasoning, a common concept in ethics, which is comprised of diverse types such as, rational, traditional, or jointly. As a pulpit preacher, he employed parables and similes for rational argument, and cited Qur’an and Hadith for traditional argument.

Hadighe of Sana’i is one of the most ambiguous texts of Persian literature. The ambiguity of this book, which is the first mystic collection in Persian language, does not result from the usage of complex words or imageries, but from the high simplicity of its language. The frequent use of spoken language and dialects of those years, transference, omission and abbreviations in sentence structures, and moreover, application of expressions, ironies and common definitions of oral culture, has made it difficult for the today readers of this text to find the relation between sentences and their elements even after several readings. Hastily writing, and leaving texts unrevised, the common characteristic of historical books and biographies, can be named as the other cause of the ambiguity of this text.