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[Main Index] [Previous Paragraph] 8. The Works of Nasir-i Khusraw.
In his Diwan (p.256, line 8) Nasir says: "Except with the spiritual help of the Descendants of the Prophet (ta'yid-i al-i Rasul), I would have neither had any book to my credit, nor anything to teach others." We do not know whether he had to his credit any books written before conversion. Although dates are attributed by some to certain of his works earlier than his return from the journey, all this seems to be utterly unreliable and based on misunderstanding. It is quite possible that, except for composing some love songs in his young days, he really never produced any "book," i.e. s substantial independent literary work. We can easily believe this if we forget the legendary biography and its absurdly high talk of his learning. It seems more than probable his visit to Cairo proved to be of a real educational value to him. Not only did it widen his outlook, but it presented him with an unlimited opportunity of reading Ismaili and other books of which he probably saw very few before his journey. We can ignore the inflated figure of Nasir as a philosopher, and accept the real picture of a devout man who, coming to work for the sacred goal, had before him the definite purpose of teaching his new converts, for whom all his prose works were evidently compiled. These works are openly and unequivocally popular, both in language and method, and all of them surely form mere adaptations of compilations from various original Arabic works. When Fatimid literature is edited and indexed, it will probably be not so difficult to identify the sources of Nasir's inspiration. The general Muslim public, not familiar with Ismaili literature, and only accustomed to thinking of Ismailism as a paragon of heresy and impiety, was much interested in his works, never imagining that his wisdom in reality was the philosophy of the alleged heretics. It is remarkable that many of his prose works, such as the Zadu'l-musafirin, Khwanu'l-Ikhwan, Gusha'ish was Raha'ish, his Safar Nama, all were preserved amongst the non-Ismaili public. Even his Diwan, except in lithographed editions, is not known in Badakhshan (in a broad sense). The Badakhshanis only have preserved the Wajh-i din,apparently the only work of Nasir which may be classed as a da'watwork, his Rawshana'i-nama and Sa'adat-nama, didactic poems, and Shish Fasl. The book wrongly ascribed to Nasir, but by far the most admired is the Haft-bab, also called Kalam-i Pir, an indubitable fake but not more than three hundred years old, based on an early work, Haft-babi-i Abu Ishaq. There also a few shorter risalas, some of which may be genuine, but the majority are obviously spurious.
The chronology of Nasir's works is extremely difficult. It seems to me that the earliest, or at least one of the earliest, works should be Safar nama, for the obvious reason that it is undoubtedly based on a diary which he kept while traveling. It is difficult to imagine that at that tragic moment when he had to flee, he could have taken with him all his notes and books.
Perhaps his really first poetical work was the Rawshana'i-nama which is sufficiently familiar to students. As is known, much has been written on the date of its composition which in different manuscript copies varies within a wide range between 323 to 463 A.H. H. Ethe, who edited its text (together with some one's versified paraphrase which is found in only one copy, and which the editor mistook for an introduction), on the basis of his learned deductions, comes to the conclusion that the poem was completed in Cairo on the ‘Id-i Ftr day, 440/9-iii-1049. All this sounds very unconvincing because no known copy actually has that date, and, of course, the question arise, for whom was the poem in Persian intended in Cairo? It seems that the copy now at my disposal offers the solution. It originates from Chitral, and was evidently transcribed by a man of limited literacy who would hardly have ventured to adulterate the text. It gives the date 444 A.H. The verse in which it is incorporated shows the correct metre together with plain sense, and this circumstance inspires certain confidence. The archaic j here stands for ch:
Ba-sal-i jar (char) sad jil (chil) jar (char) bar sar
Ki hijrat kard an Ruh-i Muahhar.
What makes me ready to accept this reading as correct is a small detail which is found inall versions of the poem but which has so far invariably bee disregarded. It is bayt (541, line 18 in the Diwan):
Khudawanda ki in naw-bawa bikr ast
Zi man buda'st-u u-ra daya bikr (fikr) ast.
"O, God, this is the first-born, virgin product,
"Which came from me, being received by the midwife of thought."
This does not sound a mere boast of the originality of his work, and may really indicate the fact that the Rawshana'-i-nama was the first composition. As he says in the same passage, he completed it within a week, and it was ready on the first of Shawwal 444, i.e. 24-i-1053. Why not believe that, having returned to his native Balkh, and having rested after his long and adventurous journey, he took up his work during the month of Ramadhan? Pious people often do similar work during the enforced leisure which the month of fast brings with it. The tone and technic of his poem really show the hand of a beginner.
