نشریه عرفان اسلامی
پیاپی 15 (بهار 1387)

One of the greatest Iranian and Islamic mystics of the second half of the Fourth Century A.H., Ahmad Ibn Mohammad Bin Fazl, known as Sheikh Abul Abbass Nahavandi, was born in Nahavand city (now in Hamadan province) and was passed away over there, too. Attar Nayshaboori called him as the "Mohtasham of time", "Friendship Mecca", "and "Generosity Kiblah", while Abdurrahman Jami talked about him as "the chief" and "spiritual guide" who was the unique man of his time. Sheikh Abulabbas had a tie of friendship with the well known mystic, Babakoohi Shirazi (deceased in 422 A.H.) and was the chief and spiritual guide to Sheikh Akhi Faraj Zanjani. He is the follower of Sheikh Jafar Kholdi, one of the famous mystics. There are quotations and sentences left about them in the ancient resources of mysticism and there are also narratives about the behavior and greatness that have been mentioned in Tazkaratol Oliya by Attar Nayshaboori, and Jami's Nafahatol Ons, and other ones.

One of the radical and historical questions in the realm of Islamic mysticism is the relation between "Mysticism and Politics" that have always been viewed and thought and originated the opinions and ideas by wise persons, philosophers, spirituals and government officials that both through inner mystical approach and outer one could face the interactions of theories and knowledge based challenges; that is to say, Does mysticism which is out of virtuality, solitude and ecstasy, attraction, and spiritual behavior, could mingle with politics which has something to do with outer social phenomenon associated with public society and human subsistence? The paper evaluated the intrinsic items and elements of mysticism and politics and the existing relation between internal and external province and going through spiritual escalations and behavior via social organization and policy making, by which the already posed questions were dealt with from the pure Islamic mysticism and the tradition and behavior of the great prophet and his family members, and some of their disciples, leading to this conclusion that in the original Islamic mysticism, behavior and politics, spirituality and management, traveling from people to God and traveling from God back to people with God, pain of people and God, introversion and extroversion, and so on, are entirely interconnected and basically external province is impossible without internal province and the total barrier on the juxtaposition of spiritual behavior and politics stems from the misunderstanding of each one of mysticism and politics and the historical functionalities and mystics who due to the occasions then and lack of a comprehensive knowledge of provincial-Quranic mysticism.This paper studies and criticizes both approaches of the historic- social views and wise recognition of opponents and proponents of mysticism politics relation and then proposes five points to complete the conceptual and evidential proof of the two-fold theory and the relation and the healthy interaction of mysticism and politics to the scholars of spirituality and recognition leaving them to decide.

One of the stabilizing means of scientific and artistic life of each nation is to associate with the mental and artistic flows of the world. The kind of relation that while keeping and strengthening the originality of one self, together with scientific resources one can keep on tracking the innovation and novelty. Undoubtedly, what reflects mostly the depth of nation morale and affects it is its literature.In comparative literature, in order to recognize again the originality and the relevant equalities and inequalities, a new comparison is made between Manteqal Tayr, the valuable work in mysticism and Persian Literature, and one of the most famous literary works in English Literature. The result is this paper introducing primarily and mostly Geoffrey Chaucer known as the father of English Literature and his Parlement of Foules, and while admitting the deep knowledge of the readers of Mysticism Quarterly about the life and mystical character of Attar as well as his works, briefly they are compared.

The paper tries to depict a common dialogue between Islam and Christianity--oriental- - that is crystallized in Sufism and Hesychasm. Despite their lots of commonalities in mystical views, the paper deals with three kinds of trainings in them: heart, chief, and praise. In both religions, heart is the central area of physical and spiritual living and the place for the emergence of God and a destination for mystics, and chief is a guide for disciple's mystical destination, namely God in the depth of human heart, without which the pupil is involved in mental turbulence and satanic cruelties, and praise is a means of entering into the heart.

The background of mystical thoughts could be traced back in the Iranian beliefs along with the existence of Zoroaster in the Iranian society. Mani who up rose to reform the Zoroastrian society was impressed by the earlier Gnosticism and had very strong mystical beliefs. His faith was a combination of Christian solidarity and Iranian beliefs based on Mesopotamian ancient attitudes that were formed into intentional mystical beliefs. He endeavored to extend the previous mystical generosities into a religious formation. Mystical blending of religion and knowledge is emerged in Mani's beliefs on which he set his teachings impressed by Gnostic mentality. Ethics and mysticism maintained the effect of the mystics and Sufis of later period due to the influence of Manichaean trainings. Asceticism and monastic life available in his trainings is a solid formation of a Gnostic attitude that by the emergence of Islam the mystical Manichaean doctrine brought its influence so that some of their mentalities have some identical points as those of Manichaean and Gnostic in particular.

