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Nothing but the Truth: the Sufi Testament of `Aziz Nasafi

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Nothing but the Truth: the Sufi Testament of `Aziz Nasafi Nothing But The Truth: The Sufi Testament of `Aziz Nasafi Lloyd Ridgeon Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of PhD. Leeds University, Department of Modern Arabic Studies. March 1996 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. Lloyd V. J. Ridgeon. "Nothing But The Truth: The Sufi Testament of `Aziz Nasafi. " PhD, March 1996. `Aziz Nasafi is among the most important Islamic mystics of the medieval period. His achievement was to integrate various ideas, including those of Ibn `Arabi and Najm al-Din Kubrä into a coherent whole, providing Persian speaking Sufis with an introduction to the speculative and practical dimensions of Sufism. This thesis is an attempt to present Nasafi's main teachings. After introducing his life, times and works, the second chapter focuses upon ontology. This is the spine of Nasafi's treatises and it is based upon the Sufi interpretation of God's incomparability and similarity (tanzih wa tashbih) and His infinite self-disclosure which occurs within a form processed by the imagination. The second chapter investigates the different forms of knowledge available to Sufis, which includes sense perception, reason and mystical knowledge. Nasafi's presentation depicts all three in a hierarchical structure with Sufi knowledge at the pinnacle. Having discussed the theoretical nature of Sufism, chapter four deals with the practical element of Sufism and how it is able to contribute to felicity in this life. Having followed the Sufi path, it is possible that a wayfarer may experience unity with God. This is examined in chapter five, and Nasafi's description is compared with that of other Sufis in an attempt to show his "orthodox" position within Sufism. It is also argued that modern models of mystical experience do not fit Nasafi's depiction of tashbih-tanzih, and that one also needs to re-think the idea of perennial philosophy. Finally, the perfection of man is considered through examining the relationship between Prophecy and Friendship of God. Sufis interpreted Friendship as the interior element of Prophecy and were able to offer new insights to Islamic doctrine. 1 Contents Introduction 1 Chapter 1: The. Life, Times. and Works of `Aziz Nasafi 7 1: 1 The Life and Times of `Aziz Nasafi 8 1:2 Nasafi's Works 20 Chapter 2: Ontology 34 2: 1 `Aziz Nasafi's Six Ontological Faces 34 2: 1: 1 Incomparability and Similarity 35 2: 1:2 Nasafi's Six Faces 38 2: 1:3 The First Station 40 2: 1:4 The Second Station 42 2: 1:5 The Third Station 50 2: 1: 6 The Fourth Station 53 2: 1: 7 The Fifth Station 58 2: 1: 8 The Sixth Station 62 2: 1:9 Conclusion 66 2: 2 Nasafi and Imagination 69 2: 2: 1 Imagination and the Divine Presences 69 2: 2: 2 Imagination and the Return to God (ma `äd) 76 2: 2: 2: (I). Imagination and the Return According to the Transmigrationists 78 (H). Imagination and the Return According to the People of Unity 81 2: 3 Nasaf and Neoplatonic Ontology 85 ii 2: 3: 1 Similarities between Islam and Classical Neoplatonism 87 2: 3: 2 Differences between Sufism and Classical Neoplatonism 91 2: 3: 3 Conclusion 105 Chapter 3: Epistemology 106 3: 1: 1 Attaining Knowledge 106 3: 1:2 The Knowledge of the `Ulamä' 108 3: 1:3 The Knowledge of the Philosophers 111 3: 1:4 The Knowledge of the People of Unity 115 3: 2: 1 The Convergence of Hellenistic and Islamic 117 Epistemological Thought 3: 2: 2 The Outer and Inner Faculties of Perception 118 3: 3: 1 Mystical Knowledge 127 3: 3: 2 Dhikr (remembrance) 127 3: 3: 3 Fikr (reflection) 129 3: 3:4 Inspiration (ilhäm) 131 3: 3: 5 Contemplation (`iyän) 133 3: 3: 6 The Two Varieties of Mystical Wayfarer 135 3: 3: 7 Conclusion 136 Chapter 4: The Sufi Journey 138 4: 1: 1 Introduction: Felicity, the Goal of Sufism 138 4: 1:2 Felicity and Heaven 139 4: 1:3 The Path of Felicity 143 4: 1:3 (I) Abandonment 144 4: 1:3 (H) Gnosis of God 147 iii 4: 1:4 Conclusion 152 4: 2 The Sufi Path 153 4: 2: 1 The Order (ariga) 153 4: 2: 2 The Sufi Shaykh 158 4: 2: 3 Devotional Practices 166 4: 2: 4 Contemplative Discipline, the Mastering of One's 169 Soul and Other Sufi Practices Chapter 5: Visionary. Experience and Unity with God 176 5: 1 Types of Vision and Mystical Experience 176 5: 1: 1 The Journey to God Represented Through Symbols 176 5: 1:2 Visions of the Next World 179 5: 1:3 Encounters with Spirits, Future Events and Dreams 179 5: 1:4 The Different Levels of Mystical Experience as 182 Manifested Through Visions 5: 1:5 