Seyyed Hossein Nasr - Hakim Nizami Ganjawi

8/2/2019 Seyyed Hossein Nasr - Hakim Nizami Ganjawi

1/10

VOl. LXXXII July-October 1992 NO.3-4THE WORLD VIEW AND PHILOSOPHICALPERSPECTIVE OF mHM GANJAM-'

Wherever intellect brings forth a treasure,Through the name of God thou wilt make of it a ley.

"Those who have been given the title of &hM by the people of Iran have

known & h a (theosophy)2swell as philosophy3 and it is not a coincidencethat such a title has been bestowed upon them. This is the case even if suchfigures cannot be considered as philosophers or theosophers in the strict senseof these terms. Nowhere is thismore true than in the case of Hakirn N@miG a n j a ~ i , ~he peerless composer of unparalleled odes who created some ofthe most sublime examples of Persian literature. Although he did not writephilosophical treatises, he mastered discursive reasoning and the intellectualsciences of his time, and was also well versed in Sufism, particularly "Knowl-edge by Presen~e,'~key element of the esoteric tradition which is a majorexpression of the perennial philosophy.

N i w - appeared at a time when the Islamic sciences had become dividedinto specificschools of thought. When he began his studies, Mu(tazilite theol-ogy (fihrn) had passed its zenith and was on the decline. Ashbite theology,having matured at the hands of such figures as Juwayni and Ghazdi, hadbegun a new stage in its life.

'

(The following footnotes are.by the translator of this essay).All the translations of N w ' s oems are the translators' unless otherwise stated.This article, written originally in Persian, was an introduction by the author to the Persian

translation of PeterJ. Chelkowski's ,Miror of~ e h n k a f e orfd New York Metropolitan Museumof Art, 1975), entitled, A-ha-y)kh#n+'gh.yb ('khran: Bank4 Melli Iran Press,1978).S.H. Nasr translates /libne as 'theosophy'. This should be understood from its etymologicalroots to mean 'Divine Wisdom' and not the 19th century movement in England with a similar name.Philosophy in this context is in reference to the rationalistic philosophy of the Peripatetics.Rationalism in itspure sense is considered to be inconshtent with &hawhich advocates a synthesisof reason /Sq& and intellectual intuition /&aw@,His full name is Abii Muhammad Ily&s, the son of Yasuf, known as Ni-. He was born inGanjah, a city in today's Republic of Azarbayjan in A.H. 539 and died in 614. Formore informationon his life, see the Introduction to D!sf#n-iA%usrdlwwa Shfrfn,ed. A. Ayati (Tehran:AmIrkabirPress,1974).'Knowledge by Presence' /a/-hn aL&&rfl is an epistemological theory which was firstformulated in a coherent philosophical manner by Suhrawardiin the 6th112th century. For moreinformation on this see, Mehdi Ha'iri, Rpistemofogy in hfamicPhilomphy-Knowl'ge byPreswce(Albany: S UN Y Press, 1992).

191


2/10

192 THEMUSLIM WORLDIn the Shi(ite tradition, the major works on law and principles of jurispru-

dence, that is the four books of twelve-Imam Shihm, had laid the foundationfor future intellectual activities6 Ism& theology and philosophy had alsoreached their climax with the rise of such figures as Abii H Z t i m &i, Hamidal-Din Kirm3ni and Nbir-i Khusraw.

In philosophy, following the initial endeavors of al-Kindi, Iriinshalu3 and afewothers, the Peripatetic school had gained the upper hand over other existingschools. Perfected at the hands of such giants as al-F%abi,Abd-Hasan'Amiri,Ibn Sina and their commentators, the Peripatetic school had exceeded the in-fluence of the Hermetics and the Neo-Pythagoreans.

