Document Type : علمی- پژوهشی

Authors

• Arezu pooryazdanpanah Kermani ¹
• zeinab sheikhhosseini ²

¹ Department of Persian Language and Literature, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

² Department of Persian Language and Literature Department, Hazrat Narjes (S) Faculty, Vali Asr (AJ) University, Rafsanjan, Rafsanjan, Iran

Abstract

Letters are one of the important types of Persian literature and types of prose that have been of great literary, social, historical and political importance in different historical periods. Islamic mystics, using the art of writing and following the religious leaders, have written letters to convey mystical teachings and guide seekers of the path. Abdullâh Qutb is one of the prominent mystics of the ninth century AH who established the ideal society and utopia called "Exvânâbâd" near Jahrom. Through writing letters, he managed this ideal society and guided and educated his followers; Writings that are noteworthy both in terms of Persian prose and in terms of containing valuable mystical points for the guidance and education of seekers. Accordingly, in this paper, the structure of Qutb's epistels have been studied by analytical-descriptive method. The research findings indicate that the stylistic features of Qutb's writing, i.e. the tendency to simplify and brevity, have changed the structure of his writings and this has caused the difference between the letters of Qutb and other mystical writings. These letters are among the brotherly epistels and multi-faceted letters.

Highlights

Extended abstract

Structural analysis of Abdullah Qutb's letters

Introduction

Letters are one of the important types of literature and types of Persian prose that have been of great importance in different historical periods from the literary, social, historical and political points of view. Islamic mystics, using the technique of letter writing and following the leaders of the religion, wrote letters to convey mystical teachings and guide the seekers of tariqat. Abdullah Qutb is one of the prominent mystics of the 9th century of Hijri, who established an idealistic Medina community called "Akhwan Abad" near Jahrom. Makatib Abdullah Qutb is a valuable collection of moral and mystical letters of Sheikh Abdullah Qutb, in Persian language, which he wrote for the followers of Tariqat, and it is of special importance in Persian literature.

Research Background and Theoretical Foundations

The letters and correspondences between mystics are valuable sources of research on mystics, the history of Sufism, mystical thoughts, and knowledge of the lives of mystics and Sufis because they often contain their intellectual and mystical content. One of the most important and less known works of the second half of the 9th century is the collection of letters and correspondences of Qutb-al-Din Muhammad bin Mohi-al-Din Koshkanari Lari. His personality, works and actions, despite their importance in the intellectual evolution of Fars, have remained unknown until now. He is one of the few mystic writers of the 9th century whose name is not mentioned in the tazkera, although his contemporary historians considered him one of the great and famous people of Fars. Based on this, in this essay, the structure of Qutb schools has been investigated with analytical-descriptive method.

Discusson

The main structure of these letters consists of the first part of the letter, the titles, the main part of the letter and the last part of the letter. The starting point in mystical schools is mainly prayer, which is mostly in Persian and in some cases in Arabic. In many of Qutb's letters, especially in the first 56 letters, the written column is not visible. Mentioning the addressee of the letter and mentioning the noun and attributes for it is another practice that Qutb used in his other letters to start his speech. Abdullah Qutb has rarely used Quranic verses to start his letters.

In Qutb's letters, Barat Estihlal is one of the least used elements, which is not very common; but it can be seen in some letters. For this purpose, Abdullah Qutb used Persian and Arabic poems and beautified the words according to the written subject. Avoiding the use of prestigious and common titles of court messengers in addresses and titles is one of the characteristics of mystical letters and their distinction from court and court messages. Qutb's letters are no exception to this rule, and the titles used in them are extremely simple and far from any pretentiousness.

Among the most important mystical topics that Qutb addressed in the main pillar of his letters, the following can be mentioned: the expression of the rank of a person and his soul, the soul of Ammar, the classification of the three types of people. , the characteristics of a believer, the path to happiness, sincerity, the purpose of the creation of man and God's revelation to him, observation of the unseen world and other worlds, divine love, the necessity of having a guide and guide, divine light, the members of the world, the world and its condemnation, Dhikr and the method of saying Dhikr, the status and place of man in the universe, the power of love and coercion, meeting God, not slacking off and retiring in the path to God, death and preparation for it, divine power and the quality of other powers in front of it, the duties of the seeker. , the difference between people of discovery and people of reasoning, repentance and actions after that, pleasure and pain and how the seeker deals with it and... . In many cases, the topic raised is an answer to the question of one of the companions or disciples, and in fact, the letter is a response to the letter received from the recipient of the letter, which is mentioned at the beginning of the speech.

In Qutb's letters, the tendency to summarize is clearly evident; for this reason, in many of his letters, he is content with mentioning the Arabic prayer phrase as the final pillar of the letter. Sometimes the title of the addressee of the letter is also added to it. It is rare to find letters in which brevity has been left out in the final pillar, and Abdullah Qutb has expressed longer prayer phrases.

Conclusion

The findings of the research indicate that the stylistic features of Qutb's writing, i.e. the tendency to simplify and brevity, have changed the structure of his letters, and this has caused the difference of Qutb's letters in comparison with other mystical letters.

Key words: letters, Abdullah Qutb bin Muhai, 9th century of Hijri, Persian prose, structure.

References

Badiei, Mohammad Mahdi, (2004), "Historical course of the writing of mystical schools", Ayane Research, No. 96, pp. 45-50.

Bahar, Mohammadtaghi, (2006), Stylistics, Volume 3, Tehran: Amir Kabir.

https://doi.org/10.22034/perlit.2022.52866.3363

Bigdali, Saeed Bozor and Farzad Karimi, (2013), "Examination and analysis of experimental wisdom in the Persian prose works of Sufia until the 8th century", mystical and mythological literature, year 7, number 24, pp. 104-67.

Keywords

• Letters
• Abdullah Qutb Ibn Mohi
• ninth century AH
• Persian prose
• structure

Main Subjects

• Sufism and Mysticism