پژوهشنامه عرفان
سال یکم شماره 1 (پاییز و زمستان 1388)

Self-knowledge has always been a serious preoccupation of the thinkers and wayfarers. This knowledge becomes more necessary when it is intertwined with the knowledge of the Lord. As a result many Muslim thinkers and gnostics (mystics) have tried to offer a proper interpretation of the following tradition: One who has gained knowledge of himself has indeed known his Lord.The present paper is an attempt to depict the fundamental differences affecting the understanding of the tradition in order to offer a principled method for the comprehension of this tradition and an organized classification of diverse and at times contradictory interpretations of the said tradition. To achieve such a criterion, besides paying special attention to some delicate aspects of each component of the Tradition, attempts have been made to analyze the quality of syntax, the way of interdependence of self-knowledge and knowledge of the Lord as well as the intervention of the longitudinal gradation of understanding and so on.

Supplication and prayer, as mediums between man and God, are among important issues of religion and are among the prime, most sublime and intimate symbols and embodiments of religion which permeate our lives as blood circulates in our vein. Jalaluddin Mawlawi is among the well-known figures who have explained the secrets of supplication and prayer in the profoundest manner. He maintains that God is the initiator of prayer and supplication, for He is the One who created the feeling of need in man. Hence, any prayer or supplication is an outcome of God's favor. In Mawlawi's viewpoint, supplication is a light which has been lit by God in the universe to take all human beings out of darkness.The present paper is an attempt to explain the viewpoints of Mawlawi about the concept and significance of supplication, real supplication, initiator of supplication, incentive, kinds, rituals and acceptance of supplication as well as its role in changing a divine decree.

Theoretical mysticism has two main pillars: theology (monotheism or Unity of God) and anthropology (monotheist). Other vast and expansive issues related to theoretical mysticism stem from these two principles. Anthropology gains more importance when it enters the realm of understanding perfect man. In this realm, knowledge of perfect man is transformed into one of the most fundamental pillars of theoretical mysticism, for perfect man is the manifestation of all the divine names and attributes and all seen and unseen manifestations of Essence of Divine Unity and also encompasses all levels of theology. In this perspective, perfect man is the focal point of theoretical mysticism and knowledge of perfect man is knowledge of Unity of God as well. Perfect man enjoys such characteristics as comprehensive being, medium of divine favor, compatible with the macrocosm and absolute Wilaya. The aim of the present paper is to explain these features.

Attempts have been made in the present paper to explain the differences between jurisprudential and mystical approaches to man through a historic-analytical study of the jurisprudential and mystical doctrines by relying on the achievements of psychology and religious teachings. Such issues as looking at man through a singular approach, attitude of citizenship towards him, inattention or lopsided attention to psychological types of human beings by jurisprudence and jurisprudent on the one hand and attention to differences between human beings, individuality, heeding psychological types of human beings in mystical approach and by mystics on the other are among the issues discussed in the present paper.

The main objective of the present paper is to explain Imam Khomeini's stance on the religious Types and religious institutions. In order to achieve this goal Imam Khomeini's poems have been analyzed. The findings of the present paper show that the basis of Imam's doctrine of social mysticism is honesty or sincerity which is in contrast with hypocrisy. Opposition to hypocrisy and its manifestations among the religious types has caused proximity of his poems to the blamer's poetry genre. At times, the Imam considers mosque, seminary and Khaniqah as places of hypocrisy and religious pretentions, which spread traps in the way of true wayfarers, preventing them from wayfaring.

Given the multiplicity of the meanings and referents of art and its deterioration in some intellectual and practical fields, it is necessary to rediscover this concept compatible with its genuine examples which nurtures true beauty in itself in order to introduce its sublime glory which is being sacrificed (victimized) in the slaughter house of false referents. Once this meaning is achieved, a theoretical analysis of music too will enjoy a special status, for the inspiring aspects of music will endow it with a sublimating role. This sublimation will bear fruit in the revival of love and expression of the truth and thereby the wayfarer of the abode the Friends would compensate the agony of estrangement with the ghazal of feeling of being present in His presence as well as through the music of being with Him which promotes love and knowledge.

One of the important issues of philosophy of mysticism is the nature of intuition and witness or mystical experience. There are two predominant viewpoints about this issue: essentialism and constructivism.The Present Paper is an attempt to study the viewpoints of Suhrawardi about the nature of mystical experience. The hypothesis of the present paper is that according to Suhrawardi mystical experiences despite their vast diversity enjoy common attributes which have been experienced in different traditions in the course of history; hence his viewpoints are closer to the essentialist approach.