Religious sciences such as Qdiinic exegesis bd5~v nd prophetic tradi-tion &%&a),oth in the Shiia and Sunni branches, had gone through prolificperiods of activity. In the 6W12th century serious scholarshipwas prevalentin all the branches of the religious sciences, and in particular hermeneutics,which in addition to philosophical and theological interpretations, producedextensive gnostic interpretations and exegeses7

In mathematics and the natural sciences, a period of intense activity hadpassed and the works of such masters as Ibn S i a and Birtini had becomeavailable to the seekers of knowledge. Serious students of intellectual scienceswere able to avail themselves to astronomical and mathematical achievementswhich had reached their climax in the 5Wllth century.8

When Ni$imi, an unusually gifted child, began his formal education, heencountered this vast ocean of Islamic sciences. He began with the religioussciences, mastering the art of QdSnic interpretation and fla&h, the founda-tional bases of the Islamic sciences. He became well versed in philosophy andtheology, and was familiar with the existing diversity of intellectual ideas andphilosophical schools. He spent a number of years studying mathematics, andtook specialinterest in astronomy which is rare amongst the great poets of thePersian language. In such disciplines as grammar, genealogy, and history, heattained the competence suited for a master of his stature.

In the years when N i w ived and composed his poems, the Peripateticphilosophy in the Eastern lands of Islam was on the decline while the philo-sophical theology of Juwayni and Ghazdi was flourishing. An outstandingmember of this school, ImSm Fakhr al-Din m i ,was a contemporaryofNm.In the Western part of the Islamic world, however, Peripatetic philosophy

Tutswhich provide a com plete source of Shi'ite /lad//i3 are: al-Kulayni.ffadfth u5daf-kAZShaykh Qummi.Man layah&muhu~hqi3; al-Tiisi.a/-&ti&i??and nhdhi3 al-ahkdm.This type of spiritual interpretation known as ta'w/;!means iterally to take som ething back toits origin, and is one that N i w - uses extensively to offer an esoteric interpretationof Qur'anicFor more information see. S.H. asr, Skience and Gswfizahnib Idam (Cambridge: Islamicverxs.Text Society, 1987).


3/10

THE WORLDVIEW OF NIZAMT 193remained very much alive, and such figures as Ibn Tufayl and Ibn Rushdadded new branch to the rich tree of philosophical tradition in Islam, a branchfrom which the West benefitted and which became a source of inspiration formany of the intellectual figures of that land.

In Persia itself, the most important philosophical activity in N W T s ife-time was the establishment of a new philosophical and theosophical school bythe "Master of Illumination," Shihsb al-Din Suhrawardi. These two figureswere contemporary and a work such as MBzm a/-asr& of N i w - wasperhaps written at the same time as the Persian mystical narratives ofSuhrawardi, while N W s ater works were written simultaneously withflz2mat d-i2hr.q (The Theosophy of the O n h t ofLighg and some of thelater works of Suhrawardi. While Hakim NizImi was portraying thePersian-Islamicworld view throughhispoetical genius, Suhrawardi was chartinga new course toward Ultimate Reality using philosophical discourse and in-tellectual intuition. The presence of these two great thinkers is an indication ofthe richness of the intellectual milieu of the 6W12th century, and it respondsto those who claim that intellectual activity ceased after Ghaziili's polemicalonslaught against the Peripatetics.

Despite N&imi's thorough familiarity with almost all aspects of the Is-lamic sciences, we cannot considerhim o have been a follower of aparticularphilosophical or theological school. He followed instead a & h a based on faith,the type of wisdom which is deeply ingrained in the Qur)&, while remainingfully aware of the philosophical and theological currents of Islam.

On such topics as God's Essence, Attributes and Qualities, and the originof man, Ni@mi speaks as an accomplished master who traveled far on thespiritual path, and was able to witness the incorporeal world with his innereye. To describe the pure and transcendental Essence of God and God's mani-festations in all aspects and levels of existence, he freely employs a languagesimilar to that of the texts written by the great masters of gnosis. In the intro-duction to hisMfizan a/-a51& (The lkeasure of S e~ re t s ) ,~is most importantphilosophical and gnostic work, he states:

Existent before all creation, more eternalthan all eternities,Ancient Lord of the eternal universe,Decorator of the neck of the Pen with a necklace.Revealer of the secrets of the mysterious heaven,Secret Goals of those who know the divine mysteries.Source of every springof liberty,Author of all existence.I0MaMzm ul-asr#ris a mystical and gnostic t a t which also deals with moral issues. It containsover 3250 verses which have been dedicated to the king of Arzanjan,Maliik Bahrm Shah ibnDHwild. This work has influenced a number of poets.

lo This s a translationby G.H. Darab, ZBe 23msury ofMptmes (London:Arthur Probsthain1945)89.


