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“The Spinning of the Mill Lightens My Soul”1

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“The Spinning of the Mill Lightens My Soul”1 PERSICA XVII, 2001 “THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL”1 Asghar Seyed-Gohrab Leiden University Introduction Within a more than four centuries old relationship between Dutch and Persian culture, there are a wide range of subjects luring the researcher to launch an investigation.2 One may, for instance, choose to examine the Persian names of flowers in Dutch, or to linger on Rembrandt’s interest in the Persian miniature painting, or to study the 17th century translation of Sa‘di’s (d. 1292) Bustan in Dutch and so on and so forth.3 As a native Per- sian living in the country of tulips, clogs and mills, I have chosen to study the mill in Persian literature. In recent years I have been more and more fascinated by the mills in the foggy, flat and green Dutch landscape, while being constantly reminded of the wide- spread literary metaphors, popular beliefs, riddles, proverbs and folksongs based on this ancient invention of mankind in Persian literature. It should be, however, stated at the outset that although I deal briefly with the relationship between ancient Persian windmills and their Western counterparts, this essay does not pretend to peruse the link between these windmills; the study is an attempt to demonstrate how the mill, whether a windmill, watermill or handmill, is presented in Persian literary sources as well as in popular ex- pressions. Moreover, a study of the mill at literary level is conductive; especially since in molinological literature, Persian literary sources are usually neglected. It is generally believed that the Persians played a major role in the invention, the development and the spread of the mill. Discussing the technology of the Iranians during the Sasanian era (224-642), Otto Kurz makes a number of suggestions about the origin of the mill. Kurz writes: “the invention of the waterwheel, the water-mill and the windmill were probably or certainly made in Iran.”4 Some lines further down, Kurz adds: “There 1 This article was written at Leiden University with the financial support of the Netherlands Organisa- tion for Scientific Research (NWO). 2 For a study on the contacts between Iran and the Netherlands see M.A.P. Meilink-Roelofsz, “The Earliest Relations between Persia and the Netherlands” in Persica, No. VI, 1972-74, pp. 1-50; also see W.M. Floor, Commercial conflict between Persia and the Netherlands 1712-1718, Durham: 1988. 3 For a reference to this translation by Daniël Havart see Saadi, De Rozentuin, Trans. J.T.P. de Bruijn, Amsterdam/Leuven: Bulaaq, 1997, p. 235. 4 See The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. E. Yarshater, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983, vol. 3 (1), p. 563. Also see Michael Harverson, “Watermills in Iran” in Iran, Vol. XXXI, 1993, pp. 149-7; for a brief overall view of different types of mills used in Persia consult Hans E. Wulff, The Tra- ditional Crafts of Persia: Their Development, Technology and Influence on Eastern and Western Civiliza- tions, London: The M.I.I. Press, 1966, pp. 277-89. 108 ASGHAR SEYED-GOHRAB can be no doubt that the windmill is a Persian invention, but it reached the western world only in the late Middle Ages.” As regards the invention and the spread of the windmills, scholars have different opinions. Michael J.T. Lewis holds that the Byzantine Empire played an important intermediary role for the spread of the Eastern windmill to the West.5 There are also other theories suggesting that the Persian horizontal windmills were intro- duced to Western Europe through Moorish Spain, or by the “Italian maritime republics that transported the Crusaders, or the log-cabin settlements of Russia.”6 In his extensive studies of the Persian horizontal windmills, Harverson concludes: “nobody knows,” no concrete thing can be said about the relationship between the Persian and the West Euro- pean windmills. References to the mill as a metaphor for a reality abound in Persian and they even occur in pre-Islamic Iranian literatures. Kurz makes a passing reference to the Manichaeans, who used the rotation of a na‘ura, ‘windwheel’ as a metaphor to describe the journey of the soul towards the sun.7 According to Harverson, in 336/947 Mas‘udi (d.345/965) made the first known reference to windmills anywhere in the world when he referred to the Persian slave, Abu Lo‘lo‘a, who assassinated the second caliph ‘Omar b. al-Xattab (d.644).8 Another historical reference is the death of the Sasanian king Yazdgerd III who took refuge in a mill but was stabbed to death by a miller at Marv in 651 A.D. when he was fleeing from the Arab invaders.9 