Literary History of Persia
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[page 34] God Most High perpetuate the blessings of His Holy Exhalations!) may be well pleased with and grateful to thee54.” These letters, and especially the second, which is filled with the most exaggerated praises of Shaykh Ṣafí, sufficiently prove the high repute which he enjoyed amongst his contemporaries55. The second fact germane to our thesis is that comparatively soon after his death a most extensive monograph on his life, character, teachings, doctrines, virtues and miracles was compiled by one of his followers, the darwísh Tawakkul56 ibn Isma‘íl, commonly called Ibnu’l-Bazzáz, apparently under the inspiration and direction of Shaykh Ṣadru’d-Dín, who succeeded his father Shaykh Ṣafí as head of the Order and held this position for fifty-eight years (A.D. 1334-1392). This rare and important book has never been printed57,but is the chief source of all later accounts of the head of the family and dynasty, in most of which it is frequently and explicitly cited. A much later recension of it was made in the reign of Sháh Ṭahmásp (A.D. 1524-1576) by a certain Abu’l- [page 35] Fatḥ al-Ḥusayní. I have personal knowledge of only three manuscripts, Add. 11745 of the British Museum58; No. 87 of the Pote Collection in the library of King’s College, Cambridge59; and a fine copy made at Ardabíl in 1030/1621, now belonging to Mr. A. G. Ellis, who, with his customary generosity, placed it at my disposal for as long as I required it. This exhaustive work comprises an Introduction, twelve chapters, and a Conclusion, each of which is divided into numerous sections60, and its contents are summarized by Rieu with his usual precision. It contains interesting matter, diluted by much that is wearisome save to a devoted disciple, and represents on a more extensive scale the type of hagiography familiar to all Persian students in such books as the Manáqibu’l-‘Árifín of Aflákí, available in the English version of Redhouse61 and the French of Huart62. The extracts from it included in most later histories of the family, notably the Silsilatu’n-Nasab-i-Ṣafawiyya63,will suffice to satisfy the curiosity of most readers, though a careful perusal and analysis of the original work would undoubtedly yield results of value, most of the anecdotes and sayings being vouched for by Shaykh Ṣadru’d-Dín. But before further discussing Shaykh Ṣafí and his descendants something more must be said about his ancestors. [page 36] The Ancestors of Shaykh Ṣafiyyu’d-Dín. That the seventh Imám Músá Káẓim had, besides the son ‘Alí Riḍá who succeeded him in the Imámate, another son named Ḥamza, from whom Shaykh Ṣafí claimed descent, is a fact vouched for by the historian al-Ya‘qúbí64, but the next dozen links in the chain (including five Muḥammads without further designation) are too vague to admit of identification. The earliest ancestor of the Ṣafawís who is invested with any definite attributes is Fírúzsháh-i-Zarrín-kuláh (“Golden-cap”),who is stated by the Silsilatu’n-Nasab to have been made governor of Ardabíl, henceforth the home and rallying-point of the family, by a son of Ibráhím-i-Adham, here represented as king of Persia. Ibráhím-i-Adham, however, though reputed of kingly race, renounced the world, became a notable saint, and died about A.D. 780 in Syria, and history knows nothing of any son of his who succeeded to a throne in Persia or elsewhere. Fírúzsháh died after a prosperous life at Rangín in Gílán, and was succeeded by his son ‘Awaḍ, of whom nothing is recorded save that he lived and died at Isfaranján near Ardabíl. His son Muḥammad earned the title of Ḥáfiẓ because he knew the Qur’án by heart, an accomplishment for which he is said to have been indebted to the Jinn65, who kidnapped him at the age of seven and educated him amongst themselves for a like number of years. The two succeeding heads of the family, Ṣaláḥu’d-Dín Rashíd and Quṭbu’d-Dín Aḥmad, seem to have lived quietly at Kalkhorán66,devoting themselves to agriculture, until a fierce incursion of [page 37] the Georgians compelled the latter to flee to Ardabíl with his family, including his little son Amínu’d-Dín Jibrá’íl, then only a month old. Even here they were not left unmolested: the Georgians pursued them and they had to take refuge in a cellar, where their lives were only saved by a devoted youth, who, ere he fell beneath the swords of his assailants, succeeded in concealing the entrance to the cellar by throwing down a large earthen jar over it. Quṭbu’d-Dín himself was severely wounded in the neck and hardly escaped with his life, and his grandson Shaykh Ṣafí, who was born during his life, used to relate that when his grandfather took him on his shoulder