Politics, Poetry, and Sufism in Medieval Iran

The writing and completion of this book would have been impossible without the assistance and advice of a number of individuals, organizations, and institutions. First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my teacher and Ph.D. dissertation supervisor, Maria Subtelny, whose guidance and encouragement, together with her knowledge of the medieval Persian and Islamic sources, and her careful attention to detail, were critical to my understanding Jami’s Salaman va Absal. I would also like to thank the members of my dissertation committee, especially Todd Lawson and Jo-Ann Gross, for their thoughtful comments. Over the years, I have benefited from the generosity of scholars who shared with me their wisdom and unpublished research, or who read sections of the current book. Of these generous souls, I would particularly like to mention: Colin Mitchel, Paul Losensky, Jürgen Paul, Devin DeWeese, Linda Darling, Shahzad Bashir, Lloyd Ridgeon, Alexandre Papas, Dina Le Gall, Louise Marlow, Carl Ernst, Fatemeh Keshavarz, Ahmet Karamustafa, Julia Rubanovich, Marta Simidchieva, Mahdi Tourage, Maryam Moazzen, Jim Lindsay, and Jim Goode.

I am especially grateful for the financial support I received during my doctoral studies from the Roshan Cultural Heritage Institute and the Houtan Scholarship Foundation. I would therefore like to indicate my gratitude to Elahé Mir-Djalali Omidyar and Mina Houtan. I would also like to thank the American Institute for Iranian Studies, under whose auspices I was awarded a travel fellowship allowing me to conduct research in Iran. More recently, I was able to complete research and writing projects related to the book due to the generous support of the Center for Scholarly and Creative Excellence at Grand Valley State University. Finally, I would like to thank the anonymous, external readers of the book manuscript for their insightful comments and express my gratitude to the editors of the series, Charles Melville, Gabrielle van den Berg, and Sunil Sharma, for including my book in Brill’s Studies in Persian Cultural History.

Above all else, I am indebted to my family, especially Ingrid, whose understanding and encouragement have been immeasurable.

NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND STYLE

In the transliteration of Arabic and Persian words, I have adopted the system of the International Journal of Middle East Studies, with the exception of the Arabic letters th and dh, which I have rendered by means of s and z in transliterating Persian. In cases where Arabic phrases appear in a Persian text, or where works written in Persian have Arabic titles, I have transliterated these according to the Persian system (see below). Qur’ânic and hadith citations have been transliterated using their original Arabic vocalizations. Arabic, Persian, and Turkic terms that have entered the English language, such as dervish, madrasa, shaikh, Sufi, sultan, etc. have not been italicized, with the exception of such terms as shah and vazlr, the particular connotations of which are not conveyed by the Anglicized forms shah and vizier. Geographic regions and other common toponyms are given in English and without diacritics (e.g., Azerbaijan, Tabriz). In the notes, bibliography, and text, I have followed the 15th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style.

- b

- p

- t

- s

- ^j

- ch

- h

- kh

- d

- z

1	- r	ó - f		final <t -a
J	- z	3	^- q	alif (long a)-â
A J	- zh	J^	- k	wâw (long u)-ü
	- s	J^	- g	yâ’ (long i)-i
••• ^	- sh	^J	- l	fathah-a
	- s	t ^J	- m	kasra-i
	- z	t ^J	- n	zamma-u
±	- t	J	- v	dipthong with s-ai
±	- z	*	- h	dipthong with j-au
c	< - - gh	s	- y

This study is concerned with the allegorical romance Salaman va Absal, composed by the medieval Persian poet-mystic ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami, which has been somewhat maligned by modern scholarship that has tended to regard it simply as a trite and even grotesque tale about the amorous affair between a prince and his wet-nurse. This study seeks to counter this view by demonstrating that Salaman va Absal contains valuable historical information about the political, religious, cultural, and ethical dynamics of the court of the Àq Qoyünlü dynasty during the reign of sultan Ya‘qüb b. Üzün Hasan, and that it is in fact a complex allegory that functions as an esoteric “mirror for princes,” that is, a medieval Perso-Islamic work of advice for rulers. On account of its rich symbolism, it operates on three distinct yet interrelated levels of meaning—the ethico-political, the mystical, and the historical. The third historical level is of particular interest as it relates to the personal struggle of the ruler Ya‘qüb. To be specific, it allegorically depicts the Àq Qoyünlü ruler’s addiction to wine and his subsequent public repentance from drinking.

The first level of meaning of Salaman va Absal concerns the ethical and political advice it proffers on the art of good governance. In many instances, this advice accords with the counsels and aphorisms contained in such classic medieval Perso-Islamic manuals of advice as Qabüs-nama, Siyar al-mulük, Naslhat al-mulük, Akhlaq-i NasirL, and Akhlaq-i JalalL These works emphasized the importance of justice (^cadl or ^cadalat) in the administration of the state, arguing that consistent maintenance of justice results in stable rule. Jami echoes this idea in Salaman va Absal and marshals a well-known though non-canonical hadlth that credits Muhammad with declaring that an infidel ruler who is just is preferable to a Muslim ruler who is a tyrant (zalim). Likewise, the ancient Iranian conception, expressed in the medieval manuals of advice, that religion (din) and kingship (daulat) are like “twin-brothers,” in other words functionally codependent, underlies the ethico-political level of meaning of the Salaman va Absal narrative.

Most medieval Islamic dynasties applied this traditional Sasanian notion in terms of state support for religious scholars ("ulama’) and normative Islam, but it appears that in the case of Ya‘qüb and the Àq Qoyünlü, the fraternity of “turban and crown” also involved court patronage of Sufis,

or Muslim mystics. The ethico-political advice of Jami to the ruler Ya'qüb is that he should recognize that “true kingship” consists in his becoming a Sufi-ruler. The true vicegerent of God (khalifat Allah), according to Jami, is the Sufi-ruler whose inner being is supported by the twin-pillars of din and daulat, and who attains that degree of perfection, or “inner justice,” by seeking the blessings of Sufi mystics and by following strictly their advice. For this reason, the present study seeks to demonstrate that the first plane of meaning of Salaman va Absal represents Jami’s appeal to Ya'qüb to intensify his interest in and political, and perhaps financial, support of individual Sufis and mystical brotherhoods by striving to become a spiritual person himself.

The second plane of meaning on which the tale of Salaman va Absal is to be understood is the mystical. Throughout his tale, Jami presents Ya'qüb with advice on two fundamental requirements of the mystical path, namely, repentance (tauba) and subjugation of the carnal soul (nafs). Repentance is a concept that was routinely discussed in the classic Sufi manuals, such as Kashf al-mahjub and al-Rlsala al-Qushairiyya, since it represents the first station on the path to spiritual enlightenment. The theme of repentance permeates the entire Salaman va Absal narrative, which culminates in the repentance of Salaman and his abandonment of his beloved wet-nurse, Absal, so that he may inherit his father’s throne as the King of ancient Greece. In making repentance the dominant theme of Salaman va Absal, Jami intended his Àq Qoyünlü audience to recognize that the narrative depicts symbolically the initial stages of the spiritual transformation of the soul. Moreover, just as the classic Sufi manuals maintain that the repentance of an adept must be accompanied by the annihilation of his carnal soul, or ego-self, Salaman va Absal states that Salaman’s renunciation of the pleasures he derived from Absal represents symbolically the eradication of base instincts and expression of contrition for past sins. It is therefore our contention that the character of Salaman represents the three conditions of the soul mentioned in the Qur’an and cited by Sufis as the path to spiritual perfection, that is, the “soul that incites to evil” (al-nafs al-ammara bl-al-su’), the “soul that blames itself” (al-nafs al-lawwama), and the “soul at peace” (al-nafs al-mutma’lnna).

Also reflected in the three aspects of the soul, and thus the three stages of the spiritual transformation of Salaman, are the three modes of being that were articulated in the writings of the great thirteenth-century theos- ophist, Ibn al-'Arabi. Jami was a proponent of the theosophical system of Ibn al-'Arabi, whose ideas, including the concept eventually known as the “Oneness of Being” (wahdat al-wujud), are reflected in Salaman va Absal. For this reason, Salaman va Absal should be included in scholarly discussions about the influence on Jami of the metaphysics of Ibn al-'Arabi.

Finally, the conclusion to Salaman va Absal depicts the visionary mystical experience of the heart. According to Sufi tradition, the visionary experience represents the culmination of the mystical quest and is a sign of God’s wish to reveal Himself to Himself in the purified heart of the Sufi saint. This event is vividly portrayed at the end of Salaman va Absal when, having realized that his dream-vision of Venus was a sign of the reality of the oneness of God, Salaman experiences gnosis, that is, true knowledge of God through knowledge of the self, thereby becoming one of His saints (valí).

Scholarship thus far has not adequately situated the tale of Salaman va Absal in its historical context. Consequently, specialists have never recognized that, in addition to its mystical meaning, the tale is historically significant and communicates important information about Ya'qüb. This inattention to the historical merits of Salaman va Absal has led historians of the reign of Ya'qüb to rely almost exclusively on the official (and in some cases, flawed) court chronicle of Ya'qüb, the Târlkh-i. ‘Àlam-ârâ-yi amíní. Salaman va Absal is by no means a substitute for the historical chronicle. Rather, its historical value rests with the information it conveys symbolically—details which this study seeks to corroborate by employing several contemporary Àq Qoyünlü sources, including court commissioned histories, royal edicts, personal letters, literary anthologies, hagiographies, and poetry addressed to Ya'qüb. By cross-checking these sources with an historical reading of Salaman va Absal, this study seeks to demonstrate that Salaman va Absal operates as an historical allegory that refers symbolically to Ya'qüb’s personal addiction to wine and his subsequent repentance from it beginning in 893/1488. Contrary to the received wisdom, which maintains that Jami wrote Salaman va Absal in 885/1480 as a coronation gift for Ya'qüb, this study endeavors to prove that the work was actually written to commemorate Ya'qüb’s public abstinence, and hence, was composed between the years 893/1488 and 895/1490.

In order to demonstrate that Salaman va Absal is an historical allegory, the study argues that each character in the tale represents a key member of the Àq Qoyünlü court and that the lust of Salaman for Absal represents Ya'qüb’s addiction to alcohol. Salaman thus represents Ya'qüb, Absal symbolizes wine, the King of ancient Greece represents the ideal of kingship, and the Sage represents Ya'qüb’s mentor and vazír, Qazi 'fsa Savaji. Textual support for this interpretation is to be found in Salaman va Absal itself, specifically a line in which Jami quotes from the Masnaví-yi ma'navî by Rümï. This pivotal line, which is taken from the allegory by Rümï about a king who fell in love with his handmaiden, states that the true identities of “lovers” should be hidden from the uninitiated and that their tale should be told in the “garments” of others. This statement, which occurs early on in the poem, signals that Salaman va Absal contains a deeper, hidden meaning and that its characters—referred to as “lovers”—actually represent other individuals, in this case the historical figures Ya'qüb and Qâzï 'ïsâ Sâvajï. According to the logic of this historical interpretation, the killing of Absâl and the penitent return of Salâmân to his father symbolizes the renunciation of wine by Ya'qüb and his rededication to the throne he inherited from his father, Üzün Hasan.

Finally, it is the contention here that, despite its ancient Greek provenance, Jami’s version of the story of Salâmân and Absâl was patterned after the above-mentioned allegory by Rümi about the king who fell in love with his handmaiden. In addition to the fact that Salaman va Absal is written in the same metre as the Masnavî, the characters in Jami’s tale—Salâmân, Absâl, the King, and the Sage—may be said to correspond respectively to the handmaiden, the goldsmith, the king, and the divine physician-sage in Rümi’s allegorical tale.

Another historical aspect of Salaman va Absal explored in this study is the frequency with which spiritual techniques traditionally associated with the Naqshbandi Sufi order are referred to in the text. For example, we find numerous allusions to the silent remembrance of God (zikr-i khafi), to the initiatory practice of fixing the image of the shaikh in one’s heart (rabita), and to the ability of the shaikh to concentrate and deploy his spiritual energy (himmat). One explanation for the prevalence of Naqshbandi terminology could be Jâmi’s well-known membership in the order and his reputation for having initiated several prominent members of the Timurid court into it. Taking this and Jâmi’s enduring rapport with Ya'qüb into consideration, the present study speculates that the poet-mystic may have intended to introduce Ya'qüb to the rudiments of Naqshbandi Sufism, albeit from a distance, since Jâmi resided in the Timurid capital, Herat. Jâmi may thus have been acting as a shaikh to Ya'qüb. Such a claim is not entirely unfounded, especially if we consider that the Naqshbandis were unique among medieval Sufi orders in their belief that a shaikh could transmit spiritual guidance to disciples through his himmat, without being physically present. In order to further buttress this claim, the present study demonstrates that, although the Khalvati order was the main presence at the Àq Qoyünlü court in Tabriz, local or transplanted Naqshbandis, such as Darvish Qâsim, Shahidi Qumi, and Sun' Allah Küzakunânï, also exerted considerable influence over Üzün Hasan and Ya'qüb. Therefore, the terminology and ideas expressed in Salaman va Absal would not have been alien to an Àq Qoyünlü audience, and might even have augmented the efforts of local Naqshbandis to ingratiate the order with the royal court. It appears that the conventional view that the Naqshbandi order was not involved in Àq Qoyünlü affairs is no longer tenable, and the overall impact of Sufi mysticism on the politics and personalities of the Àq Qoyünlü court of Ya'qüb needs to be understood more broadly.

CHAPTER ONE

APPROACHING JÀMÎ’S SALAMAN VA ABSAL AS A PERSO-ISLAMIC
BOOK OF ADVICE FOR RULERS

Over four centuries after its composition, the poem Salaman va Absal by Nür al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami (d. 898/1492) and its evocative narrative involving an illicit romance between a pubescent prince and his wetnurse still appears to discomfort modern literary historians of classical Persian belles-lettres. Largely dismissed by its critics, including Edward G. Browne, A. J. Arberry, and Jan Rypka, as “curious,” “silly,” “crude,” and even “grotesque,” the tale of Salaman va Absal has come to be regarded as one of Jami’s lesser achievements, a bizarre aberration in his corpus of otherwise straightforwardly mystical and didactic poems.¹ Another reason for its relative obscurity is that it was dedicated to a Türkmen ruler, Abü al-Muzaffar Ya‘qüb b. Üzün Hasan (hereafter Ya‘qüb; d. 896/1490), leader of the Àq Qoyünlü tribal confederation, whose reign has received little attention in comparison to his Timurid and Ottoman contemporaries.^{^[1]}^{^[2]}

To be sure, the scandalous romance, one that is incestuous and thus religiously proscribed, might at first glance distract casual readers from apprehending the mystical significance of the tale and the esoteric didacticism of its anecdotes. However, it is precisely through the indelicate, if not shocking, theme of the narrative that the subtleties of mystical transformation and esoteric allusion find their veiled expression.^{^[3]} With this in mind, an abbreviated overview of the narrative itself is in order.

The Narrative Context of Salâmân va Absâl

The tale opens with the description of a King (shahryar, shah) of ancient Greece who succeeds in making a Sage (haklm) his companion in both “solitude” (khalvat) and “society” (suhbat). Adhering to the direction (tadblr) and instruction (talqln) of the Sage, the King conquers the entire world, its inhabitants prospering under the foundation of his justice (^cadl) and munificence (jud).

Contemplating his condition (hal), the King realizes that, although he has acquired the good fortune of rulership (daulat), he remains without a son to succeed (khalaf) him. Speaking with the Sage, the King relates his desire for a worthy heir, declaring that there is no greater blessing (ni'mat) than a son. The response of the Sage is a withering condemnation of carnal lust (shahvat) which, in his opinion, only serves to sever wisdom (khi- rad) from the heart (dil) and light (nur) from the eyes. Women, much like wine, are the locus of this lust and must therefore be avoided. To produce an heir, the Sage draws semen from the King’s spine and deposits it in a place other than a female womb.^{^[4]} Jami is careful to note that the seminal emission occurred without carnal lust (bl shahvat). Nine months later, a flawless child emerges who, on account of his perfection (salamat), is given the name Salâmân.

The motherless Salâmân is then assigned a ravishing beauty named Absâl as his wet-nurse (daya). Absâl immediately becomes infatuated with her suckling, whose beauty reaches perfection when he becomes fourteen years of age. Absâl’s attraction to Salâmân is made manifest when she uses her irresistible coquetry to seduce him. Her stratagem works and soon Salâmân yearns after her and they consummate their union (vasl) in a love affair that sees Salâmân abandon both King and Sage in favor of his beloved Absâl.

Distressed by these events, the King and the Sage summon Salâmân to the palace. His salvation, they determine, is contingent on imparting good counsel (naslhat) to him. Salâmân is urged to realize his noble origin and abandon his libertine ways. Apologetic in his rejoinder, Salâmân nevertheless suggests that it is fate that has inscrutably determined this romance to be his destiny. Vexed by so much reproach, he flees with Absâl by night and arrives at a shoreless sea. Finding a skiff, the two travel until they reach an emerald isle where they enjoy each other’s companionship (suhbat) unmolested.

Stung by the departure of his son, the King gazes into his magical world-displaying mirror (aylna-i gltl numay) and sees Salâmân and Absâl who are happily unconcerned with anything except each other.^{^[5]} Initially compassionate, the mercy of the King subsides as he grows more sorrowful. He decides to apply the power of his spiritual concentration (himmat) towards Salâmân in order to detach him from Absâl.^{^[6]}

Deprived of Absâl and consumed by grief, Salâmân recognizes the intervention of his father. In an act of repentance (tauba), he returns to the King, who enjoins him to abandon Absal and pursue his true destiny— kingship (mulk). Unconvinced by the entreaty of his father, Salâmân goes into the wilderness (sahra), kindles a fire, and plunges into the inferno together with Absal. The King, secretly aware of the situation, intervenes and uses his power of concentration (himmat) to ensure that Absal is in turn engulfed while Salâmân emerges unscathed from the flames.

Salâmân is distraught at the death of Absal, which prompts the King to seek a remedy from the Sage. Salaman submits to the intervention of the Sage, who promises to bring Absâl back and make her his eternal companion. Whenever Absâl enters the mind of Salâmân, the Sage creates an image (sürat) of her, holds it before Salâmân’s eyes, and describes the beauty of Venus (zuhra) instead. Salâmân eventually becomes absorbed in the adoration of Venus’ face, thereby effacing the image (naqsh) of Absâl forever from his mind.

Freed from his grief over the death of Absâl, Salâmân gives his heart to the One [true] beloved (ma'shüq), i.e., the Divine, and thus becomes worthy of the crown of kingship (afsar-i shahi) and the throne of the sultanate (takht-i saltanat). Before an assembly of notables of the state (arkan-i daulat), the King invests Salâmân with crown and throne, commanding obeisance to his son from all those present.^{^[7]} The tale culminates with the King delivering his “testament” (vasiyyat-nama) to Salâmân, in which he advises him to be guided by religion-acquiring reason (^caql-i dm-andüz), to rule with justice (^cadl), and to appoint a wise (dana) and trustworthy (amm) vazîr to counsel him.^{^[8]}

The Provenance of the Salaman and Absal Allegory

The characters Salaman and Absal, and the allegorical symbolism they represent, do not originate with the tale of Jami. In fact, Salaman and Absal figure prominently in a series of medieval Arabic and Persian philosophical and mystical allegories, most of which predate Jami’s adoption of the characters by many centuries.^{^[9]} The characters Salaman and Absal first appear in the ninth chapter of the Kitab al-isharat wa al-tanblhat by Ibn Sina (d. 428/1037) in which he discusses the “stages of the gnostics” (f maqamat al-^car'fm):

Gnostics have stages and degrees by which they are favored over others while in their earthly life. It is as if their bodies were garments that they had removed and stripped away (to move) toward the Realm of Sanctity (Olam al-quds). They have things hidden and manifest that are denied by whoever would deny them but are deemed momentous by whoever has come to know them. We will tell you about these things. And when your ear has been struck by what it hears, and what you will hear has been narrated to you, it will be the story of Salaman and Absal. Know that Salaman is a similitude coined for you and that Absal is a similitude coined for your degree of gnosis, if you be one of the people. So decipher the allegory (al-ramz), if you are able.^{^[10]}^{^[11]}

It has widely been suggested that what followed was the narrative depiction by Ibn Sina of the psychological struggle occasioned by a spiritual reorientation. Unfortunately, the original text is lost. The only sources for the possible contents of the lost narrative are commentaries on the Isharat wa al-tanblhat by the Qur’an commentator-exegete, Fakhr al-Din Muhammad b. ‘Umar Razi (d. 606/1209), and the Shi'ite polymath Nasir al-Din Tüsi (d. 672/1274). Describing the tale as an insoluble enigma, Razi nevertheless unraveled enough meaning to conclude that Ibn Sina invented the names “Salaman” and “Absal” to signify Adam and Paradise (Janna), respectively^ Considered this way, the story represents the exile of the soul from Paradise and its progressive return to the original state of bliss and perfection, a journey that Henry Corbin described in his excursus on the tales of Salaman and Absal as representing “the whole myth of the Anthropos.”^{^[12]}^{^[13] ^[14] ^[15] ^[16]}

Tüsi, on the other hand, provides two versions of the tale in his commentary. The first, purportedly of ancient Greek provenance, was translated into Arabic from the Syriac by Hunain b. Ishaq (d. 260/873). It shares many points in common with the narrative by Jami, starting with the forbidden romance between a young prince and his wet-nurse.1³ In the neo-Platonic interpretation of Tüsi, the prince Salaman corresponds to the rational soul (nafs-i natiqa), Absal to the corporeal faculty (quvva-yi jismt), the King to the Active Intellect (^caql-iJ'a'al), and the Sage to divine emanation (faiz-i ilahi).^u By implication, this version of the Greek tale recounts the infatuation of the soul with material pleasures, which it overcomes only when divine will acts through its angelic agent, freeing soul from body so that it assumes its rightful place at the divine Throned⁵

Before we accept the ancient Greek origin of this version in toto, its invocation of ancient Iranian motifs and imagery needs to be acknowl- edged.1⁶ For example, the ascension and return of the soul to its luminous origins, coupled with the widespread use of light terminology, a theme later manifested in the Illuminationist (Ishraqt) philosophy of Shihab al-Din Yahya Suhravardi (d. 587/1191), are just several indications the tale could also have been of an Iranian provenance.^{^[17]} Likewise, the incestuous relationship might be a reflection of the ancient Zoroastrian tradition of consanguineous marriage?^{^[18]} Finally, another indication arises when comparing the birth of Salaman from a tree with Zoroastrian and Manichaean traditions concerning the generation of humans from a plant.1^{^[19]}

Ibn Slnd’s Version of the Allegory

In the second version, which Tüsi ascribes to Ibn Sina and which bears little resemblance to the ancient Greek version of the tale, Salaman and Absal are royal siblings. This rendition casts Salaman as a king and Absal as his courageous and loyal younger brother. Based on the commentary by Tüsi, the narrative concerns the infatuation of the wife of Salaman for Absal, and the extraordinary lengths the latter goes to resist her sexual advances.^{^[20]}^{^[21]} Seeking a respite from her constant ruses, Absal departs to conquer “east and west” on behalf of his brother and returns to the royal palace only to be poisoned by his jilted lover. Overcome by grief at the death of his beloved brother, Salaman executes his wife, renounces kingship, and retires to solitary contemplation of God.21

As in the Greek version, Tüsï interprets Salâmân to be a representation of the rational, or speaking, soul (al-nafs al-natiqa or nafs-i güya).^{^[22]}Absâl, on the other hand, is equated with the speculative intellect (al-^caql al-nazari)^{^[23]}^{^[24]} The wife of Salâmân, meanwhile, comes to embody concupiscence (shahva) and the faculties (quvva) of the animal soul (al-nafs al-hayawani).24 East and west, that is to say, the intelligible (ma'qül) and sensible (mahsüs) worlds, are subdued by the acquired intellect (Absâl), bringing to the rational soul (Salâmân) the fruits of its victories?^{^[25]}Hermeneutically, the climactic act of Salâmân, according to Tüsï, symbolizes the quelling of corporeal passions so that the rational soul (Salâmân) can devote itself entirely to contemplation of the divine realm?^{^[26]} The (brotherly) relationship of Salâmân and Absâl, coupled with the use of a “world-displaying mirror” by king Salâmân, have led to suggestions that Ibn Sïnâ borrowed the two characters (or their names) from the biblical brothers Absalom and Solomon?^{^[27]}

Salaman and Absal in Hayy ibn Yaqzân

The characters Salâmân and Absâl also appear—significantly—in the Risala Hayy ibn Yaqzan of the Andalusian philosopher Abü Bakr b. Tufail (d. 581/1185-86) as a clarification of the meaning of Ibn Sïnâ’s phrase “Oriental Wisdom” (al-hikmat al-mashriqiyya)^{^[28]} The use of the characters by Ibn Tufail is original, for he casts Absâl as a gnostic who lives on an island whose habitants, epitomized by their king, Salâmân, stubbornly adhere to the external tenets and rituals of religion.^{^[29]} Not satisfied with literalism and visible displays of piety, Absâl, representing the inner dimension of religious spirituality, arrives at Hayy’s island in search of a place to engage in solitary contemplation.^{^[30]} Absâl subsequently becomes a disciple of Hayy, though the two are unsuccessful in their attempts to convey the hidden truths of revelation to the other islanders^{^[31]}^{^[32]}

Coded Speech: The Overall Power of Allegory

Despite the differences between them, the ancient Greek version and the versions of Ibn Sïnâ and Ibn Tufail share a common feature: each is an allegorical expression of the mystical path. More precisely, each depicts the quest for the Divine presence by the individual soul, an inward journey in which tribulation and painful purification alchemically transform the soul until it is capable of reflecting the reality of the unity of God.

Allegory, or the mode expressing thoughts in coded speech by saying one thing and meaning another, naturally lent itself to describing mystical experience, which ultimately is impossible to describe.32 A literal or outer (zahir) level of meaning, usually in the form of a tale that makes sense in and of itself, could therefore be used to mask a deeper, esoteric (batin) meaning impenetrable but to those capable of recognizing the images and deciphering the esoteric significance of certain words. Prose allegories like Salaman wa Absal and Hayy ibn Yaqzan were thus ideal vehicles for the explanation of spiritual progression toward the Divine mysteries to Sufi initiates; this was accomplished through the concealment offered by the exoteric narrative.

The ideal vehicle, however, for expressions of the Islamic mystical experience was not prose but poetry, particularly poetry written in the Persian language, which on account of its capacity to be both vague and precise, was unparalleled in its potential for creating word plays (tajns), double meaning, and amphibology (¿Adm).^{^[33]} Jami’s version of Salâmân and Absâl, which was written in rhyming couplets of Persian verse, is unique in that it describes this experience within the framework of a poetic form (masnavi). Stated differently, Persian poetry served as the ideal medium for Jami to create an unusually esoteric composition: a work of political and ethical advice set within an allegorical romance that actually describes the spiritual journey of the soul.

Another unique aspect of Jami’s version of the Salaman and Absal narrative is that it is addressed directly to a royal patron, Ya'qüb, a prince from the Bayandur clan of Oghuz Turks, whose twelve-year reign (883— 96/1478-90) as ruler of the Àq Qoyünlü (White Sheep) confederation of Türkmen tribes in northern Iraq, eastern Anatolia, and Azerbaijan, was marked both by literary-cultural achievements and his own struggles with alcohol addiction^{^[34]} It appears that as a consequence, Jami infused his version of Salaman and Absal with enough practical advice on governing according to Perso-Islamic principles to allow us to view his versified rendition of the tale as a mirror for princes.

Salaman va Absal, an Esoteric Mirror for Princes

As the first poetic treatment of the tale in Persian, Jami’s Salâmân va Absal contained the potential to convey secrets of esoteric knowledge concerning the mystical transformation of the soul. But, as this study endeavors to prove, it also contains disguised information regarding historical figures at the Àq Qoyünlü court. Thus, the primary aim of this study is to demonstrate that the mystico-historical esotericism present throughout Jami’s Salâmân va Absâl had a larger didactic motive: to provide political and ethical advice for the ruler.

Mystically-inclined Persian mirrors for princes, written by Sufis, were not unknown in medieval Iran. For example, Sâz va pirâya-yi shahan-i pürmâya

JAMI’S SALAMAN VA ABSAL AS A PERSO-ISLAmiC BOOK OF ADVICE 17 by Afzal al-Din Muhammad b. Hasan Kâshânï (d. 610/1213-14),^{^[35]} Mirsad al-^cibad min al-mabda’ ila al-ma^cad by Najm al-Din Râzï (d. 652/1256-57),3^{^[36]}^{^[37]}and Zakhirat al-mulük by ‘Alï b. Shihab al-Din Hamadânï (786/1385)37 each explicated the idea of perfect kingship by correlating it with the Sufi mystical concept of the Perfect Man (al-insan al-kamil) as the true vicegerent of God (khalifat Allah)?^{^[38]}

Contrary to most appraisals of Salaman va Absal, which treat it simply as a romantic allegory,3^{^[39]} this thesis seeks to argue that the tale by Jami is in fact a multi-layered work of practical ethical wisdom incorporating major elements of the Perso-Islamic tradition of advice literature, variously referred to as andarz, pand, nasihat, vasiyat, siyar, and akhlaq.^{^[40]}

Demonstrating that Salaman va Absal operates as a mystical mirror for princes will be carried out by interrogating those concepts and statements on statecraft it contains which correspond to and repeat ideas expressed in several classic medieval Persian works of advice. That is to say, key aspects of Salaman va Absal will be compared and integrated with similar aspects found in such Perso-Islamic manuals of advice as: Qabus- nama by Kay Kâ’üs b. Iskandar;^{^[41]} Siyar al-muluk by Nizam al-Mulk;^{^[42]}Nasïhat al-muluk by Abü Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazâlï;4^{^[43]} Akhlaq-i Nasirï by Nasir al-Din Tüsi;^{^[44]} and finally, Akhlaq-i Jalalï by Jalal al-Din Davani.^{^[45]}

First in terms of chronology is the QabUs-nama of Kay Kâ’üs b. Iskandar (d. ca. 477/1084-85), a Ziyarid princeling from the Caspian provinces of Tabaristan (Mazandaran) and Gurgan in northern Iran. Noted for its brisk practicality, this manual, which emphasizes the Zoroastrian principle of moderation (paiman; mïyana or andaza) and manly virtue (Javanmardt), was completed in 474/1082-83 for Kay Kâ’üs’ son and successor Gilânshâh (d. 483/1090)^{^[46]} Encyclopedic in its outlook, the forty-four chapters of the Qabüs-nama tackle a range of spiritual and mundane matters, including: knowing God, the creation of the prophets and their mission, the etiquette of eating, purchasing a horse, rearing children, the art of controlling an armed force, and the conduct of kingship.

Written about four years after the Qabüs-nama (i.e., 478/1087) is the Siyar al-mulük, an administrative handbook on medieval realpolitik by the doyen of medieval Persian vazlrs, Nizam al-Mulk al-Tüsi (d. 485/1092). Supposedly commissioned at the urging of the Saljuq ruler Malikshah (d. 485/1092) as an internal review of his realm, the Siyar al-mulük served as a candid and expedient appraisal of the Great Saljuq empire. Its preoccupation with safeguarding the hierarchical status quo by maintaining the ruler’s monopoly on coercive force (siyasat), though justified by Nizam al-Mulk with reference to old Sasanian precedents, reflects the perturbations of its author over contemporary threats posed by insurrectionist and heretical religious groups of fifth/eleventh century Iran, notably the Isma'ili Shi'ites (referred to in the text as Bâtinïs).^{^[47]}

Another manual written for a Saljuq patron and useful for the present study is the Naslhat al-mulük ascribed to the Muslim theologian Abü Hamid Muhammad Ghazali (d. 505/1111). Completed twenty-three years after the Siyar al-mulük and dedicated to the Saljuq ruler Muhammad b. Malikshah (d. 511/1118) on behalf of his younger brother Sanjar (d. 552/ 1157), the Naslhat al-mulük is in fact an amalgam of two very dissimilar sections; the first serving as a homiletic exposition of the Islamic faith, the second as a theoretical and practical guide to kingship. It is this latter exposition and the forthright Islamization of ancient Iranian traditions concerning the relationship between religion (dln) and kingship (mulk) that is of special interest for this study^{^[48]}

The first major post-Mongol work of Perso-Islamic ethico-political advice, the Akhlaq-i Nasirl by Nasir al-Din Tüsi, is particularly useful in correlating Salaman va Absal to the body of works on political advice^{^[49]}The most influential medieval Persian advice manual, the Akhlaq-i Nasirl synthesized Aristotelian philosophy with ancient Indo-Iranian ideals of hierarchy by augmenting earlier Islamic works on political philosophy by Abü Nasr Farabi (d. 339/950) and Abü ‘Ali b. Miskawaih (d. 421/1030).^{^[50]}The Akhlaq-i Nasirl, which was ultimately dedicated to the Ilkhanid ruler of Iran, Hülegü (d. 663/1265), conceptualizes society as a cooperative effort to achieve a degree of “perfection” that can only be realized in the communal unit of the city (madlna). Borrowing the Aristotelian concept of man as a “civic animal” (al-insan al-madaniyy bi-al-tab''), Tüsi states that humans are inclined by nature to congregate in cities and engage in social interaction (jtmO) while occupying themselves with a diversity of crafts and professions.^{^[51]}^{^[52]
^[53]
^[54]} According to Tüsi, the role of the ruler is to regulate a cooperative ethic of mutual aid (mu'avanat) amongst these diverse groups by keeping each within its proper hierarchical rank or vocational place and in a condition of interdependency.5² The resulting societal equilibrium (i'tidal) is equated with justice (^cadl), the highest of virtues.5³ This arranging of a polity according to the fundamental order of the universe, that is the external macrocosm, is implicitly mirrored by the necessity for the individual (i.e., the ruler) to properly order the inner microcosm of himself.

This study will explore how the idea of “man as the microcosm” is reflected in Jami’s Salaman va Absal. The need of the ruler to realize his place as the shadow of God (zill Allah) by keeping his bodily humors in balance and passions in check will be compared with the perfect ruler or the need of the Sufi mystic to perfect his spiritual self by disciplining (tadblr) his carnal soul, or nafs. The concept of acting as the vicegerent of God (khalifat Allah) or shadow of God on earth will therefore be discussed in connection with the Sufi conception of the Perfect Man.5⁴Special attention will be paid to the Akhlaq-i Jalall by Jalal al-Din Davani (d. 908/1502-3), which was dedicated to both Üzün Hasan (d. 882/1478) and his eldest son Sultan-Khalil (i.e., the older uterine brother of Ya'qüb) sometime between 871-81/1467-77. It represents an Àq Qoyünlü mirror for princes, which was based in part on ideas contained in the Akhlaq-i Nasirl by Nasir al-Din Tüsi. It is, however, unique among mirrors in its insistence that the ruler associate with Sufi mystics and support dervishes who, by way of their spiritual energy (himmat), can act as kingmakers.^{^[55]}In addition to its admonitions to Üzün Hasan and Sultan-Khalil regarding the political importance of Sufi mystics, the Akhlaq-i Jalall contains esoteric elements which buttress the claim put forward in this study that the Àq Qoyünlü court of Ya'qüb was fertile ground for the reception of such mystical works as Jami’s Salaman va Absal. That is to say, the prevalence of Sufi mystical ideas at the Àq Qoyünlü court was such that not only was a “traditional” mirror for princes (i.e., the Akhlaq-i Jalall) pervaded with Sufi ethics, but a mystical allegory—in poetic form no less—could also be a vehicle by which concepts of statecraft were communicated.

In order to establish that Salaman va Absal and the Akhlaq-i Jalall fit within the literary genre of Persian mirrors for princes, we shall examine the defining characteristics of several classic works. By highlighting their shared statements concerning such concepts as kingship, religion, justice, the punitive capacity of the ruler, and the vizierate, these manuals of practical advice will, each in its own way, be treated as antecedent expressions of some of the ideas contained in the Salaman va Absal by Jami.

For example, passages reflecting such perennial Iranian themes as the necessity for the king to exercise justice (^cadl or ^cadalat); the idea that religion and kingship are twin-brothers (encapsulated in the expression: dln va daulat du baradarand) and thus interdependent; and the indispensability of a good vazlr, will be offered as evidence to suggest that Jami’s intention was, among other things, to impart wisdom about kingship and statecraft to his Àq Qoyünlü addressee. In so doing, this study will argue that besides being a mystical Persian romance, Jami’s Salaman va Absal also belongs to the genre of Persian mirrors for princes.

Finally, by comparing Salaman va Absal with the abovementioned corpus of Persian manuals spanning some five centuries, the durability of ancient Iranian ideals relating to proper governance will be evinced.

Salaman va Absal and the Masnavi of Rumi

In addition to arguing that Salaman va Absal is a mystical mirror for princes, a series of secondary hypotheses will be put forward. Chief among these is that the work by Jami is partly based on the first tale in the Masnavl-yi ma'navl by Jalal al-Din Rümi (d. 672/1273), namely “The story of the king’s falling in love with a handmaiden and buying her,” which Rümi takes as an allegorical description of the purification of the soul through love.^{^[56]}^{^[57] ^[58]} By comparing the symbolic significance of the characters in Rümi’s tale—namely the king, the divine physician, the handmaiden, and the goldsmith—with those in Jami’s tale, it will be demonstrated that Salaman va Absal was, in addition to its ancient Graeco-Iranian heritage, modeled in part after Rümi’s famous homiletic tale.5⁷ To substantiate this claim, we will point to Jami’s inclusion of key passages from the tale by Rümi, his use of the metre of the Masnavi, and the fact that both narratives share a degree of shocking grotesqueness.

The Historical Significance of Salaman va Absal

Jami’s tale has another purpose beyond its primary functions as a mirror for princes and an experiential tale, or récit visionnaire, explicating the path of gnostic self-realization—it is also an historical allegory in which the principal characters symbolically represent discrete historical figures at the Àq Qoyünlü court. Salaman appears to represent the addressee of the poem, Ya'qüb; the King of ancient Greece represents the ideal of kingship; the Sage represents Ya'qüb’s advisor and vazlr, Qazi Safi al-Din b. Shukr Allah 'îsa Savaji (d. 896/1491); and Absal symbolizes wine and the life of libertinage. The initial infatuation of Salaman with and subsequent renunciation of Absal will therefore be contextualized within the historical reality of the public repentance (tauba) by Ya'qüb and his prohibition of the consumption of wine in Tabriz in 893/1488.5⁸ Jami, it will be argued, composed and dedicated his Salaman va Absal to Ya'qüb not only for its high-minded mystical didacticism, but also on account of the narrative’s depiction of actual personalities and events that would have been familiar to Ya'qüb. That is to say, using a mystical tale, Jami took the occasion of the renunciation of drinking by Ya'qüb to encourage him to embark upon, or at least recognize, the pious austerities involved in the Sufi mystical path, which he regarded as a prerequisite of kingship.^{^[59]}

This contradicts the received view that Jami composed and dedicated his Salaman va Absal as a coronation gift to celebrate the commencement of the independent rule of Ya'qüb in 885/1480.^{^[60]} Internal evidence in the text itself provides support to make a case for a later date of completion. By reviewing this and other evidence in contemporary sources of the late ninth/fifteenth and tenth/sixteenth centuries, including the official history of the reign of Ya'qüb, the Tarlkh-i ‘Àlam-ârâ-yi. amlnl by Fazl Allah b. Rüzbihan Khunjï-Isfahânï (d. 927/1521), and the personal correspondence of Jami and Ya'qüb, this study will argue that the dedication by Jami of his Salaman va Absal to Ya'qüb occurred after the latter’s public repentance from drinking and was the culminating act of his sustained dialogue with the Àq Qoyünlü ruler. This rapport, expressed in letters and poetry replete with terms associated with the doctrines and practices of the Naqshbandi Sufi order (tarlqa), suggests that their relationship resembled that of a Sufi master and his disciple.

Overview of the Primary Sources

As John E. Woods has observed, there is no shortage of primary historical sources available for the study of the Àq Qoyünlü period.^{^[61]} The problem, however, lies in the fact that many of these materials are fragmentary, making Àq Qoyünlü historiography an exercise in synthesis. As a result, a variety of documentary, epigraphical, numismatic, bureaucratic, narrative, and literary sources must be exploited in order to undertake an effective inquiry into any aspect of Àq Qoyünlü history.

Bearing this in mind, the notion that Salaman va Absal is a mystical and historically relevant mirror for princes, will be supported by a variety of Persian literary sources, most of which are contemporary or nearcontemporary with the poem itself, which is to say they were completed during Jami’s lifetime or shortly thereafter during the tenth/sixteenth century. The first such “primary source” is the Salaman va Absal itself. Other poems addressed to the Àq Qoyünlü court, especially those that corroborate historical information contained in Salaman va Absal, will be cited. This study will investigate the official histories of the reigns of Ya‘qüb and his father, Üzün Hasan, namely the ‘Àlam-ârâ-yi. amlnl, by Khunji-Isfahani and the Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya by Abü Bakr Tihrani-Isfahani (d. 882/1478). Additional information will be gleaned from Safavid-era chronicles, such as the Tarlkh-i Habib al-siyar JI akhbar-i aJrad-i bashar by Ghiyas al-Din Khvandamir and the Lubb al-tavarlkh by Mir Yahya b. ‘Abd al-Latif (Husaini Saifi) Qazvini. This study also makes use of hagiographical literature, specifically, the Maqamat-i Jami by ‘Abd al-Vasi‘ Nizami Bakharzi, the Rauzat al-jinan wa jannat al-janan by Hafiz Husain Karbala’i-Tabrizi Baba-Faraji, the Rashahat-i ^cain al-hayat by Fakhr al-Din ‘Ali b. Husain Va‘iz Kashifi, the Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenl by Muhyi Gulshani, and the Majalis al-Ushshaq by Amir Sayyid Kamal al-Din Husain Gazurgahi. The following literary anthologies will be consulted, the Hasht bihisht by Hakim Shah-Muhammad b. Mubarak Qazvini, the TuhJa-i Saml by Sam Mirza Safavi, the Tazkirat al-shu'ara’ by Daulatshah b. ‘Ala’ al-Daula Bakhtishah al-Ghazi Samarqandi, and the Rauzat al-salatln by Sultan Muhammad Fakhri Haravi. Finally, the personal correspondence between Jami and Ya‘qüb will also be analyzed and discussed.

Salaman va Absal by Jaml

Our inquiry necessarily begins with Jami’s Salaman va Absal itself. A relatively short masnavl of 1,131 verses, it is traditionally grouped in Jami’s heptad of masnavls, called Haft aurang (Seven Thrones),^{^[62]} five of which are in imitation of the quintet of romantic and didactic masnavls by Nizami Ganjavi (d. 605/1209) known simply as the Khamsa.63 The edition used in this study is the critical edition of the Haft aurang by ATâ-Khân Afsahzad (1999), which is based on eight manuscripts, including the oldest known copy of the Haft aurang, which is dated 895/1490 in Herat and held in the Oriental Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Uzbekistan in Tashkent.^{^[63]}^{^[64]} In the opinion of Afsahzad, the 895/1490 manuscript is the most complete Haft aurang manuscript^^{^[65]}^{^[66]} With this assessment in mind, the present study includes a new, revised translation of Salaman va Absal (see Appendix 2)—one which takes into greater account the political and spiritual contexts within which Jami composed the poem. While relying on the critical edition by Afsahzad, an attempt has also been made to corroborate key passages and ambiguous terms or images in the poem by comparing his edition with that of Zahra Muhajiri, whose own critical edition of the Salaman va Absal (1998) was based on six manuscripts of the Haft aurang,66 the oldest of which is purported to be an autograph copy held in St. Petersburg which she erroneously dates to 890/1485 (i.e., two years before Ya‘qüb’s repentance in 893/1488)^{^[67]}^{^[68]} The autograph appears at the end of the second section (daftar) of the Silsilat al-zahab and reads: “The one who is copying this book is its versifier, and he is ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami” (raqim al-kitab nazimuhu wa huwa al-faqir Abd al-Rahman al-famt).'⁸ It is followed by the inscription: “on the eleventh of Dhü al-Hijja in the year 890.”^{^[69]} Even if the autograph were authentic, its appearance at the end of the second of the three daftars of the Silsilat al-zahab does not mean, as Muhâjirï presumes, that the other six masnavis, including Salaman va Absal, were transcribed on this date. It should be noted that W. Ivanov, E. È. Bertel’s, and Najib Mâyil Haravi doubted the authenticity of this and other manuscripts purporting to contain the autograph of Jami.^{^[70]}^{^[71] ^[72] ^[73] ^[74]}

Other Persian Poetry Addressed to Ya’qub

In addition to Salaman va Absal, Jami’s Silsilat al-zahab includes a eulogy of Ya'qüb in the third daftard¹ The importance of the eulogy rests in its subtle criticism of Ya'qüb’s immoral behavior. Jami also addressed several qasidas to Ya'qüb. These works will be examined later on for information they reveal about the nature of the relationship between the two men?²Besides the poetry of Jami, this study is also concerned with other works of poetry addressed to Àq Qoyünlü rulers or generated at the Àq Qoyünlü courts in Tabriz and Shiraz. This literature has hardly been exploited but it indicates that the Àq Qoyünlü were patrons of Persian belles-lettres.¹³ For example, the literary productions of poets affiliated with the Àq Qoyünlü, such as Ahli Shirazi (d. 942/1535), Kamal al-Din Banâ’i Haravi (d. 918/1512), Baba Fighani (d. 925/1519), and Shahidi Qumi (d. 935/1528-29), which often contain valuable historical information embedded (or encrypted) within them, will be mentioned in connection with members of the Àq Qoyünlü court.7⁴ Ahli Shirazi, for example, dedicated his allegorical masnavi on love, Sham' va parvana, to Ya'qüb.^{^[75]} Banâ’ï, for his part, addressed his 5,000 verse narrative poem Bahram va Bihruz (or Bagh-i Iram) to Ya'qüb as well.^{^[76]}^{^[77] ^[78] ^[79]} Neither work has been the object of any detailed study in English. Contributing to this lacuna is a tendency to regard panegyrics and allegorical or mystical poetry as having no historiographical value.77

Ofcial Court Chronicles and General Histories

Despite its implicit bias in favour of the ruler, the official court history of Ya'qüb, Álam-ara-yi amini, by Khunjï-Isfahânï remains the single most important source for Àq Qoyünlü history?⁸ Commissioned by Ya'qüb but completed in the reign of his son and successor Abü al-Fath Bâysunghur (d. 898/1493), the chronicle by Khunjï-Isfahânï covers the first four years of the reign of Ya'qüb (882-86/1478-81); omits the years 886-90/1481-85; resumes with the years 890-91/1485-86; and covers events of the years 891-96/1486-91, the final four years of his patron’s rule?⁹ This last part is written from the perspective of an eyewitness. An important entry concerning the efforts by Ya‘qüb to secure the advice of Jami and benefit from his spiritual energy (himmat), appears in a section describing events in the year 892/1487, a period presumably better documented since Khunji-Isfahani would have been physically present. As the official chronicler, Khunji-Isfahani is an important figure in Àq Qoyünlü history. A staunch Sunni, Khunji-Isfahani studied theology in Shiraz under Jalal al-Din Davani and was introduced to Sufi mysticism by Pir Jamal al-Din Ardistani (d. 879/1474-75), leader of the Jamaliyya, a sub-branch of the Suhravardi order.^{^[80]} He later joined the Jahri brotherhood, an affiliate of the Naqshbandi order, composed eulogies on Khvaja Bahâ’ al-Din Naqshband (d. 791/1389), the eponymous founder of the tariqa, and sought the friendship of disciples of the influential Naqshbandi leader from Samarqand, Khvaja Nasir al-Din ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar (d. 895/1490)^{^[81]}^{^[82]
^[83]}

The official chronicle of the reign of Üzün Hasan, the Kitab-i Diyar- Bakriyya by Tihrani-Isfahani will be referred to only sporadically, since it does not provide much information immediately relevant to this study.8²But as the earliest major internal Àq Qoyünlü historical source, it does nonetheless include details about the close association of Ya‘qüb’s father with tariqa-affiliated Sufis and “rogue” dervishes such as the shamanlike shaikh “Taj al-Mujazib” Baba ‘Abd al-Rahman Shami (date of death unknown).8³ As this study will argue, information about such relationships suggests that, as successor to Üzün Hasan, Ya'qüb continued the Àq Qoyünlü tradition of soliciting the advice of Sufi mystics.

More useful for biographical information and accounts of events at the court of Ya'qüb is the Habib al-siyar by Khvandamir (d. ca. 942/1536), a universal history composed in 930/1524 and dedicated to the Safavids.^{^[84]}With its strongly biographical focus, the Habib al-siyar is helpful in determining the influence of Qâzï 'ïsâ Sâvajï and of the extended Sâvajï family of bureaucrats on the administration of Ya'qüb. It also affirms the interest of Àq Qoyünlü rulers in Jami’s poetry. For example, the Habib al-siyar contains a description of the reception given to a Timurid diplomatic mission when it presented (or at least intended to present) Jami’s Kulliyat to Ya'qüb and Qazi 'ïsâ^{^[85]}

Finally, another Safavid-era chronicle, the Lubb al-tavarikh by Mir Yahya b. 'Abd al-Latif (Husaini Saifi) Qazvini (d. 962/1555), which was completed in 948/1541, recounts several details of the reign of Ya'qüb in an unexpectedly sympathetic tenor^{^[86]} Much of the account by Yahya Qazvini deals with the incapacitating sorrow that gripped Ya'qüb after the death of his younger uterine brother, Yamin al-Din Abü al-'Izz Yüsuf Bahadur (d. 895/1490). A quatrain (ruba'i) ascribed to Jami, and included in the Lubb al-tavarikh, not only illustrates Ya'qüb’s despair, but suggests that Jami and the Àq Qoyünlü ruler enjoyed a close rapport, one which appears to have lasted a lifetime^{^[87]}^{^[88]}

Hagiographies and Biographical Works

Islamic hagiographic literature, broadly speaking, is a genre devoted to individuals or groups, usually Sufi mystics, whose recognized status as “saints” or “holy men” made them ideal subjects of devotional accounts.88 As a consequence of their tendency to emphasize the extraordinary feats of their subjects, historians have traditionally dismissed hagiographies as unreliable sources for medieval Islamic history.^{^[89]}^{^[90]} Recently however, a reappraisal of the historical value of such works, by scholars like Jo-Ann Gross, Devin DeWeese, and Jürgen Paul, has occasioned renewed interest in a literary genre that was variously designated as tazkirat, maqamat, manaqib, and tabaqat?⁰ As a revered poet and Naqshbandi mystic, Jami was the subject of the Maqamat-i Jami by ‘Abd al-Vasi' Nizami Bakharzi (d. 909/1503), a hagiological account of the life of Jami that contains information pertinent to this study^{^[91]}^{^[92]} Its preoccupation with events in Timurid Herat is reflected in the fact that Ya'qüb goes entirely unmentioned. The Maqamat-i Jami does, however, contain a description of Jami’s encounter with Üzün Hasan at Tabriz during his sojourn in Àq Qoyünlü territory on his way home to Herat after performing the hajj in 878/1473.92

The presence and influence of Sufi mystics at the Àq Qoyünlü court in Tabriz, particularly the activities involving members of the Naqshbandi order, will be explored through several other tenth/sixteenth century Persian hagiographical anthologies. Foremost among these is the Rauzat al-jinan wa jannat al-janan of Hafiz Husain Karbala’i-Tabrizi Baba-Faraji (d. 997/1589), more widely referred to as Ibn Karbalâ’i^{^[93]} As a guide for pilgrims to the burial places of famous religious figures in Tabriz and its environs, the Rauzat al-jinan functions as both a local history (tarikh) and a hagiographic anthology (tazkira). Filled with detailed biographical information on deceased Sufis, poets, scholars, and other notables, the Rauzat

JAMI’S SALAMAN VA ABSAL AS A PERSO-ISLAmiC BOOK OF ADVICE 31 al-jinan is a valuable source for gauging the degree to which the court of Ya'qüb patronized local mystics and Sufi brotherhoods. Special attention will be paid to material concerning the chief exponent of the Naqshbandi order in Tabriz, Sun' Allah Küzakunânï (d. 929/1522-23), whose prior association with Jami and alleged interlocutions with the “ruler of the time” (i.e., Ya'qüb) suggest that the Naqshbandi intellections or advice of Jami might also have been conveyed to Àq Qoyünlü notables through such individuals.

Another compendium of biographies of prominent Naqshbandi saints is the Rashahat-i ^cain al-hayat by Fakhr al-Din 'All b. Husain Va'iz Kashifi (d. 939/1532-33).^{^[94]} Completed in 909/1503-4, the bulk of the Rashahat-i ^cain al-hayat concerns the predecessors, life, teachings, miracles, and disciples of Khvaja 'Ubaid Allah Ahrar, whose political, financial, and missionary activities have been the subject of several studies^{^[95]} The Rashahat-i ^cain al-hayat is a useful source for reconstructing the inauspicious visit by Jami to Àq Qoyünlü-administered Baghdad in 878/1473, where a flaring sectarian dispute forced him to return to the relative calm provided by the court of Üzün Hasan in Tabriz^{^[96]} Jami’s relief upon meeting the father of Ya'qüb appears to be alluded to in a section of his Salaman va Absal in which he expects Ya'qüb to fulfill his noble legacy by, among other things, adopting the laudable character of his father^{^[97]}

The Menakib-i Ibrâhtm-i Gülçenï by Muhyi Gulshani (d.1026/1617), a hagiography written in Ottoman Turkish honoring Shaikh Ibrahim Gulshani (d. 940/1534), eponymous founder of the Gulshani branch of the Khalvati Sufi order and close advisor to Ya'qüb, is an especially rich source for

Àq Qoyünlü history.^{^[98]}^{^[99]} As this study will demonstrate, the Persian poetry cited in it contains unique insights into a contentious power matrix at the court of Ya'qüb involving Ibrâhîm Gulshani, Qâzï 'Isa, and Qazi 'Isa’s cousin, Shaikh Najm al-Dîn Mas'üd (d. ca. 898/1493), an intriguing figure who served as head of the chancery (parvanchï) and was an intimate (muqarrab) of Ya'qüb’s royal household.99

Finally, several biographical details concerning Ya'qüb, including allusions to a sense of despair that appears to have permeated his court, will be cited from the notice on Ya'qüb in the Majalis al-'ushshaq, the biographical dictionary of Sufi mystics written by Gâzurgâhî (d. ca. 909/1503-4), a Sufi and official responsible for religious affairs and pious endowments under the Timurid ruler Sultân-Husain Bâyqarâ (r. 875-911/1469-1506).^{^[100]}^{^[101]
^[102]}

Literary Anthologies

Besides shedding light on the literary tastes and ambiance of the Àq Qoyünlü court, poetic anthologies (pl. tazkirat) such as the Persian translation and expansion of the Chaghatay Turkish Majalis al-nafa’is of 'Ali Shir Nava’i (d. 906/1501) by Hakim Shâh-Muhammad b. Mubarak Qazvini (d. 966/1559)101 and the Tuhfa-i Sami by Sam Mirza Safavi (d. 984/1576)^02 yield remarkable information about the nature of the relationship between Ya'qüb and Qazi 'îsa not found in other normative historical sources.^{^[103]}^{^[104] ^[105] ^[106] ^[107] ^[108]}Qazvini completed his translation of the Majalis al-nafa’is, entitled as Hasht bihisht, in 929/1522-23 for the Ottoman sultan Selim “the Grim” (d. 926/1520). What is particularly significant is that he appended forty notices on poets associated with Ya'qüb and his court, thus making this an indispensable source for the history of the literary life of Àq Qoyünlü Tabriz.10⁴

Another contemporary tazkira is the Tazkirat al-shu^cara’ by Daulatshah b. 'Ala’ al-Daula Bakhtishah al-Ghazi Samarqandi (d. 900/1494-95),^ a selection of entries on ancient Arab and Persian poets up to the reign of Sultan-Husain Bayqara. Completed in 892/1487, the Rauzat al-salatin by Sultan Muhammad Fakhri Haravi (d. ca. 962/1555) is a collection of biographical entries on rulers who composed poetry.10⁶ It is useful for helping to establish the date of composition of Salaman va Absal, and includes poems of Ya'qüb’s own composition.10⁷

Letters of Personal Correspondence

Another important source, in terms of primary sources written in prose, is the personal correspondence (tarassul; insha’; or ikhwaniyyat) between Jami and a range of contemporary rulers, including Üzün Hasan and his son Ya'qüb. Particularly relevant to this study are four letters addressed by Ya'qüb to Jami, as well as one reply by Jami to Ya'qüb (see Appendix 1), which is particularly revealing.^W8 These provide a glimpse into the nature of their relationship, which appears to be that of a master and disciple— a dynamic evinced in the constant requests by Ya'qüb for the counsels (nasa’ih) of Jami. One of the letters sent to Jami by Ya'qüb is especially telling, for it indirectly refers to the poem Salaman va Absal by way of an allusion to Ibn Sina’s version of the tale.^{^[109]}^{^[110]} Most significant is the fact that, in this letter, Ya'qüb considers the poem to be a work of advice and not, as is generally assumed, merely a romantic tale. This correspondence, despite its dense, almost cryptographic, idiom, supports the contention that Jami’s poem was understood by the Àq Qoyünlü rulers themselves to be a mirror for princes.

Statement of Purpose

Salaman va Absal was written at the end of Jami’s prolific literary career during an era that was dominated by the cultural achievements of the Timurids. It was dedicated however to an Àq Qoyünlü patron. Serious studies by modern scholars of the religious, political, and literary dynamics of the Àq Qoyünlü court—especially that of Ya'qüb—have failed to give it the attention it deserves.110

The aim of the present study is to contextualize Salaman va Absal historically and to examine it as a mirror of advice for the Àq Qoyünlü ruler to whom it is dedicated. This will be achieved by exploiting the abovementioned historical sources and by a textual analysis of the poem.

In conclusion, a hypothesis will be presented to explain the multilayered esotericism of Salaman va Absal by examining how it at once operated as traditional guide to governance, a heuristic vehicle for mystical contemplation, and a veiled account of the dramatis personae at the court of Ya'qüb.

CHAPTER TWO

POLITICAL ADVICE FOR RULERS AND MYSTICAL GUIDANCE
FOR SUFIS IN SALÁMÁN VA ABSÁL

Religion is good advice.

—Ibn Taimiyya, Kitab al-siyasa al-shardya¹

The Perso-Islamic Tradition of Advice and Advice Literature

The tradition of giving advice to rulers, statesmen, and other officials on how to comport themselves according to religious and ethical ideals while expediently achieving their political, military, or administrative aims is rooted in Late Antiquity. It was not until the fourth/tenth century however, during the early ‘Abbasid caliphate, that the genre of advice literature crystallized around Arabic translations of prose works in Pahlavi (e.g., Advices of Ardashir, Anüshïrvân, and Buzurjmihr; the Letter of Tansar), ancient Greek (e.g., the Secretum Secretorum), and Sanskrit (e.g., Arthashastra; Panchatantra) concerning ethics and statecraft.^{^[111]}^{^[112]}The literature of advice (andarz or pand)—particularly that ascribed to the Sasanians—had the most significant bearing on the subsequent development of Perso-Islamic mirrors for princes.

The Sasanian model of kingship, and the didactic literature it spawned in medieval Islam, is reflected in the Nasihat al-muluk of al-Ghazali, in which he recommends that the ruler “follow the precepts (barnahad) and methods (ravish) of the kings who preceded him (i.e., the Sasanians), and govern like them. He must also read their books of counsel (pand-nama), for these predecessors lived long lives, went through many experiences, and learned by experience to distinguish good from bad.”^{^[113]}

For his part, Nizam al-Mulk devotes chapter 18 of the Siyar al-muluk to the importance of “Consulting with wise (daniyan) and experienced men (piran).”^{^[114]} But instead of harkening back to Sasanian models, Nizam al-Mulk justifies the need for the ruler to seek advice in Islamic terms by quoting a Qur’anic verse (3:159) in which God commands the Prophet to “consult (shawir) them in affairs!”^{^[115]}^{^[116]}

It should be noted that the association of the Prophet Muhammad with ethical advice was not novel. According to a canonical hadith, the Prophet stated, “Religion is counsel (nasihat).”6 An interlocutor asked for whom, to which Muhammad purportedly answered, “For God, His Book, and His Messenger; for the leaders of the Muslims and their community.”^{^[117]}Another tradition suggests that giving good advice (or pious admonition) is a religious duty for Muslims, alongside prayer (salat) and giving alms (zakat).^{^[118]}

Added to these Perso-Islamic justifications for counseling rulers is the fact that the Ulama’ and leaders of Sufi mystical orders, despite their occasional ambivalence to involving themselves in temporal affairs of the state were, alongside vazirs, important transmitters of moralizing advice. By the second-half of the ninth/fifteenth century, this meant Sufi mystics, notably members of the Naqshbandi order like ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar, exerted considerable influence over Timurid rulers in Transoxiana and eastern Iran.^{^[119]}With their doctrine of “solitude within society” (khalvat dar anjuman), an ethic asserting that inward (spiritual) devotion was best achieved through outward activity (that is, within society), the Naqshbandis justified their service to rulers in religious terms.^{^[120]}^{^[121]
^[122]
^[123]
^[124]
^[125]} ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar for example, is credited with inspiring Sultan-Abü Sard’s (873/1469) defeat of ‘Abd Allah Khan and facilitating Sultan-Abü Sard’s accession to the Timurid throne in 855/1451 after the prince had assured Ahrar that he would personally uphold the sharFa)¹ Later, ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar intervened with Sultan-Abü Sa‘id on behalf of the sedentary Muslim populations of Samarqand and Bukhara and secured the abolition of the tamgha (an old Mongol tax levied on all commercial transactions^² by arguing that such a toll was a heretical innovation (bid^ca) and not in accordance with Islamic law.1³

It has been argued that, because of their rigorous adherence to the sharFa and their staunchly Sunni identity, the Naqshbandis were disposed to serving the Timurid and Ottoman administrations?⁴ For example, they trace their spiritual genealogy or silsila back to the first caliph, Abü Bakr (d. 13/634). It has been speculated that their reputedly anti-Shi‘ite polemics and hostility to antinomian dervish groups would have won them support from the traditional "ulama’.i⁵ As Hamid Algar, Paul, and Dina Le Gall have demonstrated, however, royal patrons directed their attention to individual Naqshbandis for several reasons, including their reputations as purveyors of Persian literary culture and as interpreters of the theosophical ideas of Ibn al-'Arabi.^{^[126]}^{^[127] ^[128] ^[129]} Perhaps more importantly, their observation of the principle of khalvat dar anjuman indicates that the Naqshbandis attached their own spiritual progress to engaging in public activities and vocations that would theoretically benefit all Muslims.

This last explanation is at the heart of an aphorism attributed to 'Ubaid Allah Ahrar which encapsulates the order’s ethos of community service: “A good khvaja (i.e., Naqshbandi),” he is reported to have said, “must benefit Muslims and he must also mingle with amirs and sultans so that his pious being encourages them to occupy themselves with the good of the people and avoid injustice and oppression.’⁴⁷ Elsewhere in the same source, 'Ubaid Allah Ahrar points to the activism that distinguished Naqshbandis from other Sufi groups, saying: “We have been assigned a different task, which is to guard the Muslims from oppression, and to this end one must mingle with kings and conquer their souls.’⁴⁸ In other words, being a Naqshbandi required one to engage to some degree in politics, and this political activity—at least within the framework of royal patronage of a Sufi shaikh—amounted to giving a ruler good advice.

This idea was apparently not uncommon in late ninth/fifteenth century Iran. For example, a similar if not more explicit opinion relating mystical progress to court service is expressed in the Akhlaq-i Jalali. According to Davani, whose interest in Sufism prompted him to associate with the Murshidiyya, a circle of dervishes in Kazarun centered around a pupil of Amin al-Din al-Balyani (d. 745/1344-45), “the masters of the mystical path (masha’ikh-i tariqat) have said that [the custom of] following the Sufi path (sulük-i tarlqat) will not attach (ta'alluq) [itself] to a person who is not in the service of rulers.”^{^[130]} He goes on to explain that, because the ruler is the shadow of God (zill Allah), observing proper etiquette at the royal assembly breaks the ego (nafs) and leads one to adhere to the customs of the Sufi way (rusüm-i tarlqat).^{^[131]}^{^[132] ^[133]} Although he attributes this to unnamed shaikhs (in order to both legitimize and distance himself from such a position), Davani endorses the notion that associating with rulers was a prerequisite for the spiritual advancement of Sufi mystics. The fact that he expressed such sentiments in a manual of advice addressed to the Àq Qoyünlü ruler, suggests that the dynasty’s court was already populated by Sufis who traditionally cultivated a taste for mystico-didactic literature.

The concept of advice, especially the idea that the good counsel of a father or sage ultimately determines the success of a prince, is a central theme in Jami’s Salaman va Absal. As already noted, the story includes the repeated admonitions given by the King and the Sage to convince Salaman to renounce his beloved Absal and devote himself entirely to inheriting his father’s throne. For example, “a year and a month” into the affair, the King and Sage resolve to summon Salaman and give him “good counsel” (naslhat) since, in an obvious allusion to the hadlth mentioned earlier, “No deed is better than dispensing good advice.”2i It is through good advice that the deficient become perfect, and those who have retreated become those who now advance.22 Jami goes on to explain that the original proponents of good counsel (nasihan) were the prophets and that, through their advice, the affairs of reason and religion (^caql va dln) were made right. In fact, for anyone who “drew the breath of prophecy” (har ki az paighambarl dam zad), he concludes, nothing but good advice (naslhat) descended on him from heaven. Two vignettes follow, one in which the King gives counsel (pand) to Salaman, and another where the Sage provides naslhat^{^[134]}

Salâmân reflects on their admonitions but again abandons them in favor of Absal. Besides illustrating Salâmân’s defiance, these episodes can be interpreted as representing an attempt by Jami to address Ya‘qüb by presenting him with vivid justifications for the prince/ruler’s need to be guided by good advice, that is, the kind of wise counsel which, it is clearly implied, is contained in his Salaman va Absal. In doing so, Jami upholds the Naqshbandi tradition articulated by ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar and represents the advice-giving Sufi who, by way of his didactic tale, fulfills the abovementioned requirement to “mingle” with rulers so that tyranny can be avoided.

It is important to mention that Ya‘qüb was not the only ruler to whom Jami addressed his didactic poetry. The Naqshbandi poet is more generally known for his long association with Timurid rulers, a rapport that appears to have started with Abü al-Qasim al-Babur (d. 861/1457), the great-grandson of Temür (d. 807/1405).^{^[135]}^{^[136]
^[137]
^[138]
^[139]} However no single ruler (Timurid or otherwise) is more justifiably associated with Jami than Sultan-Husain Bayqara, whom the poet-mystic initiated into the Naqshbandi tarlqa.25 In addition to dedicating numerous panegyric qasldas and ghazals to Sultan-Husain, Jami mentions the Timurid ruler in the introduction to his Bahâristân, a moralizing work in mixed prose and verse patterned after the Gulistan of Sa‘di (d. 6gi/i2g2).2⁶ Also, three of the seven masnavls comprising Jami’s Haft aurang, namely Laill va Majnun, Subhat al-abrâr, and Khirad-nâma-i Iskandarl, were dedicated to Sultân-Husain.2⁷ Another masnavl, the Silsilat al-zahab, which bears multiple dedications and is divided into three distinct books (daftars), praises Sultan-Husain in between prescriptions directed at Naqshbandi adepts (murlds).28

Other non-Timurid rulers either had didactic compositions dedicated to them by Jami or were objects of his panegyrics. For example, around 869/1465, he dedicated his Lava’ih, a short philosophical tract mixing poetry and prose on the nature of existence (vujüd), to Jahanshah (d. 872/1467), the leader of the Qara Qoyünlü (Black Sheep) tribal confederation.^{^[140]} Jami also arranged for his Kulliyat to be delivered to Farrukh Yasar Shirvan-shah (d. 906/1501), ruler of the Shirvan vassal state in eastern Transcaucasia whose destiny, on account of a double marriage alliance with the Àq Qoyünlü, became entwined with the shifting fortunes of Ya‘qüb and his descendants.^{^[141]}

It was the Ottoman sultans however, who would prove to be the most tenacious in trying to associate themselves with the famed poet of Herat. Between 875/1470 and 890/1485, the Ottomans made a series of unsuccessful attempts to lure Jami away from his Timurid patrons in Herat to the Ottoman court at Istanbul. One of the more ambitious attempts, which is described in the Rashahat-i ain al-hayat and the Maqamat-i Jami, occurred during Jami’s return trip from the hajj in 878/1473.^{^[142]} Upon hearing that the poet-mystic was transmitting hadith with the renowned tradi- tionist, Qazi Muhammad Haisari (date of death unknown), in Damascus, the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II (d. 886/1481) dispatched a certain Khvaja ‘Ata’ Allah Kirmani with instructions to offer Jami 5,000 gold ashrafi coins and the promise that 100,000 more awaited him if he diverted his travel to Istanbul^{^[143]}^{^[144]} Suggesting that Jami had no interest in the proposal, the Rashahat-i ^cain al-hayat recounts how he left Aleppo for Àq Qoyünlü- administered Tabriz “without delay” after learning that Ottoman messengers were pursuing him.33

Although unsuccessful, Mehmed II did nevertheless win a book dedication from Jami. In response to the Ottoman ruler’s request that he compose a treatise adjudicating the positions of theologians, Sufis, and philosophers on eleven fundamental questions, Jami dedicated his al- Durra al-fakhira to him^{^[145]}^{^[146] ^[147] ^[148]} Completed in 886/1481, the al-Durra al-fakhira presents the Sufi approach to knowledge as a rational and clearly superior alternative to the sciences of scholastic/speculative theology (“dm al-kalam) and philosophy (falsafa)?³

Moreover, when Mehmed Il’s son and successor, sultan Bayazid II (d. 918/1512), ascended the throne, Jami dedicated a mirror for princes to him.3⁶ Comprising the third book (daftar) of Jami’s Silsilat al-zahab, this mirror was written sometime after 896/1490. Based partly on the Chahar maqala of Nizami ‘Arüzi (d. ca. 552/1157), this work addresses such perennial concerns as civic politics (siyasat-i madam), justice (^cadl), Islamic law (sharda), and the need to obtain nasihat from religious scholars and vazirs.37

Like the classic mirrors for princes, this book of the Silsilat al-zahab contains aphorisms attributed to, or anecdotes about, rulers from previous dynasties who were idealized as model sovereigns. For example, references to such Sasanian, Ghaznavid, Saljuq, and Ilkhanid rulers as Khusrau Anüshïrvân (d. 579), Mahmüd of Ghazna (d. 421/1030), Sultan Sanjar, and Ghazan Khan (d. 703/1304), are cited throughout the text.^{^[149]}Jami also addresses the importance of vazlrs to the prosperity of the realm through references to statesmen like the Saljuq vazlr Nizam al-Mulk and the Barmakid family of ‘Abbasid-era bureaucrats^{^[150]} It is interesting to note that this daftar also contains a eulogy of Ya‘qüb in an anecdote that at once praises his justice and makes subtle reference to his moral laxity.^{^[151]}^{^[152]}Like Salaman va Absal, it can be classified as a Perso-Islamic manual of ethico-political advice in the masnavl poetic form. Granted, it does not share the allegorical narrative or esoteric intricacies of Salaman va Absal. Nevertheless, when considered alongside Jami’s other ethical works, such as the Baharistan, Khirad-nama-i Iskandarl, and Salaman va Absal, it is significant, for it establishes Jami as a dominant purveyor of Persian wisdom to rulers in the late ninth/fifteenth century Islamic world.

Political Advice for Muslim Rulers in Salaman va Absal

As already indicated, the tradition of writing works of ethical and political advice—collectively referred to as “mirrors for princes” by modern scholars, who translated the Latin phrase specula regis from a medieval European context—dates back to antiquity?¹ According to most historians, the medieval Persian incarnation of this literary genre, which integrated ancient Greek, Iranian, and Indian conceptions of statecraft into Islamic notions of ethics and morality, can be traced back to the Sasanian andarz- nama or ayma-nama tradition in which kings and Zoroastrian priests gave moral advice and injunctions on proper court etiquette to their sons and courtiers.^{^[153]} This idea of refining one’s character, and the body of advice literature that accompanied it, was eventually incorporated into the Islamic tradition under the banner of adab (literary refinement) and akhlaq (practical ethics)?^{^[154]}^{^[155]}

In terms of content, the central concept in Perso-Islamic manuals dealing with political ethics was justice (^cadl or ^cadalat).44 The mirrors- literature uniformly tells us that justice was not a legal abstraction but the maintenance of an equilibrium, or balance (the Aristotelian mesotés [golden mean] or ancient Iranian paiman), between the various socioeconomic groups, such that each class in a hierarchically-structured society depended on and benefited the other^{^[156]} This commonwealth, or “circle of justice” as it came to be known in the secondary literature, was presented as the basis for the stability of the medieval Islamic state.^{^[157]}^{^[158]
^[159]
^[160]} It envisaged the realm as an organic yet rigidly stratified whole in which, to quote the Qabus-nama: “Kingship (jahan-darl) is made possible by means of the army, the army is maintained by means of gold, gold is derived from [agriculturally] developing the land ("imarat), and developing the land occurs through justice and equity (dad va ^cadl va insqf).”4 A slightly modified version of this circular formula appears in the Naslhat al-muluk, but instead of kingship, al-Ghazâlï begins the schema with religion (din), that is to say, “Religion depends on kingship (padshahl), kingship on the army, the army on provisions (khvasta), riches on cultivating the land (abadanl), and cultivating the land on justice (adl).”48 Reflecting Tüsï’s concept of the ideal city, Davânï inserts an expanded circle, thought to have been devised by Fakhr al-Dïn Râzï, which incorporates eight elements, and which situates the sharFa and the punitive capacity (siyasat) of the ruler as its catalysts^⁹

The world is a garden whose irrigator is the state; the state is a sultan whose chamberlain is the sharTa; the sharTa is coercive power whose maintainer is kingship; kingship is a city whose existence is brought about by the army; the army is maintained by state revenues; state revenues are produced by the subjects; the subjects are made slaves of justice; justice is the pivot of the well-being of the world.^{^[161]}^{^[162]
^[163]
^[164]
^[165]}

Though the circle of justice does not appear in Jami’s Saloman va Absal, the concept of justice forms an integral part of the explicit advice Jami gives concerning temporal rule. In fact, the ancient Persian idea relating justice to order and material prosperity appears conspicuously in a section of Saloman va Absal entitled, “Commencing with the discourse by explaining the facts of the case (sürat-i hal) of Salaman and Absal.”5i It is important to note that the phrase sürat-i hal has a double meaning, one of which alerts the reader to the fact that Jami intended his Salaman va Absal to be read allegorically. Specifically, it can be read as Jami’s indication that his poem is also an “image” (sürat) or representation of the spiritual state (hal) of the Sufi whose transformation is symbolized in the tale Salaman va Absal. As if to announce that the tale can be read as a traditional mirror of advice, Jami’s opening description of the “sürat-i hal” of Salaman and Absal is capped with an axiomatic expression contained in nearly all Perso-Islamic manuals of statecraft: “It is justice (’adl) not religion (din) [that] keeps kingship (mulk) stable^² An infidel (kufr) [ruler] who proceeds with justice (^cadl),” he states, “is better for kingship (mulk) than a tyrant who is pious.”5³ The ruler who maintains equipoise between societal groups, regardless of his personal piety or religious confession, will enjoy a prosperous realm and long reign. In the case of medieval Iran, such a notion privileged a centralized regime based on the Sasanian model of a patrimonial monarchy.5⁴ This system was based on keeping the peasantry occupied with cultivating the land so that the bureaucratic state could levy agricultural land and produce in order to outfit and salary the military.^{^[166]}

It was understood that the maintenance of equipoise also applied to the ruler’s own constitution. In the Naslhat al-muluk, al-Ghazâlï states that inner equilibrium is a precondition for societal justice and that no ruler can achieve harmony among his subjects unless he first observes justice within himself.5^{^[167]} He goes on to explain that justice is the restraining of tyranny (zulm), lust (shahvat), and anger (khashm) in order to make them the prisoners of reason and religion (^caqlva din). Otherwise, it is the ruler’s reason that becomes imprisoned by tyranny, lust, and anger.5^{^[168]} In the Akhlaq-i Jalall, Davânï warns that anyone who is unable to harmonize (islah) his own condition and [who] is powerless to effect justice (^cadalat) in his own body, will not be able to make justice (^cadalat) prevail among his people^^{^[169]}^{^[170]} Davânï adds that only after the ruler observes justice over the body and its powers by abstaining from excess or deficiency, will he become the true caliph of God (khallfa-i khuda).59 Achieving what might be termed “true justice,” therefore, had macrocosmic and micro- cosmic implications. This is something that esoteric (or mystical) mirrors for princes, like Jâmï’s Salaman va Absal, were apt at addressing.^{^[171]}

As for the statement concerning a just infidel, it is also contained in the Siyar al-muluk, Naslhat al-muluk, and the Akhlaq-i Jalal! where it appears in Arabic as: al-mulkyabqa ma^!a al-kufr wa layabqa ma'a al-zulm (“kingship endures with unbelief [but] does not endure with tyranny”).^{^[172]}^{^[173] ^[174] ^[175] ^[176]} Nizam al-Mulk attributes the maxim to unnamed sages, but al-Ghazali classifies it as a prophetic hadlth.62 Regardless of origin, the statement became an essential aphorism in Persian manuals of statecraft, appearing in mirrors for princes written as late as the thirteenth/nineteenth century.6³

Jami cites a similar version of the maxim in a chapter of his Baharistan devoted to the subject of equity (nisfat) and justice (^cadalat), in which he writes that “Justice (Jadl) and equity (insaf), not unbelief (kufr) or religion (d!n), are those things that are effective in the preservation of the kingdom. For the ordering of this world, justice without religion (Jadl bld!n) is better than the tyranny of a pious (dlndar) king.”6⁴ In terms of Salaman va Absal, Jami indirectly acknowledges the aphorism’s Iranian origin by following it with a homily in which God commands the Prophet David and his community (ummat) to respect the ancient kings of Iran (Ajam). God informs David that although their religion was fire-worship (atishparastt, i.e., Zoroastrianism), their custom (ayln) was [based on] justice {Jadl) and rectitude (rast!): “For centuries the world flourished because of them; the darkness of tyranny (zalamat-i zulm) was far from their subjects. At ease from the torment of worry, [the subjects] reposed on account of their justice (^cadl).”6⁵ It is interesting to note that the same homily also appears in the Naslhat al-muluk. According to al-Ghazali, God said: “Oh David, tell your folk (qaum) not to speak ill of the people of Iran (ahl-i Ajam), for it is they who developed the world so that My slaves (bandagan) might live in it.”^{^[177]} Like Jâmï, al-Ghazâlï places the purported revelation immediately after the maxim which states that kingship can endure with unbelief but not with injustice. This suggests that the concept was recognized as an ancient Iranian idea.

The fact that key aphorisms concerning the most important concept in the traditional mirrors-literature appear in Salaman va Absal supports the contention here that Jami’s tale was intended as a mirror for princes. Another indication is seen with a segment describing the “Four characteristics which are necessary conditions for rule.”6^{^[178]}^{^[179]} According to Jami, four things (chahar chlz) are necessary for kingship: wisdom (hikmat), chastity (^ciffat), courage (shajaat), and generosity (jud):

Wisdom is not that which, following the abject carnal soul, Turns the noble man into the plaything of a woman’s orders. It is not on account of chastity that the conscientious man Defiles himself for an unworthy lover.

It does not belong to courage that he is rendered a captive, Dragged by a whore outside the collar of manliness.

It is not a mark of generosity that he is not able to pass

Around his circle nothing except meanness.

Whoever is not a friend of these four conditions

Is not entitled to the fruit of the bride of kingship, For the one who happens to be deficient in all four, How will the King give him a place in his heart?6^g

A similar quartet of virtues is described in the Naslhat al-muluk, Akhlaq-i Nasirl, and the Akhlaq-iJalall. In the Naslhat al-muluk, al-Ghazali relates a story about how Yünân the Minister (Dastür) wrote a letter to Anüshirvân advising him of the four things (chahar chlz) he must always retain: justice (^cadl), wisdom (khirad), patience (sabr), and modesty (sharm)^{^[180]}^{^[181]} In a section of the Akhlaq-i Nasirl entitled “Enumeration of the classes of virtues to which the excellences of disposition refer,” Nasir al-Din Tüsi lists the four virtues (faza’d) which a good ruler is required to posses as: hikmat, shaja'at, ^ciffat, and ‘adalat™ These same four virtues are enumerated in

the Akhlaq-i Jalal! by Davânï as necessary conditions for good kingship.^{^[182]}It should be noted that the cardinal virtues described by Tüsï and Davânï are in fact Platonic in origin; they appear twice in The Republic and probably entered Islamic tradition through Ibn Miskawaih’s Tahz!b al-akhlaqJ^{^[183]}

It is interesting to note that whereas Tüsï and Davânï describe justice as the fourth virtue, Jâmï’s fourth condition is generosity (jud), which, according to Miskawaih, is a special virtue that falls under temperance (^cifa).^{^[184]}^{^[185] ^[186]} This fourfold division also serves as a didactic rhetorical device in the Tuhfat al-muluk (also called Tuhfat al-vuzara’ and Tuhfat al-salat!n), a manual of advice attributed to the Hanbalite scholar and Sufi mystic of Herat, ‘Abd Allâh Ansârï (d. 481/1089). This work is divided into forty chapters, each of which lists “chahar ch!z” (four things) the ruler must do in order to maintain his kingship?⁴ It is important to note that Ansârï’s works enjoyed a renaissance in late ninth/fifteenth century Timurid Herat. This popularity, reflected by the fact that Jâmï revised and expanded several works attributed to him (such as his Tabaqat al-sufiyya, which became Jâmï’s Nafahat al-uns), makes it very likely that Jâmï wrote this section of his Salaman va Absal with Ansârï’s apothegmatic writings in mind?⁵

Another instance of an association between Jâmï’s Salaman va Absal and the genre of mirrors-literature occurs near the end of the tale when the King, having commanded his retinue to obey Salâmân, delivers his final testament (vasiyyat) to him. Before continuing, it is worth mentioning that similar testaments (or “advice,” as vasiyyat is sometimes translated) are contained in the QabUs-nama, Akhlaq-i Nasir!, and Akhlaq-i Jalal!. In the Qabus-nama, Anüshïrvân gives advice (pand) to his son, while at the end of Tüsï’s Akhlaq-i Nasirl Plato delivers his vasaya to Aristotle.^{^[187]}^{^[188] ^[189]}Davânï, for his part, concludes his Akhlaq-iJalall with the vasayas of both Plato and Aristotle to Alexander the Great.77

In the case of Jâmï’s Salaman va Absal, the King’s vasiyyat begins with an injunction to Salâmân to take “religion-acquiring reason” (^caql-i dln- anduz) as his guide, since every task needs science (“dm) and every effort gains currency through knowledge (danish).’”™ Whatever you do not know, the King enjoins Salâmân, go and ask “learned men” (danishvaran) about it. Mindful of the importance of the sharda and the ruler’s observation of its strictures, specifically the equitable dispersal of conquered lands and booty to the Muslim community, Jâmï hints at the perils associated with greed. Thus, the King advises Salâmân to limit his acquisitions and dispensations to that which is permissible according to “religious law” (hukm-i dln). More generally, Salâmân is told that his every motive and act ought to be in accordance with hukm-i dln, since failing to do so is to turn away from the “straight paths” (rahha-yi mustaqlm) which are, according to the King, the “rules of the ancient [Iranian] kings” (dastur-i shahan-i qadlm). That the metaphor of the straight path, which is often used in connection with the sharda, is equated with norms epitomized by the Zoroastrian Sasanians is significant, for it suggests that Jâmï regarded, to some degree at least, ancient Iranian ethical concepts and Islamic morality as complementary—something most mirrors only imply.