4/10

194 THE MUSLIM WORLDGod is not only the creator of the world, but also the originator of exist-

ence and source of all theophaniesas he gnostics have asserted. In thisworld,aswell as in all other realms of existence, all that truly exists does so in emana-tion fromGod's existence and isnone other than the theophany of God's Namesand Qualities.

If it is the head of the spinning wheel, it is filled with His ring,If it is the heart of matter, it is filled with ecstasy for Him.What can be found amongst the exalted and imaginative poetical meta-

phors of N m - oncerning metaphysical or theological discussions are noneother than the perennial truths of which Muslim gnostics and haLi%mhavespoke. n fact, prior to N m - omeof those who possessed mahljca (gnosis)suchas m a d nd Muhammad Ghazdi and (Ayn al-Qu&iit Hamadiini had elabo-rated extensively on the same themes.

Having praised Almighty God and commenting on the Origin and Itsmanifestations, N i w , n M&za a/-ax&4 offers an extensive discussion ofthe inward and outward states of the Prophet of Islam. N i m - identifies theinner reality of the Prophet as the most sublime example of creation whichIbn (Arabi later identifies as the 'perfect man'. Ni@mi demonstrates his vastknowledge of Q u r ' ~ c xegesis andHad74 in dealing with the characteristicsof Prophet.

There are few Persian poets who have commented on the spiritual charac-ter of the Prophet of Islam from a gnostic [%fin@oint of view as much asNm-.n theAhhzm d-argr alone, he gives a descriptionof the Prophet'snocturnal ascent [mi$q] in four sections, each of which depicts a profoundportrayal of the Prophet's status and is amongst the masterpieces of Persianliterature. In some of his other works such as S.araLn&xh [neahse on fik-tu@,ll qW-Nmah ('eahke on FoHund, 12 A3uSraw waSh~hn,~~nd L&X-waMqk~Zn,~~@ m i composes majesticpoems of great beauty in which hedescribes the ascent of the Prophet to heaven. Perhaps it is not a coincidence

Sharah&nah, also known as Muqbl-n#mah s the first part of hkandar-n.#inahand contains6800 verses. N W - ompleted thiswork in A.H. 597.The /q&Y-nmah which has also been called Xhhd-n#md is the second part of his majorand last work /skanda/-mah. The /q&/-nJmah which contains over 3800 verses was completedin A.H. 03when N W as 74years old.l 3 musraw w8 Shk~hs one of the most sublime examples of Persian poetry containing over6500 verses. Written in A.H.580, he dedicated thiswork to SultHn 'hghrul ibn Arsalw, hoping toreceive his patronage.

I' hiFandM8nji.n was composed after ,#usraw w8 Shhn in A.H. 584, nd contains 4700verses. It took Ni- only four months to complete the work. It was S h i r w u Shah who askedNm to write thiswork on the basis of its original Arabic version and he reluctantly accepted.T h e reason for this reluctance was that since the original story had taken place in Arabia, Nizamlfound the physical surrounding inwhich the story had taken place not to be too poetic for him.However, N i m - created the necessary ambience by Ftrsianizing the story.


5/10

THE WORLD VIEW OF NIZ&fI 195that the most exquisite miniature depicting the Prophets ascent belongs to theBmsaof Ni@mi now preserved in the BritishMuseum.

The nocturnal ascent was not only the profoundest experience in the lifeof the Prophet, but it is also the supreme archetypeof the spiritual ourney ofthose in Islam who walk upon the path towards Ultimate Reality. The spiritualanthropology of Islam also depends on thisevent since the depth and breadthof human existence comes to light through the state which the Prophet expe-rienced through his Nocturnal Ascent.