Generosity or manliness is a valuable quality, a requirement for human community, a mental and cultural element for the society, a living style of prophets and saints as approved by the divine religions and divine books, especially the great Koran. Generosity rule is a philanthropic establishment and association that is achieved through a gathering of young, brave, and healthy men with a good will intention for the betterment and welfare of the public and contribution to the oppressed and miserable individuals in predicament. Generosity is a religious, social, and sufi expression fashionable after the emergence of Sufism before any approaches in the Islamic countries and due to its attribution to the divine great prophets is considered as superior to any available methods. Among the concepts and available topics it has the most congruity and relation and interaction with Sufism and mysticism while being an important aspect of the social history of Sufism in Iran. It has been acting as the friend to the dastardliness, hardship, and miserableness, serving the public and the most effective morale and a means of sustaining the national and religious, Islamic and Iranian morality as well as resistance and uprising against oppressors and strangers. The rebellion of Saffarian, Sarbedaran, Marashian, and Safavids was conducted through the contribution and leadership of Sufism and generosity. Interaction and marriage between generosity and Sufism is more than any other placed in Khorasan Province and has had a lofty position in the religious and national literature of Iran.

Having no intention to prove Sufism of Sadi the poet, the paper tries to project the mystical elements of Golestan, his work, to illustrate the dependency of such a great Persian poet on such an intellectual trend of the Islamic world. Since the association of the writer of Golestan has been posed to such a worldview and some have been talking for and a group against, the contradictory opinions have been pointed out in the paper in order to clarify the background life and mentality of the poet.The above points have been in discussion to find out despite the fact that Sadi was prone to the worldview and makes use of it in his own personal life, the social aspect of it was not forgotten and he demonstrated that in the public life of his time.To depict the Sadi's tendency toward the mystical worldview in Golestan, there would be an excursion in his book indicating his points in terms of mystical recognition of the Creator, seclusion, building oneself, peace of mind, interaction of Dervish and Ascetic and rulers to show contentment, magnanimity of taste of Dervishes and their valor to tell the truth, neglecting everything but God, disposition, singing, ascending to the quarters of the world deemed as earlier stages on self evolution, sufi poverty and avoiding Epicureanism.

From Rumi’s viewpoint, movement of stars and heavenly bodies is a kind of thrilling one, evolutionary and lovely one, and subordinate to the human heart and inter-fingers of God. At first, movement of stars and heavenly bodies acts as circumference, and then heart impression of human being as the center of the universe. The circumference and continuous contents of such a movement in which every living thing is surrounded between the circumference and the center as the seekers of God they follow Him in their spiritual journeys. Such a rotary movement requires both centrifuge and hanging forces. Everyone is centrifuging while hanging to God, thus causing them to deterministically and optionally go around Him.Human in this rotation acts as the end point of the descending arc and the starting point of the ascending are of the creation because other points of the circle is the remedy of the his incurableness, humbleness and servitude and necessity.On this account, the whole human beings are metamorphosized to His command and are dancing in leaving the path from to perfection.He deems divine guidance to be subject to His favor and believes in a host of spiritual instruction. He believes in relieving an inner light, stating clearly that human salvation doesn’t come from commands and prohibitions other pepole, but it stems from the inner light. That’s why he assumes the illusion, thought, sensation, and comprehension of we human being to be that flute: wooden compound of street children, and he pays no heed to our realization by those means.Jalaleddin takes sin as another type of worship. He even assumes repent to be another kind of repent.In his opinion, since sin is per se nothing different from His will, thus it is another manifest of obedience. In short, in Rumi’s view, human school of thoughts and religion look as if they are concentric circles in which, both small and bigger ones, near and far, are rotating around His tip of compass. Rumi has picked out the love religion which though it covers all of the above, it is totally separate.Without any concealing affair, he declares that the whole colors of the intuition world can achieve unity within His uni-color.The only way he knows to be exonerated from incongruity and diversity is getting to entire unity with God.