مجله پژوهش های ادب عرفانی (گوهر گویا)
سال پانزدهم شماره 1 (پیاپی 46، بهار و تابستان 1400)

Tazkereh al-Awliya, which is the most important work of Attar's prose and one of the greatest texts of mystical prose, has the potential to study intertextual relations with other works of mystics as well as Attar's own Mathnawi. This descriptive-comparative study aims to show the textual relationship of 51 joint anecdotes of Tazkereh-al-Awliya and Attar's Mathnawiswith the hypertext approach, one of the five pillars of Gérard Genette’s theory of transtextuality. The results of the research show a broad relationship between Tazkereh Al-Awliya and Attar’s Mathnawis. Both types of hypertext, homogeneity, and tragedy, are observed in these works. This connection is more than the type of tragedy, and among Attar's Mathnawis, Al-Tair, Elahinameh, Misibatnameh, and Asrarnameh, respectively, have the highest percentage of common anecdotes with Tazkereh al-Awliya.

The narration of "Laylat al-Ta'ris" is one of the famous tales that not only has a great reputation throughout the history of Islam and is mentioned in most Islamic sources and texts, but also has found its way into the poetry of great poets in Persian literature, such as Rumi. Of course, due to the differences in the original tale narrated by the narrators, as well as issues such as the infallibility of the Prophet (PBUH) and absence of errors in him, and such cases as narrators’ forgery or dissimulation, there have always been many opponents and supporters of the mentioned narration. Therefore, in the present study, Rumi's mystical approach was addressed through the documentary method, besides analyzing and assessing this hadith in Islamic texts and sources, as well as regarding the common differences between Sunnis and Shiites in the Prophet’s infallibility. Regardless of the opponents and supporters’ opinions and ideas, Rumi, in his Masnavi, has mostly sought to mystically analyze and explain this tale, nurture long and delicate mystical meanings, and pay more attention to its inner meaning and interpretation but less attention to its appearance and literality. He has mostly paid attention to the spiritual, faithworthy, moral, and mystical benefits of the narration and considered the Prophet’s dream as a kind of immersion, annihilation, and mystical experience, which indicate his state of connection to the Almighty God at all times. In fact, Rumi has been able to put an end to discourses and disputes over this issue with his mystical approach.

The issue of the sovereignty of Sheikh Safi al-Din Ardabili, the ancestor of the Safavids, is one of the most controversial issues in Safavid history. The major document for recognizing the genealogy of the Safavids is the book called Safwat al-Safa, which was written by Ibn Bazzaz Ardabili (authored in 759 AH) in his translation of Sheikh Safi-al-Din’s life, sayings, and virtues, but has been subjected to many encroachments from the very beginning. To resolve the disputes related to Sheikh Safi al-Din’s sovereignty, the authors of this article decided to clarify the situations of the mentioned Sheikh’s sovereignty and the Safavid dynasty via their genealogy and scriptological assessments of the different manuscripts of Safwat al-Safa, thus reflecting the mentioned changes in the Safavid sources. Our scriptological studies were indicative of the traces of Sheikh Safi al-Din's sovereignty in a manuscript so similar to that of the authors. There were seen gradual and step-by-step efforts of Safavid religious leaders to emphasize his sovereignty and attribute it to Husseini sovereignty in the pre-Safavid manuscripts, as well as Mir abol-Fath's conscious and sudden efforts to complete his claim of Sheikh Safi al-Din's sovereignty by attributing his ancestors and descendents to Husseini sovereignty and ascribing Sheikh Zahed Gilani, his master and father-in-law, to the household of sovereignty in Safavid manuscripts. Hence, the aim of Safavid religious leaders was to prove Sheikh Safi al-Din’s sovereignty and supremacy of Safavid religious path over those of other sheikhs and mystical sects by attributing his sovereignty to Husseini sovereignty, while Mir abol-Fath's purpose was to prove attributions of Sheikh Safi al-Din to Husseini sovereignty and Safavid rulers to Sheikh Safi al-Din, thus introducing them as followers of the infallible Imams’ paths throughout the current era of the last Imam’s absence so as to rule Iran and gain political legitimacy. The historians’ discrepant and contradictory attitudes about Sheikh Safi al-Din’s sovereignty were found to have been reflected in the historical sources. Accordingly, historical sources are divided into the three categories of silent, hesitant, and affirmative sources.

An ecstatic utterance (shath) is one of the undeniable elements in Islamic Sufism. Khorasanians have been supporters of shath and most of shaths have been narrated from Sufis of Khorasan. Bayazid Bastami, the leader of the Khorasanians, has mentioned many shaths, one of the most important of which is Sobhani Sobhani Ma'azam Shani. This shath was highly regarded in Sufi circles and created many opponents as well as proponents. Shams Tabrizi is among those who have paid attention to Bayazid's sublime shaths. Shams' critical view in Sufism has also been extended to the category of shath by  examining  the specificity of Bayazid’s shath from various perspectives. In the present study, the sayings of the elders about Bayazid's shaths, in general, and Sobhani Bayazid's shaths, in particular, are studied. Specifically, Shams Tabrizi's views on  Bayazid's remarks have been examined. An examination of Shams’ views in this regard shows that he was aware of Bayazid’s predecessors’ views. However,  by removing shath from the circle of Sharia and custom, he removes shath from the mystical discourse and criticizes Bayazid and his shaths.