But the story of the Rawshana'i-nama about which so much has already been written, does not end here. The same copy from which the verse containing its date has been quoted above, includes a short prose work, of which I have also received another copy, but without the poem, and which is known in the greater Badakhshan" as Shish-fasl-i Shah Sayyid Nasir, i.e. "Six-chaptered book" of Nasir. The remarkable fact is that the original title of the booklet, as is unequivocally stated in its maqaddima, is also the Rawshana'i-nama! The Author says: "Wa nam nihadim mar- u-ra Rawshana'i-nama bad-an-chi andar u rawsha ast mar-khatir-ha-yi tira-ra . . ." the other copy, entirely independent as can be seen, verbally agrees with this. It is therefore easy to see why the Badakshanis, amongst whom the copies of the poetical Rawshana'i-nam are common, had to introduce another title for the booklet.
The reason for such exceptional case as the use of the one title both for a poem and a prose work by one and the same author is very difficult to find. The suggestion that the prose work is an introduction to the poem seems improbable because neither contains any mention of this, it is longer than the poem, and the manner of prefacing prose preambles to poetical works appears in Persian literature only much later, perhaps first in the Mathnawi of Rumi. The simple explanations would be that the prose Rawshana'i-nama is a work of one of Nasir's pupils. But this supposition is positively contradicted by a reference to an earlier work, Misbah wa Miftah, which the author claims as his own (wa sharh-i ta'at wa khadu'-i ‘Aql mar Bari-ra Subhana-hu andar kitab-i Miftah was Misbah ki pish az in ta'lif karda- im ba-dalil-ha-yi ‘aqli gufta shuda ast). This work is mentioned both in Gusha'ish wa Raha'ish and Khawanu'l-Ikhwan in the expressions which imply its being Nsir's own work.
The prose Rawshana'i-name is divided into six fasla: 1. Dar shinakht-i tawhid; 2. Ar Kalima-i Bari; 3. Dar Nafs-i kull wa junbish-i u; 4. Dar payda amadan-i nafs-i mardum ba ‘aql; 5. Dar wajib dashtan-i Natiq wa Asas wa Imam; 6. Dar thawab wa ‘iqab wa sharh-i an. Thus it covers all the usual philosophical and religious topics. Probably quite unconsciously, the author makes some Christain gnostic motifs and influences clearly felt in his theories. I hope to edit and translate this work.
It is quite possible that another work with a Persian title, the Gusha'ish wa Raha'ish, may also belong to an early period of the literary activities of Nasir. It is not mentioned in the Shish-fasl, but referred to in the Khwabu'l-Ikhwan, and consists of questions and lengthy answers, concerned with the same inevitable cosmic primal realities, the ‘Aql and Nafs, but also takes considerable interest in physics. This, generally speaking, is also a proof of the earlier origin of the work: in his later works Nasir does not touch on such matters.
It is quite possible that another well known mathnawi poem of Nasir, the Sa'adat-nama, may either be an early work of his, or, perhaps, the work of one of his desciples, done under the supervision. It is undoubtedly inferior to Rawshna'i-nama.
Nasir also refers in his later works to his Bustanu'l-'aql or Bustanu'i-'uqul,about which nothing is otherwise known. For other works, mostly small risalas, of which some may be genuine, but the majority are not, see my "Guide to Ismaili Literature," pp. 93-96. A few notes on his major works, i.e. Khwanu'l-Ikhwan, Zadu'l-musafirin, Wajh-i din and the Diwan, are offered here.
Khwanu'l-Ikhwan.
This work, "the feast (of knowledge and wisdom, offered) to brother (in religion)" was edited in Cairo, 1940, by Dr. Yahya Khashshab from the copy dated 862/1458 in the Aya Sophia Library, Constantinople. The edition, which shows traces of insufficient proof-reading, is provided with a short introduction in French and an "austerity" index (for which, of course, we, nevertheless, must be grateful to the editor). The work is divided into a hundred chapters called saff ("row," presumably of guests, at the table), dealing with the usual Nasir repertoire : creation, primal realities, soul, resurrection, retribution, life after death, Barzakh, Hell, etc. The general impression the book produces is that of a preliminary of the version of the Zadu'l-musafirin or notes from which it was later on complied. The subjects seem to be exactly the same, but the treatment in the Zad is far more systematic and mature. It cannot be called a da'wat work, but rather propaedeutics to the full-blooded Ismaili haqa'iq works. It was apparently intended for the general public, specially those people not much versed in Arabic. The author evidently makes every effort to avoid Arabic terms, replacing these with the Persian equivalents, not always with much success, however, and invariably translates every Arabic sentence that he finds himself forced to quote. On the whole the book is not very closely connected with Ismailism as a religion, and the fact that it has been preserved only in strictly orthodox milieu (as were some of his other works) proves the absence in it of anything that would shock a strictly orthodox reader.