Next Jâmï echoes a theme common to other mirrors for princes by comparing the ruler to a shepherd and his subjects to a flock of sheep:

You are a shepherd, and the subjects are like a flock of sheep,

In your shepherding, keep far from trouble.

In your shepherding, do not adopt other customs,

And regard your own ability as superior to actual shepherds.^{^[190]}

According to Nizâm al-Mulk and al-Ghazâlï, this idea comes from a hadlth and is related to the divine punishment that is said to await unjust rulers in the next world.^{^[191]} It is also contained in the Akhlaq-i Nasirl and Akhlaq-i Jalall where, like al-Ghazâlï’s Naslhat al-mulük, the Prophet is cited as having said: “On resurrection day God will say to holders of authority (yallyan): “You were shepherds of My sheep,’ ”; or as Nizam al-Mulk has it: “ “You are all shepherds, each responsible for your flock.’ ”^{^[192]} The analogy also appears in the Qabus-nama but in relation to the need of the ruler to protect his royal subordinates^{^[193]}

Jami’s use of the analogy of the shepherd not only links his Salaman va Absal to the traditional mirrors for princes, it also introduces another major idea found in Persian works of political advice, namely the indispensability of an effective vazlr who plays a pivotal role in administering the financial branch of government^^{^[194]}^{^[195]} So vital was the vazlr perceived to be to the sustainability of the medieval Iranian state that the Ásar al-vuzara’, a Timurid manual on the vizierate written in 883/1478-79 by Saif al-Din ‘Uqaili for the Timurid vazlr Nizam al-Mulk Khvafi (d. 903/1498), claims that the very foundation of the sultanate is the vazlr.84

It is interesting to note that Jami prefaces his discussion of the vizierate by conflating it with its military counterpart. He specifically alludes to the dangerous, yet unavoidable, reliance all rulers have on military commanders (sarhangan) because of their capacity to ensure that the flock remains in accord with them. For example, the King tells Salaman that commanders are like sheepdogs (sag-i gala) who need to be leashed and properly trained so that their hostility is directed at wolves (i.e., external enemies) and not sheep (i.e., the subjects)^{^[196]} He goes on to explain that utter calamity (bala) ensues for the flock when the sheepdog is a friend (yar) of the wolf. This parable is not original and resembles a story about Bahram Gür and his vazlr, Rast-ravishn, which is recounted both in the Siyar al-muluk and in the Naslhat al-mulükf⁶ The story recounts how Bahram Gür, anxious over his depleted treasury, went horseback riding and came upon a shepherd who had hung his sheepdog from a gibbet. The shepherd told Bahram Gür that he killed the dog after seeing him mount a she-wolf and then fall asleep while the she-wolf poached the shepherd’s flock.⁸⁷Astonished at hearing this, Bahram Gür returned to his court, reviewed the daily account books (rüz-nama), and discovered that Rast-ravishn (literally, “the one honest in conduct”) had been fleecing the peasantry. This prompted Bahram Gür to hang him on account of his treachery.88 In a similar vein, the King tells Salaman in Salaman va Absal:

There is no escape for kings from the need for vazlrs,

But the vazlr must be one who is knowledgeable and trustworthy.

He must know the affairs of the realm completely,

So that he may order them in the best form.

He must know that he is trusted with the wealth of the king,

And is not preparing an ambush for seizing more than his rightful share, That he does not take more than [what] he needs from the subjects, And that which is the rightful portion of the king and his retinue⁸⁹

The King notes that in addition to being benevolent (mihrban) and compassionate (mushfiq) toward the poor, the vazlr must know that his graciousness (luf) applies a “salve to every wounded breast.”9° At the same time, however, Salaman is told that while the vazlr should direct his severity (qahr) at every oppressor (zulm-kish), but he must not himself be of a wicked disposition (slrat), resembling a filthy mongrel who does not mind having his paws defiled.91

Standing at the head of the financial bureaucracy (dlvan-i a^cla) as the preeminent representative of the “men of the pen” (ahl-i qalam), the vazlr usually had the final word in financial matters, especially the collection of tax revenues (mal).92 The vazlr was often responsible for supervising ^{^[197]}^{^[198]
^[199]
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^[203]} assignments of land or tax exemptions granted to prominent military officials, civilian administrators, and religious leaders by the ruler.^{^[204]} These assignments of land usually gave grant-holders the legal right to collect specified levies in cash and kind in agricultural or urban districts that would otherwise be directed to the state treasury^{^[205]} It is therefore not surprising to find that most mirrors, including Jami’s Salaman va Absal, admonish the ruler to be suspicious of the vazlr and his capacity to misappropriate revenues or tyrannize the subjects^{^[206]} According to the Qabus- nama, the vazlr should not be able to take a drink of water without the ruler knowing about it?^{^[207]} The King therefore warns Salaman:

As for that person who is afraid of the vazlr,

Do not leave his interrogation up to the vazlr,

Investigate the matter yourself as well,

And you will make the rank of good fortune lofty.

As for he who acts competently on your behalf,

But who tyrannizes the cities and districts,

That is not being competent, that is causing calamity, It is bundling together the kindling of hell;

Competence indeed! And it is not beyond him, In the end, to convert his ten into two hundred. When the extent of this ‘competence’ increases, His carnal soul will rebel, and he will become an infidel?^{^[208]}

It is therefore essential, Jami explains, that Salaman appoint a true sage, that is to say, a guide or mentor capable of rendering expert counsel. “You must have an admonisher (munahht),” he tells Salaman, “to guide you wherever you go.”9^{^[209]}^{^[210]} This admonisher, the King adds, must be clear-sighted, disposed to sincerity, and of excellent discernment; moreover, he should “convey the hidden of everything and relate the good and bad deeds of everyone.”99 In short, the King concludes, Salaman must entrust all his religious and worldly affairs to none other than the sages (danayan).^{^[211]} A similar idea is contained in the Naslhat al-muluk where the Sasanid king Ardashir (d. 241) describes the ideal friend of the ruler as a well-principled (dastUr-i nlk), wise (khiradmand), benevolent (mihrban), and trustworthy (amln) vazlr with whom opinions can be exchanged and to whom secrets can be confided.^{^[212]}^{^[213]
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Being the Shadow of God on Earth

The idea of the temporal ruler as the shadow of God on earth is frequently encountered in Perso-Islamic treatises on statecraft. Encapsulated by such expressions as al-sultan zill Allah f al-arz in the Naslhat al-muluk, and padishah zill Allah dar zamln in the Akhlaq-iJalall, “the shadow of God” is often attributed to the Prophet, despite the fact that the saying does not appear in any of the canonical collections of hadlthA⁰² it is therefore not surprising that it is also found in Salaman va Absal. In fact, Jami bases his philosophical definition of kingship on it.^W3 Without question, this saying was de rigueur for writers of political advice manuals, for it instantly legitimized the ruler’s authority, since he was considered the earthly manifestation of the hidden divine Reality. Stated differently, the expression implies that the ruler embodied the attributes of an unknowable divine essence.10⁴ In his description of the ruler as shadow of God, Jami also mentions the idea of the “just ruler” and makes an allusion to the ancient Iranian concept of divine glory (New Persian, farr, Middle Persian, farra, and Avestan, khvarna) as part of his reasoning for conceptualizing the perfect ruler as a manifestation of God.^{^[216]}^{^[217]
^[218]
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^[220]} According to Jami, divine command (hukm) produces a special bounty; bounty is the existence (vujüd) of a just ruler (shah-i ^cadil). The just ruler is in turn nothing but God’s shadow and a refuge for mankind^⁶

However much glory (shuküh) may adorn the ruler, his glory is merely a likeness (misl) of that which exists in the shadow.^W7 Jami adds that it is for this reason that the shadow, i.e., the just ruler, is the source or eye (^cain) of the shadow-holder, i.e., God.^W8 If we recognize that the word ^cain can also mean “itself” or “essence,” then the shadow is to be equated with the shadow-holder Himself. In either interpretation, the correlation of the source of temporal sovereignty with the Divine is sufficient to prompt this warning: “Be careful that you do not look [with] contempt (khvar) upon the shadow, since the shadow is a reflection of the essence (zat) of the One, meaning God, who is the master of the shadow (sahib-i saya).””⁰⁹Aside from its theosophical significance, such a statement has considerable political implications, for it endorses the view put forward by the classic mirrors that disobedience to a political authority who governs according to God’s command is a sin. To justify their position, writers of advice literature quoted the Qur’anic verse (4:59): “Oh you believers! Obey God, obey the Prophet, and those in authority among you (üll al-amrl minkum)!” with the understanding that it applied to the reigning political authority.^{^[221]}^{^[222]
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Later, in a paradoxical statement that calls to mind the speculative theosophy based on Ibn al-'Arabi’s doctrine of wahdat al-wujüd (Oneness of Being),^m Jami uses an extended metaphor to describe how the shadowholder exists by means of the master of the shadow: “The shadow is full of substance from the attributes (sifat) of His (i.e., God’s) essence. Although in His essence (zat) He is concealed, through His attributes (sifat) He becomes apparent in every region [of this world] through His shadow.”ⁿ²In other words, God manifests His names or attributes (the Merciful, the Wrathful, etc.) through phenomenal caliphs, kings, sultans, and imams, whose God-given glory (farr-i ilahl) evinces their having received divine favor to rule (daulat).ⁿ³ Because it was believed that this favor could be passed down as a patrimony, Ya'qüb’s own claim to farr was based on his being the son of Üzün Hasan, something which Jami explains by way of a pun on the word hasan or “good.” Thus, after praising his justice, Jami relates that the good morals (khulq-i hasan) of Ya'qüb’s father are his son’s true inheritance (miras).ⁿ⁴ Jami’s approbation goes so far as to declare that anyone who does not believe that this farr, or glory, is manifested on earth, should simply gaze upon “that sovereign (jahandar) Shah Ya'qüb, on account of whose loftiness the zenith of the heavens is humbled.”ii⁵

On Heeding the Prayers of the Sufis

The next major section of Salaman va Absal is significant in that it emphasizes the need for rulers to heed the advice proffered by Sufi mystics.^{^[227]}^{^[228] ^[229]}Professedly written as an expression of Jami’s inability to give due praise to the temporal ruler (i.e., Ya'qüb), this section in fact represents an esoteric interpretation of the concept of perfect kingship. Before proceeding, it is important to note that Jami bases much of this description on the idea that the ruler’s fate depends upon the prayers of the Suhs.ⁿ⁷ Because the ideal ruler is considered the locus of divine manifestation, the divine transcendence is mirrored in the limitless virtue (fazl) of the [perfect] king. As a consequence, praising his (God’s, and by implication the ruler’s) incalculable excellence is impossible except to “those with penetrating insight” (i.e., Sufis) who recognize that this in itself constitutes religion (din).ⁿ⁸ This secret (sirr), he adds, is the real meaning of the well-known hadith: “I cannot count Your praises!” (la uhsi thana’').^{^[230]}^{^[231] ^[232]} Jami explains that praising Him who transcends praise requires a steadfast (qarar) method of prayer, one that is delivered through the heart of the Sufi and not, as Jami implies, by the tongues of the literal-mindedJ²⁰

Not a prayer that comes from any feeble-minded person

Limited to the power of this [temporal] palace.

On the contrary, a prayer of the people of the heart,

Filled with the blessings of God.™

By differentiating this prayer from the benedictions offered by members of the clerical class, Jami not only expresses the belief that Sufi mystics could effect changes in a dynasty’s political fortunes, he also asserts that Ya'qüb was the beneficiary of such blessings.^{^[233]}^{^[234]
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^[236]} Far from being ritualistic, these prayers could be efficacious. These were offered in order to elicit the ruler’s spiritual devotion (iradat) to the Sufi(s), according to the writings of certain Naqshbandis, but they were also meant to connect the ruler’s well-being to the well-being of the entire umma through his implementation of the moral and legal precepts of the shart^ca^23 This charisma (baraka) was not frivolously given away, but was part of a larger reciprocal relationship.12⁴ Considered alongside himmat, namely the concentrated creative energy of the Sufi’s heart, baraka theoretically invested Sufi mystics with the ability to change dynastic fortunes. Such a proposition would not have been entirely foreign to the Àq Qoyünlü. We might note, for example, that Davani’s Akhlaq-i Jalal! (which was dedicated to Üzün Hasan) contains a poem that unambiguously characterizes Sufis as capable of influencing the fortunes of a dynasty:

At the tavern door sit rogue [mystics],

Who give and take away the crown of kingship.

When a brick is your pillow, you find the seven stars (i.e., saints) over your head,

Behold the [real] hands of power and their high place of nobility!^⁵ Such reciprocal support between rulers and religious elites was common before the advent of Islam. Indeed, the Sasanian rulers conceived of religion and kingship as inseparable. This key idea was encapsulated in a motto attributed to the first Sasanian king, Ardashir, which maintained that “religion and kingship are two [or twin] brothers (dîn va daulat du baradarand),^{^[237]} one cannot exist without the aid of the other.”^{^[238]}^{^[239]} A dynasty’s endurance, the thinking went, depended on the ruler’s sustained patronage of religious figures and institutions which, in the medieval Islamic context, meant descendants of the Prophet, members of the Ulama, specifically jurisprudents and theologians, as well as individuals affiliated with mystical and popular Islamic movements, e.g., Sufi shaikhs, their disciples, charismatic dervishes, and Sufi saints (auliyaⁱ). In terms of institution-building, rulers were called upon to apportion funds or land from their personal property (khass) for the creation of pious endowments (vaqf, pl. auqaf), which facilitated the construction and upkeep of mosques, theological colleges, and Sufi hospices.12⁸ According to this arrangement, neglecting religious institutions was considered an act of oppression (zulm), leading the divine will to effect a turn in dynastic fortune (daulat) and topple the ruler in accordance with the Qur’anic (3:26) statement: “Thou givest kingship (mulk) to whom Thou will, and Thou taketh kingship (mulk) away from whom Thou will.”^{^[240]}^{^[241]
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Unlike the Siyar al-muluk and Akhlaq-i Nasiri, the raison d’être of Jami’s Salaman va Absal appears to be the ruler’s awakening to his own spiritual self. According to the tale, this awakening is manifested only through the prayers of the Sufis which “place religion (din) in the heart of the ruler, making God-fearing governance (daulat-i dindar) his practice (aym)”³⁰ A spiritually enlightened ruler, whose heart is receptive to the himmat of a Sufi shaikh, would therefore garner the baraka and instruction (tadbir) of spiritual men, making him both a beneficiary and benefactor of religion. Stated differently, the Sufis’ baraka would sanctify and legitimate a ruler’s temporal reign, in turn producing expectations that he would be responsive to the mystics’ guidance, since such direction would theoretically benefit all Muslims. As a result, the ruler would be invested with the ability to manifest God’s will.

This reciprocal relationship is alluded to throughout the section of Salaman va Absal concerning Sufi prayer. Interestingly, Jami uses financial terms associated with contracting a debt or settling accounts. Thus words like istlfa’ (receiving what is due), ida’ (quittance), and shumar (counting), together with a variant reading of the line above in which din may be read dain or “debt,” seem to suggest that in exchange for their support, the ruler was politically and/or spiritually liable to the mystics. According to this variant reading, the prayer of the Sufis “contracts a debt (dain kunad) on the heart of the ruler, making the fate of being a debtor (daindar) his way.”131 The description of din or dain being impressed upon the heart of the ruler is also reminiscent of a practice associated with Baha’ al-Din Naqshband, the eponymous founder of the Naqshbandi order. In the Asrar-i Qasimi, a late ninth/fifteenth or early tenth/sixteenth century treatise on the occult sciences, its author, Husain Va'iz Kashifi, mentions Baha’ al-Din’s skill in the science of talismans (^cilm-i tilismat), and explains his sobriquet, “naqshband,” as denoting one who draws tal- ismanic figures and binds others by means of these figures.^{^[243]}^{^[244] ^[245] ^[246]} He thereby provides an explanation of the origin of the tariqa’s name. Bahâ’ al-Din purportedly fashioned amulets for a variety of princes in order to help them ward off enemies and rival contenders for the throne while also influencing their spirits through “magical” actions. In return, Bahâ’ al-Din and his disciples could very well have been awarded some degree of support by the ruler. Thus, this tangible bestowal of baraka could be an early indication of what later became the historically documented relationship between Naqshbandi shaikhs and temporal rulers.

To take Kâshifi’s explanation even further, the mere act of tying or binding a talisman to the ruler can be more fully appreciated when we consider the similarities between this concrete gesture and the mystical technique, often associated with the Naqshbandiyya—though not unique to the tariqa—known as rabita (literally, “bond”), by which the Sufi shaikh transmits spiritual energy to a disciple (murid) by fixing his image (sürat) in his heart.133 We therefore cannot discount the possibility that when Jâmi speaks of “placing religion (din) in (literally, ‘on the face of’) the king’s heart,” he is alluding to the ruler’s (i.e., Ya'qüb’s) receptivity to Sufi influences.13⁴ As a result of this Sufi blessing, Jâmi suggests, the ruler comes to realize his role as the locus of divine manifestation, becoming a true khalifat Allah as it were:

[The king’s] task is to become he who makes royal decrees obligatory,

And to become the origin of everlasting good fortune.

So that this azure dome

Becomes the place of manifestation for the eastern sun.

May the royal throne be the place of manifestation of the King,

May he always be mindful of the secrets of the Faith.^⁵

Jâmi states that when the ruler is conscious of his role in carrying out the divine will, he will be succored at every moment, or breath (dam), by God’s eternal grace (fazl), thereby earning him a place in the “kingdom

POLITICAL ADVICE FOR RULERS AND mySTICAL GUIDANCE FOR SUFIS 63 of paradise.”^{^[247]}^{^[248] ^[249] ^[250] ^[251]} The Sufi prayer of Jami is therefore a “silent blessing, a harbinger of eternal life which dawns in the heart,” revealing to the ruler the secret of his pontifical role as the locus of the manifestation of God’s attributes on earth. The pivotal role of the heart in this manifestation is apparent when we consider that takht or throne (farsh in Arabic), as in the divine Throne, often denoted the heart (dil, in Arabic qalb, Jiïâd sirr, lubb) in the medieval Islamic literary imagination.^⁷ This idea is reflected in a prophetic statement wherein Muhammad reportedly said, “The heart of the believer is the Throne of the Merciful.”^⁸ A ruler’s throne (takht-i shahî), and by way of metaphor, the heart of the perfect ruler, is therefore called upon to be the “place” of God’s manifestation (jilvagah).

The political implications of this idea were perhaps best expressed in the Illuminationist doctrine of Shihab al-Din Yahya Suhravardi, whose schema of Eastern Wisdom (hikmat al-ishraq) bore heavily upon the theosophical speculations of late ninth/fifteenth century philosophers writing in Iran.13⁹ According to Suhravardi’s political philosophy, rulers must posses a sign of divine inspiration (wahy); specifically, a perceivable relation or link to an unseen realm (falam al-ghaib) interposed between the worlds of sense perception and pure being or light?⁴⁰ Only a ruler capable of receiving divine commands (amr) through this hidden realm, which Sufis

refer to as the eighth clime (al-iqlim al-thamin), is legitimate and worthy of true vicegerency.^{^[252]}^{^[253]
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The perfect ruler is thus the epitome of God’s investiture of Adam, whose deputyship is affirmed in the Qur’an (2:30) when God informed the angels: “I will create a vicegerent (khalifa) on earth.”i4² This investiture will occur only if the ruler becomes a true slave (^cabd), delivered from illusory ego to the extent that God “becomes” the ruler’s very being.^³ On this subject Ibn al-'Arabi was led to say, “He [the man] is not truly the deputy (na’ib) of God unless He who has made him His lieutenant and His substitute is his hearing, his sight, and his hand and all his faculties.”144 True legitimacy, and we can assume divine favor, can only be invested in a temporal ruler of exceptional spiritual perfection, a so-called Perfect Man (insan-i kamil) or saint, and whose appearance is reflected in the notion shared by Ibn al-'Arabi and Twelver, or Imami, Shi'ites that the ideal sovereign is in occultation and will only manifest himself at the end of time as the justice-dispensing divinely-appointed guide (mahdi).™⁵

Short of spiritual perfection, a temporal ruler was—if we are to accept Jami’s Sufi prayer and the importance of baraka in medieval Islamic polities—beholden to the wishes of Sufi saints (auliya’). These “friends of God” were not accidents of history, as Michel Chodkiewicz notes, but directors of it.i4⁶ In his axial position as the qutb, or pivot, of the cosmic order, a Sufi saint was, according to Ibn al-'Arabi (and following him, Jami), “the real head of the community of his epoch,” and therefore the true arbiter of divine favor.^M7 Short of becoming a saint himself, it was therefore incumbent upon the ruler to be deferential to the auliya’ in order to earn their blessings. As this study will demonstrate, however, while addressing the need to be guided by Sufis, Jami’s Salaman va Absal is ultimately concerned with providing instructions on how Ya'qub himself can become the perfect spiritual saint, and thus the true khalifat Allah.

Implicit Spiritual Advice for Rulers and Sufi Mystics

Understanding what is meant by true vicegerency entailed recognition of the symbolic significance of the characters, settings, and events depicted in Salaman va Absal. Without such recognition, Jami’s tale remains precisely what its modern critics have dubbed it: a bizarre romance.^{^[259]}^{^[260] ^[261] ^[262] ^[263] ^[264]} Failing to apprehend the significance of the work’s semiotics is therefore to neglect the didactic intent of its author. Focusing on the perturbations between the King, the Sage, and Salaman, or the incestuous affair between Salaman and Absal as an indiscretion on the part of an heir-apparent, is to understand the tale in its most literal sense. As mentioned earlier, these characters, and the dynamics between them, symbolize fundamental elements in the process of the purification of the individual soul often associated with the mystical path.^M9 They are therefore integral to the second level of the tale’s didacticism, namely the implicit advice it provides on subduing the carnal self (nafs) through penitence, austerity, and pious devotion in order to realize the state of perfection epitomized by Adam as the vicegerent of Godd⁵⁰

Jami himself explains that Salaman va Absal was to be read allegorically. The intention of the tale, it will be remembered, was not its “outer form” (sürat) but its inner “meaning” (ma^cna)^5i To this end, Jami states that in the sürat of every tale a certain portion of its maha is meant for those with “discerning vision” (khurdabin), or mystics.^² Once the outer form of the tale has been understood, he adds, it is necessary for the reader to seek the hidden meaning.^³ The juxtaposition of sürat and maha is commonplace in Sufi writings.^{^[265]}^{^[266] ^[267] ^[268] ^[269]} The idea of understanding the reality behind the sürat also has a special meaning for the Naqshbandis. For example, part of the order’s initiatory practices require a disciple to retain the image (sürat or naqsh) of a shaikh in his mind through the technique of rabita, which was believed to bind the heart of the murid, to the shaikh.155

Jami explains that divulging the story’s hidden meaning is the task of a Sufi shaikh (referred to as a “knower of the path” or rah-dan), since it necessarily leads to the “secret” (sirr) of the Sufi path itself.^⁶ He then alludes to the goal of the mystical experience by noting that, in demonstrating this deeper significance, distinctions like “We” and “You” disappear and the secret (sirr) of mystical union, which Jami describes as the spiritual state (hal) of “We and You,” will be unveiled (kashf^i Through the spiritual advice of a Sufi shaikh—that is to say Jami in his Salaman va Absal—the adept acquires the rudiments of mystical perception (zauq) which are necessary to contemplate divine transcendence (tauhid) and to realize that being a shadow of God is to be a perfect Sufi.

Advice on Illuminating the Intellect

According to Jami, the goal (maqsüd) of Salaman va Absal is the discovery of what he calls “ancient secrets” (asrar-i kuhan).i5⁸ As the conclusion of the tale indicates, these secrets, that is to say, the allegorical meaning of Salaman va Absal, are largely explainable through the theory of Neo-Platonic emanationism and its concept of the hierarchy of intelligences.^{^[270]}^{^[271]
^[272]
^[273]
^[274]} A poet of considerable learning in both the formal and speculative sciences, Jami would have been familiar with the metaphysics of al-Farabi, Ibn Sina, Suhravardi, and Tüsi which, among other aims, sought to integrate the Greek peripatetic philosophical system into Islamic cosmology. It is therefore not surprising to find Jami pointing out that the King in his tale represents the Tenth or Active Intellect (^caql-i f'a'al), the Sage represents supernal emanation (faiz-i bala), Salaman represents the Rational, or Speaking Soul (nafs-i gaya), Absal represents the lust-worshiping body (tan-i shahvat-parast), and Venus represents the perfections (kamalat) of a celestial body?⁶⁰ The image of Venus, usually understood as being negative in medieval Persian thought, is depicted positively in Salaman va Absal. It is possible that Jami integrates an element of Zoroastrian tradition, which associates the planet Venus with the goddess Anahita (Middle Persian, Anahit, Anahid, New Persian, Nahid), or “the Immaculate One,” into his version of the tale.161 What emerges from this inventory of symbols is an implicit call for the ruler to be governed by the Active Intellect, for according to emanationist thinking, the Active Intellect is a well-spring of divine revelation (wahy) and inspiration (ilham) accessible through the faculty of imagination.^² In theory, then, by adhering to the Active Intellect, the ruler becomes divinely-guided and thus a true vicegerent of God on earth.

Jami describes how, before creating the world, God created the First Intellect (^caql-i avval) and followed it with a chain of Ten Intellects (silk- i ^cuqul), the last of which makes its effect (mu’sir) known in this world as the Tenth, or Active Intellect (^caql-ifa“al).^K3 Consistent with the ideas of the emanationist school, Jami notes that this Tenth Intellect effuses (mufiz) good and evil in the world and is responsible for abundance and deficiency on earth.^{^[275]}^{^[276] ^[277] ^[278] ^[279] ^[280] ^[281]} It is not, Jami explains, related to the corporeal (jismani) realm or to the body (jism); rather it is a treasure completely free in both essence (zat) and activity (Jill) from such a material “talisman” (tilism). He goes on to say that the spirit of man (ruh-i insan) is a “son,” or product, of the Active Intellect, while man’s animal soul (nafs-i haivan) is its plaything. Both the ruh and the nafs, he adds, are under the command (farman) of the Active Intellect.^⁵

In a series of couplets Jami suggests that the Active Intellect is the command-giving king (shah-ifarman-dih), while the others (a reference to temporal rulers) are command-carriers (farman-baran) [who are] under the decree (farman) of the Active Intellect.^ Because the temporal king is adorned with the title of kingship (na^ct-i shahi), this spiritual guide (i.e., Jami) really intends “it” (i.e., the Active Intellect) when speaking of the King.16⁷ Speaking as a guide who is “experienced in the wonders of the world” (rah-dan-i bu ’l-'ajab), Jami posits that the supernal emanation (faiz-i bala) of the Active Intellect, which falls onto this world and thus onto the temporal king, is known by the title “hakim” (sage).i6⁸ In turn, pure spirit (ruh) was named “nafs-i. guya” (Rational Soul) and is born of this (Active) intellect Jaql) without the fetters of corporeality.16⁹ Its existence without bodily connection, Jami explains, is what is implied by the idea that the Rational Soul is “born of a father without a mate” (az pidar bi juft zad). A human soul or off-spring (zada) that has come into the world “clean-skirted” without the blemish of sexual union is thus named as “Salaman,” literally, “the unblemished one.”i7°

Absal, on the other hand, represents the lust-worshipping body (tan-i shahvat-parast) that acts according to the laws of nature (ahkam-i tabFat). Jami makes it clear that the body lives by way of the soul, and through the body the soul derives pleasure through the faculty of sense-perception (mahsusat).^{^[282]} As for the sea in which Salaman and Absal experience unison (visât), it is the sea of sensual lusts (bahr-i shahvatha-yi haivani) and the abyss of carnal pleasures (lazzat-i nafsam)^^{^[283]} Salaman’s return to the King and his appreciation of glory and dignity represents the inclination of the soul toward noetic pleasures (lazzatha-yi ^caqli), whereafter the soul is brought to what Jami calls the intellectual (^caqli) kingdom.^^{^[284]}The fire into which Salaman and Absal leap represents stern ascetic discipline (riyazatha-yi sakht), which sets fire to the human nature (tabFat) and cleanses the “hem of animal lusts” until only the pure spirit remains.^^{^[285]}Jami points out that, because Salaman had grown accustomed to Absal (just as the carnal soul becomes preoccupied with the pleasures of the flesh), he was pained by his separation from her. The Sage alleviated his grief by means of descriptions of the beauty of Venus.1^{^[286]}^{^[287]} Jami explains that, through these descriptions, the Sage joined the soul (Jan) of Salaman to his love (mihr) for Venus until he was freed from his despair over Absal.i76 As for the significance of Venus, she represents the lofty perfections (kamalat-i buland) through which the soul becomes noble (arju- mand) and the intellect is made luminous (nürani). On account of this illumination, he concludes, the soul becomes the ruler of the kingdom of man (padishah-i mulk-i insani).^{^[288]}^{^[289]}

The Role of Repentance in Attaining Mystical Enlightenment

The overriding theme of Salaman va Absal is the need for tauba, or repentance. While tauba literally means “turning” or “returning,” it is better understood as “repentance” from sin in this and other works of a religious nature.178 Repentance being an essential element of Salaman va Absal is not at all surprising if we remember that Jami’s allegorical romance is in fact a spiritual tale about the purification of the soul; moreover, it was dedicated to a ruler given to wine-drinking.

The very act of repentance or “(re)turning one’s face toward God,” is presented in the classic Sufi manuals as the first step, or spiritual station (maqam), on the mystical path. It occupies a fundamental place in such well-known Sufi manuals as the Kashf al-mahjub by Hujvrri (d. 464/1071) and al-Risala al-Qushairiyya by Qushairi (d. 465/1072).^{^[290]}^{^[291] ^[292] ^[293] ^[294]} The association of tauba with the initial step of the mystical path is also noted in Jami’s Salaman va Absal. In an anecdote about a “wine-worshipper” (may-parast) who seeks the advice of a saint, Jami relates how the drunkard took the path of repentance (rah-i tauba) and, “from this repentance (tauba), he achieved lofty stations (maqamat-i buland), and the quarry of sainthood (vilayat or valayat) came within his lasso.’⁹⁸⁰ The Sufi adept, in other words, can achieve perfection only through tauba.181

The issue of tauba, especially its practical benefits and/or mystical meaning, appears to have been a special concern of other writers of didactic literature in late ninth/fifteenth century Iran. For example, Husain Va‘iz Kashifi dedicated his mirror for princes, the Akhlaq-i Muhsinl, to the Timurid ruler Sultan-Husain Bayqara and his son Abü al-Muhsin Mirza on the occasion of the latter’s public repentance (tauba) from wine-drinking at his father’s court in Herat.18² In a similar vein, the Subhat al-abrar, a didactic masnavl written by Jami for Sultan-Husain, contains a chapter entitled “Maqam-i tauba” which describes tauba in terminology that is especially relevant to the Naqshbandis.18³ The same relevance is detected in Salaman va Absal where, in describing God’s role in granting tauba, Jami alludes to the Naqshbandi commitment to “act with strictness” (al-^camal bi al-^cazlmd), a formula which is usually taken to refer to the order’s strict fidelity to the sharfa.^{^[295]}^{^[296]
^[297]
^[298]
^[299]} In the view of a mystic like Jami, directing a young ruler to a life of sobriety was to bring him closer to God, since, according to a prophetic tradition cited in both the Kashf al-mahjub and al-Risala al-Qushairiyya, “There is nothing dearer to God than a repentant youth.”i8⁵This sentiment is partly echoed in a section of Salaman va Absal which, in praising Ya‘qüb’s abstinence (ÿünâb) from prohibited things (manahi), Jami declares: “Oh excellent is a king who, in the time of [his] youth, finds benefits from repentance (tauba), just like the aged do.”i8⁶

It should be mentioned, however, that the two sections of Salaman va Absal that deal most directly with tauba address it in terms that are not exclusively Naqshbandi but rather consistent with the general Sufi precepts described in Kashf al-mahjub and al-Risala al-Qushairiyya. For example, like Hujviri and Qushairi, who prioritize the three conditions for sound tauba as remorse (nadam), abandonment (tark) of the sin, and the resolve (^cazm) not to sin again, Jami says tauba is “to be penitent (pashiman) over the past and in the present to abandon (haliya bugzashtan) disobedient acts, and to resolve Qazm kardan) that, in the future, you will be successful in overcoming acts of disobedience.”^⁷ He then explains how success in repentance depends on the penitent’s determination Qazima) to allow Divine will/predestination (qaza) to act through him:

Repentance is like a glass bottle, Divine decree like a rock,

How can a glass bottle do battle with a stone?

When Divine decree becomes the agent

Repentance will be solidly founded.

And if Divine decree does not become its (i.e., repentance’s) agent,

There is no happiness except in acquiescing to His judgments.

The repentance-granter and the repentance-breaker are both Divine decree, Attributing these things to oneself is to sin.188

The idea that a believer is incapable of fulfilling the divine command to repent without divine initiative, i.e., only when God “turns” toward the penitent servant, is not original to Jami. In fact the notion that God is the first to “repent” is something which formed the basis of Ibn al-'Arabi’s radical interpretation of tauba.^1S9 According to Ibn al-'Arabi, justification for this paradoxical arrangement is found by inverting the situation presented in Qur’anic verse 24:31 so that it is “He (God) [who] turned towards them [the believers] in order that they might turn [toward Him].”^{^[300]}^{^[301]
^[302]
^[303]
^[304]} This view of tauba is supported by the narrative of Salaman va Absal. For example, it is only after the King himself uses his himmat to separate Salaman from Absal that Salaman “returns” to the King: “His [Salaman’s] face, in fear of his awe-inspiring father, repentant (tauba), apologetic, and seeking forgiveness.”^ To believe that tauba can be initiated by the individual is, according to Jami, to fall into the “mire of sin” (gunah). He therefore exhorts the reader to resolve (^cazm kun) to always be in communion (damsaz) with tauba.192

Advice on Subduing the Carnal Soul

The need for repentance is necessitated by the ego-soul or lower-self’s (nafs) base instincts which allow blameworthy acts and sins, such as lust (shahvat) in the case of Salaman. According to the ascetic tradition in Sufism, the physical appetites of this faculty, articulated in Qur’anic terms as the soul which incites to commit evil (al-nafs al-ammara bi-al-su’), must be subdued and purified through the restraining influence of the accusing soul (al-nafs al-lawwama), which roughly corresponds to the moral con- science.19³ Described in the prophetic tradition and Sufi literature as the “greater holy war,” or al-jihad al-akbar, this psychological struggle involves constant self-mortification (mujahada) and discipline (riyaza) so that the nafs, which is often compared in Perso-Islamic literature to a restive horse, a stubborn mule, a dog, or a camel, is purified and made obedient to the commands of the intellect.^{^[305]}^{^[306] ^[307] ^[308]} Only by resisting the lower soul and engaging in self-mortification, Hujviri writes in the Kashf al-mahjub, can man find the way to God. Submission to the nafs and its passions (hava), he warns, results in man’s destruction; resistance to it, on the other hand, entails his salvation.^⁵ Once sublimated, the nafs becomes the soul at peace (al-nafs al-mutma’inna) and according to the Qur’an, it is called “home” to its Lord.i9⁶ It is at this point that repentance (tauba), or the act of (re)turning toward God, is occurs.

These three aspects of the soul—the soul inciting to commit evil, the blaming soul, and the soul at peace—are all personified in the character of Salaman by way of three major events which happen to him. First, Salaman’s descent into the evils of carnality on account of his love for Absal is a representation of the soul’s first condition. Later, the third condition is depicted when Salaman repents and returns to his father’s court in order to assume his place on the royal throne. However, it is the second condition, the intervening and transformative state, during which the soul is in a state of blame al-lawwama that is most interest to us here. This represents the pivotal stage where the soul reproaches itself (by way of the Active Intellect) for its attraction to the sensory pleasures of the temporal realm; it is also at this stage that the blaming soul receives advice on how to renounce its base instincts.

In the case of Salaman va Absal, this defining event occurs when the King and Sage give advice to Salaman, symbol of the soul, for his infatuation with Absal, symbol of the body.i9⁷ The King prefaces his advice to Salaman by invoking the image of the rose and the rose-gardener to express his own sense of having been abandoned by Salaman. Like the rose who draws its “hem,” or petals, away from the gardener’s hand, the King accuses Salaman of forsaking him, an offense he likens to a rose that greets the gentle palm of the gardener with “the thorn of cruelty.” The notion that Salaman has forsaken his roots is reinforced by Jami when, during the King’s admonishment, he interjects the story of Khusrau II Parviz (d. 628), the Sasanian king and husband of Shirin, whose son Shirüya committed parricide only to die of the plague himself.^{^[309]}^{^[310]} The King therefore warns Salâmân against forsaking the crown of good fortune (afsar-i daulat) and kicking the throne of majesty (takht-i shaukat) like a mount in pursuit of earthly beloveds.199 Instead, Salâmân is advised to gallop into the hippodrome of the material world with his “Rakhsh”—Rustam’s famed horse in the Shah-nama epic but taken here to mean Salâmân’s tamed nafs or lower soul—under his command.^{^[311]}^{^[312]
^[313]
^[314]
^[315]} He is encouraged to leap among the ranks of heroes since, as the King says, it is better to gird yourself among men worthy of the title “real man” (mardan-mard) than to lay your neck before the “womanly sword” (shamshlr-zan)™¹ It ought to be noted that mardan, rjal, orfityan (part of the larger Perso-Islamic concept of chivalry or javanmardi; or futuwwat) often connotes the class of “spiritual champions” who make up the ranks of Sufi saints.202 The King’s admonishment here is thus an appeal to Salâmân to join the fraternity of virtuous men whose society is open only to those who have subjugated their nafs. In response, Salâmân claims that the capacity to liberate himself from what he acknowledges is a “calamity” (bala) is beyond his own means. He explains that this is because, when his eyes fall upon that “full moon” (mah), namely Absâl, his face turns away from the “two worlds.” After seeing the cheeks of that “heart-pleaser,” he admits, “no good counsel (naslhat) or any wise advice (pand) remains in my memory.”20³

In characterizing Salâmân’s preoccupation with Absâl as a calamity (bala), Jâmï is alluding to the pun on the affirmative “bala,” or “verily,” by which the Qur’ân states that human souls answered God on the primordial Day of the Covenant (ruz-i alast or ruz-i misaq) by agreeing to endure the tribulations (bala’) of serving Him.20⁴ By implication then, Salâmân embodies the plight of humanity and the struggle of the soul to return to its primordial divine origin. Jami uses the parable of the fox and its cub to further demonstrate his point here.^{^[316]}^{^[317] ^[318]} The fox, having led its cub to an enclosed orchard, cautions it to consume meagerly, for overindulging its appetite will render it incapable of escaping the jaws of a prowling guard-dog. Fully aware that its nature presupposes overindulgence, the cub resigns itself to fate, and, like Salaman, says: “How can I carry out this plan? Greed for fruit will be like a veil (parda) over my awareness (hush), and I will be negligent of the bite of the dog.”206

It should be noted that the excuses of Salaman and the fox-cub serve an important didactic purpose. Implicit in them is the idea that the transformation of the nafs from the condition of ammara bi-al-sü’ to one of mutma’inna involves an awakening, by way of the conscience (al-nafs al-lawwama), to the reality of the soul’s powerlessness vis-à-vis an omnipotent Creator. In other words, Jami uses these episodes to underline the determining role of the divine actor in the soul’s progression from evil to purity. The anecdotes therefore suggest that advancing along the spiritual path requires the individual to realize that the decision to act in accordance with, or in defiance of, the reproaching soul, belongs to God alone. Furthermore, Jami’s verses indicate that an adept on the path should also realize that al-nafs al-lawwama is unique to mankind and thus signifies man’s special status amongst the hierarchy of created things.

The idea of man’s superior rank is emphasized by the Sage who admonishes Salaman for not realizing his ontological status as God’s highest manifestation on earth, and does so by invoking the creation of Adam:

Oh you, who are the sprout of the primordial garden,

The most recent image from the pen of ‘Be!’

Letter-reader of the ledger book of the seven [heavens] and the four [elements],

Decipherer of the pages of night and day,

It is you who are the keeper of the treasure of Adam,

It is you who are the comprehensive book of the cosmos.

Realize your worth and do not count yourself foolishly,

For you are superior to whatever I speak ofpo⁷

As the descendant of Adam, Salâmân is thus God’s perfect and final creation, the last naqsh issued from the primordial Pen which, acting on the divine commandment “kun!fafayakün” (Qur’an 16:40), engraved the destinies of men on the Well-preserved Tablet (al-lauh al-mahfuz).^{^[319]} The Sage indicates to Salâmân that he (like all of Adam’s descendants) is the microcosm, namely a mirror which is poised at the interstices of the seven heavens and the four elements, astride the supernal light of day and night, and thus a copy (nuskha) therefore of the entire universe.^{^[320]}^{^[321] ^[322] ^[323] ^[324]}Implicit in addressing Salâmân as the custodian of Adam’s treasure is the Sufi idea—preserved in a well-known hadlth qudsl—that God, in His eternal loneliness, wished to be known and therefore created man whom He graced with knowledge of His most beautiful Names (al-asma’ al-husna).2^w These names, epitomized by the greatest (ism-i aZam) and all-encompassing (ism-ijami'') Name, “Allah,” are keys to the treasury of universal wisdom; according to Sufi mystical tradition, the universe is nothing but the theophanic manifestation (tajalli) of the Names of God?¹¹When Adam was taught “the names of things” (Qur’an 2:31), he became the locus (mazhar) of divine manifestation in the world. This knowledge was accordingly deposited in his heart (dil or qalb), the organ of spiritual perception akin to the mind (khirad), whose visionary capacity is often captured by medieval Persian writers and mystics in the metaphor of the mirror (ayina).2i2 The mirror (or eye) of the heart (chashm-i dil) is in constant need of “polishing,” since its capacity to reflect is distorted by the carnal soul (nafs), which mystics compare to dust or verdigris on a metallic mirror. This, in turn, promotes asceticism (zuhd) aimed at taming the soul’s base appetites by purging the nafs of its blameworthy attributes and replacing them with praiseworthy counterparts.21³ Not surprisingly, then, the Sage tells Salaman to renounce the fleeting pleasures of the sensory realm and acquire true knowledge through his heart:

He whose almighty hand mixed your clay,

And who transcribed the word ‘wisdom’ onto your pure heart, For His sake purify your breast of the image of external forms, And turn that mirror toward Reality,

So that your breast may be the treasure of inner meanings,

Your mirror flooded with the light of gnosis!^{^[325]}^{^[326]
^[327]
^[328]}

According to Muslim tradition, the secret of these inner meanings was not revealed even to the angels. As a consequence, their position in relation to primordial man is secondary. This belief also stems from the notion that angels do nothing but worship God in perfect obedience, whereas mankind suffers the choice, albeit within the confines of predestination, between obedience and rebellion.21⁵ In this choice lies the superiority of man, for he accepted the burden of the divine attributes and essences as part of the amana, or “trust” (Qur’an 33:72), a responsibility which the heavens, earth, and mountains could not bear.21⁶ But, like Adam, who rebelled and ate what was forbidden to him, Salaman neglected this oath by indulging his lust for Absal. As a consequence, the Sage implores Salaman to veil his eyes from the face of [that] beauty (tal'at-i shahid)—taken here to mean women—and warns him against succumbing to passion (havas) and spilling his sperm (nutfa), since doing so will lead him beyond the pale of chastity (harîm-i ^cafiyat) and into the darkness of materiality:

In the beginning, you were of lofty rank, Your star was in the highest heaven.

But now the lust of your carnal soul has dropped you low, It has fettered you tightly in the nadir of the earth.21⁷ Jami draws a parallel between Adam and a rooster to illustrate the depths to which the natural condition of the soul has fallen.^{^[329]}^{^[330]
^[331]
^[332]} The rooster (khurus, in Arabic dtk) has traditionally been held in high regard by medieval Muslim writers. This is probably because of the numerous statements attributed to Muhammad in which the bird is commended as a praiseworthy animal for its mastery of time, its daily crowing which summons believers to prayer, its capacity to see angels, and its notoriety as the animal Iblis (the Devil) hates most.21⁹ For example, one particular tradition (hadlth) claims that God sent Adam a white rooster with the ability to hear the tasblh of the angels in order to prevent him from forgetting the times of prayer.22⁰ Perhaps it is not surprising then that we find a mu’azzin praising the rooster for its knowledge of time.221 However, the mu’azzin is also puzzled as to why, with this wisdom, the rooster does not sit perched atop the divine Throne (^carsh), but instead frets over a hen and walks in circles around dung-heaps. The rooster meets the mu’azzin’s inquiry with a confession by which Jami certainly intended to remind readers of Adam’s fall into corporality and his desire to be reunited with his celestial “self”:

At first there was a lofty rank for me,

But the lust of the carnal soul cast me down to this lowliness.

If I were able to pass by the carnal soul and its lust, Why would I saunter into the pit of every dung-heap?

I would be admitted to the gardens of Paradise,

I would be a companion of the Celestial Cock.^{^[333]}

What emerges from the advice of the King and the Sage, along with the symbolic vignettes about Shïrûya, the fox-cub, and the rooster is a call for Salâmân to eventually achieve a state of perfection which Sufi mystical doctrine conceptualizes as “the Perfect Man.”22³ The prerequisite of attaining this lofty degree of existence is repentance, followed by the abandonment of blameworthy traits, most notably lust. These sections of Salâmân va Absâl imply that, only through determined asceticism, can a person subdue his carnal nature and contemplate the full reality of being the khalifat Allah™ As Salâmân indicates in his response to the Sage’s counsel, a paradoxical element in this process is the acknowledgment on the part of the one repenting that the act of tauba, though done with sincerity and single-mindedness, is ultimately determined by God. We therefore find Salâmân telling the Sage:

But it is surely clear to your enlightened view

That free will is beyond me.

The power of the agent depends on the ability of the recipient, Its agency is not the product of the producer.

Whatever it is that I have had a capacity for from the beginning, How can I break from it in the end?

Nay, it is outside the power of the agent

To have an effect contrary to that.22⁵

On the surface, Salâmân’s response appears to be a stubborn act of defiance. In the context of the esoteric and mystical significance of the tale, however, it represents the soul’s awakening to the reality that its attraction to, embodiment within, and struggle to escape its material form is part of what has already been characterized as the “divine wish,” namely God’s desire that each soul should experience and thus recreate the drama of Adam. With every enlightened soul’s desire to return to its Creator, God’s wish to be known is fulfilled.

While it is impossible to determine whether Ya'qûb and members of the Àq Qoyûnlû court acted on the mystical significance of Salâmân va Absal, particularly its implicit advice to rulers on how to achieve a degree of spiritual perfection akin to Sufi sainthood, we shall now turn our attention to the dynasty’s interest in Sufism. The following chapter discusses instances in which Üzün Hasan and Ya'qüb associated with individual dervishes and Sufi organizations. The apparent inclination of Àq Qoyünlü rulers toward Sufism is thus presented here in order to support the notion that Ya'qüb and his courtiers would have at least recognized mystical elements in Salaman va Absal.

CHAPTER THREE

THE RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL INFLUENCES OF SUFIS AT
THE ÀQ QOYÜNLÜ COURTS OF ÜZÜN HASAN AND YA'QÜB

Oh you full moon, as long as the light of yourface is the sun of Tabriz, The qibla of Jami, just like [Rumi], is none other than Tabriz!

—Jami, Divan^{^[334]}

The abovementioned verse, whereby Jami uses paranomasia to liken his devotion to a beloved in Àq Qoyünlü Tabriz, taken here to be Ya'qüb, to the devotion of Jalal al-Din Rümi for his companion and muse, Shams al-Tabrizi (d. 645/1247), is consistant with how historical sources depict the unique relationship between the poet of Herat and Ya'qüb, his patron in Tabriz. Their rapport, which in many respects resembled the archetypal master-disciple (murshid-murid) relationship characteristic of medieval Sufi mystical brotherhoods, will be contextualized by exploring several facets of Àq Qoyünlü history.

To this end, this chapter will examine the political activities of Sufi mystics—especially Naqshbandis—at the royal court and civil administrations of Üzün Hasan and his son, Ya'qüb. Historical information about these activities will be drawn from the ‘Álam-ara-yi amlni, Kitab-i Diyar- Bakriyya, Akhlaq-i Jalali, Menakib-i Gülçenî, Rauzat al-jinan wa jannat al-janan, and the Rashahat-i ^cain al-hayat. The personal correspondence between Jami and Ya'qüb will also be mined for information on the nature of their relationship, the details of which will be compared with data from the official chronicle by Khunji-Isfahani (i.e., the Âlam-ârâ-yi. amini).

What emerges from these inquiries suggests that members of the Naqshbandi order, Jami in particular, played a more significant religio- political role in the Àq Qoyünlü administrative and personal affairs of Ya'qüb than has previously been acknowledged. This chapter will also demonstrate that, while Salaman va Absal represents the finest example of Ya'qüb’s sustained patronage of Persian belles-lettres, it was in fact just one aspect of the interest of the Àq Qoyünlü court in dervishes and Sufis and the esoteric or mystical writings they produced.

Dervishes, Sufi Mystics, and
the Political Legitimacy of Üzün Hasan

In his study of the political history of the Àq Qoyünlü confederation, John Woods concludes that, of all the Sufi groups attached to Ya‘qüb in Tabriz, it was the Khalvati order that enjoyed the greatest influence. Its association with the Àq Qoyünlü began during the reign of Ya‘qüb’s father, Üzün Hasan, when he welcomed the Khalvati shaikh Dada ‘Umar Raushani (d. 892/1487) to Tabriz around 864/1470. The shaikh was a native of Laranda in Anatolia and at the time was the successor (khalifa) of Sayyid Yahya Shirvani, the second founder (pir-i than) of the Khalvati order.^{^[335]} ‘Umar Raushani may have been invited by associates of Üzün Hasan for the simple fact that he offered an alternative, more moderate form of Sufism to Üzün Hasan, whose preoccupation with an ecstatic shaman-like dervish, named Taj al-Mujazib (also referred to as Taj al-Majzübin) Baba ‘Abd al-Rahman Shami (d. before 896/1490), must have been unsettling to the urban tradionalists in his retinue.^{^[336]} It should be noted that ‘Abd al-Rahman Shami was not affiliated with any of the established Sufi mystical brotherhoods, thus making him a liability in the eyes of state officials who may have been keen to exploit the political advantages associated with patronizing leaders of the major, urban-centered tariqas. Instead, as Woods suggests, ‘Abd al-Rahman Shami personified the type of popular religion practiced by the rural and tribal populations of western Iran, northern Iraq, and eastern Anatolia during the second-half of the ninth/ fifteenth century.^{^[337]}

That Üzün Hasan held ‘Abd al-Rahman Shami in high esteem is indicated by an allusion in the ^cÀlam-ârâ-yi amini, where in praising Üzün Hasan’s patronage of Sufis, Khunji-Isfahani uses the term majzübi, which is a word-play on ‘Abd al-Rahman Shami’s laqab, Taj al-Mujazib:

That majestic presence (Üzün Hasan), his blessed habit was such that he joined the eye of insight from every sitting corner and with a mighty wave was raising the heads [of those] without heads and feet (i.e., Sufis). He was favoring every ecstatic (majzubi} for beloved places and every frenzied lover (shürïda, i.e., Sufi) was seeing the light of [his] eyes.^{^[338]}

The Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya, also contains many references to ‘Abd al-Rahmân Shâmï. Among them is the description by Tihrânï-Isfahânï of a bizarre incident in which an entranced ‘Abd al-Rahmân Shâmï lept atop a banquet table and predicted Üzün Hasan’s victory in a major battle.^{^[339]}

The strength and longevity of the relationship between Üzün Hasan and ‘Abd al-Rahmân Shâmï is reflected in a document dated about fifteen years later (876/1471) in which Üzün Hasan awarded ‘Abd al-Rahmân a suyUrghal.^{^[340]} As with most suyürghal documents, the conditions of this grant would have awarded the beneficiary, in this case ‘Abd al-Rahmân Shâmï, partial or complete immunity from certain taxes and would theoretically have ensured that such land(s) remained free from administrative and judicial interference by the central government. Under this arrangement, agents of the state were expressly prohibited from trespassing upon such lands (a condition typically stipulated in the circumlocution: “qalam va qadam kutah va kashida dashta”).^{^[341]} In the introduction to the suyürghal, Üzün Hasan credits Sufis with his rise to power:

From the dawn of the morning of our sultanate and the first appearance of the signs of our caliphate, we have recognized that the doors of victory and conquest which were opened upon the countenance of our good fortune, and the portents of ascendancy and prosperity which became evident and manifest upon the pages of the felicitous circumstances of our aspirations, were due to the benevolence of the sublime spiritual energies (himam-i ‘aliyya) of the dervishes and to the beneficence of their lofty fervor.^{^[342]}

Other Sufi mystical figures are also mentioned in connection with Üzün Hasan’s rise to power. For example, according to the Rauzat al-jinan wa jannat al-janan, the Husainï sayyid ‘Abd al-Ghaffâr Tabâtabâ’ï (d. ca. 895/1490) had prophesized Üzün Hasan’s conquest of Azerbaijan well before its occurrence in 872/1467.^{^[343]} In fact, on the eve of the conquest, Üzün Hasan is reported to have dreamed that all the dervishes and saints of Azerbaijan had assembled in order to seat him on the throne of Tabriz.ⁿAs a reward for his good auguries, Üzün Hasan named ‘Abd al-Ghaffâr Tabâtabâ’ï to the office of shaikh al-Islam of Azerbaijan—a post later inherited by his son Mïr Sirâj al-Dïn ‘Abd al-Vahhâb (d. ca. 930/1524).^ The appreciation of Üzün Hasan for ‘Abd al-Ghaffâr also manifested itself in grants of land. For example, Jean Aubin identified ‘Abd al-Ghaffâr Tabâtabâ’ï as the Rafï‘ al-Dïn ‘Abd al-Ghaffâr, who is named as the beneficiary of a hereditary suyürghal in the district of Rüdiqât in a farman issued by Üzün Hasan in 875/1471.1³

Support for Üzün Hasan’s claim to rule came from other quarters as well. Amïr Badr al-Dïn Ahmad Lâla’ï (d. 912/1506), the founder of the Azerbaijani branch of the Kubravi order, acknowledged the legitimacy of Üzün Hasan in 876/1471 when he publicly declared that Qur’anic verse (4:59) exhorting believers to “Obey God, the Prophet, and those in authority among you (minkum)” applied to Üzün Hasan.^{^[344]}^{^[345]
^[346]} Ahmad Lala’i based his endorsement on the fact that, according to the abjad system of Arabic letter numerology, the phrase “minkum” (among you) has the same numerical value (150) as Üzün Hasan’s name, “Hasan Beg.’⁴⁵ The Àq Qoyünlü ruler also won the blessings of Shah Na'im al-Din Ni'mat Allah al-Thani (d. ca. 906/1501), the great-great grandson of the founder of the Ni'mat Allahi order, Shah Ni'mat Allah Nür al-Din b. 'Abd Allah Vali (d. 834/1431). According to several historical sources, Shah Ni'mat Allah II expressed his support for the regime of Üzün Hasan by consecrating the silk covering (mahmil) for the Ka'ba that the Àq Qoyünlü ruler dispatched to the Hijazd⁶

Despite his interest in a number of individual mystics and dervishes, however, Üzün Hasan’s patronage of Sufis does not appear to have been indiscriminate. Evidence of this is contained in a letter that Üzün Hasan addressed to the Ottoman sultan, Bayazid II, in Rabi' I 875/September 1470.^{^[347]} In the letter, which was clearly intended to promote the nascent Àq Qoyünlü confederation as worthy defenders of the sharFa, Üzün Hasan mentions the achievements his administration had made in abolishing such abominable practices as sodomy, prostitution, wine-drinking, and gambling.1^{^[348]}^{^[349]} Üzün Hasan also claims that his forces successfully eradicated local heretical and antinomian dervish groups, specifically the Qalandaris and Haidaris. If true, such a position tempers the view expressed by Khunji-Isfahani that Üzün Hasan “favor[ed] every ecstatic.’⁴⁹

The Role of the Akhlaq-i Jalali

It appears that, in recognizing the political importance of Sufi mystics, Üzün Hasan was first and foremost upholding the advice given to him by Jalal al-Din Davani in the Akhlaq-i Jalali. As the chief religious figure and advisor of the Àq Qoyünlü empire, Davani advocated the creation of a polity based on what Woods has dubbed a “Turko-Iranian Sunni-Sufi synthesis.”^{^[350]}

The emphasis on Sufism is evident in a chapter of the Akhlaq-i Jalali entitled, “On the government of kingship and the proper comportment of kings.” In it, Davani classifies society in a hierarchical sequence that, while according a high status to representatives of normative Islam, nevertheless gives the highest ranking to their mystical counterparts, the Sufis. At the top of this schema are those people Davani says have a good natural disposition (bi-tab'-i. khair), specifically scholars of the religious law (^culama-yi shari'a), the leaders of the Sufi brotherhoods (masha’ikh-i tartqat), and the gnostics who know the divine Reality (^curafa-yihaqlqat)^{^[351]}According to Davânï, members of this last group are not only the elite worshippers of God, they also represent the goal of existence (ghayat-i tjad). In fact, the other divisions of society, he writes, have entered the “inn of being” (mihmankhana-i vujüd), which is to say the material world, as intruders (tufail).^{^[352]} Considering such opinions, it is hardly surprising that elsewhere in the same chapter Davânï posits that the well-being of the ruler (i.e., Üzün Hasan) depends on receiving help and good counsel from these elite holy men:

The master of good fortune finds security from the scorching wind of the calamities of fate, [when] he finds refuge in the pure interior (batin-i pak) of the pure hearts (saft dil) of the dervishes, and he assists in attaining the goal of the intentions and desire of those with spiritual power (himmat). For, at the time of facing journeys and undertaking dangers and risks, having sought a shield from the thoughts of the residents of the mosques and dwellers in Sufi hospices (sakinan-i khanaqah), the crown of rulership finds existence on the head of the man who seeks direction from the minds of the crown-bestowing headless and footless ones (i.e., Sufis). The throne of the caliphate is the permanent residence of a king who begs divine grace (faiz) from the minds of the beggars with puissant hearts.^{^[353]}^{^[354]}

It is interesting to note that this passage is found (almost verbatim) in the introduction to Davânï’s Arz-i sipah-i Üzün Hasan (usually referred to as the Arz-nama), which he wrote as an eyewitness of the review of local civil and military officers in Fars in 881/1476.2⁴ Also noteworthy is the inclusion of the term himmat. As has already been mentioned, him- mat, or the creative power of the heart, had special relevance for the Naqshbandïs, who used the term to denote the capacity of the shaikh to control the psychological state (hal) of a disciple. Its use here, while doing little to establish either Davânï or Üzün Hasan as Naqshbandïs, does at least suggest that the lexicon of Sufism was known at the highest echelons of the Àq Qoyünlü administration.

In this same section of the Akhlaq-iJalali, Davânï goes so far as to indirectly associate Üzün Hasan with Khidr, the protean guide or “Green Man” whom Islamic legend identifies as the mysterious companion of Moses and conveyor of divinely inspired knowledge (Q i8:65-82).^{^[355]}^{^[356]
^[357]
^[358]} After expounding on the qualities of human perfection (kamal-i insani), Davânï implicitly equates Üzün Hasan’s command of the virtues of perfect kingship with the unique ability of Khidr to perceive the divine mysteries^⁶

[The insight of the ruler] has acquired the subtle customs of the sultanate, the realities of the proper conduct of having dominion and governing, the secret obscurities of wisdom, and the extraordinary commandments of religion, from divinely-inspired instruction (talqm-i mulhim-i qudsi) and the gift of divine emanation (faiz-i fail), without the intermediary of acquired learning and human effort, his sacred soul has attained the lofty rank of “And whom we had taught knowledge from Our own presence” (Q 18:65) and origin.2⁷

According to mystical tradtion, Khidr was viewed as the archetypal Sufi shaikh who, in addition to aiding wayfarers and pilgrims, initiated masterless aspirants into the mystical path?⁸ His appearance here is interesting, especially in connection with the term talqin, for in addition to its more mundane meaning, talqm is a Sufi technical term for the spiritual impartations of a master to his disciple, especially with regard to the performance of zikr.²9 For Naqshbandis, talqin was at the core of their unique rites of initiation.^{^[359]}^{^[360]
^[361]
^[362]
^[363]
^[364]} According to Naqshbandi tradition, Muhammad gave Abü Bakr instruction (talqin) in the performance of a silent form of zikr (zikr-i khafi) when the two eluded Meccan forces in a cave during the Prophet’s hijra?¹¹ This practice has historically distinguished Naqshbandis who justify it by pointing to the Qur’anic (7:55) expression: “Call on your Lord in humility and in private (khufyatan).”32 What is more, Naqshbandi tradition maintains that the order’s adoption of the silent zikr was based on instructions (talqin) received by the Khvâjagâni forefather of the order, ‘Abd al-Khâliq Ghijduvâni, when he was reportedly visited by Khidr in a dream-vision.33 While mentioning Khidr and talqm in connection with his description of Üzün Hasan’s unique qualifications to rule does not imply that he was a Naqshbandi initiate, it does nevertheless lead one to suspect that the influence of the order at court was greater than has heretofore been acknowledged. Finally, it is interesting to note that Üzün Hasan was not the only Àq Qoyünlü ruler metioned by Davâni in connection with Khidr. In the Arz-nama, Davâni attributes the agricultural prosperity of Fars to the mere presence of its Àq Qoyünlü governor, Sultan-Khalil. Refering to him as the “Second Solomon,” Davâni describes Sultan-Khalil as a luminous, “Jesus-like” figure, capable of breathing life into the ancient ruins of Persepolis, known as Takht-i Jamshid, and compares him to the immortal Khidr, who “makes everything surrounding him verdant.”3⁴

Khalvati Influence on Aq Qoyunlu Affairs

While in many cases it is necessary to make inferences from the historical sources regarding the role of the Naqshbandis at the Àq Qoyünlü court, no such measures are needed when discussing the Khalvati order. As mentioned earlier, several members of Khalvati tariqa wielded considerable influence over successive Àq Qoyünlü administrations. Foremost among these influential holy men was Ibrahim Gulshani (d. 940/1534), whose thirty-eight year-long association with the Àq Qoyünlü spanned the reigns of Üzün Hasan, Sultan-Khalil, and Ya'qüb.^{^[365]}

First introduced to the court by Maulana Hasan, the chief magistrate (qazi al-quzat) of Üzün Hasan and himself a mystic, Gulshani was soon appointed to the prestigious position of keeper of the royal signature seal (tauqî^ci).3^{^[366]} According to the Menakib-i IbrâJwn-i Gülçenî, a hagiographi- cal account of the life of Gulshani, he quickly gained the favor of Üzün Hasan and was dispatched to conclude a peace treaty with Sultan-Husain Bayqara in Herat where he became acquaintaned with Jami^{^[367]} Acting on the orders of Üzün Hasan, Maulana Hasan then sent Gulshani to escort the pre-eminant Khalvati shaikh, Dada ‘Umar Raushani, from Qarabagh to the the Àq Qoyünlü court in Tabriz.^{^[368]} Becoming a disciple (murid) of ‘Umar Raushani, Gulshani assiduously attended the latter’s sermons in Tabriz and was eventually designated his successor (khalifa).

In addition to Ibrahim Gulsham, it is very likely that ‘Umar Rausham counted members of the royal family among his disciples. For example, the principal wife of Üzün Hasan, Saljüqshah bt. Kür Muhammad Begum (d. 896/1490), reportedly made a pious endowment (vaqf) in favor of ‘Umar Raushani by granting him a hospice (zaviya) near Bagh-i Shamal, which came to be known as the Muzaffariyya^{^[369]} Moreover, the Menakib-i Ibrahim-i Gülçeni states that ‘Umar Raushani initiated Üzün Hasan’s brother Idris into the Khalvati order.^{^[370]}

Besides members of the royal household, the Khalvatis had supporters at the highest levels of the civil and military administration. One such individual was Sayyid ‘Ala’ al-Din ‘Ali Baihaqi, who eventually relinquished his position as chief magistrate (qazi al-quzat) for Üzün Hasan so that he could pursue Khalvati-related activities full-time^{^[371]} His absence from official duties must not have lasted long, however, for according to the ^cÀlam-ârâ-yi amini, the newly-enthroned Sultan-Khalil sent ‘Ali Baihaqi to Istanbul with the news of the death of his father, a gesture aimed at improving relations with the Ottomans^{^[372]}

Not everyone, it seems, took a liking to ‘Umar Raushani’s brand of mysticism or his influence. During the reign of Ya‘qüb, the Khalvati shaikh was brought before Qazi ‘Isa in Tabriz, and according to the Menakib-i Ibrahim-i Gülçeni, he was made to defend himself against charges that he was a “Fusüsi,” that is, an adherent of the complex metaphysics expounded by Ibn al-‘Arabi in his Fusüs al-hikam. The accusations were apparently made by strict exotericists among the Ulama’ who wanted to brand ‘Umar Raushani an infidel.^{^[373]}^{^[374]} Ibrahim Gulshani apparently persuaded Qâzï ‘ïsâ to dismiss the accusations against his spiritual master and forced those who had initiated the investigation to ask ‘Umar Raushani for his forgiveness.44 Besides illustrating that the writings of Ibn al-‘Arabi remained controversial in late ninth/fifteenth century Iran and that his ideas may have been a flashpoint for tensions between the strict traditionalists and the Sufis, the incident also suggests that Gulshani exercised considerable influence over members of the Àq Qoyünlü administration?^{^[375]}

Another indication of his influence was an incident described in the Menakib-i Ibralwn-i Gülçenï in which Gulshani stifled a plot by the Turkmen Ulama’ (terakime Ulemasinden) who did not speak Persian, to have the Persian-speaking Qazi ‘Isa deposed as Ya‘qüb’s vazir. According to the report, thirty-four religious scholars convinced the amir, Sulaiman Beg Bijan (d. 897/1492), to ensure that Qazi ‘Isa was ousted. The conflict was resolved when Gulshani secured the appointment of a Turkishspeaking scribe (katib) to act as a liaison between the Turkish Ulama’ and Qazi ‘ïsâ^{^[376]} It should be pointed out that the incident, which suggests that there were serious ethno-linguistic tensions between Turkish and Persian members of the religious intelligentsia, does not appear in the other historical sources, leaving open the possibility that the Menakib-i Ibralwn-i Gülçeni exaggerated the influence of Gulshani (and thus of the Khalvati) over Àq Qoyünlü administrative affairs.

Shaikh Ibrahin Gulshani at the Court of Ya’qub

The Persian historical sources have little to say about Ya‘qüb’s personal or political involvement with Sufi mystics. For instance, the official account of his reign by Khunji-Isfahâni is virtually silent about his patronage of Sufis or his personal interest in mysticism. It is only in the Rauzat al-jinan by Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi that we find an indication that Ya‘qüb made frequent visits to the zaviya of ‘Umar Raushani.^{^[377]}^{^[378]} Furthermore, the relative dearth of royal edicts granting administrative and fiscal immunities to prominent Sufis could be an indication that the centralizing measures undertaken by Qâzi ‘ïsâ to curb all such awards did not spare members of the Sufi elite.

At the same time, however, the very issue of recouping state revenues by cancelling suyurghals gave the author of the Menakib-i Ibrahin-i Gülçeni a chance to recount the conflict between Qâzi ‘ïsâ and Gulshani over these very grants. Apparently, Gulshani personally warned Ya‘qüb of the impending peril that would face the empire if the bureaucratic interests of Qâzi ‘ïsâ were to supersede what the hagiographer of Gulshani characterizes as “the principles of the sharFa.”48 This despite the fact that the administrative measures proposed by Qâzi ‘ïsâ were themselves part of a larger “back to the sharFa” campaign of fiscal and social reform. Remarkably, the Menakib-i Ibrahin-i Gülçeni suggests that Gulshani successfully persuaded Ya‘qüb to make up for the deficit in the treasury by repossessing the private incomes of members of the civil and military establishment^{^[379]} Although no other historical sources confirm whether this unprecedented idea was actually implemented, the Menakib-i Ibrahin-i Gülçeni nevertheless insists that Ya‘qüb and prominent figures within the Àq Qoyünlü administration relinquished one-third of their incomes for a period of several years.^{^[380]}

The influence of Ibrahim Gulshani over Ya'qüb, Qâzï 'îsa, and Najm al-Din Mas'üd is reflected in a masnavl which is attributed to Hakim al-Din Idris Bidlisi (d. 926/1520), Ya'qüb’s secretary (muvaqqf) in the divan and scribe of royal orders (nishanchl), and cited in the Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenï:^{^[381]}

Who is the spiritual guide of that ancient path?

Shaikh Ibrahim, master of the dawn.

Through his respirations Gulshani is the one who

Made the garden of the world of Egypt like the garden of Paradise.

At that time he was the master of righteous guidance,

For his sake, Shah Ya'qüb was obedient (munqad),

[And Qazi] 'îsâ [Savaji] and Najm [al-Din Mas'üd] were in his service.^{^[382]}^{^[383]}

Curiously, despite his close relationship with Ya'qüb, Gulshani is not mentioned in Khunji-Isfahani’s history. The omission of Gulshani is even more conspicuous in light of the fact that approximately one-half of Gulshani’s hagiographical work consists of anecdotes involving Ya'qüb and senior members of his court, especially Qazi 'îsâ. This could be explained by the fact that the Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenl exaggerates the influence of Gulshani in royal affairs over other Àq Qoyünlü figures, including Ya'qüb himself.5³ Exaggerations notwithstanding, the Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenl does at least suggest that Ya'qüb engaged in morally questionable conduct, which apparently prompted Gulshani to ask that Ya'qub repent for his deeds.^{^[384]}^{^[385] ^[386] ^[387] ^[388]}

Naqshbandis at the Áq Qoyünlü Court, Tabriz, and Its Environs

By the second half of the ninth/fifteenth century, the Naqshbandi order had emerged as the preeminent Sufi brotherhood in Timurid Khurasan and Transoxiana.55 The ascendancy of the order and the political influence it exerted on members of the Timurid ruling family were largely the result of the propagative efforts of the spiritual leader of the tarlqa, 'Ubaid Allah Ahrar.56 As Algar has demonstrated, several disciples of 'Ubaid Allah Ahrar, most notably Khvaja Muhammad Amin Bulghari (d. before 902/1497), Baba Ni'mat Allah b. Shaikh MahmUd Nakhchivani (d. 920/1514), and Mir Siraj al-Din 'Abd al-Vahhab, who was Ya'qub’s shaikh al-Islam, are known to have resided in Tabriz during the heyday of the Àq QoyUnlU.5⁷

It is interesting to note, however, that their proximity to the Àq QoyUnlU ruler did not translate into an attempt on the part of 'Ubaid Allah Ahrar and the Naqshbandis to replicate in Tabriz the political influence the order had achieved in the Timurid domains. If anything, the three Ahrarian Naqshbandis appear to have shared a disinclination to openly propagate the tariqa.5^s Instead, Bulghari, Nakhchivani, and 'Abd al-Vahhab are noted for their relations with leaders of the Kubravi and Khalvati brotherhoods. For example, according to the Rauzat al-jinan, Bulghari often accompanied the Kubravi shaikh Badr al-Din Ahmad Lala’i and was authorized to use Badr al-Din’s personal retreat at a khanaqah near the village of Darvïshâbâd.^{^[389]} For his part, Mahmüd Nakhchivânï (also referred to in the sources as Shaikh ‘Alvan) enjoyed collegial relations with ‘Umar Raushani and reportedly visited the Khalvati master on his deathbed.^{^[390]}^{^[391]} By all indications, Nakhchivani was given to withdrawal and social isolation, which would have been at odds with the Naqshbandi tenet of khalvat dar anjuman. Instead, his Naqshbandi orientation found expression in the composition of an Arabic exegesis of the Qur’an and in the commentaries he wrote on such well-known Sufi works as Fusüs al-hikam by Ibn al-‘Arabi, Lama'at by Fakhr al-Din ‘Iraqi (d. 688/1289), and Gulshan-i raz by Mahmüd Shabistari (d. ca. 720/1320)®

It is also interesting to note that the third disciple of ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar, Siraj al-Din ‘Abd al-Vahhab, also does not appear to have used his official position as shaikh al-Islam to propagate the order^{^[392]} According to Hamid Algar, this could be explained by the fact that the true sympathies of ‘Abd al-Vahhab were with Twelver Shi‘ism. Algar points to the eagerness with which ‘Abd al-Vahhab embraced the rule of Shah Isma‘il Safavi (d. 930/1524) and the antagonism he showed Ibrahim Gulshani on account of what the Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenl describes as the “rafizi” (i.e., Shi‘ite) tendencies of ‘Abd al-Vahhab^{^[393]}^{^[394]} The mutual animosity boiled over at court when Gulshani sabotaged an attempt by ‘Abd al-Vahhab and his protégé Qazi Husain Maibudi (d. ca. 910/1505), a former student of Jalal al-Din Davani and chief qazl of Yazd, to undermine his explication of the Qur’anic verse (2:152) “Remember Me and I will remember you” to Ya‘qüb.6⁴

It is tempting to speculate that the rivalry between Gulshani and ‘Abd al-Vahhab may have reflected the competition between the Khalvati and Naqshbandi orders for disciples and royal patronage. However, there is nothing in the sources to suggest that such rivalry existed. In fact, the Rauzat al-jinan, which is considered to be the most reliable source of information on Sufis in pre-Safavid Tabriz, describes the abovementioned khanaqah. of Badr al-Din Ahmad Lala’i as an ecumenical venue where prominent Sufis, irrespective of tariqa affiliation, gathered and retreated for the purpose of mystical contemplation.^{^[395]}^{^[396]
^[397]
^[398]} Among those who attended such retreats were ‘Umar Raushani, the aforementioned Khvaja Bulghari, and the intriguing figure of Sun‘ Allah Küzakunâni, who unlike Bulghari, was a Naqshbandi from a non-Ahrarian lineage and who actively undertook the propagation of the order in Azerbaijan.66 With respect to the khanaqah’s ecumenical outlook, the Rauzat al-jinan says:

Many of the excellent and pious ones, dervishes, shaikhs, ülamâ’, grandees, and common folk made appearances at that place, such as: Khvaja ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Jami; Khvaja Muhammad Amin Bulghari; Maulana ‘Ali Rümi; Darvish Ya‘qüb Rümi; Dada ‘Umar Rümi (i.e., ‘Umar Raushani); Maulana Sun‘ Allah Küzakunâni; Khvaja ‘Ali Kujuji, and others. That heart-ravishing place is in reality the place of divine emanation (faiz) and purity. The faiz of the excellent ones’ secret arrival is manifested and made apparent in that place. [Interjecting poem] In the Lala khanaqah, which is known to be in Darvishabad, and in which many [Sufis] sit for the purposes of forty-day ascetic retreats of contemplation (arba‘mat), several of the excellent ones— for whom it is a place of asylum and firm belief—have agreed that when they choose the accommodations of that place (i.e., the cells within the Lala khanaqah), the horizons seize their public fame®⁷

The reference to two Naqshbandis (Bulghari and Sun‘ Allah) as frequenting the Darvishabad khanaqah suggests that the ambivalence which traditionally marked the attitude of the order to such institutions as tekke, zaviya, khanaqah, for the performance of devotional rites and spiritual instruction, did not necessarily preclude its members from visiting facilities stew- arded by other tarîqas.®⁸ Le Gall notes that whereas earlier Naqshbandis in Transoxiana largely adhered to the advice of ‘Abd al-Khaliq Ghijduvânï, which was to eschew building or living in khanaqahs, later Naqshbandis, particularly in Ottoman Anatolia, were not averse to such practices.^{^[399]} It should be noted, however, that there is no evidence to suggest that this change in attitude resulted in the construction of Naqshbandi hospices or shrine complexes in Àq Qoyünlü territories. In fact, no references to the commissioning or maintenance of Naqshbandi religious edifices exist in either the Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya or the Álam-ara-yi amlnl.

It would therefore appear that the only discernable Naqshbandi edifice in late ninth/fifteenth century Tabriz, at least according to the Rauzat al-jinan, was a mosque (masjid) built by Sun‘ Allah adjacent to his own residence in the Naubar district of Tabriz.^{^[400]}^{^[401]
^[402]} Given the Naqshbandi proclivity to engage in devotional practices and spiritual instruction in private residences, mosques, and theological colleges, it might be reasonable to conclude that the mosque of Sun‘ Allah served as the hub for the nascent Naqshbandi activities in Tabriz, thereby making Sun‘ Allah the de facto standardbearer for the order in Azerbaijan?¹

It is important to note that Sun‘ Allah, who was a man known for his strict piety, elicited what Karbala’i-Tabrizi describes as “the assiduous attention (mulazamat) of the rulers of the age (salatln-i rüzgâr).” This statement could be taken as an indication that Sun‘ Allah associated with members of the Àq Qoyünlü administrative elite or with Ya‘qüb himself?² Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï adds that Sun' Allah’s prestige was such that he was able to intercede with rulers “in speech, deed, and writing” on behalf of victims of injustice, and that Sun' Allah came to expect their deference to him as a matter of course.^{^[403]} Sun' Allah’s reputation amongst the rank-and-file of Tabriz was probably earned when he refused to vacate the capital during an outbreak of the plague and instead chose to remain in the city in order to care for the sick and bury the dead?^{^[404]}

Before establishing himself in Tabriz and promoting the Naqshbandi cause, Sun' Allah had traveled to Khurasan in search of a spiritual master?^{^[405]}According to the Rauzat al-jinan, while in Herat, Sun' Allah attached himself to Jami and took up residence in a madrasa affiliated with the poet, serving as its congregational prayer leader (imam)?^{^[406]} Despite their close association, Jami was reluctant to act as Sun' Allah’s spiritual master and directed him to receive his spiritual training (tauba va inabat, literally, “repentance and return to God”) from Maulana 'Alâ’ al-Din Àbizi Maktabdar (d. 892/1487), who like Jami was initiated into the Naqshbandi brotherhood by Sa'd al-Din Kashghari (d. 860/1456).^{^[407]}^{^[408]} Before moving to Tabriz, Sun' Allah performed the hajj and remained in Mecca for a year, where he worked as an attendant (mujavir) in a mosque?⁸ The disintegration of Àq Qoyünlü authority after the death of Ya'qüb and the turmoil created by the Safavids appears, on balance, to have had little impact on Sun' Allah. He lived out the remainder of his life in Tabriz, relatively unmolested by Safavid authorities, a fact that is alluded to in the Habib al-siyar by Khvandamir:

From the early days of the reign of Ya'qub Mirza down to the present day, he [Sun' Allah] has been seated on the carpet of piety and abstemiousness in the noble city of Tabriz and is celebrated among the people of that region for the purity of his soul and the clarity of his spirit.^{^[409]}

The Murder of Darvish Qasim

Not all Naqshbandis in Tabriz shared the happy fate of Sun' Allah. For example, a certain Darvish Siraj al-Din b. Qazi 'Umar Qasim fell victim to Ya'qüb’s volatile temperament in a brutal incident that is recorded in several Persian and European sources.^{^[410]} The incident, which began with an isolated act of intercommunal violence, escalated into a major challenge to the authority of Ya'qüb and probably dampened any hopes the Naqshbandis might have had of establishing a presence in Tabriz to match their success in Herat. According to the Rauzat al-jinan, Darvish Qasim was executed by Ya'qüb in 891/1486 as punishment for his role in inciting a mob after word spread that the ruler had personally ordered the arrest and dismemberment of a Türkmen soldier accused of killing a local Armenian merchant^{^[411]}^{^[412]} Before continuing with a description of the events leading up to the killing of Darvish Qasim and its aftermath, it is important first to examine what the sources indicate about Qasim’s role in serving kings and his standing amongst the Àq Qoyünlü.

According to the Rauzat al-jinan, Darvish Siraj al-Din Qasim had devoted the twenty-two years before his death to a life of strict piety; the last ten of these years he is said to have engaged in spiritual wayfaring (suluk) and Sufism (tasavvuf).8² Born in 840/1436-37 to Khvaja 'Umar, the chief qazlof Diyar-Bakr, Darvïsh Qâsim sought to emulate his father’s career in government and entered the service of Mïrzâ Yüsuf, the son of the Qarâ Qoyünlü ruler Jahânshâh (r. 843-72/1439-67).^{^[413]} The Rauzat al-jinan describes how Darvïsh Qâsim became a companion (ham-rah) of Mïrzâ Yüsuf to whom he remained loyal (fida-dar) for nearly twenty years. When Mïrzâ Yüsuf was killed by Àq Qoyünlü forces in 872/1467, Darvïsh Qâsim changed all- egiences and sought to enter the service of Üzün Hasan^{^[414]}

According to Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï, Darvïsh Qâsim tried to ingratiate himself to the new regime by traveling to Qum where Üzün Hasan was staying at the time. Shortly after arriving, Qâsim fell victim to the deceits of an “envious and slanderous” group of people, and was forced to flee^{^[415]} Darvïsh Qâsim was captured, brought before Üzün Hasan, and condemned to execution, but he was spared at the urging of the vaztr, Qâzï Hasan Sadr. The report in the Rauzat al-jnan explains how the Queen Mother (valida-i padishah), Sarây Khâtün, rebuked Üzün Hasan for detaining the “son of Khvâja ‘Umar” and recommended that Darvïsh Qâsim be released. She pointed out that as qazt of Diyar-Bakr, Khvâja ‘Umar had delivered legal decisions that protected the interests of the Bâyandur clan^{^[416]}^{^[417]} For the sake of Khvâja ‘Umar’s blessing (barakat), the Queen Mother recommended that Darvïsh Qâsim be considered worthy of the trust of the royal family. Following his mother’s wishes, Üzün Hasan ordered that Darvïsh Qâsim be released and awarded him the post of chief of protocol (mihmandar)?⁷

After demonstrating an aptitude for courtly duties, Darvish Qâsim was promoted to the rank of parvanchi (head of the chancery). He eventually became a confidant (mahram) of Üzün Hasan’s, and in the words of the Rauzat al-jinan, “there was no one, other than him [Darvish Qâsim] who was privy to the king’s secrets.”^{^[418]} The report adds that Üzün Hasan readily accepted the counsel of Darvish Qâsim on important matters and often heeded his advice to act with benevolence.8^{^[419]} Following a series of skirmishes between Àq Qoyünlü and Ottoman forces, Üzün Hasan sought to make peace by dispatching Darvish Qâsim as a diplomatic envoy (ilchi) to the Ottoman court.^{^[420]} So favorable an impression did Darvish Qâsim make that sultan Mehmed II wrote a letter to Üzün Hasan requesting that any future Àq Qoyünlü diplomatic missions include him. According to a description of the contents of the letter, Mehmed II prized the blessings (barakat) of Darvish Qâsim which, he claimed, could make enmity turn into friendship^{^[421]}

The fact that Darvish Qâsim had a prominent position at the Àq Qoyünlü court is also supported by the Rashahat-i ^cain al-hayat. In its description of the celebrated arrival of Jâmi in Tabriz in 878/1473, it states that the poet was officially welcomed by three of Üzün Hasan’s dearest booncompanions (aqrab-i nudamaj. The welcoming party reportedly included, Qâzi Hasan, Abü Bakr Tihrâni-Isfahâni, and Darvish Qâsim^{^[422]}^{^[423]}

Another illustration of the fealty that existed between Üzün Hasan and Darvish Qâsim appears in the Rauzat al-jinan where the ruler, afflicted with a terminal illness, asked for Qâsim to whom he offered a death-bed confession.93 According to Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Üzün Hasan confided to Darvish Qâsim that one of his great mistakes was not building a burial tomb (maqbara), Sufi hospice (zaviya), or mosque (masjid) on his behalf^{^[424]}After telling Darvish Qâsim that no individual had ever garnered as much trust of the ruler as he had, Üzün Hasan implored the Naqshbandi shaikh to abandon his court duties and oversee the establishment of a mosque and hospice adjacent to what would become Üzün Hasan’s tomb.