Following his gnostic interpretation of the reality of themkj* @ni speaksof human nature from a gnostic point of view, using QUr>%nic concepts. In abeautiful set of poems he calls man the vicegerent of God, but his superiorityover other creatures especially animals who are closer to him n the existentialhierarchy than others is not because of his intelligence but as a result of hisability to master his own ego. In the Mak3zaandag24 he alludes tothispoint:

Once thy ego is obedient to thee,The coin of purity shall be cast in thy name.To disobey the ego, is a sign of mastery,To abandon the ego, is a power of prophecy.

N i w - s emphasis on the necessity of attaining virtue and beautifying theinner self has given him he image of an ethical thinker and social reformer.Those who have not paid attention to his gnostic views have always noted thesignificance of his ethical teachings and have considered his moral characterto have been the reason for calling him &kh.Nm had not only mastered the intellectual aspects of gnosis, but alsofollowed the spiritual practices of the gnostic path. It is for this reason that heremainswithin he mainstream of the Islamic tradition of & h q a tradition thatregards the highest form of philosophy to be the fruit of the purification ofones ego, which is indeed the necessary condition for the true learning ofphilosophy and gnosis [mah&).

The gnostic view of the world, which sees the corporeal world as emporaland yet as the theophany of the incorporeal world, is apparent throughout theworks ofNw.He sees the signs of divine power and wisdom everywhereand criticizes those who deny the Divine Presence. In some of his poems, heeven prays toGod o dismantle the order of the universe and reveal His powerthroughout existence. He states:

Cast aside the design and bring forth the outward,The rotation of the wheel, in motion and motionlessness.Obliterate this sign from the body of the crescent,Open this veil from a bundle of imaginings.To confess to Thy divinity is,To confess to onesown non-existence.


6/10

196 THE MUSLIM WORLDNm does more than merely propagate a gnostic view of the universe.

He praises Sufism and the truth that lies at its heart. In a poem which inspiredH S q he states:

This order is based upon farsightedness,Mastership is slavehood to the dervishes.

In his poems, N i w - makes frequent references to ascetic practices andcontemplation by those on the path. In a chapter entitled The Virtues ofSpiritual Retreat in the Makzm a/-a5ra he portrays a profound picture ofhis inner visions and expresses them in a beautiful poem.

I have no knowledge of that fruit of which I partook on that night,How could I have known that the new moon, whose girdle is light, wouldShe was in love with her own lover; her desire was a hundred timesThe heart in its desire says: What harm could have come to our day,And had it made the night safe, that it might have endured to the day ofI search everywhere for the light of that night which was like the sun,

keep away from her lovers?greater than mine,had it not burnt the veil of our night.resurrection?and do not find it even in my dreams.15

It is this introspection and inner journey that finally allows the truth toshine forth within the heart of the seeker.N i W nsists that those who havejourneyed on the path will witness the divine reality. By contrast, he criticizesthose who reject the vision of God.

Witnessing Him is without accident and substance,For He is beyond accident and substance.Since it is suitable for the absolute,God has been seen and is visible.Seeing Him should not be hidden from the eye,Blind is he who claims that He cannot be seen.

It is this inner vision of the incorporeal world which reveals the unstableand temporal nature of the corporeal world and brings to light its essencewhich, contrary to common belief, is not an independent reality but a mirrorreflecting the realities of the archetypal world.

Stand up and rend asunder the heavens,There is no loyalty in this game of backgammon.Do not seek the image of the Beloved by the gate of union with it,Do not seek the virtue of fairness from its Attribute.

l5 Darabs translation in The Tre.mhyofMpt?&, p. 145


7/10

THE WORLD VIEW OF NIZAMf 197N i m spoem are commentaries upon various facets of IslamicSufi andgnostic doctrines. He should be regarded in a sense as a Sufipoet whose innerdetachment from the world enabledhim o portray the corporeal manifestationsof the archetypes. From a philosophical point of view, a noteworthy feature ofhis works is his command and masterly use of philosophical terminology. In

his poems he repeatedly discussed the logical structure of the Peripatetics. Hisacute knowledge of Peripatetic philosophy is noticeable through his expositionof such concepts as substance and accidents, and necessity and contingency intheir precise Peripatetic definitions.N i V lso paid close attention to Pythagorean philosophy and its symbolicsignificance. In his poems he refers often to the symbolic significance ofnumbers. For example concerning the annihilation of the world he says:

Five hundred and fifty is sufficient to be asleep,The day is long,hurry to the gathering.He attached great importance to the numbers seven and twelve which areof special symbolic significance. Through these numbers, which are keys tothe understanding of the inner harmony of various levels of existence, he soughtto discover the inner relations between different creatures. He compares the

seven parts of the body to seven caliphs and the seven tales of Isfandiyiir andhis seven ordeals which have a cosmological significance.Seven Caliphs are at one house,Seven ales are contained in one story.

Such attention to the symbolism of the number seven reaches its climax inthe tale L&fip+k% (SevenBodies).16 t is in this symbolic story that Nismialludes to the number seven as the key to understanding the cosmos and revealsthe relationship between the seven heavens, seven colors and seven climes ina lyrical and dramatic manner. This is similar to the IkhwEin al-SafEi, who,while paying attention to the Peripateticview of natural philosophy, were faithfulcommentators of Pythagorean philosophy. While N i e i penetrated into theworld of philosophy and theology in the tradition of Ibn S i a ,he was particularlyinterested in the Pythagorean philosophy.In addition to various philosophical traditions, N i w i mastered differentbranches of the sciences: in particular astronomy, astrology, natural history,and anatomy. It can be said that without familiarity with the fundamentals ofthese sciences, understanding poetry in its entirety would not be possible.

l6 This work has also been called &hram-n#niah and Hatig un6B dwh ich contains over 5000verses of poetry and was dedicated toAla al-Din Kirap Arsalan. the governor of Maraqha. N i g m i ,using the traditional symbolism of the beloved, the number seven and astronomical symbolism.offers a symb olic allegorical presentation of the legendary love affairs of Bahram Gtir, one of theSassanid kings.


8/10

198 THEMUSLIM WORLDNiguds use of traditional astronomy in describing the temperaments in theM&m d-asrrii or his references to the principles of astronomy throughouthisBms are distinctive among the poets of the Persian language.

Although Ni@rni mastered the intellectual sciences, every fiber of his be-ing was yearning towards the abode of love. He had a profound understandingof love from its human and external stages to Divine Love. While his worksreveal facets of human love and the heroines in his poems possess in particu-lar an astonishing this worldly reality, he does not see love only in its limitedsense. Love for him is love in humility and eventually annihilation in DivineLove. In Nigimi'sview, Majniin seeks eternal beauty and Laili is that beautywhich symbolizes he Divine Mysteries. She is the light which illuminates thenight, the light whose corporeal manifestation is LA-. n his love stones suchasK%lusrawwaShihh and h i 7 waMahUn,one sees some of the profoundestmasterpieces of Persian literature regarding the philosophy of love. Ni@rnihas created a bridge between the world of the spirit and beautiful forms of theworld below, the world which is itself a ladder to the other world.

In addition to his mastery of gnosis, philosophy and the other sciences,N@mi was well acquainted with the history of philosophy. He benefittedfrom the rich heritage of such Muslim scholars as Aba Sulaym3.n Sijistm,Abdl-Hasan (Amari, Ibn Hindii and Ibn Fatak who had compiled the historyand sayings of the ancient philosophers. His familiarity with the history ofphilosophy is apparent in a number of his works such as the hkanndar-namah(l%ea&ieDedcated toA/euandee//. 7 His description of the sages of ancientGreece and India is an indication of the extent of his mastery of the history ofideas. For example, in his hkandar-ngmah,in describing creation he says inthe name of Hermes:

I wonder of this dome, the glory of the sea,It is in suspense like smoke on top of a mountain.Above this fearsome smoke,There is a luminous light, pure and clear.Before light, this dark cloud is a veil,Openingshave become far from openings.Wherever the smoky cloudwas pierced,A beam of light burst through.The heavens from the moon to the sun,Are but rays of light that shine through the veil.The coming to be of creation, I know truly,How the world was created in the beginning, I know not.