The work, for these reasons, would hardly be of much use to the students of Ismailism except for a few pages of controversial contents which relieve its monotony, its moralizing tone, and its philosophical manner" the author strains every nerve to appeal to reason more than anything. He takes some basic ideas which appear to him unshakable foundations, and which invariably do not look at all convincing, and over them builds a "house of cards" from his own deductions and inferences which lead us nowhere. It is remarkable, however, that such methods have immense appeal for people brought up in that school of thought. When I gave a copy of the Khwan to a learned Badakshani Ismaili, it filled him with such admiration that he unhesitatingly proclaimed it the best and most important work in Nasir's heritage.
The author refers in the khwanu'l-Ikhwan to his earlier works : Misbah (20,113,116), Miftah (148, 153), Dala'il and Dalilu'l-mutahayyirin (239), and Gusha'ish was Raha'ish (28, 85). He incidentally refers to Ibn Qutayba's Adabu'l- kitab (57) and Abu'l-Hasan al-'Amiri's Maqalat (114), from general literature. Of the Ismaili works he mentions the Bahira, Susu'l-baqa, the Kashfu'l-mahjub by Abu Ya'qub as-Sijistani, just as in the Zadu'l-musafirin and gives interesting information concerning the early work, Kitabu'l-Mahsul, which he definitely calls the work of the martyred eminent missionary, khwaja'i shahid Abu'l-Hasan Nakhshabi (111, 112), although, as I have pointed out in my paper on "Early Controversy in Ismailism," there are some doubts concerning this. He even mentions Nasafi's sons (15) Dihqan and Hasan Mas'ud (signs of interrogation, however, show that the editor was not quite certain as to the meaning of the passage). The most interesting feature of the Khwan, however, if it is genuine, is a reference to ‘Abdan, the sahib-i jazira'i Iraq,the rebel da'i of the third quarter of the third/ninth c. If it is not the misreading ion the part of the editor, it is the first reference to him in Ismaili literature that I have so far come across in spite of my persistent and long search and inquiries from specialists. It is unfortunate that the editor in this text does not give references tot he pages of the original manuscript. This should always be done when unique copies are edited . It would be worthwhile obtaining a new set of photographs of the 42 saff, for re-examining the matter.
Zadu'l-Musafirin.
This work, of which only two manuscripts are known, was edited in 1922 by the now late Dr. M. Bazlu'r-Rahman, under the guidance of the late Prof. E.G. Browne, and printed in the Kaviani Press, Berlin. Unfortunately for students, it was not provided with indices without which it is extremely difficult to handle, and generally presents a relic of that absurd policy of Cambridge University, faithfully copied by all Indian Universities, of encouraging beginners to take a mouthful which they cannot swallow. Taking up text of enormous size and serious difficulty which they are quite incapable of handling properly, only instils students with complete distrust of their own abilities and powers, and for the rest of their lives frightens them from undertaking any serious work. This proved to be exactly the case of this work and its editor.
As Nasir himself mentions (280), he completed it in 453/1061, obviously in Yumgan, as may be inferred from his complaints (402): "Ignorant people in the community declared that I was a heretic (bad-din), attacked me, and chased me from my house and my city." the work is referred to in the Diwan (305, 330), and implicitly in the Wajh-i din (29), which, therefore, should have been of a later origin. It is obviously compiled from Arabic sources, especially the classic work by Sayyid-na Hamidu'd-din al-Kiramni, the Rahatu'l-aql, which deals with similar matters. In this work, however, Nasir, apparently intending his book for the general reader as much as for his pupils, excluded practically all purely Ismaili elements, leaving only allusions here and there. Such precaution really did preserve the work amongst the orthodox who probably regarded it as a treatise on philosophy in general.
The work is divided in 27 qawls, devoted to the usual subjects such as matter, space, time, movement, quiescence, the Creator, transience of the world, man, soul, retribution in future life, and so forth. There is apparently not an original word in it, and the whole may be safely classed as a compilation. Nasir's speculations, his method of artificial constructions, deductions from usually quite fantastic and arbitrary basic ideas, all lead the reader into quite a strange and unnatural world. The difference between the modern mentality and his would approximate to the difference between photography and the artist's expressing his visions in the pattern of an old Persian carpet. Both may portray the garden and flowers, but the carpet way of expression is so much conventionalized that it would require special efforts to decipher and understand what the artist was aiming at, before we can believe that this is really a garden and that is really a flower.
