Sufism and Mysticism
Ramazan Tafsiri; Hamid Taheri
Abstract
Investigating the paradox and its function in expressing the experience of the unity of existence in the poetry of the Timurid era[1]Mysticism is the knowledge of unseen truths, and in other words, mysticism is the knowledge of the truth through names and attributes, and man’s reaching the position ...
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Investigating the paradox and its function in expressing the experience of the unity of existence in the poetry of the Timurid era[1]Mysticism is the knowledge of unseen truths, and in other words, mysticism is the knowledge of the truth through names and attributes, and man’s reaching the position of eternal life in God’s presence. The mystic of God, through inner journey, passes through the mystical stations one after the other and until it reaches the position of annihilation and connecting with the truth. Every school and way of thinking has its principles and rules, and mysticism also has certain rules and principles, and anyone who steps on the path of true knowledge needs a leader and a guide, and under his supervision he should study mystical teachings and conduct exercises as well as. He becomes mystical and in this way he achieves the perception of states and positions and the discovery of secrets, which is referred to as a mystical experience. Mystical experience is the collection of perceptions and knowledge of the mystic’s secrets, which after cultivating and nurturing the soul, he is inspired. Every mystical experience is specific to the mystic who has received it, and because these perceptions are discovery and intuition and are received through inner intuition, to express them, the mystic cannot use the language of expressions, and those truths and long meanings do not fit into the ordinary language. Thus, he uses a language appropriate to those experiences and resorts to code, simile, metaphor, and paradox. Of course, sometimes resorting to the language of allusion is completely conscious and on purpose, so as not to expose the secrets. Because not everyone is confidant of secrets. In order to explain mystical thoughts and experiences to others and to convince the audience, mystics use the artistic capacities of language in the form of paradoxical and contradictory expression and other types of allusive language. However, many of them consider mystical experiences beyond the explanation and description, and some consider it impossible to express and describe. These facts and knowledge are very different and variable according to the condition of the seeker. The question is why it is not possible to reflect these mysterious situations in the construction of conventional and standard language. And why after their linguistic reflection, the resulting propositions seem incomprehensible, and at first glance, sometimes seem contradictory and contrary to habit. This paradox has caused thinkers and linguists to pay special attention to the language of mysticism and the means of mystic expression. Since mystics do not use only the external forms of language, but also all the symbolic, allusive, pictorial, visual, music, dance and other symbols and conceptual signs of a society’s culture in expressing the mystical experience. The special type of expression and the use of different types and methods of language make the covering of the mystical experience more concrete and make it more difficult to understand the meaning from the form of words. According to this introduction, the purpose of this article is to examine the mystical language and the means of expressing the mystical experiences and understandings found in the texts of the mystical poems of the Timurid era. Understanding the characteristics of the language and expressing the mystical experiences of this period and its style depends on the text, and from the text and its texture, the characteristics of the language and the means of expressing the mystical experience of this era can be obtained. For the correct understanding of the experiences and the divine mystical mysteries of this period, we need to understand the concept of the environment of the text and to know the contexts of the origin of the text and in other words extratextual contexts and the culture, thought and politics of the Timurid era society. According to the necessity of the situation, culture and textual configuration of the text, it should be noted that the concepts of the mystical texts of the Timurid era society, consist of different cultural contexts and structures, different readings and religious narratives and views and perceptions and discoveries and intuitions of mystics. The pinnacle of all these views is the emergence of the ideas of the Shiite school in mysticism and the boom in reading the ideas of Ibn Arabi and other Sufi schools of ancient Xorâsân. The idea of surrendering to Valiyy and humanism of the Shiite school as a type of religious interpretation and the strict and traditionalist ideas of the Naqšbandiyye Tariqat as another model of religious readings are in opposition to each other and the way out from these two points of view, is the re-reading of Ibn Arabi’s thoughts that opens the way for the sufi orders and mystics of this age and has developed Sufism and mysticism and opened the field for all sections of the society to some extent. In this sense, the area of language: open and closed signs of the language of mysticism expands. The confrontation and entanglement of religious and mystical thoughts and sayings, patterns of open and closed society, politics, Tariqat and Šariʾat, have caused the complexity of the language of this period; since many of the sensitivities and grudges of the societies are the sources of conflicting ideas in the human society, and also the breadth of signs and the expansion of cultural concepts is the source of the interveneing of religious and cultural thoughts and traditions and all these matters play a role in the expansion of language and another characteristic of the expansion of the language of mysticism. In this era, the flourishing of art, especially painting, which is a form of the language of mysticism and means of expressing mystical experience. This case can be mentioned from the visual art of Kamâl al-Din Behzâd as an interpreter of Ibn Arabi’s idea of the unity of existence in the form of painting and drawing. ReferencesČenâri, A., (1377). 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Našriyyeye dâneškadeye adabiyyât va olume ensâni dânešgâhe Ferdowsi Mašhad. Year 28. vol. 3 & 4. pp. 271-294. [1] Ramazân Tafsiri: Ph.D. student of Persian language and literature of Emâm Xomeyni lnternational university.Hamid Tâheri: Associate professor of Emâm Xomeyni lnternational university.