Conclusion 184 5: 2 The Vision of God 186 5: 2: 1 Variegation (talwin), Stability (tamkin) and 188 Creative Power (takwin) 5: 3 Spiritual Perfection and Creation 197 5:4 Describing the Mystical Experience 204 Chapter 6: The Perfection of Man: 214 The Concepts of Walayat and Nubuwwat 6: 1: 1 Introduction: The Spiritual Ascent 214 6: 1:2 Qualities of the Perfect Man 218 6: 2 The Superiority of Friendship Over Prophecy 224 iv 6:2: 1 Knowledge and Friendship 225 6: 3 The Superiority of Prophecy Over Friendship 230 6:4 Conclusion 235 6:5 The Friends of God as Heirs to the Prophets 237 6:5: 1 The Custodians of the Universe 238 6: 5: 2 Nasafi and Shi ism 244 6: 5: 3 The Political and Social Significance of Perfection 253 Conclusion 258 Bibliography 263 1 Introduction For more than three hundred years there has been an academic interest within the western world in a Persian speaking Sufi named `Aziz Ibn Muhammad al-Nasafi (known simply as `Aziz Nasafi). In 1665, a Turkish version of Nasafi's Magsad-i agsä along with a Latin translation was published) and this was followed in 1821 by F. Tholuck's handbook on "the pantheistic theosophy of the Persians. "2 The first English work on Nasafi appeared in 1867 when E. H. Palmer paraphrased the Magsad-i agsä under the title Oriental Mysticism3 and this book has been reprinted several times since then. During the twentieth century scholarship on Nasafi has improved somewhat, spearheaded by the efforts of Fritz Meier whose German articles were the first to concentrate upon Nasafi's ideas and writings. 4 The baton was taken on by M. Mole who edited two of Nasafi's treatises entitled "The Perfect Man" (al-Insän al-kämil) and "The Waystations of the Travellers" (Manäzil al-sä'irin). 5 Mole also included a fifty-seven page introduction in which he discussed some of the themes in Nasafi's theosophy as well as continuing Meier's investigation into manuscripts of Nasafi's works. Despite the auspicious beginnings in studies on Nasafi, until the middle of the twentieth-century, there was little development in the analysis of his theosophy, and no adequate translation of any of his works. Since Mole's studies, western scholars have only made brief references to Nasafi as an interpreter of Ibn `Arabi6 and this does not do 1 A. Mueller, Excerpta manuscripti cujusdam Turcici. (Coloniae Brandenburgicae: 1665). 2 F. A. G. Tholuck, Ssufismus sive theosophia Persarum Pantheistica, (Berlin: 1821). 3 E. H. Palmer, Oriental Mysticism: a Treatise on Suftistic and Unitarian Theosophy of the Persians, (London: 1867; second edition, 1938). 4 See "Das problem der natur im esoterischen Monismus des Islams, " Eranos-Jahrbuch 14 (1946), and "Die Schriften des 'Aziz-i Nasafi, " Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morganlandes 52 (1953). The first of these has been translated into English, see "The Problem of Nature in the Esoteric Monism of Islam, " Spirit and Nature: Papers from the Eranos Yearbook, ed. J. Campbell, ( New York: 1954). 5 Nasafi, Kitab al-Insän al-kamil, ed. M. Mole, (Tehran-Paris: Institut Franco-Iranien, 1962). This work also includes Nasafi's Manäzil al-sä'irin. Nasafi's al-Insän al-kämil has subsequently been translated into European languages several times. The first of these was Isabelle de Gastines's French rendition entitled Le Livre de l'Homme Parfait, (Paris: Fayard, 1984). My own English version was called The Perfect Man. (Niigata, Japan: The Institute of Middle Eastern Studies, 1992). There also exists an unpublished translation by W. Thackston, which I happened to see during a research trip to the United States in 1995. Both S.H. Nasr and W. Chittick showed Thackston's work to me. 6 For example, James Morris, "Ibn 'Arabi and his interpreters, " Journal of the American Oriental Society 106 (1986), pp. 745-51. Also W. Chittick, "Rümi and wahdat al-wujiid, " The Heritage of Rümi, 2 justice to one of the greatest of Kubräwi shaykhs of thirteenth century Central Asia and Iran.? This thesis is an attempt to redress this situation by providing a guide to the major themes in Nasafi's theosophy. Recently, the aim of research in Sufism was defined by C. Ernst who said, "The most urgent tasks in Sufi studies are to produce readable and reliable translations of important texts, along with analysis of their contents which link them up with current discussions in the field of religious studies."8 This thesis has attempted to provide all three of Ernst's qualifications. Although this is not a translation of one whole text, included are extensive quotations from seven of Nasafi's known treatises.
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