The chaos generated by the death of Üzün Hasan, which is to say, the ensuing struggle for succession between Sultan-Khalil and a teen-aged Ya'qüb, not only postponed construction on the late ruler’s tomb complex, but also necessitated the continued service of Darvish Qasim as a diplomatic envoy. Evidence of the continued employment of Darvish Qasim can be found in an official letter (dated 883/1478-79) from the newly-coronated Sultan-Khalil to a provincial military governor (beglerbegt) in Anatolia, in which the Àq Qoyünlü ruler suggests that the two empires establish a détente.^{^[425]} As part of his peaceful overtures, Sultan-Khalil announced that Darvish Qasim, a favorite of the Ottoman court and “trusted pillar of the state,” was specifically chosen to convey these sentiments^{^[426]}

With the assassination of Sultan-Khalil and the enthronement of Ya'qüb, the loyalties of Darvish Qasim shifted to the new ruler, who the Rauzat al-jman says exhibited nothing but “boundless grace and unlimited compassion” to the Naqshbandi shaikh^{^[427]}^{^[428]
^[429]} Despite their later troubles, Karbala’i-Tabrizi makes it clear that Darvish Qasim was resolute in his commitment to Ya'qüb, even quoting the Naqshbandi as having told his new king that “Whatever you say and whatever you command I hold as a favor in my heart and soul.”9⁸ Darvish Qasim fulfilled the death-bed request of Üzün Hasan and oversaw the construction of a tomb complex, the Nasriyya, which included a Sufi hermitage, in the gardens of Sahibabad on the outskirts of Tabriz, and which took some seven years to complete, whereupon Qasim was appointed trustee (or head, kulah) of the shrine.99

As for the spiritual development of Darvish Qasim, the Rauzat al-jman mentions that when he was twenty-nine years old, and thus fourteen years before the death of Üzün Hasan (i.e., 869/1464), he went on pilgrimage (ziyarat) to several Shi'i holy sites in Iraq.^{^[430]}^{^[431]
^[432]
^[433]} While there, Darvish Qâsim is said to have repented (tauba karda) and henceforth dedicated his life to ritual worship, never neglecting any of the traditional Islamic customs (sunan).ioi It is interesting to note that other than the decade in which Darvish Qâsim occupied himself with the traditions of suluk and tasavvuf, the Rauzat al-jinan lacks specific information on his formal spiritual training. That is to say, nowhere in the report by Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi on Darvish Qâsim is specific reference made to his association with a Sufi master, Naqshbandi or otherwise. At the same time, the Rauzat al-jinan gives no indication that Darvish Qâsim was a so-called “Uvaisl” Sufi, which is to say, a mystic who took instruction from the spirit of a deceased or physically absent master.^W2

While the notice on Darvish Qâsim provides little concrete information on the spiritual training and pedigree of Qâsim, it does contain vivid details of his deadly encounter with Ya'qüb. As mentioned earlier, Darvish Qâsim was summoned by Ya'qüb on a Friday night in Rabi' I 891/March 1486 and accused of inciting riots throughout Tabriz after Àq Qoyünlü troops killed and mutilated a young Türkmen soldier accused of murdering a local merchant.10³ According to the Rauzat al-jinan, Darvish Qâsim was brought before Ya'qüb after he was observed at the vanguard of the soldier’s funeral procession and inciting his fellow mourners with the rallying cry: “Who will die on behalf of me?” Having roused the anger of the mob, Darvish Qâsim led the procession toward the royal palace.^{^[434]}^{^[435]
^[436]
^[437]
^[438]
^[439]
^[440]
^[441]} Ya'qüb, who had spent the night drinking wine, became enraged upon hearing that residents were defying his authority and focused his anger on Darvish Qâsim who, he was informed, was solely responsible for the display of civil disobedience.10⁵ According to the Rauzat al-jinan, Darvish Qâsim was apprehended and brought before Ya'qüb, whom Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi describes as “drunk and witless” (mast va la-ya^cqil). Ya'qüb, the report continues, promptly unsheathed his sword as Darvish Qâsim uttered “the prayer of martyrdom.’™⁶ The besotted ruler then struck “several fatal blows” before inviting his attendants to finish the execution^⁷

The slaying of Darvish Qâsim and the marketplace incident that triggered it are also mentioned in a letter attributed to the Venetian ambassador Giosafat Barbaro (d. 900/1494)^08 Originally sent by Venice in 876-7/1473 to enlist the support of Üzün Hasan against the Ottoman Empire, Barbaro became a fixture at the Àq Qoyünlü court.^W9 His memoir, which was first published in 950/1543, provides not only valuable historical information on intrigues at the Àq Qoyünlü court, but also includes the first ever reference in a European historical source to an individual Naqshbandi Suh.™ According to the account of Barbaro, which it should be mentioned, is based on the testimony of fellow-traveler Pietro di Guasco, a certain “Darviscassun” (i.e., Darvish Qâsim), who is referred to as the guardian of the burial tomb of King “Assambei” (i.e., [Üzün] Hasan Beg) and the director of its hospice, was brought before Ya'qüb.111 Barbaro relates that Darvish Qâsim was a man of account and [good] reputation who served as “treasurer” (thesauriero) for the previous king.^{^[442]}^{^[443] ^[444] ^[445] ^[446] ^[447] ^[448] ^[449]} Incidentally, none of the Persian historical sources refer to Darvish Qasim as having served as either vazlr or mustauf (comptroller), which leaves open the possibility that Barbaro was writing figuratively and in reference to the position of the Naqshbandi shaikh as a close confidant of the ruler’s.ⁿ³ Whatever esteem Darvish Qasim enjoyed from his days with Üzün Hasan apparently counted for naught that night since Barbaro has Ya'qüb condemning Qasim with the words: “You dare issue a command contrary to my commandment? Well, let him die.”ⁿ⁴ To which Barbaro reports that Darvish Qasim “was summarily executed.”ⁿ⁵

Accounts of what occurred next vary among the sources. According to the Rauzat al-jinan, the Muslims of Tabriz, who were overcome with sorrow, cursed Ya'qüb after he reportedly prohibited anyone, including family members of Darvish Qasim, from removing his corpse from the roadway where it was dumped.ⁿ⁶ However, the Rauzat al-jinan also relates how, at daybreak, Ya'qüb returned from “the world of inebriation to the world of sobriety” (az ^calam-i mastï bi ^calam-i hushyart) and was unable to face the consequences of his outburst^⁷ “Ridden with guilt,” Ya'qüb ordered his officials to arrange for a proper burial ceremony for Darvish Qasim in the Hazrat-i Baba Mazid district of Tabriz.ⁿ⁸

Barbaro’s version of the ensuing events differs from that in the Rauzat al-jinan in that he suggests that the residents of Tabriz were made to suffer for their open defiance of royal authority. According to Barbaro, Ya'qüb ordered his forces to ransack the city for a period of three to four hours, provoking what Barbaro called “marvelous fear” among its residents.ⁿ⁹The plundering ceased only after Ya'qüb levied a heavy indemnity on the populace.^{^[450]}^{^[451] ^[452] ^[453] ^[454] ^[455] ^[456]} It would seem that the killings generated such animosity among the residents of Tabriz that Ya'qüb all but abandoned the capital. As Woods has noted, during the next five years, the Àq Qoyünlü ruler spent less than twelve months in his newly-completed Hasht Bihisht palace in Tabriz.121 In fact, his final four month-long stay in the city in 894/1488 was the occasion for his public repentance from wine-drinking and his declaration of the prohibition against the consumption of alcohol by residents of the city.122

The Spiritual Relationship between Jami and Ya’qub

Given the apparent volatility of Ya'qüb, it may have been advantageous for Jami to advise the young ruler from afar.12³ Although he never visited Tabriz during the twelve-year reign of Ya'qüb, Jami did nevertheless take more than a casual interest in advising him about the moral and ethical responsibilities that went along with kingship. If the letters Ya'qüb addressed to Jami are any indication, it might also be fair to say that, in spite of his temperament, Ya'qüb had an enduring interest in receiving such moderating advice.

In at least one of these letters Ya'qüb justifies his request for Jami’s blessings (barakat) by portraying himself as a supporter of Sufi mystics.12⁴ The letter contains a number of Sufi technical terms (suhbat, himmat, vilayat, tariqa, etc.) and an allusion to the Naqshbandi custom of binding the heart of the disiple to his shaikh, which suggests that Ya'qüb was familiar with at least one of the key doctrines of the order.12⁵ After addressing him by a series of honorific titles, Ya'qüb tells Jami that following his regime of praiseworthy ethics (akhlaq-i hamida) has given him unique insights into the concept of himmat.126 Ya'qüb adds that it is no secret that he enjoys the companionship (suhbat) of Sufis, whom he indirectly refers to as those people who know the true meaning of the expressions, “My saints are under My domes,” and “He has written faith in their hearts.”^{^[457]}^{^[458]
^[459]
^[460]
^[461]
^[462]
^[463]} Implicitly equating his own spiritual rebirth to the creation of Adam who was fashioned by God out of clay, Ya'qüb states that his relationship with the Sufis has “leavened the fine clay of his majesty.”^⁸

The letter effuses with praise for Jami, whom Ya'qüb credits with making hearts luminous until they become mirrors of the Divine verities and gnoses (mir’at-i haqayiq va ma^carif)^29 This transformation of the heart, Ya'qüb writes, is the way in which a person acquires good ethical qualities (akhlaq-i hamida) and divine favor (inayat-i ilahi), which, he notes, will lead him to “high places” in this world and the hereafter?³⁰ With its frequent references to spiritual transformation, the letter reads as though Ya'qüb were in fact a disiciple of Jami.

The possibility that the two had an informal spiritual bond is lent further credence in an epistolary reply that Jami addressed to Ya'qüb. It would seem that rather than write letters in response to Ya'qüb, Jami’s habit was to send panegyric odes (qasa’id) to the Àq Qoyünlü ruler.131 However, one surviving letter that Jami addressed to Ya'qüb is noteworthy for the light it casts on the nature of their relationship (see Appendix i).^m It is also unique in that, unlike other letters Jami addressed to kings and amirs, it does not open with the conventional string of honorific titles. Ya'qüb is not given the lofty epithets that Jami accorded his father, Üzün Hasan, whom Jami refers to as: “King who is the Refuge of the World,” “Ruler of the Warriors for the Faith,” and “Prince who is characterized by Justice.”i33 Although differences in age could explain the lack of honorifics (Jami was a septuagenarian while Ya'qüb was in his twenties), it could also be an indication that theirs was a personal and/or spiritual relationship.

In a show of feigned modesty, Jami begins the letter by claiming that, despite his reputation as Sufi master, he is better-suited to anonymity and that, in fact, it is Ya'qüb’s heart that turns into the center of the “ambit of astonishment” (muhtt-i tahayyur) and the pivot of the “circle of contemplation” (dayira-i tafakkur)™ Jami expresses regret for not corresponding more frequently to Ya'qüb, a rhetorical statement of contrition typical of medieval Persian epistolary writing, but also manages to excuse himself by making what could be a subtle reference to the notorious intemperance of the Àq Qoyünlü ruler. Jami says that only the imprudent would dare to challenge the king’s majesty (haibat) and awefulness (hishmat) by carelessly entering his presence. Doing so, Jami adds, would assuredly prompt Ya'qüb to unsheathe “the sword of siyasat” (literally, “the sword of punishment”).^{^[464]}^{^[465] ^[466]} To emphasize his powerlessness, Jami breaks into verse, casts himelf as a speck of dust, and asks (rhetorically): “When the brilliant sun (i.e., Ya'qüb) becomes manifested, how is it that a [mere] mote appears equal [to it]?” Instead of answering, Jami inverts the hieararchy established in the introduction of the letter by elevating his own spiritual authority over the political power of Ya'qüb and by implying that he is, in terms of spiritual matters, Ya'qüb’s superior. To introduce this point, Jami appears to suggest that his support of the Àq Qoyünlü ruler is not unconditional. It is only after Ya'qüb pursues the habit of “keen-hearing” and “sharp-wittedness,” he writes, and retracts [his tongue] into the palate of silence, that Ya'qüb’s soul will be seized by Jami’s “entreaties of sin- cereity” (davaJ-yi ikhlas) and the allurements of affection and privilege.^⁶ To emphasize his point, Jami again resorts to verse, casting himself as a raincloud and Ya'qüb as a delicate lily, the symbol of the silent worshipper in Persian poetry.^{^[467]} “When the cloud reaches effulgence (faiz),” he says, “it is not pleasant for the lily, since all its petals (zaban, literally “tongue”), in [their] search of praise, do not retreat [from the deluge].”i3⁸ The intention appears to be to convey to Ya'qüb that he, like a flower in need of nourishment, can withstand (or benefit from) a deluge of “spiritual guidance” only after he “withdraws” from view and exercises silent introspection. That is to say, Ya'qüb must close the “petal” of his speech in order for the “downpouring” of Jami’s spiritual guidance to issue forth, which, in turn, might occasion a state of “mutual contemplation” (mulahaza-i janibain) between the two parties, that is, Jami and Ya'qüb. Using a homographic pun—specifically, an imperfect homonym (tajnls-i. naqis) on the doubled word bain—Jami suggests that this reciprocal concentration creates a path or channel of “inner vision” (tarlq-i bain [or bln] bain) through which the poet, in his capacity as shaikh, could transmit his spiritual blessings or energy to Ya'qüb.i3⁹

Such expressions are reminiscent of rabita, a mystical technique employed by various Sufi groups but often associated with the Naqshbandiyya, and the belief that a shaikh could transmit spiritual energy to a disciple without being physically present—a complex method Fritz Meier referenced to as “Herzensbindung an den Meister.’⁹⁴⁰ Although it is impossible to prove that Jami’s letter, with its allusions to Sufi spiritual techniques, especially those associated with the Naqshbandiyya, indicates that he and Ya'qüb had a shaikh-murld rapport, it does nevertheless suggest that the two had a unique, if not intimate connection, and that the vernacular used in their communications was very consciously mystical.

CHAPTER FOUR

POETRY AT THE COURT OF YA'QÜB AND ITS BACKGROUND IN
ESTABLISHING AN HISTORICAL CONTEXT FOR SALÁMÁN VA ABSÁL

I see little certainty in the world,

With all of its joy I see thousands of sorrows.

It is like an oldfrontier way station, since from all its sides,

I see a path to the desert of non-existence.

—Ya'qub, cited in Gâzurgâhï, Majalis al-Ushshdq^{^[468]}

After Ya'qüb murdered the leader of the Naqshbandi order in Tabriz, Darvish Qasim, in Rabi' I 891/March 1486, it must have become apparent to members of the Àq Qoyünlü court that Ya'qüb’s volatile temperament needed restraining. The arrival at the Àq Qoyünlü court of Salaman va Absal, with its ethical and moral advice, would, we might rightly assume, have been an anticipated event. Determining, however, if the Àq Qoyünlü ruler fully grasped—much less acted on—its message is beyond the scope of this study. Nevertheless, by examining the literary activities at the court of Ya'qüb and its taste for Persian belles-lettres, it can be reasonably assumed that the esoteric intricacies of Salaman va Absal and its didactic message would have been understood at the Àq Qoyünlü court and discussed by its literati in attendance. By exploring the caliber of poets at the Àq Qoyünlü court (along with the Àq Qoyünlü interest in Sufi mystics), it would not be implausible to conclude that Ya'qüb and/or his entourage recognized that Salaman va Absal was in fact a complex mirror for princes which contained multiple planes of mystical and political meaning.

In order to support this contention, a description will be given of the Persian literary milieu in late ninth/fifteenth century Tabriz, with particular attention devoted to the group of professional poets and literati who were patronized by Ya'qüb and his vazir, Qazi 'îsâ Savaji. Some of the poets and their works will be highlighted, as will biographical entries contained in selected literary anthologies which contain allusions to events at the Àq Qoyünlü court. One event in particular, namely a romance between Qazi 'îsâ, a representative of the sedentary Tajik (i.e., Persian) population, and the sister of Ya'qüb, who belonged to the ruling Turkmen clan, will be used as evidence to suggest that the repercussions of a socially and politically unacceptable relationship—as it is depicted in Salaman va Absal—would have been recognized by members of the royal Àq Qoyünlü household.

Literary Activities in Áq Qoyünlü Tabriz

The circle of poets at the court of Ya'qüb included such luminaries as Ahlï Shïrâzï, Kamâl al-Dïn Banâ’ï Haravï, Shahïdï Qumï, and Bâbâ Fighânï. They all addressed encomiums (qasldas), lyrical odes (ghazals), and/or romantic and didactic masnavls to Ya'qüb.^{^[469]} Before examining the contributions each of these poets made to the literary life of Àq Qoyünlü Tabriz, it is worth pointing out that Jami’s maternal nephew, 'Abd Allah Hatifï (d. 927/1520), who was an accomplished poet in his own right, spent some five years (890-95/1485-90) at the Àq Qoyünlü court during Ya'qüb’s reign.^{^[470]} It could therefore be argued that Hatifï kept his uncle in Herat informed of Àq Qoyünlü internal affairs, which might explain why the tale of Salaman va Absal so vividly reflects key personalities at the Turkmen court.

Ahlï Shïrazï, who was a master of all literary genres and an unsurpassed practitioner of rhetorical devices, dedicated an allegorical masnavl on love entitled Sham' va parvana to Ya'qüb and supreme military commander (amlr-i azam), Shah Qulï Beg.^{^[471]} The poem is unique in that its emphasis is not so much on the typical suffering lover (namely, the allegorical moth) but rather on the affection that the beloved (the allegorical candle) develops for the afflicted lover. Keeping this novel twist in mind, it is interesting to note that Ahlï implicitly casts Ya'qüb as the candle and royal fortune as the moth:

The grace of God brought forth the luminous sun,

The Solomon of the age, Ya'qub sultan.

Like a man of perspicacity, he is from the divine light (nür-i ilahi), He is the prince (khudavand) of white and black (i.e., both worlds). When the candle of kingship turns into the sun,

The huma-bird circles like a moth around the orbit of its (Ya'qub’s) head—

A candle so wonderous that through the eye of favor,

The moth becomes its star of felicity.^{^[472]}

Ahli also composed a Divan which contains many poems dedicated to members of both the Àq Qoyünlü and Safavid dynasties. In addition to the panegyrics he wrote for Ya'qüb, Ahli wrote chronograms (tarikh) commemorating the deaths of Ya'qüb’s rebellious half-brother Maqsüd b. Üzün Hasan Bâyandur (d. 883/1478) and his older uterine brother, Sultan- Khalil.^{^[473]} Ahli also wrote qasidas in honor of the provincial governor of Fars, Qasim Beg Pürnak (d. 904/1498), which suggests that the cultural patronage activities of the Àq Qoyünlü were not limited to Tabriz but extended to provincial capitals like Shiraz.^{^[474]}

It is worth mentioning that Salaman va Absal was not the only ethical masnavi dedicated and addressed to Ya'qüb. Kamal al-Din Bana’i Haravi, a native of Herat and familiar face amongst the Timurid nobility, dedicated a 5,000-verse poetic narrative, entitled Bahram va Bihrüz (also referred to as Bagh-i Iram), as well as numerous qasidas, to the Àq Qoyünlü ruler.^{^[475]}Banâ’i (also variously Bannâ’i and Binâ’i), whose takhallus reflected his background as the son of an architect-builder (banna’), arrived at Tabriz after leaving Herat and fell under the discipleship of Shaikh Shams al-Din Muhammad Lahiji (d. 922/1516), who was the head of the Nürbakhshi order in Shiraz, and who was held in high regard by both Davani and Jami.^{^[476]}

It should be noted that the Nürbakhshïs, who were a Shi'ite-oriented branch of the Kubravi tarlqa, were apparently on good terms with the Sunni-oriented Àq Qoyünlü. For example, Shah Qâsim Faizbakhsh (d. 927/1520-21), the eldest son and designated successor of the eponymous founder of the order, Muhammad Nürbakhsh, was reportedly drawn to the court of Ya'qüb sometime between 885/1480 and 895/1490.^{^[477]}^{^[478]
^[479]
^[480]
^[481]
^[482]
^[483]
^[484]} The precise nature of his relationship with Ya'qüb is unclear.ⁿ What is certain is that Qasim Faizbakhsh’s stay was cut short by the arrival of a letter from Sultan-Husain Bayqara, in which the ailing Timurid ruler requested that the shaikh travel to Herat in order to deliver his curative blessings?²

As for Bana’i, the sources indicate that he achieved a high rank in service to Ya'qüb and remained in Tabriz until the latter’s death.1³ Banâ’i initially served at the court of Sultan-Husain and established a reputation as one of the most colorful figures in the late Timurid period. In Herat he was embroiled in a long-standing dispute with Mir 'Ali Shir Nava’i who, despite his praises for his talent and character, belittled Bana’i for his resistance to recognizing Chaghatay (Eastern Turkish) as a literary language?⁴ It is interesting to note that this tension, which is described in Badayi" al-vaqayi^c, a memoir of the Timurid poet, Zain al-Din Vasifi, suggests the possibility that the poets of the rival Àq Qoyünlü court, at least those who visited Herat, were well-regarded by Timurid littérateurs?⁵

Relatively little is known about Shahidi Qumi, who, according to the Tuhfa-i Sami, was the poet laureate (malik al-shu^cara) at the Àq Qoyünlü court under Ya'qüb?⁶ Attesting perhaps to his mercurial nature, the rather brief entry on Shahidi Qumi, which describes him as conceited and headstrong (khud-pasand and khud-ray), notes that Qumi was Ya'qüb’s confidant and that his poetry “possessed a density no one could penetrate.”^{^[485]}Though Mir 'Ali Shir Nava’i described Shahidi Qumi in his Majalis al-nafa’is as domineering, quarrelsome, and apparently unstable (divana), the Persian revision by Qazvini of the same work (entitled Hasht bihisht) clarifies this assessment of Qumi and contends that his talent and strict abstemiousness incited the worldly people (mardum-i dunya) around him to conclude that he was insane?^{^[486]}

For our purposes, it is important to note that Shahidi Qumi twice traveled to Khurasan where, according to the Hasht bihisht, he entered the service of Jami, with whom, the entry adds, he frequently socialized?^{^[487]} As Algar has suggested, the poet from Qum was in fact a literary and spiritual disciple of Jami, as well as a full-fledged member of the Naqshbandi order.^{^[488]}^{^[489] ^[490] ^[491] ^[492] ^[493]} If true, it is possibile that Shahidi Qumi could have communicated key aspects of Naqshbandi doctrine and practice to Ya'qüb, either directly or through the medium of his poetry. In a similar sense, Shahidi Qumi would have been an ideal candidate to explicate to Ya'qüb and his courtiers the most salient or allusive points of Jami’s Salaman va Absal, especially those that utilize Naqshbandi terminology.21

The fourth and most checkered of the celebrity poets attached to the Àq Qoyünlü court of Ya'qüb was Baba Fighani, a one-time knife-maker and fellow townsman of Ahli Shirâzi.22 According to the Tuhfa-i Sami, Fighani’s talent blossomed only after he entered the service of Ya'qüb.2³ An affable character, Fighani acquired the nick-name Baba Sha'ir or “father poet” but also managed to establish his reputation as someone who could not hold his liquor (bad mast), despite his proclivity to frequent local taverns.2⁴ He evidently also served as an informal talent scout who personally referred promising young poets to Ya'qüb’s attention?⁵ The entry adds that, soon after the death of Ya‘qüb, Fighânï settled in Khurasan where his wine drinking became the stuff of legend. Perhaps sensing his own mortality, Fighânï made a pilgrimage to the tomb of the eighth Shi‘i Imam, ‘Ali al-Riza, in Mashhad and died sometime during 925/1519.^{^[494]}^{^[495] ^[496] ^[497]}

Famous in the later tazkira literature for his “fresh style” (tarz-i taza) of poetry, Fighâni is credited with countering the supposedly simple poetry practiced at the Timurid court of Sultân-Husain.2⁷ He is therefore celebrated as a seminal contributor to what later came to be known as the “Indian style” (sabk-i Hindi) of Persian poetry (alternatively, sabk-i Isfahan! and sabk-i Safavi), which was made famous during the Mughal period?⁸

It is interesting to note that whereas the Hasht bihisht and the Tuhfa-i Sami are silent about any connection between Fighânï and Jami, the later tazkiras claim that, prior to joining the Àq Qoyünlü, Fighânï left his native Shiraz for Herat where he joined the company and service of Jami?⁹According to Losensky, however, many of the later biographical entries on Fighânï contain apocryphal stories aimed at adding to his mystique. Keeping this possibility in mind, it is nevertheless tempting to speculate that Fighânï, like Shahidi Qumi, achieved stardom at Ya‘qüb’s court after coming under the literary and spiritual influence of Jami.

Jami, the “Âq Qoyünlü Poet”

It might be said that, because of his influence on a poet like Shahidi Qumi (and perhaps Baba Fighâni) along with the fact that he addressed his Salaman va Absal to Ya‘qüb, Jami could also be considered an “Àq Qoyünlü poet.” Granted, Jami never visited Tabriz during the reign of Ya‘qüb, but there is ample evidence in the Âlam-ârâ-yi amini and in the letters that Ya‘qüb addressed to Jami to suggest that his influence on Àq Qoyünlü literary tastes, and more germanely, on the moral and ethical outlook of Ya'qüb was significant.

Take, for example, the notice written by Khunji-Isfahani on the events of 892/1487, which has significant implications for determining the nature of Ya'qüb’s relationship to Jami and to Sufi mysticism as a whole.^{^[498]}^{^[499]}According to the ’Àlam-ârâ-yi amini, Ya'qüb wanted to secure the blessings of Jami whom he regarded as the “Master of the Gnostics” (ustad al-’urajaf To be more specific, Ya'qüb wanted the same glory and good fortune that other men of state (arbab-i daulat) had attained thanks to Jami’s himmat. As if to justify the request of Ya'qüb and establish his bona fides, Khunji-Isfahani notes that the Àq Qoyünlü ruler was a servant of “the sages of the spiritual path” who understood that the “throne of this world” was determined entirely by their himmat.31 Allegedly, Ya'qüb henceforth recognized that the perpetuation of the state “depends on the prayers of the Sufi saints (auliya’),” and that the guidance provided by their himmat would benefit him and his subjects. It is for this reason, Khunji-Isfahani writes, that whenever Ya'qüb found a Sufi weeping in a corner or in meditation (khalvat) he would inquire about his spiritual state (hal).

Having described the deference of his patron to Sufi mystics and to Jami in particular, Khunji-Isfahani explains that Ya'qüb ordered that a certain Hafiz Muhammad Sharbati be dispatched to Herat with 10,000 Shahrukhi dinars as an offering to Jami^{^[500]}^{^[501]} The notice relates that Ya'qüb hoped that the monetary gift would be sufficient to purchase more prayers from the “great saint” or “shadow of God” (buzurg saya), i.e., Jami.33

It is interesting to note that Khunji-Isfahani makes reference to the bulk of Jami’s poetry, but not Salaman va Absal, which suggests that the poem in question was not written until after 892/1487. In fact, the only reference to Salaman va Absal in any of the Àq Qoyünlü sources consulted for this study appears in an undated letter Ya'qüb sent to Jami. The letter is a valuable historical source as it indicates that a significant number of compositions by Jami had already been dispatched to the Àq Qoyünlü court. Ya'qüb acknowledges in his letter that treatises (rasa'il), compositions (musannafat), volumes (kutub), and compilations (mu’allafat) by Jami had already been received. Clearly appreciative of their didactic content, the young ruler praises Jami, and claims that the poet’s “jewels of moral advice” occasioned several types of spiritual enlightenment (Jutühât)^{^[502]}

Near the conclusion of the letter, another detail emerges to suggest that Salaman va Absal was a work of political and ethical advice. In an allusion to the tale, Ya'qüb characterizes Salaman va Absal as a work of nasa’ih or “good counsels” (pl. of nasîhat).^{^[503]} The title of the poem, whose arrival Ya'qüb eagerly awaits, is not actually named but alluded to through the use of a pun. Ya'qüb expresses his anticipation for the arrival of what he describes as the “isharat wa al-tanblhat” of Jami.

In addition to meaning “intimations and admonitions,” the phrase isharat wa al-tanblhat could be an allusion to Ibn Sina’s final masterpiece, the Kitab al-Isharat wa al-tanblhat, which contains three tales that culminate in an allegorical romance entitled Salaman wa Absal.^{^[504]} We therefore find Ya'qüb closing his letter with the following words:

The affectionate gaze of the expectant one (i.e., Ya'qüb) is always seeking the announcement that the good counsels (nasa’ih), which are full of guidance for us, and the good tidings of intimations and admonitions (basharat-i isharat wa al-tanblhat) will be sent and received.^{^[505]}

As chapter 1 of this study noted, the Salaman wa Absal by Ibn Sina, though somewhat different from the version by Jami, was nevertheless a logical inspiration for it, partly on account of the fact that it was the first major literary work in the Near East to feature characters named Salaman and Absal. It is therefore possible that while Ya'qüb was unaware of the title of the forthcoming masnavl by Jami, he may at least have been informed that it was patterned after one of Ibn Sina’s visionary tales (the others being Hayy ibn Yaqzan and Risalat al-tair).

It would appear as though the mere act of receiving the poetry of Jami from Herat created excitement at the Àq Qoyünlü court. For example, in another of Ya'qüb’s letters we find reference to an embarrassing mishap involving a Timurid delegation to Tabriz that mistakenly presented Ya'qüb and Qâzï 'îsa with a copy of al-Futühat al-Makklyya by Ibn al-'Arabi instead of what was supposed to be the Dlvan of Jami. A meaningful description of the event is all but obscured by the letter-writer’s high-flown rhetoric and polite turns of phrase, so characteristic of the Persian epistolary style.^{^[506]} It does nonetheless provide yet another indication that Jami’s poetry was coveted by members of the Àq Qoyünlü court. Given the formality of the presentation, it also raises the possibility that such delegations played an important and hitherto unexamined role in diplomatic relations between the Timurids and the Àq Qoyünlü.

The Hasht Bihisht and Its Roster of “Lesser-known”Áq Qoyünlü Poets

The artistic vibrancy of Ya'qüb’s court in Tabriz, which rivaled its Timurid counterpart in Herat, is reflected in the Hasht bihisht by Qazvini. The Hasht bihisht contains the names of some forty poets and dilettantes attached to the Àq Qoyünlü court of Ya'qüb who do not appear in the Chaghatay Majalis al-nafa’is of Mir 'Ali Shir^{^[507]} Thus, the following list of poets was inserted by Qazvini into the 6th chapter, entitled, “The elegant, the graceful, and the remainder of the poets of the kingdoms whose poems reached Khurasan and the inhabitants of that place approved of their poetry”:

Khvaja Muzaffar Mi'mar [katib in the dlvan of Ya'qub]; Maulana Bayani; Maulana Vafa’i; Maulana Unsi Katib; Maulana Khurrami; Maulana Gharqi; ‘All Khan Mirza [senior amlr]; Kuchik Beg [amlr]; Maulana Àgahi; Maulana Sifati; Maulana Tahiri; Mir Humayün; shah ‘Inayat Allah [vazlr]; Shah Mahmüd Jan [vazlr and uncle of another vazlr, Shah ‘Inayat Allah]; Maulana Mazhari; Maulana Rafiqi; Maulana Haqiri; Maulana Juzvi; Maulana Fida’i; Maulana Shamsi; Maulana Batini; Maulana Halaki; Maulana Shafiqi; Maulana [Baba] Fighani; Maulana Qabüli; Maulana Hairani; Mir Fana'i; Maulana Ruhi; Maulana Tüti; Maulana Khatami; Khvaja Maqsüd Kazarüni; Maulana Jalal al-Din Muhammad Davani Siddiqi [author of the Akhlaq-i Jalall]; [Name missing (but with a brief notice) in two MSS]; Khvaja Mas'üd; Maulana Sulami; Maulana Madihi; Maulana Nasibi; Maulana Fathi; Mir Dallal; Khvaja ‘Imad^{^[508]}

In addition to the poets cited by Qazvini, the Tuhfa-i Sami mentions several others associated with the Àq Qoyünlü court, including Ansari Qumi, Maulânâ Habibi Bargshadi, and Divana Naqqash Tabrizi.^{^[509]} It is interesting to note that, in his Persian translation of the Majalis al-nafâ’is (entitled Lata’if-nama), Fakhri Haravi (d. 928/1521-22) mentions only five poets, including Ya'qüb’s vazir, Qazi ‘îsa, as being affiliated with the Àq Qoyünlü: Darvish Dahaki (or Dehgi) Qazvini, Qazi ‘îsâ, Shaikh Najm al-Din [Mas'üd], Khvaja Afzal, and Shahidi Qumi^{^[510]} As Losensky has suggested, the literati of Herat and Khurasan appear to have known surprisingly little about the poets of western Iran who did not visit their region^{^[511]}^{^[512]} Alternatively, this could be an indication that Timurid writers were indifferent to, if not disapproving of, Àq Qoyünlü poets whose literary output they may have regarded as inferior to their own.44 Be that as it may, it is interesting to observe that Qazi ‘îsa and his cousin, Najm al-Din Mas‘üd, the muqar- rab and boon-companion (nadim) of Ya‘qüb, were themselves considered accomplished poets.

Qazi jsa Savaji: Reform-Minded Vazir, Poet, and Ill-fated Lover

Ya‘qüb’s official historian, Khunji-Isfahani, laments the fact that despite “having the reins of government entirely in his hands,” Qazi ‘îsa regularly neglected affairs of state by insisting on mingling with poets^{^[513]} “Though the affairs of the world might reach the brink of calamity,” Khunji-Isfahani writes, “the qazi would wait for the completion of a plaintive hemistich.’^^{^[514]}According to the notice on him in the Persian translation of the Majalis al-nafa’is by Fakhri Haravi, Qazi ‘îsa was melancholic by nature (sauda’i mizaj) and so consumed (mashghuf) by poetry that he routinely composed at least ten ghazals a day^{^[515]} Qazi ‘îsa’s interest in poetry was such that an anthology (divan) of ghazals was attributed to him, a copy of which is held in the Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek.^{^[516]}

It should be noted that the negative statement by Khunjï-Isfahânï concerning Qâzï 'Isa’s preoccupation with poetry appears in a section of the Alam-ara-yi amini in which the attitude of Khunji-Isfahânï toward Ya'qüb’s vazir and chief qazi is decidely negative. This undoubtedly reflects the fact that it was around this time (894-95/1489) that Qâzï 'Isa consolidated his near-absolute control of the Àq Qoyünlü administration, along with his cousin, Najm al-Dïn Mas'üd, who in that year was appointed amir-i divan, or deputy of the sultan^{^[517]} The maneuver was part of an ambitious campaign by Qâzï 'Isâ to completely reorganize the empire along the lines of a traditional Perso-Islamic state based on a centralized bureacracy and agriculturally-derived tax revenues. In order to effect these reforms, Qâzï 'Isâ sought the abolition of the Mongol-era tamgha commercial tax and the revocation of numerous suyürghals and tax immunities (musallamiyat) that had been granted to influential civilian dignitaries, many of whom were members of the religious intelligentsia whose pious foundations (auqaf) relied on the revenues generated by such grants and tax-shelters.^{^[518]}

As Khunjï-Isfahânï indicates, Qâzï 'Isâ’s reforms were aimed at reestablishing the primacy of the sharFa in matters of land-tenure and were framed as part of a larger “return to Islam” strategy that sought to curb the lingering influence of Turko-Mongol customary law (yasa-yi Chinglz-khanl), particularly in the provinces.^{^[519]}^{^[520]
^[521]
^[522]
^[523]} Despite its religious underpinning, the policy failed to persuade the landed ^culama’, who probably shared the view expressed by Khunjï-Isfahânï, namely that “the bad actions of the qazl’ needed to be opposed.5² Khunjï-Isfahânï goes so far as to give mocking tribute to Qâzï ‘ïsâ’s sweeping powers in a series of rhyming couplets that call to mind the miracles attributed to Jesus (^cïsâ), the vazlfs namesake:

Because of ‘ïsâ, the religion of Islâm exists,

Because of ‘ïsâ, the power of belief is improved,

Because of ‘ïsâ, the forearm of prosperity is strengthened,

Because of ‘ïsâ, deceased ancestors are enlivened,

Because of ‘ïsâ, the goblet of god-fearingness is purified,

Because of ‘ïsâ, chronic sickness is healed.5³

Elsewhere in the ^cÀlam-ârâ-yi amlnl, Khunjï-Isfahânï quotes several lines of poetry attributed to Qâzï ‘ïsâ (in the form of fragments [qit'a]; initial verses [matla’]; and a ghazal). These verses, which were probably not chosen at random, may have been selected because they suggest that Qâzï ‘ïsâ was an embattled and isolated figure who apparently suffered some sort of public disgrace. Some indication of this disgrace is evinced in the ^cAlam-ara-yi amlnl, where the following verse of Qâzï ‘ïsâ is recorded:

Surreptitiously people on every side laugh at my betrayal,

I know it, [but] amazingly I make myself ignorant of what I know.5⁴

In another fragment quoted by Khunjï-Isfahânï, Qâzï ‘ïsâ likens his shame to an ignoble death:

Everywhere mourners are arranged in ranks, singing lamentations,

I go there out of desire, since maybe they will speak for my sake.

So completely have I been dishonored for your sake,

That wherever two people sit together, they speak about me.55

Exactly what these shameful circumstances could have been is not elucidated in the Alam-ara-yi amlnl. One possible explanation is contained in the notice on Qazi 'Isa in the Hasht bihisht, which provides another explanation why Jami dedicated his Salaman va Absal to the Àq Qoyünlü.

According to the Hasht bihisht, Qazi ‘îsâ fell in love with and married one of Ya'qüb’s sisters.^{^[524]}^{^[525]
^[526]
^[527]} Their union was rejected, presumably by senior members of the Bayandur clan—most importantly the Queen Mother, Saljüqshah Begum—on the grounds that it was contrary to Turkish custom, which Qazvini describes as “the ignorance of the Turks” (jahillyat-i Turkan).57 This objection does not appear, however, to reflect a blanket prohibition by the Bayandur elite against marrying outside the clan. For example, the Àq Qoyünlü had no reservations about allowing Bayandur females to marry a) leaders of the Safavi Sufi order, b) heirs to the Shirvanshah principality, and c) Sufi personalities, such as the 'Abd al-Vahhab sayyids of Tabriz.5⁸ In addition to these examples, the well-known marriages of Üzün Hasan’s family to the Greek princesses of Trabzon (e.g., Theodora Komnene), further suggest that the Àq Qoyünlü practiced exog- amy.5⁹ And whereas the motives for scuttling Qazi 'îsa’s marriage might be unclear, Qazvini appears to suggest that the union may even have produced a child:

Qazi ['Isa], the martyr, was entirely sweet-natured and amorous. He fell in love with a sister (hamshlra) of sultan Ya'qub Khan, and in that affection the attributes of Laili had been changed into Majnün. Since sultan Ya'qüb desired a son free from blemish and vice (ibn-i salam), Laili was conveyed to Majnün according to the prescribed way of Islam (bar nahj-i Islam), and he freed both of them from the confinement of separation. However, the protective prohibitions of the ignorant (jahillyat) Turkmen customs triumphed over him. He [Qâzï ‘Isa] therefore abandoned [her]. During the time of his affection for that girl, the qazl recited this malla':

I depart for the sake of that friend, for whose sake I could die,

My life is a sacrifice to her name, her name [which] cannot be uttered.^{^[528]}

An indication that Qazi ‘îsa was embroiled in scandal is also intimated in the Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenl. In the masnavl attributed to Idris Bidlisi, which was quoted earlier in its connection to the nature of Ya‘qüb and Ibrahim Gulshani’s relationship, Bidlisi declares that the kingdom of Ya‘qüb found order (nizam) and beauty (zlba) through Qazi ‘îsâ and Najm al-Din Mas‘üd, respectively^{^[529]} He then alternates references to the two statesmen by contrasting each of their respective contributions to the Àq Qoyünlü state. Qazi ‘îsa is identified as “that one” (an yakl) in the first of several hemistichs, while Najm al-Din Mas‘üd is addressed as “this one” (ln yakl) in the second of these hemistichs. Thus Bidlisi claims that “that one” (i.e., Qazi ‘îsa) led Ya‘qüb with his ^cilm, or religious knowledge, while “this one” (i.e., Najm al-Din Mas‘üd) was a dear friend (gham-gusar) of the people on account of his hilm or forbearance^{^[530]} The next bait states that Qazi ‘îsa “revivified” the sharla for the sake of the king, while Najm al-Din Mas‘üd infused “light and brilliance” (nur va ziya) into the kingdom. Like Christ (îsa), Bidlisi writes, Qazi ‘îsa breathed spirit (rUhl) into the “eyes of religion.” The impression left by Bidlisi’s poem is that Ya‘qüb depended on Qazi ‘îsa to oversee religious and legal affairs while Najm al-Din Mas‘üd tended to secular and administrative duties. As the following excerpt shows, their complementary influences and, it would seem, mutual dependency, put a personal touch on the interdependence of religion and state (dln va daulat) which lies at the heart of the medieval Persian conception of the state:

On account of those two people, the Ya'qubian state Found order and arrangement to the utmost extent. That one (Qâzï ‘Isa) elevated the affairs of religion to the celestial spheres, This one (Najm al-Din) made luminous the star of kingship.

‘Isa was at the forefront (sadr) of the heavens,

Najm Mas'üd was Jupiter-like.

The shah followed that one (Qazi ‘Isa) on account of his ‘ilm,

And this one (Najm al-Din) was a dear friend of the people on account of his hilm.

‘Isa revivified the religious law (shar‘),

On account of Najm, the state was full of light and radiance.

‘Isa breathed spirit into the eye of religion,

Which was illuminated by the star of the divine world (najm-i ‘âlam-i qudsî).^{^[531]}

Thus, the impression given by the poem of Bidlisi is that Qazi 'Isa, in his official capacities as sadr and qazl al-quzat, epitomized normative Islam, whereas Najm al-Din Mas'üd represented its mystical counterpart. That the two Savajis respectively embodied the exoteric and esoteric aspects of Islamic religion finds support in the ‘Álam-ara-yi. amlnl which describes a ceremony held on the eve of Ya'qüb’s campaign against his rebellious brother-in-law, Shaikh Haidar Safavi, in 893/1488.^{^[532]} According to Khunji- Isfahani, Àq Qoyünlü forces gathered near Ardabil and staged a military review, after which auguries (fal) were taken from the Qur’an for the coming battle. The ‘qazl al-quzat (i.e., Qazi ‘Isa) opened to Qur’an 8:12 and Najm al-Din Mas'üd followed by reading a similar verse from the Masnavl (5:3677-89) of Rümi.^{^[533]}

Qazl ‘Isa’s Banishment from Court and His Tell-tale Poetry

The author of the Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenl suggests that Qazi 'Isa fell in with “unorthodox” (bad mazhab) individuals who caused him to neglect his prayers, and thus necessitating Ibrahim Gulshani’s intervention.^{^[534]}With the shaikh’s assistance, Qazi 'Isa apparently regained his piety and developed a deep attachment to Gulshani. Accordingly, this bond became so great that the qazl began to neglect his official duties, preferring instead to isolate himself with Ibrahim Gulsham while the two engaged in extended periods of fasting and prayer.^{^[535]}^{^[536]} Disturbed at his increasingly bizarre behavior, Qazi 'Isa’s relatives appealed directly to Ya'qüb, and claimed that he had “gone mad” (dlvana). Gulshani apparently acceded to the wishes of the Savaji family, tempering the zeal of Qazi 'Isa and reportedly inducing him to return to his administrative duties by quoting to him the hadlth: “The justice (^cadl) of one hour [of a just ruler] is better than seventy years of religious worship (^cibâdat).”68

Despite his hostility to Qazi 'Isa, Khunji-Isfahani never mentions the spiritual or personal crisis that supposedly consumed him. Likewise, the official chronicles of the Timurid and Safavid periods, which would have gained nothing by concealing Àq Qoyünlü foibles, are silent on the failings of Qazi 'Isa and his alleged relationship with Ya'qüb’s sister. As a result, further indications of Qazi 'Isa’s purported troubles can only be inferred from the masnavl of Bidlisi in the Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenl and by fragments of poetry attributed to Qazi 'Isa in the Hasht bihisht and the Tuhfa-i Saml. For example, Bidlisi, still addressing Qazi 'Isa as “that one” and Najm al-Din Mas'üd as “this one,” suggests that a crisis led to the alienation of Qazi 'Isa and Najm al-Din from the Àq Qoyünlü court but that Ya'qüb eventually forgave them:

That one became a martyr on the path of a friend,

Afterwards, the king did not at all draw near to this one.

That one found the station of the martyrs,

The other one became isolated like the guiding star (najm-i huda).

As the vicissitudes of bad faith and the crooked wheel of fate passed,

My soul thought of their exile.

The shah and the notables, in such a separation, Turned life into sin (tavan) right before my eyes. Making a connection to the world of sanctity, Idris is in prayer for the remembrance of those people. In the sublime [Hasht] bihisht garden, Shah Ya'qub Found commanding power atop the throne of forgiveness. That spirit is in every pillar of his sultanate,

Truth was conveyed in the shadow of his clemency.

The wind of preservation opened their souls:

[in Arabic] “The lover does not reveal the beloved.”

May the mausoleums of both [worlds] be full of light:

[in Arabic] “The star (al-najm) does not appear to slumbering mortals.” Thankful at this moment for the gracious patron,

I remember the justice from those assemblies.^{^[537]}

Glimpses of Ya’qub and His Troubles

Qâzï 'îsâ was not the only figure in the Àq Qoyünlü court whose travails may have been expressed through the medium of poetry. According to the Majalis al-Ushshaq, a collection of Sufi biographies compiled by the Timurid sadr, Kamâl al-Dïn Gâzurgâhï, Ya'qüb had himself acquired the “manner of an ['Umar] Khayyam” (taur-i khayyami) and the capacity to string “jeweled letters.”^{^[538]} To substantiate his claim, Gâzurgâhï quotes a ruba’i that he attributes to Ya'qüb, which also appears in the Tuhfa-i Sami and the Tazkira-i Rauzat al-salatin:

I see little certainty in the world,

With all of its joy I see thousands of sorrows.

It is like an old frontier way station (ribat), since from all its sides,

I see a path to the desert of non-existence^{^[539]}

According to the Majalis al-’ushshaq, Ya'qüb composed the verses after recognizing that his earthly love fishq-i. majaz) was in fact a sign of divine or true love (^cishq-i haqîqi).^{^[540]}^{^[541] ^[542]
^[543] ^[544]
^[545] ^[546]
^[547]} Having discovered that this was his “real objective” (maqsüd) in life, he apparently shunned the affairs of kingship (umür-i mulkl) and became completely indifferent (bl i’tibarl) to worldly concerns?³ It is not clear whether Ya'qüb’s nonchalance was part of an ascetic Sufi doctrine, the result of his continued wine-drinking, or the deep despair that several sources agree incapacitated him after the deaths of his mother, Saljüqshâh Begum, and his younger brother Yüsuf in 896/1490.7⁴ Whatever the cause, the entry by Gâzurgâhï on Ya'qüb— which is replete with images of wine-filled goblets and decanters— suggests that the Àq Qoyünlü ruler struggled with depression throughout his twelve-year reign?⁵

Gâzurgâhï, who was personally acquainted with Ya'qüb and was awarded the Azerbaijani village of Bayâbang by him as a suyürghal, hints at the psychological fragility of his patron by saying that many individuals reach manhood only to succumb to the pain (dard) and “bloody tears” created by their own jealousy (rashk)™ In a more direct reference, Gâzurgâhï claims that Ya'qüb’s love for others, taken here to be earthly beloveds, had become an impediment because it hung a “noose around the neck of his heart.”77 The notice in the Majalis al-'ushshaq indicates that Ya'qüb’s distractedness (shlfta and ashufta) endured, even after the personal intervention of Gâzurgâhï?⁸

The picture of Ya'qüb presented by Gâzurgâhï is hard to reconcile with the image presented in the Tazkira-i Rauzat al-salatln by Fakhrï Haravï. Composed between 958-62/1551-55, the Rauzat al-salatln contains a sympathetic notice on Ya'qüb in a chapter entitled, “Explaining the conditions of the sultans of Iraq and Rum who at one time had wholly busied themselves by turning their respectful attention to composing poetic verses.”7⁹Fakhrï Haravï begins the entry by citing 'Alïshïr Navâ'ï whom he quotes as saying that Ya'qüb was a youth who was distinguished by his praiseworthy essence (zat), laudable attributes (sifat), dervish-like qualities, and self-effacing disposition (Janl-mashrab)^{^[548]} In addition to the morose ruba'l quoted above, the Rauzat al-salatln contains a ghazal attributed to Ya'qüb which has a dramatically different tune. Ya'qüb presents himself as ruler bent on conquest:

I will slay the army with a tear and raise the standard with a sigh,

I will seize the earth with these troops.

I snatched the belt from the King of the Egyptians (i.e., Mamluk sultan Qayit Bay),

Caesar is my page, and the Creator (khaliq) is my refuge.

As much as the shah of Herat (i.e., Sultan-Husain) is, with heart and soul, our friend,

My desire is to strike at the throne of the Samarqand court.

If the kings of India and the sultans of Zanzibar

Are disobedient to me, their faces will be blackened with shame.^{^[549]}

Brotherly Discord in the Âq Qoyünlü Household

By far the most informative notice on Ya'qüb is the Tuhfa-i Saml. In addition to the information it contains on Ya'qüb’s brief tenure as governor of Diyar-Bakr and the date of his enthronement, the Tuhfa-i Saml emphasizes the high regard Ya'qüb held for poets and their craft. For example, Sam Mirza asserts that during the reign of Ya'qüb, the “star of poetry rose to the zenith of the Pleiades,” adding that poetry enjoyed a following much like the religion of the Samiri magician did amongst the ancient Israelites^{^[550]}^{^[551]}

It is interesting to note that while the Tuhfa-i Saml does not contain information suggesting that Ya'qüb was a drunkard or that he underwent a spiritual transformation, it does seem to suggest that fraternal tensions between him and his brother Yüsuf culminated in the death of the latter. According to the Tuhfa-i Saml, in 896/1490 the shah (i.e., Ya'qüb) became a “prisoner of his own actions” and was “blinded [to or by] the beauty of the life of Yüsuf.”8³ At the time, Ya'qüb would have been around twenty-eight, while Yüsuf was fourteen years his junior. It is therefore entirely likely that the jealousy intimated by Kamal al-Din Gâzurgâhï is a veiled reference to an intense rivalry that existed between the uterine siblings—something the poetry of Fighani also hints at.^{^[552]} That this rivalry may have culminated in bloodshed appears to be suggested by Sam Mirza, who in alluding to the Qur’anic story of Joseph and his brothers, mentions that Yüsuf was said to have been “bound to the tip of the claw of the wolf.”8^{^[553]}

John Woods has observed how the historical sources give differing accounts of the deaths of Yüsuf and Ya'qüb. While the ‘Àlam-ârâ-yi amlnl attributes their deaths to an outbreak of the plague, Woods has noted that the majority of foreign and later Iranian sources (Mamluk, Italian, and Safavid chronicles) agree that their deaths were unnatural and involved either drunken rages or poisoning^{^[554]} As if to indicate that Yüsuf was indeed felled in fratricidal rage, the entry by Sam Mirza on Ya'qüb contains a poem, that if read with the understanding that the term for liver in Persian, jigar, is a common epithet for an intimate or close relative, suggests that members of the Àq Qoyünlü court were complicit in Ya'qüb’s anger toward his brother:

Every treacherous thorn that the ill-wisher (bad-khvah) places in your (Ya'qub) path,

Becomes a dagger that will not puncture anything but your own liver^{^[555]}

Even Jami was aware of the brotherly plots and snares that appear to have strained Ya'qüb. For example, the despair of the Àq Qoyünlü ruler is readily apparent in a quatrain attributed to Jami which appears in the Lubb al-tavarlkh by the Safavid historian Mir Yahya (Husaini Saifi) Qazvini. The verses, which can be read as a reference to the Biblical story of Jacob and Joseph and which were written after the death of Ya'qüb, also speak to the intimate nature of their (Ya'qüb and Jami) long-distance rapport:

My heart throbbed a lifetime on account of the affection of Ya'qub, Ya'qub departed and [I] did not see the face of Jacob.

The toil, which reached me through the sorrows of Ya'qub, Never wrenched Jacob from despairing over Joseph.^{^[556]}

Salâmân va Absâl as Art Imitating Life

As has been demonstrated, the tazkira literature depicts Ya'qüb and the Àq Qoyünlü court in two different lights. On the one hand, Ya'qüb and Qâzï 'îsâ are presented as connoisseurs of Persian belles-lettres. They are thus statesmen whose fondness for poetry went beyond mere patronage and involved their own efforts as amateur poets. On the other hand, their appreciation for Persian poetry, which by the ninth/fifteenth century had reached the height of its rhetorical complexity, is contrasted in the tazkira literature with the depths to which their own lives had descended. It is not unusual, then, that some of their poetry should have reflected these issues. What is more, the notices in the literary biographies seem to indicate that the characters in Saloman va Absal, as well as the implicit advice it contains, would have been recognized by members of the Àq Qoyünlü court as reflections of the personalities and tumultuous events surrounding them.

Stated differently, Ya'qüb’s capriciousness and addiction to wine is allegorically concealed behind the narrative and principal characters of Saloman va Absal. As the next chapter will attempt to demonstrate, Jami achieved this while simultaneously communicating a theosophical message by, in turn, allegorically concealing its religio-mystical significance behind the very same narrative and characters. Thus Salâmân, Absal, the King, the Sage, and Venus, at once become symbols for speculative interpretations of Sufi mystical transformation and symbols of actual people and events that dominated the life of the Àq Qoyünlü court.

CHAPTER FIVE

A THEOSOPHICAL INTERPRETATION OF SALÁMÁN VA ABSÁL AND
ITS RELEVANCE TO ITS HISTORICAL SETTING

There is, in the outer form of every tale,

A certain share of its meaning meant for those who are able to see fine points. Given that the outerform of this tale has been completed, You must now attain to that meaning.

—Jami, Saloman va Absal1

In his study of the visionary tales of Ibn Sina, Henry Corbin points out that it is a mistake to read the Salaman and Absal cycle as a “simple and banal” allegory. He goes on to explain the potency of the symbolism of the tale by first arguing that the Greek version of the story is, in the truest sense of the word, an “autobiography of the human soul.”^{^[557]}^{^[558]} In other words, besides being a dramatic expression of the Neo-Platonic hierarchy of intellects, the tale of Salaman and Absal is really the story of the lonely efforts of the soul to return to the primordial abode from whence it came. As Corbin explains, this journey began in pre-existence, when the soul was torn from its roots and “born” into the material realm as a child of Reason, which is understood to be its father, and of Love, which is taken to be its mother. Conflicted about its dual nature, the soul struggles to recognize its unique position as the isthmus, or barzakh, between the realm of Reason, which is characterized by masculinity, logic, and deliberation, and the realm of Love, marked by the traits of femininity, premonition, and spontaneity.^{^[559]} According to Corbin’s hermeneutics, the soul qua “mystical child” must reconcile these opposing traits if it is to recognize its noble origins and escape (temporarily at least) from a corporeal existence (al-hayat al-dunya), which Islamic tradition maintains is fraught with danger, illusion, and deception.

The union of these opposites (conjunctio oppositorum), namely the union of Reason and Love, is a major theme of Salaman va Absal, in that it describes the eventual absorption of all the characters in the tale into the person of Salâmân. The King and Absâl, for example, who could be theosophical symbols of Reason and Love (father and mother), and thus two opposing forces in the soul of every human being, disappear from the narrative as Salâmân is transformed from carnal to spiritual man. This transformation occurs when Absâl is consumed by the fire, and Salâmân inherits his father’s throne. Another, more subtle transformation occurs when the Sage substitutes the memory of Absâl in Salâmân’s heart with the image of Venus. Not only is Salâmân’s loyalty to Absâl replaced by his newfound devotion to Venus, but his obedience to the Sage—who is none other than Salâmân’s inner guide—is comparable to the Sufi aspirant who relinquishes all attachments and, as Sahl al-Tustarï (d. 283/896) is reported to have said, surrenders to his spiritual master “like a corpse in the hands of its washer.”^{^[560]} When Absâl, Venus, and the Sage amalgamate into Salâmân, who in turn absorbs his father, the King, during his investiture ceremony, Salâmân becomes the symbol of the perfect saint who has internalized his spiritual transformation. Not only does Salâmân become his own sage but also his own wet-nurse (daya). The role of the wet-nurse in the attainment of enlightenment, though remarkable, is not a creation of Jâmï, and first appears in Persian poetry in a verse in book 1 of the Masnavi by Rümï, in which Rümï refers to the Sufi saint as a daya, the milk of whose spiritual knowledge nourishes the Sufi adept.^{^[561]}

This centripetal movement calls to mind the Sufi adept who transcends his sense of selfhood by embarking on an inner voyage, which is to say a personal journey in which he contemplates the true reality of the one-ness of God (tauhid). According to mystical tradition, arriving at this “higher self” through the negation of the ego-self (nafs) usually involves the spiritual guidance of a Sufi shaikh, and in the case of Salaman va Absal, the shaikh is represented by the Sage (hakim). The indispensible role of the hakim, or shaikh in the spiritual transformation of an adept is a frequently discussed topic in classical Persian mysticism. In many cases, however, Sufi poets who wished to emphasize the esoteric nature of their knowledge or sought to shield themselves against the literalist Ulama’ often avoided direct references to shaikhs. Instead, the shaikh was cast in the role of a Zoroastrian sage (pir-i mughan), a prophet (usually Solomon or

Khidr), or metaphorically portrayed as a mirror or emerald.^{^[562]} In Rümï’s Masnavi, the Sufi shaikh often takes the form of a divine physician or a saint (valí) who “heals the soul” through acts inspired by what Rümî calls “the Divine Light.”^{^[563]}^{^[564]}

Salâmân va Absâl and the Masnavî of Rumi

It is noteworthy that the “divine physician” (tabib-i ilahi) who facilitates the negation of the carnal soul of the adept is a central character in the first tale in book 1 of the Masnavi.8 As mentioned earlier, Reynold A. Nicholson was the first Western scholar to notice the similarities between this “peculiar” allegory (entitled as “The story of the king’s falling in love with a handmaiden and buying her”) and Salâmân va Absâl.^{^[565]} The protagonists in Rümî’s tale are similar to the main characters in Salâmân va Absâl, inasmuch as they can be understood to be symbols of the individual soul struggling to purify itself.^{^[566]}^{^[567]} The most obvious indication linking Salâmân va Absâl with the Masnavi lies in the fact that both masnavis were written in the same metre, ramal musaddas mahzufn Another, more significant indication that Jamî wrote his tale with an eye to Rümî’s allegorical tale occurs at the very heart of Salaman va Absal: here, Jâmï quotes a line from Rümï in order to announce that, like the Masnavl, his own tale is meant to be read allegorically.^{^[568]} In other words, Jami invokes Rümï in order to indicate (and justify) that the characters and events in Salaman va Absal are at once symbols of the process whereby a Sufi is spiritually purified and representations of actual historical figures. According to Jami, Rümï’s tale was intended for (and was about) “the Sufi elect” (khassan), who unlike the “common folk” (^camm), could appreciate the fact that his story had a symbolical meaning reserved just for them.1³ Jami explains that his tale, too, contains a deeper meaning, one which is likewise concealed (pushlda) from those who are not familiar with what Jami refers to as “the secret” (raz):

It is better to conceal the description of the elect from the common people, May that gnostic (Rümï), who said the following, be forever in his moment: ‘It is better that the description of lovers (vasf-i dilbaran)

Be told in the garment of others (dar libas-i digarcm).’™

The line quoted by Jami varies slightly from the usual edited versions of the Masnavl. The original verse by Rümi states that it is better that the “secret” of the lovers (sirr-i dilbaran) be told in the tales of others (dar hadls-i digamo)}⁵ Jami substitutes vasf for sirr, and libas for hadls, a purposeful alteration which strengthens the notion that the so-called khassan (elect) are at once an allusion to the Sufis and, as this study argues, to Ya'qüb and members of the Àq Qoyünlü court. Since Jami employs this particular tale from the Masnavl to signal that Salaman va Absal has another (if not multiple) layer of meaning, it is necessary to explore how the two poems apparently relate to each other on the theosophical level.

The tale by Rümi recounts the story of a king who enlists the powers of a physician-saint in order to cure his beloved of her love for another manb The suffering of the love-sick king is brought on by his beautiful slave-girl, who routinely ignores his affection on account of her own ongoing infatuation with a goldsmith in Samarqand. The tale begins with a description of how the king, while on a hunting expedition, falls in love with the maiden and has her purchased. Once in the king’s possession, the girl is immediately stricken with a mysterious ailment. Desperate to see his beloved recover, the king runs weeping to the mosque, prays to God, and is visited in a dream (ru’ya) by a saint, referred to as valí and pir, who assures him that a sage (hakim) will arrive to diagnose the girl’s illness and dispense a cure. A divine physician (variously referred to as tabib, tabib-i ilahi, vali, and hakim) enters the story and discovers the source of the slave-girl’s infatuation; he asks that the girl’s lover, the goldsmith, be brought from Samarqand so that they can be reunited. Once the health of the slave-girl improves, the divine physician gradually poisons the goldsmith in such a way that his beauty vanishes. The slave-girl eventually realizes that her beloved goldsmith is in fact “ugly, irksome, and deformed,” at which point the goldsmith dies.

Unsettling as the conclusion may be, on the theosophical plane it represents the dénouement to a personal spiritual journey like that depicted in Salaman va Absal. In fact, the characters in the tale by Rümï and the symbolism they project closely resemble the purported intention of Salaman va Absal. To be more precise, the king, the slave-girl, the goldsmith, and the divine physician correspond to a certain degree to the King, Salaman, Absal, and the Sage in Jami’s tale. The king of the “spiritual and temporal realms” (mulk-i din va dunya) in the tale by Rümi may be understood to be a representation of the Divine Spirit in man, namely, the ruh, or in Neo-Platonic terminology, the Active or Tenth Intellect. Like Salaman, the slave-girl may represent the Rational Soul, who, despite the love of the ruh, lusts after corporeal pleasure and is thus associated with the goldsmith; this in turn corresponds to the character Absal in Salaman va Absal. Finally, as the apparent embodiment of the perfect saint (vali, murshid-i kamil), the divine physician can represent Universal Reason (^caql-i kull), who thus corresponds to the Sage in Salaman va Absal; likewise, he embodies the attributes of a saint-shaikh and who, according to Jami, represents an emanation of the Divine (faiz-i ilahi).

The correspondence between the two tales extends beyond their characters and encompasses the mystical symbolism of each major event. The most obvious agreement occurs when the divine physician in the Masnavi administers the poison to the goldsmith, thus achieving a spiritual goal similar to the process in Salaman va Absal whereby a fire kills Absal and the Sage effaces her memory from the heart of Salâmân and replaces it with the image of Venus.^{^[569]}^{^[570]} In both cases, the pleasure-seeking soul, represented by the slave-girl’s lust for the goldsmith, and Salaman’s lust for Absal, are superseded by a desire for noetic pleasures, and in both instances this transformation is achieved through the intervention of a figure resembling a Sufi master. Another similarity appears in the explanation that both poets provide at the conclusion of their stories. Rümï explains that the murder of the goldsmith was carried out according to “divine command and inspiration” (amr va ilham-i ilah; and elsewhere, az qaza or “according to God’s will”). In a similar fashion, the epilogue to Salaman va Absal explains the semiotics of the tale and emphasizes the role of the divine Agent in the destruction of Absal, symbol of the carnal soul. Thus, both poets reveal the “secret” of spiritual transformation, namely that the purification of the soul of the adept, though reliant on his own determination (^caztmat) and asceticism (zuhd), is ultimately dependent on the will of God. While Jami based his version of Salaman and Absal on the Greek antecedents of the tale (i.e., the Arabic translation by Hunain b. Ishaq and Hayy ibn Yaqzan by Ibn Tufail), it would appear that he also patterned key aspects of it on the first tale in the Masnavt.

Love and the Imprint of the Theosophy of Ibn al-Arabt

Fundamentally, these two tales are about the reciprocal love that Sufis believe exists between God and man, or between Creator (al-Khaliq) and creature (al-khalq). The ontological implications of this “higher” love were obviously developed by Ibn al-'Arabi and the school of theosophy which emerged in his wake. Jami, himself a follower of the “Greatest Master” (al-shaikh al-akbar), Ibn al-'Arabi, is credited with effectively synthesizing in his writings the thought of Ibn al-'Arabi and the love mysticism of Rümi.1⁸ Acknowledging this, we wonder if the meaning of love in Salaman va Absal also reflects the theosophical writings of Ibn al-'Arabi.

Central to the Akbarian concept of love is the idea that the Breath of the All-Merciful, al-nafas al-Rahmanl, was rather “a sigh” indicating the infinite loneliness of God and his longing to be known. Thus, the notion of a “pathetic” God formed the basis of what Ibn al-'Arabi explained in his al-Futühat al-Makkiyya as the three kinds of love: Natural (i.e., Physical) Love (hubb tabl'l), Spiritual Love (hubb rUhanl), and Divine Love (hubb ilahi)y9 These are also the three modes of being, or the very reason for creation, which reveal God to Himself through His creation and are instrumental to the mystical experience. For our purposes, Ibn al-'Arabi’s typology of love is discernable in Salaman va Absal, whereby the symbolism of the characters and their actions reflect the Natural, Spiritual, and Divine types of Love. The path to Divine Love, in other words, which is the key to the mystical experience, and which Ibn al-'Arabi described as the union or joining of Natural Love and Spiritual Love, is demonstrated in the transposition of Salâmân’s love for Absal (Natural Love) by his love for Venus (Spiritual Love).

To understand this better, it is worth examining how each type of love is manifested in Salaman va Absal. Natural Love, or hubb tabFl, is a love in which the desire of the lover is simply to possess the beloved.^{^[571]}^{^[572]} Stated differently, the lover seeks the satisfaction of its own desires without concern for the satisfaction of the beloved. Being the lowest form of love, this profane adoration, as it were, is by definition “selfish” and is epitomized in the tale by the love of Salaman, the symbol of the soul, for the material delights embodied by his beloved, Absal. As the events in Salaman va Absal suggest, hubb tabFl is the love from which the Love for God proceeds, which is to say the path to mystical union necessarily starts with the love that is seated in the physical nature of the soul, i.e., Salaman’s love for Absal.

Contrasted with Natural Love is Spiritual Love, or hubb rühanl, which is situated in the adept who is always in search of the divine being whose image (misal) or form (sürat) he discovers in himself, or through which he discovers that he himself is the image/form. According to Ibn al-'Arabi’s paradoxical formulation, hubb ruhan is love that has no other concern or goal than to be completely consumed by the will of the (divine) beloved; in other words, it is to negate the ego-self, to the extent that the temporal lover becomes the means through which the love of the divine Beloved is manifested as the love of the lover for the earthly (or spiritual) beloved.^{^[573]}^{^[574]
^[575]
^[576]
^[577]}This kind of love appears to be depicted with Salâmân’s love for, and his complete identification with, the image of Venus, which, if we proceed according to the doctrine of wahdat al-wujud, is at once a sign of God and man.

The third type of love (or being), namely Divine Love (hubb ilahl), is really the reciprocal love between the Creator and Himself.22 The first aspect of this type of love is the initial act of love manifested in God’s wish that His Names and Attributes (of His unknowable Essence) be known or discovered in created beings, a sentiment captured in a well-known hadlth qudsl in which God describes Himself as a “hidden Treasure who desired to be known.”2³ This first act in the dialogue of love is reminiscent of the King’s longing for a son in Salaman va Absal. If we consider that the King may be the embodiment of the divine wish “to be known,” then his creating a son and losing him to Absâl, is akin to God’s desire for Adam and His creatures to resist earthly temptations and to acknowledge their divine origin. It is interesting to note that Jami draws a parallel between the melancholy of the King and his dramatic intervention with an anecdote on the jealousy of Khusrau Parviz; here, he discovered that his beloved Shirin had secretly fallen in love with Farhad.2⁴ Keeping this analogy and the concept of hubb ilahl in mind, the following passage of Salaman va Absal could be an indication that the King’s sadness-turned-jealousy is in fact a symbolic expression of God’s own jealousy (al-ghaira al-ilahiyya)?⁵ The Sufi belief that this jealousy is stirred when human beings usurp God’s right to be the only object of worship is represented in Jami’s description of Salaman’s veritable worship of Absal:

The King of Greece saw how Salaman

Was comfortable in his union with Absal,

Lifetimes passed, and he did not refrain from this erring, Nor did he turn the face of the heart away from his error. His head remained empty of the crown of kingship, He instead turned, high-headed, to her crown.

His fortune cast the royal throne beneath his feet, So that it was the throne that kissed his foot.

Then, on account of his despair over this, a fire ignited within the King, Time passed unhappily for him on account of this unhappiness.^{^[578]}^{^[579] ^[580] ^[581]}

The second aspect of hubb ilahl is the desire that the created entity experiences for God. According to Ibn al-'Arabi, this desire is God’s sigh epipha- nized as a physical form or figure, which is to say a theophany (tajalll), that occasions a nostalgia in created beings, specifically in those, i.e., Sufis, who recognize that the form or figure, along with the longing it provokes, are the means by which God “returns” to Himself.2⁷ This second aspect of Divine Love, though outwardly manifested as the love of a being for God, is fundamentally the recognition that this desire is actually the sigh of God (al-nafas al-Rahmam)?⁸ In other words, the being who sighs with longing is in fact the recipient of God’s sighs. As Corbin noted, this sympathy or con-spiration (ham-dami) is the reconciliation of Natural Love and Spiritual Love; it is the marriage of both facets of the soul (Reason/ father and Love/mother), whose offspring, Divine Love, or true compassion, is the goal of the mystical quest.2⁹

Aspects of the Visionary Experience in Salaman va Absal

According to Sufi theosophists, the synchronization between the three types of love occurs in the imaginal world (^calam al-misal, the world of Idea-Images), rendered as mundus imaginalis by Corbin, which is the intermediate realm of mystical contemplation suspended between the physical world of sense-perception and the spiritual world of intellective intuition.^{^[582]}^{^[583]} This inter-world of esoteric speculation, often described by medieval cosmographers as the “Eighth Clime,” represents another dimension of time and space, a place without place that inspired the formula attributed to Shihab al-Din Yahya Suhravardi, Na-kuja-abad, i.e., “the land of No-where.”31

The organ or faculty that enables a mystic to penetrate and perceive the ^calam al-misal is the heart (di/)^{^[584]}^{^[585]
^[586]
^[587]
^[588]
^[589]} Poised between sensory and intellective knowledge, the heart is the place of “No-place,” the barzakh where the invisible-spiritual world and visible-sensible worlds meet and manifest their conjunction in the form of a theophanic image.33 According to the theosophists, this image can only be perceived by those, i.e., Sufis, who realize that the image present in their hearts is at once a sign or symbol of the desire of God to reveal Himself to Himself and the spiritualization or projection of a sensible being, such as an earthly beloved.3⁴ In other words, only in a condition of hubb ilâhî is the image manifested and likewise this only with the soul which has risen from the level of inciting evil (al-nafs ammara bi-al-su’) and blame (al-nafs al-lawwama) to a state of being at peace (al-nafs al-mutma’inna)?⁵

This visionary experience of the heart is symbolically depicted toward the end of Salaman va Absal.36 It occurs after Salaman subjects himself to a trial (bala) of forty-days of self-mortification and seclusion (i.e., arba^cïn; chilla); in turn, he becomes obedient to the Sage, who promises to remedy his condition by bringing Absal back to him and making her an eternal companion (dam-saz).37 Using the image of the wine-cup (jam) as a metaphor for the heart, Jami describes how the Sage—who practices techniques reminiscent of a Sufi shaikh but ultimately acts on behalf of the Active Intellect and stands as a symbol for the archangel Gabriel— accesses the heart of Salâmân (i.e., the adept) in order to initiate the mystical experience.^{^[590]} This event is conveyed by means of a well-known pun on the word zauq, which literally means “taste” but which in Sufism was a technical term for “direct mystical experience”:

[The Sage] poured the wine of good fortune into [Salâmân’s] cup, He poured the honeycomb of wisdom onto his palate.

On account of the taste of that wine, his cup became rapturous,

On account of this honeycomb, his palate poured sugar.3^{^[591]}

As the spiritual transformation of Salâmân ensues, Absâl, the symbol of the inclination of the soul for carnal pleasures, appears in his memory and he finds himself complaining of their separation. Recognizing the psychological state (hal) of Salâmân, the Sage fashions an image (sürat) of Absâl through the power of his spiritual concentration (himmat) and holds it before Salâmân’s eyes, thus alleviating his grief.^{^[592]} As Salâmân “perfected his speech” (i.e., engaged in zikr), the Sage would interpose a description of the beauty of Venus, until these repeated descriptions (aurad, i.e., litanies) made Salâmân forget Absâl and yearn after her:

When the Sage perceived the significance of this for [Salâmân]

He increased the effect of Venus on him,

Until she manifested her beauty completely,

And it made an impression on the heart and soul of Salâmân.

He effaced the image of Absâl from his mind,

And the imprint of the face of Venus was mended to it.

He saw everlasting beauty (husn-i baqi) and flew from the transitory (Jani) world,

He favored eternal rapture (‘aish-i baqi) over the temporal (Jani).^{^[593]}

That this penultimate event in Salaman va Absal is an allusion to the visionary experience in Sufism is supported by the juxtaposition of the words fani and baqi. In a non-mystical sense, fani and baqi simply mean “temporary” and “permanent,” but they also refer to the mystical states of fana’ and baqa’. Their appearance at the end of Salaman’s dream-vision of Venus is an allusion to the final stages of the mystical path, when the ego-self of the adept is annihilated (fana’) and the perfected Sufi abides (baqa”) in and through the knowledge of the one-ness of God.^{^[594]}^{^[595] ^[596]} Further support for the idea that Jami alludes to the visionary encounter between Creator and creature is contained in the phrase, husn-i baqi did. Since al-baqi, or “the Everlasting One,” is one of the ninety-nine beautiful names of God, the hemistich quoted above may also be read: “he (i.e., Salaman) saw the beauty of the Everlasting One (husn-i baqi) and flew as one who had experienced fana’”43 Finally, it seems fitting that the allusion to fana’ and baqa’ should be followed by the enthronement ceremony for Salaman, since baqa’ has been described as the “station of vicegerency,” namely the state of the perfect Sufi who returns to the phenomenal world in order to act as the representative or deputy (khalifa) of God.44 Considered in this light, the enthronement of Salaman is a symbolic representation of the investiture of Adam, who according to Sufi tradition was created by God in His image (^cala suratih'i) in order to reflect God’s qualities on earth. With the implication that the creation myth is associated with the investiture of Salaman, and that this ceremony appears as the culminating event in his visionary experience, we find further evidence that Salaman va Absal is an allegorical expression of the transformation of the adept into the Adamic perfection characteristic of the Sufi saint (vali) and true vicegerent of God (khalifat Allah) on earth.

Salaman va Absal as an Historical Allegory

In addition to its theosophical significance, Salaman va Absal is also an historical allegory, which is to say that Jami intended the principal characters in his tale to be understood as representing actual historical figures at the Àq Qoyünlü court. Salaman va Absal therefore falls within the two basic types of allegory described by literary theorists. The first type, which has been described as an “allegory of ideas,” is a narrative whose characters are personifications or symbols of complex concepts, and whose general plot represents or allegorizes an abstract doctrine or thesis. As Northrop Frye has observed, the characters and plot of this type of allegory contain an additional set of ideas that can at once possess moral, philosophical, and religious meaning.^{^[597]} Salaman va Absal fits this first type of allegory insofar as the characters are a representation of the purification of the soul and the visionary mystical experience. Owing, however, to its multiple levels of interpretation, Salaman va Absal also falls into the second type of allegory, a sub-genre dubbed, “historical and political allegory.” This second type of allegory is a narrative in which the characters of a given story and their actions represent real historical figures and the actual events (usually political) associated with them^{^[598]}

While Corbin, whose intention was to explicate the mystical hermeneutics of the tale of Salaman and Absal, was correct in stating that it was not a “trite” allegory about body and soul, this study nonetheless maintains that the hermeneutics of Salaman va Absal are not just mystical but historical, and that to restrict the poem solely to a mystical interpretation is to fail to appreciate its depth^{^[599]} Granted, traditional historians, who, according to Hayden White, find it hard to accept that figurative discourse (read allegory), with its “ambiguousness” and “logical inconsistencies,” produces any genuine historical knowledge, would hesitate to ascribe any historical significance to Salaman va Absal for the simple reason that it does not contain literal statements of fact^{^[600]}^{^[601]
^[602]} But such an opinion, White argues, reflects the modern prejudice against allegory by traditional and socio-scientific historians who maintain that historical “truth” can only be expressed in literal language?⁹ By contrast, this study accepts the notion that it is precisely through such figurativeness that Salaman va Absal yields a significant amount of historical data.

The polysemy of Jami’s Salaman va Absal undoubtedly had a bearing on its audience. As Peter Heath noted in his discussion of Ibn Sina’s use of allegory, a tale like Salaman and Absal was designed to be “both inclusive and exclusive in semantic accessibility and audience appeal.”5° While its

literal level of meaning, which is to say, the forbidden romance between a prince and his wet-nurse, is comprehensible to a wide spectrum of readers, its symbolism directs other levels of meaning, in this case mystical and historical, to select individuals or groups, which, this study contends, can be identified as the Àq Qoyünlü ruler Ya'qüb and members of his court. The historical level of meaning in Salaman va Absal was therefore reserved for an elite audience who presumably were able to discern the text and recognize themselves in the characters and events depicted in the tale.

It is also important to mention that the poem itself provides clear indication that Salaman va Absal allegorizes persons and situations at the court of Ya'qüb. For example, just as the abovementioned line containing the phrase “in the garment of others” compels us to consider the theosophical interpretation of the tale, it likewise suggests that the “others” can be understood as historical figures, in this case, Ya'qüb and Qâzï 'ïsâ.^{^[603]}The fact that Jami embedded this clue in a section of Salaman va Absal in which he praises Ya'qüb is another indication that the Àq Qoyünlü ruler was supposed to recognize himself in the narrative, particularly in the person of Salaman, and that the tale’s dramatic elements were really symbols of Ya'qüb’s own struggle.^{^[604]} In this way, Salaman va Absal fulfills the fundamental objective of the classic mirror for princes, namely, that the discerning ruler was supposed to internalize its contents to the extent that reading it was akin to holding a mirror up to himself.

Symbols of Ya’qub and His Court in Salaman va Absal

The character of Absal, who in the tale represents the “lust-worshipping body” (tan-i shahvat-parast), serves as a symbol for the libertine life of wine-drinking that Ya'qüb eventually abandoned. Moreover, the King and the Sage, who in the tale are associated with the Active Intellect (^caql-i fa^ccal) and supernal emanation (faiz-i bala) respectively, can also be interpreted as symbols of the ideal of kingship, and Ya'qüb’s vazlr, Qazi 'Isa Savaji. Finally, the image of Venus, which is presented in Salaman va Absal as an object of mystical contemplation, can be interpreted as a symbol of the Sufi shaikh; and more specifically, as an allusion to râbita, a technique employed by Naqshbandis (and other Sufis), according to which a spiritual master fixes the visual form (sürat or naqsh) of himself in the heart of his disciple in order to effect his spiritual transformation.^{^[605]}^{^[606]
^[607]
^[608]
^[609]} The contention that all the characters in the tale, i.e., Salâmân, Absâl, the King, the Sage, and Venus, appear to be symbolic representations of actual historical figures and events at the Àq Qoyünlü court is thus another indication that Jami dedicated Salâmân va Absâl at a later date and under different circumstances from those generally acknowledged.

Two key instances in Salâmân va Absâl provide evidence that Jami intended Salâmân to be a symbolic representation of Ya'qüb. First, there is a reference to the fact that it was in his fourteenth year that Salâmân became the king of the “dominion of excellence” (mulk-i khübt) and that it was during this time that he made the “grandeur of kingship” (shaukat-i shâhî) his companion.5⁴ These references to kingship are contained in a section concerned with descriptions of the “youthful radiance” of Salâmân and his “spear-like stature.” The overall impression they convey is that, once Salâmân turned fourteen, he was poised to become ruler. Ya'qüb was in fact fourteen when in 882/1478 his supporters proclaimed—in defiance of Ya'qüb’s older uterine brother, Sultân-Khalil—that Üzün Hasan had designated Ya'qüb to succeed him as leader of the Àq Qoyünlü tribal confederation.55 Therefore, the decision by Jâmi to cast the fourteen-year- old Salâmân in the role of a worthy heir appears to have been a deliberate attempt to allude to Ya'qüb, who was also fourteen when he came to the throne.

Another indication that Jâmi was alluding to Ya'qüb by way of Salâmân occurs in a section entitled, “Pointing to the fact that the object of these panegyrics is to praise the majestic presence of the felicitous ruler.”5⁶It follows a series of vignettes, each of which praises certain aspects of Salâmân, namely, the sharpness of his intellect, his skill at poetry and prose, the delightfulness of his royal banquets, his prowess at poloplaying, his expert bowmanship, and his generosity.5⁷ The fact that Jâmi’s description of the virtues of Salâmân is followed by a section whose title states that the preceding praise was actually directed at Ya'qüb, suggests that Jami’s intention was that Ya'qüb should recognize himself in the character of Salâmân and identify his own circumstances with the ethico- moral scenarios presented in Salâmân va Absâl. Any doubt that Salâmân was intended as a symbol for Ya'qüb is dispelled by the fact that, in this connection, Jami quotes the abovementioned line by Rümi, in which he states that his tale was meant to be read allegorically, thereby alerting readers to its symbolical meaning. Thus, the statement that the “description of lovers” needs to be told “in the garment of [tales about] others,” is an indication that the tale is also an allusion to Ya'qüb and his struggle against his own failings. In other words, the lovers Salâmân and Absâl are actually symbols of Ya'qüb and the object of his lustful appetite, namely wine. Salâmân’s renunciation of his beloved Absâl is therefore a symbolic expression of Ya'qüb’s foreswearing the pleasures of the body, especially wine-drinking.

In order to support the notion that Salâmân is a symbolic representation of Ya'qüb, it is necessary to establish that Absâl, who is cast in the role of a wet-nurse, is also a symbol of something irresistible to Ya'qüb but unsettling for the Àq Qoyünlü court. According to a theosophical reading of Salâmân va Absâl, Absâl, who, on an allegorical level, stands for the appetitive faculty, represents Love, which is to say the Love that is counterpoised by Reason in the dual-natured soul of man. In a contextual reading of the tale, Absâl would symbolically represent the libertinism that Ya'qüb indulged in and that was viewed by his royal advisors as a threat to the long-term viability of his rule.^{^[610]}

The first indication that Absâl was meant to symbolize sensual pleasure occurs in the section of Salâmân va Absâl in which Jâmi describes how Salâmân, upon reaching the age of fourteen, saw the beauty of Absâl “unveiled” before him.5^{^[611]} According to the narrative, Absâl devises hundreds of stratagems (makr va hiyal) and uses “black magic” (siyah-kârî) in order to ensnare (giriftâr) Salâmân and make him yearn for her.^{^[612]}^{^[613]} Despite Salâmân’s kingly glory (farrkhundagt), Absâl lures him from the “straight path,” which is to say, from the life of piety and abstemiousness, into the “collar of servitude to her.”^(>1 On the verge of consummating his desire for Absal, which is seen here as an allusion to the point at which Ya'qüb began indulging his baser instincts, that is, his drinking habit, Salaman ponders the possible consequences to his kingship of their sexual union:

God forbid that I should taste the meal of [sexual] union!