Enumerating the excellence of Sistan, the author of Tarix-e Sistan (written 5th/11th century) boasts of its windmills: “Wheel-mills are made here that run by the wind, and make flour, whereas in other towns a quadruped is needed, or a water-mill or hand-mill.”10 The occurrence of the windmill in this part of Persia is, of course, mainly due to the famous ‘Wind of 120 Days’ (bad-e sad- o bist ruz), also called ‘the Ox-killing Wind’ (bad-e kosta gav), which blows from mid- May to mid-October.11 It is also worth mentioning that during the Sasanian era, the prov- ince of Sistan attained considerable prosperity with regard to agriculture. This aspect may also have played a role in the development of the windmill. The mills of Sistan were fa- mous and there are several references to this device in medieval literature. 5 M.J.T. Lewis, “The Greek and the Early windmill” in History of Technology, Vol. 15, 1993, pp. 141-189. 6 M. Harverson, Persian Windmills, Sprang Capelle: The International Molinological Society, Dutch Section, 1991, p. 10; also compare J.C. Notebaart, Windmühlen der Stand der Forschung über das Vorkommen und den Ursprung, Den Haag: Mouton Verlag, 1972, pp. 209-15, 225-27; Sven B. E.k., “Hori- zontal Mills” in Transactions of the First International Symposium of Molinology, Portugal: Bibliotheca Molinologica, 1965; Dietrich Lohrmann, “Von der oestlichen zur westlichen Windmuehle: Beitrag zu einer ungeloeste Frage” in Archiv fuer Kulturgeschichte, Berlin: 77, (1995), pp. 1-30. 7 The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. E. Yarshater, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983, Vol. 3 (1), p. 563. 8 See M. Harverson in Encyclopaedia Iranica, s.v. Asia; idem, Persian Windmills, p. 11; Ch. Pellat in Encycl. Iranica, s.v. Abu Lo‘lo‘a; also compare D. Waines in Encyclopaedia of Islam, s.v. Tahun. 9 For an account of this event see ‘A.H. Zarrinkub, Tarix-e mardom-e Iran az payan-e Sasaneyan ta payan-e al-e Buya, Tehran: Amir Kabir, 1368/1989, p. 13; also see H. Ritter, Das Meer der Seele: Mensch, Welt und Gott in den Geschiten des Fariduddin ‘Attar, Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1955, p. 110. 10 Tarix-e Sistan: baz-xani-ye motun, ed. J. Modarres Sadeqi, Tehran: Markaz, 1373/1994, p. 6. 11 For more information see The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. W.B. Fisher, Vol. I, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968, p. 80; also see Harverson, Persian Windmills, pp. 3-4; ‘A.H. Nayyernuri, Sahm-e arzesmand-e Iranian dar farhang-e jahan, vol. I, Tehran: Anjoman-e asar va mafaxerat-e farhangi, 1375/1996, p. 121. THE SPINNING OF THE MILL LIGHTENS MY SOUL 109 Analogy between the spinning of the mill and walking around the Ka‘ba The spinning of the mill is sometimes compared to the pilgrim’s ‘circumambulation’ (tavaf) of the Ka‘ba, the cubic House of God situated in the city of Mecca. Persian mys- tics were usually against the outward worship of the Ka‘ba and made a sharp distinction between ‘the Ka‘ba of the heart’ (ka‘ba-ye del) and ‘the Ka‘ba of the clay’ (ka‘ba-ye gel). They praised the former and severely censured the latter. As the following couplet ex- presses, this distinction has become proverbial: “Without the drunken manifestation of the Beloved, the Ka‘ba and the temple of idols are mills without water.”12 The phrase ‘a mill without water’ refers to a ruined place and by analogy, the Ka‘ba without the Be- loved is a ruined place. The implication of the two types of Ka‘bas is often used either positively to test the sincerity of the mystic, or negatively to condemn ‘attribution of a partner to God’ or ‘polytheism’ (serk). In his Kimiya-ye sa‘adat (Elixir of Happiness), Abu Hamed Mohammad Qazali (d. 505/1111) makes a sharp contrast between those peo- ple who undertake an outward journey and those who travel inwardly. In his view, the former desire only to see the “outward of the Ka‘ba” while the latter remain at home and it is the “Ka‘ba that comes to them and goes around them and tells her secrets to them.”13 Moreover, there exist several stories and anecdotes illustrating the difference be- tween Ka‘ba-ye del and Ka‘ba-ye gel using mill imagery. The following piece is most probably based on an anecdote about the famous mystic Joneyd of Baghdad (d. 298/910) who wanted to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca but an illuminated old man stopped him un- der way and asked Joneyd: “How much money do you have?” Joneyd answered: “200 Drachmas.” The old man then said to him: “Give these 200 Drachmas to me and turn ten times around me and go back to your own home, because this is much better than circling around the Ka‘ba.”14 The same story with some alterations is also told by Sams of Tabriz (d.
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