The Concept of Perfect Man from the viewpoint of Azīz ibn Muhammad Nasafī

"Perfect Man" is a significant term in Islamic mysticism which was used for the first time by Muhī al-Dīn ibn al-Arabī, a prominent Muslim mystic of 13th century C.E. After ibn al-Arabī, this concept was received and developed by his disciples and the followers of his mystical school. Nasafī, in his works, focuses on this concept and in its exposition, he considers two degrees or two variants for the Perfect Men in the hierarchy of human perfection: Perfect Men and free Perfect Men. For Nasafī Perfect Man is one who perfectly possesses these four qualities: good speech, good deed, good moral and good cognition. Therefore a Perfect Man should be perfect in Islamic law (sharī‘ah), mystical path (tarīqah) and the truth (haqīqah). The free Perfect Man is a higher degree than the Perfect Man. He should possess eight qualities: good speech, good deed, good moral, good cognition, voluntary abstinence (tark), living in seclusion (‘uzlah), contentment (qinā‘t) and inactivity (khumūl). This essay tries to survey the significant concept of "Perfect Man" from the viewpoint of Azīz Nasafī, a mystic who mostly has been ignored in the scholastic studies.