Determinism and free will have always been  among the most important and controversial issues of ideology of Muslims. They have historically provoked various disputes and judgments among the thinkers of theology, philosophy, and mysticism. The theological theory of the Mu'tazilites and Ash'arites on this subject comes to the fore by acknowledging the issue of duality between the obligated man and God. However, each endeavor ultimately leads to a different answer to the question of how the obligated man is related to God. By presupposing independence of Man from God and looking at them as two separate facts, theologians have tried to examine the issue of determinism and free will in a way that they do not face any problems in justifying the discussion of obligation and punishment for deeds in addition to preserving both the appearances of narrative and rational arguments based on the refusal of reincarnation and unity of God and Man. By relying on their intuitive experience of their unity with the absolute existence of God in the position of nearness to the supererogatory (Nawafil), mystics have presented another presentation of the relationship between Man and God. For Islamic theologians, determinism and free will are reasonable additions to the two independent parties of God and the obligated human being, whose duality is assumed to be certain, while mystics consider creatures as a ray of God’s absolute existence according to their intuitive experience of the way of relation between God and Man. They deny realization of a reasonable addition in the light of such a unity since a reasonable addition can be only imagined between two separate and independent issues, while they do not believe in the realization of such independence on both sides of the relationship between God and Man according to their theory of existence. Mystics examine the issue of determinism and free will in the light of the unity of God and slavery to Him, which is revealed in nearness to the supererogatory. In this view, which arises from a chimerical experience, they speak of a kind of determination that occurs due to separation from their own human attributes and annihilation in God considering the position of nearness to the supererogatory. To achieve this position, such annihilation and appearance of God’s attributes inside their hearts are required. Here, mystics deny their free will as an attribute of human nature. Moreover, they introduce their own free will as a description of God’s attributes that is manifested in them considering appearance of God’s names in their hearts and the fact that their creation has been reflected in the form of truth.

The fame and greatness of the Ashura event, with its wide and unique dimensions, caused it not to be far from the taste and intuition of mysticism. Among all different historical periods, the Qajar period has received less attention from scholars of mysticism and Sufism in Shiite ritual poetry (Ashura poetry). In this historical period, with the arrival of the manifestations of modernity in Iran, we face many changes in all dimensions and aspects of politics, economics, etc. but it was not easy to accept modern Western culture and civilization with its secularist characteristics in a society whose foundation was based on religious beliefs. Hence, Ashura poetry struggled with the manifestations of modernity in the contemporary world with a mystical approach. The reflection of this opposition can be well seen in Ganjinat Al-Asrar of Amman Samani. The present study has been done using a descriptive-analytical approach based on library data. It answers the question of how the confrontation between the tradition and the manifestations of Western modernity in the Qajar period and in the Ashura mystical poetry of this period has emerged. The results of the study indicate that in these poems, unity, love, and attention to the collective spirit in the uprising of Imam Hussein (AS) as the manifestation of the perfect man are in opposition to the manifestations of Western modernity.

‘Observation and certainty’ is a mystical condition. Mystics observe the intuitions of manifestations and confidently call the proof of the truth of things, without any doubt (certainty). In this comparative study, the authors, while examining the type of Ibn Arabi and Rumi's perception of the mystical state of ‘observation’ and ‘certainty’, have revealed the common and different thoughts, beliefs, and experiences of these two scholars in the field of Sufism and Islamic mysticism. This study is based on the descriptive-analytical method, explaining the commonalities and structural and general differences. The results of the study show that Ibn Arabi and Rumi use observation in relation to manifestation. They believe that observation is about observing the manifestations of God, not God himself. However, Ibn Arabi presents a different discussion of revelation and believes that revelation is higher than observation. In describing the first and second levels of certainty, Rumi presents two aspects of knowledge and insight, and both thinkers believe that it is certain that man has some vision and insight. Moreover, the last point regarding ‘certainty’ is when God puts the mystic in the essence of the work and in the occurrence of a mandatory sentence. Ibn Arabi tries not to step outside the scope of Shari'a in explaining certainty. That is why, in his view, certainty has a religious and mystical value, the condition of which depends on worship.

Unfortunately, the life of Shams Tabrizi (After 645 AH) has many unknowns during the months of his stay in Konya, despite the wonderful events in this period. The present descriptive-analytical study aims to illuminate the dark corners of Shams Tabrizi's life and show the correctness and inaccuracy of information and narrations related to his destiny based on library sources. First, three reasons for the enmity of people of Konya with Shams during his short stay in this city are presented and explained including 1) unfamiliarity with the mystical position of Shams as a Vali-e Mastur, 2) Shams' social behavior, 3) the provocations of Alaeddin Muhammad, the eldest son of Rumi. The enmity of the people of Konya with Shams could not have ended happily, and it could not be eliminated except in his absence. Shams' sudden absence from Konya in 645 AH heated up the market of myths and rumors about his fate. Some believed that Shams was killed in a conspiracy in which Alaeddin was also involved, and others believed that he was forced to emigrate voluntarily from Konya to Tabriz. Hence, according to some, Shams grave is in Konya and according to others, in Khoy. Acceptance of any of these views will require reasonable reasons to be given for Shams to suffer such a fate. Despite the difficulty of the issue, especially due to the silence of authentic documents and works, an attempt has been made to evaluate or correct the existing narrations related to these issues, and express the most authentic ones.

