Sufism and Mysticism
Saloomeh Sayyad Rajebi; Mohammad Ebrahimpur Namin; Khosro Jalili Kohnehshahri
Abstract
Anecdotes of Elders in Persian Sufi Poems Sufi literature in its two forms, prose and verse, especially between the 6th and 9th centuries A.H., is a large and important part of Persian literature with various types and subtypes such as edicts and didactic works of prose and verse, as well as works ...
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Anecdotes of Elders in Persian Sufi Poems Sufi literature in its two forms, prose and verse, especially between the 6th and 9th centuries A.H., is a large and important part of Persian literature with various types and subtypes such as edicts and didactic works of prose and verse, as well as works that report moments of passion and Sufi illumination is in a lyrical or symbolic language. One of the main and common materials among almost all these different types, although with different levels and frequency among the types, is the narration of "stories" and "sayings" of Sufi Sheikhs. This research is an attempt to present a detailed and documented picture of the quality and quantity of the reflection of the "stories" (and not the sayings) of the Sufi sheikhs in the most important Persian Sufi educational systems, including Hadiqat al-Haqiqa Sanâ'i, Attâr's poems including Elâhinâma, Asrârnâmeh, and Manteq al-Tayr and Mosibat-nâme, the six books of Mowlânâ's Masnaviye Maʾnavi, and Jâmi's Haft-orang. The results of this research show that out of the total of 300 stories narrated in these works, apart from the stories attributed to the unknown elders (47 stories), which constitute the highest amount of stories, the most stories are related to Bâ Yazid (with 24 cases), Abu Saʾid Abul Xair (with 21 cases) and Šebli (with 20 anecdotes). Also, about a quarter of all the stories are "Karâmat stories" and the theme of the rest of the stories is the teaching of Sufi knowledge and concepts. It is worth mentioning that in a historical and comparative perspective, it is clear to see the increase in attention to the narration of Karâmat stories between Sanâʾi and Rumi; As in Hadiqat al-Haqiqat, there are no honorable stories, but among the 26 stories narrated in the six books of Mowlânâ's Masnavi, 15 stories (that is, about 60 percent of the stories) are about honor. Finally, it is possible to consider the totality of Persian Sufi poems as having less attention to stories of virtues compared to types such as Tazkirats and hagiographies as well as some ancient Arabic short books.
Sufism and Mysticism
Mohammad Ebrahimpur Namin
Abstract
One of the types of writings in Sufi literature is collections collected in recording and quoting the sayings of Sufi elders and elders؛ Works that in a general sense are called Sufi memoirs. This group of works is generally derived from a common tradition in most of the almost all religions and sects ...
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One of the types of writings in Sufi literature is collections collected in recording and quoting the sayings of Sufi elders and elders؛ Works that in a general sense are called Sufi memoirs. This group of works is generally derived from a common tradition in most of the almost all religions and sects that the lives of saints and saints, especially after their death, are not limited to the objectivity and historical reality of their lives, but more intertwined and covered with multiple layers of myth. A tradition of all kinds in its broadest sense can be interpreted as Hagiography. This heritage of Sufism as a type / genre has been mentioned in old and new sources with expressions such as circumstances or situations / Tazkereh / Sira or Sirat or Sirtnameh or Sir / Maqamat and Manaqbeh or Manaqbehnameh / Walinameh / Ulyanameh. The present study is a critique of the genre and examines the historical perspective of the developments of this type of Sufi writings, which shows how the genre originated from the legacy of the early ascetics and at the peak of its development leads to the specific scriptures of the elders.
Mohammad Ebrahimpour Namin; MirJalil Akrami
Volume 70, Issue 236 , December 2017, , Pages 1-40
Abstract
In the past half-century and especially in the past two decades the expression “mystical epic” has gained significant prevalence in the field of literary studies, and even some researchers have assumed the existence of a “mystical epic” as an independent genre in Persian literature. ...
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In the past half-century and especially in the past two decades the expression “mystical epic” has gained significant prevalence in the field of literary studies, and even some researchers have assumed the existence of a “mystical epic” as an independent genre in Persian literature. This study on the basis of the genre theory shows that against some similarities between some aspects of epic texts and some of examples of sufist literature, it is not possible to verify this assumption from the point of view of genre critic, because the acceptance of such genre is not matched with the intention of the sufi authors which is an important factor in determining the genre, and also it does not create any useful augury for the reader and lastly it does not offer any help for an accurate and reasonable classification of the species of Persian literature. Furthermore in explaining the extant similarities paying attention to the “mode” and the phenomenon “mixture of species” and the wonderful stability of the eastern and especially Persian forms of literature and also the interchange of the themes and concepts between various forms makes a reasonable explanation and formulation more possible.