" hkandar-n&inahs the last work of N i m which has a distinct order in which every poemhas a prefu.


9/10

THE WORLD VIEW OF NIZAMT 199At the same time as Ni@mi, Suhrawardi also regarded the stars not asluminous bodies in the sky,but as he glowing of the luminous world throughthe openings which exist in the sky. Suhrawardi also attributed this view to theilluminationists of ancient Persia and Hermes and the Greek Hermeticist.*Ni@mis poetic description of Hennes view is a repetition of Suhrawardisview and indicates a common source. In the /Skannda2ma4 in a section en-titled The End of Aristotle coming at the time of his death he writes:

He cleansed the oil from the oil lantern,And ordered an apple to be brought from the garden.The player put the apple in his hand,With one smell he gave up his ghost,the patient one.According to this story, Aristotle in the last hours of his life answered thequestions of his students as he held an apple in his hand. His conversationsare gathered in a treatise entitled The 7heahseof heApples /fit% a/tuh?a/.The Persian translator of this NeePlatonic treatise, BabB Afdal m s h h i , alsoreferred to the same story. These two cases are clear indications of Ni-isfamiliarity with the history of philosophy not only as a historian but also as a

&~h-rnho was well aware of the phil.osophies of his predecessors and usedtheir ideas for his own philosophical ends.In this regard, the Lkandar-nXmah,if interpreted at its profoundest level,concerns the inner journey of man through different worlds and his becomingembellished by gaining perennial wisdom which is represented by variousbahb~srom different civilizations. Iskandar (Alexander), according to thisinterpretation, is the same as the heart-intellect of man and the center ofknowledge which, once exposed to the teaching of the sages, attains perennialwisdom. Finally, he drinks from the fountain of life and becomes a prophetsince whenever the intellect is able to free itself from the bondage of the world,it becomes illuminated and the means for union of man with the world of theSpirit. It then becomes like an inner prophet which c on f i i s within the beingof man the revelations brought by the prophets.Ni-is interest in the perennial wisdom, a single truth manifested invarious forms in different historical periods and within various historical tra-ditions, makes him study and respect other religions. He makes frequent ref-erences to other religions beside Islam which is an indication of his knowledgeof the history of other religions and his respect for them. In some instances headdresses a Muslim, Zoroastrian, and a Christian the same way and warnsthem of their deeds.

I * See S.H. Nasr, ThreeItluhm &ges (Delmar.[N.Y.]:Caravan Book. 1975)69.


10/10

200 THE MUSLIM WORLDOnce his vision benefitted from Divine Grace,He came to know himselfand thus to know God.Oh thou who art neither a Muslim nor a Zoroastrian,Thou art a water springwithout a drop of cloud.

N@mi was not a philosopher like Fiiriibi, Ibn S i a , and Suhrawardi, or anexpositor of theoreticalSufism like Ibn (Arabi, and (Abd al-RazzBq K i i s h ~ .However, he should be regarded as a philosopher and a gnostic who masteredvarious fields of Islamic thought which he synthesized in a way that brings tomind the tradition of the &5i%z~5 who were to come after him such as Qutbal-Din Shiriizi and B b a Afdd K a s hh , who, while being masters of variousschools of knowledge, attempted to synthesize different traditions of philoso-phy, gnosis,and theology.

N i g m i , besides being one of the greatest poets of the Persian language, isan interpreter of the spiritual world. This great thinker was a unique artistwho, to a large extent, provided the formalstructure for the Mat3nawi-of Riimi.Furthermore,N- himself succeeded at the same time in reflecting in theminor of Persian poetry the highest gnostic and philosophical truths and tomake manifest the mysteries of the hidden world in the dress of the world ofmanifestation in the form of poems of great beauty.

George Washin@on UniversifiWashin@on, D CM q ashinflon ColegeFredoicksburg l5kginia

SEWEDHOSEINNASR

TRANSLATEDY MEHDI MINRAZAWI

Seyyed Hossein Nasr - Hakim Nizami Ganjawi

Documents

Transcript of Seyyed Hossein Nasr - Hakim Nizami Ganjawi