Its flavor will become unwholesome to my soul.

That taste will not stay with me, and for an entire lifetime

I will remain far from my lofty rank and majesty.*³²

The words “taste” and “meal” may be interpreted as referring to wine and they imply that Salaman’s carnal union with Absal is in fact a symbolic expression of Ya'qüb’s addiction to drink. Continuing the extended metaphor, Jami describes how Salaman held Absal “tightly to his bosom,” much like a drunkard cradles a wine goblet, whereupon “[Salaman] (i.e., Ya'qüb) drank his soul’s desire.”^{^[614]}^{^[615]
^[616]
^[617]
^[618]} So completely were they “rubbing lip to lip together, that the cup of rapture overflowed for both of them,” which beyond its sexual connotation with respect to Salaman and Absal, could also be read as an allusion to Ya'qüb’s drinking wine and the state of inebriation it caused.6⁴

Another indication that Absal symbolizes wine is contained in the description by Jami of the after-effects of Salaman’s physical union with Absal.65 This account, which is set at daybreak, describes Salaman as hung-over (khumar) and eager to cure his hangover with another “sip [of the dregs of]” (jurWt) of Absal.66 The implication that Salaman wanted to repeat the experience of the previous night with Absal is clear; but the significance of Salaman’s hangover and his desire to “drink” Absal again, aside from its allegorical meaning, can also be understood on a symbolical level. It follows then, that the hangover and subsequent cravings experienced by Salâmân could be allusions to Ya'qüb’s alcohol dependency. Thus, the sexual innuendos used by Jami when he adds that “without interrupting” anyone, Salâmân summoned Absâl, “set her on the throne, opened her veil of modesty, and proceeded to repeat the pleasure of the previous night with her,” may in fact be allusions to Ya'qüb’s habit of consuming wine at court without the “interference” of a royal cup-bearer, in order to satisfy his craving for drink.^{^[619]}

The illegality of Salâmân’s engaging in sexual relations with his wetnurse (Absâl) may also have alluded to Qâzi 'Isa’s marriage to a sister (hamshlra) of Ya'qüb, which was annulled by members of the Bâyandur clan on grounds that it contravened Turkish custom. Milk-relations (riza’, rizâ’a), that is, the custom whereby non-related infants were suckled by the same wet-nurse, served to forge ties between prominent families in the medieval eastern Islamic world, but it also created legal barriers to marriage^{^[620]} The sexual relationship between Salâmân and Absâl would thus have been regarded as incestuous according to Islamic law^{^[621]}^{^[622]
^[623]} It seems that the illegality of the relationship between Salâmân and Absâl, which is to say, between a boy child and his wet-nurse, may have been a trope utilized by Jâmi for its shock value. Although Salâmân va Absâl contains no vulgar words or coarse imagery, the sexual passion between Salâmân and his wet-nurse may have been exploited by Jâmi in order to capture the audience’s interest, the better to communicate his message of mystical and historical significance?⁰ Jâmi may therefore have used the trope of incest to refer to the extra-tribal relationship between Qâzi 'Isâ and Ya'qüb’s sister and to the fact that their union violated Àq Qoyünlü customs that frowned upon marriages between members of the Turkic tribal elite and sedentary Persians (Tajiks)?¹

If we accept that Salâmân is a symbolic representation of Ya'qüb, then it would be logical to suggest that Salaman’s father, who is referred to as the King of ancient Greece, symbolizes the ideal of kingship. The King, who corresponds to the Active Intellect and to Love’s counterpart, Reason, is a symbol of what Jami probably hoped the conscience of Ya'qüb would become. In other words, the King of ancient Greece is Salaman’s inner conscience as it relates to kingship, which the tale of Salâmân va Absal instructs Ya'qüb to heed and which is expressed through the admonitions of the King. The function of this inner sense, which is to say the chief concern of the King of ancient Greece and his historical counterpart, Ya'qüb’s inner conscience, is to convince Salâmân, i.e., Ya'qüb, that his continued infatuation with Absâl, who is to be understood as the symbol of wine, will lead him to ruin and hasten the end of Ya'qüb’s claim to the Àq Qoyünlü throne. Thus, we find the King admonishing a repentant Salâmân in terms similar to those in which Ya'qüb’s inner conscience might have been expected to admonish him:

Kingship is your private property, seize your kingship.

Do not pull kingship out of your lineage.

Remove your hand from the beautiful person you possess,

Kingship and worshipping the beautiful person do not go together.

Remove, from you hand, the henna of the beautiful person,

You must be either a king or a worshipper of beautiful people.^{^[624]}^{^[625]}

The last character in Salâmân va Absâl that is a symbolic representation of a member of the Àq Qoyünlü court, is the Sage (hakim). In addition to representing a divine emanation (faiz-i ilâhl, faiz-i bâlâ), the Sage is a symbol of Qâzi 'Isa, who was Ya'qüb’s preceptor, and whose official responsibilities as Ya'qüb’s vazir and sadr made him the de facto administrator of the Àq Qoyünlü state?³ Because of his profound involvement in Ya'qüb’s affairs, Qâzi 'îsâ is represented in Salâmân va Absal by the Sage who plays a decisive role in facilitating Salâmân’s spiritual transformation. Indeed, just like Ya'qüb, who was by all indications tutored by Qâzï 'ïsâ, Salâmân, upon hearing the good counsel (naslhat) of the Sage, admits to him that “I am the lowliest apprentice (shagird) in your court.”^{^[626]}^{^[627] ^[628] ^[629]} Salâmân adds that “I found the very essence of wisdom (^cain-i hikmat) in everything you said.”7⁵Thus, Salâmân’s deference to the authority (ikhtiyar) of the Sage and his willingness to follow the Sage’s direction of his affairs (tadblr) corresponds to the power Ya'qüb granted Qâzï 'ïsâ to manage Àq Qoyünlü affairs, and the willingness of Ya'qüb to listen to the advice of Qâzï 'ïsâ on personal matters.

The corresponding roles of the Sage in the tale and of Qâzï 'ïsâ at the Àq Qoyünlü court are best exemplified by the contribution each makes to Salâmân’s repentance in Salaman va Absal, on the one hand, and to the public repentance of Ya'qüb at the Àq Qoyünlü court in 893/1488, on the other. In other words, the Sage, who acts as the instrument of the King’s himmat by directing Salâmân to renounce his lust for Absâl, symbolizes Qâzï 'ïsâ, who, according to the Âlam-arâ-yi. amlnl, was the driving force behind Ya'qüb’s renunciation of his licentious behavior. The equation of Qâzï 'ïsâ with the Sage follows if we accept that Salâmân is a symbol of Ya'qüb and Absâl is a symbol of wine. The role of the Sage in Salâmân’s renunciation of Absâl is therefore akin to Qâzï 'ïsâ’s in ensuring that Ya'qüb abandoned his wine-drinking. Khunjï-Isfahânï informs us that Qâzï 'ïsâ actually presided over the ceremony at which Ya'qüb publicly repented and issued his prohibition against wine-drinking in Tabriz.7⁶ The ceremony was held at the Nasriyya tomb complex of Üzün Hasan, named after Üzün Hasan’s kunya, Abü al-Nasr. The account even mentions that Qâzï 'ïsâ, who is characterized in other sources as having a melancholy disposition, was evidently buoyant at what must have been a somber occasion.77

Allusions to Naqshbandl Spiritual Techniques in Salâmân va Absâl

Although not a character per se, Venus, who is referred to in Salaman va Absal as zuhra, is an important element in the historical symbolism of the tale. It will be recalled that the description of the image of Venus is the object with which the Sage replaces the memory of Absâl as the focus of Salâmân’s devotion.^{^[630]} Unlike the traditionally negative view of Venus in medieval Persian thought, which regards her as representative of the physical beauty of woman, carnality, and vanity, the image of Venus in Salaman va Absal is very positive?^{^[631]} The positive depiction is consistent, however, with the significance of the planet Venus in the Zoroastrian tradition where she is associated with the deity Anâhitâ, who was venerated by the Achaemenids^{^[632]} On a theosophical level, Salâmân’s adoration of Venus, who represents a divine theophany, is an example of Spiritual Love, which is to say hubb ruharn, which Ibn al-'Arabi indicates will lead the adept to Divine Love (hubb ilaht), which is the goal of the Sufi mystical quest^{^[633]}

Not unrelated to the theosophical significance of Venus is the symbolism of her image in terms of Sufi devotional practices, especially as this image relates to the mystical technique of rabita, the process by which the Sage, by means of his himmat, impresses the image of Venus on the heart of Salâmân, thereby leading him to the spiritual state of annihilation (fana’).8^{^[634]} The concept of rabita was first mentioned by Najm al-Din Kubrâ, in his Fawa’ih al-jamal wafawatih al-jalal and by Shihâb al-Din Abü Hafs 'Umar Suhrawardi (d. 632/1234), in his Awarifal-ma’arf?^{^[635]} This spiritual technique, along with muraqaba (contemplation) and zikr, formed the basis of most Naqshbandi devotional regimens, especially during the ninth/fifteenth century^{^[636]} The Rashahat-i ^cain al-hayat indicates that the Naqshbandi shaikh Khvâja ‘Udaid Allâh Ahrâr, who was often engaged in worldly affairs, relied heavily on rabita and himmat, most probably because it allowed him to guide his disciples without being physically present. This penchant for using the techniques of rabita and himmat is reflected in statements attributed to ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar in the Rashahat-i ^cain al-hayat. For example, according to ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar, when it comes to effecting the spiritual enlightenment of an adept, himmat is superior to the traditional methods, which is to say, doing good deeds, engaging in asceticism, realizing one’s powerlessness, and humbling oneself before God.^{^[637]} When asked to explain the superiority of himmat, ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar purportedly replied:

Seeking assistance through the himmat of the pir and [his] spiritual concentration (tavajjuh) is superior because it is through [the pir's] spiritual concentration that the disciple (talib) realizes his own powerlessness vis-à-vis God. The pir then becomes [for him] the means of tavajjuh and of obtaining proximity to God. Attaining this result is closer [than the other methods]. For whatever the goal of the talib, this method produces faster results since it is continually derived from the himmat of the pir^{^[638]}^{^[639]
^[640]}

According to Naqshbandi writers, rabita (also referred to as tasavvur-i shaikh) involves the disciple impressing the visual form (sürat) of the face of his shaikh in his mind. In so doing, the disciple annihilates his egoself (nafs) and assimilates his entire being to the virtuous qualities of his shaikh, who at this stage and by way of his implanted image, becomes a conduit for the infusion of divine energy (faiz).87 The shaikh, according to ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar, becomes the “qibla” of the self-naughted disciple.88 This mutual concentration, which is referred to in Naqshbandi sources as nisba (literally, “relation”), produces a spiritual state (hal) wherein the being of the disciple is transmuted into the perfect Sufi saint^{^[641]}

Jami’s allusion to this “televisual” Naqshbandi technique in Salaman va Absal indicates that, in addition to writing a Perso-Islamic mirror for princes that was a veiled account of dramatis personae at the court of Ya'qüb, Jami was communicating a core Naqshbandi doctrine to his Àq Qoyünlü audience in Tabriz.^{^[642]}^{^[643]} Considered alongside the personal letters and panegyric odes that Jami addressed to Ya'qüb, writings which are replete with terminology associated with Naqshbandi spiritual practices (e.g., rabita, nisba, suhbat, himmat, khalvat), the tale of Salaman va Absal represents a subtle attempt by Jami to familiarize Ya'qüb with some of the doctrines of the Naqshbandiyya. One could even construe the message implied throughout these writings, namely that the adept of the Naqshbandi path can progress spiritually without the physical presence of a shaikh, thanks to the concept of rabita, as Jami’s invitation to Ya'qüb to place himself under his spiritual guidance from a distance^¹ Although there is no evidence in the sources to suggest that Ya'qüb was a member of the Naqshbandi order, it does appear that Salaman va Absal, in addition to commemorating his public repentance, provided Ya'qüb with a glimpse into the state of being a Naqshbandi disciple^{^[644]}

The Date of Completion of Salaman va Absal

Until now, most scholars have held the view that Jami composed Salaman va Absal in 855/1480, and that he dedicated it to Ya'qüb to commemorate his accession to the throne^{^[645]} There is, however, internal evidence in Salaman va Absal, as well as indications in contemporary sources that suggest Jami completed the work later than 855/1480 and that he dedicated it to Ya'qüb in commemoration of his public repentance from wine-drinking, which took place in 893/1488.^{^[646]} This combination of internal and external evidence leads us to doubt that Jami’s interest in Ya'qüb’s spiritual and ethical development began with Salaman va Absal. Instead, we may conclude that this esoteric mirror for princes was the culminating gesture of an aging poet whose blessings and good counsel Ya'qüb had repeatedly sought in the past.

As mentioned in chapter 2, the dominant theme of Salaman va Absal is repentance (tauba), which is generally understood to be contrition for the commission of a sin. It also has a technical meaning in Sufism, denoting the first necessary step in the initiation of an adept into the Sufi path^{^[647]}^{^[648] ^[649]}What emerges from our historical interpretation of Salaman va Absal is that, besides its theosophical significance, tauba has a profane meaning that clearly relates to Ya'qüb’s repentance from wine-drinking. In the section in which Jami praises Ya'qüb’s turning away from/renunciation (ijtinab) of things prohibited by Islamic law (manahi), Jami is unambiguous in stating that Ya'qüb was a persistent drunkard:

For an entire lifetime you drank wine and were senseless,

You became a slave of its good and bad edicts.

From all that wine drinking and merriment,

What have you gained, other than losses?

If you spend another hundred years in such a way,

You will arrive at something even more vexing than this.

Acknowledge the concupiscence of last year,

And compare the coming year with that previous one.9⁶

The suggestion that Ya'qüb had renounced wine-drinking at the time Salaman va Absal was completed is given several lines earlier when Jami says of Ya'qüb: “Though at first his lips were polluted with wine (bada), in the end, he washed his lips of that [wine] with the water of repentance (ab-i tauba).”9⁷

Such backhanded praise, especially as it implies that Ya'qüb’s winedrinking lasted many years, hardly seems the stuff of a coronation gift, as has usually been assumed. The passage instead reads like a cautionary reminder of Ya'qüb’s darker days, and its blunt accusation suggests that Jami and Ya'qüb were not, at the time, recent acquaintances, but that theirs was a relationship cultivated over time.

In an earlier section of Salaman va Absal, there is another, albeit minor, indication of a later date of composition; here, Jami relates that “for many years” (salha) it had been his desire to be a panegyrist (maddah) for Ya'qüb. ^{^[650]}^{^[651]} Elsewhere, in a section entitled “The reason for composing the book and the motive for submitting this discourse,” Jami gives the impression that he wrote Salaman va Absal in order to praise Ya'qüb “again,” that is, after he had already produced a sizeable corpus of literary works.99 He claims that, with his Salaman va Absal, he is “innovating” (nauJ midaham) the art of praising a ruler and introducing a new way of delivering a panegyric, but that proper recognition of its novelty was unimportant, since, as he tellingly puts it, “I have [already] created the [other] masnavîs.”^{^[652]}Adding to the sense that these other masnavis belonged to the past, Jami adds, “my mind is finished with the likes of them.”^{^[653]}^{^[654]
^[655]}

Perhaps the most compelling indication that Jami composed and dedicated Salaman va Absal well after 855/1480, and thus during the twilight of his career, is his description of his own infirmity. Characterizing himself as toothless, blind, and hunchbacked, Jami, who died in 897/1492, sounds like a man at the end of his life. He says that his “life has passed,” that his “soul is diminished, and death is near”:^W2

My mother is the earth, and I am its suckling,

It is not strange that a mother’s inclination should be for her children.

Soon it shall be that, at rest from tribulation,

I will fall into my mother’s bosom in an intoxicating sleep.^W3

Jami’s lament provides further evidence that Salaman va Absal was written and dedicated to Ya'qüb well after 855/1480 and closer to Jami’s death in 897/1492.

This is corroborated by other sources, namely the Àlam-ârâ-yi. amlnl by Khunji-Isfahâni and the Tazkirat al-shu’ara’ by Daulatshâh Samarqandi. In his notice for the events of the year 892/1487, Khunji-Isfahâni does not mention Salaman va Absal in his albeit brief and rather vague description of Jâmi’s literary works. The entry, which proves that Ya'qüb was acutely interested in Jâmi’s poetry, refers only generally to Jâmi’s qasldas, his Dlvan, and his poems (ash'ñr).^{^[656]} This absence, together with the fact that Ya'qüb dispatched a delegation to Herat in that same year in order to present Jâmi with 10,000 Shahrukhl dinars, suggests that Jâmi had not yet completed Salaman va Absal at the time and that Ya’qüb’s monetary offering may in fact have been an inducement to convince Jâmi to dedicate a work to him.

Daulatshâh does not mention Salaman va Absal either in his Tazkirat al-shu^cara. Completed in 892/1487, the work is a contemporary Persian biographical anthology of poets. It profiles seven generations (tabaqat) of Arabic and Persian poets, including seven contemporaries of the author.^W5Jâmi is among the living poets listed by Daulatshâh who were writing under the patronage of Sultân-Husain Bâyqarâ. One would expect that, had Jâmi completed his Salaman va Absal at the time, Daulatshâh would have mentioned it in his notice on him. This, however, is not the case. Besides a qaslda written in response to the Bahr al-abrar by Amir Khusrau (d. 725/1325), the entry only mentions Jâmi’s Dlvan, Nafahat al-uns, personal letters (munsha’at), treatises on poetic riddles (mu'amma), and unspecified books on Sufism (tasavvuf ); he lumps the remainder of Jâmi’s poetical works into javabs, or literary responses, to the works of Nizâmi, which are in the style of the Khamsa^06 It would therefore appear that the masnavls that Jâmi patterned after the Khamsa, namely, Tuhfat al-ahrar, Subhat al-abrar, Yusuf va Zulaikha, Laill va Majnun, and Khirad-nama-i Iskandarl, were all completed before Salaman va Absal, a tale which does not figure in Nizâmi’s Khamsa.

Conclusion

Like earlier versions of the tale of Salâmân and Absal, the rendition by Jami expresses, in the form of an allegory, the spiritual transformation of man. As this chapter has attempted to demonstrate, the characters and key events contained in Salaman va Absal are symbols of the purification of the soul and its attainment of its true, higher self. Accordingly, Jami’s version of the tale reveals this theosophical plane of meaning through its subtle, yet unmistakable, indication that each character collapses into and is absorbed by the person of the chief protagonist, Salaman, who in reconciling the constituent parts of his aggregate self, achieves gnosis, that is to say, mystical knowledge of the reality of the one-ness of God.

Jami was not the first Persian poet to express this theosophical concept by means of an allegorical tale. In addition to its Hellenistic and Avicennan roots, Salaman va Absal was patterned after the first tale in the Masnavî of Rümi. This contention is supported by two observations. First, Jami quotes a pivotal line from Rümi’s tale in order to signal that Salaman va Absal, like the story of the king and handmaiden, is meant to be read allegorically. Second, and no less significantly, Salaman va Absal is written in the same metre as the Masnavî and plays on key words and concepts contained in it. Both tales describe the three types of love, which form the basis of the mystical quest and which were most extensively explicated in the speculative writings of Ibn al-'Arabi. The culmination of this tripartite love is the visionary experience of the heart—an event captured at the end of Salaman va Absal and symbolically depicted by Salaman’s accession to the throne—in which the spiritual adept actualizes the creation myth of Adam and becomes the true vicegerent (khalifa) of God on earth.

In addition to explaining the theosophical significance of Salaman va Absal, this chapter also posits that the characters in the allegorical tale symbolize Ya'qüb and prominent members of the Àq Qoyünlü royal court. This assertion hinges on the premise that Jami intended Ya'qüb to recognize that Salaman was in fact a symbol of himself and that Salaman’s love for and subsequent renunciation of his beloved Absal was a symbolic expression of Ya'qüb’s addiction to alcohol and his public repentance from wine-drinking in 893/1488. Thus, Jami’s citation of the line by Rümi concerning the identities of “the lovers,” though ostensibly referring to Salaman and Absal, refers, according to an historical reading of Salaman va Absal, to Ya'qüb and wine. It appears that Jami composed and dedicated his Salaman va Absal to Ya'qüb sometime between 893/1488 and 896/1490, which is to say that the poem was written in commemoration of Ya'qüb’s repentance from wine-drinking, and not, as others have argued, as a gift honoring his accession to the throne in 855/1480. Support for this contention is found in Salaman va Absal, particularly the numerous allusions it contains to Ya'qüb’s alcoholism. Ya'qüb would also have recognized that the King of ancient Greece and the Sage, who direct Salaman away from Absâl and toward his kingly duties, were symbols of the ideal of kingship and Ya'qüb’s vazîr, Qazï 'Isa, respectively. The vital role played by the Sage in convincing Salaman to abandon Absal appears to symbolize the role played by Qâzï 'Isa in securing Ya'qüb’s repentance. Salaman va Absal was thus dedicated to Ya'qüb after his public repentance in 893/1488 and it reflects the shaikh-like roles played by Jamï and Qazi 'Isa in maintaining the sobriety of the Àq Qoyünlü ruler and in fostering his abiding interest in Sufi mysticism. Finally, this chapter suggests that the means by which the Sage guides Salaman toward the image of Venus, in order to attain mystical enlightenment can be viewed as an allusion to certain Sufi, specifically Naqshbandï, spiritual techniques.

Saloman va Absal might appear to be a grotesque tale as described by modern scholars of Persian literature. However, if we recognize that the repellent features of the narrative, namely the affair between a young prince and his wet-nurse, deemed incestuous according to Islamic standards, are precisely the means by which Jami reveals key mystical concepts while also communicating Perso-Islamic ideals of kingship, then the tendency to dismiss Salaman va Absal as one of Jami’s lesser achievements is no longer tenable. This is even more the case if we acknowledge that Salaman va Absal also operates on the level of an historical allegory, which conveys valuable historical information about its addressee, the Àq Qoyünlü ruler Ya'qüb, and members of his court. Salaman va Absal should be appreciated as a complex allegory that contains multiple planes of meaning. It is a highly-crafted Perso-Islamic manual of moral advice, or mirror for princes, which by way of its symbolic allusions, explicates the Sufi path of self-purification while also referring to the personal quest of a medieval Islamic ruler for sobriety from drink.

As this study has attempted to demonstrate, Jami was not the first Muslim intellectual figure to write an allegorical romance whose main characters were named Salaman and Absal. Ibn Sina’s Kitab al-Isharat wa al-tanblhat contains a trilogy of visionary tales of which Salaman wa Absal is the third and culminating one. Although the original text is lost, synopses of Ibn Sina’s Salaman wa Absal are contained in the commentaries written on it by Fakhr al-Din Razi and Nasir al-Din Tüsi. Implied in the hermeneutics of Tüsi is the notion that the Salaman and Absal story was originally Greek and that it entered Islamdom through an Arabic translation by Hunain b. Ishaq.

While recognizing the Avicennan and Greek provenance of the tale, this study hypothesizes that Jami based his own version more immediately on the first narrative in the Masnavî-yi ma'navî of Rümi. By examining the numerous parallels between Salaman va Absal and Rümi’s tale about the king and his handmaiden, including the fact that they share the same masnavî form and metre, we posited that Jami uses the allegorical tale of Rümi to indicate that his version of Salaman and Absal contains multiple levels of meaning. Evidence to support this claim is contained in Salaman va Absal itself, specifically in a line where Jami quotes Rümi in order to suggest that the grotesqueness of the narrative is really a “garment” that

is meant to disguise its deeper meaning. As this study demonstrates, these other planes of meaning allow Salaman va Absal to operate simultaneously as a Perso-Islamic mirror for princes, a Sufi manual on the annihilation of the carnal self, and an historical account of Ya'qüb’s repentance from wine-drinking.

In order to establish that these multiple meanings would have been recognized and appreciated by Ya'qüb, this study argues that the patronage of Persian poets was quite extensive and literary tastes were sophisticated at the Àq Qoyünlü court. Moreover, by examining contemporary historical and literary sources, including poems addressed by Jami to Ya'qüb, personal letters, official chronicles, hagiographies, and literary anthologies, we concluded that Sufi mystics (esp. members of the Khalvati and Naqshdandi orders) were politically important to the Àq Qoyünlü. Their esoteric writings and presence at court ensured that the mystico-political advice contained in Salaman va Absal would not have gone unappreciated. Indeed, by highlighting key passages from several classic Perso-Islamic mirrors for princes, especially the Akhlaq-i Jalal! by Jalal al-Din Davani, and comparing them with the “advice” (naslhat) contained in Salaman va Absal, our contention is that the ideals of medieval statecraft were often communicated to the Àq Qoyünlü in the esoteric and mystical writings of the Sufis. A tale like Salaman va Absal was therefore intended to be a manual for Sufi aspirants and princes, or better still, for a Sufi-prince.

This combination of spiritual and political counsel is evinced throughout Salaman va Absal. It is grounded, however, in Jami’s advice to Ya'qüb on being the true shadow, or vicegerent, of God on earth, which is to say, the Perfect Man (al-insan al-kamil) who combines all the attributes of a Sufi saint (val!) and the qualities of a just ruler (padshah-i ^cadil). According to Jami, attaining this degree of perfection requires that the ruler heed the prayers of the Sufis, which according to this study is an indication that the Àq Qoyünlü court of Ya'qüb was influenced by Sufi mystics whose spiritual insights and political opinions he seems to have coveted. Another requirement implied in Salaman va Absal is that the ruler must repent for his sins, just as an adept embarking on the first stage of the Sufi path is required to do. Part and parcel of this repentance (tauba) is the need for the ruler (i.e., Ya'qüb) to subdue his carnal soul (nafs) by transforming it from one that commands to evil (al-nafs ammara bi-al-sü’) into one that blames itself (al-nafs al-lawwama) for its sins. As has been demonstrated in this study, the process by which the soul abandons evil acts and reaches the purified state of being at peace (al-nafs al-mutma’inna) is symbolized by the character of Salaman, who, according to the commentary by Tüsi, stands as a symbol of the rational soul (nafs-i natiqa). Salâmân’s repudiation of his beloved Absal thus symbolizes the enlightened soul’s renunciation of carnal pleasures. Although usually a prerequisite for mystical progress, the abandonment of base desires is also implied in Salaman va Absal as a precondition for the just ruler. As a result, we find that Jami puts a unique spin on the perennial Iranian idea about religion (din) and kingship (daulat) being twin-brothers. According to the implicit political advice of Jami, the true shadow, or vicegerent, of God is the ruler who unites din with daulat by having personally attained the rank of both a Sufi saint (vali) and a just king (padshah-i ‘add).

The mystico-political significance of Salaman va Absal is reflected in the religious, which is to say, Sufi mystical atmosphere, and the political activities of the Àq Qoyünlü court, which was its intended audience. The contemporary sources used in this study, including the Âlâm-ârâ-yi. amini, Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya, Akhlaq-i Jalali, Menakib-i Gülçeni, Rauzat al-jinan wajannat al-janan, and the Rashahat-i ^cain al-hayat, indicate that itinerant dervishes and tariqa-affiliated Sufis exerted considerable influence over the Àq Qoyünlü rulers Üzün Hasan and his son Ya‘qüb. In spite of this, among the few investigations into prominent religious figures attached to the Àq Qoyünlü household, most have tended to focus on the roles of the Khalvati Sufi shaikh Dada ‘Umar Raushani and his spiritual heir, Ibrahim Gulshani, at the expense of other influential Sufis. By utilizing the abovementioned primary sources, this study demonstrates that, despite its reputation as the un-official Sufi order of the Timurid dynasty in Herat, the Naqshandi brotherhood and several of its representatives, namely Darvish Qasim and Sun‘ Allah Küzakunani, propagated the order in western Iran (especially Tabriz) and were involved in the spiritual and political activities of the Àq Qoyünlü royal court. Ironically, it was Jami, writing poetry and letters to Ya‘qüb from his residence in Herat, who appears to have exerted the most lasting Naqshandi influence over the Àq Qoyünlü. By examining the personal letters exchanged between Jami and Ya‘qüb, it seems that the two had a virtual master-disciple relationship. In fact, we have argued that the Naqshbandi technique of himmat, coupled with the order’s doctrine that a Sufi shaikh could direct his disciples without being physically present, suggests that Jami may indeed have served as Ya‘qüb’s shaikh, or spiritual master. The culminating point of their rapport was Jami’s dedication of his Salaman va Absal to Ya‘qüb to commemorate the latter’s public repentance from wine-drinking in 893/1488.

It would therefore be appropriate to assert that the reception of Salaman va Absal capped a decade-long effort by Ya‘qüb and his vazir, Qâzi 'îsâ Sâvajï, to cultivate Persian belles-lettres at the Àq Qoyünlü court. Although Tabriz never eclipsed the literary output of the Timurids under Sultân-Husain Bâyqarâ, the patronage of accomplished poets like Ahli Shïrâzï, Kamâl al-Din Banâ’i, Shahidi Qumi, and Bâbâ Fighâni by Ya'qüb, is another indication that the literary tastes of the Àq Qoyünlü were highly sophisticated. As a consequence, Ya'qüb and his retinue would no doubt have recognized Salaman va Absal as an esoteric work to be understood on several different levels. Evidence in support of this contention is contained in near-contemporary poetic anthologies written in Persian, namely the Hasht bihisht by Shâh-Muhammad Qazvini, which includes notices on some forty poets attached to the Àq Qoyünlü court of Ya'qüb. Along with the Tuhfa-i Sami and the Majalis al-'ushshâq, the Hasht bihisht yields valuable information on the personal lives of Ya'qüb and Qâzï 'îsâ, information which might explain why Jâmi addressed Salaman va Absal to the Àq Qoyünlü ruler. For example, Qâzi 'îsâ was banished from court because of his romance with Ya'qüb’s sister, and Ya'qüb himself, in addition to feuding with his uterine brother Yüsuf, was morose and constantly occupied with drinking.

As the final chapter of this study hypothesizes, the similarities between the narrative of Salaman va Absal and events at the Àq Qoyünlü court can be interpreted as art imitating life. That is to say, in writing Salaman va Absal, Jâmi created an historical allegory whose characters symbolically represented Ya'qüb and members of the Àq Qoyünlü court, and whose plot symbolically recounted the renunciation by Ya'qüb from his libertine habits and his apparent turn toward Sufi asceticism. In our reading of the text, Salâmân serves as a symbol for Ya'qüb, Absâl is a symbol of wine, the King of ancient Greece is a symbol of the ideal of kingship, and the Sage is a symbol of Qâzi 'îsâ. The killing of Absâl and the renunciation of her memory by Salâmân represents Ya'qüb’s abandonment of wine-drinking and his public repentance. The pivotal role played by the Sage in the moral reformation of Salâmân reveals the pivotal role played by Qâzi 'îsâ in the repentance of Ya'qüb, a claim supported by the Âlâm-ârâ-yi. amini by Khunji-Isfahâni. In recognizing the historical symbolism of Salaman va Absal, this study concludes that Jâmi dedicated his allegory to Ya'qüb around 893/1488 in order to commemorate the public repentance of the Àq Qoyünlü ruler and his prohibition of assorted vices in Tabriz. Our thesis maintains that the traditional wisdom that Jâmi dedicated Salaman va Absal to Ya'qüb as a coronation gift in 885/1480 can no longer be supported by the available evidence, and that the historical symbolism of the tale indicates not only that it was written sometime between 893/1488 and 897/1492, but that it was one of Jâmi’s final and most complex works.

APPENDIX ONE

JÀMÎ’S EPISTOLARY REPLY TO YA'QÜB¹

Translation

After the presentation of supplication and the expression of humility and meekness, the petition of the devotee of the lofty threshold of—He is still a refuge for the masses of created beings andfor the entirety of creation^{^[657]}^{^[658]}—he who, this needy one, [which is to say, someone] deserving of anonymity and worthy of one’s forgetfulness, praises and constantly calls to mind in an epistle, whose heart, like a point, turns into the center of the ambit of astonishment and the pivot of the circle of contemplation. If the lip of [this person’s] imprudence opens and appears in the form of a written reply, the sword of punishment will be drawn on account of the lofty awfulness of that side (Ya'qub) and the terror inherent in his majesty and propitious fortune. Verse:

When the brilliant sun becomes manifested,

How is it that a mere mote appears equal to it?

And if he pursues the habit of keen-hearing and sharp-wittedness, and retracts the tongue of weakness into the palate of silence, from this side (Jami), the entreaties of sincerity and allurements of affection and privilege will seize the collar of his soul, because:

When the cloud reaches effulgence, it is not pleasant for the lily,

Since all its petals, in their search of praise, do not retreat from the deluge.

Out of necessity then, the contemplation of both sides has come into view and the middle path [of inner vision] has appeared. Verse:

Like an echo from the mountain, neither silent nor spoken,

This good tiding is unceasingly exclaimed:

“May God always enjoin good fortune and divine assistance upon his soul, Peace!”

APPENDIX TWO

SALÀMÀN VA ABSÀL

Translation

In praise of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate.

Oh You, the memory of whom refreshes the souls of lovers,

The tongues of lovers are moistened by means of the water of Your grace.

From You, a shadow has fallen upon the world,

And become the very substance of the beautiful.

Lovers have fallen for that shadow,

They have remained melancholic, on account of that substance.

Only when the secret of Your beauty was manifested through Laili, Could the love for her kindle a fire in Majnun.

5 Only when You made the lips of Shirin like sugar, Could the two lovers suffer, livers engorged with blood.

Only when ‘Azrâ became silver-cheeked, on account of You, Could the eyes of Vamiq cry mercury-colored tears.

All this talk of beauty and love is because of You, and nothing more, The lover and the beloved are no one but You.

Oh You, for whom the beauty of the lovely ones is but the veil,

You have concealed Your face with the veil.

You nourish the veil through your own beauty,

From that, you give away the heart, like a veiled bride.

10 So completely is Your lovely face melded with the veil,

That one cannot differentiate the veil from Your face.

For how long then will You be a coquette in the veil?

A world love-plays with the form of the veil?

The time has come for You to loosen the veil in front of You,

To show Your own face, without the veil,

To make me selfless in my witnessing my true self,

And to free me from having to discern good and bad,

So that I may be a lover, made luminous for You, My eyes sown shut and thus unable to gaze at others.

Oh You, the path to whom is manifested in all modes of divine reality, There is nothing that concerns God’s creatures, except You.

Though I became a witness to every divine manifestation,

I do not see any other, except You in this world.

You unveil Your self in the outer form of the world,

You are the All-Knowing One, wrapped in the garment of Adam.

Duality cannot enter into Your sacred precinct, There is no talk there of particulars and universals.

My wish is that You will make me one out of this duality,

And thus give me a place in the spiritual station of unity,

So that, like the Kurd, I am delivered from duality,

And cry, “Oh God, am I me or You?”

If I am me, from where does this knowledge and power come, And if it is You, from where does this impotence and weakness arise?

The tale of the rustic Kurd, who, in the midst of a crowded town, fastened a gourd to his foot in order not to get lost.

There was a Kurd, who, on account of the vicissitudes of fate,

Traveled from the desert and mountain to the town.

He saw a city, full of clamor and loud cries, Coming to a boil, on account of its throngs of people.

The restless of the world were everywhere,

Running here, there, and up against one another.

That one, on the outside, wanted to come in,

While that other one, who was inside, wanted to go out.

That one went from right to left,

That other one, thought it better to go to the right.

When the poor Kurd saw the toil and commotion,

He left its midst and betook himself into a corner.

He said: “If I made a place in the ranks of men,

I might lose myself in that place.

If I do not fashion a token for my sake,

How can I find myself again?”

There was, by chance, a gourd lying there for him,

He tied the gourd to his foot, so that it would be a token,

So that if he lost himself in the city and streets, He could find himself again by looking at the gourd.

A clever person, one who quick to understood the importance of that secret,

Fell down in amazement, to the extent that the Kurd fainted right there.

At that moment he unfastened the gourd from the Kurd,

Tied it to his own body, and began to sleep.

When the Kurd awoke he saw the gourd

Tied onto the foot of the person in front of him,

35 He shouted at him: “Hey you weakling, get up,

For on account of you, I am confused by what I have done to myself!

Am I me or you? I do not know precisely,

If I am me, why is the gourd on your foot?

And if this is you, where am I? Who am I?

I am not being taken into account.

Oh God, I am the worthless Kurd,

My rank is lowlier than all Kurds.

Enlighten this poor Kurd through Your splendor,

Strain away these awful dregs through Your grace,

40 So that I am purified of that which contaminates vision,

And so that I become a salutatory draught for the People of the Heart,

Satisfying palates, one-by-one, like a wine cup,

If not by the jug, then at least by the cup.

And if this honor happens to befall me,

I will give praise to the Master of Both Worlds.

Praise of his Excellency, the Prophet Muhammad, the ring of servitude to whom is like a string of pearls around the necks of the powerful, and the brand of slavery to whom is like a mark of the goodfortune of the noble.

That master, for whom the cavalcade of kings are his servants, And who have hung the earring of his law in their ear,

For those good-fortuned ones, His face is the qibla of the soul, The dust of his laneway is the ka‘ba of hope.

45 His laneway became the kaba of every pilgrim,

The ka‘ba cannot do without a Zamzam well.

The Zamzam well is, in fact, his tear-soaked eyes,

The glistening of the Gnostics is on account of that Zamzam.

The cries of those who sprinkle Zamzam water on graves are, in fact, for him, The cries of the waterwheels at the Zamzam well are, in fact, on account of him.

Before him, the ka'ba was full of stone idols,

It was narrow for the seekers of God in His sacred precinct.

Through his striving, they were extirpated, root-and-branch, He cast them off into the desert of non-existence.

The path of religion was purified of its rocky terrain,

That path became a broad parade ground for the seekers of God.

The stepping ground of Abraham became perfect for him,

That station was exalted, on account of the auspiciousness of his arrival.

On the black stone of the ka‘ba he placed the title, Right Hand of God, On the Right Hand of God, he gave kisses in veneration.

Never on earth has the hand been given

A hand-kiss such as this for any person.

For all eternity he faced Marwa mountain near Mecca in purity, Carrying out his praiseworthy efforts on both mountain and plain.

He is the exordium of the manuscript of both worlds,

All the people of the world are beggars, and he is the master.

We eat morsels from the banquet table of his generosity,

We carry away leftovers from the bounty of his offerings.

An entire people, draught-stricken from a lack of devotion to God, Have hope that a bounty come from the palm of his hand.

Whoever gathers crumbs from the blessed banquet table, What despair is there, for him, from the misfortune of famine?

The tale of the proud slave, who, on account of the authority of his master, was not afraid, and who did not care about starvation and hardship.

A famine arose in the region of Egypt, so terrible

That every person, on account of their fear, threw their belongings into the

Nile river

Since they were not aware of a path to bread,

They threw the belongings of existence into water.

The value of each slice of bread was a life,

They continually cried “bread” and were giving up life.

A wise man saw a handsome slave,

Who was dragging the train of his hem in a glorious and coquettish way.

He had a mein, adorned like the orb of the sun,

His face was full-moon-like, undiminished from eating very little.

He was fresh-faced, full of laughter, and completely joyful,

Strutting proudly in every direction, like a cheerfully swaying branch

The wise man said to him: “Oh slave of glory and coquetry, For how long will you be disobedient and arrogant?

An entire world is abject and downcast, on account of their despair for bread,

Why are you this way, so carefree from sorrow?” To which he said:

“I keep a blessed master in my head,

I am swimming in his benefits.

His banquet table is full of bread and his house is full of grain,

The word ‘famine’ is missing from his household.

Why should I not be blithe and joyful in this way?

And in the process, be free from the bite of starvation?”

In praise of the king, the refuge of right religion, the shadow of God in both worlds over the heads of the weak and dispossessed, may God, be He exalted, prolong his rule.

Within the vaulted roof and foundations of this lofty dome, What is the task of the one who has received His bounty?

It is to dwell in the station of gratitude to Him, And in the bounties of the noble world-possessor.

The special bounty, which is effected through His command,

That bounty is the existence of the just king.

The just king is nothing except the shadow of God, The shadow of God is a refuge for mankind.

However much the essence of a person receives glory from this, In the eyes of the sages, there is something like it in the shadow.

This shadow is like the essence of the Master of the shadow, Be careful so that you do not look disdainfully on the shadow.

The shadow is a reflection of the essence of the One who holds the shadow, And is full of substance from the attributes of His essence.

Although in His essence He is concealed through His attributes,

He is manifested in every direction of this world through His shadow.

Through the majesty of kings,

Divine effulgence is manifested.

And if you require proof concerning this claim,

Go look upon the king, who is the refuge of the world.

He is a prince who has the vast ocean, left and right,

The entire purview of the kingship of Jamshid is under his royal sealing-ring.

Shah Ya‘qub is that world-possessor, who,

On account of his loftiness, humbles low the pinnacle of the heavens.

The dominion of existence is within the boundaries of his polo grounds, The ball of the world is within the curvature of his mallet.

The crescent moon kisses the dust kicked up from the horseshoe of his Rakhsh,

Its humped back is proof of this very fact.

At the top of this garden canopy, far from misery,

His strength became great from this act of supplication.

85 His hands revived the ancient Arabian custom of being noble, Raising even the fame of the generosity of Hatim.

His name is the exordium of the volume of justice,

His decrees are the fulcrum of the scales of justice.

The light of his justice has imprisoned the darkness of tyranny and oppression

In the night-chamber of non-existence.

On account of the beauty of his character, he became the hero of the age, This, he inherited from the good character of [Üzûn] Hasan.

The cavalcade of his father left for the gates of eternity,

On account of him, this beautiful nature remains as his inheritance.

90 The azure sky is but the foot of his throne,

The kings bow down in prostration before his pedestal,

No one refuses to bow down in front of his throne,

Whoever turns their head away from him would not find their head.

True cavalry-ship is to make one’s head the dust of his path, True excellence, is to turn one’s face towards his path.

Whoever’s head became dust on his path,

His dust was the crown of the head of the heavens.

Whoever honored the dust of his door,

In his eyes, every honor became a flowing watercourse.

95 My desire is to praise him, since, for many years

I have said that I find years of good fortune by praising him.

But I will cut short this chapter,

I will abbreviate this loquaciousness.

The body of the sun has arisen above the horizon,

An entire world prospers on account of its radiance.

It is not within the purview of the mere mote

To become a story-singer by praising him.

To sing his praises is not within the purview of just any person,

I spoke his name, and this very praise for him is sufficient.

The tale of the poet who intended to praise the king, but who presented an abbreviated composition in the name of the king.

100 A poet came before a famous king and said:

“Oh you, whose exalted crown scrapes the heavens,

I have composed a fresh poem in praise of you,

I have threaded a pearl, bright as the Sirius star.

Although a circle of many people have strung pearls of praise for you, Rarely have they composed a panegyric for you like this.”

At that moment he passed his composition into the hands of the king, In it, he inscribed the name of the king, and nothing more.

The king said to him: “Oh you, who are empty of intellect and reason, It is better that you be silent from this praise.

105 The imprint of your composition is the name, and nothing else, Mentioning the name of the person is not praising the person.

You have not described me in terms of my kingship and justice, You have not related news of my throne and crown.

Because you cited my name far away from these descriptions,

That is not an acceptable method of bringing praise.”

The poet said: “Oh king, by means of your fortunate name,

You will find fame in noble attributes.

Everyone who speaks your name, or who hears it,

What comes to his mind, except noble attributes?

110 Because your name points to these great attributes,

It becomes an entire ledger book of the noble attributes of perfection.

Although a book, other than this one, is not mentioned,

If I call that book “praise of you,” it is not far from those other attributes.

Demonstration of the inability to effect due praise and to raise the hand of humility in the pronouncement of the prayer for the king.

For the king, his excellence and virtue are without limit, Which faculty of intelligence could calculate that?

It is better that I now acknowledge my weakness, And that I raise an affirming cry for this inability.

This, in the eyes of the possessors of penetrating insight, is right religion, This is the secret of I cannot count the praises (foryou).1

¹la ahsi thana is part of a canonical hadith, the entirety of which reads: “Oh Lord I take refuge in Your good pleasure from Your wrath and in Your pardons from Your 115 Since I am unable to count the praises for Him,

It is better to be quiet and still in the act of my prayer—

Not a prayer that comes from any feeble-minded person Limited to the power of this [temporal] palace.

On the contrary, a prayer of the people of the heart,

Filled with the blessings of God,

Which brings happiness and joy in this world,

And which brings a life of salvation in the next world.

It places religion on the face of the heart of the king, It makes a pious form of Islamic governance his law.

120 His task is to become he who makes royal decrees obligatory, And to become the origin of everlasting good fortune.

So that this azure dome

Becomes the place of manifestation for the eastern sun.

May the royal throne be the place of manifestation of the King, May he always be mindful of the secrets of the Faith.

May he, at every moment, be succored by eternal grace, So that he becomes worthy of the everlasting kingdom.

May those who wish him well be free of misfortune, And may they be firmly established on the straight path.

In praise of the jewel of the mine of manly virtue, the architect of the pillars of brotherhood, the governor of the kingdom ofgrandeur and beauty, the Joseph of the Egypt of excellence and superiority.^{^[659]}^{^[660]} May God, who is exalted, make powerful his supporters and magnify his stature.

125 A good word, especially for he who is a helpful friend for Ya'qub, And who was manifested from the same womb.

He has made a place in the shadow of his prosperity, And fallen, like a shadow, in obedience to him.

Wherever the sun is, that one is the ray,

Wherever the leader is, that one is the follower.

Though he was born in the cradle of the caliphate, He has not planted one step in opposition to him.

He is the prince of the Egypt of grandeur and magnificence,

It was for that reason that they named him “Yusuf.”

130 His beautiful countenance was the envy of Joseph,

Like Zulaikha, an entire world is enamored of him.

Anyone who sets their sight on his cheeks,

They will call out: This is no mortal!^{^[661]}

Though he is one brother, among others, of the king, For the king, he is equal to a hundred souls.

He became both the brother and friend of the king,

This must be very rare in life.

The simple man once asked a sage:

“Oh you, who, by virtue of your proximity to knowledge, are unique among the noble,

135 Peel away the skin from this concealed subtle point:

Which is better, the brother or the friend?”

The one close to knowledge said: “Neither is better,

Since that particular brother will also be the friend.”

Oh God, so many months and years have passed at the head of the celestial wheel,

That separating the two bright stars of Ursa Major^{^[662]} ought to be impossible.

Keep these two stars shining together,

And keep them firmly situated on the throne of honor.

Description of infirmity, old age, and the inability to derive benefits from the senses.

It has been many ages that, in this ancient abode,

The strings of my verses were tied onto the lute of speech.

140 Every time I strike a new melody,

I speak about ancient happenings.

My life has passed, and this melody has not ended,

So too my soul is reduced, but this happening has not finished.

My back has become like the crooked harp, and yet,

Each night, I am engaged in the tuning of my lute, till daylight.

The lute is discordant, and time has made

The hands of the musician tremulous with old age.

How can the melody of the lute be harmonious,

How can the intonation of the musician be as fine as the zither?

The time has come for me to gently break this lute,

And cast it into the fire, so that I might smell its sweet fragrance.

It would be crude to play the lute badly,

It is pleasing to set the unmelodious lute on fire.

May it be so that the fragrance of the unmelodious lute is dispersed, And that from it comes the perfume of Reason and Faith.

It is good to fortify Reason and Faith,

For this body of mine is pointed in the direction of weakness.

If gaps appear in the row of one’s teeth,

How can one’s teeth chomp down on a morsel of food?

The incisors are too blunt to cut,

The molars are too worn away.

Now I must eat like a child,

Bread is first chewed with the teeth of other people.

My stature became bent, and my head remains slumped frontward,

I have become inclined in the direction of my own roots.

My mother is the earth, and I am its suckling,

It is not strange that a mother’s inclination should be for her children.

Soon it shall be that, at rest from tribulation,

I will fall into my mother’s bosom in an intoxicating sleep.

No use comes from my two eyes,

Even with Frankish glasses, which make them four.

So long as a foot-ache is my close companion,

My habit has been to sit on my knees.

My legs are too helpless for me to stand up,

Unless, that is, my forearm becomes a pillar for my body.

These failings are the unavoidable defects of old age,

Woe to that person who is afflicted with old age!

Every affliction that befalls the constitution from old age, The power of the physician is not enough to cure that.

The tale of the octogenarian who came to a physician and asked him for a cure for his infirmity, and the physician answered: “Your remedy is that you should become young and that you should go back in age from eighty to forty.”

A certain aged man, his lifetime spanning eighty years, Consulted a wise man, regarding the state of his infirmity.

He said: “My teeth have become too brittle to eat, They cannot perform properly the task of chewing.

Because the morsel does not soften in my mouth,

Digesting it in the stomach becomes difficult.

Since digestion in the stomach is incomplete,

How will bits of food bestow strength to my limbs?

You would do me a great favor,

Were you to remove this weakness from my teeth.”

165 The learned sage said to the old man:

“Oh you, whose heart has split in two, on account of the affliction of old age,

After eighty years, there is no remedy for your infirmity,

Other than youth, and that is impossible.

The row of your teeth will be strengthened,

If, from these eighty, you go back forty.

But you are not empowered with the ability to retrace them,

If, however, you reconcile yourself to this weakness, you will not be far from that which you seek.

When the appointed time grants you a separation from the body, It will deliver you from all of your weaknesses.

The reason for composing the book and motive for presenting this address.

170 The weakness of old age has broken the strength of my constitution, It has closed down the path of contemplation in my mind.

The comprehension of eloquence has vanished in my heart, The eloquence of speech has disappeared from my lips.

It is better that I draw my head into the collar of silence, And draw my foot into the skirt of oblivion.

These two couplets from the MasmavTyi Maulavî [Rumi]

Have a powerful relevance to my state of being:

“How should verse-making and rhyming come to me,

Especially after the foundations of my sanity are destroyed?

175 I contemplate rhyming, and my beloved says to me:

‘Do not contemplate anything except the sight of me!’ ”

Who is the beloved? It is He whose abode is in hearts,

All of the souls are His treasury of secrets.

He is aware of His own abode,

It therefore is better that you keep a dwelling vacant for Him,

So that when He sees that the stranger is far from Him, He will make that abode His place of manifestation.

For everyone with a share of this knowledge,

How could any other meaning be acceptable?

180 However, kings are also shadows of Him,

They are full of His attributes and His essence.

Mentioning them is, in reality, remembering Him,

Thinking of how to describe their qualities is to contemplate Him.

Perforce, in spite of my deficient petition,

By praising the king, I am seized by the buttonhole.

But to praise him, in the ancient palace of this world,

It is necessary that it be done in a wide-open space.

I will make that vast space with this masnavî,

I will employ a new method of praise for Him.

185 Otherwise, I have already created the other masnavîs,

My mind is finished with the likes of them.

In particular, the versification of this book is for His sake, It is the manifestation of the signs of His grace and might.

So that when a particular occasion arises,

I will be engrossed in the remembrance of Him.

I will praise Him in the form of pure speech,

I will pray to Him through lamentation and weeping.

Because I do not have, at hand, the hem of nearness to Him,

I must sit in conversation with Him.

The tale of Majnün, who, while in the desert, made his finger into a pen and wrote a notation on a tablet of sand like the geomancers. They asked, “What is this writing, andfor whom has it been written?”Majnün answered, “This is the name of Lailî. By writing her name, I am engaging in love making because she is not present.”

190 A certain vagabond saw Majnün

Seated alone in the middle of the wilderness.

He had made a pen out of his fingers, and in the sand,

Was tracing a letter with his hand.

The traveler said: “Oh you, who are a frenzied lover, what is this,

To whom are you writing this letter?

All that suffering you will endure by inscribing it,

The blade of the cold autumn wind will, in a flash, erase it.

How long will it remain on the tablet of sand,

So that another person, after you, reads it?”

Majnun said: “I am giving a description of Laili’s beauty,

And I am setting my mind at ease.

First, I write her name,

After that, I will write the book of love and fidelity,

There is nothing but her name in my hand,

And from that name, my lowly person finds loftiness,

Though not having tasted a single drop from her cup, I am, nevertheless, making love-play with her name.”

Discourse on the success of his Excellency, refuge of the caliphate, in abstaining from certain prohibited things. May God, glory be to Him, bring success to him in piety and redemption in this world and the next.

Oh excellent is a king who, in the time of his youth, Finds benefits from repentance, just like the aged do.

Though, at first, his lips were polluted from wine,

In the end, he washed his lips of that wine with the water of repentance.

The wine cup, with all that water of joy,

Has remained dry-lipped and far from his audiences.

The wine jug, its belly void of that which is forbidden, Betakes itself into a corner, just like ascetics of good repute.

Having been excluded from the inner sanctuary of his banquets, The pitcher, with its head in its hands, heaves hundreds of dry “alas-es.”

Even though the flagon once raised its head for him,

It has been forsaken, on account of his repentance, its hand on its neck.

How will the goblet again discover wine?

Henceforth, may its only task be to measure the wind.

For animals, it is all just eyes and ears,

Intellect and reason are the property of man.

Oh you, a person who is aware, wine is the enemy of awareness, Do not permit the friend to be conquered by his enemy!

If fortune should sell half a barley grain’s worth of reason For two hundred ass-loads of pure gold.

It is better for the wise man, since he spent a lifetime suffering

To buy those two grains of reason and understanding,

Never taking one or two draughts of wine in his palm,

And thus, all at once, squandering the coin of wisdom,

Never setting his foot outside the boundary of wisdom,

And thus driving his prized possessions to the limits of madness.

For an entire lifetime you drank wine and were senseless, You became a slave of its good and bad edicts.

From all that wine drinking and merriment, What have you gained, other than losses?

If you spend another hundred years in such a way,

You will arrive at something even more vexing than this.

Acknowledge the concupiscence of last year,

And compare the coming year with that previous one.

The tale of the tailor who made a living patching Sufi cloaks and who bought a little bit of every type of fresh fruit, and bringing it to his wife and children to eat, said: “Be content with this and do not scratch the cheek of good intention with the thought of more, because the taste of this fruit is not like this all year, nor am I able to purchase more than this.”

A certain patch-maker was within the confines of Rayy,

His mind contented with patch sewing.

His back was bent under the burden of family matters, Since he had a fistful of tender-aged children.

He was occupied, day and night, in mending

The dervish cloak of his livelihood.

When the fruits of the New Year ripened,

He set his heart on every single fruit.

For the benefit of his family, and with hundreds of types of stratagems, He acquired that fruit, bosom full, and underarms too.

He proudly poured all of the fruit out in front of them, So that they were completely satisfied from eating all of it.

After that, he said: “Oh you, who are lowly ones,

Born upon the carpet of toil and despair,

Even if a hundred loads of this fruit fell into your grasp, All of them have the same flavor, scent, and color.

So renounce your concupiscence and your greed,

And incline your nature toward contentment!

Since I am lowly, like dust under the foot of poverty, Nothing more than this will ever come from my hand.”

On the fact that carrying through with the determination to renounce sin is dependent upon the will of God, glory be to Him. If it is fulfilled, gratitude must be given, otherwise one must beg for pardon.

Repentance is like a glass bottle, Divine decree like rock, How can a glass bottle do battle with a stone?

When Divine decree becomes the agent Repentance will be solidly founded;

And if Divine decree does not become its (i.e., tauba’s) agent There is no happiness except in acquiescing to His judgments;

The repentance-granter and repentance-breaker are both Divine decree, Attributing these things to oneself is to sin.

230 If divine decree grants repentance, express gratitude,

If not, run, like a person who sinned, and follow the path of contrition.

For repentance is to be penitent over the past,

And, for the present, to abandon acts of rebellion.

It is to also resolve that, in the future,

You will overcome acts of disobedience.

If, let us suppose, this determination of yours is not met—

After all the choice to do so is not in your hands—

Do not sleep for one moment, neglectful of rectifying it, Though you fell into the mire, do not sleep in the muck.

235 Resolve to again stand up to sin,

Evermore to be in communion with repentance.

May it come to pass that the bounty of God brings you back to the right path,

And the good fortune of this resolution leads you away from sin.

The tale of the wine-worshipper who attained the ranks of perfection, and who, when asked the reason for that perfection, replied, “It is because I am so blessed that whenever I bring the goblet of spiritual wine to my lips, my intention in doing so is that I not stain them with a different, phenomenal goblet.

A wine-worshipper turned his face toward the path of repentance, And made a place, away from sin, in the refuge of repentance.

On account of repentance, he attained spiritual stations, And ensnared the quarry of sainthood.

A very insightful person asked him:

“Oh you who have planted your foot on the highest frontier of perfection,

For many years you busied yourself with wine drinking,

From which quality, did you attain this saintly grace?”

He answered: “Whenever I rest the cup of spiritual wine on my lip,

For the sake of joy and rapture,

Rarely does it ever pass through my mind that

I would again raise my hand to a cup of phenomenal wine.

Apart from this, no other desire comes into my heart,

Except that I should wash my heart of the joy of phenomenal wine.

The auspiciousness of this intention led me to success, It opened before me hundreds of doors of good fortune.

Indication regarding a dream that this poet saw while composing this preface, and the interpretation of that dream in such a way that set his mind at ease.

When, at night, I reached this very part of the discourse,

And in the midst of thinking of You, sleep overtook me,

I saw myself on a very long path,

Pure and luminous, like the hearts of the People of the Secret.

The dust of it was not stirred by the wind,

The water on it did not mix with its earth.

In short, it was a path without dust or clay,

I walked upon that path peacefully.

Suddenly, the noise of an army, full of tumult,

Entered my ears from behind on that path.

The clamor of the heralds wrenched my heart from its place, And took wits from my head and strength from my legs.

Seeking an escape, a way to avert calamity

Entered my eyes in the form a lofty portal.

When I took refuge in that direction,

I was secure from the calumny of the army.

From among them appeared the father of the King of the Age,

That one most fair5 in name, character, and countenance,

A mount as high as the heavens beneath his thighs,

His face luminous, like the sun and the moon,

Majestic vestments swaddling his breast,

And a camphor-white turban bound to his head.

He turned the reigns toward me, joyful and smiling, With his smile the door of ease opened to me.

When he arrived in front of me, he alighted, Kissed my hand, and showed sincere concern for me.

I was gladdened by those gestures, which were charitable, Relived at his expressions of humility.

In speaking with me, he scattered an abundance of pearls,

But none of them remained in my ears.

260 At daybreak, when I rose from my pillow,

I asked my heart for the interpretation of this dream.

It said to me: “The favor and approbation of the king Comes as proof of his acceptance of your poetry.

Do not sit quietly, because of this conversation, for even one moment, Since you started it, endeavor to complete it.”

When I heard my heart disclose this dream interpretation, Like a pen, I girded my loins for the task of writing.

May it be that, the source from which this dream sprang, Be that same place from which this interpretation proceeds.

The tale of the interpretation of the dream for that simple man by way of mockery and derision, and that dream coming true without the slightest alteration or change.

265 A certain simple, having fallen from the path of reason, Went before that interpreter of dreams.

He said: “At the crack of dawn, I saw myself in a dream, Perplexed, and in a desolate and ruined village.

Wherever I looked, there was a house in the distance, It was without walls and in a ruinous state.

When I set foot in one of the ruins,

My foot hit upon a treasure.”

Laughing, the dream interpreter said to the poor fellow:

“Oh you who have been made rich by way of the treasure, kuntu kanz,^{^[663]}

270 Throw clogs made of iron on your feet,

Split granite in two and cleave the mountains.

Whenever you travel to a place of ruin,

Stamp hard upon the ground.

Wherever your foot makes a depression in the soil, Make a pit in that place with your fingernails.

When you break apart the earth in this fashion,

I have no doubt that a treasure will fall into your hands.”

When, on account of the sincerity of his faith, the simple man

Departed and acted in accordance with the words of the interpreter,

275 He started his quest, and did not suffer in his search, His foot found treasure in the very first step.

There must be sincerity in every one of your actions, So that the hem of your desire remains in your hands!

If it so happens that your sincerity wavers, even the least bit, All of your searching is for naught.

Beginning the story with the appearance^{^[664]} of Saloman and Absal

There was a King in the land of Greece,

Who, like Alexander, possessed the crown and royal sealing-ring.

During his reign, there was a certain Sage,

Who made firm the foundation of the palace of wisdom.

280 One by one, the people of wisdom became his students,

All of them sat in a circle around him.

When the King realized the eminence of his rank, He consorted with him in private and in public.

He did not travel one step without consulting him, He sought no other desire than his instruction.

Then he managed to completely conquer the world, He subdued everything from Qaf to Qaf.

On account of his justice and munificence, the affairs of God’s creatures were well ordered,

His kingship stood firm on that foundation.

285 If the king is not himself a sage,

Or if a sage is not his friend and boon-companion,

The foundation of the palace of his kingship is weak, And rarely will the laws of his commands be correct.

Ignorant of the attributes and hallmarks of justice and tyranny, He cannot distinguish justice from tyranny.

He applies tyranny in the place of justice,

He treats justice as if it were disgraceful, like injustice.

The world is thus ruined through his tyranny,

On account of him, the wellspring of kingship and religion is a mirage.

290 That far-sighted one has spoken well:

“It is justice not religion that keeps kingship stable.

An infidel king who proceeds with justice

Is better for kingship than a pious king who is a tyrant.”

Pointing to what God, may He be praised and exalted, said to David, peace be upon him, about the ancient kings of Iran.

God said to the prophet David:

“Oh man of excellent discernment, tell your community

That when they mention the kings of Iran,

They should not utter their names, except with respect.

Although their religion was fire worship,

Their customary law was based on justice and rectitude.

295 For centuries the world flourished on account of them, The darkness of tyranny was far from their subjects.

The servants, at ease from the torment of worry, Knew only quiet repose, on account of their justice.”

The manifestation of the wish for a son, on the part of the felicitous King, and the discourse of the Sage on that subject.

When, in accordance with the counsel of the well-known Sage,

The world became stable under the King of Greece,

The world, from end to end, was subservient to him,

Making him the second Alexander.

No part of the surface of the world

Escaped the imprint of his royal sealing-ring.

300 One night, the King contemplated his situation,

He performed the duty incumbent upon a person with knowledge of God’s favor.

He found that the garment of good fortune suited him,

For whatever he sought from the stuff of dynastic fortune, he found it,

Except, that is, for a son, who, in glory and honor,

Would succeed him after his was gone.

When this thought appeared in the mind of the King, The Sage spoke right to him.

He said: “Oh you, whose duty it is to be king, May you be congratulated for your thought!

There is no better blessing than a son,

There is no deeper attachment for the soul, than for a son.

A man’s wish is realized through a son, A man’s name lives on through a son.

As long as you shall live, your eyes will be bright because of him, Because of him, when you die, your dust will become a rose garden.

When you fall down, he will take your hand, When you remain stuck in place, he will be your foot.

Your back becomes powerful through his support, Your life is renewed every time you see him.

In the ranks of battle, he is sharp, like a sword,

Raining arrows, like a storm cloud, onto the heads of the enemies.

When he and your allies all rout the enemy,

He strives, by way of the soul, they, by way of the body.

Your enemy trembles on account of his skills,

You could say, in fact, that his very purpose is to vanquish the enemy.

The story of the Arab who named his sons after beasts ofprey and who named his servants after beasts of burden.

A certain traveler, in order to find good fortune,

Passed the night in the home of an Arab.

He found that all of his sons, big and small, Bore the names of pack animals, like Lion and Wolf.

Everyone, from among his servants,

Were named Sheep or Lamb.

The traveler said to him: “Oh warrior from among the Arabs, Tonight I am astonished on account of these names.”

The Arab said: “My sons, who are a part of my cavalcade, Are well prepared for the task of defeating the enemy.

My servants, on the other hand, whose concern is domestic service, Are responsible for waiting on my guests.

Wolf and Lion are necessary to vanquish the enemy, That is, to be courageous in slaying the adversary.

For the sake of domestic tasks, Lamb or Sheep are better, Since no one suffers injury or loss from their deeds.

In condemnation of unworthy sons.

This, that I just said, is the state of the good son, He, who is well and truly linked to his origin.

On the other hand, the one possessed of bad thoughts and evil nature, There are thousands of ugly dispositions in his constitution.

It would be better for you to withhold from that son the thread of his lifetime,

So that you might prevent his wicked habits.

Noah, had an unworthy son,

His manner was vainglorious and ignorant of God’s will.

325 He suffered from the stigma of: “He is not of your people!”^{^[665]}

He did not, in the end, see the way to escape the Flood.

Since the condition of every child is not perfect,

Do not seek just any son from God—but

Such a son that, in the end,

It is not necessary to pray and to seek from God his death.

The tale of a person who appealed for help from a saint, that is, through the saint’s himmatfor the birth of a son, and who later sought assistance from the same saint in order to be free from his son’s wickedness.

A certain impertinent man went before a shaikh, His heart vexed on account of his being without a son.

He said: “Oh shaikh, direct your himmat at me!

So that God, the Omnipotent, grants me good fortune,

330 A tender cypress, to grow from my water and clay, From whose existence, my heart will be put at ease.

That is to say, a young boy to come to my side,

From whose beauty, my eyes will be brightened.”

The shaikh said: “Do not trouble yourself,

Leave this matter to God.

For, in every matter that you set your sight and mind to,

God knows your best interests better than you.”

The man said: “Oh shaikh, but I am a prisoner of this desire,

Do not withhold your favor from me!

335 Be, by way of prayer, the conduit of my wellbeing,

So that my desire is quickly realized!”

The shaikh, in a state of prayer, raised his hands,

His arrow sailed from the archer’s thumbstall and struck the target.

A boy, redolent of musk, like the wild deer of China,

And from the hunting ground of the Unseen realm, became his quarry.

But when the sapling of lust and the branch of desire

Sprouted in his water and clay,

He took to drinking wine with cronies,

He began to expend his energy in pursuit of every desire.

340 Intoxicated, he situated himself on the edge of the roof,

He dishonored his neighbor’s daughter.

The husband of the girl fled his presence,

If not, he would have wanted to spill his blood with a dagger.

They informed the local constable of the spectacle,

He demanded cinch-purses of gold from the father of the boy.

Night and day, these were his affairs,

His conduct became notorious throughout the city and its streets.

Good counsel made no impression on him, Punishment bore no effect on him.

345 When his father became distressed, on account of these dealings, He again grasped at the skirt of the shaikh.

Saying: “Because I do not have a source of help, other than you, Be compassionate to me, and come to my aid.

Offer up another prayer regarding his deeds,

And remove his torment from off my head.”

The shaikh said: “That day I said to you,

‘Do not beg and then leave off of this prayer.’

Ask God for forgiveness and salvation,

Since this will suffice you in this world and the next.”

350 When you pack your bags and leave this world, Neither son nor daughter will be of any service to you.

You are a slave, be unfettered in your servitude, Whatever may unfold, be content with that.

The Sage’s condemnation of lust, without which, the bearing of children cannot occur.

When the perspicacious Sage heard

The tale of the son from the King of Greece,

He said: “Oh King, whoever does not purge their lust, Remains in the despair occasioned by being deprived of a son.

The eye of reason and knowledge is blinded by lust,

On account of lust, a demon appears as a hurl in front of the eyes.

355 Wherever the tumult of lust rages,

It severs wisdom from the heart and Light from the eyes.

Wherever the torrent of lust becomes a flood,

It demolishes the abode of good fortune.

The path of lust is full of the clay and mire of calamity, Whoever falls into this quagmire will not rise again.

Whoever tastes a single dreg of the wine of lust,

Will never, for all eternity, see the face of redemption.

From that trifling bit of wine, the honorable man becomes contemptible, Since, just a little bit of it, always demands more.

360 Whenever you taste even one drop of the wine of lust,

The pleasure derived from it sits on your palate.

That pleasure becomes a bridle ring in your nose, It lures you to no end, night and day.

Until your soul is engaged with the [Sufi] path of non-existence, It will not be possible for you to again stand up against it.

The tale of a noble person who did not respond to the invitation of a base person, so that he would not become accustomed to associating with base people.

A certain scoundrel prepared a party,

He invited the rabble of the town.

He also invited a noble person,

So that he might trouble himself to approach his table.

365 The noble person said: “The carnal soul is abject and weak,

My heart is broken in two, on account of these two qualities it has.

If it draws near these wretches,

And consumes a few morsels of their food,

The taste of that meal, even far from its table,

Will remain in the roots of its teeth.^{^[666]}

So that when another lowlife invites me to him,

That pleasure will be my leader.

My name will be erased from the ranks of nobility,

I will forever remain in the company of the scoundrels.

In condemnation of women, who are the locus of lust, the result of which is children.

The people of lust cannot do without women, Associating with women extirpates the roots of life.

What is a woman? A thing deficient in intellect and faith, Nothing in the world is as deficient.

Know, then, that it is quite unlike the proper conduct of the People of Perfection,

To be, month and a year, the plaything of such deficient creatures.

In the eyes of the Perfect Man, who, by virtue of his knowledge, is a leader,

The plaything of the deficient is lowlier than the deficient itself.

There is nothing worse than the ingratitude of a woman, Who sits at the head of the table of a man given much by God.

If you give gold and silver to a woman for a hundred years,

Smother her, from head to toe, in precious jewels,

Stitch robes for her with the brocade of Shushtar,

Furbish a house for her with golden flatware,

Hang rubies and pearls from her ears,

Fashion golden embroidered nightgowns for her,

Adorn her table with all different dishes of cuisine,

At lunch time and during the dinner hour,

Bring to her water drawn from the fountain of Khidr

When she becomes thirsty, in a jeweled goblet,

Bring pomegranates from Yazd and apples from Isfahan,

When, as kings do, she wants fruit from you,

And when she becomes inflamed and twisted, on account of a quarrel,

All of these aforementioned things amount to nothing in her eyes, absolutely nothing.

She will then say to you: “Oh you soul-melter, you life-shortener,

Never have I seen a single thing from you.”

Although her countenance is a tablet of purity,

That tablet is devoid of the word “fidelity.”

Indeed, who in the world ever saw fidelity from a woman,

Who ever saw anything from a woman other than plots and stratagems?

For years she will hold you in her embrace,

Then, when you turn away for a moment, she will forget you.

When you get old, there will, no doubt, be another friend for her, A companion who will, most assuredly, be more vigorous than you.

As soon as she spies a young man,

She will want him, rather than you, to come to her service.

The tale of Solomon, peace be upon him, and Bilqis, and how they spoke to each other with sincerity.

Bilqis and Solomon were deep in conversation one day,

Bearing their innermost secrets.

The heart of each of them was set on equanimity,

Their minds were purified of the rust of arrogance.

The king of right religion, Solomon, spoke first:

“Though the royal sealing-ring of kingship was fitted to me,

Neither day nor night does anyone come to my threshold,

Without me first looking at his hands,

In order to see what gift he brings for me,

A gift that would increase my magnificence and nobility.”

Thereupon Bilqis revealed her innermost secret,

And made this point regarding her own state:

“No young man on earth passes by me,

Without me gazing upon him longingly.

Such is the custom of women of good character,

Women of bad character should not even be discussed.

Master Firdausi, whose wisdom is known,

Heaped horrible curses on good women.

How is an evil woman to behave well?

In the eyes of good men, she is always worthy of curses.

The Sage’s plan for a son to be born without the medium of woman, and his hiring a wet-nurse to nurture him.

When the well-meaning Sage

Condemned the lust of women in front of the King,

He made a plan, by way of his knowledge,

Which bewildered the thoughts of wise people.

Without lust, he drew sperm from the King’s loins,

And deposited in a place other than the womb.

After nine months, there appeared, from that place,

An infant without defect, and a child without blemish,

A rosebud grew from the root of the rosebush of kingship,

A fragrance wafted from the dominion of awareness,

The royal crown was glorified through his essence, The royal throne triumphed from his good auguries.

Without him, the plain of the earth and the eye of the heavens

Lacked, for the former, people, and for the latter, a pupil.

On account of him, that vast plain flourished with people, And the eye was illuminated through the pupil.

Because they found him free of all blemishes,

They split his name from the word, “Salamat.”

His name, Salaman, descended from the sky,

His body and frame were free of any fault.

Because he had no part of mother’s milk,

They selected, for him, a wet-nurse,

A true heart-ravisher—in beauty, a full moon.

Her years were less than twenty, her name was Absal.

Fine-bodied, from head to toe,

Every particle of her was fair and enchanting.

On the crown of her head was a line of silver

That parted, in two halves, like a harvest of musk.

Her tresses fell down on the nape of her neck, From each hair a hundred calamities were hung.

Her stature was that of a cyprus from the garden of symmetry,

The crowns of kings were trampled in the path to her.

Her forehead was luminous, like a mirror,

Her eyebrows rested on it like verdigris.

When, mirror-like, its smoky-hue was polished,

The shape of an upturned letter nün lingered.

Her eyes were like a drunkard, who, languid,

Reposed atop roses underneath a musk-scented canopy.

Her ears, attentive to subtle points,

Were silvery oyster-shells for the pearls of speech.

On her cheek was a beautiful line of indigo,

The splendor of the Egypt of her beauty, just like the River Nile.

Although that drawing of a talisman, was meant to ward-off the Evil Eye, It brought endless calamities to the eyes of good people.

The rows of her teeth were watery pearls,

The casket containing those moist pearls were limpid rubies.

The path of thought became lost in her mouth, Any talk about the art of thoughtful reason, was quieted.

From her lips, the palate drew nothing but sugar, Which of those was her lips and which was sugar?

From the well of her chin, a sprinkling emanated, And hung from a dimple.

Thousands of graces appeared through it,

Astute observers called it “her dewlap.”

425 Her body was of silver, just like a silvery doll, Her neck held aloft like a long-necked flask.

The breasts on her body were like perfect bubbles, Stirred by a zephyr, on the surface of water.

Beneath her breasts was a belly, shimmering bright, White as ivory and soft as sable.

When the hairdresser beheld the grace of that belly, She said: “This is nothing less than the petal of a rose.”

When she gestured by pointing toward it,

The tip of her finger made an impression,

430 A mark the describers called “navel”—

A navel, on which the heart of a musk-bag was emptied.

Whoever saw that waist, thinner than a hair,

Wanted nothing else but to embrace it.

Her thighs, a heap of eglantine roses, Were concealed from the vulgar by a skirt.

Her two hands parted equally a treasury of grace, From each sleeve, they hung like a silver purse.

The aggrieved found consolation in the palm of her hand, It delivered a deluge of oblivion on the withered ones.

435 The desire of the People of the Heart was in her grasp,
Her finger was the key to their padlocked hearts.

Because of her hands, the insides of the lovers poured blood, The color of her henna was drawn from the blood of lovers.

Each of her fingertips, dyed and un-dyed, Was either a fresh filbert-nut or luscious jujube.

Her fingernails were moons of various phases, Moons of hers that were only eclipsed by henna.

When the hairdresser decorated its shape, A crescent moon fell from the tip of each.

When talk turns to her calves and thighs

One should, from such talk, draw the tongue back into the palate.

For I am afraid such speech will reach a place

Where those words will be unbearable to my delicate nature.

That is a secret concealed from the people forbidden to it, No one, not any in the world, was privy to that secret.

Nevertheless, a thief penetrated that secret and seized it,

All that had been there was plundered.

He split open that silver-shelled one,

And, in doing so, found the pearl of his pleasure.

Whatever has been ravaged at the hands of another,

For it, the hand of rejection is better than the eye of its acceptance.

The tale of the whispering melancholic, who, on account of contamination by the creatures of the sea, washed his hands of sea water and sought water that was purer than the sea.

A whispering man once sat at the lip of the sea,

In order perform ritual ablutions for the sake of approaching God.

He saw a sea full of fish and serpents,

Frogs and crabs, thousands upon thousands, were within it.

The waterfowl swimming on every side,

Diving, seeking nourishment from the depths of the sea.

He said: “A sea that so many creatures, Morning and night, circulate within it.

How am I to properly wash my hands and face in it?

Now I wash my hands of this cleansing.

I desire a wellspring in the style of a Zamzam well,

One in which the hands of the unconsecrated are cut-off from it.

With regard to that which has become defiled on account of the polluted, Those who are of pure livers, care not for it.

Absal’s assumption of the task of being wet-nurse to Salomon, and the tucking up of her hem for the nourishment of that pure being.

When the king took Absal as a wet nurse,

So that the auspicious divination of Salaman

Was delivered into the hem of her goodness,

And nourished from the sprinklings of her breasts.

When her eyes fell upon Salaman,

She rent her collar on account of that sight.

Her soul grew infatuated with the subtlety of his essence, She nestled him, just like a pearl, into a golden cradle.

In gazing at the cheeks of that heart-illuminator,

She could no longer sleep at night or repose during daylight.

From day until nightfall, all her labors and efforts, Were engaged in loosening and tightening his cradle.

She would, at times, cleanse his body with musk and rosewater, Then his sugar-lips took to her pure honey.

460 So firmly was her affection for that moon rooted in her soul, That she closed the eye of affection to everyone other than him.

Without a doubt, were it possible for her,

She would have made a place for him in her eye, like a pupil.

When, after some while, he was weaned from her milk, She commenced with another type of work.

At bedtime, she would prepare his bed cushion,

And burn like a candle over his head.

At daybreak, when he awoke from sleep,

She would adorn him, just like a golden doll.

465 She applied collyrium to his blue narcissus,

And bound firmly his garments upon him.

She cocked a golden cap atop his head, And from it, hung a single black tress.

She encircled a girdle around his slender waist,

With bands of rubies and gold.

She would attend to him this way night and day, Until he became a youth of fourteen years.

In terms of beauty, his moon-face was fourteen nights old, His years, like his moon, were fourteen.

470 His beauty took on a rank so high

That desire for him took root in the heart of everyone.

His beauty became a hundred, and that hundred became a thousand, Hundreds of thousands of hearts quivered with love for him.

That heart-pleaser had a stature like a spear, He had turned into a sun, one spear tall.

When his spear-like stature was drawn upward, A wound appeared on everyone’s heart because of it.

From that height, wherever he cast his radiance,

The soul of an entire world burned on account of that sun.

His brow was a full moon, half of it hidden,

And half of it made conjunctive to eclipsed crescent moons.

His nose, beneath the eclipsed crescents,

Was a letter alif in the center of a camphor moon.

His languid eye was a man-hunting deer,

Its place of manifestation was a bed of tulips.

Because of his cheeks, he was king of the dominion of excellence, Kingly majesty was his companion.

The seal of his kingship was a fiery ruby,

A treasury of pearls and gems arrayed underneath its bezel.

His fresh apple was the fruit of the garden of Paradise,

Blessed be the hand that sowed this fruit!

The apple of his dewlap was a fountain of grace, When the thirsty saw it, their soul came to their lips.

His neck raised the heads of the moon-like beauties,

He held in his lasso the necks of the world-conquering heroes.

The beautiful ones, seeking to repel misfortune,

Fastened amulets of prayer to his arm.

The might of all the strongmen was humbled before him, The arms of the silver-breasted ones were under his hand.

On account of his arms, left and right,

Zealous people would scatter the coin of their life into his sleeve.

His grip shattered pure silver,

And twisted the hand of every steely-man.

In his fists, the coins of ease fell from his two palms,

The beauty of this inlaid work concluded at his fingertips.

Whatever may be said about the description of his beauty, Is a pearl pierced from a sea of form.

Lend me the ear of your soul,

And hear a little bit more about his condition!

Description of the sharpness of Salomon’s understanding and the excellence of his poetry and prose.

In speech, the sublety of his nature was such that it split hairs, Even before hearing a pronouncement, it would hasten to the meaning.

Before the utterance even entered his ear,

Its meaning would come into the yoke of his understanding.

Whatever poetry came from the sea of his nature, was a single pearl, Whatever prose, was a fruit from the orchard of his subtlety.

Like the Pleiades, the rank of his poetry was lofty,

Like the constellation of the Bear, his prose was noble.

In witticisms, his ruby lips were ready with an answer, In grasping fine points, his understanding was pure like water.

His script was heart-alluring, like the facial down of the beautiful people, Calligraphists were like helpless lovers after seeing it.

When he would grasp the musk-inscribing pen,

The Celestial Tablet and Celestial Pen would heap praises upon him.

His soul was blessed with every type of wisdom,

He remembered all of the fine points of wisdom.

In his execution of the philosophy of the Greeks,

The Greeks would refer to him as: “He who is does well in expounding.”

Description of his enjoyable banquets and his delightful singing.

At night, when his heart was liberated from all concerns, He would play the backgammon of delight with his cronies.

He would decorate a banquet-hall like Paradise,

And summon hürï-faced singers.

When his brain was warmed by wine,

He would lift the veil of modesty off of the party.

Sometimes he would harmonize with the singer,

Accompanying the performer by becoming a singer himself.

Keeping the melody with his sugar-lips,

He would, like the Messiah, bring spirit into body.

Sometimes he became the mate of the flute-player,

Making a flute with his sugarcane lips.

He would infuse the sound of the nay with sweet words, Pouring sugar into the skirt of the ear.

Other times, he would seize the harp from the harpist’s hand, And sharpen its plaintive tune.

He would pour moist filbert-nut onto its dry strings, Throwing off sparks onto the wet and the dry.

Sometimes the lute was in his embrace, like a young child,

And by having its ears boxed in chastisement,

He would stir plaintive lamentations,

Causing blood to poor from the eyelashes of the adults.

At times he would become nightingale-voiced in reciting ghazals, Other times he would clap along to every word and movement.

This was what he would do each night, until daybreak, Passing time with companions in this fashion.

Description of his polo-playing with his associates and how he snared the ball from the other players.

When his body was refreshed from the sleep of dawn, His intention, in the morning, was to go to the hippodrome.

At daybreak, when the king of this azure veil, Made his way to the parade-ground of the horizon.

Shah Salâmân, still drunk and half-asleep,

Would, foot in stirrup, track towards the hippodrome,

515 With a coterie, all of royal origin,

And all tender-aged, fresh-faced, and in the prime of life,

Each one a commander in the cavalcade of beautiful people, Eah one the ruin of a kingdom, and the calamity of a realm.

He would gallop to the hippodrome, polo mallet in-hand, And hurl the gilded ball into the middle.

One by one, the polo players sought the goalpost,

Like hundreds of crescent moons encircling one full moon.

Though all of them were struggling with the mallet, Salâmân was nimbler than all the rest.

520 With hundreds of agile moves, he would snare the ball from all comers, The ball was the full moon, and Salâmân was the sun.

With the crescent mallets trailing the full moon, He would say “hdl” all the way to the goalpost.

Even though the ball was returned a hundred times thereafter, Every time it was the same situation, and nothing more.

Indeed, that person for whom propitious fortune is his friend,

And who is sustained by the sapling of good luck,

No mallet under this azure cupola

Can snare the ball from his hippodrome.

Description of his bowmanship and archery.

525 The shdh, after playing polo, would become

Inclined, like a bow, to shoot arrows.

From the royal archers of the time,

He would request an unstrung Chdchl bow.

Without assistance he would anoint that bow with bowstring, The twang of the bowstring would leap from the corners.

He would briskly and nimbly rub his hands across it, At first, in order to draw it to his earlobe.

Sometimes he would set a three-feathered arrow in it, And it would fly off toward the path of the bulls-eye.

530 If the bulls-eye were the azure scroll of heaven,

Then, without a doubt, its center would be the bonze point of the sun.

And if the far-flying arrow were set loose from the archer’s thumbstall, Its alighting place would be at the limit of the horizon.

Had not the obduracy of the celestial orb become an obstacle, It would have surpassed the circle of the horizon.

There would be no escape from the danger of his arrowhead

In the hunting grounds—not for the deer on foot, nor for the quail on wing.

Straight toward the goal it would swiftly go,

In the same way an upright constitution preserves one from sin.

Description of his munificence and liberality, his generosity, and his gift-giving.

535 In munificence and liberality his palm was like the sea, On the contrary, the sea was mere foam from the ocean of his generosity.

On account of that cloud of effulgent generosity, The surface of the world was full of dinars and dirhams.

Never relate him to the sea, for his palms

Would scatter pearls, whereas the sea only scatters shells.

