The Friends of God and Reading Travelers’ Narratives
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Transcript of The Friends of God and Reading Travelers’ Narratives
The Friends of God and Reading Travelers’ Narratives
HIST 100711/4/13
Near Eastern Mysticism and Asceticism
• Early Muslims attracted to Christian ascetics• Desert Fathers• St. Simeon Stylites (d. 459)• Merkabah – Jewish mysticism focused on divine visions• Kabbalah – 12th century Jewish mystical movement• Christian Monasticism
Sufism
• Sufi masters develop practices and doctrines• Dhikr – remembrance of God• Muraqaba – repetition of God’s names• Visitation and pilgrimage• 10th-13th centuries – following coalesce around Sufi masters• Development of Sufi institutions
Sufism and Poetry
• Intense love of God• Reflected in love poetry• Double meaning?• Jalal al-Din Rumi (d. 1273)– Persian poet– Mathnawi– Founder of Mawlana Sufi Order
Sufism
• ijaza – diploma and license to teach• khirqa – cloak of the master, symbolic robe• ribat – residence for mystics,from frontier forts• 13th century – Sufism, khanaqas, and ribats become important pieces of urban framework, similar to madrasa
Khanaqa Bayburs, Cairo
Are Sufis Saints?
• Mystics and “Friends of God”• Populist Islam• Sufism and miracles?• Baraka – blessings• Shrines and ziyara
Khanqah-i Shaykh `Abd al-Samad, IranIl-Khanid construction, 14th century
Sufism and Politics
• Sufi shaykh as political agent• Baraka and the sultan• State sponsorship of Sufi Orders• State sponsorship of khanaqas, shrines, etc.• Descendants of shaykhs and political authority
Shrine of Shaykh Safi al-Din, Ardabil, Iran14th century
Reading Travel Narratives
• What does a travel narrative actually tell us about?
• What kinds of details do you notice when you are traveling that are worth mentioning?
• What don’t you see when you are traveling?
Naser-e Khusraw’s Safarnama
• Naser-e Khusraw (1003-1077): Persian poet, philosopher, and Isma`ili scholar from Khurasan
• Secretary and tax collector under Seljuq Sultan Tughril Beg
• Safarnama – “Book of Travels”• 1046: A dream tells Naser to go on pilgrimage• Writes a report on his seven year journey
Pax Mongolica and Travel
Pax Mongolica and Travel
Paisa - passport
Marco Polo (1254-1324)1260: Marco’s father and
uncle find their wayto Bukhara and thenChina
1269: Niccolo and MaffeoPolo Return
1271-1292: Marco, Niccolo, andMaffeo in China
Marco Polo’s Travels
Marco Polo’s Travels
1298: In a Genoese prison.
Can we believe Rustichello’sembellishment of Marco’sprison yard bragging?
Ibn Battuta (1304-1369)
Tangier, MoroccoFamily of legal scholars
(ulama)1325: Ibn Battuta leaves
for Hajj1354: Finally returns
home.
Ibn Battuta’s Travels