The Heritage of Sufism, Volume II: The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism (1150-1500)

453 Pages·1999·20.47 MB·English

by  Leonard Lewisohn

THE HERITAGE
OF SUFISM
Volume I, Classical Persian Sufism from its Origins to Rumi (700-1300),
ISBN 1-85168-188-4
Volume 11, The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism (1150-1500),
ISBN 1-85 168-189-2
Volume 111, Late Classical Persianate Sufism (1501-1 750),
ISBN 1-85168-193-0
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THE HERITAGE
OF SUFISM
O N E W O R L D
O X F O R D
THE HERITAGE OF SUFISM
VOLUME I1
Oneworld Publications
(Sales and Editorial)
185 Banbury Road
Oxford OX2 7AR
England
www.oneworld-publications.com
0 Leonard Lewisohn 1999
Converted to digital printing 2003
All rights reserved.
Copyright under Berne Convention.
A CIP record for this title is available
from the British Library.
This book has been produced in association with
the Centre of Near and Middle Eastern Studies,
SOAS, University of London.
Reproduction of the illustrations
has been made possible by a generous grant
from the British Institute of Persian Studies.
ISBN 1-85168-189-2
Cover design by Design Del~lxe
NL08
Contents
List of Illustrations .................................................................................v.i.i. ..
...
List of Contributors ...............................................................................v..m...
System of Transliteration ........................................................................i.x.. ...
Preface to the First Edition .......................................................................x. ....
Preface to this Edition ...............................................................................x.i ii
Foreword:
Two Approaches to the Principle of the Unity of Being
.....................................................................
DR. JAVAD NURBAKHSH ..XV
I. INTRODUCTION & HISTORICALO VERVIEW
Introduction:
Persian Sufi Literature: Its Spiritual and Cultural Significance
SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR ...................................................................1.. ...
Overview: Iranian Islam and Persianate Sufism
LEONARD LEWISOHN ......................................................................1..1..
11. POETICS & IMAGERY
Yasuf in Mawlana Rumi's Poetry
ANNEMARIE SCHIMMEL .................................................................4..5.. .
Ecstasy and Order: Two Structural Principles
in the Ghazal Poetry of Jald al-Din Rumi
JOHANN CHRISTOPH BURGEL ............................................................6. .1
The Qalandariyyat in Persian Mystical Poetry, from Sana'i Onwards
J. T. P. DE BRUUN .............................................................................7..5..
111. BETWEEN HISTORY & HAGIOGRAPHY
The Huriifi Legacy of Fadlullah of Astarabad
H. T. NORRIS .......................................................................................8..7
Diverse Tastes in the Spiritual Life:
Textual Play in the Diffusion of Rumi's Order
VICTORIA HOLBROOK ......................................................................... 99
Sayyid 'All Hamadcini and Kubrawi Hagiographical Traditions
DEVIN DeWEESE ................................................................................1 2 1
Authority and Miraculous Behavior:
Reflections on Karbat Stories of Khwaja 'Ubaydulkah Ahrar
JO-ANN GROSS ................................................................................I.5.. 9
Shah Ni 'matullak Wali: Founder of the Ni 'matullcihiS ufi Order
TERRY GRAHAM ..........................................................................1...7. 3
Sufism in Sa 'di, and Sa'di on Sufism
HOMA KATOUZIAN ........................................................................1..9. 1
Contents
IV. METAPHYSICS& ONTOLOGY
Spectrums of Islamic Thought: Sa 'id al-Din Farghani
on the Implications of Oneness and Manyness
WILLIAM C. CHITTICK ...................................................................2..0..3
The Futiihgt Makkiyya and its Commentators:
Some Unresolved Enigmas
MICHEL CHODKIEWICZ ................................................................2..1..9
The Sophianic Feminine in the Work
of Ibn 'Arabi and Runzi
R. J. W. AUSTIN .............................................................................2..3..3..
The Neoplatonic Substrate of Suhrawardi's Philosophy
of Illumination: Falsafa as Tasawwuf
IAN RICHARD NETTON ....................................................................2.4..7
The Dawning Places of the Lights of Certainty in the Divine Secrets
Connected with the Commander of the Faithful by Rajab Bursi
B. TODD LAWSON ............................................................................2..6. 1
V. SUFI PRACTICE&S METHODOLOGY
What is Sufi Music?
JEAN DURING ..............................................................................2..7..7..
A Kubrawi Manual of Sufism: the Fusus al-%dabo f Yahya Bakharzi
MUHAMMAD ISA WALEY .................................................................2.8. 9
The Importance of the Spiritual Guide in the Naqshbandi Order
JOHAN G. J. TER HAAR ..................................................................3.. .1. 1
A Sufi Scientist of the Thirteenth Century: The Mystical Ideas
and Practices of Qu~abl -Din Shirizi
JOHN T. WALBRIDGE .....................................................................3..2..3.
"Mysteries of Marriage:" Notes on a Sufi Text
SACHIKO MURATA ........................................................................3..4..3.
VI. COMPARATIVREE LIGION& SYMBOLISM
The Symbolism of Birds and Flight
in the Writings of Rcizbihan Baqli
CARL W. ERNST .................................................................................3. 53