The hand of his munificence was more open than a cloud,

For a cloud is a drop-giver, he, on the other hand, is a cinch-purse thrower.

When I adorn the banquet of his liberality,

My desire is to relate him to Ma’n and Hatim.

540 But next to him, Ma’n is indisputably worthless,

And Hatim, a miser.

So much was his hand accustomed to openness, His fingers would frown from the act of constriction.

If he wanted to clench his palm,

His fingers would not bend their backs into his fist.

If a beggar passed in front of his door,

His heart, pained from the cruelty of privation,

Would so thoroughly heap a load of favor upon him, That he would flee from his court, running.

The tale of the escape of the poet Qatran from the superabundance of gifts that Fazlün, the object of his praise, showered upon him.

Qatran was an enchanter, knowledgeable of fine points,

One ink drop from his reed-pen produced a sea of mystery.

For the sake of Fazlun’s honorific title: “Sea-Bestowing,”

He recited a panegyric graceful and polite from start to end.

Because Fazlun’s temperament accepted that praise,

He made Qatran’s hem overflow with riches.

The next day Qatran sung his praises,

Fàzlûn showered twice as much gold and silver upon the poet.

He did the very same thing the following day,

For days thereafter he repeated this conduct.

So completely did that gift multiply,

That his interest in it disappeared.

When night fell he sprung upward like a lightning bolt,

And bundled his goods, fleeing from the sanctuary of Fazlun’s bounty.

At dawn Fazlun sought him, but did not find him,

Saying: “The poor fellow renounced this good fortune.”

Since my hand would give dirhams liberally,

This, to him, was my generous custom.

But he was unable to support this gift,

Therefore, he labored in journeying from this threshold.

Indication that the object of these panegyrics is praise of the felicitous king, may God make his kingship and dominion eternal.

At night Intellect, that sweet-speaking counselor, Began, like a blazing sunset, to reproach me.

It said: “Jami, for how long will you engage in idle thought,

For who long will you keep scraping a reed-pen that cannot wear out?

Any thing that is not victorious over the kingdom of subsistence, If it, by necessity, existed yesterday, today it is not.

Do not lose the purpose of your true goal,

Utter less the praises of non-existent kings.”

I said: “Oh you who are the wellspring of wisdom,

And you, On whose head you are the seal of intelligent thought,

My object in making this eulogy is a different king,

Other than the one on whose head currently rests the crown of good fortune.

The seven climes are subservient to his royal command,

The seven seas are sprinklings from his bounty.

It is better to conceal the description of the elect from the common people, May that gnostic (Rumi), who said the following, be forever in his moment:

‘It is better that the description of lovers

Be told in the garment of others.’

Truly, not everyone will be privy to this secret,

The door will not be opened to this secret, even to those privy to it.”

The tale of a lover who dispelled the suspicions of his rivals by describing the qualities of his beloved in terms of the sun, the moon, and the like.

565 A lover was sitting in a corner,

Engaged in conversation with himself.

At each moment he would construct a new tale,

And would tell a tale never heard before.

At first he would speak about the full moon, at another moment about the sun,

At another moment, about the petal of the rose, veiled by the hyacinth,

At another moment he would make subtle points about the stature of the cyprus,

At yet another moment about the grass which rose from the dust of his feet.

A heedless person heard him from afar,

His mind startled on account of the lover’s inanities.

570 He said to the lover: “Oh you, for whom the name of your love has departed,

A real lover utters words about his beloved.

Which people then, oh lover, are you talking about,

What pearl of a description about vile people is being pierced?

The lover said to him: “Oh you who are far from the signs of true lovers, You are incapable of understanding the language of true lovers.

By way of the sun and the moon, the real intention was my beloved, This secret is evident to those knowledgeable of fine points.

When I spoke of the rose, my intention was the delicateness of her face, The hyacinth went mentioned, and my intention was her hair.

575 What is the cyprus? Her graceful stature,

Me, I am grass that springs from the dust of her feet.

If you become well-acquainted with my language,

You will hear nothing from me except talk of my love for her/him.

Salomon's beauty reaches perfection and Absal’s love for him manifests itself, as she devises stratagems to seduce him.

When the stuff of Salaman’s beauty

Gathered, by way of maturity, the utmost level of perfection,

The cyprus of his elegance took on a certain freshness,

The garden of his graciousness took on another brilliance.

At first, he was an unripe fruit,

But when that fruit became completely ripened,

580 Absal’s mind wished to pluck it,

And, immediately after the plucking, desired to taste it.

But that fruit was atop a lofty branch,

The lasso of that desire was too short.

Absal was also a beautiful person, full of coquetry,

Lacking nothing in the stuff of her beauty, not a single thing.

She made ready to unveil her loveliness for Salaman,

She commenced with the craft of prancing horse-like.

At times, by means of coiled locks before her face,

She would weave a chain of moist musk,

585 So that with that chain, admired even by a sage,

She might bind tightly the bottom of the heart of the prince.

At times she would divide her musky hair,

To make a part she would curl it into two forelocks—

As if to say: “How is it that my heart’s desire for him is not attained,

For how long will he make me twist them in this fashion?”

At times she applied, like heart-illuminating idols, Dust of indigo leaves onto the bow of her eyebrows.

So that she would, by dint of those rust-colored bows,

Chase his soul away from surety and tranquility.

590 She would make her eye black with coal,

In order to make him, by means of her black deeds, veer from the Path.

She would beautify the rose petals of her cheeks with rouge,

By means of that make-up, she would rob his heart of patience.

She would plant a musky grain beauty mark onto her cheeks, By means of it, she would trap the bird of his heart.

At times she would loosen the bonds of her narrow sugar-lips, And other times, break the seal on the casket of her pearl teeth.

By means of that, she would become sweet, like sugar, to his heart, And he would gather pearls from the lip of her elocution.

595 At times she would display a golden ball from beneath the collar of her garment,

Under it was a waist, ringed with encrusted jewels.

So that, despite all his kingly glory, she would draw

His neck beneath the collar of servitude.

At times she would engage her silver hand in a task,

And with that excuse, she would roll up her sleeve,

By means of that, he would behold her henna-embellished forearm, And thus paint his cheeks with blood.

At times she would rise up for the sake of serving him, And forcefully step up from her place.

600 By means of that, his crown-worthy forehead would be trampled

By the jangle of her ankle bracelet.

In short, by way of a hundred ruses and stratagems,

She would, at every opportunity, unveil herself to his eyes.

Morning and night she would keep his face fixated on her,

Not allowing him to neglect her, even for a moment.

For she knew that by way of gazing,

Love leaves an impression on the heart of the lover.

Only through the sight of heart-wrenching beauties, Does love become firmly-rooted in hearts.

The tale of Zulaikha who put pictures of her beauty everywhere in the house so that everyplace he looked Joseph would see her face and be inclined toward her.

605 Behold Zuleikha who, with heart full of hope,

Built a palace, white, like the heart of a Sufi.^{^[667]}^{^[668]}

No painting, nay, not a single color was in it,

Like the face of a mirror, nary a spot of rust was in it.

Then she summoned a skilled painter,^u

In order to hang her portrait in every place.

No place remained empty of her portrait,

She sat contended and summoned Joseph.

She removed the veil from her gorgeous face, And engaged in telling a tale about her desire.

When Joseph turned his head away in order to avoid the conversation, He saw her visage in every direction he turned.

Because he saw her image, one after another,

A yearning to join her came to him.

He was on the brink of giving into his wish,

Of planting the sugar of his desire on her mouth.

But from the unseen world, a proof manifested itself to him,

And divine protection intervened quickly for him.

It kept his hand from attaining its desire,

And with that his need to accomplish his desires passed.

The effect of Absal’s stratagems on Saloman and his inclination toward her.

Despite all Salaman’s forbearance and dignity,

Absal’s coquetry worked its way into him.

The thorn of her eyelashes pricked its way into his heart, And like a snake, the lasso of her tress bit him.

His endurance buckled under the vaulted arch of her eyebrows, On account of her lips, honey became bitter to his taste.

Her magic narcissus-eyes cut into his sleep,

The ringlets of her locks robbed him of strength.

On account of her cheeks, his tears became rose-colored,

On account of the memory of her mouth, his enjoyment of life narrowed.

He looked at the black mole on her cheek,

His condition, on account of that dark impression, turned ruinous.

He saw restless ringlets on her cheek,

He grew restless on account of the need to unite with her.

He brought his longing out from behind its veil,

But inwardly, his thoughts were still good:

“God forbid that I should taste the meal of [sexual] union!

Its flavor will become unwholesome to my soul.

That taste will not stay with me, and for an entire lifetime

I will remain far from my lofty rank and majesty.”

The man for whom good fortune is not everlasting

Is not, according to the sages, an altar of hope.

The tale of the crow on the shore of the salty sea, to whom the pelican offered fresh water, but who did not find it acceptable.

There was a crow, day-blind just like an owl,

That had taken a place on the shore of the salty sea.

His watering place was in that salty sea,

But to him that salty water tasted like sugar.

By divine decree a bird, its name: “pelican,”

And its crop, the wellspring of His bounty,

Cast the shadow of good fortune the crow’s forehead,

The brackishness of the sea was not pleasing to him.

The pelican said: “Oh you, who lament that which is bitter, come here,

For I will give you sweet water from my crop!”

630 The crow answered: “I am afraid that when I drink fresh water, The taste of salty water will be unpleasing to me.

Were I to subsist with sweet water,

My nature would be averse to the watering place of the salty sea.

Seated on the seashore, day and night,

I would remain in the middle of both, thirsty-lipped.

It is better that I make salty water my companion,

So that I am not confronted with the agony of being waterless.”

In solitude, Absalgoes before Salomon and they discover enjoymentfrom each other’s company.

635 When Salâmân became Absal’s desire,

Absal’s “star” was in the ascendant.

That ancient affection found newness,

Her hope of joining him grew in strength,

To the extent that night and day she sought an opportunity

To find a way to be alone with that moon,

To satisfy her heart’s desire for his rubies,

And join her soul with his sweet lips.

Then one night she discovered the way to be alone with him, Coin of the soul in hand, she hurried toward him.

640 Like a shadow, she fell at his feet,

And out of humility, placed her face atop his feet and kissed them.

Shah Salâmân, with hundreds of endearments and niceties,

Extended the hand of mercy to her,

Holding her, like a qaba shirt, tightly to his bosom, He drank his soul’s desire from the fountain of life.

For both of them it started with a kiss,

Since kissing would be the guide to embracing.

So completely were they rubbing lip to lip together, That the cup of rapture overflowed for the both of them.

645 Though their lips rubbed together again and again,

That which is at the heart of the business of lovemaking, remained undone.

Then, on account of the madness of the heart, which now boiled their heads,

They removed the veil of modesty from their midst.

The only knot that divided them was loosened,

The desire that existed between them, to unite, became stronger.

One had sugar, the other one milk,

Milk and sugar mingled together.

The palate of their souls was brimming with milk and sugar, Until, that is, the sweetness of the sleep of dawn was upon them.

Saloman awakes from the night’s sleep and summons Absal to the assembly o^fJ°y-

650 In the morning, those musky beauties,

Covered themselves, for the sake of impurities caused by sleep, with pure g^old,

Drawing back their collyrium-pins to the verdigris arches of their eyelids, And applying the collyrium of wakefulness onto their eyes.

The prince rose from his bed, gratified,

Eyes still half-asleep from the wakefulness of the night before.

The previous night’s hangover itched inside him,

Agitating within him the desire for a taste of his nocturnal friend.

His mind, in order to dispel that hangover,

Desired a sip of the dregs, but a sip from the ruby lips of the friend.

655 Without the interference of others, he called out for the friend,

She sat beside him atop the throne.

He unwrapped the veil of modesty from her beauty

And renewed with her the previous night’s pleasure.

Another day passed in a similar manner,

The evil eye of fate was far from them.

A day became a week, a week became a month, and a month became a year, A year and a month passed, free of any pain or boredom.

His himmat was that that pleasure and rapture

Should not be separated from each other, either day or night.

But the revolving wheel of fate, lying in ambush, declared:

“It is not my habit to allow matters to pass in such a fashion.

For I have excited so many companionships each day, And when night came, I snapped those threads.

Alas, I have given so many good fortunes each night,

And at daybreak its turn came to an end.”

The tale of the Bedouin Arab who praised the caliph’s table and said: “Henceforth I shall always come here,” and the caliph’s response: “Perhaps you will not be allowed.” To which the Arab said: “If you do that, the shortcoming will be yours, not mine.”

A certain Bedouin Arab headed to Baghdad,

In the hope that he would find some benefit there.

After several days patiently looking for admittance,

He gained entrance to the Caliph’s table.

Set down before him, bereft of any deficiency,

Was a platter of paluda, made of rose-flavored syrup,

Smooth and sweet like the poetic speech of the People of the Heart, Delicate and elegant like the lips of every heart-ravisher,

Safe from the torments of the foul-mouthed—

The moment it drops onto the lip, it makes a place in the stomach.

When, having cleansed his mouth by consuming it,

He said to the Caliph, without a shred of fear or timidity:

“Oh you, for whom the cradle was on the summit of the celestial spheres,

I have now made a covenant with my God,

So long as I am under the firmament of this place of hospitality,

For the sake of breakfast, or in hope of dinner,

I will not set my foot except in the direction of your table,

So that I may satisfy my need of this paluda.”

The Caliph laughed at such talk, and said:

“Oh you, for whom the hidden secrets are veiled,

You might not even get another opportunity to be here,

Do not trouble yourself with coming and going.”

The Bedouin said: “When that time comes, the loss will be yours— Oh you qibla of safety and security—not mine.

For I shall, through my own strength, make a meal myself, What then is my sin, if you do not even allow me in?”

The Sage and the King learn of the state of Salaman and Absal. Salaman is called to account and things become difficult for him.

When Salaman became Absal’s intimate,

His union with her consumed a year and a month.

He stopped being in service to the King and Sage,

Both of their hearts were split in two on account of him having deserted them.

When they sought reports of his situation,

His confidants made them aware of the secret.

They summoned him in order to question him,

They recounted stories for him from every respect.

680 The spoke of subtle points, old and new,

Until, from all the questioning, the talk met its desired goal.

It was certain that the tale spoken about him was true,

Since the story was told without embellishments or understatements.

Each one rendered an opinion on his case,

Each one took great pains in order to save him.

In the end, it was agreed upon to give him good counsel, Since no deed is better than dispensing good counsel.

Through good counsel, deficient people become perfect,

And through good counsel, those who retreat become hard-chargers.

685 Through good counsel, every heart is enlivened, Through good counsel, every predicament is solved.

In the beginning, the givers of good counsel were Prophets, Because of them, matters of reason and religion were made right.

He who drew the breath of prophecy, for him, Nothing descends from heaven except good counsel.

The King's good counsel to Salaman.

The King said to him: “Oh you, who are the soul of your father,

You, who are the feast-illuminating candle of your father’s palace,

On account of you, the eye of my prosperity is illuminated,

On account of you, the courtyard of my hopes is a rose garden.

690 For years my heart bled, like a rosebud,

Until I held in my hand a rose like you.

Do not, as the rose does, draw your hem away from my hand, Do not draw the dagger of the thorn of cruelty on me!

It is on account of my affection for you that the crown rubs my forehead, And it is for your sake that my throne is beneath my feet.

Do not turn your face toward foolish beloveds,

Do not remove the diadem of good fortune from your head,

Do not set the hand of your heart upon a delicate beauty,

Do not kick the throne of kingly majesty with your foot.

695 What is your job? To play polo,

To gallop into the arena, Rakhsh under your thighs,

Not to take a tress into the hand, as if it were a mallet,

Not to repose astride the silver-breasted ones.

Were you to always shoot an arrow into the hunting-ground, You would fell a fawn once, a wild beast another time.

It is better that I not see you, like wild game, Become the target of these gazelle-like lion-tamers.

Go into the rows of heroes, sword-striking,

And be the one who severs necks from the bodies of great heroes.

700 It is better that you gird yourself among men worthy of the title ‘real man’ Than to lay your neck before the sword of womanhood!

For God’s sake abandon this behavior,

Otherwise, I shall collapse on account of my pain!

It has been years that, for your sake, I have not sat down and rested my feet, Shame on you if you now knock me off my feet!”

A cautionary tale about the murder of Khusrau by Shîrûya and the misfortune that brought.

As Khusrau slept, drowning in blood on account of Shîrûya, He uttered a subtle point with regard to Shîrûya.

Know, that a branch which was watered from its root,

Withdrew its head from the water and made a break for its root.

705 When it uprooted its trunk, and became a empty plain, The branch fell to the ground, withered and fruitless.

Saldmdn’s response to the King.

When Salaman listened to the good counsel,

The sea of his nature effervesced with pearls of good speech.

He said: “Oh Shah, I am a slave to your judgment,

I am the dust beneath your throne-scraping foot.

Whatever you command, I accept, heart and soul,

But I am wearied by my own impatience.

Because of my long-suffering heart,

My fate will not wait for your commandments.

Many times I have deliberated with myself,

Twisted in thoughts of liberating myself from this calamity.

But when the thought of that moon comes to me,

My heart starts to lament and sigh,

And if my eyes fall upon her face,

I turn my face away from the two worlds and towards her.

After seeing the cheeks of that heart-pleaser,

No good counsel remains in my memory, no wise advice.”

The story of the fox and the fox-cub.

The mother of the fox-cub said to him,

As she guided him to the fruit orchard:

“Eat as much fruit as will allow you to run

And quickly escape from the dog’s malice.”

The cub said: “Oh mother, if I see fruit, How can I carry out this plan?

My greed for fruit will be like a veil, blanketing my awareness, And I will be neglectful of the danger of the dog’s bite.”

The Sage’s counsel to Saldmdn.

When the King fell silent after giving advice to Salâmân,

The Sage then, with much determination, engaged him in good counsel.

He said: “Oh you, who are the sprout of the primordial garden,

The most recent image from the pen of ‘Be!’

Letter-reader of the ledger book of the seven [heavens] and the four [elements],

Decipherer of the pages of night and day,

It is you who are the keeper of the treasure of Adam,

It is you who are the comprehensive book of the cosmos;

Realize your worth and do not count yourself foolishly,

For you are superior to whatever I speak of!

He whose almighty hand mixed your clay,

And who transcribed the word ‘wisdom’12 onto your pure heart,

For His sake, purify your breast of the image of external forms, And turn that mirror toward Reality,

¹² hikmat.

725 So that your breast may be the treasure of inner meanings,

Your mirror flooded with the light of gnosis!

Veil your eye from the face of the beautiful one,

After this, do not strive to keep company with the beautiful one.

What is a beauty? An outer form full of shame and imperfection, Neither its hem nor its collar cleansed of lust.

Do not be seduced by such defilement,

And do not go beyond the sanctuary of salvation.

The sperm in your body is your substance-giving life,

It nourishes your limbs and strengthens your bodily foundations.

730 Oh you, who struggle with body and soul on account of lust, Whether you wish to preserve it or spill it.

In the beginning, you were of lofty rank, Your star was in the highest heaven.

But now the lust of your carnal soul has dropped you low, It has fettered you tightly in the nadir of the Earth.

The tale of the rooster and the crier who calls the faithful to prayer.

At the time of prayer, the crier said

To the rooster, that high-headed crown-holder:

“No sage knows time like you do,

Or fears the passage of time like you do!

735 Oh you chanticleer, with this type of wisdom,

You must always make for yourself a place atop the divine Throne,

For how long have you grieved over a hen,

For how long have you circumambulated the bottom of every dung-heap?”

The rooster replied: “At first, there was a lofty rank for me, But the lust of the carnal soul cast me down to this lowliness.

If I were able to pass by the carnal soul and its lust, Why would I saunter into the pit of every dung-heap?

I would be admitted to the gardens of Paradise,

I would be a companion of the Celestial Cock.

Saldmdn’s response to the Sage.

740 When Salâmân heard these things from the Sage, The fragrance of wisdom wafted into his nose.

He said: “On account of you, Plato’s soul is contented,

May a hundred Aristotles submit to your every command!

From the beginning, the Intelligences were Ten, You have made the Ten now Eleven.

I set my face upon your path,

I am the lowliest pupil in your court.

In whatever you said, I found the very essence of wisdom,

I hurried to accept that wisdom in my very soul.

745 But it is surely clear to your enlightened view

That free will is beyond me.

The power of the agent depends on the ability of the recipient, Its agency is not the product of the producer.

Whatever it is that I have had a capacity for from the beginning, How can I break from it in the end?

Nay, it is outside the power of the agent

To have an effect contrary to that.”

The story of the old villager and his son.

A certain rustic was travelling with his son,

Both of their travel-packs loaded onto one little donkey.

750 Their feet were sore from all the hardships of the path,

On top of that, a mountain now appeared in front of them,

A mountain so majestic, on account of its lofty stature, That a sea billowed beneath its peak.

Along the mountaintop, there was a path so narrow, That the foot of imagination grew lame traversing it.

No one was able to pass through that place,

Except he who, like a snake, made feet out of his belly.

Whatever fell from that narrow path,

Its final place of repose was the bottom of the sea.

755 Suddenly, the little donkey slipped at that very place, The boy, who was behind it, cried out: “Oh God!

My donkey strayed from the path—do not forsake him, Wherever he may be, keep him safe!”

To which the old man said: “Oh son, quit your crying, Since the power of choice slipped out of his hand as well!

If you want the right opinion, get up straight away—

Since it is a sin to believe that there is choice in this world.” How things became difficult for Salaman on account of the numerous reproaches of the King and the Sage, and how Salaman escaped with Absal.

Whenever a soul, on account of love, is entangled,

It is a trial within a trial, and pain upon pain,

Especially a love that is accompanied by the reproaches

And talk of those who give plenty of good counsel.

On account of reproach, the business of love becomes hard,

And through the one who reproaches, the attention of love increases.

Love nourishes the soul, without reproach,

When reproach becomes its friend, it is painful.

When Salaman heard those reproaches,

His sweet soul, out of sheer pain, reached his lips.

They did not uproot the affection of Absal from within him,

Rather, they infused bitterness into his heart.

The pleasurable drink of union became bitter to him,

The new moon of his joy waned.

Not a single breath arose from within him,

Rather, a wail of reproach fell upon him.

His soul was wounded from the arrow of reproach,

The grief that was in his heart increased.

Through reproach the soul of a man wastes away—

For how long can a man possibly endure it?

It is possible to absorb a single blow from a sharp sword,

But when it becomes continuous, what choice is there but to escape?

For days he immersed himself in deep reflection,

Many times he contemplated his situation.

After a thousand thoughts about how to solve the problem,

He ultimately found solace in the decision to flee.

He severed his mind from its homeland,

And, in order depart, fashioned a camel litter.

When night came, he bound his soul to the litter,

And nestled close to Absal inside the litter—

Salaman, the beautiful, and Absal, who was beautiful too,

The litter, with both of them, was like an almond with two kernels.

When the time to leave had come, their heads rested on the other’s shoulder,

When the time to sleep came, they slumbered in each other’s embrace.

Both of them were closely joined, side-by-side,

As they went, the litter grew tight—but not their heart.

When the Friend is within your embrace, and strangers are gone, However tighter the dwelling becomes, the better it is.

Indeed, wherever it might be that the Friend dwells, How can it be tight for the heartsick lover?

The tale of how Zulaikha’s narrow prison became broad on account of seeing Joseph, peace be upon him.

When Joseph of Canaan sat in prison,

Zulaikha, on account of their separation, was broken in spirit.

780 Her entire house became narrow to her, like [Joseph’s] prison, Each night she set her mind toward the prison.

A certain person, exempt of the brand of love,

Someone who never tasted fruit from the orchard of love, said to her:

“For how long will you, in this delightful palace-garden,

Sit like a sinner in jail?”

She answered: “Being far from the beauty of the Friend,

The distance of the horizon is like an ant’s eye for me,

And were I to sit with him in the eye of an ant,

That would be more pleasing to me than a hundred palace-gardens.”

How Salaman and Absal set out to sea and reached the island of delight, where they reposed and dwelled

785 Because Salaman drove the litter for a week,

The admonishers now had no hold on him.

Secure from reproach and free of admonition,

He cast his burdens on the shore of a sea.

He saw a sea as unbounded as the firmament,

The eyes of its sea-creatures as abundant as the stars.

Its circumference stretched from Qaf to Qaf, Its depth reached the back of the Bull and Fish.

Waves, mountain-like in appearance, out of agitation,

Turned the surface of the water into a chain of mountains.

790 It was as if Bactrian camels, on every side, Foamed at the lip in a fit of anger.

In it there were innumerable fish,

Glittering, like a gem that has been faceted by a sword.

Indeed, to the eye which perceives minutia,

It looked like the Cathay embroidery on Chinese brocade.

Everywhere they went, they clove apart the surface of the water into two halves,

In the same fashion that silver scissors slice indigo cloth.

If the Leviathan of the sea emerged from these depths,

Draco would be terrified of these heights.

795 When Salâmân gazed upon the sea,

He made preparations to cross it.

He found a skiff, shaped like a new moon,

Going swiftly along the shore of the green sea.

In a state of tranquility, both went inside it,

The crescent moon became a mansion for the moon and sun.

It flowed with sails made of wings,

Pressing its breast against the water, like a duck.

With its breast, it split apart a path for itself,

And with its breast, it hurried in the direction of its destination.

800 It was shaped like a bow, but it moved more swiftly than an arrow Dropped in a catchment basin.

After they had sailed the skiff for a month,

And had lost their beauty, on account of the sea breeze,

There appeared a wooded island in the midst of the sea,

The description of which would surpass the imagination of anyone.

There was no bird (Sufi), in the entire world,

Who was not in that felicitous pleasure-place.

On one side they paraded, troop by troop,

Crowned like a partridge and ringed like a turtledove.

805 On another side they trilled, rank by rank,

Making their beaks melodious reed-flutes.

Inside it, stood saplings, branch upon branch,

Wherein the impudent birds engaged in song.

Fruit was strewn at the foot of the trees,

Dry and fresh, they all mingled together.

A spring of water beneath each tree

Turned sun and shade into slices and slivers.

On account of the wind, each branch was a tremulous hand,

Its fist was full of dinars for the sake of scattering.

Because its fist was not well-grasping,

They poured through the gaps of its fingers.

You could say, like the Garden of Iram, the concealed face

Had the rosebud of its manifestation bloom there.

Or that the Garden of Eden, without a Day of Reckoning,

Stripped the veil from its face there.

When Salaman saw the graciousness of the woods,

He cut short any thought of going further.

With a heart free of every hope and fear,

He became a denizen of the forest with Absal.

Both of them were as contented as body and soul together, Both of them were as delighted as rose and lily together.

Their companionship was far from the clutches of others, Their tranquility was far from the meddling of concerns.

There was no reproach-monger to war with them,

No two-faced hypocrite for them to fear.

A rose was in the bosom—not a pricking thorn,

A treasure was near—not the bite of a snake.

All the while, they slept in a place abounding with birds, Drinking, at every moment, water from a flowing spring.

At times, they would speak with the nightingale,

At other times, they ate sugar with the parrot.

At times, they paraded about with the peacock,

At other times, they walked elegantly with the partridge.

In short, the heart was full of merriment and delight,

As both of them spent days and nights there.

Indeed, what is better than for you and the Beloved,

To be in each other’s midst, and fault-finders off to the side?

There is nothing in your breast other than the goal [of creation],

There is no denying that your goal exists.

The tale of Vdmiq’s explanation to the one who asked: “What is the goal of all your searching and seeking?”

A certain perspicacious observer said, in private, to Vamiq:

“Oh you, who are melting on account of the branding-iron of love for ‘Azrâ!

You have spent a lifetime searching to and fro—

Tell me, what is your goal from all this seeking?”

He said: “My intention is that together with ‘Azra,

I will set my face upon the desert,

Make a home in the wilderness,

And pitch my tent at the head of a spring.

Friends, as well as enemies, would be far from that place,

My soul, as well as my body, would be at ease from God’s people.

830 Were I to venture two hundred farsangs or more in any direction,

I would not encounter a single person, not anyone.

My limbs, hair by hair, would turn into eyes,

My ‘Azra, would be the qibla to which I turn,

In order to face her with a thousand eyes,

So that I might gaze forever upon her face—

No, on the contrary, I will stray from gazing as well,

And be liberated from duality, I will become her.”

So long as duality lingers, there is distance,

For the soul is the prisoner of the brand of exile.

835 When the lover sets foot upon the laneway of union, Nothing will be contained there, except oneness, peace!

The King's becoming aware of Salomon's departure, but not having any news of Salomon’s whereabouts, and how the King employed his world-displaying mirror to find out.

When, after some time, the King became aware

Of that soul-melting, life-diminishing separation,

His cries of lamentation reached the skies,

And he began to drip bloody tears from both eyes.

He said they should go again and search everywhere for news, Since no one was aware of that hidden secret.

The King possessed a world-displaying mirror, Rending the veil of all the secrets of the world.

840 Like the heart of the Gnostic, nothing was concealed from it, Not a single situation, good or bad, in the entire world.

He said: “Bring that mirror to me,”

So that he could see the face of the person for whom he was searching.

When his gaze fell upon the mirror,

He got news of his lost ones.

He saw both of them pleasing each other in the woods,

He saw both of them unconcerned with the passing of the days.

Together, they were far from any thoughts about this world, And together, they were fleeing from the people of this world.

845 Each one of them contented with the face of the other,

Neither of them caring for anyone else.

When the King saw their intercourse, He was overcome with sympathy for them.

Without making any heart-stabbing reproach,

He came to know everything about how they lived.

He did not ignore a single hair-tip,

He kept it all arranged from where he was.

Oh blessed is he whose heart is illuminated by pure thought, Who brings to bear the conditions of true manliness.

850 Everywhere he looks, there are two companions together,

Quaffing together the cup of joy and pain,

Whose souls are purified of the rust of separation, And whose cups are secure from the stone of separation.

He shows sympathy to them in their good fortune,

And assists them in their propitious fate,

Far from breaking-off their union,

He throws a lasso around their joined souls.

Whatever befalls the people afflicted by misfortune, Comes all of a sudden and by way of recompense.

855 Do good, so that good begets good for you,

Do not do evil, lest it wear you down.

The tale of Parvlz getting his just dessert for what he did to Farhad at the hands of Shïrüya.

The mountain-piercer, who made a partnership with Parviz, Turned his face toward Shirin, that maker of tumult.

Shirin saw his heart inclining in her direction,

She also yearned after him for the reason you know.

The jealousy of love lit a blazing fire,

And engulfed the harvest of Khusrau’s restraint.

Without delay, he devised a stratagem so that the Old Hag of Fate

Poured poison into Farhad’s goblet.

860 That hapless person, his soul full of love, departed, Only Parviz remained with Shirin, and nothing else.

The revenge-bearing wheel of fate, though, applied the same rule,

And placed the sword of vengeance in the palm of Shïrüya,

So that, with one smite of the sword, Parviz was separated from Shinn, Casting him far away from the throne of his life.

How the King become melancholy, on account of the continued infatuation of Saldmdn with the company of Absdl, and how, by means of his himmat, he was able to prevent Saldmdn from further enjoying her.

The King of Greece saw how Salâmân

Was comfortable in his union with Absâl.

Lifetimes passed, and he did not refrain from this erring,

Nor did he turn the face of the heart away from his error.

865 His head remained empty of the crown of kingship,

He instead turned, high-headed, to her crown.

His fortune cast the royal throne beneath his feet,

So that it was the throne that kissed his foot.

Then, on account of his despair over this, a fire ignited within the King, Time passed unhappily for him on account of this unhappiness.

So he applied the power of himmat on Salâmân, Until he completely separated him from Absâl.

Every moment he hurried toward her,

But he was unable to enjoy her.

870 He could see her face and his heart would throb,

But he was unable to unite with her.

On account of this deception, he fell onto a rough path, The donkey died, and its burden fell to the ground.

What despair is worse for the bankrupt man

Than having treasure at his side but his coin-purse empty of dirhams?

What punishment is more severe for the thirsty

Than having a fountain before his eyes but his lips deprived of the water?

What trial is worse for the inhabitants of hell

Than having their soul in the fire but Paradise in their sights?

875 When this torment lingered long inside Salâmân,

The door of ease slammed in front of his face.

It then became evident to him that it was all on account of his father, And that only he could extricate him from that whirlpool.

Fearful, he turned his face to his father,

Repenting, begging pardon, and seeking forgiveness.

Indeed, that bird, which is of excellent fortune,

Will, in the end, bring its earthly prey back to its origin.

The tale of the dialogue of the Sage, who was asked: “Who is a legitimate son, and what is the mark of his legitimacy?”

An apprentice once asked a sage:

“Oh you skilled person, who is the legitimate son?”

He said: “That child who, in the end, is similar to his father,

Whether he be wise or foolish.

If, for several days, he does not resemble his father,

In the end, he will bring himself back to his father;

If not, his situation is in this respect, clear—

Wash your hands of such a person, for he is a bastard.

That dry hay, which has sprouted from green wheat,

Will adorn itself with wheat.

Though, in the beginning, it resembles wheat,

When harvest season comes to the field,

Its grain will reveal that it is not wheat,

The qualities and name ‘wheat-ness’ are far from it.”

The arrival of Salomon before the King and the demonstration of the King's compassion for him.

When the father saw the face of Salâmân,

And delivered him from his life-diminishing separation,

He laid kisses of mercy upon his head,

And gently placed the hand of affection upon his shoulder.

Saying: “Oh you, whose existence is salt for the table of beneficence,

Your beauty is the pupil of the eye of humanity,

A sapling in spring for the garden of the soul,

To the heavens, you are another sun,

A newly-sprung rose for the garden of good fortune,

An unwaning moon for the zodiac of kingship.

The broad plain of the horizon is your parade ground,

The would-be obstinate ones all have their faces toward your royal court.

Head to toe, you are well-suited to the royal crown and throne, Without you, crown and throne lack currency.

Do not countenance the crown being atop the head of the lowly, And the throne being beneath the feet of the unworthy.

Kingship is your private property, seize your kingship,

895

Do not pull kingship out of your lineage.

Remove your hand from the beautiful person you possess, Kingship and worshipping the beautiful person do not go together.

Remove, from your hand, the henna of the beautiful person, You must either be a king or a worshipper of beautiful people.

Explanation of the four characteristics that are prerequisites for the sultanate.

The conditions of kingship are of four things:

Wisdom, chastity, courage, and generosity.

Wisdom is not that which, following the abject carnal soul, Turns the noble man into the plaything of a woman’s orders.

It is not on account of chastity that the conscientious man Defiles himself for an unworthy lover.

900 It does not belong to courage that he is rendered a captive, Dragged by a whore outside the collar of manliness.

It is not a mark of generosity that he is not able to pass Around his circle nothing except meanness.

Whoever is not a friend of these four conditions,

Is not entitled to the fruit of the bride of kingship,

For the one who happens to be deficient in all four, How will the King give him a place in his heart?

I have finished with this talk of wisdom,

I spoke on that which is necessary, peace!

Saloman, becoming heart-sick his father’s reproaches, turns his fate in the direction of the desert, kindles a fire, and together with Absal, enters the inferno. Absal is burned and Saloman remains intact.

905 Who, in the world, is more afflicted than the lover?

There is no undertaking more difficult than this job.

Never does the pain caused by the friend leave his heart,

Nor is the desire of his heart ever fulfilled.

The pay-off of his affliction, day and night,

Is the criticism of those who wish him ill and the good counsel of the well-wisher.

When Salaman heard this good counsel, He rent the garment of ease from his body.

The thought of living vexed him,

And he became bent on annihilation.

910 When a life is deserving of death,

Dying is better than living.

He headed with Absal into the wilderness, And set his foot onto the plain of self-sacrifice.

He cut heaps of kindling sticks from every place,

He gathered them together in one spot.

With that kindling, he assembled a lofty mountain,

He set fire to heap and mountain.

Both of them rejoiced at the sight of the fire,

Having taken each other’s hand, they then went into the fire.

915 The King secretly knew about the situation,

His himmat was set on killing Absal.

He committed his himmat to his own will,

He burned her and left him.

That one was alloyed gold—this one was pure gold, Pure gold remained intact—alloy became dross.

When dross falls into a fire,

If a split is going to occur, it will happen to the dross.

The power of real, that is, spiritual men, comes from God,

It does not come from men of this world, that is, exiles from the spiritual world.

920 The person who is the possessor of himmat knows this, Only he who is without himmat would deny this.

The tale of the hypocrite and the sincere believer and how the hypocrite rolled the cloak of the sincere believer inside his own and cast both into a blazing furnace, whereupon the cloak of the hypocrite burned up and the cloak of the believer remained intact.

There was a furnace of fire in front of a certain sincere believer, He was hot as the fire on account of his labors.

With him was a hypocrite, skilled at being two-faced in matters of religion, Who engaged him in a battle, one that would confirm the truth of the religion.

The hypocrite said to the sincere believer: “Come on,

If you have some proof, produce it!”

First he asked for the cloak of the hypocrite,

Wrapping it tightly inside his own cloak;

925 Then he placed them inside the blazing furnace,

Fire immediately engulfed the cloak of the enemy of religion,

The cloak of the religious man remained untouched,

Whereupon he said: “Behold the quality of the divine light of faith!

For, the one inside burned like woodchips,

But the one outside remained completely intact.”

Salaman’s being left alone after the death of Absal and his lamentation on account of being separatedfrom her.

The struggle of day and night is,

For the hapless lover, a strange condition.

Whatever arrows of affliction strike him,

Come incessantly from the bow of the wheel of fate.

930 No sooner has an arrow-head slit his throat, That another one follows behind it.

If the friend should raise his hand on account of oppression, Destruction will come to him from the stone of the Guardian.

And if the stone of the Guardian misses his head,

He will get what is due to him by way of the reproaches of the accusers.

And should he escape from these,

The viceroy of exile will shed his blood on a sword, with a hundred pains and sighs.

When Salaman kindled the mountain of fire,

And burned Absal in it, like dross,

935 His partner was gone and he remained alone,

Like a body without a soul, he was isolated from her.

He sent soul-burning lamentations unto the skies,

And drew the hem of his eyelashes with the blood of his heart.

The smoke of his sighs pitched its tent in the heavens, Morning rent its collar on account of his anguish.

He was so completely involved in tearing at his breast, out of pain, That his breast became all claws, like the talons of a falcon.

So thoroughly did he go at himself with his nails, out of grief, That no single fingertip remained intact.

940 He would strike stones upon his heart, and without any doubt, That was the touchstone for the coin of his faithfulness.

When, from those stones, dust settled on his heart,

Its coin came out completely assayed.

When he sat down from all this, empty handed,

He would dig into the back of his hands with his teeth in despair.

When he did not see the fist of the friend within his grasp, He would wound his own five fingers with his teeth.

When he saw his fist empty of that jewel,

He would tear apart his fingertips with his teeth.

When he did not see those sugar lips beside him,

He gnawed at his fingers as though they were sugarcane.

Absent her, with whom he sat day-and-night,

He made his knee blue by beating it.

Each night he would face the corner of the house,

And tell fairytales to the image of his friend,

Saying: “Oh you who burned my soul by deserting me, Who, through your beauty, stitched my eyes shut.

For ages you were my soulmate,

The one who bestowed light on the eye of sacrifice.

My house was in the laneway of union with you,

My eye was constantly focused on the candle of your beauty.

Both of us were contented with the sight of the other,

On account of our union with each other, we fulfilled a hundred wishes.

Both of us were with one another, and there was nothing more, No one mattered to us, and we did not matter to anyone.

The hand of the injustice of heaven was short,

Affairs were in accordance with the desire of our heart.

At night we always slept in each other’s embrace,

By day our heads were in each other’s ears, whispering secrets.

No one passed in between us,

Nor was anyone aware of our state.

Oh if only it were so that when I kindled the fire,

You had been spared, and that it was I who was burned.

But it was you who were consumed, while I remained. What was this?

What was this injustice of fate that befell lowly me?

Oh if only I were still with you,

I would have traveled the path of non-existence with you.

I would have escaped from my miserable existence,

I would have attained eternal bliss.”

The tale of the Bedouin Arab who lost his camel and said: “If only I too had been lost with my camel, so that whoever found him would also find me.”

A certain Bedouin, one eye drunk with sleep,

Fell from his camel as it quickened its stride.

When the camel, now unencumbered, saw a friend,

It began a pleasant pace.

At daybreak, when the Bedouin awoke,

He could not at all find his camel.

He said, with despair: “My camel is lost, now

My mind is full of her image.

Oh if only I too would have been lost with her,

This cruelty would not have fallen on my head.

965 Wherever she went missing, I would have gone with her,

Side-by-side, so that I might escape this distance,

And so that whoever would find that lost one, Would find her in the same place as poor, lost me.

The King's hearing about the state of Saloman, his inability to order the affairs of Saloman, and his referring the resolution of the matter to the Sage.

When Salâmân lingered, in this manner, without Absal,

His state, day and night, was thus.

The King’s confidants related the matter to him,

His soul melted, on account of pain.

With Absal, he had more than a hundred concerns,

Without her, anguish confronted him like a mountain.

970 With and without her he was aggrieved,

The anguish did not leave his mind.

Verily, the cupola of the firmament is a house of pain, To exist in it without pain is a lie, like a fairy tale.

In the primordial age, when the clay of Adam was kneaded,

The garment of outer form was stitched to his stature.

For forty mornings, the cloud of trial

Poured down onto him, head to toe.

One day, at nightfall, when the forty days had passed, The rain of rapture showered onto his head.

975 As a consequence, no person has ever found freedom from anguish,

Nor have they discovered any contentment, except after forty days of despair.

Since the shower of rapture is what seals the ordeal,

The matter is ultimately settled through happiness.

But the wise one knows that,

This place of ease is in the other abode.

When the King witnessed Salâmân mourning,

A hundred stabs of pain and grief struck his heart.

Nothing was able to remedy that affair;

The vein of his soul, twisting and coiling, withered.

He therefore consulted the opinion of the learned Sage,

Saying: “Oh you qibla of the world’s hopes and fears,

Whenever a desperate person is in trouble,

A solution to that trouble is found through the thought of an illuminated heart.

In today’s world, you are that illuminated heart, You are the loosener of the lock of every problem.

Absâl burned, and Salâmân, through his pain, Has dedicated his time to mourning for her.

I am unable to convey Absal back again,

And incapable of being Salâmân’s remedy-maker.

I have spoken, this dilemma of mine is now before you,

Seek a remedy through your far-sighted intellect.

Show compassion, since I am thoroughly weary,

I am constrained in the palm of a hundred strangulations.”

The learned Sage gave him an answer:

“Oh you whose judgment has not wavered from the path of rectitude.

If Salâmân does not break his oath with me,

And comes inside the collar of my command,

I shall soon bring Absâl back to him;

I will effect the unveiling of this state for him.

In several days I will fashion a remedy for his condition;

I will make Absâl his eternal companion.”

When Salâmân heard this from the Sage,

His soul submitted to his command.

He took to sweeping the thorns and underbrush of his door, He accepted, with all his heart, everything the Sage said.

How wondeful it is to be dust at the door of the Perfect Man, To be a slave to the commands of he who is a master of the heart.

Listen to this subtle point, which a learned man has spoken,

Threading a pearl, which is very beautiful:

“Be wise, do not quarrel or brawl,

That, or escape under the shadow of a learned man.

The harm that besets temperament, on account of ignorance, Is cured through the learned man and wisdom.”

Salomon’s obedience to the Sage and the Sage’s ordering of his affairs.

When Salâmân submitted to the Sage,

He situated himself under the shadow of his care,

His resignation amazed the Sage, Who applied magic in instructing him.

He poured the wine of good fortune into his cup,

He poured the honeycomb of wisdom onto his palate.

1000 On account of the taste of that wine, his cup became rapturous,

On account of this honeycomb, his palate poured sugar.

Whenever Absal appeared in his memory, He started to bewail his separation from her.

When the Sage recognized that condition,

He fashioned the form of Absal.

He held it in front of his eyes for one or two hours, He sowed the seed of setting his mind at ease.

When his grief and distress found solace,

The image left for the frontier of non-existence.

1005 When the himmat of the Gnostic becomes powerful enough,

The Gnostic creates whatever he wishes, undiminished.

If, however, himmat is aimless, even for one instant, The existent form disappears from the Gnostic.

From time to time, as he perfected his speech, He would interpose the description of Venus.

“Venus,” he said, “is the candle of the assembly of stars, In front of her, the fairness of all of the stars vanishes.

When she shows her beauty,

She throws the sun and the moon into a frenzy.

1010 There is no one sharper in song than her,

Or more able to arouse the cheers of the banquet of pleasure.

The ear of the firmament is brimming with the melody of her harp, Rapt in perpetual movement,^{^[669]} on account of her song.”

When Salâmân heard these words,

He discovered a yearning for her within himself.

When these words were repeated several times, He found that the yearning within him was great.

When the Sage perceived the significance of this for him,

He increased the effect of Venus on him,

1015 Until she manifested her beauty completely,

And it made an impression on the heart and soul of Salâmân.

He effaced the image of Absâl from his mind, And the imprint of the face of Venus was mended to it.

He saw everlasting beauty and flew from the transitory world, He favored eternal rapture over the temporal.

The King and the pillars of state swear allegiance to Salomon, and hand the throne over to him.

How excellent a thing is the crown of kingship, How lofty a degree is the throne of the sultanate.

Not just any head is worthy of that fortunate thing,

Not every foot is suited to this rank.

1020 Only a firmament-scraping foot is worthy of this dignity,

Only a divine, throne-rubbing head merits this rank.

Once Salâmân was delivered from the pain caused by Absâl, He bound his heart to the beloved that augers well for royalty.

His hem was purified of all defilements,

His himmat faced the heavens.

The top of his head became worthy of the crown,

His foot was now suitable for the ascension^{^[670]} to the Throne of the celestial sphere.

The King of Greece called upon the princes,

Summoned the grandees and champions.

1025 He prepared a feast, the likes of which

No king of kings in the course of world history had ever seen.

Every commander and every soldier,

From every clime, was present at the feast.

With that, all the commanders and armies,

Whoever was there, swore their allegiance to Salâmân.

All of them removed the thought of leadership from their hearts, And lifted their heads into the collar of servitude to him.

The King settled the jeweled crown atop his head,

And placed the golden throne of kingship beneath his feet.

He placed the seven climes under his control,

The King taught him the custom of commanding an army.

He, at this very an assembly,

Composed for his sake, a final will and testament.

At the head of the audience, and thus not secretly, He threaded a hundred pearls of diamond thoughts.

The King's final testament to Salomon.

“Oh my son, kingship of this world is not everlasting, It is not the hoped for end of men mature in spirit.

Take religion-acquiring Reason as your guide, Realize that today is the seed-field of tomorrow.

Before this seed-field comes to an end, Sew the seed of everlasting good fortune.

Every task is possessed of the need for science, Efforts always gain value through knowledge.

That which you know, keep proceeding according to it,

That which you do not know, ask learned men about it.

Whatever you get and give away,

Observe well how you get it, and how you give it.

Whatever you attain, take it in accordance with religion, Not according to some irreligious regulator.

Whenever you acquire a motive in accordance with religion, Dispense with that motive according to religion.

Do not empty the purse of the oppressed,

Do not thereby elevate the rank of the tyrant.

The former falls into want and festering poverty,

And the latter squanders it on debauchery and tyranny.

In the end, this conduct turns into your misery,

Your neck buckles under the burden of both.

Go, Do not turn away from the straight paths,

For this is the rule of the ancient kings.

The tyrant went to hell, you must not follow him, Do not become, as he did, the kindling of hell.

Strive so that every error and every defect,

On account of your justice, is exchanged for its opposite.

Not so that justice, on account of you, acquires the color of oppression, And the wineglass of real justice is shattered with the stone of tyranny.

You are a shepherd, and the subjects are like a flock of sheep, In your shepherding, keep far from trouble.

In your shepherding, do not adopt other customs,

And regard your own ability as superior to actual shepherds.

You yourself be equitable, like those who follow the right religion, What is the principal concern of the shepherd for his flock?

It is necessary that you have commanders within the flock

So that the obedience of the flock to you is sincere,

Like a sheep dog, their heads on a leash for you,

But a dog to confront the wolves, not the sheep.

It is a great and utter calamity for the flock,

When the fierce dog is a friend of the wolf.

There is no escape for kings from the need for vazlrs,

But the vazlr must be one who is knowledgeable and trustworthy.

He must know the affairs of the realm completely,

So that he may order them in the best form.

He must know that he is trusted with the wealth of the king,

And is not preparing an ambush for seizing more than his rightful share,

That he does not take more than what he needs from the subjects,

And that which is the rightful portion of the king and his retinue—

One benevolent towards all of God’s creatures,

Pitying the state of the poor and the beggar,

His graciousness applying a salve to every wounded breast,

His severity delivering vengeance upon every oppressor,

Not one of wicked disposition, who, with the appearance of a wild beast, Betrays his foolishness in front of the wise,

All filthy, like a mongrel dog,

And at ease with having his paws defiled,

Craving for a hapless cow to sacrifice,

So that he may defile his mouth with its blood.

Nay, you must have an admonisher to guide you wherever you go,

Who is straight-sighted, disposed to sincerity, and possessed of excellent discernment,

The one who can convey to you the hidden of everything, And the date of the good and bad deeds of everyone.

As for that person who is afraid of the vazlr,

Do not leave his interrogation up to the vazlr,

Investigate the matter yourself as well,

And you will make the rank of good fortune lofty.

As for he who acts competently on your behalf,

But who tyrannizes the cities and districts,

That is not being competent, that is causing calamity,

It is bundling together the kindling of hell.

Competence indeed! And it is not beyond him, In the end, to convert his ten into two hundred.

When the extent of this ‘competence’ increases,

His carnal soul will rebel, and he will become an infidel.

In the eyes of intelligent and distinguished men,

It is not recommended that an infidel exercise authority over Muslims.

In short, whoever makes tyranny their custom,

And who therefore abandons religion in pursuit of lowly things,

There is nothing in the entire world stupider than he;

No one will eat fruit from the property of the ignorant.

Entrust, therefore, all of your religious and worldly affairs

To learned men, and no one else, peace.”

An indication of the fact that the intention of this tale is not its outer form, but that it has an altogether different meaning, which will be explained.

There is, in the outer form of every tale,

A certain share of its meaning meant for those who are able to see the fine points.

Given that the outer form of this tale has been completed, You must now attain to that meaning.

This has been exposited by a “Knower of the Path,”

Since it is he who has brought you to the secret business of “the way.”

The goal of this story is not concerned with talk of “We” and “you,”

It is the unveiling of the spiritual secret state of “We” and “you.”

Who is intended by the King and his Sage?

And Salâmân, who was he born of a King without a mate?

Who is Absal, through which Salâmân obtained his true desire?

What is the mountain of fire and the sea of water?

What is that kingship which came to Salaman

When he withdrew his hem from Absal?

Who is Venus, that, in the end, seized his heart,

Thereby scouring the verdigris of Absal from his mirror?

Listen to me for an exposition of these things, one-by-one, Be an ear from head to toe, and be understanding!

Explanation of what is meant by all of the aforementioned.

When the incomparable Creator made the world, He created, before all else, First Intellect.

1085 Oh you knower of subtle points, the chain of intellects is comprised of ten,

And the Tenth is the one that makes its effect known in this world.

Because it is the one that is the effecter,

They named it Active Intellect.

It is the one that emanates good and evil in the world,

It is the one responsible for abundance and deficiency on earth.

It is not fettered to the corporeal realm, nor to the body,

Its essence has no need of this talisman.

In its essence and activity, it is separate from these things,

It does whatever it wants, without the fetters of these things.

1090 The spirit of man is born of its effect,

The animal soul is the plaything of its plan.

All of these things are under its command,

All of these things drown in its favor.

It is the shah of the commanding king,

And the others, that is, the commanding or temporal shahs, are under its command.

Since it is adorned with the epithet “kingship,”

The guide intended it when he spoke of the King.

The emanation, which flows through it onto this world,

Is constantly falling upon him, that is, the temporal shah, from above.

1095 In the opinion of the guide, who is experienced in the wonders of the world,

The supernal emanation was to be given the title, “Sage.”

His pure spirit was named, “Rational Soul,”

It is born of this Intellect, without the fetters of corporeality.

Its existence without bodily connection, is Jami’s intention

When he says that it is “born of a mate-less father”—

A human soul that came into being completely clean-skirted,

The name of this offspring, which means “unblemished,” is “Salâmân.”

Who is Absal? The lust-worshipping body,

That became low under the laws of nature.

The body lives by way of the soul, and through the body,

The soul derives pleasure through things perceptible to the senses.

For that reason, they are lovers of one another,

Only compulsion keeps them from mingling together.

What is that sea that both of them were in,

And from being in it, they were happily united?

It is the sea of sensual lusts,

It is the abyss of carnal pleasures.

An entire world drowns in its waves,

And in its being submerged, they are far from the Truth.

What is that Absâl, who was so close in company,

And that Salâmân, who was to remain deprived of her?

That is the consequence of the age of decline,

The age at which the tools of lust are rolled up like a carpet.

Having made a place for the beloved of his true nature in his embrace, The tool of lust remains low.

What is that inclination of Salâmân toward the King?

And that turning toward the throne of glory and dignity?

It is the inclination toward noetic pleasures,

The result of which is to be brought to the kingdom of Intellect.

What is that fire? Ascetic discipline,

In order to set fire to the stuff of human disposition,

The result of which burned Salâmân’s true nature, leaving pure spirit, And which shed his skirt of animal lusts.

Even though he grew accustomed to a life in the fire, From time to time, the pain of his separation resurfaced.

For that pain the Sage described to him the beauty of Venus,

The Sage made a yoke, joining [Salâmân’s] life to his affection for Venus.

Until, gradually, he reposed with Venus,

And escaped from the anguish and affection for Absâl.

Who is Venus? Those lofty perfections

With which, by way of union, the soul becomes truly noble.

From that beauty, Intellect becomes luminous, Thus becoming the king of the kingdom of man.

I have given you a summary of these secrets,

I have given you a précis of this speech.

If you must have the details, then meditate,

So that the ancient secrets come to you in great detail.

This discourse, as well as this summary, is finished,

And God knows what is best.^{^[671]}^{^[672]}

Conclusion of the book.

1120 Oh Jami you have rolled up the carpet of life,

For how long will you be in the image-laden realm of poetry?

How long will you be unskilled, and like the reed-pen, Writhing, letter-like, in the blackness of poetry?

In doing black deeds, your hair became white,

But there is scant hope your face will turn white from this art.

The time has come for you to apologize for what you said here,

It is time to make your mantra, “astaghfiru’lldh,”¹¹⁵

To dedicate soul and breath to seeking forgiveness,

To bring life into this very moment, and nothing else,

1125 When you rinse your mouth with the water of seeking forgiveness, Recite a prayer and praise the king of the world!

Praise the king of good fortune, Ya'qub Beg,

He has come, like a pouring raincloud, and I am parched sand.

How can parched sand ever be satisfied with water,

How can it ever be brave enough to bid it farewell?

Since it is impossible for me to be satisfied with this water, It is better to close this discourse with a prayer:

May the world be enlivened from the effusion of his beneficence,

May the turn of his justice become well-known to all,

1130 May, at every moment, he gain new glory and majesty,

And may the duration of his kingship be beyond all measure!

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‘Abbasid(s), 35, 43

‘Abd Allah Khan (Timurid), 37

‘Abd al-Vahhab sayyids, 123

‘Abd al-Vahhab, Siraj al-Din, Mir, 84, 95,

96, 97, I23n58

Abivardi, Amir Kamal al-Din Husain,

Sayyid, ii9n38

abjad, 85

Absal, 9-10, 11, 40, 131, 147, 161

abandonment of by Salaman, 2, 143

as corresponding to corporeal/

appetitive faculty, 12, 148

as corresponding to goldsmith

(in Masnavi-yi ma'navi), 4, 137

as full moon, 74

as representation of gnostic, 15

as representation of lust-worshipping

body, 67, 68, 73, 146

as sibling of Salaman, 13

as signification of Paradise, 11

as speculative intellect, 14

as symbol of carnal soul, 138, 143

as symbol of libertinism, 22, 146, 148

as symbol of Love, 134, 148

as symbol of sensual pleasure 2, 69, 139, 148, 163

as symbol of wine (= wine-drinking), 3,

4, 22, 146, 148, 149-50, 151, 152, 159, 164

consumed by fire, 134, 137, 138

etymology of name, 11n10

image of, 10, 143

in al-Nawadir, 12n15

incestuous affair between Salaman and,

65, 150

in Hayy ibn Yaqzan, 14

in Isharat wa al-tanbihat, 11, 12

in Kitab al-asfar al-arba'a, 12n15

in Risala fi al-qadar, 11n10

made Salaman’s eternal companion, 142

memory of in Salaman’s heart, 134, 138, 153

renunciation of by Salaman, 2, 22, 39,

148, 152, 163

Salaman freed from despair over, 69

Salaman leaps into fire with, 69

Salaman separated by King from, 72

Salaman’s love for, 73, 139

Salaman’s lust for, 3, 77, 138, 148, 151, 152

Salaman’s preoccupation with, 74, 140,

141

stratagems used by, 148

transformation of into Venus, 13n19, 134 union/carnal union between Salaman

and, 69, 141, 149-50

Absalom and Solomon, 14

Abû al-Muhsin Mirza (Timurid), 23n59, 70

Abû Bakr, 37, 89

Achaemenid(s), 13n18, 153

Active Intellect, 73, 137, 143

King associated with, 12, 67, 68, 146, 151 adab, 44, 74n202

Adam: adept actualizes myth of, 159

as Perfect Man, 65n150, 76n 209

as vicegerent of God, 65

creation of, 75, 225

fall of into corporality, 78

God wrapped in garment of, 168

in relation to Ya‘qûb, 108

parallel between rooster and, 78

perfect ruler God’s investiture of, 64

Qur’anic story of, 10n7, 108n128 recreation of drama of, 79

Salaman custodian of treasure of, 76, 210

Salaman descendant of, 76

Salaman signification of, 11

Salaman equates self to, 108

similarities between Salaman and, 77,

140, 144

Adamic perfection, 144

'adl (= 'adalat). See justice

Afsahzad, A‘la-Khan, 25

Ahli Shirazi, 26-27, 112-3, 115, 164. See also

Sham/ va parvana

Ahrar, ‘Ubaid Allah, Khvaja, 28

aphorism attributed to, 38

as advocate of associating with rulers, 40

disciples of in Tabriz, 95

influence of over Timurids, 36, 37n11, 95 interventions of with Sultan-Abû Sa‘id,

Maulanazada ‘Abd Allah Utrari disciple of, 42n32

on activisim of Naqshbandis, 38

reliance of on rabita, 153-4

Siraj al-Din ‘Abd al-Vahhab disciple of,

akça, 92H45

Akhisqa (= Akhal-Tsikhe), 94n53 akhlaq, 17, 44

Akhlaq-i Jalal! (Jalal al-Din Davani), 81,

119, 163

accordance between Salaman va Absal and, 1, 18

as dedicated to Üzûn Hasan and Sultan-Khalil, 20-21, 59

as Persian mirror for princes, 21, 162 at Mughal court, 86n20

emphasis on Sufism in, 86 esoteric elements of, 21 legitimizes Üzûn Hasan, 85n15 on conditions for good kinship, 49-50 on need to effect justice in body, 47 on Sufis influencing dynastic fortune, 59 pervaded with Sufi ethics, 21 role of, 86-89

ruler as “shadow of God” in, 55

ruler compared to shepherd in, 51 spirituality and court service in, 38 statement on just infidel in, 48 statement “religion and kingship

brothers” in, 60n127

vasayas of Plato and Aristotle in, 51 Akhlaq-i Muhsini (Husain Va‘iz Kashifi),

23n59, 44n43, 45n49, 70

Akhlaq-i Nasiri (Nasir al-Din Tûsi), 21, 49, 50, 52, 55n102, 61

accordance between Salaman va Absal and, 1, 18

Akhlaq-i Jalali based on, 21

and correlating Salaman va Absal to works of advice, 19

as synthesis of Aristotelianism and Indo-Iranian ideals, 20

conceptualization of society in, 20 dissimilarity of with Salaman va Absal, 61

on virtues ruler must posses, 49 ruler as “shadow of God” in, 55n104 ruler compared to shepherd in, 51 statement “religion and kingship brothers” in, 60n127

vasayas of Plato to Aristotle in, 51 Akziyarat, 83n6

'alam al-ghaib, 63, 142n33

'alam al-misal, 141-2

alcohol, 3, 16, 107, 150, 159. See also wine Algar, Hamid, 37-38, 40n25, 95, 96, 115 Alexander the Great, 9n5, 51

‘Ali al-Hadi, Imam, 1040100

‘Ali al-Riza, Imam, 116

allegory: about king and handmaiden/ slave-girl, 4

“historical and political,” 145

Ibn Sina’s use of, 11, 145

Ibn Sina’s version of [Salaman and Absal], 13-14, 145, 159

modern prejudice against, 145, 161, 164 mystical, 21

Neo-Platonism in medieval, 67n159 “of ideas,” 144-5

provenance of Salaman va Absal, 11-13

Salaman va Absal (complex), 1, 46, 65, 66, 111, 144-5, 159, 161, 164

Salaman va Absal historical, 3, 22, 65, 112, 131, 144-6, 161, 164

Salaman va Absal not “trite,” 145

Salaman va Absal “peculiar,” 135

Salaman va Absal romantic, 17

Salaman va Absal “simple and banal,” 133 two types of, 144-5

allegorists, 146n51

Amin al-Din al-Balyani, 38

amir-i divan, 121

Amir Khusrau, 158. See also Bahr-i abrar

Anahita, 67, 153

andarz, 17, 35

andarz-nama, 44

Ansari, ‘Abd Allah, 32n100, 50. See also

Tabaqat al-sufiyya, Tuhfat al-mulük

Ansari Qumi, 120

anthology(ies): hagiographical, 29-32, 99n75, 127, 155n92, 158n106, 162 literary (= poetical), 3, 24, 32-33, 111, 116, 131, 158, 162, 164. See also tazkira

Anûshirvan (Sasanian), 43, 49, 50

Advices of, 35

al-'aql al-nazari, 14

'aql-i avval, 67

'aql-ifa"al, 12, 67, 146. See also Active Intellect

'aql-i kull. See Universal Reason

'Aql-i surkh (Shihab al-Din Yahya Suhravardi), 68m68

Àq Qoyûnlû: administration, 121 administrative elite, 88, 93, 94, 98, 130 and mirrors for princes, 21, 34 armed forces, 104, 125

as audience of Salaman va Absal, 2, 5, 21, 34, 79, 111, 123, 146, 155, 162, 163

as foes of Qara Qoyûnlû, 83n6

as patrons of Persian belles-lettres, 24,

26, 32-33, 164

as solicitors of advice from Sufis, 29, 162 disintegration of, 99

household, 112, 129-31, 163

influence of Jalal al-Din Davani on, 9on34

influence of Khalvatis on, 82, 90-93, 93-95, 162

interest in Jami’s poetry, 29, 118-9 literary tastes of, 117, 162, 164 marriage practices, 41, 123, 150 poets affiliated with, 26, 33, 111, 112-20,

162, 164

receptiveness to Sufis/Sufism, 1-2, 30, 59, 80, 82-86, 87n24, 111, 130, 162, 163

relations with Mamluks, 129n81 relations with Ottomans, 102, 103 relations with Timurids, 85n16, 119 role of Naqshbandis and, 4, 90, 95-100, 100, 101, 102-3, 162, 163

royal court, 1, 3, 4, 16, 21, 22, 26, 31, 32, 34, 80, 90, 91, 95, 102, 105, 111, 112, 114, 117, 118, 119-20, 126, 127, 130, 131, 136, 144, 146, 147, 148, 151, 152, 159, 161, 162,

163, 164

sources for study of, 3, 23-24, 27-28, 31-32, 117, 126

Sunni orientation of, 86, 114 territory, 30, 31, 42, 98, 113, 119n40 (tribal) confederation, 7, 16, 82, 86, 147 use of suyürghal grants, 83n8. See also

Üzûn Hasan, Sultan Abû al-Muzaffar Ya‘qûb, Sultan Khalil, Tabriz

Arberry, A. J., 7, 17n39

Ardabil, 125

Ardashir (Sasanian), 45n49, 55, 60

Advices of, 35

Ardistani, Jamal al-Din, Pir, 28

Aristotle, 17n39, 51, 90n34, 135n11. See also justice

Arthashastra, 35

'Ari-nama (Jalal al-Din Davani), 59n125, 87, 89, 91n42, 112n4

Ari-i sipah-i Uzün Hasan. See 'Ari-nama Asar al-vuzara‘ (Saif al-Din ‘Uqaili), 52 ascetic(ism), 72, 76, 79, 138, 154, 156n97, 164 al-asma‘ al-husna, 76, 144. See also Divine

Names and Attributes

Asrar-i Qasimi (Husain Va‘iz Kashifi), 61-62

‘Attar, Ala’ al-Din, 153n84

‘Attar, Farid al-Din, 76n212, 135n10. See also Mantiq al-tair

Aubin, Jean, 34n110, 84

Avicenna. See Ibn Sina

Awarif al-ma'arif (Shihab al-Din Abû Hafs ‘Umar Suhrawardi), 153

ayina-nama, 44

Azerbaijan, 16, 84-85, 91n39, 97, 98, 123n58, 128

‘Azra, 167, 216, 217

Baba Fighani, 26, 112, 115-6, 119, 130, 164

Baba Mahmûd hospice, 83n7

al-Babur, Abû al-Qasim (Timurid), 40

Baghdad, 31, 46n53, 104n100

Bagh-i Shamal, 91

Baharistan (Jami), 40, 43, 48

Bahmanid(s), 109n133

Bahram Gûr (Sasanian), 53

Bahramshah, Fakr al-Din (Mengücek), 88n26 Bahram va Bihrüz (Kamal al-Din Bana’i), 27, 113

Bahr-i abrar (Amir Khusrau), 158

Baihaqi, ‘Ala’ al-Din ‘Ali, Sayyid, 91 Bakharzi, ‘Abd al-Vasi‘ Nizami, 24, 30.

See also Maqamat-iJami

bala, 52, 74, 75n204, 142

Bana’i Haravi, Kamal al-Din: addressed

Bahram va Bihrüz to Ya‘qûb, 27, 113 affiliation of with Àq Qoyûnlû, 26, 112 in service to Ya‘qûb, 27n76, 114, 115n21 patronage of by Ya‘qûb, 164 reputation of at Herat, 114. See also

Bahram va Bihrüz

baqa‘, 143-4. See also baqi baqi, 143-4

baraka (= barakat, pl. barakat), 62, 64, 101, 102, 107

as legitimating ruler, 61

as part of reciprocal relationship, 59 in connection with Baha’ al-Din

Naqshband, 62

in connection with Jami’s prayer, 64

of Darvish Qasim, 102

of Khvaja ‘Umar, 101

of Sufis and dynastic fortune, 59 request by Ya‘qûb for Jami’s, 107

Barbaro, Giosafat, 105-6

Barda‘a, 94n53

Barmakid(s), 43 barzakh, 133, 142

Bayabang, 128

Bayandur (clan), 16, 101, 113, 123, 127n69, 150

Bayazid II (Ottoman), 42, 86

Baysunghur, Abû al-Fath (Àq Qoyûnlû), 27 Bear, constellation of, 24n62

beglerbegi, 103

beloved: 136, 137, 139, 140

Absal as, 2, 9, 13, 39, 139, 148, 159, 163 divine, 10, 139-40

beloved cont.

earthly/temporal, 74, 128, 142

of Qazi ‘Isa, 127

spiritual, 140

Ya‘qûb as, 81, 112

Bertel’s, E. È., 26

Bidlisi, Hakïm al-Din Idris, 94, 121n48, 124-5. See also Hasht bihisht, Qanun-i shahanshah!

Bidpai. See Kalila wa dimna

Bijan, Sulaiman Beg, 92

Bilqis, 191

Bitlis, 98n72

Blue Mosque in Tabriz, 91n39 boon-companion(s), 102, 120 breast-feeding: juridical discussions of, 150, 161

Browne, Edward G., 7

Bukhara, 37

Bulghari, Muhammad Amin, Khvaja, 95, 97

Buzurjmihr, 49n69, 52n83

Advices of, 35

caliphate, 35, 84, 87

carnal soul. See nafs

Celestial/divine Pen, 76

Celestial/primordial Tablet, 76

Chaghatay [Turkish], 32, 37n12, 114, 119

Chahar maqala (Nizâmi ‘Arûzi), 42

China, 188

Chinggis Khan, 88n26, 150-1n71. See alsoyasa

Corbin, Henry, 12, 133, 141-2, 145

Daênâ, 13n19

daulat, 2, 8, 57, 60-61, 163. See also kingship

Damascus, 42

Darvishabad, 96, 97

Dashtaki, Ghiyas al-Din Mansûr, 630139

Dashtaki, Sadr al-Din, 6311139

Davani, Jalal al-Din: as Àq Qoyûnlû poet, 119

as chief qaii of Fars, 122n52

as chief religious figure of Àq Qoyûnlû, 86

assertion of that ruler dependant on Sufis, 87

association with Murshidiyya, 38

as teacher of Qazi Husain Maibûdi, 96

as teacher of Rûzbihan Khunji-Isfahani, 28

cardinal virtues according to, 49-50 “circle of justice” according to, 45 citatation of Syriac rock-inscription by,

60n127 commentaries on Hafiz by, 59n125 description of Sultan-Khalil by, 89 disputations between Dashtakis and, 63n139

equates Uzûn Hasan with Khidr, 88 influence of over Àq Qoyûnlû, 90n34 introduction of Ibrahim Gulshani to,

90n37

on need to effect justice in body, 47

on preeminence of shaikhs, 86-87

on spirituality and court service, 38-39 regard for Shams al-Din Muhammad

Lahiji, 113

treatise on justice by, 90n34

treatise on speculative theology by, 90n34

treatise on “There is no god but God” by, 8<)ii29. See also Akhlaq-iJalali, Ari-nama, Hashiya qadim bar sharh-i tajrid

David, prophet, 49-49, 185

daya, 9, 134

Sufi saint as, 134. See also breast-feeding, wet-nurse

dervish(es): Akhlaq-iJalali instructs ruler to support, 21

as responsible for Uzûn Hasan’s power, 84

associations with Uzûn Hasan and Ya‘qûb, 28, 80, 86

attendance of at Darvishabad khanaqah, 97

Baba ‘Abd al-Rahman Shami as, 82 eradication by Uzûn Hasan of heretical, 84

hostility of Naqshbandis to antinomian, 37

influence of over Àq Qoyûnlû, 163 interest of Àq Qoyûnlû in, 81 Kamal al-Din Gazurgahi as, 128n76 Murshidiyya circle of, 38

ruler finds refuge in hearts of, 87

DeWeese, Devin, 30

din, 2, 19, 39, 45, 46, 48, 58, 61, 62, 163 al-Ghazali’s “circle of justice” begins with, 45

as epitomized by praising ruler, 58

as obligation, 61n131

construed as dain or “debt,” 61

does not ensure kingship, 46, 48

made right by prophets, 39

placed in ruler’s heart through Sufi prayer, 61, 62

Qazi ‘Isa elevated affairs of, 125

relationship between kingship and, 19

Sufi-ruler supported by, 2. See also kingship

dinar(s) (Shahrukhi), 117

Divine Names and Attributes, 57, 140. See also al-asma" al-husna

divine physician, 22, 137

as Sufi shaikh, 135, 136, 137. See also

Sage, Universal Reason

Divine Spirit, 77n217, 137

dream (= dream-vision), 3, 31n97, 84, 85n16, 89, 137, 144

al-Durra al-fakhira (Jami), 42

ego-self (= ego-soul), 2, 127n71, 134, 140, 144, 154. See also nafs

Erzinjan, 88n26

faiz, 87, 88, 97, 110, 154

faiz-i bala, 67, 68, 146, 151

faiz-i ilahi, 12, 137, 151

Fakhri Haravi, Sultan Muhammad, 24, 32n101, 33, 120, 128-9. See also Latafnama, Rauzat al-salatin

falsafa, 42

fana", 144, 153. See also fani

fani, 143-4

Farabi, Abû Nasr, 20, 67. See also Madinat al-fazila

Farhad, 140, 218-9

farman, 22n58, 68, 84

farr (=farra, khvarna) 56

farr-i ilahi, 57

farr-i Izad!, 56n105. See also Jami, Sultan

Abû al-Muzaffar Ya'qûb

Farrukh Yasar (Shirvan-shah), 41

Fars, 59n125, 87, 89, 90n37, 91n42, 113.

See also Jalal al-Din Davani

Fawaïh al-jamal wafawatih al-jalal (Najm al-Din Kubra), 142n35, 153

Fazlûn (Shaddadid), 200

Firdausi, 26n74, 191. See also Shah-nama fox and its cub, parable of, 75, 79

Fravarti, 13n19

Frye, Northrop, 145

Fusus al-hikam (Ibn al-'Arabi), 91, 94n51, 96. See also Dada 'Umar Raushani

al-Futühat al-Makkiyya (Ibn al-'Arabi), 64n143, 119, 139

futuwwat, 74

Gabriel, archangel, 143

Gauhar-Sultan Khanum, 41n30

Garden of Eden, 216

Garden of Iram, 216

Gazurgahi, Sayyid Kamal al-Din Husain, Amir, 24, 32, 111, 127, 128, 130. See also Majalis al-'ushshaq

ghazal(s): attributed to Ya'qûb, 129 composed by Qazi 'Isa, 120-1, 122 dedicated by Jami to Sultan-Husain

Bayqara, 40

dedicated to Ya'qûb, 112

of Hafiz, 59n125, 71n188

Ghazali, Abû Hamid Muhammad: attribution by of maxims to Prophet, 48, 51-2, 55

“circle of justice” according to, 45 compares ruler to shepherd, 51 explanation offarr by, 56n105 Nasihat al-mulük (wrongly) ascribed

to, 19

on precondition of justice, 47

on ruler as “shadow of God’s awe,” 56n104

recommendation of that ruler emulate

Sasanians, 35-6

use of revelation about Iran, 49. See also Ihya" 'ulüm al-din, Nasihat al-muluk

Ghazan Khan (Ilkhanid), 43

ghazi, 94n53

Ghazi Khan, 41n30

Ghaznavid(s), 43

Ghijduvani, 'Abd al-Khaliq, 28n81, 89, 98 ghuluvv Islam, 98n72

Gilanshah (Ziyarid), 18

God’s sigh, 139, 141

Gross, Jo-Ann, 30

di Guasco, Pietro, 105

Gudara, 95n58

Gujarat, 115n21

Gulistan (Sa'di), 40

Gulshani, Muhyi, 24, 31, 125. See also

Menakib-i Ibrahim-i Gülçeni

Gulshani order, 31

Gulshani, Ibrahim, Shaikh, 31, 96, 97

acquainted with Jami, 90

administrative responsibilities of, 90 as disciple of 'Umar Raushani, 91 as focus of modern scholarship, 82, 163 association with Àq Qoyûnlû, 90

as Üzûn Hasan’s envoy to Sultan-Khalil, 90n37

at court of Ya'qûb, 31-32, 92-95, 124

part of power matrix, 32. See also Qazi Safi al-Din 'Isa Savaji, Shaikh Najm al-Din Mas'ûd Savaji

Gulshan-i raz (Mahmûd Shabistari), 94n51, 96

Gurgan, 18

Habîbî Bargshâdî, Maulânâ, 120

Habib al-siyarfi akhbar-i afrad-i bashar

(Ghiyâs al-Dîn Khvândamîr), 24, 29, 100 hadith, 63ni38, 7ini85, 78

and writings of Ibn al-‘Arabî, i40n23 equating religion to good advice, 35m,

maxims classified by al-Ghazâlî as, 51-2, 55

stating “I cannot count Your praises[,]” 58

stating justice better than worship, 126 stating just infidel preferable to unjust

Muslim, 1, 48 hadith qudsi, 640144, 76, 1080127, 140 Hafiz, Shams al-Dîn, 27n74, 590125, 710188 Haft aurang (Jâmî), 24-26, 40

Haidar b. Junaid, Shaikh (Safavid), 1230158, ¹²5

Haidarîs, 86

Haisarî, Qâzî Muhammad, 42 hajj, 30, 42, 99

hakim, 8, 68, 134, 137, 151. See also Sage hal, 8, 143

as spiritual state of Sufi, 46, 87, 117, 154

as spiritual state of “We and You,” 66 Halîma Begî Àghâ (= ‘Àlamshâh Khâtûn),

123n58

Hamadânî, ‘Alî Shihâb al-Dîn, 17. See also Zakhirat al-mulük

hamshira, 123, 150

Haravî, Najîb Mâyil, 26, 156n94 Hasan al-‘Askarî, Imam, 104n100

Hasan Sadr, Qâzî. See Maulânâ [Qâzî]

Hasan [Sadr]

Hashiya qadim bar sharh-i tajrid (Jalâl al-Dîn Davânî), 90n34

Hasht bihisht (Hakîm al-Dîn Idrîs Bidlîsî), 94n51

Hasht Bihisht palace garden, 107, 126 Hasht bihisht (Shâh-Muhammad b.

Mubârak Qazvînî), 24, 33, 115, 116

list of Àq Qoyûnlû poets in, 119-20, 164 notice on Qâzî ‘Isâ in, 123, 126, 127n69

Hatifî, ‘Abd Allâh, 112

Hâtim, 172, 199

Hayy ibn Yaqzan (Abû Bakr b. Tufail), 14-15, 138

Hayy ibn Yaqzan (Ibn Sînâ), 118 Hazrat-i Bâbâ Mazîd, 106 heart, 8

as divine Throne, 63

as organ/faculty of perception, 142 image of shaikh in (see also himmat,

rabita), 4, 62, 66, 107, 147

mirror metaphor for, 76

of ruler, 61, 62-63, 108n127

of Salâmân, 62n133, 77, 134, 138, 143, 153

of Sufi(s)/dervish(es), 58, 59, 87

of Ya‘qûb Jâmî’s focus, 57, 109 visionary experience of, 3, 76, 159 wine-cup metaphor for, 142-3 Ya‘qûb on transformation of, 108

Heath, Peter, 145

Herat, 4, 23n59, 25, 30, 37n14, 40n72, 41, 50, 70, 81, 90, 98n72, 99, 100, 112, 113, 114, 116, 118, 119, 120, 128n76, 129, 158, 163

Hidden Imâm, 142n33

Hijaz, 85

hikmat, 49

himmat (pl. himam), 4, 21, 61, 84119, 107 association with saint(s), 9n6 familiarity of Ya‘qûb with, 107, 117 of Jâmî sought by Ya‘qûb, 28, 117 of Sage, 143, 153

relevance of to Jâmî, 87, 163

reliance on by ‘Ubaid Allâh Ahrâr, 153-4 use of by King, 9-10, 72, 152

hospice(s), 60, 83n7, 87, 91n39, 98, 102, 103, 105. See also khanaqah(s), zaviya

hubb ilahi. See love: Divine

hubb rühani. See love: Spiritual

hubb tabii. See love: Natural

Hujvîrî, ‘Alî b. ‘Uthmân al-Jullâbî, 70, 71,

73, 110n140. See also Kashf al-mahjüb

Hülegü (Ilkhanid), 20

Hunain b. Ishâq, 8n4, 12, 138, 161

Hurûfî, 84n12

Husain b. ‘Alî, Imam, 104n100

'ibadat, 48n63, 126

Ibn al-‘Arabî, Muhyî al-Dîn, 66n154, 91, 92 himmat and theosophy of, 9n6 influence of on Jâmî, 3, 57, 72n189, 135n9, 138

interpretation of tauba by, 72

Jâmî proponent of, 2-3, 138

love and theosophy of, 138-41, 153, 159 modes of being according to, 2 Naqshbandîs interpreters of, 38, 102n91 on being true deputy of God, 64 writings of and Salaman va Absal, 138.

See also Fusüs al-hikam, al-Futühat al-Makkiyya, al-Nawadir

Ibn Sînâ, 67, 133

as originator of Salâmân and Absâl tale,

11, 159, 161

use of allegory by, 11, 15, 145

version of [Salâmân and Absâl] by, 13-14, 15, 34, 118. See also Hayy ibn

Yaqzan, Isharatwa al-tanbihat, Risala fi al-qadar, Risalat al-tair, Salaman wa Absal

Ibn Taiymiyya, 35

Ibn Tufail, Abû Bakr, 14-15, 138. See also

Hayy ibn Yaqzan

Idris, brother of Üzûn Hasan, 91

fat, 49

Ihya‘ 'ulüm al-din (Muhammad Ghazali), 7on179

ilchi, 9on36, 102

Ilkhanid(s), 2o, 43, 52n83, 15on71

Illuminationism, 12-13, 63, 66n157

'ilm-ijafr, 84012

incest: and Zoroastrian consangious marriage, 13

as literary trope, 150

union of Salaman and Absal example

of, 8, 65, 150, 161

India, 9n5, 45n49, 115n21, 129

conceptions of statecraft from, 44 al-insan al-kamil (= insan-i kamil):

as saint, 64

as true vicegerent of God, 17, 162

in Salaman va Absal 162

Jami’s interpretation of, 2on54

ruler as, 64. See also kamal-i insani intellect, 47n57, 73

advice on illuminating, 66-69

hierarchy of, 133

of Salaman, 147

Iran, 9n5, 16, 18, 19, 20, 23n59, 36, 37n13, 38, 44, 46, 48, 49, 59n124, 60n128, 63, 67n161, 70, 78n219, 84n12, 92, 97n68, 120, 163

Iraq, 16, 82, 104, 128

‘Iraqi, Fakhr al-Din, 96. See also Lama'at Isfahan, 12n15

Isharat wa al-tanbihat, Kitab (Ibn Sina), 11, 14n28, 161

allusion to in Ya‘qûb’s letter to Jami, 118 Iskandar-nama (Nizami Ganjavi), 135n11 Islamic law, 27n78, 86, 151n73, 156

addressed in Silsilat al-zahab, 42

incest according to, 150

revivification of by Qâzi ‘Isa, 125 tamgha not in accordance with, 37.