In the same way as in most probably was the earlier version of this work, Khawanu'l-Ikhwan, its almost unbearable monotony is slightly relieved by Nasir's taste for controversy. Here also he makes an attack on Abu Ya'qub as-Sijzi, calling him a lunatic, and charging him with heretical beliefs in tanasukh, transmigration of souls. In his preceding work (112) he attributes similar views to the author of the Mahsul : "and he, may God be pleased with him, teaches metempsychosis and transmigration of souls form one body to another." Apparently similar beliefs in Sijistani's works evoke in him a very sharp reaction. It would be difficult to believe that the cause was some personal animosity, for the simple reason that, Abu Ya'qub died long before Nasir was born (sson after 360/971). Anyhow, he again (421-430) refers to R. al-Bahira, Susu'l-baqa and Kashfu'l-nahjub, mentioned above. The Bahira is in existence. It is an opuscule, in Arabic, of about 2,250 words,
dealing with eschatology. Reading through its pages, one fails to discover any traces of tanasukh.
We may also consider an important circumstance: as one may see from my paper on a "Controversy," mentioned above, the Mahsul was specially examined and corrected by one of the most erudite Ismaili specialists, Abu Katim ar-Razi, who was commissioned by the headquarters to put dogmatical matters in order. This he dis in his K. al-Islah. Some fifty years later, the whole question was re-examined again from the point of view of the standard dogma, qanunu'd-da'wati'l-hadiya, by another eminent expert Sayyid-na Hamidu'd-din al-Kirmani, in his K. ar-Riyad. He pointed out those statements of the Mahsul which were overlooked by Razi. And yet neither of these two experts refer to any heretical ideas of tanasukh entertained either by the author of the Mahsul, or by Sijzi.
What seems to me quite probable is that Nasir gives the term tanasukh some unusual implications. We may suspect that it might have been what the theologians term the dogma of "resurrection in flesh." Nasir, perhaps intentionally, does not make this clear in order that his book should not seem outrageous to the orthodox.
He also accuses Abu Ya'qub of promoting the principle that those devotees who have attained the "higher knowledge" may be exempted from the obligatoriness of the usual forms of worship, and may be permitted to "worship in spirit." Such Sufic and gnostic theory, as I have pointed out in the paper on "Controversy," was really lurking in the dark corners of ta'wil speculations on the shari'at of Adam, and other similar tales. This, however, is a long way from insanity and condemnation of Abu Ya'qub as a heretic.
In his Zadu'l-musafirin Nasir often attacks the Dahrites, or materlistic ideas of the famous mediaeval philosopher, Mhd b. Zakariya ar-Razi (born 250/864, d. ca. 313/925), "Rhazes," as he was called in Europe. It would be incautious, however, to believe that such attacks were really due to Nasir's own familiarity with the doctrine of Rhazes, and were not transplanted from those Fatimid works in Arabic in which they are quite common, and which he perused.
This is, however, a really interesting feature in this work, namely, Nasir's references to that enigmatic figure in the history of Muslim philosophy, a certain Iranshahri, of whom no definite information has ever been discovered. Judging from Nasir's sympathetic and respectful references to him, he might have had some connection with Ismailism. Unfortunately, however, various references to him do not tally chronologically. Thus there were either two persons, not one, with the name Iranshahri, or such anachronisms may be due to a misreading of his name. "Hakim Iranshahri" (says Nasir, 98) . . . "explained philosophical ideas in religious terms in his Kitab-i Jalil and Kitab-i Athir [both unknown] and other works, calling people to the religion of God and the knowledge of tawhid." Further on (102): . . .. "those good words which Hakim Iranshahri said concerning the eternity of hayula and space." Thus it would be easy to suggest that the Hakim was one of the learned Ismaili missionaries. As is known, Biruni, in his book on India also refers to a certain Abu'l- 'Abbas al-Iranshshri, who seems to have been his teacher, had some connection with India, and complied a book on various religions, including Brahmanism and Shamanism (or Buddhism). He was in correspondence with Biruni, and it was under his influence that the later undertook his famous work on India. From all these allusions it may be inferred that he flourished towards the end of the fourth/tenth and beginning of fifth/eleventh c.
This, however, is entirely obliterated by Nasir's reference to the "vile and heretical words" of Rhazes in which he answered the theory of Iranshahri who, in addition, is called the predecessor and teacher of Mhd b. Zakariya ar-Razi. Thus the period of his activities must at once be moved back at least a century.
The rare nisba Iranshahri, written in Arabic letters, may perhaps be comfounded with Abarshahri, from Abarshahr, the ancient name of Nishapur. Anyhow, Nasir does not help us to solve the problem.