'Abd al-Rahman Chishti and the Bhagavadgita:
"Unity of Religion" Theory in Practice
RODERIC VASSIE .............................................................................3..6. 7
The Transcendental Unity of Polytheism and Monotheism
in the Sufism of Shabistari
LEONARD LEWISOHN ........................................................................3 79
Bibliography ..........................................................................................4..0..7.
Index of Places, Names, Technical Terms and Koranic References ..........4 19
Illustrations
Yusuj Mounted and Crowned. Encounters Zulaykha in the Street .....................5..1
Yusuf Sold as a Slave ......................................................................................5..2.. ...
Dervishes in Sam%'. .........................................................................................7...1.. .
Fakhr al-Din 'Iraqi with Qalandars on the Road to India ..................................8..3
Folio from the Javidgn-i kabir of Fadlullah Astarabadi ......................................8..8
Sayyid 'Ali Hamadani Addressing a Prince .....................................................1..3. 2
Portrait of Khwaja Ahrar ...............................................................................1..6..2.
Portrait of Shah Ni 'matullah Wali .................................................................1..7..5
Mausoleum of Shah Ni'matullah in Mahan, Iran .............................................1..7 9
Humam al-Din Tabrizi and Sa 'di in a Public Bath ...........................................1..9 4
Ibn 'Arabi Riding a Black Mule with two Students on Foot ..............................2..2 3
Diagram of the Soul's Progress .......................................................................2.2..4.
Shihab al-Din Yahya Suhrawardi in a Landscape ...........................................2..5. 0
The Prison where Suhrawardi Spent his Last Days in Aleppo, Syria ................2. 51
Sufis in Sam%'. ................................................................................................2.8..0..
Sayf al-Din Bcikharzi on Horseback Preceded by a Prince on Foot ................... 293
Khwaja Baha'al-Din Naqshband's Encounter with a Prince Carrying
a Green Fur-lined Robe .................................................................................3..1..3. .
Najm al-Din Kubra's Power of Domination over Animals .................................3 41
Frontpiece from a Manuscript of 'Attar's Mantiq al-tayr ................................3..5 4
Ruzbihan Baqli Preaching in Shiraz ...............................................................3..5..7
Mahmud Shabistart with Disciples ..................................................................3..8..4
Mahmud Shabistari Discoursing .....................................................................3..8.9.
Contributors
R.J. W. AUSTIN, Lecturer in Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Durham
Durham, England
JOHANN CHRISTOPH BURGEL, Professor, Head of Islamic Department, Bern
University, Switzerland
J.T.P. DE BRUIJN, Professor of Persian and Iranian Cultural History, Leiden
University, Leiden, The Netherlands
WILLIAM CCHITTICK, Professor of Religious Studies, State University of New
York, Stony Brook, New York
MICHEL CHODKIEWICZ, Professor, ~coled es Hautes ~tudese n Sciences
Sociales, University of Paris, Paris, France
DEWIN DeWEESE, Assistant Professor, Department of Uralic & Altaic Studies,
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana
JEAN DURING, Professor, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris;
Directeur de Recherche, UniversitC de Paris X
CARL W. ERNST, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Religion at Pomona College,
Claremont, California
TERRY GRAHAM, Editor, Persian Translation Series, Khaniqahi Nimatullahi
Publications, London, England
JO-ANN GROSS, Assistant Professor, Department of History at Trenton, State
College, Trenton, New Jersey
JOHAN G. J. TER HAAR, Lecturer, Department of Languages and Cultures of the
Middle EastJJniversity of Leiden, The Netherlands
VICTORIA HOLBROOK, Assistant Professor, Department of Judaic & Near
Eastern Languages &Literatures, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
HOMA KATOOZIAN, Former Professor of Economics, Kent University, England
B. TODD LAWSON, Assistant Professor, Department of Middle East & Islamic
StudiesJJniversity of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
LEONARD LEWISOHN, Research Associate, Institute of Ismaili Studies, Lon-
don, England
SACHIKO MURATA, Lecturer in Islam and Oriental Studies, State University of
New York, Stony Brook, New York
SEYYED HOSSEIN NASR, University Professor of Islamic Studies, The George
Washington University, Washington, D .C.
IAN RICHARD NETTON, Professor of Arabic Studies and Head of the Depart-
ment of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Leeds, England
H.T. NORRIS, Former Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies, School of Oriental
Contributors ix
& African Studies, University of London, London, England
JAVAD NURBAKHSH, Professor Emeritus, University of Tehran; Master of the
Nimatullahi Sufi Order
ANNEMARIE SCHIMMEL, Professor of Indo-Muslim Culture, Harvard
University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
MOHAMMAD ISA WALEY, Curator of Persian and Turkish Manuscripts, British
Library, London, England
RODERIC VASSIE, Librarian, Oriental Collection Department at British Library,
London, England
JOHN WALBRIDGE, Assistant Editor, Encyclopadia Zranica, New York, New
York
System of Transliteration
CONSONANTS VOWELS
-
Long: 5 a
-
1
3 U-
1
9 Doubled: in
k 438 UWW
g
1 Diphthongs: 31 aw
m csl aY
.
-
Short: - a
L
- U
Y i
I
-a (-at in construct
state)