See also shari'a

Isma‘il I, Shah (Safavid), 96, 98n72

Israelites, 129

Istanbul, 27n74, 41, 42, 91

Ivanov, W., 26

Jacob, Biblical story of, 130-1, 165112

Jahangir (Mughal), 86n20

Jahanshah (Qara Qoyûnlû), 41, 101, 108n133 al-Jahiz, 45n49

Jahri brotherhood, 28

Jami'al-'ulüm (Fakhr al-Din Razi), 60n127

Jami, ‘Abd al-‘Aziz, Khvaja, 97

Jami, Nûr al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman, 1, 24, 34

‘Abd Allah Hatifi nephew of, 112 acquainted with Ibrahim Gulshani, 90 activities of in Damascus, 42

advice of to Ya‘qûb, 2, 28, 31, 40, 64-65, 71, 107, 109-10, 117, 118, 156, 162

allusion to al-'amalbi al-'azima by, 70-71 allusion to Day of Covenant by, 75 allusion to rabita by, 155

allusion to visionary experience by, 144

allusion to Ya‘qûb by, 147

and Bayazid II, 42

and conscience of Ya‘qûb, 117, 151

and Farrukh Yasar Shirvan-shah, 41

and Jahanshah, 41

and Mehmed II, 42

and Naqshbandi tradition of advising rulers, 40

and Nizami’s Khamsa, 25n63, 158

Àq Qoyûnlû interest in poetry of, 29, 118-9

arrival in Tabriz, 102

as “Àq Qoyûnlû” poet, 116-9

as critical of Ya‘qûb’s immorality, 26, 43

as Naqshbandi influence on Ya‘qûb, 31, 62, 70, 81, 110, 115, 155, 163

as preeminent literary figure, 40-41n28 as proponent of Ibn al-‘Arabi, 2-3, 138 as purveyor of Persian/Perso-Islamic wisdom, 21, 42-43, 161

association with Sultan-Husain Bayqara, 40

as spiritual master of Shahidi Qumi, 40n25, 115, 116

as spiritual “master” of Ya‘qûb, 4, 33, 81, 108, 109-10, 118, 155, 160, 163

as Sufi shaikh, 4, 40n25, 66, 110, 160, 163

as synthesizer of Ibn al-‘Arabi and Rûmi, 138

attachment of Sun‘ Allah Kûzakunani

to, 31, 99

“autographed” Haft aurang MS of, 25-26 blessings of sought by Ya‘qûb, 107, 117 books on Sufism by, 158

claim of that Ya‘qûb possesses farr, 57 collection of letters attributed to,

33n108, 158

commentary on Masnavi-yi ma'navi, 135n9

connection between Baba Fighani and, 116

Jami, Nur al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman cont. definition of “true/perfect kingship,”

2, 55-56, 58

disciples of, 40n25

Divan of, 104, 119

(duration of) rapport between Ya‘qUb and, 4, 29, 107, 117, 130, 156, 157

encounter(s) between UzUn Hasan and, 30, 31

explication of Salaman va Absal, 65, 66, 67-69, 136, 137, 146, 147

hajj pilgrimmage of, 30, 41, 42 himmat of sought by Ya‘qUb, 28, 117 influence of Ibn al-‘Arabi on, 3, 57,

72n189, 135n9, 138

initiated Timurids into Naqshbandi order, 4, 40

al-insan al-kamil according to, 20n54, 162

Kamal al-Din Gazurgahi studied under, 128n76

Kulliyat of, 29, 41, 119n38

letter from Najm al-Din Mas‘Ud Savaji to, 125n64

letter(s) from Ya‘qUb to, 23, 24, 33-34, 62n134, 81, 107-9, 116-9, 158, 163

letters to Muslim rulers from, 33, 108-9n33

letters to Sultan-Husain Bayqara from, 108n133

letter to Jahanshah from, 41n29 letter to UzUn Hasan from, 33, 108 letter to Ya‘qUb from, 23, 24, 33, 62n134,

81, 108-9, 155, 163, 165

masnavis of provoke mystical experience, 155n92

“misogyny” of, 149n62

monetary offering by Ya‘qUb to, 117, 158

Naqshbandi affiliation of, 4, 30, 40, 71, 77 notice in Tarikh-i 'Alam-ara-yi amini on, 116-7, 158

notice in Tazkirat al-shu'ara" on, 158 not originator of wet-nurse topos, 134 on conditions of good kingship, 49, 50

on discord between Ya‘qUb and YUsuf, 130-1

on greed, 51

on illuminating Intellect, 66-69

on importance of justice, 46, 48, 56

on Iranian ethics and Islamic morality, 51

on man’s/Adam’s status among created things, 75-78

on need for rulers to repent, 71 on own infirmity, 157 on prophets as originators of advice, 39 on Salaman forsaking his origins, 73 on seminal emission of King, 8-9 on ruler as “shadow of God,” 55, 57, 162, 163

on ruler as shepherd, 51, 52

on ruler’s need for Sufi prayers/ blessings, 58-59, 61, 64, 162

on Sage accessing Salaman’s heart, 38 on Salaman’s worship of Absal, 141 on sexual union of Salaman and Absal, 148-9

on (true) khalifat Allah, 2, 62-63, 162, 163

on vazir/vizierate, 10, 42-43, 52, 53, 54 on Ya‘qUb being drunkard, 156 Ottoman attempts to lure, 41-42 patterned Salaman va Absal on

Masnavi-yi ma'navi, 22, 135, 159, 161 prayer of and baraka, 58-59, 63, 64 qasidas (addressed to Ya‘qUb) by, 26, 108, 155, 158

quotation of Masnavi-yi manavi by, 3-4, 21, 135-6, 148, 159, 161-2

reason(s) of for composing Salaman va Absal, 2, 3, 17n39, 21, 22-23, 46, 49, 61, 64-65, 66, 123, 131, 144, 147-8, 155-6, 157, 158, 159, 164

referred to as saint, 117

regard for Shams al-Din Muhammad Lahiji, 113

revised works of ‘Abd Allah Ansari, 50 Salaman va Absal “lesser achievement” of, 7, 65, 161

spiritual relationship between Ya‘qUb and, 107-10

use of hadith by, 1, 58

use of motif of incest by, 150, 161

use of parable by, 75, 78, 79 use of sexual innuendos by, 150 version of Salaman and Absal by, 4, 11, 12, 16, 17, 118, 138, 159, 161

visit to Baghdad, 31

Ya‘qUb object of devotion of, 81, 109. See also Baharistan, al-Durra al-fakhira, Haft aurang, Khirad-nama-i Iskandari, Lailiva Majnün, Lavalh, Nafahat al-uns, Risala-i natya, Salaman va Absal, Sar‘rishta-i tariqa-i Khvajagan, Silsilat al-zahab, Subhat al-abrar, Tuhfat al-ahrar, Yüsuf va Zulaikha

Jamshid, 171

Javab(s), 158 javanmardi, 18, 74 jealousy: God’s, 140

King’s, 140-1. See also Sultan Abû al-Muzaffar Ya'qûb, Yamïn al-Dïn Abû al-'Izz Yûsuf

Jesus, 89, 122

Joseph, prophet: Biblical story of, 130-1

Qur’anic story of, 130, 203-4, 214. See also Yamïn al-Dîn Abû al-'Izz Yûsuf

Jud, 8, 49, 50

justice: as Aristotelian golden mean, 44 as central concept in mirrors for

princes, 1, 21, 42, 44

as equipoise of ruler’s constitution, 2, 47 as socioeconomic equilibrium, 20, 44-5,

46-47

as virtue of good ruler, 20, 49-50

“circle of,” 44-46

in Salaman va Absal, 8, 10, 46

of ancient kings of Iran, 48-49

of ruler more important than piety,

46, 48, 49, 126. See also Jalal al-Dïn

Davanï, kingship, Sultan Abû al-Muzaffar Ya'qûb

just ruler/king, 56, 126, 162, 163

kalam, 35, 90n34

Kalila wa dimna (Bidpai), 45n49 kamal-i insani, 88

Karbala, 104n100

Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï, Hafiz Husain, 24, 30, 93

Darvïsh Qasim according to, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106n118

description of Sun' Allah Kûzakunanï by, 98-99. See also Rauzat al-jinan wa jannat al-janan

Kasanï, Makhdûm A'zam Ahmad, 74n20 Kashanï, Afzal al-Dïn Muhammad b.

Hasan, 17. See also Saz va piraya-yi shahan-i purmaya

Kashifï, Fakhr al-Dïn 'Alï b. Va'iz, 24, 31.

See also Rashahat-i 'ain al-hayat

Kashifï, Husain b. 'Alï Va'iz, 23n59, 44n43, 61-62, 70. See also Akhlaq-i Muhsini, Asrar-i Qasimi

Kashf al-mahjub (Hujvïrï), 2, 70, 71, 73, 110n140

Kashgharï, Sa'd al-Dïn, 99

Kashmir, 155n92

Kay Ka’ûs b. Iskandar, 18-19, 47n60. See

also Qabus-nama

Kazarun, 38 al-Kazarûnï, Abû Ishaq Ibrahïm, 39n19 Kazarûniyya order (= Ishaqiyya), 39n19 khalifat Allah: Adamic perfection characteristic of, 144, 159

as khalifa-i khuda in Akhlaq-i Jalali, 47

Perfect Man as, 17, 20

Salaman becomes, 159

spiritual station baqa" as, 144

Sufi-ruler as, 2, 62, 64, 65

Khalvatï(s) (= Khalvatiyya): association with Àq Qoyûnlû, 82

Gulshanï branch of, 31

influence on Àq Qoyûnlû affairs, 4, 82, 90-93, 162

relations between Naqshbandïs and, 95, 96, 97. See also Dada 'Umar Raushanï, Shaikh Ibrahïm Gulshanï

khalvat dar anjuman, 36-37, 38, 96. See also Naqshbandï(s)

Khamsa (Nizamï Ganjavï), 25, 158 khanaqah(s), 87

Khatâ’ï Tabrïzï, 120n41. See also Yusufva Zulaikha

Khidr (= al-Khadir/Khizr), 88-89, 104n102, 135, 190

khirad, 8, 49, 76

Khirad-nama-i Iskandari (Jamï), 25n63, 40, 43, 158

Khunjï-Isfahanï, Fazl Allah b. Rûzbihan,

23, 24, 81, 125, 152, 164

allusion to 'Abd al-Rahman Shamï by, 82-83

as biased in favor of Ya'qûb, 27

as member of Jahrï brotherhood, 28

as staunch Sunnï, 28

as student of Jalal al-Dïn Davanï, 28 criticism of Qazï 'Isa by, 120, 121-2, 126 does not mention Ibrahïm Gulshanï, 94 does not mention Salaman va Absal,

117, 158

Naqshbandï affiliation of, 28n81

notice of on Ya'qûb and Jamï, 117 opinion of Üzûn Hasan, 86

silence of on patronage of Sufis, 93. See also Tarikh-i 'Alam-ara-yi amini

Khurasan, 95, 99, 115, 116, 119, 120

Khusrau II Parvïz (Sasanian), 73-74, 140, 218-9

Khvafï, Zain al-Dïn Abû Bakr, 95n58

Khvajagan, 28n81, 37n14, 89, 109n136. See also Naqshbandï(s)

Khvaja Afzal, 120

Khvaja Mu'ïn al-Dïn, 155n92. See also Maqamat-i Mahmudiyya

Khvaja 'Umar, 100-1

Khvândamîr, Ghiyas al-Dîn, 24, 29, 100.

See also Habib al-siyarft akhbar-i afrad-i bashar

Khvavand Mahmûd, Khvaja, I55n92

King of ancient Greece (= King), 2, 65, 131,

147

absorbtion of by Salaman, 134

and Sage summon Salaman, 9, 39

as corresponding to king (in Masnavi-yi ma'navi) 4, 137

as embodiment of divine wish “to be known,” 140, 141

as Salaman’s conscience, 151

as symbol of ideal of kingship, 3, 22, 146, 151, 160, 164

as symbol of Reason, 134, 151

compares ruler to shepherd, 51, 52

conquers world, 8

counsels Salaman, 10, 39, 73-74, 79

desire of for worthy heir, 8

final testament to Salaman by, 10, 46n53, 50, 51

forsaken by Salaman, 9, 73-74

gazes into world-displaying mirror, 9 in association with Tenth/Active

Intellect, 12, 67, 68, 146, 151

invests Salaman with crown and throne, 10

makes Sage companion, 8

mercy of, 9

on ruling according to “religious law,” 51

Salaman returns to, 4, 10, 69

seeks help of Sage, 10

semen of drawn by Sage, 9

sorrow of, 9

use of himmat by, 9-10, 72, 152

vizierate according to, 46n53, 52-54 kingship: according to mystical mirrors for

princes, 17

as brother of justice, 60n127

as true destiny of Salaman (see also mulk), 10, 151

as [twin] brother of religion, 1, 21, 60, 163

concept of perfect, 58, 88

dertimined by Sufis, 59

endures despite unbelief—not tyranny, 46, 48

in Akhlaq-iJalali, 46, 49-50, 86, 88

in Nasihat al-muluk, 19, 35, 45

in Qabus-nama, 19, 45

made stable by justice, 46

of Salaman, 147

Perso-Islamic ideals of, 21, 161

Qur’anic statement about, 61 renounced by Salaman, 13 responsibilities of, 107

Sasanian model of, 35, 60

seal of Ya‘qûb’s, 147n54

Sufi ideals illustrated by, 79n224 Sufi-ruler embodiment of true, 2 ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar on, 38n18 virtues necessary for, 49-50. See also

Jami, justice, King of ancient Greece Kirmani, ‘Ata’ Allah, Khvaja, 42 Kitab al-asfar al-arba'a, 12n15 Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya (Abû Bakr Tihrani-Isfahani), 24, 28, 81, 83, 98, 163 Kitab sirat al-auliya’ (al-Hakim Tirmizi), 70n179

Kubra, Abû Janab Ahmad Najm al-Din, 96n59, 142n35, 153. See also Fawaïh al-jamal wa fawatih al-jalal

Kubravi order (= Kubraviyya), 84-85, 95, 96n59, 114

Kujuji, ‘Ali, Khvaja, 97

Kûzakunani, Sun‘ Allah, Maulana, 4, 97, 98-100, 163

Laili, 123-4, 167, 178-9

Laili va Majnun (Jami), 25n63, 40, 158 Lala’i, Badr al-Din Ahmad, Amir, 84-85, 95-96, 97

Lama’at (Fakhr al-Din ‘Iraqi), 96 Lata’f-nama (Sultan Muhammad Fakhri

Haravi), 320101, 120. See also Majalis al-nafa’is

Laranda, 82

Lari, Razi al-Din ‘Abd al-Ghafûr, 40n25, 96n59. See also Takmila-i Nafahat al-uns

Lavaïh (Jami), 41

Le Gall, Dina, 37-38, 97-98

Letter of Tansar, 35

Letter(s) of correspondence, 3, 33-34, 162 attributed to Giosafat Barbaro, 105 attributed to Qazi Husain Maibûdi, 96n64

collection of attributed to Jami, 330108, 158

Jami addressed to Jahanshah, 41n29

Jami addressed to Muslim rulers 33, 108-9n33

Jami addressed to Uzûn Hasan, 108

Jami addressed to Ya‘qûb, 23, 24, 33, 62n134, 81, 108-9, 155, 163, 165

Mehmed II addressed to Uzûn Hasan, 102 Najm al-Din Mas‘ûd Savaji addressed to

Jami, 125n64

Shams al-Dîn Muhammad Lahiji addressed to Àq Qoyûnlû, ii3-4ng

Sultan-Husain Bâyqarâ addressed to

Qasim Faizbakhsh, 114

Sultan-Khalil addressed to Ottomans,

_ 103

Uzûn Hasan addressed to Bayazid II, 86

Ya‘qûb addressed to Jami, 23, 24, 33-34, 62ni34, 81, 107-9, 116-9, 158, 163

Losensky, Paul, 26n73, 116, 120

love (= Love): and theosophy of Ibn al-‘Arabi, 138-41

as mother of soul, 133

counterpoised by Reason, 148

Divine, 139, 140-1

for God, 139

masnavi by Ahli Shirazi on, 26-27, 112-3

Natural, 139, 141

of Divine Spirit for Rational Soul, 137

of Salaman for Absal, 73, 139, 159

of Salaman for Venus, 10, 134, 139, 140,

143, 153

purification of soul through, 22

realm of, 133

Spiritual, 139-40, 141

types of, 139, 141, 159

Ya'qûb’s earthly, 127-8

Ya'qûb’s true, 127-8

union of Reason and, 133-4. See also Absal

lower soul ( = lower-self). See nafs

Lubb al-tavarikh (Mir Yahya b. 'Abd al-Latif Qazvini), 24, 29, 130-1

lust, 9

as blameworthy act/trait, 72, 79

of Rational Soul for pleasure, 137

of Salaman for Absal, 3, 72, 77, 138, 148,

151, 152

of slave-girl for goldsmith, 138

restrained by justice, 47

sea of, 69

wine locus of, 8

women locus of, 8

Madinat al-fazila (Abû Nasr Farabi), 20n50

Mahmûd (Ghaznavid), 43

mahram, 102

Maibudi, Husain, Qazi, 96

Majalis al-nafa’is (‘All Shir Nava’i), 32, 115, 119, 120

Majalis al-‘u.sh.sha.q (Kamal al-Din Husain

Gazurgahi), 24, 128

Majnûn, 123-4, 167, 178-9

Maktabdar, ‘Ala’ al-Din Àbizi, Maulana, 99 malik al-sluiara.. 114

Malikshah (Saljuq), 19

Malikshah, Muhammad b. (Saljuq), 19 Ma’n, 199

Mansûr Beg Pûrnak, 113n7

Mantiq al-tair (‘Attar), 76n212 Maqamat-iJami (‘Abd al-Vasi‘ Nizami

Bakharzi), 24, 30, 41-42

Maqamat-i Mahmüdiyya (Khvaja Mu‘in al-Din), 155n92

maqbara, 102

Maqsûd b. Uzûn Hasan Bayandur, 113 Mardin, 83n7

Marwa, 170

Mashhad, 26

masnavi(s): addressed to Ya‘qûb, 26-27, 112-3, 120n41

attributed to Idris Bidlisi, 94, 124-5, 126-7

by Nizami Ganjavi, 25, 158 comprising Haft aurang, 40, 157, 158 of Jami provoke mystical experience,

155n92

Salaman va Absal as, 16, 24, 43, 118, 161, 164

Subhat al-abrar didactic, 70. See also Masnavi-yi ma'navi (Rûmi) Masnavi-yi ma'navi (Rûmi): commentary

by Jami on, 135n9

divine physician in, 135

knowledge of Naqshbandis about, 102n91

mentioned in Salaman va Absal, 177 metaphor of mirror in, 76n212 quotation of in Salaman va Absal, 3-4, 21, 135-6, 148, 159, 161-2

recitation of by Najm al-Din Mas‘ûd Savaji, 125

Salaman va Absal and, 22, 135-8

Salaman va Absal same metre as, 4, 135, 159, 161

tale of Jewish king in, 77n217

tale of king and handmaiden/slave-girl in, 4, 22, 135, 159, 161

wet-nurse in, 134 master-disciple relationship, 23, 33, 81, 110,

134n4, 163. See also murid, shaikh malla, 122, 124

Maulana Fazl Allah, 120n40

Maulana [Qazi] Hasan [Sadr], 90-91, 101, 102, 123n59

Maulana Huma’i, 119n40

Maulana Miraki, 119-20n40 Maulana Yari, 119n40

Mecca, 99, 170

Mehmed II (Ottoman), 42, 102

Meier, Fritz, 110

Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenl (Muhyï Gulshanï), 24, 31-2, 81, 123^9, 125, 163 poem attributed to Idrïs Bidlïsï in, 94, 124-5, 126-7

on conduct of Ya‘qûb, 94-95

on influence of Ibrâhîm Gulshanï, 90, 91, 92-93, 94

on Shï‘ism of Sirâj al-Dïn ‘Abd al-Vahhâb, 96

Messiah, 197 metre(s), 4, 22, 135, 159, 161. See also ramal musaddas mahzuf

mihmandar, 101

milk: as symbol of spiritual knowledge, 134 milk-relations, 150. See also wet-nurse mirror(s) for princes (= mirror of advice), 34, 42, 60n127, 94n51 classic/traditional, 21, 46, 49, 146 examples of mystical, 16-17

Salaman va Absal esoteric, 1, 16-21, 34, 43, 47, 156

Salaman va Absal as, 21, 22, 24, 34, 43, 49, 50, 52, 111, 118, 146, 155, 161, 162

Salaman va Absal mystical, 18, 22, 24, 47 to commemorate renunciation of wine-drinking, 23n59, 70. See also Akhlaq-i Jalall, Akhlaq-i Nasirl, Akhlaq-i Muhsinl, Asar al-vuzara‘, Bahr-ifava’id, Madlnat al-fazila, Mirsad al-'ibad min al-mabdak ila al-ma'ad Naslhat al-muluk, Qabus-nama, Qanun-i shahanshahl, Saz va plraya-yi shahan-i purmaya, Siyar al-muluk, Tahzlb al-akhlaq, Tuhfat al-muluk, Zakhlrat al-muluk, Mirsad al-'ibad min al-mabdak ila al-ma'ad, 17

Mïrzâ Yûsuf (Qarâ Qoyûnlû), 101 Miskawaih, Abû ‘Alï b., 20, 50. See also

Tahzlb al-akhlaq

Moses, 88 mu'amma, 158 Mughal(s), 86n20, 116, 155n92 Muhâjirï, Zahrâ, 25, 26

Muhammad al-Taqï, Imam, 104n100 Muhammad Lashkarï, Shams al-Dïn

(Bahmanid), 109n133

Muhammad Pârsâ, Khvâja, 104n102 Muhammad, Prophet, 56, 60, 78, 89 and expression “ruler is shadow of

God,” 55 association of with ethical advice, 36 on ruler as shepherd, 51-52. See also hadlth

Muhammad Yahyâ, Khvâja, 96n64 Mu‘ïn Mi‘mârï, Maulânâ, 120n4 mulk, 10, 19, 46, 60n127

Mulla Sadrâ, 12n15. See also Kitab al-asfar al-arba'a

mundus imaginalis. See 'alam al-misal muqarrab (pl. muqarraban), 32, 39n20,

113n5, 120

muraqaba, 153

murld(s), 40, 62, 66, 81, 91, 110 murshid, 81

murshid-i kamil, 137

Murshidiyya order, 38, 39n19 Mûsâ al-Kâzim, Imam, 104n100 mustaufl, 106 mutavalll, 32n100

Muzaffariyya hospice, 91 Muzaffar Mi‘mâr, Khvâja, 119 mystical experience, 3, 15-16, 66, 139, 145 provoked by masnavls of Jâmï, 155n92 of Salâmân, 143, 160

Nafahat al-uns (Jâmï), 50, 158 al-nafas al-Rahmanl. See God’s sigh nafs, 72, 73, 75, 76, 134, 154

advice on subduing, 72-80

broken by court etiquette, 39

Salaman va Absal on subjugation of, 2,

20, 65, 162

under command of Active Intellect, 68 nafs al-ammara bi-al-suk, 2, 72, 75, 142, 162 al-nafs al-hayawanl (= nafs-i haivan), 14, 68 nafs al-lawwama, 2, 72, 73, 75, 142, 162 nafs al-mutmalnna, 2, 73, 142, 162 nafs-i guya, 14, 67, 68 nafs-i natiqa, 12, 14, 162-3 Nakhchivânï, Ni‘mat Allâh b. Shaikh

Mahmûd, Bâbâ, 95, 96 naqsh, 10, 66, 76, 147. See also surat Naqshband, Bahâ’ al-Dïn, Khvâja, 28, 61-62, 104n102

Naqshbandï(s) (= Naqshbandiyya): activities of in Tabriz, 30, 31, 95, 111 adherence of to sharl'a, 37, 70-71 affiliation of with Jahrï brotherhood, 28 allusions to techniques of in Salaman

va Absal, 152-5

as disposed to serving Ottomans, Timurids, 37

as interpreters of Ibn al-‘Arabï, 38, 102n91

as preeminent brotherhood in Khursan, Transoxiana, 95

as purveyors of Persian belles-lettres, 38 association of with rabita, 62, 66, 147, 155 as un-official order of Timurids, 163 at Àq Qoyûnlû court, Tabriz, its environs, 95-100

doctrine(s) of, 23, 115, 147n53, 155, 163 engagement of in politics, 38, 162 influence of at Àq Qoyûnlû court, 4-5, 30, 31, 81, 90

influence of over Timurid rulers, 36 knowledge of about Masnavi-yi ma'navi, 102n91

Khvajagan precursor of, 28n81 origin of name, 62 quietism of, 37n14

relevance of himmat to, 87, 163 relevance of talqin to, 89

relevance of tauba/repentance to, 70, 71, 156n95

service of to rulers, 36-37, 38, 62

Silsilat al-zahab and adepts of, 40 spiritual technique(s)/practice(s) of, 62n134, 115, 147, 153, 155, 160, 163

Sultan-Husain Bâyqarâ initiated into, 40 Sunni identity of, 37

tenet khalvat dar anjuman, 36-37, 38, 96 terminology, 115, 155

treatise on attributed to Jami, 154n86 use of silent zikr (see also zikr-i khafi)

by, 58n120, 89

Uzûn Hasan and Jalal al-Din Davani not, 87-88, 89

writings of, 59, 74n200, 74n202, 154

Ya'qub not, 62n134, 155. See also Darvish

Siraj al-Din Qasim, Fazl Allah b. Rûzbihan Khunji-Isfahani, Jami, Khvaja Baha’ al-Din Naqshband, Khvaja Khavand Mahmûd, Khvaja 'Ubaid Allah Ahrar, Maulana Shahidi Qumi, Rashahat-i ’ain al-hayat nasihat (pl. nasaïh), 33, 36, 39, 42, 74, 118 Nasihat al-mulük (Muhammad Ghazali), 19, 44n43, 47, 51-52, 56n105, 126n68 accordance between Salaman va Absal

and, 1, 18

Bahram Gûr, Rast-ravishn in, 53

“circle of justice” in, 45 homily about David in, 48-49 ruler as “shadow of God” in, 55 Sasanian kingship reflected in, 35-36 statement “religion and kingship

brothers” in, 60n127

Nasriyya tomb complex, 103, 105, 152 Naubar, 98

Nava’i, 'Ali Shir, Mir, 27n77, 32, 114, 115.

See also Majalis al-nafa’is al-Nawadir (Ibn al-'Arabi), 12n15 Neo-Platonism, 12, 66-67, 133 Nicholson, Reynold A., 22n56, 135 Nile river, 170, 192

Ni'mat Allah, Nûr al-Din b. 'Abd Allah

Vali, Shah, 85

Ni'mat Allah al-Thani, Na'im al-Din, Shah, 85

Ni'mat Allahi order, 85 nisba, 154, 155 nishanchi, 90n36, 94 Nizam al-Din Khvafi, 52 Nizam al-Mulk, 18, 19, 43, 48

attribution by of maxims to Prophet, 51-2, 55-56n104

on need for ruler to seek advice, 36. See also Siyar al-mulük (Siyasat-nama) Nizami 'Arûzi, 42. See also Chahar maqala Nizami Ganjavi, 24-25, 26n74, 88n26,

135n11, 158. See also Iskandar-nama,

Khamsa

Noah, 187

Nûr al-Din (Zangid), 60n127

Oriental Institute of the Academy of

Sciences of Uzbekistan, 25

Osterreichische Nationalbibliothek, 121 Ottoman(s), 7, 37n15, 94n51, 98, 105

attempts to lure Jami, 41-42 conceptualizations of governance,

86n20

Darvish Qasim envoy to, 102, 103

Naqshbandis disposed to serving, 37 relations with Àq Qoyûnlû, 91. See also

Bayazid II, Mehmed II Ottoman Turkish, 31

padshah-i 'adil. See just ruler paiman, 18, 44

Panchatantra, 35

pand, 17, 35, 39, 50, 74 pand-nama, 35

Paradise, 79, 94, 196, 197, 211, 219

Absal signification of, 11 parvanchi, 32, 102

Parviz. See Khusrau II Parviz (Sasanian) Paul, Jürgen, 30

Perfect Man. See al-insan al-kamil Persepolis, 89

pir (pl. piran), 36, 68m68, 137, 154

plague, 74, 99, 130

Plato, 50, 51. See also The Republic

Pleiades, 129, 197

prophet(s), 9n6, 19, 39, 88n25, 134-5.

See also David, Khidr, Muhammad Pûrnâk (clan), 113n7

Qabus-nama (Kay Ka’ûs b. Iskandar), 1, 18-19, 47n60

advice of Anûshïrvân in, 50-51 “circle of justice” in, 45

ruler compared to shepherd in, 52 vazir according to, 54

Qalandaris, 86

Qanun-i shahanshahi (Hakïm al-Din Idris

Bidlisi), 94n51

Qarabagh, 90, 92n45

qasida(s), 26, 40, 1080131, 112, 113, 158

Qasim al-Anvar, Shah, 84012

Qasim Beg Pûrnak, 113

Qasim, Siraj al-Din, Darvish: account of by Giosafat Barbaro, 105-7 accused of inciting riots, 104-5 as confidant of Üzûn Hasan, 101 as envoy to Ottoman court, 102, 103 association with Üzûn Hasan, 101, 105-6 as trustee of Nasriyya complex, 103, 105 awarded post mihmandar, 101 blessings sought by Mehmed II, 102 commitment to Ya'qûb, 103 confession of Üzûn Hasan to, 102 engagement in Sufism, 100, 104 first ever Naqshbandi in European

source, 105

involvement at Àq Qoyûnlû court, 4, 163

Jami welcomed to Tabriz by, 102

loyalty to Mirza Yûsuf, 101

piety of, 100

pilgrimage of to Shi'ite sites, 103-4 promoted to parvanchi, 102 murder of, 27n78, 100-7, 111 spiritual development of, 103-4 spiritual master not indicated, 104 Qatran, 200

Qayit Bay (Mamluk), 85n15, 129 qazi, 101, 120, 1211149, 122, 124, 126 qazi al-quzat (= chief qazi) 90, 91, 96, 100-1, 125

Jalal al-Din Davani as, 121, 122n52

Qazvini, Darvish Dahaki, 120

Qazvini, Shah-Muhammad b. Mubarak, Hakim, 24, 32-33, 115, 119-20, 123, 127n69, 131n88, 164. See also Hasht bihisht

Qazvini, Yahya b. 'Abd al-Latif, Mir, 24, 29,

130. See also Lubb al-tavarikh

qibla, 81, 154

qit'a, 411129, 122

Qizilbash, 98n72, 104n103, 115

Qum, 101

Qur’an, 11, 88n26, 96, 108n127, 108n128,

142n33, 165n2

Day of Covenant in, 74

in connection with silent zikr, 89, 109n136

investiture of Adam in, 64, 76

on “trust” between God and man, 77

recitation of by Qâzi 'Isa, 125

Solomon in, 9n5

statement “consult them in affairs!” in, 36

statement on kingship in, 61

story of Joseph in, 130

three conditions of soul in, 2, 73

use of term “sultan” in, 55n102

verse on obedience in, 56-57, 85

verse on repentance in, 72

Qushairi, Abû al-Qasim 'Abd al-Karim b.

Hawazin, 70, 71. See also al-Risala al-Qushairiyya

quvva-yijismi, 12

rabita, 4, 62, 66, 110, 147, 153-4. See also

Naqshbandi(s)

Rakhsh, 74, 172, 209

ramal musaddas mahzuf, 135

Rashahat-i 'ain al-hayat (Fakhr al-Din 'Ali

b. Va'iz Kashifi), 24, 31, 81, 163

on hajj pilgrimage of Jami, 41, 42

on importance of Darvish Qasim, 102 statements attributed to 'Ubaid Allah

Ahrar in, 153-4

Rast-ravishn, 52-53

Raushani, 'Umar, Dada: accused of being

“Fusûsi”, 91-92

as focus of modern scholarship, 82, 163 as preceptor of Idris (brother of Üzûn

Hasan), 91

association with Üzûn Hasan, 82

as spiritual master of Ibrahim Gulshani, 91

attendance of at Darvishabad khanaqah, 97

conflict between Qazi 'Isa and, 93 disciples of in Àq Qoyûnlû household,

dispute over estate of, 92n45

Husain Chalabi disciple of, 123n59 journey of to Àq Qoyûnlû court, 91 pious endowment for, 91

relations between Mahmûd

Nakhchivânï and, 96

visitations by Ya‘qûb to shrine of, 93

Rauzat al-jinan wa jannat al-janan (Hafiz

Husain Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï), 24, 30-31, 81, 84, 163

description of Darvlshâbâd khanaqah ⁱⁿ, 95, 97

description of Darvlsh Qasim in, 100, 101, 102, 103-5, 106

on ‘Abd al-Rahman Shamï, 82n3

on Sun‘ Allah Kûzakunânï, 98, 99

on Ya‘qûb and ‘Umar Raushanï shrine,

Rauzat al-salatin, Tazkira-i (Sultan

Muhammad Fakhrï Haravl), 24, 33, 127, 128-9

Rayy, 180

raz, 136. See also sirr

Razï, Fakhr al-Dïn Muhammad b. ‘Umar,

11, 45. See also Jami' al-'ulum

Razï, Najm al-Dïn, 17, 96n59. See also Mirsad al-'ibadmin al-mabdak ila al-ma'ad

reason (= Reason) 39, 47

as father of soul, 133

counterpoised by Love, 148, 151

realm of, 133

religion-aquiring, 10, 51

symbolized by King, 134

union of with Love, 133, 141. See also

Universal Reason

religion: as [twin] brother of kingship. See kingship: as [twin] brother of religion

repentance: according to Ibn al-‘Arabï, 72 as first step in Sufi path, 2, 70, 79 as theme of Salaman va Absal, 2, 69, 70,

156, 162

definition in Salaman va Absal, 69, 162 depends on determination, 71 in classic Sufi manuals, 2, 70

in Subhat al-abrar, 70

is determined by God, 71-72

king finds benefits of, 71

need for necessitated by base instincts, 72

occurs when soul becomes nafs al-mutma'inna, 73, 162

of Abû al-Muhsin Mïrza, 70

of Salaman, 10, 72-73, 151, 152

of Sun‘ Allah Kûzakunanï directed by

^JamF 99

relevance of to Naqshbandïs, 70, 71, 156n95

role of in mystical enlightenment, 69-72

Sufi literature on, 72. See also Sultan

Abû al-Muzaffar Ya‘qûb, tauba al-Risala al-Qushairiyya (Abû al-Qasim

al-Qushairï), 2, 70, 71

Risalafi al-qadar (Ibn Sïna), 11n10

Risala-i na'iya (Jamï), 135n9

Risalat al-tair (Ibn Sïna), 118

rooster, 78, 79

ruba'i, 29, 127, 129

Rûdiqat, 84

ruh (= ruhi), 68, 124, 137

Ruha, 83

Rum, 128

Rûmï, ‘Alï, Maulana, 97

Rûmï, Jalal al-Dïn, 4, 22, 134-6, 137, 159, 161 as “that gnostic” in Salaman va Absal,

201

devotion of to Shams-i Tabrïzï, 81

“Divine Light” according to, 135

explanation of murder of goldsmith, 138 inspired by hadith, 76n210

love mysticism of, 138

quotation of by Jamï, 3-4, 21, 135-6, 148, 159, 161-2

reference of to Sufi saint as daya, 134.

See also Masnavi-yi ma'navi

Rûmï, Ya‘qûb, Darvïsh, 97

Rustam, 74

Rypka, Jan, 7

sabk-i Hindi, 116

sabr, 49

Sa‘dï, 26n74, 40. See also Gulistan

sadr, 91n42, 125, 127, 151

Safavï order, 123

Safavid(s), 63n139, 85n16, 97, 123n58 chronicle(s) written during era of, 24, 126, 130, 131n88

poetry dedicated by Ahlï Shïrazï to, 27n74, 113

Rûzbihan Khunjï-Isfahânï on Shi‘ism of, 27n78

Sun‘ Allah Kûzakunanï (un)affected by, 98n72, 99-100

Sage, 8-10, 65, 131, 147

acts on behalf of Active Intellect, 143 amalgamation of into Salaman, 134 as corresponding to physician-sage (in

Masnavi-yi ma'navi) 4, 136-7

as instrument of King’s himmat, 152 association withfaiz-i balafaiz-i ilahi,

12, 67, 146, 151

Sage cont.

as symbol of Gabriel, 143

as symbol of Qâzï ‘Isa, 3, 22, 146, 151-2, 160, 164

condemnation of lust by, 8

counsels Salaman, 9, 39, 73, 75, 76-7,

79, ¹5²

creates image of Absal for Salaman, 10,

143

describes Venus to Salaman, 10, 69, 143,

152-3

draws semen from King, 8

himmat of, 143, 153

impresses Venus onto Salaman’s heart,

62n133, 134, 138, 153, 160

initiates mystical experience of

Salaman, 143, 160

instruction of for King, 10

is made companion of King, 8

King seeks help of, 10

obedience of Salaman to, 10, 134, 152

represents Sufi shaikh, 134, 143

Sahibabad, 103

Sahl al-Tustari, 134

saint(s), 29, 59, 64, 70, 84, 137

as true vicegerent of God, 162, 163

divine physician as, 136, 137

hadith about, 108

himmat associated with, 9n6

Jami referred to as, 117

Naqshbandi, 31

perfect, 65, 134, 135n7, 137

Perfect Man as, 64

Salaman becomes, 3

Sufi shaikh as, 135

sainthood, 70, 80

Salaman, 8-10, 65, 131, 147

abandonment of Absal by, 2, 143

abandonment of Sage by, 9

Absal leaps into fire with, 69

Absal separated by King from, 72

Absal’s strategems, magic on, 148

absorbption of King by, 134

achieves gnosis, 3, 159

amalgamation of Sage into, 134

as corresponding to rational soul, 12, 67, 73, 137, 139, 162-3

as custodian of Adam’s teasure, 76

as descendant of Adam, 76

as emblifying plight of humanity, 74-75

as God’s perfect and final creation, 76

as microcosm, 76

as representing (three aspects of) soul,

2, 73

as sibling of Absal, 13

as signification of Adam, 11 as symbol of perfect saint, 134 as symbol of Ya‘qûb, 3, 22, 136, 146, 147-8, 159, 164

attraction of Absal to, 9 becomes khalifat Allah, 159 becomes own sage, 134 becomes own wet-nurse, 134 becomes saint, 3 birth of from tree, 13 characters collapse into, 133-4 correspondence of handmaiden/

slave-girl to, 4 defiance of, 40, 79 distraught at death of Absal, 10, 69 dream-vision of Venus, 3, 144 enthronement of, 144, 159 etymology of name, 11n10 experiences fana", 144 flees into wilderness, 10 forsakes King, 9, 73-74 given to Absal, 9

gives heart to divine beloved, 10 heart of, 62n133, 77, 134, 138, 143, 153 in al-Nawadir, 12n15

incestuous affair between Absal and, 65, 150

in Hayy ibn Yaqzan, 14

in Isharat wa al-tanbihat, 11, 12 in Kitab al-asfar al-arba'a, 12n15 intellect of, 147

invested with crown and throne, 10 is fated to love Absal, 9, 74, 75 King conscience of, 151

King counsels, 10, 39, 52, 53, 54, 73-74, 79, 151

King gives final testament to, 10, 46n53, 50, 51

kingship true destiny of, 10, 151 kingship of, 147

love of for Absal, 73, 139, 159

love of for Venus, 10, 134, 139, 140, 143, 153

lust of for Absal, 3, 9, 72, 77, 138, 141, 148, 151, 152

made Absal’s eternal companion, 142 memory of Absal in heart of, 134, 138, 153

moral reformation of, 164

mystical experience of initiated by Sage, 143, 160

name reflects perfection, 9, 68 obedience of to Sage, 10, 134, 152 preoccupation of with Absal, 74, 140, 141 psychological state of, 143

renunciation of Absal by, 2, 22, 39, 148, 152, 159, 163, 164

renunciation of kingship by, 13 repentance of, 10, 72-73, 151, 152 return to King by, 4, 10, 69, 73 Sage inner guide of, 134

Sage creates image of Absal for, 10, 143

Sage counsels, 9, 39, 73, 75, 76-77, 79, 152

Sage describes Venus to, 10, 69, 143, 152-3

Sage impresses Venus onto, 62n133, 134, 138, 153, 160

similarities between Adam and, 77, 140, 144

spiritual transformation of, 2, 134, 143, 151

subjects self to trial, 142

summoned by King, Sage, 9, 39 unharmed by fire, 10

union/carnal union between Absal and, 69, 141, 149-50

urged to realize noble origin, 9

urged to renounce libertinage, 9

Salaman and Absal, tale of: as autobiography of soul, 133 Greek version of, 4, 12, 14, 65n149, 133, 159, 161

Ibn Sina’s version of, 13-14, 145, 159

Jami’s version of, 4, 11, 12, 16, 17, 118, 138, 159, 161

mystical hermeneutics of, 145

provenance of, 11-13, 161

represents myth of Anthropos, 12

Salaman va Absal (Jami): accordance between Akhlaq-i Jalall and, 1, 18 accordance between Akhlaq-i Nasirl and, 1, 18

accordance between Siyar al-muluk and, 1, 18

addressed to Ya'qûb, 7, 16, 23, 116, 161

addressed to Yûsuf, 174-5

advice for rulers in, 43-55, 162

A. J. Arberry regard for, 7m

allusion to in Ya'qûb’s letter to Jami, 33-34, 117-8

allusions to Naqshbandi techniques in, 152-5

and Ibn al-‘Arabi’s typology of love,

139-41

and Masnavl-yi ma'navl, 22, 135-8

and romance/marriage between Qazi ‘Isa and Ya'qûb’s sister, 111-2, 123, 164 and Silsilat al-zahab, 25n63

and tauba according to Ibn al-‘Arabi, 72 and writings of ‘Abd Allah Ansari, 50 and writings of Ibn al-‘Arabi, 138

and Ya'qûb’s patronage of belles-lettres, 81

Aq Qoyûnlû audience for, 2, 5, 21, 34, 79, 111, 123, 146, 155, 162, 163

as art imitating life, 131, 164

as commemoration of Ya‘qûb’s repentance, 23, 155, 156, 163, 164

as (complex) allegory, 1, 46, 65, 66, 111, 144-5, 159, 161, 164

as “curious,” “silly,” “crude,” “grotesque,” ⁷

as esoteric mirror for princes, 1, 16-21, 34, 43, 47, 156

as historical allegory, 3, 22, 24, 65, 112, 131, 144-6, 161, 164

as Jami’s final/most complex masnavl, 164

as “lesser achievement,” 7, 65, 161

as manual for Sufi(s), 66, 162

as mirror for princes, 21, 22, 24, 34, 43, 49, 50, 52, 111, 118, 146, 155, 161, 162

as mystical mirror for princes, 18, 22,

24, 47

as not “trite,” 145

as romantic allegory, 17

as “simple and banal,” 133

“circle of justice” not in, 46 concept of justice in, 8, 10, 46 contains historical information, 1, 3, 4 contains no vulgarity, 150

correlating works of advice to, 19

critical editions of, 25

date of completion of, 33, 34, 117, 155-8 definition of repentance in, 69, 162 depicts mystical experience, 3 dissimilarity between Akhlaq-i Nasirl

and, 61

dissimilarity between Siyar al-muluk and, 61

encounter between Jami and Üzûn Hasan in, 31

exemplifies Jami’s misogyny, 149n62 explicates Sufi path, 136, 137, 161 first level/plane of meaning, 1, 2 goal of according to Jami, 66 historical significance of, 22-23 “homoerotic subtext” of, 149n62 implies asceticism subdues carnal

nature, 79

al-insan al-kamil in, 162

Saloman va Absal (Jami) cont.

Jami’s explication of, 65, 66, 67-69, 136, 137, 146, 147

King’s vasiyyat in, 51, 53

“man as microcosm” in, 20

Masnavi-yi ma'navi mentioned in, 177 modern scholarship on, 3, 7, 17, 23, 65,

155, 161, 164

Naqshbandi terminology in, 115, 155 narrative context of, 8-11 not mentioned by Daulatshah

Samarqandi, 158

not mentioned by Rûzbihan Khunji-Isfahani, 117, 158

not only masnavi addressed to Ya‘qûb, 113

on ruler’s need for Sufi prayers/ blessings, 58-59, 61, 64, 162

on subjugation of nafs, 2, 20, 65, 162

on vazir/vizierate, 10, 52, 53, 54

on Ya‘qûb’s attainment of sainthood, 65 patterned on Masnavi-yi ma'navi, 22, 135, 159, 161

provenance of allegory, 11-13

quotation of Masnavi-yi ma'navi in, 3-4, 21, 135-6, 148, 159, 161-2

reason(s) for composing, 2, 3, 17n39, 21, 22-23, 46, 49, 61, 64-65, 66, 123, 131, 144, 147-8, 155-6, 157, 158, 159, 164

repentance overriding theme of, 2, 69,

156, 162

representation of Qazi ‘Isa in, 4, 146 revised translation of, 25, 167-234 ruler as “shadow of God” in, 55 Rûmi as “that Gnostic” in, 170

same metre as Masnavi-yi ma'navi, 4, 135, 159, 161

second plane of meaning, 2

sections on tauba, 71

similarities with Nizami’s tale of

Archimedes with Chinese slave-girl, 135n11

similarities with Rûmi’s tale of king and handmaiden/slave-girl, 135, 137-8

soul in state of blame in, 73

Sufi transformation symbolized in, 46, 159

symbols of Ya‘qub and his court in, 146-52, 159

theme of good counsel in, 35, 40

to familiarize Ya‘qûb with Naqshbandiyya, 115, 155

union of Reason and Love theme of, 133-4

Venus in, 67, 146-7, 152-3 visionary experience in, 141-4 wahdat al-wujud reflected in, 2-3 Yûsuf likened to Joseph in, 174-5

Salomon wa Absal (Ibn Sina), 12n15, 15, 118, 161

Saljuq(s), 19, 43, 52n83, 59n124

Saljûqshah bt. Kûr Muhammad Begum, 91, 123, 128

Samarqand, 28, 37, 129, 137

Samarqandi, Burhan al-Din, 38n17 Samarqandi, Daulatshah, 24, 33, 158.

See also Tazkiratal-shu'ara‘

Samarra, 104n100

Samiri, religion of, 129

Sam Mirza Safavi, 24, 32, 129, 130. See also

Tuhfa-i Sami

Sana’i, Hakim, 135n10

Sanjar (Saljuq), 19, 43

Saray Khatûn, 101

Sar‘rishta-i tariqa-i Khvajagan (Jami), 154n86

Sasanian(s), 1, 43, 52n83, 67n161, 73 model of kingship, 19, 35, 36, 46, 60 recommendation that ruler emulate, 35-6

sharda, Zoroastrian norms of, 51 tradition of andarz-nama, ayina-nama,

Savaji, ‘Ali, 94n53

Savaji, Najm al-Din Mas‘ûd Savaji, Shaikh: alienation of from court, 126 appointment of to amir-i divan, 121 as boon-companion/muqarrab of

Ya‘qûb, 32, 113n5, 120

as parvanchi, 32

as poet in Lata^if-nama, 120

hilm of, 124

influence of contrasted with Qazi ‘Isa, 124-5

influence of Ibrahim Gulshani over, 94 in poem attributed to Idris Bidlisi, 94,

124-5, 126-7

letters to Jami from, 125n64

part of power matrix, 32

Persian poetry attributed to, 121n48

recitation of Masnavi-yi ma'navi by, 125 sketch portrait of, 121n48

Savaji, Safi al-Din ‘Isa, Qazi: as depicted in tazkira literature, 131

as embattled figure, 122, 124, 126

as mentor of Ya‘qûb, 3, 22, 32-33, 151, 152 as patron of Persian belles-lettres, 111,

131, 164 as poet in Lataf-nama, 120 as sadr, 125, 151

as vazir, 3, 7n2, 22, 111, 120, 146, 151, 164-5

attachment to Ibrâhîm Gulshanï, 125-6 attempt to abolish tamgha, 121

“back to shari'a” campaign of, 93, 121-2 banishment from court, 125-7, 164 centralizing measures of, 93

conflict between ‘Umar Raushanî and, 93

control of over administration, 121 Hasht bihisht entry on, 122-3, 126, 164 hostility of Rûzbihân Khunjî-Isfahânî

toward, 126

'ilm of, 124

influence contrasted with Najm al-Dîn

Mas‘ûd Sâvajî, 124-5

influence of Ibrâhîm Gulshanî over, 92, 94, 125-6

influence of on administration, 29 in Habib al-siyar fi akhbar-i afrad-i

bashar, 29

in Menakib-i Ibrahim-i Gülçeni, 94, 124, 126

in poem attributed to Idrîs Bidlîsî, 94, 124-5, 126-7

intervention of for ‘Umar Raushanî and

Ibrâhîm Gulshanî, 92n45 likened to Jesus, 122, 124 melancholic nature of, 120, 152 mocking tribute to, 122 multiple roles and titles of, 151n73 neglect of affairs of state by, 120, 126 part of power matrix, 32 Persian poetry attributed to, 120-1, 121n48, 122, 127n69

plot to depose, 92 preoccupation of with poetry, 120, 121 reception of Timurid delegation by, 29, 118-9

recitation of Qur’ân by, 125 reforms of to suyürghal system, 93n50, 121

relationship between Ya‘qûb and, 32-33

representation of in Salaman va Absal, 4, 146

role of in Ya‘qûb’s repentance, 152, 164 romance/marriage between Ya‘qûb’s

sister and, 111-2, 123, 126, 127n69, 150, 164

Sage symbol of, 22, 146, 151-2, 164 shaikh-like role of, 160

similarities of to Khvâja Majd al-Dîn

Muhammad, 121n50 sketch portrait of, 121n48 Tuhfa-i Sami entry on, 126, 164 ‘Umar Raushanî brought before, 91-92.

See also ‘Alî Sâvajî, Sage

Saz va piraya-yi shahan-i pürmaya (Afzâl al-Dîn Kâshânî), 16-17

Secretum Secretorum, 35

Selîm “the Grim” (Ottoman), 33

Shabistarî, Mahmûd, 94n51, 96. See also Gulshan-i raz

shadow of God on earth: God as shadow master, 56, 57

hadith on sultan as, 55

[just] ruler as, 20, 39, 55-57, 157n98, 162, 163

khalifat Allah as, 20, 56n108, 79n224, 162, 163

Perfect Man as, 56n108, 79n224, 162

perfect Sufi as, 66

Sufi saint as, 162, 163

Shâh-Beg Khâtûn, 41n30

Shahîdî Qumî, Maulânâ: affiliation of with

Àq Qoyûnlû, 4, 26, 112, 120, 164

as disciple of Jâmî, 40n25, 115, 116

as poet laureate of Ya‘qûb, 114, 115n21

Shah-nama (Firdausî), 74, 150n71

Shâh Qulî Beg, 112

shaikh: image of, 4, 62, 66, 107, 147, 154

Jâmî as, 4, 66, 110, 160, 163

Khalvatî, 82, 90, 91, 94n53, 123n59, 125, 163

Khidr as, 88, 134

Kubravî, 95

Naqshbandî, 4, 27n78, 62, 87, 99n75, 102, 103, 104n102, 106, 107, 110, 153, 154, 155, 163

Ni‘mat Allâhî, 85n16

Nûrbakhshî, 114

Qâzî ‘Isâ as, 160

Sage as, 134, 143

Solomon as, 134

Sufi, 28, 38, 39, 60, 61, 66, 97, 110n140, 134, 135, 143, 146-7, 153n81

Venus symbol of, 146-7

Zoroastrian sage symbol of, 134

shaikh al-Islam, 84, 95, 96, 123n58

Shams al-Tabrîzî, 81

Shamkva parvana (Ahlî Shîrâzî), 26-27,

112-3

Shâmî, ‘Abd al-Rahmân, Bâbâ, 28, 82-83

Sharbatî, Hâfiz (“Shams al-Dîn”)

Muhammad, 117

shari'a, 37, 1070122

adherence of Naqshbandis to, 37, 70-71 campaign of Qâzï ‘Isa to reassert, 93,

121-2, 124

norms of Zoroastrianism and, 51 role of in “circle of justice,” 45-46 ruler’s implementation of, 59

Üzûn Hasan defender of, 86. See also

Islamic law

sharm, 49

shepherd, ruler as, 51, 52

Shï‘ite(s), Twelver, 37, 64, 96, 104, 114, i42n33

Shi‘ism, Twelver/ithna ‘ashart. 96, 98n72

Shiraz, 26, 28, 85n16, 90n37, 112n2, 119n40

Shirin, 73, 140, 167, 218, 219

Shirûya, 73-74, 79, 209, 218

Shirvan, 41

Shirvani, Yahya, Sayyid, 82

Shirvan-shah(s), 123

shaja'at, 49

silsila, 37

Silsilat al-zahab (Jami), 25-26, 40, 42-43, 76n209

Sirius star, 173

sirr, 58, 66, 136. See also raz

Siyar al-muluk (Siyasat-nama) (Nizam al-Mulk), 44n43, 56n104

accordance between Salaman va Absal and, 1, 18

Bahram Gûr, Rast-ravishn in, 52 dissimilarity of with Salaman va Absal, 61

on consulting wise men, 36

statement on just infidel in, 48 statement “religion and kingship

brothers” in, 60n127

siyasat, 19, 45-46, 109

Solomon, prophet, 9n5, 14, 89, 113, 134, 191 soul(s): alchemy of, 149

allegory about body and, 145

answered God on Day of Covenant, 74 as born of Father without mate, 68 as child of Reason and Love, 133 as fallen, 78

as Fravarti, 13n19

as ruler of kingdom of man, 69

becomes noble, 69

body lives by way of, 68

derives pleasure through senses, 68 desire of for Intelligence above it, 153n81 divine physician heals, 135

each should recreate drama of Adam, 79

exile from Paradise, 11 inclination toward pleasure, 69 infatuation of, 12

in state of blame in Salaman va Absal, 73

of Salaman, 69, 143, 149

of Ya‘qûb, 109, 149 powerlessness of, 75 pre-existence of, 12n15 purification of, 22, 65, 69, 75, 135, 138, 145, 159, 162

renunciation of pleasures by, 163 return of to origins, 12, 16, 69, 75, 79, 133 Salaman symbol of, 73, 139 tale of Salaman and Absal

autobiography of, 133 three aspects of, 2, 73, 142 transformation of, 2, 15, 16. See also

nafs, nafs al-ammara bi-al-su", al-nafs al-hayawam, nafs al-lawwama, nafs al-mutma’inna nafs-iguya, nafs-i natiqa

Subhat al-abrar (Jami), 25n63, 40, 70, 158 Sufi(s): ‘Abd Allah Ansari as, 50

achieves perfection through tauba, 70 advice of, 29, 39, 58, 64

Aq Qoyûnlû court populated by, 39 asceticism of, 164

as elite/elect of society, 136

as frenzied lover, 83

as influencing dynastic fortunes, 59, 84n9

as nourished by “milk” of knowledge, 134

aspirant relinquishes attachments, 134 as “those without heads and feet,” 82, 87 attached to Aq Qoyûnlû household, 163 Bayandur females married to, 123 beliefs of about love, 138 biographical dictionaries of, 32, 127 blessings of (see also baraka), 2, 61, 62, 107

brotherhoods/organizations, 80, 82 classic manuals written by, 2, 70 conception of ‘alam al-misal, 142n33 devotional practices of, 153 ethics, 21

fiscal immunities for, 93

gatherings at Darvishabad khanaqah, 97 groups attached to Ya‘qûb, 82 hagiographies, 29, 30 heart of, 58, 59

influence of at Aq Qoyûnlû court, 30, 62, 162

influence of over Timurid rulers, 36

in pre-Safavid Tabriz, 97

interest of Àq Qoyûnlû in, 81, 87n24, 111 knowledge according to, 42

leaders of, 36, 86

literature on repentance by, 72

Mahmûd Nakhchivânï on writings by, 96

mirrors for princes written by, 16-17 mystical concepts, 17, 20, 21, 71, 76,

79n224, 109n134, 135n9

mystical doctrine, 79, 128

mystical experience of, 155n92

[mystical] tradition, 3, 9n6, 65n150, 76,

144

mystical transformation of, 128

on Mongol invasion, 88n26

patronage of by Ya‘qûb, 28, 31, 80, 82, 86, 93, 107-8, 117, 160, 162, 163

patronage of by Uzûn Hasan, 82-86 perfect, 66, 144 poets, 134, 150n70

political activities of, 81

political importance of, 21, 86, 162

prayer(s) of, 58-65, 162

purification of, 136

recognition of how God “returns” to

Himself, 141, 142

reference of to eighth clime, 63-64 represented by lily, 110n137 royal patronage of, 1, 2, 21, 38 ruler as, 2

ruler’s devotion to, 59

Salaman va Absal as manual for, 66, 162

spiritual advancement of, 15, 39

spiritual advice for, 65-66

spiritual state of, 46

spiritual teachings, 110

spiritual techniques, 160

tariqa-affiliated, 28, 163

tensions between traditonalists and, 92 transcends self-hood, 134

types of love according to, 141-2

use of rabita by, 147

use of term ribat by, 127

“Uvaisi,” 104

writings about sürat and ma'na by, 65n66

writings by, 162. See also hospice(s), Khalvati(s), master-disciple relationship, Naqshbandi(s), saint(s), shaikh, Sufi path

Sufi path (= mystical path): as gnostic selfrealization, 22

final stages of, 144

in conjunction with serving rulers, 38-39

Khidr initiated aspirants into, 88

Naqshbandi, 155

purification of soul equated with, 65 repentance first step on, 70, 156, 162 Salaman and Absal tales allegories of, 15 Salaman va Absal explicates, 136, 137, 161 secret of, 66

Sufi-prince, 162

Sufism: ascetic tradition in, 72

books on by Jami, 158

emphasis on in Akhlaq-iJalali, 86 engagement in by Darvish Qasim, 100 interest of Àq Qoyûnlû in, 80 interest of Jalal Din Davani in, 38 lexicon of, 84n9, 88-89, 107, 136n15, 143,

156

moderate form of, 82

tract by Mahmûd Nakhchivani on, 96n61

visionary experience in, 143 suhbat, 107-8

See also Naqshbandi(s)

Suhravardi, Abû al-Najib ‘Abd al-Qahir, 39n19

Suhravardi order, 28, 39n19

Suhravardi, Shihab al-Din Abû Hafs ‘Umar, 153. See also 'Awarif al-ma'arif

Suhravardi, Shihab al-Din Yahya, 12-13, 63-64, 66n157, 67, 142. See also Aql-i surkh

Sulami, Abû ‘Abd al-Rahman, 50n75, 158n106. See also Tabaqat al-süfiyya

Sultan-Abû Sa‘id (Timurid), 37, 85n16 sultanate, 10, 50n74, 52, 84, 88, 126 Sultan-Husain Bayqara (Timurid), 32, 33, 158, 164

as initiated into Naqshbandi order, 40 dedication of Akhlaq-i Muhsini to,

23n59, 70

letters from Jami to, 108n133

letter to Qasim Faizbakhsh from, 114

treaty between Uzûn Hasan and, 90

Sultan-Khalil (Àq Qoyûnlû): ‘Ali Baihaqi sent to Istanbul by, 91

Akhlaq-i Jalali dedicated to, 20-21

Arz-i sipah-i Uzün Hasan dedicated to, 87n24

as governor of Fars, 90n37

chronogram by Ahli Shirazi for, 113

description of by Jalal al-Din Davani, 89 letter to Ottomans from, 103

Sultan-Khalil (Aq Qoyunlu) cont.

succession struggle between Ya'qUb and, 103, 147

Sunni(s), 28, 37, 114

supernal emanation. See faiz, faiz-i bala, faiz-i ilahi

sürat: as constituent part of humans, 47n6o as form of divine being, 139

as image of Absal, 10, 143

as image of Sufi shaikh, 62, 66, 147, 154

as outer form of story, 65

as representation of spiritual state, 46 juxtaposition of with ma'na, 65-66. See

also naqsh

Surush, angel, 78

suyürghal(s), 41n28, 83-84, 93, 94n53, 121, 128

Tabaqat al-süfiyya ('Abd Allah Ansari), 50n75

Tabaqat al-süfiyya (Abu 'Abd al-Rahman

Sulami), 50n75, 158n106

Tabaristan, 18

Tabataba’i, 'Abd al-Ghaffar (= Rafi' al-Din 'Abd al-Ghaffar), 84

Tabriz, 4, 22, 26, 30, 31, 33, 42, 81, 82, 84, 91, 92n45, 95, 97, 98, 99-100, 102, 103, 104, 106-7, 111, 112, 113, 114, 116, 118-9, 123, 152, 155, 163, 164

Tabrizi, Divana Naqqash, 120 tadbir, 8, 20, 61, 152

Taft, 85n16

Tahzib al-akhlaq (Miskawaih), 20n50, 50 tajalli, 76, 141

Tajik(s), 111, 150

Takmila-i Nafahat al-uns ('Abd al-GhafUr

Lari), 40n25

Tale of the Two Brothers, 13n21 talisman(s), 61-62, 68 talqin, 8, 88-89

tamgha, 37, 121

Tarikh-i ’Àlam-ara-yi amini (Fazl Allah b.

RUzbihan Khunji-Isfahani), 23, 81, 91, 152, 158, 163

indication of Jami’s influence in, 116-7 on deaths of Yusuf and Ya'qub, 130 on Islam embodied by Savajis , 125

on ÜzUn Hasan, 'Abd al-Rahman Shami, 82-83

negative account of Qazi 'Isa in, 121-2

no mention of Naqshbandi edifices in, 98 reliance on by historians, 3

tariqa(s) (= tariqat): 39n19, 82, 90, 97, 107, 114

affiliation and Darvishabad khanaqah, 97 Naqshbandi, 23, 28, 40, 62, 95, 107n125 tar kh, 30, 113

tarkhan (= tarkhani), 41n28, 90n36 tasavvur-i shaikh. See rabita tauba, 71n188, 99n77

determined by God, 79

initial step in mystical quest, 70n179 interpretation of by Ibn al-'Arabi, 72 overriding theme of Salaman va Absal, 69, 156

relevance of to Naqshbandis, 70, 71, 156n95

sections of Salaman va Absal on, 71

Sufi perfection achieved through, 70.

See also repentance

tauh d, 66, 134 tavajjuh, 154 tazkira(s), 33, 116, 120n44, 131. See also

anthology(ies)

Tazkirat al-shu'ara" (Daulatshah

Samarqandi), 24, 33, 158

Temür, 40

Tenth Intellect. See Active Intellect, ’aql-i fa"al

Theodora Komnene, 101n86, 123

The Republic (Plato), 50

Tihrani-Isfahani, Abu Bakr, 24, 28, 83, 102.

See also Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya Timurid(s), 7, 37n15, 122n51, 126, 127 cultural achievements of, 34 delegation to Aq Qoyunlu court, 118-9 gender relations at court, 27n77 indifference to Aq Qoyunlu poets, 120 influence of 'Ubaid Allah Ahrar over, 36, 37n11, 37n13, 95

initiated by Jami into Naqshbandi order, 4

Naqshbandis disposed to serving, 37 relations with Aq QoyUnlU, 119. See also

Àsar al-vuzara‘, Herat, Jami, Sultan-AbU Sa'id, Sultan-Husain Bayqara

Tirmizi, AbU 'Abd Allah Muhammad al-Hakim, 70n179. See also Kitab sirat al-auliya’

Trabzon, 101n86, 123

Transoxiana, 36, 95, 98

Tuhfa-i Sami (Sam Mirza Safavi), 24, 114,

115

Aq QoyUnlU poets mentioned in, 120 notice on Ya'qUb in, 32-33, 127, 129, 164 on connection between Baba Fighani

and Jami, 116

poetry attributed to Qâzï ‘Isa in, 126, I27n6g

poetry attributed to Ya‘qûb in, 127 Tuhfat al-ahrar (Jami), 25, 158 Tuhfat al-mulük (‘Abd Allah Ansari), 50 Turkmen, 7, 16, 100, 104, 112

clan(s), 112, 113n7 customs, 124 Ulama’, 92

Tûsi, Nasir al-Din, 67 commentary on Isharatwa al-tanblhat,

11, 12, 13, 14n26, 161, 162 ideal city according to, 45 interpretation of Salaman and Absal by,

12, 14, 162

on role of ruler, 20 on being vazlr, 55n101 virtues of good ruler according to, 49-50. See also Akhlaq-i Nasirl

‘Umar Khayyam, 127

Universal Reason, 137

‘Uqaili, Saif al-Din, 52. See also Asar al-vuzura‘

Ursa Major. See Bear, constellation of Utrari, Maulanazada ‘Abd Allah, 42n32 Üzûn Hasan, Abû al-Nasr (Àq Qoyûnlû): abolishment of wine-drinking by, 86 Akhlaq-i Jalall dedicated to, 20-21, 59 Akhlaq-i Jalall legitimizes, 85n15 and marriages to Greek princesses, 123 and Pûrnak clan, 113n7 as defender of sharia, 86 as father of Ya‘qûb, 4, 29, 31, 57, 81, 82, 99n103, 147, 163

association with ‘Abd al-Rahman Shami, 82-83

association with Darvish Qasim, 101-3, 105-6

association with dervishes, 28, 80, 86, 163

association with ‘Umar Raushani, 82 confession to Darvish Qasim, 102 death of, 103

encounter(s) between Jami and, 30, 31 envoy of to Sultan-Khalil, 90n37 equated with Khidr, 88

eradication of heretics by, 84 influence of Naqshbandis over, 5, 81, 163

letter from Jami to, 33, 108 letter from Mehmed II to, 102 letter to Bayazid II from, 86 not a Naqshbandi, 87-88, 89 patronage of Sufis by, 28n83, 82-86 power of attributed to Sufis/dervishes, 84, 87

Rûzbihan Khunji-Isfahani on, 86 support of sought by Venice, 105 treaty between Sultan-Husain Bayqara and, 90. See also Idris, Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya, Qazi Hasan, Nasriyya tomb complex, Saljûqshah bt. Kûr Muhammad

udama‘, 46n53, 122, 134

as transmitters of advice, 36 state support for, 1, 60 Turkmen, 92

“Uvais? Sufi, 104

valí (pl. auliya") 64, 108n127, 117, 162, 163

Vamiq, 167, 216

vaqf (pl. auqaf), 60, 91, 121 vasayas, 51 vasiyyat, 10n8, 51

vazlr(s) (= vizierate), 106, 119, 121n50 according to Qabüs-nama, 54 as transmitters of advice, 36, 42, 54 indispensability of, 21, 52, 55 Jami on, 10, 42-43, 52, 53, 54 Nasir al-Din Tûsi on being, 55n101 Salaman advised to appoint wise, 10,

46n5, 53. See also Maulana [Qazi] Hasan [Sadr], Nizam al-Mulk, Qazi Safi al-Din ‘Isa Savaji, Rast-ravishn Venice, 105

Venus, 131, 147, 152

amalgamation of into Salaman, 134 as representation of celestial body, 67 as representation of perfections, 67 association with Anahita, 67, 153 as symbol of shaikh, 146-7

depicted positively in Salaman va Absal, 67

image of impressed onto Salaman’s heart, 62n133, 134, 138, 153, 160

in relation to rabita, 153

love of Salaman for, 10, 134, 139, 140, 143, 153

negative view of, 67, 153

Sage’s description of to Salaman, 10, 69, 143, 152-3

Salaman’s dream-vision of, 3, 144 transformation of Absal into, 13n19, 134 vicegerent of God. See khallfat Allah vilayat (= valayat), 70, 107 visionary experience, 3, 141-4, 145, 159. See also heart wahdat al-wiyüd, 2, 57, 99n77, 140 wet-nurse, 1, 7, 12, 146, 150, 161

in Masnavi-yi ma'navi, 134

Salaman becomes own, 134. See also

Absal, daya

White, Hayden, 145

wine (= wine-drinking): abolishment of by Üzûn Hasan, 86

Absal symbol of, 4, 22, 146, 148, 149-50, 151, 152, 159, 164

as locus of lust, 8

of good fortune, 143

prohibition of in Tabriz, 22n58, 107, 152

Ya‘qûb’s addiction to, 1, 3, 69, 105, 128, 131, 156, 157

Ya‘qûb’s renunciation of, 23n59, 146, 152, 156, 164

Ya‘qûb’s repentance from, 70, 107, 152, 155-6, 159, 160, 162, 163, 164. See also alcohol

world-displaying mirror, 9, 14

woman (= women), 8, 49, 77, 149n62, 153

Woods, John E., 7n2, 34n110, 83n8, 84n9, 107n121, 156n94

Àq Qoyûnlû polity according to, 86 on deaths of Yûsuf and Ya‘qûb, 130 on influence of Khalvati order, 82 on sources for Àq Qoyûnlû, 23

Ya‘qûb, Abû al-Muzaffar, Sultan

(Àq Qoyûnlû): abstinence of, 71, 148 accession of, 23, 147, 155

addiction to wine, 1, 3, 69, 105, 128, 131, 149, 156, 157

advice of Jami to, 2, 28, 31, 40, 64-65, 71, 107, 109-10, 117, 118, 156, 162

alcoholism of, 16n34, 105, 106, 129, 149-50, 160

allusion to by Jami, 147

allusion to Salaman va Absal by, 33-34, 117-8

and Shah Qasim Faizbaksh, 114

and siege of Akhisqa, 94n53

as beloved, 81, 112

as brother of Sultan-Khalil, 21, 59n125, 147

as depicted in tazkira literature, 131

as familiar with himmat, 107, 117

as forgiving Qazi ‘Isa and Najm al-Din

Mas'ûd Savaji, 126-7

as governor of Diyar-Bakr, 129

as not belonging to Sufi order, 93

as object of Jami’s devotion, 81, 109 association with Sun‘ Allah Kûzakunani, 31, 98 as solicitor of advice of Sufi mystics, 29 as son of Üzûn Hasan, 4, 29, 31, 57, 81, 82, 99n103, 147, 163

Baba Fighani in service to, 115, 116, 164 Bahram va Bihruz dedicated to, 27, 113 blessings of Jami sought by, 107, 117, 156 brother-in-law of (see also Ghazi Khan), 41n30

campaign of against Shaikh Haidar Safavi, 125

commitment of Darvish Qasim to, 103 confrontation between Darvish Qasim and, 27n78, 100, 104, 111

court receptive to Sufi works, 21 death of, 27n76, 43n40, 99, 113n8, 115n21, 116, 122n52, 130

dedication of Nasriyya tomb complex by 103n99

discord between Yûsuf and, 129-31, 164 drunkard according to Jami, 156 (duration of) rapport between Jami and,

4, 29, 107, 117, 130, 156, 157 earthly love of, 127-8 euology of in Lubb al-tavarikh, 131n88 eulogy of in Silsilat al-zahab, 26, 40 Farrukh Yasar Shirvan-shah and, 41 ghazal attributed to, 129 ghazals dedicated to, 112 Hasht bihisht entry on, 33, 164 himmat of Jami sought by, 28, 117 Ibrahim Gulshani at court of, 31-32,

92-95, 124

Idris Bidlisi secretary of, 94 influence of Savaji family on, 29, 126 in relation to Adam, 108 intemperance of, 100, 107, 109, 111 intervention of Kamal al-Din Gazurgahi with, 128

Jami and conscience of, 117, 151 Jami critical of immorality of, 26, 43 Jami Naqshbandi influence on, 31, 62, 70, 81, 110, 115, 155, 163

Jami’s focus heart of, 57, 109 Jami spiritual “master” of, 4, 33, 81, 108, 109-10, 118, 155, 160, 163 justice/just rule of, 43, 57, 69

Kamal al-Din Bana’i in service to, 27n76, 114, 115n21, 164

kingdom of, 124

Kulliyat/Divan of Jami presented to, 29, 119

letter from Jami to, 23, 24, 33, 62n134, 81, 108-9, 155, 163, 165

letter(s) to Jami from, 23, 24, 33-34, 62n134, 81, 107-9, 116-9, 158, 163

libertinism of, 148

Majalis al-'ushshaq entry on, 32, 127-8, 164

Maqsûd b. Üzûn Hasan Bayandur half-brother of, 113

melancholy of, 29, 32, 128

Menakib-i Ibrahim-i Gülçeni on conduct of, 94-95

modern scholarship on, 34

monetary offering to Jami by, 117, 158 mother of (see also Saljûqshah bt. Kûr

Muhammad Begum), 91n39, 123n59, 13on86

Najm al-Din Mas‘ûd Savaji boon- companion/muqarrab of, 32, 113n5, 12o

notice in Tuhfa-i Sami on, 127, 129, 130 not mentioned in Maqamat-iJami, 30 not Naqshbandi, 62n134, 155

obedience of to Ibrahim Gulshani, 94 on transformation of heart, 108 order of to ransack Tabriz, 106 patronage of Ahli Shirazi, 164

patronage of Kamal al-Din Bana’i, 164 patronage of Persian belles-lettres, 81, 111, 119, 129, 131, 163-4

patronage of Sufis/dervishes, 28, 31, 80, 82, 86, 93, 107-8, 117, 160, 162, 163

Persian poetry addressed to, 26-27, 112, 113

Persian poetry attributed to, 33, 127, 129 poets associated with, 33, 112-6, 119-20, 164

possesses farr, 57

qasidas by Jami addressed to, 26, 108, 155, 158

qasidas by Kamal al-Din Bana’i addressed to, 113

Qâzi ‘Isa mentor of, 3, 22, 32-33, 151, 152 Qâzi ‘Isa vazir/chief qazi/sadr of, 92, 121, 124, 146, 151

recognition of significance of Salaman va Absal by, 111, 117, 159, 162, 164

reign of, 1, 7-8n2, 27, 29, 82n3, 90, 91, 112, 116, 128, 129

relationship between Qazi ‘Isa and, 32-33, 124

renunciation of wine-drinking by, 23n59, 146, 152, 156, 164

repentance of from wine-drinking, 1, 3, 22, 23, 25, 107, 152, 155, 156, 160, 162, 163, 164

role of Qazi ‘Isa in repentance of, 152, 164 Rûzbihan Khunji-Isfahani historian of, 27, 120

Salaman symbol of, 3, 22, 136, 146-52, 159, 164

Salaman va Absal addressed to, 7, 16, 23, 116, 161

Salaman va Absal commemoration of repentance of, 23, 155, 156, 163, 164

Salaman va Absal, attainment of sainthood by, 65, 80

Salaman va Absal not only masnavi addressed to, 26-27, 112, 113, 120n41 Salaman va Absal to familiarize with

Naqshbandiyya, 115, 155 seal of kingship of, 147n54 section(s) of Salaman va Absal in praise of, 55n103, 57, 58, 71, 146, 147-8, 157 Shahidi Qumi poet-laureate of, 114, 115n21, 116

Sham"vaparvana dedicated to, 26-27, 112

shunned kingship, 128 signet ring of, 147n54

Siraj al-Din ‘Abd al-Vahhab shaikh al-Islam of, 95

sister(s) of (see also Halima Begi Àghâ), 112, 123-4, 126, 150, 164

sought blessings of Jami, 57, 117 soul of, 109, 149, 162

spiritual relationship between Jami and, 107-10

succession struggle between

Sultan-Khalil and, 103, 147

Tarikh-i Alam-ara-yi amini on Jami and, 117

Tazkira-i Rauzat al-salatin entry on, 127, 128

troubles of, 127-9, 146, 148 true love of, 127-8

Tuhfa-i Sami entry on, 32-33, 127, 129, 164

visitations to ‘Umar Raushani shrine by, 93

wife of (see also Gauhar-Sultan Khanum), 41n30

works by Jalal al-Din Davani dedicated to, 90n34. See also Salaman, Tarikh-i Alam-ara-yi amini

Ya‘qûb-i Charkhi, 153n84

Yazd, 96, 190

Yûnan the Minister (Dastûr), 49

Yusufva Zulaikha (Jami), 25n63, 1551192, 158 Yusuf va Zulaikha (Khata’i Tabrizi), 120n41 Yûsuf, Yamin al-Din Abû al-‘Izz (Àq

Qoyûnlû), 29, 128

daughter of betrothed to Siraj al-Din ‘Abd al-Vahhab, 123n58

Yûsuf, Yamîn al-Dîn Abû al-‘Izz (Àq Qoyûnlû) cont.

discord between Ya'qûb and, 129-31

likened to Joseph in Salaman va Absal, ¹74^-5

Salaman va Absal addressed to, 174-5

Zakhlrat al-mulük (Ali b. Shihâb al-Dîn

Hamadanî), 17

Zamzam well, 169, 194

zauq, 66, 143

zaviya, 91, 102

zikr, 58n120, 89, 109n136, 11011137, 143, 153.

See also zikr-i khafi

zikr-i khafi, 89, 136n109. See also

Naqshbandî(s)

Ziyâ’ al-Dîn Yûsuf, Khvâja, 40n25, 40n26

Zulaikhâ, 175, 203-4, 214

Zoroastrian(ism), 48, 78n219, 100n81,

138n17

and planet Venus, 67, 153

priests, 44

principle of moderation, 18, 44n45

sage symbol of shaikh, 134

sharïa and norms of, 51

story of Gayumarth, 9n4

tradition of consangious marriage, 13

[1] Edward G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia, Vol. 3, The Tartar Dominion (1265-1502) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1964), 523; A. J. Arberry, FitzGerald’s Salaman and Absal: A Study (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1956), 39; and Jan Rypka et al., History of Iranian Literature, trans. P. van Popta-Hope (Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1968), 287. In addition, see Johann Christoph Bürgel, The Feather of the Simurgh: The “Licit Magic” of the Arts in Medieval Islam (New York: New York University Press, 1988), 133, who labeled it “strange.” For an even more unsparing critique, see Iraj Dehghan, “Jami’s Salaman and Absal,” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 30, no. 2 (1971): 125-26. See also Marianna Shreve Simpson, Sultan Ibrahim Mirza’s Haft Awrang: A Princely Manuscriptfrom Sixteenth-Century Iran (Washington DC: Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution; New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1997), 169 n. 6. Arberry, it should be noted, thought enough of Salaman va Absal to publish an entire study of Edward FitzGerald’s free and somewhat abridged translations of the tale alongside his own literal rendering. Similarly, a brief extract of the poem and the corresponding translation by FitzGerald appears in Browne, Literary History of Persia 3:524-26.

[2] Several exceptions exist, particularly the studies of Vladimir Minorsky and John Woods. For a partial translation of the court history of Ya‘qüb, see Fazl Allah b. Rüzbihan Khunji-Isfahani, Tartkh-i Alam-ara-yi amini, Persian Text Edited by John E. Woods, with the Abridged English Translation by Vladimir Minorsky, Persia in A.D. 1478-1490 [= Turkmenica, 12], ed. John E. Woods (London: Royal Asiatic Society, 1992). For a discussion of the fiscal situation during the reign of Ya‘qüb and the aborted campaign to centralize power by his vazir through a series of sweeping reforms, see Vladimir Minorsky, “The Aq-qoyunlu and Land Reforms (Turkmenica, 11),” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 17, no. 3 (1955): 451-58. The political turmoil of Ya‘qüb’s twelve-year reign is covered in John E. Woods, The Aqquyunlu: Clan, Confederation, Empire, rev. ed. (Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press, 1999), 125-47.

[3] For a study addressing the mystical teachings symbolically embedded within the bawdy tales of the Masnavl-yi ma'navl by Jalal al-Din Rûmi, see Mahdi Tourage, “Phal- locentric Esotericism in a Tale from Jalal al-Din Rumi’s Masnavi-yi Ma'navi,” Iranian Studies 39, no. 1 (2006): 47-60.

[4] According to Galenic physiology and medieval Islamic theories on medicine, sperm was created in the brain and stored in the spine. For a discussion of the transmission of ancient Greek medical knowledge into Islam, see Edward G. Browne, Arabian Medicine (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1921). In the translation of an earlier Arabic version of the tale of Salâmân and Absâl by Hunain b. Ishâq, the king’s sperm was deposited inside a mandrake! mandragora tree. See Henry Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, trans. Willard R. Trask (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1960), 211. On the cross-cultural beliefs in the magical powers of the mandrake and the myth that it grows from human sperm, see Thierry Zarcone, “The Myth of the Mandrake, the ‘Plant-Human’,” Diogenes 52, no. 3 (2005): 115-29. See also the Zoroastrian story of Gayumarth (Old Persian, Gayo-marotan; Middle Persian, Gayomard/t), the protoplast of man, whose sperm produced the rhubarb plant, from which grew the first mortal man and woman. See Mary Boyce, A History of Zoroastrianism, 3 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 1975-82), 1:140.

[5] This is normally taken to be the mythic world-displaying cup, the so-called Jam-i Jamshld or Jam-i Kai Khusrau, which is also associated with Solomon (Sulaimân) in the Qur’an and the Alexander legend. For details on how the ancient literary motif of a worlddisplaying cup traveled from Iran to India, see Meera Khare, “The Wine-Cup in Mughal Court Culture—from Hedonism to Kingship,” The Medieval History Journal 8, no. 1 (2005): 143-88.

[6] According to the Sufi mystical tradition, himmat denotes the concentrated spiritual energy a perfect mystic projects from his heart (dil or qalb) towards a desired objective. It is therefore considered a miracle-producing power and is usually associated with prophets and saints. Descriptions of the creative potential of himmat appear most often in the theosophy of Muhyï al-Dïn Ibn al-‘Arabi (d. 637/1240). For examples, see Ibn al-‘Arabi, Fusüs al-hikam, ed. Abû al-‘Alâ’ ‘Afïfï, 2 vols. (Beirut: Dâr al-Kitâb al-'Arabï, 1966), 1:127-30; Ibn al-‘Arabi, The Bezels of Wisdom [Fusüs al-hikam], trans. R. W. J. Austin (New York: Paulist Press, 1980), 156-62; and Henry Corbin, L’imagination créatice dans le soufisme d’Ibn 'Arabi, 2nd ed. (Paris: Flammarion, 1977), 171-73 and 175-77. On the tendency for scholars to accentuate the miraculous implications of himmat at the expense of its other contexts, especially as it is understood in the writings of Ibn al-‘Arabi, see William C. Chittick, The Self-Disclosure of God: Principles of Ibn 'Arabi’s Cosmology (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1998), 406 n. 8.

[7] A parallel event to the Qur’anic story of the creation of Adam (Q 15:28-29) where God commands his angels “fall you down, bowing before him!”

[8] In the Persian tradition of advice literature, vasiyyat generally means “testament,” “advice” or “counsel.” See Charles-Henri de Fouchécour, Moralia: Les notions morales dans la literature persane du 3^e/g^e au 7^e/i3^e siècle (Paris: Éditions Recherches sur les Civilizations, 1986), 382 n. 81.

[9] The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Salaman and Absal” (by P. Heath).

[10] Ibid.; and Ibn Sina, Tar/uma va sharh-i Isharat va tanblhat, Pers. trans. Hasan Malikshahi (Tehran: Surüsh, 1363/1984), 439-40. For the Arabic text and excursive notes on the etymologies of “Salaman” and “Absal,” see Ibn Sina, Al-Isharat wa al-tanblhat, ed. Sulaiman Dunya (Cairo: Dar al-Ma‘arif, 1960-68), 47-56. Ibn Sina also mentions Absal in his Risala fl al-qadar.

[11] Dehghan, “Jami’s Salaman and Absal,’’ 118.

[12] Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, 207.

[13] Though mostly in accord with one another, a short list of “minor” differences between the Hellenistic version by Tüsi and the poetic version by Jami is provided by Dehghan, “Jami’s Salaman and Absal,” 121-22. For a recent study on the rich legacy of the ancient Greek version, see Sayyid Hasan Amin, Salaman va Absal: Ustura-i yunani dar farhang- i iraní va falsafa-i islami dar chahardah rivayat (Tehran: Da’irat al-Ma'arif-i Iran-shinasi, 1383/2004).

[14] The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Salaman and Absal” (P. Heath); and Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, 218-19.

[15] The commentary by Tüsi briefly mentions the appearance of Salaman and Absal or “Ibsal” (imprisonment) in the al-Nawadir by Ibn al-'Arabi, where Salaman, a man famous for his goodness is held captive with Absal, a man known for his wickedness. In the story, Salaman is freed while Absal languishes and eventually dies. Writing in the eleventh/sev- enteenth century, the philosopher of the Illuminationist school in Isfahan, Sadr al-Din Shirazi (d. 1050/1640-41), more widely referred to as Mulla Sadra, cites Salaman wa Absal in his Kitab al-asfar al-arba'a in support of the doctrine concerning the pre-existence of the soul. For references to Ibn al-'Arabi’s use of the character’s names, see Dehghan, “Jami’s Salaman and Absal,” 119. For Mulla Sadra, see Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, 207 n. 4. Other appearances of the Salaman and Absal characters in Arabic and Persian literature (at least fourteen in all) are discussed throughout in Amin, Salaman va Absal: Ustura-i yunant.

[16] On the prevalence of ancient Iranian motifs in such Hellenized Persian romances as Vamiq va Azra, Vis va Ramin, and Varqa va Gulshah, see Dick Davis, Panthea’s Children: Hellenistic Novels and Medieval Persian Romances (New York: Bibliotheca Persica, 2002).

[17] A view posited by N. Peter Joosse, “An Example of Medieval Arabic Pseudo-Hermeticism: The Tale of Salaman and Absal,” Journal of Semitic Studies 38, no. 2 (1993): 281.

[18] For the issue of same kin-marriage amongst Zoroastrian (esp. Achaemenian) elites, see Richard N. Frye, “Zoroastrian Incest,” in Orientalia losephi Tucci Memoriae Dicata (Rome: Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, 1985), 445-55. See also Jam- sheed K. Choksy, Evil, Good, and Gender: Facets of the Feminine in Zoroastrian Religious History (New York: Peter Lang, 2002), 90-91; and Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Incest and Inbreeding” (by Geert Jan van Gelder).