In most mystical texts, following the words of Fakhreddin Ali Safi in the book Rashahat Ain al-Hayat, which is one of the most important primary sources of the Naqshbandi order, it is stated that the first eight principles presented by Khwajeh Abdul Khaliq Ghijduvani, the head of the Khwajagan, are: awareness while breathing, watching the step, journeying in the homeland, solitude in the assembly, remembrance, restraint, watchfulness, and recollection. Baha'u'ldin Naqshband, the head of Naqshbandiyya has added the three principles of numerical, temporal, and hearty waqf. Given that none of the works of Ghijduvani and Yousef Hamedani mention these principles, the research question of the present descriptive-analytical study is whether this attribution, which has been followed by almost all scholars, is correct, and whether a sign of these principles can be found among the works of the Ghijduvani successors. To answer this question, all the ancient works of the Khwajagan and Naqshbandi orders that could be accessed (both manuscripts and printed copies) were studied. It was concluded that these eight terms were created by the Khwajagan of the seventh and eighth centuries AH, which gradually have been formed and accepted among them. The terms have been attributed to the ancestors of their dynasty. The oldest source that can be cited is the book Maslak al-Arifin, in which these terms were first mentioned.

Bahr ul- Mahabbah fi Asrar el-Mavaddah is one of the Sufi commentaries in Arabic. In this text, Surah Yusuf has been interpreted in a simple and pleasant structure and prose. Also, it has some mystical points, allusions, speechs, and anecdotes from some great mystics or about them. This text is important, but we do not have any good revised and printed works from the manuscripts. This work has been known as a text by Abu ul-Futuh Ahmad or Abu Hamed Ghazzali as mentioned in some manuscripts and their indexes and some later writers’ views. The present article was written to prove the truth or falsity of this claim for the first time. According to the previous scholars’ views about Ghazali brothers’ works, as well as a comparative content analysis of Bahr ul- Mahabbah fi Asrar el-Mavaddah with the interpretations of Ghazali brothers’ most important and appropriate works, it could be concluded that this was incorrect. In other words, this work could not be from either of Ghazali's two brothers. We also used analysis of textual relationships between this work and the most comprehensive interpretations of Surah Yusuf in earlier centuries, namely Ons al-Muridin and Rawdat al-Muhebbin, Ghesseye Yusuf and Hadayegh al-Haghaegh. It seemed that the recognition of each of Ghazali's two brothers as the author of this work was due to their being prominence among the first scholars and Sufis. This article was written based on the content analysis method.

Masnavi is full of psychological concepts that indicate Rumi’s careful and continuous thoughts, as well as his consideration of the different dimensions of the human spirit. The present research studied Masnavi from the perspective of the first principle of the psychological approach of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) through an analytical-comparative method. Rumi and the ACT theoreticians both believe that facing life suffering is inevitable for mankind and it must be thus accepted. In this way, humans can move towards spiritual and psychological developments. Both views use allegory to convince the audience. Rumi uses such concepts as destiny and naturalness of suffering in life to prepare the audience for acceptance. In this research, the two concepts of repentance in Islamic thought and acceptance in the ACT approach were comparatively studied. The difference in these two views stems in their ultimate goals. The main goal of ACT is to provide a satisfying material life and individual growth, but Rumi’s mystical view, which has been focused on pleasing God and reaching an eternal life in the other world, is more general. However, both views move in the same direction and pay attention to the human spirit, growth, and excellence. Considering the religious and mystical backgrounds of Iranian people, the ACT psychotherapists in Iran can well benefit from Masnavi as a Persian literary heritage.

The significant point of Rumi’s stance towards language is narrativity, openness, and its relation with the truth. Rumi considers language not only as a tool for realization and mutual understanding but also as the human nature. For him, the manifestation and disguise of the truth are properties of language. Besides, Heidegger believes that “language speaks” and the human essence is expressive and above all “language is the house of Being”. Since the human neighbors and coexists with language, he is summoned to the dwelling place of Being. Language names things and opens them as they are. To comparatively study Rumi and Heidegger’s views about language and its relation with the truth, this research applies the content analysis methodology. What makes this comparative research possible is that both Rumi and Heidegger link the question of language to the manifestation of existence and creatures and the relation of language to the truth. The ontological components and elements of language in the views of two thinkers are comparable in different ways, including the openness of language, the opposition of word and meaning, unity in terms of language, silence, the origin of language, the inherent limits of language and the relation of language with Being, and truth and thought.