[19] Joosse, “An Example of Medieval Arabic,” 286-87, who also points to the transformation of Absal into Venus and the Mazdaean notion of Fravarti, the earth-bound soul encountering her celestial counterpart Daênâ, as evidence of an Iranian provenance (p. 285); See also Nür al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami, Masnavl-yi Salaman va Absdl-i Nur al-Dln 'Abdal-RahmdnJdml: Tashlh va tahqlq, tauzlhdtva ta'llqdt, ed. Zahra Muhajiri (Tehran: Nashr-i Nay, 1376/1997), 68-69.

[20] Peter Heath, Allegory and Philosophy in Avicenna (Ibn Sînâ): With a Translation of the Book of the Prophet Muhammad’s Ascent to Heaven (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1992), 94.

[21] Heath, Allegory and Philosophy, 94. This version of Salaman and Absal is very similar to and may in fact have its basis in the Tale of the Two Brothers, an ancient Egyptian folk tale dated around 1185 BC and which is contained in the Papyrus D’Orbiney. For a detailed study of the Egyptian tale, see Wolfang Wettengel, Die Erzahlung von den beiden Brüdern: Der Papyrus d’Orbiney und die Konigsideologie der Ramessiden (Freiburg, Schweiz: Universitatsverlag, 2003).

[22] Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, 227.

[23] Heath, Allegory and Philosophy, 95; and Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, 228.

[24] Heath, Allegory and Philosophy, 95.

[25] Heath, Allegory and Philosophy, 95.

[26] Heath, Allegory and Philosophy, 95. It is worth noting that alleged shortcomings in the exegesis by Tüsï of both versions have been indicated by Henry Corbin’s Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, 218-20. See also Salman H. Bashier, The Story of Islamic Philosophy: Ibn Tufayl, Ibn al-Arabi, and Others on the Limit between Naturalism and Traditionalism (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2011), 40-41.

[27] Dehghan, “Jâmï’s Salaman and Absal,’’ 121.

[28] The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Salâmân and Absâl” (by P. Heath). In fact, the full title is Risala Hayy ibn Yaqzan fi asrar al-hikmat al-mashriqiyya and is distinct from the Hayy ibn Yaqzan by Ibn Sïnâ (the first of his three récits visionnaires in the Isharat wa al-tanbihat; the others being the Risalat al-tair and Salaman wa Absal). For a discussion of the noetic and experiential dimensions of the Hayy ibn Yaqzan cycle, see Aaron W. Hughes, The Texture of the Divine: Imagination in Medieval Islamic and Jewish Thought (Bloomington, IN: University of Indiana Press, 2004), esp. 133-43. See also Paul E. Walker, “Philosophy of Religion in al-Fârâbï, Ibn Sïnâ and Ibn Tufayl,” in Reason and Inspiration in Islam: Theology, Philosophy and Mysticism in Muslim Thought: Essays in Honour of Hermann Landolt, ed. Todd Lawson (London: I. B. Tauris in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2005), esp. 95-96.

[29] The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Hayy b. Yakzân” (by A.-M. Goichon).

[30] Absâl first appeared to Hayy at the very moment the latter, having retired to a cave for forty days of spiritual contemplation, reached unio mystica.

[31] For a discussion of the exoteric and esoteric interpretations of the tale, see J. Christoph Bürgel, “ ‘Symbols and Hints:’ Some Considerations Concerning the Meaning of Ibn Tufayl’s Hayy ibn Yaqzan,” in The World of Ibn Ttfayl: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Hayy ibn Yaqzan, ed. Lawrence I. Conrad (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1996), 114-32.

[32] For a survey of allegory and its protean uses, see Agnus Fletcher, Allegory: The Theory of a Symbolic Mode (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1964), esp. 2-23.

[33] Maria E. Subtelny, Le monde est un jardin: Aspects de l’histoire culturelle de l’Iran médiéval, Cahiers de Studia Iranica, 28 (Paris: Association pour ¡’Avancement des Études Iraniennes, 2002), 153.

[34] That Ya'qüb was a drunkard is mentioned in several sources, including the Saha’f al-akhbar, an Ottoman chronicle written by Darvish Ahmad (also known as Munajjim- bashi) and based on an eleventh/seventeenth century Arabic source of the same title. In it, Ya'qüb’s reputation is as a ruler “disposed to drink and a merry life, and very fond of poetry.” For a reference, see Browne, Literary History of Persia 3:415.

[35] William Chittick, The Heart of Islamic Philosophy: The Questfor Self-Knowledge in the Teachings of Afdal al-Din Kashani (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), 178-94.

[36] Najm al-Din Razi, The Path of God’s Bondsmen from Origin to Return = (Mirsad al’ibad min al-mabda’ ila’ al-ma'ad): A Sufi Compendium, [Mirsad al-'ibad min al-mabda’ ila al-ma'ad}, trans. Hamid Algar (Delmar, NY: Caravan Books, 1982).

3 ⁷ Amina Steinfels, “Reflections on a Mystic Mirror: The Beinecke Manuscript of ‘All Hamadani,” in Old Books, New Learning: Essays on Medieval and Renaissance Books at Yale, ed. Robert G. Babcock and Lee Patterson (New Haven, CT: Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, 2001), 55-66.

[38] See also the Majma' al-bahrain of Shams al-Din Ibrahim Abarqûhi (composed between 711/1311-12 and 714/1314-15 cited in Ann K. S. Lambton, “Sufis and the State in Medieval Persia,” in State and Islam, ed. C van Dijk and A. H. de Groot (Leiden: Research School CNWS, 1995), 23-25.

[39] ‘Ali Asghar Hikmat, Jami: Mutazammin-i tahqiqat dar tarikh-i ahvalva asar-i manzüm va nushür-i khatim al-shu'ara, (Tehran: Chapkhana-i Bank-i Milli Iran, 1321/1942), 189; Browne, Literary History of Persia 3:523; A. J. Arberry, FitzGerald’s Salaman and Absal, 42; Rypka, History of Iranian Literature, 297; J. T. P. de Bruijn, Persian Sufi Poetry: An Introduction to the Mystical Use of Classical Poems (Richmond: Curzon, 1997), 123; and A‘la- Khan Afsahzad, Naqd va bar rasi-yi asar va sharh-i ahval-i Jami (Tehran: Miras-i Maktûb, 1999), 211. Arberry hints at the historicity of the poem when he addresses Jami’s potential motive: “The myth of the philosopher who had the ear of the king had haunted eastern imagination ever since Aristotle was supposed to have instructed the Emperor of Greece...Jami...must have felt peculiarly well qualified to play the traditional role of rhyming counselor,” Arberry, FitzGerald’s Salaman and Absal, 42.

[40] The starting point for any investigation into medieval Perso-Islamic mirrors for princes remains the studies by Ann K. S. Lambton, notably: “Quis Custodiet Custodes? Some Reflections on the Persian Theory of Government (Part 1),” Studia Islamica 5 (1955): 125-48; “Quis Custodiet Custodes? Some Reflections on the Persian Theory of Government (Part 2),” Studia Islamica 6 (1956): 125-46; “Justice in the Medieval Persian Theory of Kingship,” Studia Islamica 17 (1962): 91-119; “Islamic Mirrors for Princes,” in Atti del convegno internazionale sul tema, La Persia nel medioevo (Roma, 1970), Accademia nazionale dei Lin- cei (Rome, 1971), 419-42; State and Government in Medieval Islam: An Introduction to the Study of Islamic Political Theory: The Jurists (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981); and “Changing Concepts of Justice and Injustice from the Fifth/Eleventh Century to the Eighth/ Fourteenth Century in Persia: The Saljuq Empire and the Ilkhanate,” Studia Islamica 68 (1988): 27-60. For a survey of Persian ethico-political works before the eighth/fourteenth century, see de Fouchécour, Moralia, passim.

[41] Kay Kâ’üs b. Iskandar, The Nasihat-nama, Known as Qabus-nama of Kai Ka'us b. Iskandar b. Qabus b. Washmgir, ed. Reuben Levy (London: Luzac, 1951) (hereafter cited as Qabus Nama); Kay Kâ’üs b. Iskandar, A Mirror for Princes: The Qabus Nama, trans. Reuben Levy (London: Cresset Press, 1951). The work is also known as Kitab-i nasïhat-nama.

[42] Also referred to as the Siyasat-nama. Nizam al-Mulk, Siyar al-muluk: Siyasat-nama, ta'lïf-iKhvaja Nizam al-Mulk Abu AlïHasan Tusï, ed. Hubert Darke (Tehran: Bungâh-i Tar- juma va Nashr-i Kitab, 1341/1962) (henceforth cited as Siyar al-muluk [Siyasat-nama]); and Nizam al-Mulk, The Book of Government or Rules for Kings [Siyar al-muluk], trans. Hubert Darke (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978). On the notion that Siyar al-muluk [Siyasat-nama] has been wrongly ascribed to Nizam al-Mulk, see Alexey A. Khismatulin, “To Forge a Book in the Medieval Ages: Nezam al-Molk’s Siyar al-Moluk (Siyasat-nama),” Journal of Persianate Studies 1 (2008): 30-66.

[43] Abü Hamid Muhammad Ghazali. Nasïhat al-muluk, ed. Jalal Huma’i (Tehran: Anju- man-i Àsar-i Milli, 1351/1972); and Abü Hamid Ghazali, Ghazali’s Book of Counselfor Kings (Nasihat al-muluk), trans. F. R. C. Bagley (London: Oxford University Press, 1964).

[44] Nasir al-Din Tüsi, Akhlaq-i Nasirï, ed. Mujtaba Minuvi and ‘Ali Riza Haidari (Tehran: Intisharat-i Khvarazmi, 1357/1978); and Nasir al-Din Tüsi, The Nasirean Ethics, trans. G. M. Wickens (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1964).

[45] Jalal al-Din Davani, Akhlaq-i Jalalï, musamma bih l.avami/ al-ishraq fï makarim al-akhlaq, ed. M. K. Shirazi (Calcutta: Habl al-matin, 1911); and Jalal al-Din Dawani [Davani], Practical Philosophy of the Muhammadan People...Being a Translation of the Akhlak-i Jalaly, The Most Esteemed Ethical Work of Middle Asia, from the Persian of Fakir Jany Muhammad Asaad, trans. W. F. Thompson (London: Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland, 1839). The manual is less commonly known by its principal title, Lawami al-ishraq fïmakarim al-akhlaq (Flashes of Illumination on Praiseworthy Ethics).

[46] For a review of modern scholarship on the Qabus-nama, see Soheila Amirsolei- mani, “Of This World and the Next: Metaphors and Meanings in the Qabus-nama,” Iranian Studies 35, nos. 1-3 (2002): 4. On the ancient Iranian idea of the perfect measure (paiman), see Shaul Shaked, “Payman: An Iranian Idea in Contact with Greek Thought and Islam,” in Transition Periods in Iranian History. Actes du Symposium de Fribourg-en-Brisgau (24 mai 1985), Cahiers de Studia Iranica, 5 (Paris: L’Association pour ¡’Avancement des Études Iraniennes, 1987), 217-40.

[47] Nizam al-Mulk, Siyar al-mulük [Siyasat-nama], 297-98 (trans. 208-9).

[48] For the contention that Ghazali did not write the section of the Naslhat al-mulük concerning kingship, see Patricia Crone, “Did al-Ghazali Write a Mirror for Princes? On the Authorship of Naslhat al-mulük,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 10 (1998): 167-91. But see also the opinion of Carole Hillenbrand, “Islamic Orthodoxy or Realpolitik? Al-Ghazali’s Views on Government,” Iran 26 (1988): 92.

[49] Tüsi, Akhlaq-i Nasirl; and Nasirean Ethics, passim.

[50] Specifically, the Madlnat al-fazila by Farabi and the Tahzlb al-akhlaq by Miskawaih.

[51] Tüsi, Akhlaq-i Nasirl, 252 (trans. 97 and 190). For a discussion of how this philosophical concept influenced subsequent Perso-Islamic mirrors for princes, see Subtelny, Le monde est un jardin, 59-72; and Maria E. Subtelny, “A Late Medieval Persian Summa on Ethics: Kashifi’s Akhlaq-i Muhsinl,” Iranian Studies 36, no. 4 (2003): 604-5 and 621.

[52] Tüsi, Akhlaq-i Nasirl, 249-50 (trans. 189).

[53] Tüsi, Akhlaq-i Nasirl, 288 (trans. 230).

[54] For a discussion of Jami’s interpretation of the concept of the al-insan al-kamil (Perfect Man), see William Chittick, “The Perfect Man as the Prototype of the Self in the Sufism of Jami,” Studia Islamica 49 (1979): 135-57.

[55] Davani, Akhlaq-iJalall, 135.

[56] An observation first noted but never developed by Reynold A. Nicholson. For his passing reference to the similarities between the two tales, see Jalal al-Din Rümi, The Mathnawíof Jalálu’ddín Rúmí, ed. and trans. Reynold A. Nicholson, 8 vols. (London: Luzac, 1925-40), 7:14. See also Dehghan, “Jami’s Salaman andAbsal,” 124.

[57] For the record, the tale was not Rümi’s invention, but may be traced back to the Kitab al-QanUn fl al-tibb of Ibn Sina. For a reference, see the commentary by Nicholson in Rümi, Mathnawí 7:14.

[58] Although the farman (edict) banning wine-drinking apparently has been lost, a description of its contents and the ceremony marking Ya'qüb’s repentance are found in Khunji-Isfahani, Alam-aray-i amlnl, 73.

[59] Commemorating the renunciation of wine-drinking by a prince by dedicating a mirror for princes to him was apparently not uncommon in late ninth/fifteenth and early tenth/sixteenth century Iran. As Subtelny has shown, the late medieval Timurid preacher and polymath Husain Va'iz Kashifi (d. 910/1504-5), dedicated his advice manual, the Akhlaq-iMuhsinl, to Sultan-Husain Bayqara and his son Abü al-Muhsin Mirza (d. 913/1507) after the latter made a public repentance (tauba) and renunciation of wine-drinking at his father’s court in Herat. For a discussion of the contents of the Akhlaq-i Muhsinl and its historical context, see Subtelny, “A Late Medieval Persian Summa on Ethics,” 604.

[60] Hikmat,Jaml, 190.

[61] Woods, Aqquyunlu, 215.

[62] The term “Haft aurang” is from the Younger Avesta haptoiringa (literally, “having seven marks”) and the Middle Persian (Pahlavi) haftoring; it refers to the constellation Ursa Major or the “Great Bear.” See Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Constellations” (by D. N. MacKenzie).

[63] The Haft aurang (or Saba comprises: Silsilat al-zahab; Salaman va Absal; Tuhfat al-ahrar; Subhat al-abrar; Yusuf va Zulaikha; Laili va Majnün; and Khirad-nama-i Iskandari. Only Salaman va Absal and Silsilat al-zahab are entirely distinct from the five masnavis by Nizami. For a discussion of Jami’s extension of Nizami’s Khamsa, see J. T. P. de Bruijn, “Chains of Gold: Jami’s Defence of Poetry,” Journal of Turkish Studies 26, no. 1 (2002): 84.

[64] Nür al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman b. Ahmad Jami, Masnavi-yi haft aurang, ed. A‘la-Khan Afsahzad, Zahir Ahrari, Jabilqa Dad ‘Alishah, Asghar Janfidah, and Husain Ahmad Tarbi- yat, 2 vols. (Tehran: Miras-i Maktüb 1376-78/1997-99), 1:391-448. All subsequent references to Jami’s Salaman va Absal are to the Afsahzad edition of the Masnavi-yi haft aurang and are henceforth abbreviated as SA. For descriptions of the eight MSS, six of which are cited in the introduction to Salaman va Absal by Zahir Ahrari, see Jami, Masnavi-yi haft aurang, 33-51 and 383-89. The 895/1490 MS is described in A. A. Semenov et al., Sobranie vostoch- nykh rukopisei Akademii nauk Uzbekskoi SSR, 11 vols. (Tashkent: Akademia nauk UzSSR, 1952-87), 2:174.

[65] Jami, Masnavi-yi haft aurang, 34.

[66] For descriptions of the six MSS she used, including the Salaman va Absal MS purportedly copied during Jami’s lifetime (890/1485), a microfilm of which is kept at the University of Tehran (no. 1062), see Jami, Masnavi-yi Salaman va Absal, 10-12.

[67] For a detailed description of the autograph MS, see Victor Rosen, Les manuscrits persans de l’Institut des langues orientales (Amsterdam: Celibus, 1971), 215-59. See also O. F. Akimushkin et al., Persidskie i tadzhikskie rukopisi Instituta narodov Azii AN SSR: Krat- kii alfavitnyi katalog, 2 pts. (Moscow: Nauka, 1964), 1:443-44; and Jami, Masnavi-yi haft aurang, 40-41.

[68] Rosen, Les manuscrits persans, 215.

[69] Rosen, Les manuscrits persans, 215-16.

[70] W. Ivanow, “Genuineness of Jami’s Autographs,” Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 10 (1934): 1-7; and Ivanow, “Another Autograph of Jami,” Journal of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 16 (1940): 104-5. For Bertel’s’ skepticism, see Jami, Masnavi-yi haft aurang, 41. Najib Mayil Haravi,Jami (Tehran, 1377/1998), 174 n. 3. See also M. Mahfuz-ul Haq, “Jami and His Autographs,” Islamic Culture 1 (1927): 608-16, who accepts the autograph as authentic.

[71] Jami, Silsilat al-zahab, which is contained in the Masnavi-yi haft aurang, 1:364, lines 6015-33.

[72] Nür al-Din 'Abd al-Rahman b. Ahmad Jami, Divan-i Jami, 2 vols., ed. A'la-Khan Afsahzad (Tehran: Miras-i Maktüb, 1378/1999).

[73] A notable exception to this are the analyses of Paul Losensky. For example, see Paul Losensky, “Shahidi Qumi: Poet Laureate of the Àqquyünlü Court,” in History and Historiography of Post-Mongol Central Asia and the Middle East: Studies in Honor of John E. Woods, ed. Judith Pfeiffer, Sholeh A. Quinn, and Ernest Tucker (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2006), 282-300; and Paul Losensky, Welcoming Fighani: Imitation and Poetic Individuality in the Safavid-Mughal Ghazal (Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda, 1998).

[74] Ahli’s works must have enjoyed some degree of renown, for an illuminated copy of his Kulliyat was included, along with the poetry of Firdausi, Nizami, 'Umar Khayyam, Sa'di, and Hafiz), in a collection of diplomatic offerings accompanying a Safavid embassy to Istanbul in 998/1590. For a reference, see Fariba Zarinebaf-Shahr, “Cross-Cultural Contacts in Eurasia,” in History and Historiography of Post-Mongol Central Asia and the Middle East: Studies in Honor of John E. Woods, ed. Judith Pfeiffer and Sholeh A. Quinn, in collaboration with Ernest Tucker (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2006), 539. For discussions of the poet’s life and works, see Inamul Haq Kausar, “Ahlï Shïrâzï,” Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society 18 (1970): 115-39; Losensky, Welcoming Figha.nl, 160-64, 260-65, 267-74; and Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Ahlï Sïrâzï, Mowlânâ Mohammad” (by W. Thackston).

[75] The poem is contained in Ahlï Shïrâzï, Kulliyat-i ash/ar. ed. Hamïd Rabbânï (Tehran: Kitâbkhâna-i Sanâ’ï, 1964), 571-619.

[76] Kamâl al-Dïn Banâ’ï, Bar guzida-i Bagh-i Iram ya Bahram va Bihruz, ed. Sayyid Àsâd Allah Mustafavï (Tehran, 1351/1972). Bahram va Bihruz was, in all likelihood, composed after Banâ’ï’s service to Ya'qüb, for he speaks of the ruler as deceased. For a reference, see C. A. Storey, Persian Literature: A Bio-bibliographical Survey, 3 vols. (London: Luzac, 1927-71), 1:302.

[77] An issue addressed by Manüchihr Kâshif, “Târïkh va khâtira dar shi'r-i fârsï,” Iran nameh 15, no. 2 (1997): 251-81. For an example of how a narrative masnavi reflected gender relations at the Timurid court, see Walter Feldman, “Genre and Narrative Strategies in the ‘Seven Planets’ (Sab'a-i Sayyar) by Mïr 'Alï Shïr Navâ’ï,” Edebiyât 10, no. 2 (1999) 243-78, esp. 269-74.

[78] Woods, Aqquyunlu, 220. On several occasions, its author (Khunjï-Isfahânï) insists on his impartiality only to announce his intention to suppress news of events he regards as counter to the Islamic religious law (sharPa), with the murder of the Naqshbandï shaikh, Darvïsh Sirâj al-Dïn Qâsim in 891/1486, by Ya'qüb being the most egregious example. For the “haphazard” chronology of Khunjï-Isfahânï and his clear antipathy toward the Imâmï (Twelver) Shi'ism espoused by the Safavids, see the comments of Vladimir Minorsky in Khunjï-Isfahânï, Persia in A.D. 1478-1490, 13.

[79] Storey, Persian Literature 1:300; and Woods, Aqquyunlu, 220. For the subsequent influence of Khunjï-Isfahânï on Islamic political philosophy, see Lambton, State and Government in Medieval Islam, 178-200. An overview of his theological works and his relations with Mamluk, Àq Qoyünlü, and Uzbek rulers is provided by Ulrich W. Haarmann, “Yeomanly Arrogance and Righteous Rule: Fazl Allah Rüzbihan Khunji and the Mamluks of Egypt,” in Iran and Iranian Studies: Essays in Honor ofIraj Afshar, ed. Kambiz Eslami (Princeton, NJ: Zagros, 1998), 109-24.

[80] The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Khundji, Fadl Allah b. Rüzbihan” (by U. Haarmann).

[81] Ibid. Khunji-Isfahani’s Naqshbandi affiliation is also indicated by the Shark al-visaya, a commentary he wrote on the Vasiyyat-nama, the spiritual testament of ‘Abd al-Khaliq Ghijduvani (d. ca. 617/1220), forefather of the Khvajagan, a precursor of the Naqshbandi- yya, and codifier of its core doctrines. See Jürgen Paul, “Solitude within Society: Early Khwajagani Attitudes toward Spiritual and Social Life,” in Sufism and Politics: The Power of Spirituality, ed. Paul L. Heck (Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 2006), 138 and 156 n. 8. See also, Fazl Allah b. Rüzbihan Khunji-Isfahani, Kitab al-Sulük al-mulük, The Sulük uï-Mulük (A Manual of Government based on Islamic Principles) by Fazlullah b. Rüzbihan al-Isfahani (in 920 A.H./1514 A.D.), ed. Muhammad Nizam al-Din and Muhammad Ghüs (Hyderabad: Persian Manuscript Society, 1386/1966), 13.

[82] Abü Bakr Tihrani-Isfahani, Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya, ed. Necâti Lugal and Faruk Sümer, 2 vols. (Ankara: Çaphane-yi Encümen-i Tarih-i Türk, 1962-64).

[83] For lively descriptions of the sometimes crass prognostications ‘Abd al-Rahman Shami delivered at formal Àq Qoyünlü gatherings, see Tihrâni-Isfahâni, Kitab-i Diyar- Bakriyya, 253; and Woods, Aqquyunlu, 82-83. For references to the indebtedness of Üzün Hasan to Sufis, see Tihrani-Isfahani, Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya, 476 and 485.

[84] Ghiyas al-Din b. Humam al-Din Khvandamir, Tarikh-i Habib al-siyar fi akhbar-i afrad-i al-bashar, ed. Muhammad Dabir Siyaqi, 4 vols. (Tehran: Kitabfurüshi-yi Khayyam, ¹³62_c^/198³⁾-. ,

[85] Khvandamir, Habib al-siyar 4:450-51.

[86] The Lubb al-tavarikh remains to be critically edited. The following uncritical edition was used: Yahya b. 'Abd al-Latif Qazvini, Kitab lubb al-tavarikh, kih bi sal-i 948 qamari ta’lf shuda ast (Tehran: Instisharat-i Bunyad va Güya, 1363/1984). For a study of the Lubb al-tavarikh, specifically, the information it contains on the Àq Qoyünlü, see Altan Çetin, “Yahya Kazvinî’nin Lubb Et-Tevâri’hinde Akkoyunlularla Alâkali Bilgiler,” Belletin 71, no. 260 (2007): 53-64.

[87] Qazvini, Lubb al-tavarikh, 365.

[88] For a survey of such works from the early and medieval periods, see J. A. Mojaddedi, The Biographical Tradition in Sufism: The Tabaqat Genrefrom al-Sulami to Jami (Richmond: Curzon, 2001).

[89] For an overview of studies based on Islamic hagiographies and arguments in favor of their use as historical sources, see Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Hagiographic Literature” (by Jürgen Paul). For a different perspective, see Ann K. S. Lambton, “Persian Biographical Literature,” in Historians of the Middle East, ed. Bernard Lewis and P. M. Holt (London: Oxford University Press, 1962), 143; and R. Stephen Humphreys, Islamic History: A Framework for Inquiry (Minneapolis: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1988), 174-79 and 257.

[90] Jo-Ann Gross, “Authority and Miraculous Behavior: Reflections on Karamat Stories of Khvaja ‘Ubaydullah Ahrar,” in The Heritage of Sufism, Vol. 2, The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism (1150-1500), ed. Leonard Lewisohn (Oxford: Oneworld, 1999), 159-72; Devin DeWeese, An Uvaysi Sufi in TimuridMawaranahr: Notes on Hagiography and the Taxonomy of Sanctity in the Religious History of Central Asia, Papers on Inner Asia, 22 (Bloomington, IN: University of Indiana, 1993); and Jürgen Paul, “Au début du genre hagiographique dans le Khurassan,” in Saints orientaux, ed. D. Aigle (Paris: De Boccard, 1995), 15-38.

[91] ‘Abd al-Vasi' Nizami Bakharzi, Maqamat-i Jami: Gushaha-yi az tarikh-i farhangi va ijtima'i-yi Khurasan dar 'asr-i Taimuriyan, ed. Najib Mayil Haravi (Tehran: Nashr-i Nay, 1371/1992).

9 ² Nizami Bakharzi, Maqamat-iJami, 184.

[93] Hafiz Husain Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan wa jannat al-janan, ed. Ja'far Sultan al-Qurra’i, 2 vols. (Tehran: Bungah-i Tarjuma va Nashr-i Kitab, 1344/1965).

[94] Fakhr al-Din 'Ali b. Husain Va'iz Kashifi, Rashahat-i ain al-hayat, ed. 'Ali Asghar Mu'iniyan, 2 vols. (Tehran: Bunyad-i Nikükari-yi Nüriyani, 1356/1977).

[95] See Jo-Ann Gross, “The Economic Status of a Timurid Sufi Shaykh: A Matter of Conflict or Perception?” Iranian Studies 21, nos. 1-2 (1988): 85-104; “Naqshbandi Appeals to the Herat Court: A Preliminary Study of Trade and Property Issues,” in Studies on Central Asian History in Honor of Yuri Bregel, ed. Devin DeWeese (Bloomington, IN: Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, Indiana University, 2001), 113-28; and Jo-Ann Gross and Asom Urunbaev, The Letters of Khwaja 'Ubayd Allah Ahrar and His Associates (Leiden: Brill, 2002). See also Jürgen Paul, Die politische und soziale Bedeutung der Naqsbandiyya in Mittelasien im 15. Jahrhundert (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1991); and Jürgen Paul, “Forming a Faction: The Himayat System of Khwaja Ahrar,” Internationaljournal of Middle East Studies 23, no. 4 (1991): 533-48.

[96] Fakhr al-Din 'Ali, Rashahat-i ’ain al-hayat 2:263.

[97] Jami, SA, 395, line 88; See also the description by Jami of a dream he had in which he encountered Üzün Hasan, Jami, SA, 404, line 253.

[98] Muhyi Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahim-i Gülçenï, ed. Tahsin Yazici (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi, 1982).

[99] For a description of the duties of the parvanchïwithin the medieval Iranian bureaucratic hierarchy, see The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “parwanaci” (by G. Herrmann). On the privileges conferred upon the muqarrab (often referred to as ichki [insider] in the Timurid household), including the right of unfettered access to the ruler, see Maria E. Subtelny, Timurids in Transition: Turko-Persian Politics and Acculturation in Medieval Iran (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 34, 68, 84, and 95.

[100] Amir Sayyid Kamal al-Din Husain Gazurgahi, Majalis al-’ushshaq: tazkira-i ‘ura./a\ ed. Ghulamriza Tabataba’i Majd (Tehran: Zarrin, 1375/1996); and Storey, Persian Literature 1:961. For a reference to the role of Kamal al-Din Gazurgahi as trustee (mutavallï) of the shrine of Khvaja 'Abd Allah Ansari (d. 481/1089) in Gazurgah, see Maria E. Subtelny, “The Cult of 'Abdullah Ansari under the Timurids,” in Gott ist schon und Er liebt die Schonheit/God is Beautiful and He Loves Beauty: Festschrift für Annemarie Schimmel, ed. Alma Giese and J. Christoph Bürgel (Bern: Peter Lang, 1994), 400-401.

[101] 'Ali Shir Nava’i, Tazkira-i Majalis al-nafa’is: Two 16th century Persian translations, ed. 'Ali Asghar Hikmat (Tehran: Kitabkhana-i Manüchihri, 1363/1984-85). The Persian interpolation by Qazvini is quite unlike the unembellished Persian translation of the same Chaghatay original by Sultan Muhammad Fakhri Haravi, the Lata’f-nama. For this translation, see Maria Eva Subtelny, “The Poetic Circle at the Court of the Court of the Timurid, Sultan Husain Baiqara, and its Political Significance,” (PhD diss., Harvard University, 1979).

[102] Sam Mirza Safavi, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Samï, ed. Rukn al-Din Humayün Farrukh (Tehran: Shirkat-i Sahami-yi Chap va Intisharat Kutub-i Iran, 1936).

[103] For a discussion of the utility and limitations of biographical dictionaries as historical sources, see Humphreys, Islamic History, 174-79.

[104] Nava’i, Tazkira-i Majalis al-nafa’is, 300-12, henceforth cited as Qazvini, Hasht bihisht.

[105] Daulatshah Samarqandi, The Tadkiratu sh-sh.u.‘a.rá (“Memoirs of the Poets”) of Daw- latsháh bin Alá’u D-Dawla Bakhtísháh al-Ghází of Samarqand, ed. Edward G. Browne (London: Luzac, 1901).

[106] Sultan Muhammad Fakhri Haravi, Tazkira-iRauzatal-salatm, ed. 'Abbas Khayyampür (Tabriz: Danishgah-i Tabriz, 1345/1966). The Rauzat al-salatin was in fact dedicated to a ruler in Sind, Abü al-Fath Shah Hasan Ghazi.

[107] Fakhri Haravi, Rauzat al-salatin, 65-66.

[108] For a collection of about 433 letters by Jami, including those he exchanged with Ya'qüb, see 'Asam al-Din Urunbaev and Asrar Rahmanov, eds., Namaha va munsha‘at-i Jami (Tehran: Miras-i Maktüb, 1378/1999), 302-7, esp. 281 (Jami’s reply).

[109] Ya'qüb to Jami, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-i Jami, 306-7 (letter no. 18).

[110] Namely, the analyses of V. Minorsky, Hans R. Roemer, Jean Aubin, and John Woods, whose contributions are cited throughout this study.

^{^[111]} In Arabic: al-din nasiha, al-din nasiha, al-ddn nasiha. A prophetic hadith mentioned by Hasan al-Basri (d. 110/728) and quoted by Ibn Taimiyya (d. 728/1328) in his Kitab al-siyasa al-shar'iya. For references, see Henri Laoust, Le traité de droit public d’Ibn Taimiya, Traduction annotée de la Siyasa sar'iya (Beirut: Institut Français de Damas, 1948), 173; and A. J. Wensinck, A Handbook of Early Muhammadan Tradition, Alphabetically Arranged (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1927), 204.

[112] C. E. Bosworth “Mirrors for Princes,” in Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, ed. Julie Scott Meisami and Paul Starkey, 2 vols. (New York: Routledge, 1998), 2:527.

[113] al-Ghazali, Nasihat al-muluk, 112 (trans. 63). The injunction is followed by anecdotes about Anûshïrvan’s own interest in moralizing stories about earlier rulers.

[114] Nizam al-Mulk, Siyar al-muluk [Siyasat-nama], ed. Ja‘far Shi‘ar (Tehran: Kitabha-yi Jîbî, 1348/1969), 138-40 (trans. 95-96).

[115] In Arabic: wa shawirhum fi al-amri.

^{^[116]} For the hadith, see A. J. Wensinck, A Handbook of Early Muhammadan Tradition, Alphabetically Arranged (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1927), 204. Quoted in Hamid Algar, “Political Aspects of Naqshbandi History,” in Naqshbandis: Cheminements et situation actuelle d’un ordre mystique musulman/Historical Developments and Present Situation of a Muslim Mystical Order, Actes de la Table Ronde de Sèvres/Proceedings of the Sèvres Round Table 2-4 mai/2-4 May 1985, ed. Marc Gaborieau, Alexander Popovic, and Thierry Zarcone (Istanbul: l’Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes d’Istanbul, 1990), 149 n. 118.

[117] Wensinck, Handbook of Early Muhammadan Tradition, 173.

[118] Wensinck, Handbook of Early Muhammadan Tradition, 173.

[119] For a description of the extensive landholdings and agrarian activities of ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar, see Gross, “Economic Status of a Timurid Sufi Shaykh,” 84-104.

[120] For a discussion of the strictly spiritual aspects of this doctrine, see Jürgen Paul, Doctrine and Organization. The Khwajagan/Naqshbandiya in the First Generation after Baha’uddin (Berlin: Das Arabische Buch, 1998), 30-34.

[121] On the differing accounts of this and other events involving ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar’s dealings with Timurid rulers, see Jo-Ann Gross, “Multiple Roles and Perceptions of a Sufi Shaikh: Symbolic Statements of Political and Religious Authority,” in Naqshbandis: Cheminements et situation actuelle d’un ordre mystique musulman/Historical Developments and Present Situation of a Muslim Mystical Order, Actes de la Table Ronde de Sèvres/Proceedings of the Sèvres Round Table 2-4 mai/2-4 May 1985, ed. Marc Gaborieau, Alexander Popovic, and Thierry Zarcone (Istanbul: l’Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes d’Istanbul, 1990), 109-21.

[122] Originally a Chaghatay Turkish word for the tribal brand on livestock, this term is described in detail in Gerhard Doerfer, Türkische und mongolische Elemente im Neupersis- chen: Unter besonderer Berücksichtigung alterer neupersischer Geschichtsquellen, vor allem der Mongolen- und Timuridenzeit, 4 vols. (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1963-67), 2:554-65.

[123] For a discussion of ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar’s influence on Timurid policies of taxation, see Paul, Die politische und soziale Bedeutung, 221-32. See also Paul, “Forming a Faction,” 533-48. On the tamgha tax in medieval Iran, see M. Minovi and V. Minorsky, “Nasir al-Din Tüsi on Finance,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 10, no. 3 (1942): 773 and 781-82.

[124] For a discussion of how traditional scholarship overemphasizes the political characteristics of the Naqshbandi order, see Algar, “Political Aspects,” 123-24 and 152. On what Jürgen Paul describes as the relative quietism of pre-Ahrar Khvajaganis (later Naqshbandis), see his “Solitude within Society,” 137-63, esp. 144. For exceptions to this quietism, especially while at Herat, see Jürgen Paul, “The Khwajagan at Herat during Shahrukh’s Reign,” in Horizons of the World: Festschrift for isenbike Togan, ed. ilker Evrim Binba§ and Nurten Kiliç-Schubel (Istanbul: ithaki, 2011), 217-50.

[125] For the problems associated with viewing the Timurid and early Ottoman Naqshbandis as “anti-Shi‘ite,” see Dina Le Gall, A Culture of Sufism: Naqshbandis in the Ottoman World, 1450-1700 (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2005), 141-42;

and Hamid Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids: A Contribution to the Religious History of Iran and Her Neighbors,” in Safavid Iran and Her Neighbors, ed. Michel Mazzaoui (Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press, 2003), 7-48.

[127] This was particularly the case with the Ottoman sultan Mehmed II. For a discussion of the Naqshbandis as transmitters of Persian belles-lettres and Akbarian metaphysics to the early Ottomans, see Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 35 and 123-57.

[128] This saying is attributed to 'Ubaid Allah Ahrar by Burhan al-Din Samarqandi (also referred to as Maulana Muhammad Qazi), Silsilat al-arifin wa tazkirat al-siddiqin (Tashkent: Institut Vostokovedeniia, no. 4452/I, fol. ioia-ioib), quoted in Gross, “Multiple Roles,” 109.

[129] Samarqandi, Silsilat al-arifin, fol. 163b, quoted in Gross, “Authority and Miraculous Behavior,” 163. In another hagiographical source, 'Ubaid Allah Ahrar reportedly said: “Helping the faith and the umma, upholding the religion and others, are more effectively done from the rank of kingship than any other one.” See Jalal al-Din 'Abd al-Avval Nishâpûri, Majalis-i 'UbaidAllah Ahrar (India Office DP 8090), ff. 9oa-9ob., quoted in Gross, “Authority and Miraculous Behavoir,” 163.

[130] Davani, Akhlaq-iJalall, 149-50. On the extent of Davani’s association with the Mur- shidiyya, a tarlqa linked to Abü al-Najib ‘Abd al-Qahir Suhravardi (d. 563/1168), and thus the Suhravardi order, but whose origins trace back to Abü Ishaq Ibrahim al-Kazarüni (d. 426/1035), hence the group’s variant name, Kazarüniyya (also Ishaqiyya), see Reza Pour- javady, Philosophy in Early Safavid Iran: Najm al-Dln Mahmud al-Nayrlzl and His Writings (Leiden: Brill, 2011), 6-7.

[131] Davani, Akhlaq-iJalall, 149-50. The statements appear in a chapter on the proper etiquette (adab) of royal attendants, intimates of the ruler’s household (muqarraban), and grandees of the state (arbab-i daulat).

[132] Jami, SA, 426, line 683. In Persian: kaz naslhat nlst bihtar hlch kar.

[133] Jami, SA, 426, line 684.

[134] Jami, SA, 426-28, lines 684, 688-702, and 718-32.

[135] Hikmat, Jaml, 19. For Abü al-Qasim al-Babur, see Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Babor, Abü’l-Qasem Mirza b. Baysonqor b. Sahrok” (by M. E. Subtelny).

[136] The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Mir ‘Ali Shir Nawa‘i” (by M. E. Subtelny). This would be in addition to what Algar counts as Jami’s only three disciples: Razi al-Din ‘Abd al-Ghafür Lari (d. 912/1506), author of Takmlla-i Nafahat al-uns, a biography of Jami appended to his Nafahat al-uns min hazarat al-quds; his own son, Khvaja Ziya’ al-Din Yüsuf (d. 919/1513); and the poet Maulana Shahidi Qumi. Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 42 n. 95. On the likelihood that Jami initiated others, see Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Jami iii. Jami and Sufism” (by Hamid Algar).

[137] For the qasldas and ghazals addressed to Sultan-Husain, see Nür al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami, Dlvan-iJaml, ed. Muhammad Raushan (Tehran: Mu’assasa-i Intisharat-i Nigah, 1380/2001), 18, 22, 54, 57, 80, 92, 96, 107, 309, and 668. Jami dedicated Baharistan to his ten-year-old son, Ziya’ al-Din Yüsuf, in 892/1487.

[138] Hikmat, Jaml, 27-29.

[139] Although holding himself aloof from court life, Jami nevertheless dominated the literary scene and the galaxy of poets attracted to the court of Sultan-Husain in Herat. Adding to his aura of inviolability were unique fiscal privileges he enjoyed, particularly his status as immune to taxation (termed tarkhani) and the numerous grants (suyürghal) of mortmain land invested to him by Timurid rulers. For details of Jami’s unassailable authority and financial independence, see Subtelny, “Poetic Circle,” 111; and Maria Eva Subtelny, “Socioeconomic Bases of Cultural Patronage under the Later Timurids,” InternationalJournal of Middle East Studies 20, no. 4 (1988): 483-84.

[140] Afsahzad, Naqd va bar rasi-yi asar va sharh-i ahval-iJami, 175. The lack of reference to Jahanshah’s name in the opening address (khutba) of the book, together with the historical rivalry between the Timurid and Qara Qoyünlü dynasties, has led some scholars to doubt that Jami would dedicate such a work to the adversary of his main patron. This opinion was posited by Iraj Afshar in ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami, Sih risala dar tasavvuf, ed. Iraj Afshar (Tehran: Intisharat-i Farhang-i Iran-i Zamin, 1359/1980), 4. It should be noted however that Jahanshah was himself a relatively skilled poet who apparently sent Jami a copy of his own divan. Jami’s response included a qit'a (verse fragment) addressing the Black Sheep ruler as the “true king” or shah-i haqiqi (also a reference to Jahanshah’s nom de plum “Haqiqi”). See Urunbaev and Rahmanov, eds., Namaha va munshdat-i Jami, 271-72 (letter no. 412); and Hikmat, Jami, 35. For a discussion of Jahanshah’s poetic acumen, see Vladimir Minorsky, “Jihan-shah Qara-Qoyunlu and His Poetry (Turkmenica, 9),” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 16, no. 2 (1954): 271-97.

[141] Farrukh Yasar was the father of both Ya‘qüb’s principal wife, Gauhar-Sultan Khanum, and Ya‘qüb’s brother-in-law, Ghazi Khan, who was betrothed to the daughter of Üzün Hasan, Shah-Beg Khatün, in a double alliance. For a description of the origins and durability of the Shirvanshah dynasty, see Vladimir Minorsky, A History of Sharvan and Dar- band in the ioth-iith Centuries (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1958); see also The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Shirwan Shah” (by W. Barthold; C. E. Bosworth); and C. E. Bosworth, The New Islamic Dynasties: A Chronological and Genealogical Manual (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1997), 140-42.

[142] Fakhr al-Din ‘Ali, Rashahat-i 'ain al-hayat 1:262-63; and Nizami Bakharzi, Maqamat-i Jami, 183.

[143] Fakhr al-Din ‘Ali, Rashahat-i 'ain al-hayat 1:262; and Nizami Bakharzi, Maqamat-iJami, 183. The forty-five day stay by Jami in Damascus included visits with local Naqshbandis, especially Maulanazada ‘Abd Allah Utrari, a disciple of ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar who was propagating the order in Syria. On ‘Abd Allah Utrari, see, Culture of Sufism, 19-20; and Hamid Algar, “Tarîqat and Tarîq: Central Asian Naqshbandîs on the Roads to the Haramayn,” in Central Asian Pilgrims: Hajj Routes and Pious Visits between Central Asia and the Hijaz, ed. Alexandre Papas, Thomas Welsford, and Thierry Zarcone (Berlin: Klaus Schwarz, 2012), 46.

[144] Fakhr al-Din ‘Ali, Rashahat-i 'ain al-hayat 1:262.

[145] Nür al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami, The Precious Pearl: al-JamPs al-Durrah al-Fakhira, with the Commentary of'Abd al-Ghafur al-Lari, trans. Nicholas L. Heer (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1979), 5-6; and Hikmat, Jami, 48-9.

[146] Jami, Precious Pearl, 7.

[147] On the reasons for the increase, see Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 35.

[148] Afsahzad, Naqd va bar rasi-yi asar va sharh-i ahval-i Jami, 210 ;and Nizami‘ Arüzi, Chahar maqala, ed. Muhammad Qazvini and Muhammad Mu‘in (Tehran: Kitabfurüshi-yi Zavvar, 1334/1955). For an English translation, see Nizami ‘Arüzi, Revised Translation of the Chahar maqala (Four Discourses) of Nizámí 'Arúdí, Followed by an Abridged Translation of Mírzá Muhammad’s Notes to the Persian Text, trans. E. G. Browne (London: Luzac, 1921).

[149] Jami, Silsilat al-zahab, 328-30, lines 5306-48, 352-53, lines 5780-800, and 354-55, lines 5822-35 (Anüshirvan); 337-39, lines 491-515 and 346-47, lines 5658-89 (Mahmüd Ghaznavi); 339-41, lines 5529-72, 355, lines 5836-53 (Sanjar); and 342-43, lines 5588-604 (Ghazan Khan).

[150] Jami, Silsilat al-zahab, 366, lines 6054-80, and 357-58, lines 5886-914.

[151] Jami, Silsilat al-zahab, 364, lines 6015-33. Ya‘qüb is referred to in the past tense, which helps date the text after 896/1490.

[152] Patricia Crone, Medieval Islamic Political Thought (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2004), 149. For the difference between Perso-Islamic “advice literature” and “mirrors for princes,” see Louise Marlow, “The Way of the Viziers and the Lamp of the Commanders (Minhaj al-wuzara’wa-siraj al-umara’) of Ahmad al-Isfahbadhi and the Literary and Political Culture of Early Fourteenth-Century Iran,” in Writers and Rulers: Perspectives on Their Relationship from Abbasid to Safavid Times, ed. Beatrice Gruendler and Louise Marlow (Wiesbaden: Reichert, 2004), 169.

[153] Lambton, “Islamic Mirrors for Princes,” 421; and Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Andarz, i. Andarz and andarz Literature in Pre-Islamic Iran” (by S. Shaked). Much has been made of the syncretistic qualities of medieval advice literature. On its Greek and Indian influences, see Saïd Amir Arjomand, “Medieval Persianate Political Ethic,” Studies on Persianate Societies 1 (2003): 3-28; and idem, “Perso-Indian Statecraft, Greek Political Science and the Muslim Idea of Government,” International Sociology 16, no. 3 (2001): 455-73.

[154] Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Adab, i. Adab in Iran” (by Dj. Khalegi-Motlagh). For early works of Arabic adab, see Ira M. Lapidus, “Knowledge, Virtue, and Action: The Classical Muslim Conception of Adab and the Nature of Religious Fulfillment in Islam,” in Moral Conduct and Authority: The Place of Adab in South Asian Islam, ed. Barbara Daly Metcalf (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1984), 39-61. The Persian tradition of mirror-writing even reached the Malay-Acehnese court where translations and adaptations of such works as the Nasihat al-muluk, Siyar al-muluk, and Husain Va'iz Kâshifï’s Akhlaq-i Muhsini began to appear in the early eleventh/seventeenth century. For a reference, see Jelani Harun, “Bustan al-Salatin, ‘The Garden of Kings’: A Universal History and Adab Work from Seventeenth-Century Aceh,” Indonesia and the Malay World 32, no. 92 (2004): 44-52.

[155] Lambton, “Justice in the Medieval Persian Theory of Kingship,” 92-93. For a bibliography of medieval and early-modern mirrors written in Persian and Arabic, see Mohammad-Taqi Danishpazhouh, “An Annotated Bibliography on Government and Statecraft,” trans. Andrew Newman, in Authority and Political Culture in Shiism, ed. Saïd Amir Arjomand (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1988), 213-39.

[156] On the problem of determining whether this concept was originally Greek or Zoroastrian, see Aziz Al-Azmeh, Muslim Kingship: Power and the Sacred in Muslim, Christian, and Pagan Polities (London: I. B. Tauris, 1997), 87. For a discussion of social hierarchy in medieval Perso-Islamic manuals of advice, see Louise Marlow, Hierarchy and Egalitarianism in Islamic Thought (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), 128-39.

[157] For a discussion of the long history of this concept, see Linda T. Darling, “ ‘Do Justice, Do Justice, For That Is Paradise’: Middle Eastern Advice for Indian Muslim Rulers,” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 22, nos. 1-2 (2002): 3-19. See also Subtelny, Le monde est un jardin, 58-65, esp. 63 for a graphic representation of the circle of justice. On the source of the circle, see J. Sadan, “A ‘Closed Circuit’ Saying on Practical Justice,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 10 (1987): 325-41.

4 ⁷ Kay Kâ’üs, Qabus Nama, 125 (trans. 213).

[159] al-Ghazâlï. Naslhat al-muluk, 100 (trans. 56).

[160] Fakhr al-Dïn Râzï, Jami' al-‘ulum, ed. Muhammad Khân Malik al-Kuttâb (Bombay: Matba’a-i Muzaflan, 1905), 207; and Subtelny, Le monde est un jardin, 62. For discussions of siyasat as it relates to punishment in accordance with the sharl'a, see Bernard Lewis, “Siyasa,” in In Quest of an Islamic Humanism: Arabic and Islamic Studies in Memory of Mohamed al-Nowaihi, ed. A. H. Green (Cairo: American University of Cairo Press, 1984), 3-14. As early as the fourth century BCE, Indian elaborations of statecraft included the ruler’s prerogative to punish (Sanskrit: danda) as an essential principle of governance. The idea that this principle influenced or was integrated into later Persian manuals of advice is corroborated by a sixth/twelfth century Persian translation of Bidpâi’s Indian fables, the Kallla wa dimna, which attributes to Ardashïr the following: “There is no kingdom except through men, and no men except through wealth and no wealth except through cultivation (imara) and no cultivation except through justice and punishment (siyasat).” On the similarities between danda and siyasat, see Arjomand, “Perso-Indian Statecraft,” 457 and 462. Mirrors such as the Bahr-i fava’id and Akhlaq-i Muhsinl go so far as to warn that without siyasat, men would “devour each other.” For references, see Julie Scott Meisami, trans. and ed., The Sea of Precious Virtues (Bahr-ifava’id): A Medieval Islamic Mirror for Princes (Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press, 1991), 96; and Sub- telny, “A Late Medieval Summa on Ethics,” 607. It should be noted that this idea is traced back to ‘Amr al-Jâhiz (d. 255/868). For a reference, see Helmut Ritter, The Ocean of the Soul: Man, the World, and God in the Stories of Farid al-Din 'Attar, trans. John O’Kane and ed. Bernd Ratke (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 127.

[161] Jalal al-Din Davani, Nusakh-i mutasannf bi-bi 'adili va bi-misali lubb-i jarida-i afaq musamma bih Lavami' al-ishraq va ma'rüf bih Akhlaq-i Jalali (Lucknow: Munshi Nawal Kishor, 1873), 331; Darling, “ ‘Do Justice,’ ” 4; and Subtelny, Le Monde est un jardin, 62-63.

[162] Jami, SA, 405, lines 278-91.

[163] Jami, SA, 405, line 290. In Persian: "adl darad mulk ra qayim na din.

[164] Jami, SA, 406, line 291. In Persian: kufr kishi kü bih "adl ayadfarih mulk ra az zalim-i dindar bih. Later, in the King’s testament to Salaman regarding the appointment of a vazir (p. 445), the opposite view is taken: “In the distinguished eyes of the intelligent, it is not recommended that an infidel (kafir) exercise authority (hukm) over Muslims.” As for the practical history of the former expression, it reportedly appeared in a fatwa exacted from the ulama’ of Baghdad by the Mongols shortly after they took the city in 656/1258 and may have helped mitigate the city’s completed destruction. For a reference, see The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Baghdad” (by A. A. Duri).

[165] Subtelny, Le monde est un jardin, 73.

[166] For more on the salience of agricultural production in Perso-Islamic theories of governance, see Ann K. S. Lambton, “Reflections on the Role of Agriculture in Medieval Persia,” in The Islamic Middle East, 700-1900: Studies in Economic and Social History, ed. A. L. Udovitch (Princeton: Darwin Press, 1981), 283-312; and Maria E. Subtelny, “A Medieval Persian Agricultural Manual in Context: The Irshad al-zira'a in Late Timurid and Early Safavid Khorasan,” Studia Iranica 22, no. 2 (1993): 167-217.

[167] al-Ghazâlï, Naslhat al-muluk, 37 (trans. 24).

[168] al-Ghazâlï, Naslhat al-muluk, 37 (trans. 24). He goes on to say: “Oh sultan of this world, you should know that justice ( a.dl) springs from the perfection of the intellect ( "aql) and that perfection of the intellect means that you see affairs as they [really] are and perceive their verities (haqlqat) and inner reality (batin') without being deceived by their outward appearance (zahir).”

[169] Davânï, Akhlaq-iJalall, 56.

[170] Davânï, Akhlaq-iJalall, 56.

[171] But see the Qabus-nama where Kay Kâ’ûs writes: “God, then, created human beings (tan-i mardum) from all manner of different constituents, so that you are equally correct whether you call man the macrocosm ( alam-i kulll) or the microcosm ( alam-iJuzvl). The reason is that each constituent body (tan-i adaml), whether deriving from the natures (taba’i'), the heavens (aflak), the stars (anJum), essence (‘unsur), matter (haiyula), form (surat), spirit (nafs) or mind ('aql), is itself an independent world ('ala-hida Olaml).” Kay Kâ’ûs, Qabus Nama, 140 (trans. 240). For a discussion of the Indo-Iranian origins of macro- microcosmic speculation, see Geo Widengren, “Macrocosmos-Microcosmos Speculation in the Ra.sa. il. Ikhwan al-Safa and some Hurufi Texts,” Archivio di Filosofía 1 (1980): 297-312.

[172] Nizam al-Mulk, Siyar al-muluk [Siyasat-nama], 15 (trans. 12); al-Ghazali, Naslhat al-muluk, 82 (trans. 46); and Davani, Akhlaq-iJalali, 138.

[173] As F. R. C. Bagely has noted, this and other purported sayings do not appear in any of the canonical collections of hadith. For a reference, see Abû Hamid Muhammad al-Ghazali, Ghazali’s Book of Counsel for Kings (Nasihat al muluk), trans. F. R. C. Bagley (London: Oxford University Press, 1964), lvii.

[174] Ann K. S. Lambton, “Some New Trends in Islamic Political Thought in Late 18th and Early 19th Century Persia,” Studia Islamica 39 (1974): 120. Another prophetic maxim on justice found in advice manuals, though one which does not appear in Jami’s Salaman va Absal, claims: “One day of just rule by a sultan is better than sixty years of worship Jibadat),” or “A century of unjust rule (jaur) by sultans will not cause as much damage as one hour of injustice (jaur) of the subjects to one another.” See al-Ghazali, Nasihat al-muluk, 124 (trans. 71-72) and 131 (trans. 77).

[175] Nûr al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami, Baharistan va rasail-i. Jami: Mushtamil bar risalaha-yi musiqi, 'aruz, qafiya, Chihil hadis Naiya, Lavami, Sharh-i Taiya, Lavayih va Sar’rishta, ed. A‘la-Khan Afsahzad, Muhammad Jan ‘Umarov, and Zuhûr al-Din Abû Bakr (Tehran: Miras-i Maktûb, 1379/2000), 52-53.

[176] Jami, SA, 406, lines 295-96.

[177] al-Ghazali. Naslhat al-muluk, 82-83 (trans. 46).

[178] Jami, SA, 437, lines 897-904.

[179] Jami, SA, 437, lines 897-903.

[180] al-Ghazali. Naslhat al-muluk, 139 (trans. 83). On the identity of Yünan-i Dastür and his association with the figure of Buzurjmihr, see Bagely, Naslhat al-muluk, lxvi-lxviii.

[181] Tüsi, Akhlaq-i Nasirl, 109-11 (trans. 80-81).

[182] Davânï, Akhlaq-iJalal!, 27.

72 Plato, The Republic of Plato, trans. Francis MacDonald Cornford (London: Oxford University Press, 1945), 121-29 and 139-43. For Miskawaih’s role in the transmission of these virtues into Perso-Islamic advice literature, see R. Walzer, “Some Aspects of Miskawaih’s Tahdhïb al-Akhlâq,” in Studi Orientalistici in Onore di Giorgio Levi Della Vida, 2 vols. (Rome: Istituto per l’Oriente, 1956), 2:606-7.

[184] Walzer, “Some Aspects,” 2:606.

[185] See the edition and Russian translation in Z. N. Vorozheikina, “ ‘Tukhfat al-muluk’— srednevekovyi svod nravstvennykh zapovidei,” Pis’mennyepamiatniki Vostoka (1973): 17-21. For example, in one of the chapters ‘Abd Allâh Ansârï describes the four things necessary for the stability of the sultanate as a series of paired virtues: 'adalat va shaja'at, muruvvat va futuvvat (manliness and chivalry), sakhavat va 'atlya (generosity and [giving] gifts), marhamat va shafaqat (mercy and compassion).

[186] Ansârï’s Tabaqat al-sufiyya is a Persian translation and expansion of the Arabic Tabaqat al-sufiyya, which was written by Abü ‘Abd al-Rahmân Sulamï (d. 412/1021). On the popularity of ‘Abd Allâh Ansârï in the Timurid period, see Subtelny, “Cult of ‘Abdullâh Ansârï,” 377-406, esp. 401.

[187] Kay Kâ’üs, Qabus Nama, 30-32 (trans. 45-48); and Tüsï, Akhlaq-i Nasirl, 341-44 (trans. 258-60).

[188] Davânï, Akhlaq-iJalall, 161-64.

[189] Jâmï, SA, 444, line 1034.

[190] Jâmï, SA, 444, lines 1048-49.

[191] Nizâm al-Mulk, Siyar al-mulük [Siyasat-nama] (Shi'âr ed.), 11 (trans. 13); and al-Ghazâlï, Naslhat al-mulük, 22 (trans. 17-18).

[192] Tüsi, Akhlaq-i Nasirl, 208 (trans. 155); Davani, Akhlaq-iJalall, 145; al-Ghazali, Naslhat al-muluk, 22 (trans. 17-18); and Nizam al-Mulk, Siyar al-muluk [Siyasat-nama] (Shi'ar ed.), 11 (trans. 13).

[193] Kay Kâ’üs, Qabus Nama, 131-32 (trans. 225).

[194] For an overview of the vazlr’s role in the administration of the pre-modern Iranian (especially Saljuq) state, see Ann K. S. Lambton, “Personal Service and the Element of Concession in the Theory of the Vizierate in Medieval Persia,” in Essays in Honor of Bernard Lewis: The Islamic Worldfrom Classical to Modern Times, ed. C. E. Bosworth, Charles Issawi, Roger Savory, and A. L. Udovitch (Princeton: Darwin, 1989) 175-91, esp. 175-76. For a study of an Ilkhanid manual of advice written for vazlrs, see Louise Marlow, “Way of the Viziers,” 169-93. According to many Perso-Islamic advice manuals, the archetypal vazlr was the Sasanian minister Buzurjmihr. On the prevalence of this legendary figure in works of political advice, see Roxanne D. Marcotte, “Anüshirvan and Buzurgmihr—the Just Ruler and Wise Counselor: Two Figures of Persian Traditional Moral Literature,” Rocznik Orien- talistyczny 51, no. 2 (1998): 69-90.

[195] See Subtelny, Le monde est un jardin, 70-71.

[196] Jami, SA, 444, lines 1051-52.

[197] Nizâm al-Mulk, Siyar al-mulük [Siyasat-nama] (Shi'ar ed.), 30-42 (trans. 24-32); al-Ghazalî, Naslhat al-mulük, 155-56 (trans. 93-94). The Naslhat al-mulük features Gushtasb, not Bahram Gür, as the ruler.

[198] Nizam al-Mulk, Siyar al-mulük [Siyasat-nama] (Shi'ar ed.), 31 (trans. 25); al-Ghazalî, Naslhat al-mulük, 155 (trans. 94).

[199] Nizam al-Mulk, Siyar al-mulük [Siyasat-nama] (Shi'ar ed.), 38-42 (trans. 26-32); al-Ghazalî, Naslhat al-mulük, 155 (trans. 94).

[200] Jamî, SA, 444, lines 1054-57.

9° Jamî, SA, 445, lines 1058-59.

[202] Jamî, SA, 445, lines 1060-61.

[203] Ann K. S. Lambton, Continuity and Change in Medieval Persia: Aspects of Administrative, Economic and Social History, iith-igth Century (Albany, NY: Bibliotheca Persica, 1988), 28-30.

[204] Lambton, Continuity and Change, 37.

[205] For the historical development of such grants, see the following articles by Ann K. S. Lambton, Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Eqta‘”; “The Evolution of the Iqta‘ in Medieval Iran,” Iran 5 (1967): 41-50; and The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.vv. “Soyürghal,” “Tiyûl.”

[206] See for example, Nizam al-Mulk, Siyar al-muluk [Siyasat-nama] (Shi'ar ed.), 30 (trans. 23).

[207] Kay Kâ’üs, Qabus Nama, 137 (trans. 235).

[208] Jami, SA, 445, lines 1065-70.

[209] Jami, SA, 445, line 1063.

[210] Jami, SA, 445, line 1064.

'00 Jami, SA, 445, line 1074.

[212] al-Ghazali. Naslhat al-mulUk, 176 (trans. 106). Later he attributes another comparable maxim to the Prophet, whom al-Ghazali reports as saying: “When princedom (amlri) or office (karl) is granted to a man, God Almighty, if He wishes that man well, will give him a pious (parsa) truthful (rast-guy) and right-doing (nlkuravl) vazlr, to remind him if he forgets anything of his duty towards the subjects, and to assist him if he remembers.” For a reference, see Naslhat al-mulUk, 183 (trans. 111). In the Akhlaq-i Nasirl, Tûsi says there is no harder task than to be the vazlr (vizarat). The vazlr’s best weapons (silah), he adds, are integrity and rectitude (sihhat va istiqamat). See Tûsi, Akhlaq-i Nasirl, 318 (trans. 240-41).

[213] al-Ghazali. Naslhat al-muluk, 81 (trans. 45); and Davani, Akhlaq-iJalall, 134 and 143. There is some doubt as to whether the Prophet would have used the term sultan. For example, see the comments of F. R. C. Bagley in al-Ghazali, Ghazali’s Book of Counsel for Kings, 14 n. 2. See also Mahmood Ahmad Ghazi, “Political Thought of Jalal al-Din Daw- wani,” Journal of the Pakistan Historical Society 25 (1977): 139-49, who argues that the term sultan, as it appears in both the hadith literature and the Qur’an (some thirty-seven times), refers to the delegation of God’s authority to rule earth to a collective of believers. It has wrongly been understood, he claims, to mean a king. On the ubiquity of these phrases in Islamic literature and the Iranian provenance of the idea they convey, see Al-Azmeh, Muslim Kingship, 73.

[214] The expression appears in a section praising (madh) Ya'qub. Jami, SA, 394-95 lines 70-99.

[215] In addition to the Naslhat al-muluk and Akhlaq-iJalall, the prophetic expression is also contained in the Akhlaq-i Nasirl, 134 (trans. 108). While it does not appear in Nizam al-Mulk’s Siyar al-mulük, the expression was included in a compilation of aphorisms attributed to Nizam al-Mulk and his son known as the Vasaya-yi Nizam al-Mulk. On the authenticity of this work, see Harold Bowen, “The sar-gudhasht-i sayyidna, the ‘Tale of the Three Schoolfellows’ and the wasaya of the Nizam al-Mulk,” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 4 (1931): 771-82. al-Ghazali punctuates the saying (in Arabic) with a Persian translation equating the ruler with the shadow of God’s awe: al-sultan zill Allah fl al-ard sultan saya-i haibat-i khudast bi-rü-yi zamln.

[216] Jami, SA, 394-95, lines 71-72 and 78. In the Naslhat al-mulük, al-Ghazali enumerates sixteen things farr-i Izad! is expressed in on earth—see his Naslhat al-mulük, 127-28 (trans. 74).

[217] Jami, SA, 394, line 73.

[218] Put differently, God’s bounty is manifested in a just ruler who is nothing other than His shadow. The glory that comes from being the manifested shadow (the just ruler) is nothing other than God’s glory, a glory only found in the shadow. Thus, bounty, just ruler, shadow, and glory all owe their individual and collective existences to God.

[219] The word ‘ain. can also denote “eye” as in the esoteric idea that he (the shadow, i.e., the true vicegerent or Perfect Man) is the eye by which the shadow-holder (saya-dar, i.e., God) sees Himself.

[220] Jami, SA, 394, line 75.

[221] On the various interpretations of the phrase üll al-amrl (“those with authority”), by early Muslim exegetes, see Marlow, Hierarchy and Egalitarianism, 137-38 n. 107. For an example of how later political writers cited this verse to justify unequivocal obedience to royal authority, see Lambton, “Sufis and the State,” 26.

[222] On the origin and development of the doctrine of wahdat alwujüd, see William C. Chittick, “Rümi and wahdat al-wijüd,” in Poetry and Mysticism in Islam: The Heritage ofRüml, ed. Amin Banani, Richard Hovannisian, and Georges Sabagh (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 88-91. For the influence of Ibn al-'Arabi’s doctrines on Jami, see Chittick, “Perfect Man,” 135-57, esp. 139-40.

[223] Jami, SA, 394, lines 76-77.

[224] For concise explications of daulat as it relates to political power and the inscrutability of fate, see Roy Mottahedeh, Loyalty and Leadership in an Early Islamic Society (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1980), 132 and 185; and Arjomand, “Medieval Persianate,” 15-16.

[225] Jami, SA, 395, line 88.

[226] Jami, SA, 395, lines 79 and 81.

[227] Jami, SA, 396-97, lines 112-24.

[228] The section is entitled, “Manifestation of the inability to effect praise and the raising of the hand of weakness in the pronouncement of prayer.”

[229] Jami, SA, 396, line 114.

[230] Jami, SA, 396, line 114. The full canonical hadith, which illustrates the paradoxes of divine mercy and wrath, reads: “Oh Lord I take refuge in Your good pleasure from Your wrath and in Your pardons from Your punishments. I take refuge in You from You. I cannot count the praises for You. You are as You have praised Yourself.” For a reference, see William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings of Rumi (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1983), 331.

[231] An apparent allusion to the silent zikr performed by Naqshbandis. For a discussion on zikr, see Hamid Algar, “Silent and Vocal dhikr in the Naqshbandi Order,” in Akten des VII. Kongressesfür Arabistik undIslamwissenschaft, Gottengen 15-22 August 1974 (Gotten- gen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1976), 39-46; J. Fletcher, “The Naqshbandiyya and the Dhikr-i arra,” Journal of Turkish Studies 1 (1977) 113-19; and Stéphane Ruspoli, “Réflexions sur la voie sprituelle des Naqshbandi,” in Naqshbandis: Cheminements et situation actuelle d’un ordre mystique musulman/Historical Developments and Present Situation of a Muslim Mystical Order, Actes de la Table Ronde de Sèvres/Proceedings of the Sèvres Round Table 2-4 mai/2-4 May 1985, ed. Marc Gaborieau, Alexander Popovic, and Thierry Zarcone (Istanbul: l’Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes d’Istanbul, 1990), 95-108.

[232] Jami, SA, 396, lines 116-17.

[233] Leonard Lewisohn, “Overview: Iranian Islam and Persianate Sufism,” in The Heritage of Sufism, Vol. 2, The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism (1150-1500), ed. Leonard Lewisohn (Oxford: Oneworld, 1999), 30-31. For a general survey of the politically active Sufi groups in pre-modern Iran, see Lambton, “Sufis and the State,” 19-36. On the sometimes complicated rapport between Sufi orders and Muslim rulers, see Lawrence G. Potter, “Sufis and Sultans in Post-Mongol Iran,” Iranian Studies 27, nos. 1-4 (1994): 78-102; and Simon Digby, “The Sufi Shaykh and the Sultan: A Conflict of Claims to Authority in Medieval India,” Iran 28 (1990): 71-81.

[234] p_aul, Die politische und soziale Bedeutung, 219-21.

[235] Omid Safi, “Bargaining with Baraka: Persian Sufism, ‘Mysticism,’ and Pre-modern Politics,” The Muslim World 90, nos. 3-4 (2000): 259-87. A larger study of the interplay between religion and political authority in Saljuq Iran can be found in Omid Safi, The Politics of Knowledge in Premodern Islam: Negotiating Ideology and Religious Inquiry (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2006).

[236] Davani, Akhlaq-i Jalal!, 136. The poem also appears in Davani’s ‘Ari.-sipa.h-i Üzün Hasan fArz-nama), an eyewitness review to a parade of local civil and military officers of Fars in 881/1476 that he dedicated to Ya'qüb’s elder uterine brother Sultan Khalil. See Jalal al-Din Davani, Arz-sipah-i Üzün Hasan, ed. Iraj Afshar (Tehran: Danishkada-i Adabiyat, 1335/1956), 3. The first couplet is a derivation of a verse by Hafiz: bar dar-i maikada rindan-i qalandar bashand, kai sitanand va dahand afsar-i shahanshah!. For the original poem, see Divan-i Hafiz, ed. Parviz Nâtil-Khânlârï (Tehran: Bunyad-i Farhang-i Iran, 1359/1980-81), 974. Davani also composed several commentaries (shark) on the ghazals and couplets of Hafiz entitled, Shark-i ghazal-i Hafiz and Shark-i bait! az Hafiz. For a description, see Muhammad Barakat, Kitabshinasl-yi maktab-i falsafl-yi shlraz (Shiraz: Bunyad-i Fars- shinasi, 1383/2004), 99-102. See also, Carl W. Ernst, “Jalal al-Din Davani’s Interpretation of Hafiz,” in Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical Persian Poetry, ed. Leonard Lewisohn (London: I. B. Tauris, 2010), 198.

[237] The word “din” has in fact two separate etymologies: judgment or retribution (Hebraeo-Aramaic root, din); debt or money owing (Arabic root, DYN); and revelation or religion (Middle Persian, den). See The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “din” (by L. Gardet); and Maria E. Subtelny, “Visionary Rose: Metaphorical Application of Horticultural Practice in Persian Culture,” in Botanical Progress, Horticultural Innovation and Cultural Change, ed. Michel Conan and W. John Kress, Dumbarton Oaks Colloquium on the History of Landscape Architecture, 28 (Washington, DC: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2007), 31 n. 82.

[238] The maxim is ubiquitous, appearing in each of the following advice manuals: Razi, Jami' al-'ulum, 204; al-Ghazali, Naslhat al-mulük, 106 (trans. 59); Nizam al-Mulk, Siyar al-mulük [Siyasat-nama] (Shi'ar ed.), 87 (trans. 63); Tûsi, Akhlaq-i Nasirl, 285 (trans. 215); and Davani, Akhlaq-i Jalall, 53. Davani also cites a Syriac rock-inscription declaring that kingship (mulk) and justice ('adl) are brothers. For a reference, see Davani, Akhlaq-iJalall, 165. In the Bahr-ifavald, an anonymous Persian mirror for princes addressed to Nûr al-Din Zangi (d. 569/1174), it is “the pen and the sword” that are brothers. For a reference, see Meisami, Sea of Precious Virtues, 294. On the association of the motto with Ardashir, see J. Duchesne-Guillemin, “Zoroastrian Religion,” in The Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 3, The Seleucid, Parthian and Sasanian Periods, ed. Ehsan Yarshater (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983), 877. For the transmission of this Sasanian idea into Islam, see Shaul Shaked, “From Iran to Islam: Notes on Some Themes in Transmission,” Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam 4 (1984): 31-67.

[239] On the institution of pious endowments (vaqf) in medieval Iran, see Ann K. S. Lambton, “Awqaf in Persia: 6th-8th/12th-14th Centuries,” Islamic Law and Society 4, no. 3 (1997); Subtelny, Le monde est un jardin, 77-100; and R. D. McChesney, Waqf in Central Asia: Four Hundred Years in the History of a Muslim Shrine, 1480-1889 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991).

[240] For example, see Meisami, Sea of Precious Virtues, 3, 52, and 214.

[241] Jami, SA, 397, line 119.

[242] Jami, SA, 397, line 119. As a derivation of the Arabic root DYN, the term din (religion) originally signified “obligation” or “judgment,” as in the Qur’anic “Day of Judgment” (yaum al-din). For a discussion of its ancient Arabic meaning, see The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “din” (by L. Gardet).

[243] See Pierre Lory, “Kashifi’s Asrar-i Qasimi and Timurid Magic,” Iranian Studies 36, no. 4 (2003): 536-37.

[244] Just as the Sage impressed the image of Venus (zuhra) on Salâmân’s heart in the tale of Salaman va Absal. See Jâmi, SA, 442, lines 1002-03.

[245] Although there is no direct evidence in the historical sources to suggest that Ya'qüb was initiated into the Naqshbandi order, the letters he exchanged with Jâmi contain several allusions to spiritual techniques normally associated with the Naqshbandis. See 107, 110 of the present study.

[246] Jâmi, SA, 397, lines 120-22.

[247] Jami, SA, 397, line 123.

[248] William C. Chittick, The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn al-'Arabi’s Metaphysics of Imagination (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1989), 107; and Henry Corbin, The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism, trans. Nancy Pearson (New Lebanon, NY: Omega Publications, 1994), 66 and 72-73.

[249] Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “The Heart of the Faithful Is the Throne of the All-Merciful,” in Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East, ed. James S. Cutsinger (Bloomington, IN: World Wisdom, 2002), 32-45. The saying does not appear in the canonical collections of hadith.

[250] Specifically Davani, and the father-son duo of Sadr al-Din Dashtaki (d. 903/1498) and Ghiyas al-Din Mansûr Dashtaki (d. 948/1541-42). On how their theosophical disputations (constituting the so-called “School of Shiraz”) facilitated a renaissance in Safavid-era philosophy, epitomized by Sadr al-Din Shirazi, see Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2006), 193-208. See also Hossein Ziai, “Recent Trends in Arabic and Persian Philosophy,” in The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy, ed. Peter Adamson and Richard C. Taylor (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 417-18; and Ahad Qaramulki, “Mukatabaha-yi Davani va Dashtaki dar hall-i mu‘amma-yi jazr-i asamm,” Khiradnama-i Sadra 8-9 (1376/1997-98): 95-101.

[251] Hossein Ziai, “The Source and Nature of Authority: A Study of al-Suhrawardi’s Illu- minationist Political Doctrine,” in The Political Aspects of Islamic Philosophy: Essays in Honor of Muhsin S. Mahdi, ed. Charles E. Butterworth (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1992), 306-7.

[252] Ziai, “Source and Nature of Authority,” 307.

[253] For the importance of Adam as an archetypal figure in medieval Islamic political thought, see Al-Azmeh, Muslim Kingship, 154-55.

[254] Michel Chodkiewicz, “The Esoteric Foundations of Political Legitimacy in Ibn 'Arabi,” in Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi: A Commemorative Volume, ed. Stephen Hirtenstein and Michael Tiernan (Shaftesbury: Element, 1993), 193-94. The passage appears in chapter 360 (of 570) of al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya where Ibn al-'Arabi describes various degrees of substitution (niyaba) within the context of valayat.

[255] Chodkiewicz, “Esoteric Foundations,” 194. The statement is an allusion to a well- known hadith qudsi.

[256] Chodkiewicz, “Esoteric Foundations,” 195.

[257] Chodkiewicz, “Esoteric Foundations,” 195.

[258] Chodkiewicz, “Esoteric Foundations,” 194.

[259] See Browne, Literary History of Persia, 3:523; Arberry, FitzGerald’s Salaman and Absal, 39; and Rypka et al., History of Iranian Literature, 287.

[260] For a discussion of the alchemy of the soul in the original Greek version of the tale of Salaman and Absal, see Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, 209 and 220.

[261] On the unique investiture of Adam and his status as the prototypical Perfect Man in Sufi tradition, see Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1975), 188-89.

[262] Jami, SA, 445, lines 1075-83.

[263] Jami, SA, 445, line 1075.

[264] Jami, SA, 445, line 1076.

[265] For thorough discussions of this idea, see the following studies by William C. Chittick, Sufi Path of Love, 19-23; “Rûmi and wahdat al-wujüd.” esp. 92-94; and “The Paradox of the Veil in Sufism,” in Rending the Veil: Concealment and Secrecy in the History of Religions, ed. Elliot R. Wolfson (New York: Seven Bridges Press, 1999), 59-85. It is interesting to note that Ibn al-'Arabi rarely juxtaposed form and meaning. On this, see Chittick, Self-Disclosure of God., 27.

[266] On the history and importance of this meditative technique to Naqshbandis, see Fritz Meier, Zwei Abhandlungen über die Naqsbandiyya. I. Die Herzensbindung an den Meister. II. Kraftakt und Faustrecht des Heiligen (Istanbul: Franz Steiner, Stuttgart, 1994), 111-52.

[267] Jami, SA, 445, line 1077.

[268] On “sirr” constituting a particular stage in mystical progression during which man abstracts himself from his appetitive faculty (according to the Illuminationist theosophical system of Suhrawardi), see B. A. Dar, “'Abd al-Qadir Jilani and Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi,” in A History of Muslim Philosophy, with Short Accounts of Other Disciplines and the Modern Renaissance in Islam Lands, ed. M. M. Sharif (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1963), 364.

[269] Jami, SA, 447, line 1118.

[270] For a brief explication of this hierarchy, see Oliver Leaman, An Introduction to Classical Islamic Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 18 and 21. On the expressions of Neo-Platonism contained in medieval Islamic and Jewish allegory, see Hughes, Texture of the Divine, 86-112.

[271] Jami, SA, 446-47, lines 1093, 1095-96, 1099, and 1115.

[272] On the association of Ardwisür Anahid (Old Persian, Arodvi Süra) with the Greek goddess Anaitis and the Babylonian divinity Ishtar, as well as information on the cult of Anahita in Sasanian Iran, see Boyce, History of Zoroastrianism, 1:71-74, 2:29-31, 2:202-4, and 2:217-19.

[273] Ibrahim Madkour, “Al-Farabi,” in A History of Muslim Philosophy, with Short Accounts of Other Disciplines and the Modern Renaissance in Islam Lands, ed. M. M. Sharif (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1963), 464; and Leaman, Introduction to Classical Islamic Philosophy, 19.

[274] Jami, SA, 446, lines 1075-76.

[275] Jami, SA, 446, line 1077.

[276] Jami, SA, 446, line 1090.

[277] Jami, SA, 446, line 1092.

[278] The two couplets read:

u shah-ifarmanda-ast va digaran zir-ifarman-i vai az farmanbaran

chun bi na't-i shahiu arastast rahdan az shah u ra khvastast

[279] Jami, SA, 446, line 1095. The idea that a wayfaring sage or pir is a symbol of divine emanation is also expressed in Shihab al-Din Suhravardi’s treatise, Aql-i surkh. For a reference, see Shihab al-Din Yahya al-Suhrawardi, The Philosophical Allegories and Mystical Treatises: A Parallel Persian-English Text, ed. and trans. Wheeler M. Thackston, Jr. (Costa Mesa, CA: Mazda, 1999), 22.

[280] Jami, SA, 446, line 1096.

17° Jami, SA, 447, line 1098.

^{^[282]} Jami, SA, 447, line 1100.

^{^[283]} Jami, SA, 447, line 1103.

[284] Jami, SA, 447, line 1109.

[285] Jami, SA, 447, lines 1110-11.

1 ⁷⁵ Jami, SA, 447, line 1113.

1 ⁷⁶ Jami, SA, 447, line 1114.

[288] Jami, SA, 447, line 1116.

[289] From the Latin paenitere, meaning “to be sorry, to grieve, to regret.” It is equivalent to the Hebrew teshubah or Aramaic tethûbah.

[290] ‘Ali b. ‘Uthman al-Jullabi Hujviri, The Kashf al-Mahjúb: The Oldest Persian Treatise on Súfism, by 'Alib. 'Uthmán al-Jullábí al-Hujwiri, trans. Reynold A. Nicholson (London: Luzac, 1970), 294; and Abü al-Qasim ‘Abd al-Karim b. Hawazin Qushairi, Al-Qushayri’s Epistle on Sufism: Al-Risala al-qushayriyya fi 'ilm al-tasawwuf, [al-Risala al-Qushairiyya], trans. Alexander D. Knysh (Reading, UK: Garnet Publishing, 2007), 111. The positioning of tauba at the beginning of the mystical quest is also attested to in the Ihya' 'ulum al-dln by al-Ghazali and the Kitab slrat al-auliya' of Abü ‘Abd Allah Muhammad al-Hakim Tirmizi (ca. 295/905). For references, see M. S. Stern, “Notes on the Theology of al-Ghazzali’s Concept of Repentance,” Islamic Quarterly 23, no. 2 (1979): 82; and Abü ‘Abd Allah Muhammad Tirmizi, The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism: Two Works by Al-Haklm Al-Tirmidhl, trans. Bernd Radtke and John O’Kane (Richmond: Curzon Press, 1996), 44.

[291] Jami, SA, 403, line 238.

[292] On the semantic ambiguity of the terms vilayat and valayat and how they relate to the larger topic of Muslim sainthood, see Vincent J. Cornell, Realm of the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1998), xvii-xxi.

[293] Subtelny, “A Late Medieval Persian Summa,” 604.

[294] Jami, Subhat al-abrar, 597, lines 838-876. See also 600, lines 892-901.

[295] On the importance of this formulation to Naqshbandi devotional regimens, see Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 110-13. On the legal significance of “‘azima." see Hamid Algar, review of A Culture of Sufism: Naqshbandis in the Ottoman World, 1450-1700, by Dina Le Gall, Journal of Islamic Studies 18, no. 3 (2007): 418. See also The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “ ‘Azima” (by I. Goldziher).

[296] Hujviri, Kashf al-Mahjúb, 294; and Qushairi, Al-Qushayri’s Epistle on Sufism, 111. On the fact that this hadith is non-canonical, see Abü al-Qasim ‘Abd-al-Karim b. Hawazin Qushairi, Das Sendschreiben al-Qusayris über das Sufitum, trans. and commentary Richard Gramlich (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1989), 146.

[297] Jami, SA, 401, line 199.

[298] Jami, SA, 402-03, lines 231-32.

[299] Jami, SA, 402, lines 226-29. The image of breaking the bottle of tauba with a rock appears frequently in the ghazals of Hafiz. See for example, Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafiz, Divan-i Hafiz, ed. Rashid Tvazi and Akbar Bihrûz (Tabriz: Intisharat-i Mu’assasa-i Tarikh va Farhang-i Iran 2536^1977]), 18 line 7, 25 line 7, and 26 line 2.

[300] Atif Khalil, “Ibn al-'Arabi on the Three Conditions of Tawba,” Islam and Christian- Muslim Relations 17, no. 4 (2006): 403-16. On the prevalence of Ibn 'Arabi’s metaphysics in the works of Jami, see Sajjad H. Rizvi, “The Existential Breath of al-rahman and the Munificent Grace of al-rahim: The Tafsir Surat al-Fatiha of Jami and the School of Ibn 'Arabi,” Journal of Qur’anic Studies 8, no. 1 (2006): 65-67.

[301] Khalil, “Ibn al-'Arabi,” 404. The verse in the Qur’an, reads: “And turn all together to God, O you believers; happily so you will prosper.”

[302] Jami, SA, 436, line 877.

[303] Jami, SA, 403, line 235.

[304] Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 112. See Qur’an 12:53 and 75:2.

[305] Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 112-13. See also Hujviri, Kashf al-Mahjúb, 200-201.

[306] Hujviri, Kashf al-Mahjúb, 196-97.

[307] “o thou soul at peace! Return to thy Lord, pleasing and well-pleased! Enter thou among My bondsmen! Enter thou My garden!” Qur’an 89:27-28.

[308] Jami, SA, 427, lines 688-702 and 718-32.

[309] Jâmï, SA, 427, lines 703-5.

[310] Jâmï, SA, 427, lines 693-96.

[311] For another, more detailed, instance in which a prominent Naqshbandï author, in this case Makhdûm A'zam Ahmad Kâsânï (d. 949/1542-43), equated the untamed nafs to a horse, see Alexandre Papas, “No Sufism without Sufi Order: Rethinking Tarîqa and Adab with Ahmad Kâsânî Dahbidî (1461-1542),” Kyoto Bulletin of Islamic Area Studies 2, no. 1 (2008): 7-8.

[312] Jâmï, SA, 427, line 700. This is a homonymic pun (tajnis) on the phrase “a sword- wielder” (shamshir-zani).

[313] For a study on how one ninth/fifteenth century (Naqshbandï) treatise on adab relates virtuous displays of manliness to inner spiritual perfection, see Arley Loewen, “Proper Conduct (Adab) Is Everything: The Futuwwat-namah-i Sultani of Husayn Va'iz Kashifi,” Iranian Studies 36, no. 4 (2003): 543-70. For another interpretation of the treatise and its author, see Lloyd Ridgeon, Morals and Mysticism in Persian Sufism: A History of Sufi- futuwwat in Iran (Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2010), 92-108.

[314] Jâmï, SA, 427, line 713.

[315] Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 136-37. The well-known verse (7:172) reads: And when thy Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their seed, and made them testify to themselves, ‘Am I not your Lord?’ (alastu birabbikum) They said, ‘Yes, we testify’ (bala shahidna).

[316] Jami, SA, 427, lines 714-17.

[317] Jami, SA, 427, lines 716-17.

[318] Jami, SA, 428, lines 719-22.

[319] An allusion to the central theme of Qur’anic mythology, the act of creation when the divine Pen (al-Qalam) wrote the realities of all things (haqaïq) on the Well-preserved Tablet, also considered the primordial Qur’an.

[320] Regarding how Adam refers to all men, or at least men in their state of (spiritual) perfection, see Chittick, “Perfect Man,” 144. See also Jami’s Silsilat al-zahab where Adam is described as “a book embracing all verses and signs, his being is the goal of all goals.” Quoted in Chittick, “Perfect Man,” 155-57.

[321] For a discussion of how this hadlth (“kuntu kanzan makhftyyan"') inspired Persian poets like Rûmi, see Annemarie Schimmel, Triumphal Sun: A Study of the Works of Jalaloddin Rumi (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993), 224-47. See also the hadlth qudsi: “But for thee did I create the heavens.”

[322] Chittick, “Perfect Man,” 143.

[323] See Subtelny, Le monde est un jardin, 137-44; especially as it pertains to Rûmi’s Masnavi and Farid al-Din ‘Attar’s (d. 617/1220) Mantiq al-tair.

[324] Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 112.

[325] Jami, SA, 428, lines 723-25.

[326] Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam, 188.

[327] On how this trust has been variously interpreted by Persian mystic poets, see Annemarie Schimmel, A Two-Colored Brocade: The Imagery of Persian Poetry (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1992), 58.

[328] Jami, SA, 428, lines 731-32. This fall into carnal pursuits and materiality is reminiscent of several verses of Rûmî’s Masnavi which are contained in “The tale of the evil Jewish king who persecuted Christians, ” i.e., Masnavi, bk. 1, lines 537-38:

The Spirit was bearing you to the highest celestial sphere.

[Instead] you went toward the water and clay, among the lowest

You transformed/disfigured yourself through this fall,

From that [state of] existence that was the envy of the [spiritual] intelligences.

[329] Jami, SA, 428-29, lines 733-39.

[330] On the elevated position of roosters in early Islamic literature, see Roberto Tottoli, “At Cock-Crow: Some Muslim Traditions About the Rooster,” DerIslam 76 (1999): 139-47. Another report, which does not appear in the canonical collections of hadlth, describes how God keeps a white rooster near the divine Throne, while others purport that it is in fact an angel in disguise. For a reference, see Tottoli, “At Cock-Crow,” 142-43. It is interesting to note that in Zoroastrianism, the white rooster is a holy animal and is associated with the angel of prayer, Surûsh (Middle Persian, Sraosa or Srosh), who, together with the rooster Parodarsh (literally, “one who sees ahead”), is believed to be responsible for rousing humanity to the revelations of Mazda. For a reference, see G. Kreyenbroek, Sraosa in the Zoroastrian Tradition (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1985), 118 and 172. See also Boyce, History of Zoroastrianism, 3:60-63 and 3:226-27. On the significance of the rooster, as symbol of Surûsh, in Persian renditions of Muhammad’s mTraj, or heavenly ascension, especially in its connection to Zoroastrian conversions to Islam in medieval Iran, see Maria E. Sub- telny, “Zoroastrian Elements in the Islamic Ascension Narrative: The Case of the Cosmic Cock,” in Medieval and Modern Iranian Studies: Proceedings of the 6th European Conference of Iranian Studies, Held in Vienna on 18-22 September 2007 by the Societas Iranologica Europaea, ed. Maria Szuppe (Paris: Association pour l’Avancement des Études Iraniennes, 2011), 193-212.

[331] Tottoli, “At Cock-Crow,” 144.

[332] Jami, SA, 428, line 734.

222 Jâmî, SA, 428-29, lines 737-39.

223 See chapter 1 of this study, note 54.

224 For examples of how the institutions of kingship were used to illustrate Sufi ideas, namely the tendency to conflate the Perfect Man and the vicegerent of God with the sultan and the shadow of God respectively, see Lambton, “Sufis and the State,” 23.

225 Jâmî, SA, 429, lines 745-48.

^{^[334]} Jami, Divan, 221 (no. 305).

[335] The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Gulshani, Ibrahim b. Muhammad b. Shihab al-Din” (by Tahsin Yazici).

[336] Woods, Aqquyunlu, 141. Despite being perhaps the single best source for biographical information on ‘Abd al-Rahman Shami, the Rauzat al-jinan simply says that he died during the reign of Ya‘qüb. For a reference, see Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:472.

[337] Woods, Aqquyunlu, 83.

[338] Khunjï-Isfahânï, Álam-ara-yi amini, 266-67; Woods, Aqquyunlu, 252 n. 78.

[339] According to the Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya, while encamped north of Ruha at Akziyarat in 861/1456, Üzün Hasan held a banquet for officers of his royal body guard and confederate chiefs in order to discuss the likelihood of an invasion by their Qarâ Qoyünlü foes. Suddenly, ‘Abd al-Rahmân Shâmï burst in and snatched up the sword of an officer. He struck a serving-bowl, unfastened his waistband and, in a symbolic gesture of investiture, bound the sword and belt to the waist of Üzün Hasan. ‘Abd al-Rahmân Shâmï then swiped a goblet from an astonished guest, passed it to Üzün Hasan, and ensured all present that divine assistance would intercede on behalf of the Àq Qoyünlü by proclaiming, “Drink and do not fear! For all shall be yours!” For a reference, see Tihrânï-Isfahânï, Kitab-i Diyar- Bakriyya 1:253; and Woods, Aqquyunlu, 82-83.

^{^[340]} A description of the unpublished suyürghal document can be found in Nazan Olçer, Kilims [Türk ve Islâm Eserleri Müzesi], trans. William A. Edmonds (Beyolu-Istanbul: Eren, 1989), no. 2200. For information on the Bâbâ Mahmüd hospice erected in honor of Bâbâ ‘Abd al-Rahmân in Mardin, see Nejat Goyünç, Onaltinciyüzyilda Mardin sancagi (Istanbul: Istanbul Edebiyat Fakültesi Basimevi, 1969), 119-21.

^{^[341]} Literally, they are “to keep their pens away and their feet withdrawn.” On this document see Halil inalcik, “Autonomous Enclaves in Islamic States: Temlîks, Soyurghals, Yurdluk-Ocakliks, Mâlikâne-Mukâta'as and Awqaf,” in History and Historiography of PostMongol Central Asia and the Middle East: Studies in Honor of John E. Woods, ed. Judith Pfeiffer, Sholeh A. Quinn, and Ernest Tucker (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2006), 123 n. 52, who indicates that the document will be treated in a forthcoming study by John Woods. For a discussion of the Àq Qoyünlü use of suyürghal grants, see Vladimir Minorsky, “A Soyürghâl of Qâsim b. Jahângïr Aq-qoyunlu (903/1498),” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 9, no. 4 (1937-39): 927-60.

9 Quoted and translated in Woods, Aqquyunlu, 83. The word himam, which Woods translates as “efforts,” is the plural form of himmat, and thus an important Sufi technical term related to the idea that Sufis could effect changes in fortune.

10 Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï, Rauzat al-jinan 1:214-15.

11 Tihrânï-Isfahânï, Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya, 476, 485; and Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï, Rauzat al-jinan 1:381, 440.

12 Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï, Rauzat al-jinan 1:214-15; and Jean Aubin, “Études safavides. I. Sah Ismâ‘ïl et les notables de l’Iraq persan,” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 2, no. 1 (1959): 56. Abd al-Ghaffâr Tabâtabâ’ï was a follower of the Persian poet and Hurüfï mystic, Shâh Qâsim al-Anvâr (d. 836/1433-34), and was versed in ïlm-ijafr (the esoteric science of letters). For information on the life and works of Qâsim al-Anvâr, see Browne, Literary History of Persia 3:473-87. For a description of the position of shaikh al-Islam in ninth/fifteenth century Iran, see Khvâja ‘Abd Allâh Marwârïd, Staatsschreiben der Timuridenzeit, ed. and trans. H. R. Roemer (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner, 1952), 57-58; and Shiro Ando, “The Shaykh al-Islâm as a Timurid Office: A Preliminary Study,” Islamic Studies 33, nos. 2-3 (1994): 253-80.

13 Aubin, “Études safavides,” 56 n. 2. For an edited version of the suyürghal, see Jamâl Turâbï Tabâtabâ’ï, Nasab-nama-i shakha’i az Tabataba‘iha-yi Tabriz (Tabriz: Sâzmân-i Asnâd-i Millï-yi Irân, Mudïriyât-i Mantaqa-i Shumâl-i Gharb, 1376/1997), 19.

[344] Woods, Aqquyunlu, 107. On the relationship of Ahmad Lala’i and the Àq Qoyünlü, see Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 2:152-54.

[345] See Vladimir Minorsky, “A Civil and Military Review in Fars in 881/1476,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 10, no. 1 (1940—42): 148. Likewise, in the introduction to the Akhlaq-iJalalt, Davani justifies the legitimacy of Üzün Hasan’s rule by noting that the name “Hasan Beg” is numerically equal to the word “sultan.” See Davani, Akhlaq-i Jalalt, 103—4. See also the attempts to legitimate Üzün Hasan’s rule, based on numerological interpretations of Qur’anic phrases, in a victory proclamation (fath-nama) Üzün Hasan addressed to the Mamluk sultan, Qayit Bay (d. 901/1496), in Matthew Melvin-Koushki, “The Delicate Art of Aggression: Uzun Hasan’s Fathnama to Qaytbay of 1469,” Iranian Studies 44, no. 2 (2011): 211—13.

[346] Tihrani-Isfahani, Kitab-i Diyar-Bakriyya, 476, 485, 553—54, and 560—61. On the religio- political significance of the Àq Qoyünlü mahmil, see Woods, Aqquyunlu, 107—8. It is interesting to note that Shah Ni'mat Allah II initially refused to recognize the political legitimacy of Üzün Hasan and sided with Sultan-Abü Sa'id during the ill-fated campaign by the Timurid ruler against the Àq Qoyünlü. Rather than malign the Ni'mat Allahi shaikh, Üzün Hasan invited him to Shiraz where the ruler and his retinue had decamped. According to a hagiography composed by a descendant of Shah Ni'mat Allah II, the invitation of Üzün Hasan was prompted by rumors that the wife of Ni'mat Allah II, who happened to be a Qara Qoyünlü princes, had hidden a large cache of jewels and other valuables at the couple’s domicile in Taft. Shah Ni'mat Allah II was summoned to the royal majlis wherepon Üzün Hasan appointed him to lead the assembly in prayer. When Shah Ni'mat Allah II recited the testimony of faith (shahada) Üzün Hasan suddenly collapsed. He awoke one hour later and told Ni'mat Allah II that the Prophet had appeared to him in a dream and scolded him, saying, “We made you ruler and we made kings submit to you, and yet you, with your lies, have caused problems for our child (i.e., Shah Ni'mat Allah II)!” The vision so shocked Üzün Hasan that he allegedly confessed his true intentions to the shaikh and apologized. As a recent study has suggested, this potentially apocryphal account was written well into the reign of the Safavids and may therefore represent an attempt to discredit the Àq Qoyünlü while also erasing any suspicion that Shah Ni'mat Allah II maintained relations with the descendants of Üzün Hasan. For a fuller description of the preceding episode, see Michael Paul Connell, “The Nimatullahi Sayyids of Taft: A Study of the Evolution of a Late Medieval Iranian Sufi Tariqah,” (PhD diss., Harvard University, 2004), 127—28.

[347] Tâci-zâde Sa'di Çelebi, Mecmü‘a-yi münseâl. ed. Necâti Lugal and Adnan Sadik Erzi (Istanbul: Mat ba’a-i Istanbül, 1956), 24-29. The contents of the letter have been translated by Woods, Aqquyunlu, 106.

[348] Woods, Aqquyunlu, 106. Üzün Hasan claims such offenses flourished throughout the same districts under the previous, that is to say, Qara Qoyünlü regime.

[349] For a discussion of the provocative activities of the Qalandaris and Haidaris, see Ahmet T. Karamustafa, God’s Unruly Friends: Dervish Groups in the Islamic Later Middle Period, 1200-1550 (Salt Lake City, UT: University of Utah Press, 1994), 65-70.

[350] Woods, Aqquyunlu, 9. The Akhlaq-iJalali went on to become required reading at the Mughal court of Jahangir (d. 1035/1626) and shaped Ottoman conceptualizations of medieval Islamic governance. For a reference, see Nasr, Islamic Philosophy, 321 n. 27.

2' Davânï, Akhlaq-iJalalt, 139.

[352] Davânï, Akhlaq-iJalalt, 139-40. This fourth “glimmer” has been rendered into English by Carl W. Ernst, “Flashes of Illumination on Praiseworthy Ethics, or, the Jalâlian Ethics, Akhlaq-ijalalt: The Fourth Flash, On the Politics of Kingship and the Manners of Kings,” in An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia. Volume Four, From the School of Illumination to Philosophical Mysticism, ed. Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Mehdi Aminrazavi, with the assistance of M. R. Jozi (London: I. B. Tauris in asscociation with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2012), 119-33.

[353] Davânï, Akhlaq-iJalalt, 135-36.

[354] Davânï, Arz-i sipah-i Üzün Hasan, 3. The fact that the review was dedicated to Sultân- Khalïl is another indication that the advice of the author, namely that the Àq Qoyünlü patronize Sufi mystics, was not limited to Üzün Hasan.

25 For a detailed study of the protean prophet-saint, see Patrick Franke, Begegnung mit Khidr: Quellenstudien zum Imaginaren im traditionellen Islam (Beirut: Franz Steiner, 2000). See also Irfan Omar, “Khidr in the Islamic Tradition,” Muslim World 83, nos. 3-4 (¹993): ²7^o-95^.

[356] For another instance of a Persian poet equating an earthly ruler, in this case Fakhr al-Dïn Bahrâmshâh (d. ca. 617/1220), the Mengücek sultan of Erzinjan, with Khidr, see Nizâmï Ganjavï, Kulliyat-i Khamsa-i Hakim Nizami Ganjavi. Makhzan al-asrar, Khusrau va Shirin, LailavaMajnün, Haft paikar, Iskandar-nama (Tehran: Mu’assasa-i Àmïr Kâbïr, 1351/1972), 26. In a similar vein, certain Mongol-era writers equated Chinggis Khân (d. 624/1227) with Khidr. To be specific, some Sufis justified the havoc wreaked by Chinggis Khân and the Mongols as the manifestation of the will of God which, much like the destructive acts of Khidr in the Qur’ân (e.g., scuttling a boat, murdering a youth, and toppling a wall), ultimately had a hidden and justifiable purpose. On this topic, see Devin DeWeese, “‘Stuck in the Throat of Chingïz Khân:’ Envisioning the Mongol Conquests in Some Sufi Accounts from the 14th to 17th Centuries,” in History and Historiography of Post-Mongol Central Asia and the Middle East: Studies in Honor of John E. Woods, ed. Judith Pfeiffer, Sholeh A. Quinn, and Ernest Tucker (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2006), 36-42.

[357] Davânï, Akhlaq-iJalali, 147. The entire verse (Q 18:65) reads, “So they found one of our servants, on whom We had bestowed mercy from Ourselves and whom We had taught Knowledge from Our own presence Jallamnahu min ladunna ïlman)."

[358] Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, 105-6.

^{^[359]} In a related sense, talqin also refers to the Muslim tradition of reciting “La ilaha illa Allah.” It should be noted that Davâni dedicated a mystical treatise explicating the hidden significance of the attestation (“There is no god but God”) to Üzün Hasan. The first section gives a literal interpretation of the utterance, while the second is an esoteric exposition based on the “concealed sciences” (udüm-i batini) of “unveiling” (kashfi) and “witnessing” (shuhüdi). For a published edition of the treatise, see Jalâl al-Din Davâni, Tahliliyya (sharh-i la ilah ila Allah), ed. Firishta Faridüni Furüzanda (Tehran: Sâzmân-i Intishârât-i Kaihân, 1373/1994). See also Barakat, Kitabshinasi-yi maktab-ifalsafi-yi shiraz, 78.

[360] Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 168.

[361] An event related in Qur’an 9:40.

[362] See Algar, “Silent and Vocal dh.i.krl' 15-22; Fletcher “Naqshbandiyya and the Dhikr-i arra,” 113-19; and Ruspoli, “Réflexions sur la voie sprituelle,” 95-108.

[363] Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 14 and 117. In the Naqshbandi literature, Ghijduvâni is generally referred to as sar-silsila-i khvajagan (“the first link in the chain of the Khvâjagân”) and is credited with formulating a set of eight spiritual principles (kalimat-i qudsiyya) that later became the hallmarks of Naqshbandi doctrine, namely: hush dar dam, nazar dar qadam, safar dar vatan, khalvat dar anjuman, yad kard, baz gasht, nigah dasht, and yad dasht.

[364] Davâni, Arz-sipah-i Üzün Hasan, 18. For a discussion of the esoteric features of the Arz-sipah-i Üzün Hasan, see A. S. Melikian-Chirvani, “Le royaume de Salomon,” Le monde iranien et l'islan 1 (1971): 1-41. The influence of Davani over Àq Qoyünlü affairs decreased during the reign of Ya‘qüb. Nevertheless, Davani dedicated at least two major works to Ya‘qüb which survive today as MSS. The first is a (untitled) treatise on justice ('adalat) which begins with an exposition on the “deputyship of man” (khilafat-i insan), and which is followed by a discussion on the different types of justice according to Aristotle. The second work is a treatise on speculative theology (kalan) in Arabic entitled, Hashiya qadin bar sharh-i tajrid. For references to these MSS, see Danishpazhouh, “Annotated Bibliography on Government,” 221-22; and Barakat, Kitabshinasi-yi naktab-i falsafi-yi shiraz, 84-87. But see also, Pourjavady, Philosophy in Early Safavid Iran, 11 n. 63. For an uncritical edition of the treatise on justice, see the serial, Tahqiq dar nabda'-i afarinish, 8 (1343): 13-23.

[365] Ibrahim Gulshani’s association with the Àq Qoyunlu lasted from 874/1469 to 9¹3^/15⁰7.

[366] The Encyclopaedia of Islan, 2nd ed., s.vv. “Gulshani, Ibrahim b. Muhammad b. Shihab al-Din” (by Tahsin Yazici) and “tawki‘” (by F. Babinger; C. E. Bosworth). Gulshani, it would appear, held other key administrative positions, including, scribe of royal orders (nishanchi) and diplomatic envoy (ilchi), and was awarded the privileges of a tarkhan, an individual who enjoyed unrestricted access to the ruler. But see Side Emre, “íbrahim-i Gülçeni (ca. 1442-1534): Itinerant Saint and Cairene Ruler,” (PhD diss., University of Chicago, 2009), 53 and 56-57.

[367] Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahin-i Gülseiu. 23-25, 30-31; Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Golsani, Ebrahim b. Mohammad b. Ebrahim b. Sehab-al-Din” (by Tahsin Yazici). Another notable meeting involved the introduction of Gulshani to Davani in Shiraz while the former was serving as Üzün Hasan’s envoy to Sultan-Khalil, then the provincial ruler of Fars. For a reference to their encounter, see Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahin-i Gülçeni, 33-34, and 41-43.

[368] B. G. Martin, “A Short History of the Khalwati Order of Dervishes,” in Scholars, Saints, and Sufis: Muslim Religious Institutions in the Middle East since 1500, ed. Nikki R. Keddie (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1972), 295.

[369] Martin, “Short History,” 279. For a brief description of the Muzaffariyya hospice, which used to be attached to the (Great) Blue Mosque in Tabriz, see ‘Abd al-‘Ala’ Karang, Tarikh-i Tabriz, ed. and trans. Vladimir Minorsky (Tabriz: Kitabfurüshi-yi Tihran, 1958), 40 and 85 n. 1. According to the Danishmandan-i Àzarbajan, a modern study on important figures from Azerbaijan’s past, the mother of Ya‘qüb (i.e., Saljüqshah Begum) was especially inclined (iradat-i khassi) to ‘Umar Raushani. For a reference, see Muhammad ‘Ali-Khan Tarbiyat, Danishmandan-iÀzarbaijan (Tabriz: Matba’a-i Majlis, 1314/1935), 320.

[370] Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahim-i Gülçeni, 48.

[371] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:476-77.

[372] Khunji-Isfahani, Àlam-aray-i amini (1957), 29. In addition to the administrative title of sadr, ‘Ali Baihaqi is referred to in the Arz-sipah-i Üzün Hasan as a “great spiritual master” (mashayikh-i kibar). For a discussion on the mystically symbolic role he played at a civil and military parade in Fars, see Melikian-Chirvani, “Le Royaume de Salomon,” 28.

[373] Alexandra Whelan Dunietz, “Qadi Husayn Maybudi of Yazd: Representative of the Iranian Provincial Elite in the Late Fifteenth Century,” (PhD diss., University of Chicago, 1990), 136-37. On the controversies relating to the speculative theosophy of Ibn al-‘Arabi, see Alexander D. Knysh, Ibn 'Arabi in the Later Islamic Tradition: The Making of a Polemical Image in Medieval Islam (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1999). See also Michel Chodkiewicz, “Le procès posthume d’Ibn ‘Arabi,” in Islamic Mysticism Contested: Thirteen Centuries of Controversies and Polemics, ed. Frederick de Jong and Bernd Radtke (Leiden: Brill, 1999), 93-123.

[374] Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahim-i Güfeiii. 88-89; and Dunietz, “Qadi Husayn Maybudi,” 137.

[375] Another example of Qazi Isa’s intervention on behalf of Umar Raushani and Ibrahim Gulshani occurred during a violent dispute over the estate of the late Raushani. Shortly after the death of Raushani in 892/1487, state officials tortured his children in an effort to extort their inheritance, and obtained some 170,000 karaca akça in the process. When news of the attack reached Ibrahim Gulshani, he raced from Tabriz to Ya‘qüb’s winter encampment (qishlaq) in Qarabagh and presented the case to Qazi ‘Isa who conferred with the ruler. As compensation, Ya‘qüb dispatched a high ranking Turkic commander who, in addition to returning the inheritance, presented the aggrieved descendants of Raushani with lavish gifts and textiles. Assurances were made that fiscal authorities would never again interfere with the family or the regular pension (razqat) granted to them by the state. The episode is contained in Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahim-i Gülçeni, 176-78. See also Dunietz, “Qadi Husayn Maybudi,” 139.

[376] Dunietz, “Qadi Husayn Maybudi,” 137.

[377] Karbalâ’î-Tabrîzî, Rauzat al-jinan 1:602.

[378] Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahin-i Güiseni. 120-21; and Dunietz, “Qâdî Husayn Maybudi,” 140.

[379] Dunietz, “Qâdî Husayn Maybudi,” 140.

[380] Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahin-i Gül§eni, 120-21, 111-12, and 113-14; and Woods, Aqquyunlu, 140-41. The absence of any supporting documents, coupled with the fact that Qâzi ‘ïsâ eventually initiated sweeping reforms to the suyurghal system in 894-96/1489-90, indicates that the solution described in the Menakib-i Ibrahin-i Gültseni was ignored, or at most, short-lived.

[381] On Idris Bidlisi, see The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Bidlisi, Idris, Mewlana Hakim al-Din Idris b. Mewlana Husam al-Din 'Ali al-Bidlisi” (by V. L. Ménage); and Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Bedlisi, Mawlana Hakim-al-Din Edris b. Hosam al-Din 'Ali” (by Cornell H. Fleischer). Bidlisi is primarily known for his chronicle of the Ottoman Empire (in Persian) entitled, Hasht bihisht. He also wrote commentaries on the Fusus al-hikam by Ibn al-'Arabi and the Gulshan-i raz by Mahmüd Shabistari, as well as a Persian ethical advice manual entitled, the Qanun-i shahanshahl. For reference to this mirror for princes, see Sara Nur Yildiz, “Persian in the Service of the Sultan: Historical Writing in Persian under the Ottomans during the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries,” Studies on Persianate Societies 2 ⁽²00⁴⁾= ¹5⁵,.

[382] Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahim-i Gülseni. 82.

[383] Woods, Aqquyunlu, 229. Omission aside, Gulshani was reportedly present as Ya'qüb took the field and commanded his ghazl warriors against infidel forces at the siege of Akhisqa (Akhal-Tsikhe) in 890/1485. The raid apparently yielded much booty, which Ya'qüb distributed to members of the religious establishment of whom we might adduce Gulshani was a constituent member. This is not to suggest however, that Ibrahim Gulshani willingly accepted royal favors; for according to the Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenl, Gulshani refused a suyurghal on private crown lands (khassa) in Barda'a. Gulshani’s refusal was greeted with disbelief, a view most vociferiously expressed by Qazi 'îsa’s elder brother, 'Ali Savaji, who reportedly ridiculed the shaikh for his eccentricity. For a description of the abovementioned siege, see Khunji-Isfahani, Alam-ara-yi amlnl, 43-44, and 218-25. On the reaction to Gulshani’s refusal of the suyurghal, see Dunietz, “Qadi Husayn Maybudi,” 141.

[384] John J. Curry, “‘Home Is Where the Shaykh Is’: The Concept of Exile in the Hagiography of Ibrahim-i Gülçeni,” Al-Masaq 17, no. 1 (2005): esp. 53-54 and 60 n. 31.

[385] For a detailed examination of the Naqshbandi political activities and geographic distribution during the ninth/fifteenth century see, Paul, Politische und soziale Bedeutung, passim.

[386] On the impact of the “grand missionary effort” of 'Ubaid Allah Ahrar, see Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 20.

[387] Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 8-9; and Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Ahrar, K^vaja 'Obaydallah b. MahmUd” (by J. M. Rogers).

[388] Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 8-10. Not to be confused with the khanaqah of the same name established by the Timurid, Zain al-Din AbU Bakr Khvafi (d. 838/1435), in the Gudara region of Khurasan. See Ludwig W. Adamec, Historical Gazetteer of Iran, 4 vols. (Graz, Austria: Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1976), 1:147.

[389] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:416; and Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 8. On the interest of Naqshbandis, particularly ‘Abd Allah Ilahi (d. 896/1491), best known for propagating the order in Anatolia, and ‘Abd al-Ghafür Lari, in texts attributed to Najm al-Din Razi, author and disciple of Abü al-Janab Ahmad Najm al-Din Kubra (d. 617/1220), eponym of the Kubraviyya, see Hamid Algar, “Tarîqat and Tarîq: Central Asian Naqshbandis on the Roads to the Haramayn,” in Central Asian Pilgrims: Hajj Routes and Pious Visits between Central Asia and the Hijaz, ed. Alexandre Papas, Thomas Welsford, and Thierry Zarcone (Berlin: Klaus Schwarz, 2012), 25 n. 10.

[390] Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 8.

[391] All three works survive as MSS. Also extant are the treatise on existence (vujüd') by Mahmüd Nakhchivani and a general tract on Sufism. For references, see Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 34 n.12.

[392] Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 9.

[393] For a full discussion of the ambiguous loyalties of ‘Abd al-Vahhab, see Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 12-13.

[394] Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gül§enl, 104-6; and Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 10. It is worth mentioning that the collected letters of Qazi Husain Maibudi include an epistle addressed to Khvaja Muhammad Yahya, who was the son of ‘Ubaid Allah Ahrar, which indicates that Maibudi intended to join the Naqshbandi order. For a reference see, Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 35 n.15; and Aubin, “Études safavides,” 55.

[395] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 2:151.

[396] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:98-105. See also the notice on Sun‘ Allah in Ziya’ al-Din Sajjadi, Kü-yi surkhab-i Tabriz va maqbarat al-shuTara‘ (Tehran: Anjuman-i Asar va Mafakhir-i Farhangi, Mu’assasa-i Nashr va Virayish, 1375/1996), 186-89.

[397] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 2:151.

[398] For a discussion of the proliferation of khanaqahs in post-Mongol Iran, see George Lane, Early Mongol Rule in Thirteenth-Century Iran: A Persian Renaissance (London: Rout- ledgeCurzon, 2003), 242-46.

[399] Ghijduvani reportedly told his disciples: “Do not build khanaqahs and do not live in them.” Quoted in Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 163. The testament of Ghijduvani is found in Fakhr al-Din ‘Ali, Rashahat-i 'ain al-hayat 1:47. See also Paul, Doctrine and Organization, 61.

[400] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:100.

[401] For a discussion of the Naqshbandi tradition of promulgating the order without the benefit of khanaqahs and their rejection of the idea that leadership of such lodges was a matter of hereditary succession, see Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, esp. 43-47, 79-85, and 162-65.

[402] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:100. Given that Sun‘ Allah died a peaceful death in 929/1522-23 in Tabriz, this statement by Karbala’i-Tabrizi could be understood to mean the Safavids. But such reasoning would have to account for the fact that Sun‘ Allah initially fled to Bitlis when Shah Isma‘il took Tabriz 907/1501, which suggests that Sun‘ Allah had some misgivings about the fervent ithna 'asharl Shi‘ism that was espoused by the Safavids and ghuluvv Islam of their Qizilbash supporters. For differing views on the problem of Safavid persecution of the Naqshbandis see, H. Algar, “Naqshbandi Order: A Preliminary Survey of Its History and Significance,” Studia Islamica 44 (1976): 123-52; Saïd Amir Arjo- mand, The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam: Religion, Political Order, and Societal Change in Shi'ite Iran from the Beginning to 1890 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984), 109-21; and Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 23-33. For a discussion that is specific to the unfavorable climate encountered by Naqshbandis in Safavid-controlled Herat, see Maria E. Subtelny, “Art and Politics in Early 16th Century Central Asia,” Central Asiatic Journal 27, nos. 1-2 (1983): 121-48.

[403] Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 14.

[404] Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï, Rauzat al-jinan 1:101; and Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 14.

[405] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:98; and Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 13. For biographical information on Sun' Allah see, Nür al-Din Muhammad Qazvini, Silsila-nama-i khwajagan-i Naqshband, a diagrammatic biography of prominent Naqshbandi shaikhs written in 978/1570, MS, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Suppl. persan 1418, 18b. See also the biography of Sun' Allah’s son in ‘Ata’ Allah Niv'izada ‘Ata’i, Hada’ik ül-hakaïk fl tekmilet i§-§akaïk, 2 vols. (Istanbul, 1852), 1:207-8.

[406] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:98-99.

[407] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:99; Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 13; and

Martin van Bruinessen, “The Naqshbandi Order in 17th-Century Kurdistan,” in Naqshbandis: Cheminements et situation actuelle d’un ordre mystique musulman/Historical Developments and Present Situation of a Muslim Mystical Order, Actes de la Table Ronde de Sèvres/ Proceedings of the Sèvres Round Table 2-4 mai/2-4 May 1985, ed. Marc Gaborieau, Alexander Popovic, and Thierry Zarcone (Istanbul: l’Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes d’Istanbul, 1990), 354, n. 43. In reference to Maktabdar’s intense interest in the doctrine of wahdat al-wujüd, see Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 218 n. 89. For the subtle though important distinctions between tauba and inabat, see Paul Nwyia, Exégèse coranique et langage mystique: Nouvel essai sur le lexique technique des mystiques musulmans (Beirut: Dar el-Mashreq, ¹⁹⁷o),3°0^-301:

[408] Karbala i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:100.

[409] Khvandamir, Habib al-siyar 4:609. Quoted in Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 14, who mentions the refusal of Sun' Allah to fully prostrate himself before Shah Isma'il, a gesture contravening court protocol, yet one which reportedly left the sovereign impressed.

[410] For a synopsis of these accounts, see Sajjadi, Ku-yi surkhab-i Tabriz, 177-84.

[411] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:92-95. The merchant, a certain Mirak, is referred to in the Rauzat al-jinan as both “tarsa” (Christian) and “Gabr,” which is a pejorative applied to Zoroastrians and synonymous with mugh (magus) or atishparast (fire-worshipper). See Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “gabr” (by Mansour Shaki); and 'Ali Akbar Dihkhuda, Lughat nama, ed. Muhammad Mu'in and Ja'far Shahidi, 15 vols. (Tehran: Mu’assasa-i Intisharat va Chap-i Danishgah-i Tihran ba Hamkari-yi Intisharat-i Rauzana 1993-94), 11:16,722-26, s.v. “gabr.”

[412] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:92.

[413] Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï, Rauzat al-jinan 1:89. No detailed study of the Qarâ Qoyünlü exists in English. The most salient work to date is the monograph by Faruk Sümer, Kara Koyun- lular, Ba§langiçtan Cihan-§ah‘a kadar (Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basimevi, 1967). See also Faruk Sümer, “Kara-Koyunlular,” in Islâm Ansiklopedisi (Istanbul, 1940-70), 9:292-305. For studies in English see, The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Karâ-Koyunlu” (by F. Sümer); Hans Robert Roemer, “The Türkmen Dynasties,” in Cambridge History of Iran, vol. 6, The Timurid and Safavid Periods, ed. Peter Jackson and Laurence Lockhart (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 147-87. See also the following studies of Vladimir Minorsky, “The Clan of the Qara Qoyunlu Rulers,” in The Turks, Iran, and the Caucuses in the Middle Ages (London: Variorum Reprints, 1978), 391-95; “Jihân-shâh Qara-Qoyunlu and His Poetry,” 271-97; and “The Qara-Qoyunlu and the Qutb-Shâhs (Turk- menica, 10),” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 17, no. 3 (1955): 50-73.

[414] Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï, Rauzat al-jinan 1:89.

[415] Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï, Rauzat al-jinan 1:89.

[416] Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï, Rauzat al-jinan 1:90. The use of the word “zimma” or “dhimmat” by Karbalâ’ï-Tabrïzï could be an indication that legal decisions involving the non-Muslim members of the royal family—perhaps the Christians from Trabzon (i.e., relatives of Üzün Hasan’s wife, Theodora Komnene)—were rendered at some point.

[417] For a description of the duties of the mihmandar, see The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Mihmindâr” (by A. Saleh).

[418] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:90.

[419] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:90.

[420] For a description of the duties of the ilchi, see Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Elci” (by David O. Morgan); and Doerfer, Türkische und mongolische Elemente 2:203-7.

[421] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:90. As mentioned, the eagerness of Mehmed II to receive Naqshbandi shaikhs could be explained by their reputation as experts in the teachings of Ibn al-'Arabi and their knowledge of the Masnavi by Rümi. On this, see Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 35.

[422] Fakhr al-Din 'Alt, Rashahat-i 'ain al-hayat 1:263.

9 ³ Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:90.

[424] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:90.

[425] See the edited letter contained in L. Fekete, Einführung in die persische Palaographie: 101 persische Dokumente, ed. G. Hazai (Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1977), 225-28. The military governor is a certain Sinan Pasha. For information on the duties of the beglerbegt, see Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “beglerbegi” (by Peter Jackson); and Doerfer, Türkische und mongolische Elemente 2:406-10.

[426] Fekete, Einführung in die persische Palaographie, 226.

[427] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:91.

[428] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:91.

[429] For a description of the dedication ceremony at which Ya'qüb donned his father’s exquisite robes in an obvious gesture of royal investiture, see Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:91. On the construction, functions, and eventual demolition of the Nasriyya complex, see Charles Melville, “Historical Monuments and Earthquakes in Tabriz,” Iran 19 (1981): 171.

[430] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:92. The sites that Darvish Qâsim visited included the Hâ’iri enclosure at the shrine of Husain in Karbala, the Kâzimain shrine complex near Baghdad which honors the Seventh Imam, Müsâ al-Kâzim, and his grandson, the Ninth Imam, Muhammad al-Taqi, and the 'Askarain shrines in Samarra honoring 'Ali al-Hâdi, the Tenth Imam, and his son, Hasan al-'Askari, the Eleventh Imam. For a description of these shrines and their significance to Shi'ism, see Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shi'i Islam: The History and Doctrines of Twelver Shi'ism (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1985), xx, 40, and 44.

[431] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:92.

[432] For a study of Uvaisiyya Sufis, see Julian Baldick, Imaginary Muslims: The Uwaysi Sufis of Central Asia (London: I. B. Tauris, 1993). See also A. S. Husaini, “Uways al-Qarani and the Uwaysi Sufis,” The Moslem World 57 (1967): 103-114. For a critique of Baldick’s thesis and his use of the term “Uvaisl” see the following studies by Devin DeWeese, An Ways?Sufi in the TimuridMawarannahr; and “The Tadhkira-i Bughra-khan and the 'Uvaysi’ Sufis of Central Asia: Notes in Review of Imaginary Muslims,” Central AsiaticJournal 40, no. 1 (1996): 87-127. There is no reason to discount the possibility that Darvish Qâsim may have claimed to have received his spiritual training remotely. As J. Ter Haar has observed, “Many a Naqshbandi is reported to have been an Uwaysi, that is a mystic who was not (only) initiated by a living, physically present Shaykh, but (also) by the ‘spirituality’ or ‘spiritual presence’ (ruhaniyyat) of a deceased Shaykh or even by Khidr.” Ter Haar also notes that according to Khvâja Muhammad Pârsâ (d. 822/1420), who was a disciple of Bahâ’ al-Din Naqshband, many Naqshbandi shaikhs walked “the path of the Uvaisls” (tarlqa-i Uvaislyan). For a reference, see Johan G. J. Ter Haar, “The Importance of the Spiritual Guide in the Naqshbandi Order,” in The Heritage of Sufism, Vol. 2, The Legacy of Medieval Persian Sufism (1150-1500), ed. Leonard Lewisohn (Oxford: Oneworld, 1999), 312.

[433] Based on the description given by Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, the Türkman (az ta'fa-i turkman) soldier could have been a Qizilbâsh tribesman. For example, the Rauzat al-jinan says that local residents nick-named the soldier “Mahdi” because of his exaggerated passion (ghuluv-ijazba) and for his ecstatic ravings (shath) which frequently lead him to declare: “I am [the] Mahdi!” For a reference, see Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:92-93.

[434] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:94. In Persian: ku az barayi man In tur margi?

[435] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:94.

[436] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:95.

[437] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:95 In Persian: padishah bi dast-i khüd zakhmi chand bi vay mizanad.

[438] Giosafat Barbaro, I viaggi in Persia degli ambasciatori veneti Barbaro e Contarini, ed. L. Lockhart et al. (Rome: Instituto Polografico dello Stato, 1973), 170. For an English translation, see “Travels of Josafa Barbaro,” trans. William Thomas, in Travels to Tana and Persia, ed. Lord Stanley of Alderley (New York: Burt Franklin, 1873), 100.

[439] Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.vv. “Barbaro, Giosafat” (by A. M. Piemontese) and “Italy, iv. Travel Accounts” (by Michele Bernadini).

[440] An observation first made by Algar, “Present State of Naqshbandi Studies,” 45.

[441] Giosafat Barbaro, Iviaggi in Persia, 100.

[442] Giosafat Barbaro, I viaggi in Persia, 100.

[443] The reference could thus be understood in the sense of “the treasurer of the private matters of the king.”

[444] Giosafat Barbaro, I viaggi in Persia, 170. In Italian: “Te basta l’animo di comandar contra el mio comandamento? Orsù, che’l sia morto.”

[445] Giosafat Barbaro, Iviaggi in Persia, 170. In Italian: “. . . et subito fu morto.”

[446] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:95.

[447] Karbalâ’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:95.

[448] Karbala’i-Tabrizi, Rauzat al-jinan 1:95. Before concluding his notice on Darvish Qasim, Karbala’i-Tabrizi puts a cabalistic twist on the hijri year, 891, of the death of the Naqshbandi shaikh by mentioning the fact that Darvish Qasim prefaced all his written correspondances with the pious invocation (daVat) “huwwa al-fayyaz” (He is the Effulgent one), which also happened to be Darvish Qasim’s nick-name (“Fayyaz”). The word fayyaz, Karbala’i-Tabrizi notes, has a numerical value of 891.

[449] Giosafat Barbaro, I viaggi in Persia, 170.

[450] Giosafat Barbaro, I viaggi in Persia, 170. The indemnity was an unspecified sum of gold. See Woods, Aqquyunlu, 141.

[451] Woods, Aqquyunlu, 141. On the ostentatiousness of the Hasht bihisht palace, see the numerous references given by Woods, Aqquyunlu, 272 n. 53.

[452] Any offender caught by the officers of the sharia (shihna-i shariat) was to have “molten lead poured down his throat.” For a reference, see Khunji-Isfahani, Alam-ara-yi amini, 325.

[453] A distance of some 920 miles (1,500 kilometers).

[454] Ya'qüb to Jami, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-i Jami, 303-4 (letter no. 15).

[455] It is debatable whether this was part of a larger interest on the part of Ya'qüb in the Naqshbandi tariqa or if it was simply a means of ingratiating himself to Jami.

[456] Ya'qüb to Jami, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-iJami, 304.

[457] The phrase, auliya’i taht qibabt, is an abbreviated hadith qudsi which reads, “Verily My saints are under My domes, and only I know them.” On how this hadith reflects God’s reluctance to reveal the identies of His saints, see Schimmel, Mystical Dimmensions, 202-3. The second expression is drawn from the Qur’anic verse (58:22): aulalka kataba fi qulubihum al-iman, and is especially relevant in light of the Naqshbandi practice of binding a Divine name onto (the heart of) a ruler.

[458] See Qur’an 38:71.

[459] Ya'qüb to Jami, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha’at-ijami, 304.

[460] Ya'qüb to Jami, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha’at-ijami, 304.

[461] Fourteen of Jami’s qasidas that are contained in his Divan were replies to Ya'qüb. For a reference, see Jami, Diva.11-i.jami. 1:680.

[462] Jami to Ya'qüb, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-i jami, 281 (letter no. 422).

[463] Jami to Üzün Hasan, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-i jami, 239-40 (letter no. 385). In Persian: padishah-ijahan-panah; sultan al-ghuzatwa al-mujahidin; and shahryar-i ma'dalat shi'ar, respectively. In addition to Üzün Hasan and Ya'qüb, Jami addressed personal letters to Jahanshah Qara Qoyünlü, Sultan-Husain Bayqara, Mehmed II, Bayizid II (d. 918/1512), and Shams al-Din Lashkari Muhammad (d. 886/1482), leader of the Bahmanid kingdom in the Deccan. See Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-i Jami, 239-40 (letter no. 385); 269-70 (letter no. 409); 271-74 (letters no. 412, 413); 278-79 (letters no. 417, 418); 281-82 (letter 424); 281-83 (letters no. 423, 425).

[464] On how the center of a circle symbolized key aspects of medieval Sufi thought, see William C. Chittick, “The Circle of Spiritual Ascent According to Al-Qünawi,” in Neoplatonism and Islamic Thought, ed. Parviz Morewedge (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1992), 179-209, esp. 188-92.

[465] Jami to Ya'qüb, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-iJami, 281.

[466] It is difficult to imagine that this statement is not an allusion to silent zikr (or zikr-i khafi), a hallmark of Naqshbandi devotional practice, and the importance of the 112th chapter of the Qur’an, sürat al-ikhlas. This importance is reflected in the fact that among the proto-Naqshbandis (i.e., the Khvajagan), süra 112 was to be recited 1,001 times as part of their daily zikr exercises. For a reference, see Meier, Zwei Abhandlungen, 194 and 195 n. 1.

137 On the frequent use of cloud imagery by Jami, see Reza Feliz, “Le symbolisme de la nuée (al-ama’) dans le soufisme d’après un texte inédit de Jami,” Luqman 15, no. 2 (1999): 57-64. On the image of the lily as a represention of a Sufi engaged in silent zikr, see Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, 172 and 308.

138Jami to Ya'qüb, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-iJaml, 281.

139 Jami to Ya'qüb, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-i Jaml, 281. In Persian: na-khamush na-güya chü küh az sada.

140 Meier, Zwei Abhandlungen, 42. The unity between master and murld is described in the Kashf al-mahjub by Hujviri where a shaikh tells his adept: “To traverse distance is child’s play: henceforth pay visits by means of thought; it is not worthwhile to visit any person, and there is no virtue in bodily presence.” Hujviri, Kashf al-Mahjúb, 225; and Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, 206.

^{^[468]} Gazurgahi, Majalis al-Ushshaq, 324. These verses also appear in Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Sami, 25; and Fakhri Haravi, Tazkira-i Rauzat al-salatin, 65.

[469] It should be noted that Ahlï Shïrazï probably never left his native Shiraz. See Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Ahlï Sïrazï, Mowlana Mohammad” (by W. Thackston).

[470] Losensky, “Shahïdï Qumï,” 282. For a detailed study of the life and literary output of Hatifï, see 'Abd Allah Hatifï, I Sette Scenari, ed. Michele Bernardini (Naples: Istituto Universitario Orientale Napoli, Dipartimento di Studi Asiatici, 1995), 11-20.

[471] The primary collected work of Ahlï Shïrazï is the Kulliyat-i ash.‘ar-i Maulana Ahll Shlrazl. For biographical information on Ahlï, see Sam Mïrza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Sami, 177. See also the following modern studies: Kausar, “Ahlï Shïrazï,” 115-39; Ehsan Yar-shater, “Timurid Poetry in the Timurid and Safavid Periods,” in The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 6, The Timurid and Safavid Periods (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 985; and Losensky, Welcoming Fighanl, 160-64, 260-65, and 267-74. On Shah Qulï Beg, see Davanï, Arz-sipah-i Uzün Hasan, 28-29; Khunjï-Isfahanï, Álam-ara-yi amlni, 388.

[472] Ahli, Kulliyat, 575, lines 11509-11512. This could also be an allusion to Ya'qüb’s muqarrab and boon companion (and cousin of Qazi 'Isa Savaji), Najm al-Din Mas'üd.

[473] Ahli, Kulliyat, 560.

[474] The Pürnak or “Pirnik” were the only Türkmen clan to intermarry with the paramount Bayandur ruling house during the formative years of the empire. Üzün Hasan rewarded the loyalty of the Pürnak by allowing them to monopolize provincial rule in Fars where Mansür Beg and his son, Qasim Beg, ruled with virtual independence from 900/1494 to 907/1501. See Woods, Aqquyunlu, 194-95.

[475] In all likelihood, Bahram va Bihrüz was composed after Bana’i’s service to Ya'qüb, since he speaks of the death of the ruler. See Storey, Persian Literature: Bio-bibliographical Survey 1:302.

[476] On Shams al-Din Muhammad Lahiji, see The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Lahidji, Shams al-Din Muhammad b. Yahya Gilani” (by A. H. Zarrinkoob). For a discussion

of the letters Lahiji addressed to Àq Qoyünlü notables, see Dunietz, “Qadi Husayn Maybudi,” 148-49.

[478] See Shahzad Bashir, “After the Messiah: The Nürbakhshiyyeh in Late Timurid and Early Safavid Times,” in Society and Culture in the Early Modern Middle East: Studies on Iran and the Safavid Period, ed. Andrew J. Newman (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 300-301.

[479] Bashir, “After the Messiah,” 301.

[480] The letter of invitation is contained in 'Abd al-Husain Nava’i, Asnad va mukatibat-i tarlkhl-yi Iran (Tehran: Bungah-i Tarjuma va Nashr-i Kitab, 1341/1962), 403-5.

[481] Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Bana’i Heravi, Kamal-al-Din Sir-'Ali” (by Z. Safa).

[482] On how this dispute reflected the larger Perso-Turkic sociocultural concerns of the Timurids, see Maria E. Subtelny, “Scenes from the Literary Life of Timürid Herat,” in Logos Islamikos: Studia Islamica in Honorem Georgii Michaelis Wickens, ed. Roger M. Savory and Dionisius A. Aguis (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1984), 147-48.

[483] For a translation of the sarcastic retort of Bana’i to Mir 'Ali Shir, see Subtelny, “Scenes from the Literary Life of Timürid Herat,” 148.

[484] For references to a MS copy of the Dlvan of Shahidi Qumi, which is held in the Dar al-Kutub in Cairo, see Losensky, “Shahidi Qumi,” 300.

[485] Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Sami, 185. See also Losensky, “Shahidi Qumi,” 285.

[486] 'Ali Shir Navâ’i, [‘Alisher Navoii], Mazholisun nafois [Majalis al-nafa’is], [Chaghatay], ed. Suiima Ghanieva (Tashkent: Üzbekiston SSR Fanlar akademiiasi nashriëti, 1961), 190. See also Losensky, Welcoming Fighani, 23-24.

[487] Qazvini, Hasht bihisht, 296.

[488] Algar, “Naqshbandis and Safavids,” 38 n. 44.

[489] Like Bana’i, Shahidi Qumi remained in the service of Ya'qüb until the death of the latter in 896/1490, whereupon he left for India, settled in Gujarat, and died in 935/1528-29 at the age of 100. See Losensky, “Shahidi Qumi,” 283.

[490] Fighani’s original nom de plume was Sakkaki, meaning “cutler.”

[491] Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Sami, 176.

[492] Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Sami, 176.

[493] Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Sami, 193.

[494] Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Sami, 176.

[495] Losensky, Welcoming Fighani, 39.

[496] On the sabk-i Hindi movement and the rise of the neo-classical bazgasht-i adabi or “literary return” movement in reaction to it, see Aziz Ahmad, “The Formation of Sabk-i Hindi,” in Iran and Islam: In Memory of V- Minorsky, ed. C. E. Bosworth (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1971), 1-9; Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Bazgast-e Adabi,” (by William L. Hanaway, Jr.); The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd ed., s.v. “Sabk-i Hindi” (by J. T. P. de Bruijn); and Losensky, Welcoming Fighani, 3-7. On modern controversies surrounding the artistic merits of the poetry produced during this period, see Ehsan Yarshater, “Safavid Literature: Progress or Decline,” Iranian Studies, 7 (1974): 217-70. Reprinted as “The Indian or Safavid Style: Progress or Decline?” in Persian Literature, ed. E. Yarshater (New York: Bibliotheca Persica, 1988), 249-88.

[497] Losensky, Welcoming Fighani, 37, 41, and 45.

[498] Khunji-Isfahani, 'Àlam-ara-yi amini, 250-51.

[499] Khunji-Isfahani, 'Àlam-ara-yi amini, 250.

[500] Khunji-Isfahani, 'Àlam-ara-yi amini, 251. This same intermediary, Hafiz “Shams al-Din” Muhammad, is mentioned in a letter that Ya'qüb addressed to Jami, the gist of which is a request by Ya'qüb for more poetry from Jami. See Ya'qüb to Jami, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha'at-ijami, 306-7 (letter no. 18).

[501] Khunji-Isfahani, 'Àlam-ara-yi amini, 251.

[502] Ya'qüb to Jami, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-iJaml, 307.

[503] Ya'qüb to Jami, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-iJaml, 307.

[504] Ya'qüb to Jami, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-iJaml, 307. For a judicious treatment of these visionary cycles, see Henry Corbin, Avicenne et le récit visionnaire, 2 vols. (Tehran, Paris: Institut Franco-Iranien, 1952-54).

[505] Ya'qüb to Jami, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-i Jaml, 307. In Persian: hamvara mutaraqib nazar-i mahabba va i'tiqad anka bi iblagh-i nasa'ih-i hidayat ayat va lrad-i basharat-i isharat wa al-tanblhat ln javanibra mazkür darand.

[506] For a detailed account of the incident, which seems to have been a premeditated effort to discredit the leader of the delegation, Sayyid (also Amir) Kamal al-Din Husain Abivardi, see Khvandamir, Hablb al-siyar 4:450-51. The collection is referred to as the “Kulliyaf of Jami in the Hablb al-siyar.

[507] Qazvini, Hasht bihisht, 297, 300-312 (nos. 339, 346-85).

[508] Qazvini, Hasht bihisht, 300-312. According to their notices, the following poets resided in Shiraz or other Àq Qoyünlü territories: Maulana Huma’i; Maulana Yari; Maulana Miraki [or Mirki]; Maulana Fazl Allah; Maulana Mu‘in Mi‘mari [a relative of the Àq Qoyünlü katib, Khvaja Muzaffar (or Muzfir) Mi‘mar]. For references, see Qazvini, Hasht bihisht, 298-99.

[509] Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Sami, 251, 357-58, and 376. For a reference to a certain Khata’i Tabrizi, who dedicated a masnavi in Azari Turkish entitled, Yusuf va Zulaikha, to Ya‘qüb, see, Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Azerbaijan, x. Azeri Turkish Literature in Iran” (by H. Javadi; K. Burrill).

[510] Fakhri Haravi, Lata’if-nama, 118-20.

[511] Losensky, Welcoming Fighani, 24.

[512] For reference to this antagonism in the later tazkiras, see Losensky, Welcoming Fighani, 34.

[513] Khunji-Isfahani, 'Àlam-ara-yi amini, 352.

[514] Khunji-Isfahani, Àlam-ara-yi amini, 352.

[515] Fakhri Haravi, Lata’if-nama, 119.

[516] Gustav Flügel, Die arabischen, persischen, und türkischen Handschriften derKaiserlich- Koniglichen Hof-Bibliothek zu Wien, 3 vols. (Vienna: K. K. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, 1865), 1:575-76. The first twenty-six pages of the Divan contain ghazals by Qâzï ‘Isâ while the remaining two pages include comments and a conclusion which was written in a different hand. A sketch portrait of Qâzï ‘Isâ and Najm al-Dïn Mas'üd also appears in the MS, which contains the completion date of 912/1506, or fifteen years after the death of Qâzï ‘Isâ. An edition of the Divan, based on a MS attributed to Idrïs Bidlïsï, along with the poetry of Najm al-Dïn Mas'üd, was recently published in Iran. See Idrïs b. ‘Alï Bidlïsï, Divan-i du sarayanda az qarn-i nuhum: Qazi 'Isa Savaji va Shaikh Najm al-Din Mas'üd, ed. Amïna Mahallâtï (Tehran: Kitâbkhâna, Müza va Markaz-i Asnâd-i Majlis-i Shürâ-yi Islâmï, 1390/2012).

[517] Minorsky, “Aq-Qoyunlu and Land Reforms,” 452. See also Khunjï-Isfahânï, 'Alam-ara-yi amini, 357, where Khunjï-Isfahânï says that “the qazi nearly reached the position of a king (sahib takht).” On the position amir-i divan under the Àq Qoyünlü, see EncyclopaediaIranica, s.v. “Dïvân, iii. Government Office” (by C. Edmund Bosworth). See also, Ismâ'ïl Hasanzâda, Hukümat-i Turkmanan-i Qara Qoyünlü va Aq Qoyünlü dar Iran (Tehran: Sâzmân-i Mutâla'a va Tadvïn-i Kutub-i 'Ulüm-i Insânï-yi Dânishgâh-hâ, 1379/2000), 181-83.

[518] Maria Eva Subtelny, “Centralizing Reform and Its Opponents in the Late Timurid Period,” Iranian Studies 21, nos. 1-2 (1988): 128. See also Woods, Aqquyunlu, 144. Subtelny draws parallels between the aborted Àq Qoyünlü reforms of Qâzï 'Isâ and the similarly unsuccessful centralization attempted by the Timurid vazir, Khvâja Majd al-Dïn Muhammad (d. 899/1494).

[519] Khunjï-Isfahânï, 'Alam-ara-yi amlnl, 355. On how this tension was also evident in the socioeconomic reforms of the Timurids, see Subtelny “Centralizing Reform,” 126-27 aⁿd¹³4-³⁵.

[520] Khunjï-Isfahânï, Alam-ara-yi amlnl, 355. In a show of public protest, the chief qazl of Fars, Davânï, removed his white turban and refused to wear it again until the night of the death of Ya‘qûb. For a reference, see Woods, Aqquyunlu, 145.

[521] Khunjï-Isfahânï, 'Alam-ara-yi amlnl, 356.

[522] Khunjï-Isfahânï, 'Alam-ara-yi amlnl, 352.

[523] Khunjï-Isfahânï, 'Alam-ara-yi amlnl, 353-54.

[524] Qazvini, Hasht bihisht, 294. In Persian: bih hamshlra-i sultan Ya'qüb Beg Khan 'ashiql mlnamüd.

[525] Qazvini, Hasht bihisht, 294.

[526] The daughter of Üzün Hasan (i.e., Ya'qüb’s sister), Halima Begi Àgha (also referred to in the sources as 'Àlamshah Khatün), was given in marriage to Shaikh Haidar b. Junaid Safavi. At the time, Haidar was a young nephew of Üzün Hasan, but went on to transform the Safavids into a formidable corps of militant Sufis. As for the 'Abd al-Vahhab sayyids, the daughter of Ya'qüb’s younger brother, Yüsuf Mirza, was betrothed to Mir Siraj al-Din (also Nür al-Din) 'Abd al-Vahhab, who served as the shaikh al-Islam of Azerbaijan (Tabriz). For references, see Iskandar Beg Turkman Munshi, Tarlkh-i 'alam-ara-yi 'Abbasl, ed. îraj Afshar, 2 vols. (Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1334/1955-56), 151, 153. For an English translation, see Eskandar Beg Monshi, The History of Shah 'Abbas the Great: Tarlk-e 'alam-ara-ye 'Abbasl, trans. Roger M. Savory, 2 vols. (Boulder, CO.: Westview Press, 1988), 241 and 244. See also Khvandamir, Hablb al-siyar 4:608; Aubin, “Études safavides,” 57; and Maria Szuppe, “La participation des femmes de la famille royale à l’exercice du pouvoir en Iran safavide au XVI^e siècle,” pt. 2, Studia Iranica 24, no. 1 (1995): 62.

[527] In a similar case to that of Qazi 'Isa, Saljüqshah Begum (mother of Ya'qüb), convened a council of princes of the blood in order to prevent the widow of her eldest son, Sultan- Khalil, from remarrying. Her suitor was Husain Chalabi, who was a disciple of the Khalvati shaikh 'Umar Raushani and the brother of Üzün Hasan’s vazlr, Qazi Hasan. According to the Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenl, the Queen Mother opposed the union because of Husain Chalabi’s rank as a “commoner” (bir ra'iyat) and conspired to have the couple murdered. See Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülçenl, 93-94; cited in Woods, Aqquyunlu, 16.

[528] Qazvini, Hasht bihisht, 294.

[529] Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülseni. 81.

[530] Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülsent, 81.

[531] Gulshani Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülseni. 81.

[532] Khunji-Isfahani, Alam-ara-yi amlnl, 293. See also the prevalence of mystical themes and terminology in the letters that Najm al-Din addressed to Jami, in Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha‘at-iJaml, 312-13 (letters no. 23, 24, 25, and 26).

[533] Khunji-Isfahani, Alam-ara-yi amlnl, 293-94. For the passages from the Masnavl, see Rümi, Mathnawí, bk. 5, lines 3677-89.

[534] Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülsent, 68. Discussed in Dunietz, “Qadi Husayn Maybudi,” 135.

[535] Dunietz, “Qadi Husayn Maybudi,” 135.

[536] Gulshani, Menakib-i Ibrahlm-i Gülseni. 68; and Dunietz, “Qadi Husayn Maybudi,” 136. In Arabic: 'adlu sa'atin khairu min 'ibadati sabana sanatin. This hadith is found in such Perso-Islamic mirrors for princes as Ghazali, Naslhat al-mulük, 15 (trans. 14). It also appears in his Klmiya-yi sa'adat and the Ihya‘ ulüm al-dln. For references, see Ghazali, Ghazali’s Book of Counsel, 14 n. 2.

[537] Gulshanï, Menakib-i Ibrahim-i Gülseni. 81-82. If we accept that such samplings reflect actual events, then the following verses of Qâzï ‘îsâ, could be allusions to his marriage and the objections of certain members of the Bâyandur clan. Take, for example, the following matla" which is cited in the Hasht bihisht (p. 294):

In the tenth month of the solar year the friend gave [her] vow,

And I stitched my eyes to the path.

I made my heart like kabob,

But [she] did not come, so I burned.

The six other matlas quoted by Qazvïnï are similarly plaintive and reflect Qâzï ‘îsâ’s wish to be reunited with his beloved. See also this introductory verse from the Tuhfa-i Sami (p. 118):

I do not bring [her] name to my tongue, but when I speak of my heartache, Everyone knows that I speak of the injustice of that vow-breaker.

[538] Gâzurgâhï, Majalis al-'ushshaq, 324.

[539] Gâzurgâhï, Majalis al-’ushshaq, 324; Sâm Mïrzâ, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Sami, 25; and Fakhrï Haravï, Tazkira-i Rauzat al-salatin, 65. Kamâl al-Dïn Gâzurgâhï claims that the verses were originally his. Also note that since Sufis use ribat in the sense of a “Sufi lodge,” there is a mystical significance to Ya'qüb’s wandering in the “desert of non-existence” (i.e., the annihilation of the ego-self).

^{^[540]} Gâzurgâhï, Majalis a.l-‘ush.sh.aq. 324.

[541] Gâzurgâhï, Majalis al-'u.sh.sh.aq, 324.

[542] Woods, Aqquyunlu, 145-47.

[543] For reference to an illustrated MS copy of the Majalis al-'ushshaq, a miniature painting of which depicts a circle of courtiers weeping around Ya'qüb, see B. W. Robinson, A Descriptive Catalogue of the Persian Paintings in the Bodleian Library (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958), 102.

[544] Gâzurgâhï, Majalis al-'ushshaq, 323. See also Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Gâzorgâhï, Mïr Kamâl-al-Dïn Hosayn” (by Shiro Ando). Kamâl al-Dïn Gâzurgâhï eventually left Àq Qoyünlü territory for Herat where he lived as a dervish and studied under Jâmï.

[545] Gâzurgâhï, Majalis al-'ushshaq, 324.

[546] Gâzurgâhï, Majalis al-'ushshaq, 324.

[547] Fakhrï Haravï, Tazkira-i Rauzat al-salatln, 65-66.

[548] Fakhri Haravi, Tazkira-i Rauzat al-salatln, 65.

[549] Fakhri Haravi, Tazkira-i Rauzat al-salatln, 66; and Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Saml, 25. For evidence that the Âq Qoyünlü, particularly Üzün Hasan, held the Mamluks, specifically Qayit Bay, as inferior, see Melvin-Koushki, “The Delicate Art of Aggression,” 193-214.

[550] Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Saml, 24.

[551] Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Saml, 24.

[552] Losensky, Welcoming Fighanl, 67-68.

[553] Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Saml, 24.

[554] One of the more salacious accounts is provided by the Mamluk chronicler Ibn al-Himsi, who alleges that a drunken Ya'qüb killed the Queen Mother after she rebuked him for carrying on a homosexual affair. Wanting to avenge her murder, Yüsuf confronted Ya'qüb but was slain as well. Woods, Aqquyunlu, 145-47.

[555] Sam Mirza, Tazkira-i Tuhfa-i Saml, 24.

[556] Qazvini, Lubb al-tavartkh, 365. It is interesting to note that the chronicle by Qazvini includes a eulogy to Ya'qüb that does not reflect the pejorative line usually espoused by the official Safavid histories.

^{^[557]} Jami, SA, 445, lines 1075-76.

[558] Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, 235.

[559] Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, 220.

[560] For a discussion of how this utterance underpinned much of the pre-Mongol Sufi rhetoric on master-disciple relations, see Ahmet T. Karamustafa, Sufism: The Formative Period (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007), 117.

[561] Rümï, Mathnawí, bk. 1, line 422.

[562] Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions, 101-4.

[563] On the subject of the Sufi shaikh or perfect saint in the poetry of Rümî, see Schimmel, Triumphal Sun, 313.

^{^[564]} Rümî, Mathnawí, bk. 1, lines 236-46.

[565] For a reference to these similarities, see Rümî, Mathnawí 7:14. Jamî, it is relevent to note, wrote a commentary, replete with terminology associated with Ibn al-‘Arabî and his followers, on the first two verses of the Masnavi, entitled, Risâla-i nâïya, also known as Nay-nâma. For a study of the Risâla-i nâïya, especially in its connection to Ibn al-‘Arabî and the Sufi conception of the Perfect Man, see Lloyd Ridgeon, “Naqshbandî Admirers of Rümî in the Late Timurid Period,” Mawlana Rumi Review 3 (2012): 146-56.

[566] For a perceptive study of these peculiarities, especially as they “subvert” the mystical masnavis of Hakîm Sanâ’î (d. ca. 1130) and ‘Attar, see Dick Davis, “Narrative and Doctrine in the First Story of Rümî’s Mathnawi,” in Studies in Islamic and Middle Eastern Texts and Translations: In Memory of Norman Calder, ed. G. R. Hawting, J. A. Mojaddedi, and A. Samely (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 93-104.

[567] Masnavis written according to the various ramal metres were typically Sufi-themed and/or didactic. See Johannes T. P. de Bruijn, “The Individuality of the Persian Metre khaftf,” in Arabic Prosody and Its Applications in Muslim Poetry, ed. Lars Johanson and Bo Utas (Stockholm: Swedish Research Institute in Istanbul, 1994), 37. See also ‘Abbas Mahyar, Aruz-ifârsi: shiva-i nau barâ-yi âmuzish-i 'aruz va qâfiya (Tehran: Nashr-i Qatra, 1373/1994), 61-62. Salâmân va Absâl also bears many similarities to Nizamî’s “Tale of Archimedes with a Chinese slave-girl,” which appears in the Iskandar-nâma in the section entitled Iqbâl-nâma. According to Nizamî’s tale, the incurable obsession of a king for his slave-girl is alleviated by a mysterious teacher (traditionally understood to be Aristotle), who administers a potion to the girl and causes her beauty to vanish, thus allowing the king to regain his

attentiveness to the affairs of state. See Nizami, Kulliyat-i Khamsa-i Hakim Nizami Ganjavi, ¹¹93-9_⁶.

12Jami, SA, 491, lines 562-64. For the couplet in question, see Rumi, Mathnawi, bk. 1, line 136.

13Jami, SA, 419, lines 562 and 564. On the prevalence of intellectual elitism among medieval Muslim writers who tended toward esotericism, see Nikki Keddie, “Symbol and Sincerity in Islam,” Studia Islamica 19 (1963): 27-63, esp. 33-34, 47-48.

14 Jami, SA, 419, lines 562-63.

15 Although sirr literally means “secret” it is often employed as a technical term in Sufism to denote an “innermost consciousness” or “innermost being.” For a reference, see Shigeru Kamada, “A Study of the Term Sirr (Secret) in Sufi Lata’if Theories,” Orient 19 (1-983): 7²8.

16 Rümi, Mathnawi, bk. 1, lines 36-77 and 169-201.

[569] Fire is a pure and purifying element in Zoroastrianism. See Boyce, History of Zoroastrianism 2:51-53.

[570] Seyyed Hossein Nasr, “Theoretical Gnosis and Doctrinal Sufism and Their Significance Today,” Transcendent Philosophy 1 (2005): 16. See also Chittick, “Perfect Man,” 140; and Hamid Algar, “Reflections of Ibn ‘Arabi in Early Naqshbandî Tradition,” Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society 10 (1981): 56; and Ridgeon, “Naqshbandi Admirers of Rümi,” 138, 145-46, and 152.

^{^[571]} For an exposition of the long chapter on love in the al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, i.e., chapter 178 (of 560), see William C. Chittick, “The Divine Roots of Human Love,” Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society 17 (1995): 55-78. For a French translation of the chapter on love, see Ibn al-'Arabi, Traité de l’amour, trans. Maurice Gloton (Paris: Albin Michel, 1986).

[572] Ibn al- Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, 4 vols (Beirut: Dar Sadir, 1968), 2:327; and Henry Corbin, Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn Arabl, trans. Ralph Manheim (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997), 149.

[573] Ibn al-‘Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya 2:332; and Corbin, Alone with the Alone, 149. See also Chittick, “Divine Roots of Human Love,” 64-65.

[574] Ibn al-‘Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya 2:324 and 2:326; and Corbin, Alone with the Alone, 147 and 149.

[575] Ibn al-‘Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya 2:322. On this and other hadtth mentioned in connection with the writings of Ibn al-‘Arabi on love, see Claude Addas, “The Experience and Doctrine of Love in Ibn ‘Arabi,” Journal of the Muhyiddin Ibn 'Arabi Society 32 (2002): 32-33. See also Chittick, “Divine Roots of Human Love,” 55-56.

[576] Jami, SA, 435, lines 856-62.

[577] On the paradox of God’s jealousy (ghairat), out of which He smashes other objects of worship while maintaining veils which prevent others from knowing His essence, see Chittick, Sufi Path of Love, 304-5. See also Mahdi Tourage, Ruml and the Hermeneutics of Eroticism (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 47-51.

[578] Jami, SA, 435, lines 863-68.

[579] Ibn al-'Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya 2:324; and Corbin, Alone with the Alone, 147.

[580] Ibn al-'Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya 2:331; and Corbin, Alone with the Alone, 115 and 161. See also Chittick, Sufi Path of Knowledge, 127-30.

[581] Corbin, Alone with the Alone, 151.

[582] Subtelny, Le monde est un jardin, 129-30.

[583] For a discussion of the “Eighth Clime” and the central place its highest peak, the cosmic mountain Qaf, occupies in mystical visions, see Henry Corbin, The Voyage and the Messenger: Iran and Philosophy, trans. Joseph Rowe (Berkeley and Los Angeles: North Atlantic Books, 1998), 73-84.

[584] Subtelny, Le monde est un jardin, 152.

[585] Many Sufis associate the 'alam al-misal with the “meeting-place of the two seas” mentioned in the Qur’an (18:60; 23:100; 25:53; and 55:20), while Twelver Shi'ites correlate it to the occult world ( 'alam al-ghaib) of the Hidden Imam. On this correlation, see Corbin, Voyage and the Messenger, 125; and Henry Corbin, Temple and Contemplation, trans. Phillip Sherrard and Liadain Sherrard (London: Islamic Publications, 1986), 266.

[586] Corbin, Alone with the Alone, 151, 154, and 156.

[587] A requirement discussed in the Fawaïh al-jamal wa fawatih al-jalal by Najm al-Din Kubra. For a reference, see Corbin, Man of Light, 67, 151 n. 69.

[588] On the role of the senses in visionary experience, see Subtelny, “Visionary Rose,” 13-34, esp. 23-24.

[589] Jami, SA, 441, lines 989-90.

[590] Jâmî, SA, 442, lines 997-1000.

[591] Jâmî, SA, 442, lines 999-1000. This calls to mind the image of the parrot, a favorite symbol in Persian mystical poetry for the disciple whose master teaches him to speak (the language of the birds) by situating a mirror (i.e., the mirror of the heart of the shaikh) in front of him. On this image in the poetry of Rûmî, see Schimmel, Triumphal Sun, 116 and 119.

[592] Jâmî, SA, 442, lines 1001-4.

[593] Jâmî, SA, 443, lines 1014-17.

[594] On the interpretations of the concept offana’ba'dal-baqa’, see Reynold A. Nicholson, The Mystics of Islam (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1966), 148-68.

[595] Jami, SA, 443, line 1017. In Persian: husn-i baqi did va az faniparid.

[596] See William C. Chittick, Imaginal Worlds: Ibn al-‘Arabi and the Problem of Religious Diversity (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1994), 59.

[597] Northrop Frye, “Allegory,” in Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics, ed. Alex Preminger (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1974), 12.

[598] On the prevalence of this type of allegory in the late Middle Ages, see Ann W. Astell, Political Allegory in Late Medieval England (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1999).

[599] Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, 235.

[600] Hayden White, The Content of the Form: Narrative Discourse and Historical Representation (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987), 48.

[601] White, Content of the Form, 49.

5° Heath, Allegory and Philosophy, 193.

[603] Jami’s inclusion of a clue alerting his audience to read Salaman va Absal interpre- tively (i.e., historically) is consistent with the rhetoric of some allegorists who “conspire” with their elite or initiated audience by invoking the need to conceal the “true” significance of the secrets concealed in the tale. On the frequency of this practice, see Heath, Allegory and Philosophy, 198.

[604] Jami, SA, 419, lines 555-64.

[605] On the centrality of this spiritual technique to Naqshbandi doctrine and practice, see, Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet, 134-38; and Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 159.

[606] Jâmi, SA, 415, lines 468 and 478, which is followed by references (line 479) to the “seal of [Ya'qüb’s] kingship” and his “signet ring.”

[607] See Woods, Aqquyunlu, 125.

[608] Jâmi, SA, 419, lines 555-64.

[609] Jâmi, SA, 416-18, lines 490-98, 499-511, 512-24, 525-34, and 535-44 respectively.

[610] See, for example, Kay Kâ’üs, Qabus Nama, 128 (trans. 218).

[611] Jâmi, SA, 420-21, lines 577-604.

[612] Jâmi, SA, 421, lines 590 and 601.

[613] Jâmi, SA, 421, lines 590 and 596.

[614] Jami, St, 422-23, lines 623-24. According to Dick Davis, the implied horror of female sexuality, together with the poem’s florid descriptions of the beauty of Salaman, suggests that Salaman va Absal suffuses a homoerotic subtext. For a reference, see Dick Davis, “Persian Literature,” in The New Cambridge History of Islam, vol. 4, Islamic Cultures and Societies to the End of the Eighteenth Century, ed. Robert Irwin (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), 422. In a similar vein, Kamran Talattof characterizes Jami’s oeuvre as replete with negative generalizations of women; Salaman va Absal, he notes, best exemplifies Jami’s misogyny. See Kamran Talattof, “Nizami’s Unlikely Heroines: A Study of the Characterizations of Women in Classical Persian Literature,” in The Poetry of Nizami Ganjavi: Knowledge, Love, and Rhetoric, ed. Kamran Talattof and Jerome W. Clinton (New York: Palgrave, 2000), 69 and 73.

[615] Jami, SA, 424, line 642.

[616] Jami, SA, 424, line 644.

[617] Jami, SA, 424, lines 650-62.

[618] Jami, SA, 424, lines 653-54.

[619] Jâmi, SA, 424, lines 655-56. Ya'qüb’s habit of enjoying a “morning draught” (jâm-i sabüht) is alluded to in Khunji-Isfahâni, 'Alam-ârâ-yi amini, 322.

[620] On the long and detailed discussions of Muslim jurists concerning breastfeeding, see Avner Giladi, Infants, Parents and Wetnurses: Medieval Islamic Views on Breastfeeding and Their Social Implications (Leiden: Brill, 1999), esp. 68-114.

[621] Giladi, Infants, Parents and Wetnurses, 21-22, 70. See also Geert Jan van Gelder, Close Relationships: Incest and Inbreeding in Classical Arabic Literature (London: I. B. Tauris, 2005), 93-96.

[622] On the subject of Sufi poets of medieval Persia utilizing bawdy tales and pornographic imagery to communicate ethical information and esoteric secrets, see Tourage, Rümi and the Hermeneutics of Eroticism, 18-25 and 149-53.

[623] Interpreting the trope of incest as an allusion to an embarrassing historical event follows the approach taken by Abolala Soudavar, who, in his study of the Abü Sa'id-nâma, an illustrated copy of the Shâh-nâma written for the last Ilkhanid ruler, Abü Sa'id Bahâdur Khân (d. 736/1335), concluded that one of its images alludes to a “family secret,” namely that Jochí (d. 623/1226), the eldest “son” of Chinggis Khan and inheritor of the Qipchaq steppe territory, was a bastard child. See Abolala Soudavar, Decoding Old Masters: Patrons, Princes and Enigmatic Paintings of the 15th Century (London: I. B. Tauris, 2008), 129-30; and Soudavar, “The Saga of Abu-Sa'id Bahâdor Khan: The Abu-Sa'idnâmé,” in The Court of the Il-Khans, 1290-1340: The Cultural and Intellectual Milieu, ed. Julian Raby and Teresa Fitzherbert (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996), 101-2.

[624] Jami, SA, 437, lines 894-96.

[625] On the multiple roles and titles ascribed to Qazi 'îsa in the sources, including qazi 'askar (chief Islamic law judge) and vakil (deputy to the ruler), see Woods, Aqquyunlu, 269 n. 26.

[626] Jâmï, SA, 429, line 743.

[627] Jâmï, SA, 429, line 744.

[628] Khunjï-Isfahânï, 'Àlam-ara-yi amlnl, 251.

[629] Khunjï-Isfahânï, 'Àlam-ara-yi amlnl, 251.

[630] Jâmi, SA, 442, lines 1007-16.

[631] See Rümi, Mathnawí, bk. 1, line 535, which reads:

When a woman became pale-faced on account of her vile deed,

God transformed her into [the planet] Venus (zuhra).

[632] Boyce, History of Zoroastrianism 1:71-74, 2:29-31, 2:202-4, and 2:217-19. See also Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. “Anâhid” (by M. Boyce).

[633] On the desire of the soul to assimilate itself with the Intelligence above it, just as a disciple seeks to assimilate himself with his shaikh, see Corbin, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, 74.

82 See Meier, Zwei Abhandlungen über die Naqsbandiyya, 111-52.

[635] Le Gall, Culture of Sufism, 114.

[636] Fritz Meier, Meister und Schüler im Orden der Naqsbandiyya (Heidelberg: C. Winter, 1995), 11; Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet, 132. See also Dina Le Gall, “Kadizadelis, Nakçbendis, and Intra-Sufi Diatribe in Seventeenth-Century Istanbul,” The Turkish Studies Association Journal 28, no. 1-2 (2004): 13 n. 34. The first Naqshbandi figures to integrate rabita (and thus himmat) into the order’s repertoire of spiritual techniques were Ala’ al-Din ‘Attar (d. 802/1400) and (to a lesser extent) Ya'qüb-i Charkhi (d. ca. 851/1447). For a reference see Paul, Doctrine and Organization, 38-39, and 42-43. See also, Paul, “The Khwâjagân at Herat,” 231.

[637] Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet, 131.

[638] Fakhr al-Din ‘Ali, Rashahat-i 'ain al-hayat 2:500-501. See also Meier, Zwei Abhand- lungen über die Naqsbandiyya, 256; and Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet, 131 n. 1. The superiority of rabita (and thus himmat) is also attested to in a short treatise on the Naqshbandi order attributed to Jami. See Nûr al-Din ‘Abd al-Rahman Jami, Sar‘rishta-i tariqa-i Khvajagan, ed. ‘Abd al-Hayy Habibi (Kabul: Intisharat-i Anjuman-i Jami, 1343/1964), 15.

^{^[639]} Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet, 134-38.

^{^[640]} In Persian: vay-ra qibla-yi tavajjuh-i khüd sazad. Fakhr al-Din ‘Ali, Rashahat-i 'ain al-hayat 2:500. See also Michel Chodkiewicz, “Quelques aspects des techniques spirituelles dans la tariqa Naqshbandiyya,” in Naqshbandis: Cheminements et situation actuelle d’un ordre mystique musulman/Historical Developments and Present Situation of a Muslim Mystical Order, Actes de la Table Ronde de Sèvres/Proceedings of the Sèvres Round Table 2-4 mai/2-4 May 1985, ed. Marc Gaborieau, Alexander Popovic, and Thierry Zarcone (Istanbul: l’Institut Français d’Études Anatoliennes d’Istanbul, 1990), 70.

[641] Chodkiewicz, “Quelques aspects des techniques spirituelles,” 71.

[642] A term (televisual) borrowed from Shahzad Bashir, “Narrating Sight: Dreaming as Visual Training in Persianate Sufi Hagiography,” in Dreams and Visions in Islamic Societies, ed. Ozgen Felek and Alexander D. Knysh (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2012), 237.

[643] On the political implications of the Naqshbandi belief that a shaikh could direct his disciples without being physically present, see Paul, Doctrine and Organization, 75-76.

[644] The notion that reading one of Jami’s masnavis, in this case, Yüsufva Zulaikha, could provoke a mystical experience in the Sufi adept, is apparently attested to in the Maqamat-i Mahmüdiyya, a hagiographical biography of Khvaja Khavand Mahmüd (d. 1050/1642), a Naqshbandi in Mughal Kashmir, written by his son, Khvaja Mu'in al-Din (d. 1085/1674). For a reference, see David William Damrel, “Forgotten Grace: Khwâja Khâwand Mahmûd Naqshbandi in Central Asia and Mughal India,” (PhD diss., Duke University, 1991), 49-50.

[645] For examples, see Hikmat, Jami, 190; and Afsahzad, Naqd va bar rasi-yi asar va sharh-i ahval-iJami, 210-11.

[646] A view put forward but not developed in Woods, Aqquyunlu, 274 n. 73. See also Mayil Haravi, Jami, 173-77, who reckons that it was probably written sometime after 889/1484-85.

[647] On the role of repentance (tauba) in the initiatory rituals of the Naqshbandis, see Arthur F. Buehler, Sufi Heirs of the Prophet: The Indian Naqshbandiyya and the Rise of the Mediating Sufi Shaykh (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1998), 158-59.

[648] Jami, SA, 401, lines 212-15.

[649] Jami, SA, 401, line 200. As if to testify to Ya'qüb’s sobriety, the next two lines read:

The wine-cup, with all its water of joy,

Has remained dry-lipped and far from his assemblies.

The wine-jug, its belly void of that which is forbidden,

Betakes itself into a corner, just like ascetics of good repute.

[650] Jami, SA, 395, line 95. The couplet appears in a section entitled, “On praising the padshah, refuge of right religion, shadow of God in both worlds over the heads of the weak and dispossessed, may God, who is exalted, prolong his rule!”

[651] Jami, SA, 399-400, lines 170-89.

[652] Jami, SA, 400, lines 184-85.

[653] Jami, SA, 400, line 185. See also, Mayil Haravl, Jami, 175.

[654] Jami, SA, 398, line 141.

[655] Jami, SA, 398, lines 153-54.

104 Khunji-Isfahâni, Àlam-ara-yi amlnl, 251.

105 On the Tazkirat al-shuara, see Subtelny, “Poetic Circle,” 32-36.

106 See Daulatshâh, Tadkiratu ’sh-sluíarái. 483-93 and esp. 494. The Nafahat al-uns is a prose biography of Sufi saints and is patterned after the Tabaqat al-sUfiyya of Abü 'Abd al-Rahmân Sulami. See also Johann Cristoph Bürgel, “Gâmi’s Epic Poem on Alexander the Great: An Introduction,” Oriente moderno 15, no. 2 (1997): 419. Bürgel notes that in the Khirad-nama Iskandarl, Jâmi alludes to all of his other masnavls, except Salaman va Absal.

[657] For the transcribed and edited version of the letter, see Urunbaev and Rahmanov, Namaha va munsha’at-iJami, 281 (letter no. 422).

[658] The phrase in Arabic, which is not Qur’anic, is comparable to verses of the Hebrew Bible concerning Jacob (Ya'qûb), the Old Testament patriarch and Islamic prophet after whom Ya'qûb b. Üzûn Hasan was presumably named, specifically Psalm 46: 7 and 46: 11: “The God of Jacob is still our refuge.”

punishments. I take refuge in You from You. I cannot count the praises for You. You are as You have praised Yourself.”

[660] An allusion to Yamîn al-Dîn Abû al-'Izz Yûsuf Bahadur, Àq Qoyûnlû prince and younger brother of Ya'qûb.

[661] Q 12: 31.

[662] The constellation referred to in Persian as “Seven Thrones” or haft aurang.

^{^[663]} An allusion to the hadith qudsi: kuntu kanzan makhfiyyan.

[664] surat-i hal: the “appearance of the spiritual state” of Salaman and Absal.

[665] laisa min ahlika—Q 11: 46.

[666] This couplet does not appear in all MSS. See Jami, SA, 410 n. 1.

[667] “Yusuf” in some mss.

[668] naqshbandi.

[669] samo'.

[670] mïraj.

^{^[671]} Allah a'lam bi al-ssawab.

^{^[672]} I.e., The supplication, istighfar Allah (“I seek God’s forgiveness”), invoked in the form of a litany (vird) by Sufis, including Naqshbandis, during zikr.

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Politics, Poetry, and Sufism in Medieval Iran

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