he used to put four baby fingers into the scar left by the wound. In due course Quṭbu’d-Dín was succeeded by his son Amínu’d-Dín Jibrá’íl, farmer and saint, who adopted Khwája Kamálu’d-Dín ‘Arabsháh as his spiritual director, and married a lady named Dawlatí; she in due course, in the year 650/1252-3, bore him the son who afterwards became famous as Shaykh Ṣafiyyu’d-Dín, with whom the family suddenly emerges from comparative obscurity into great fame. The author of the Silsilatu’n-Nasab, not content with giving the year of his birth, further fixes the date as follows. At the time of his birth Shams-i-Tabríz had been dead five years, Shaykh Muḥyi’d-Dín ibnu’l-‘Arabí twelve years, and Najmu’d-Dín Kubrá thirty-two years. He was five years old when Húlágú Khán the Mongol conquered Persia, twenty-two on the death of Jalálu’d-Dín Rúmí, and forty-one on the death of Sa‘dí. The eminent saints contemporary with him included Amír ‘Abdu’lláh-i-Shírází, Shaykh Najíbu’d-Dín Buzghúsh, ‘Alá’u’d-Dawla-i-Samnání and Shaykh Maḥmúd-i-Shabistarí (author of the Gulshan-i-Ráz or “Rose-bed of Mystery”). He had three elder67 and two younger brothers68 and one [page 38] elder sister, being thus the fifth in a family of seven; and his father died when he was six years of age. Shaykh Ṣafiyyu’d-Dín (a.d. 1252-1334). Hitherto we have suffered from the exiguity of biographical details, but now we are rather embarrassed by their abundance. The Ṣafwatu’ṣ-Ṣafá, it is true, probably contains all that can now be known about Shaykh Ṣafí, but it is a voluminous work, containing some 216,000 words, and written in a fairly simple and direct style without much “stuffing”(ḥashw) or rhetorical adornment, so that anything approaching a full analysis of its contents would in itself constitute a volume of considerable size. It is lamentably deficient in dates, and in general deals rather with the spiritual than the material aspects of the life of Shaykh Ṣafí and his director Shaykh Záhid-i-Gílání. Stated as briefly as possible, its contents are as follows: Introduction (in 2 sections). Shaykh Ṣafí’s advent foretold by the Prophet and by former saints, such as Jalálu’d-Dín Rúmí. Chapter I (in 11 sections, two of which are further subdivided). Early life of Shaykh Ṣafí. His genealogy. Portents preceding his birth. His birth and childhood. His search for a spiritual director. He finally meets Shaykh Záhid of Gílán. His life as a disciple of this holy man. His succession to the supremacy of the Order. His spiritual affiliation up to the Prophet. Characteristics and miracles of Shaykh Záhid. Chapter II (in 3 sections). Some of the miracles of Shaykh Ṣafí, whereby he delivered men from the perils of the sea and of deep waters, of mountains, mist and snow, and from foes, bondage and sickness. Chapter III (in 3 sections). Some of the miracles wrought by the favourable or unfavourable regards of Shaykh Ṣafí. [page 39] Chapter IV (in 6 sections, two of which are further subdivided). Some of Shaykh Ṣafí’s sayings, and his explanations of verses of the Qur’án, traditions of the Prophet, utterances of the Saints, and allegorical verses of the poets. Chapter V (in 3 sections). Some of Shaykh Ṣafí’s miracles connected with the Jinn, with animals, and with inanimate objects. Chapter VI (undivided). Ecstacies and devotional dancing of Shaykh Ṣafí. Chapter VII (in 5 sections). Various miracles of Shaykh Ṣafí, such as thought-reading, foretelling future events, converse with the dead, etc. Chapter VIII (in 27 sections). Further examples of the virtues, powers, pious actions, effective prayers, intuitions and views of Shaykh Ṣafí, vouched for by his son Shaykh Ṣadru’d-Dín. Chapter IX (in 2 sections). Last illness and death of Shaykh Ṣafí. Chapter X (in 3 sections). Posthumous miracles of Shaykh Ṣafí. Chapter XI (in 3 sections). The fame and greatness of Shaykh Ṣafí and his vicars (Khulafá) throughout the world. Chapter XII (in 2 sections). Miracles wrought by Shaykh Ṣafí’s disciples. Conclusion. That so comparatively small a portion of this voluminous work should be biographical is disappointing but not surprising, for how can those who regard themselves as belonging to the Timeless and Placeless (Lá Makán) be expected to trouble themselves about dates or similar details? All these hagiographies, indeed, have a similar character, and deal chiefly with the pious sayings, devout practices and supernatural achievements (karámát) of those whose lives they record. [page 40] That these karámát69 have an interest of their own in connection with Psychical Research has been recognised by D. B. Macdonald in his excellent book on The Religious Attitude and Life in Islam70 and by Cl. Huart in his Saints des Derviches Tourneurs71. The latter classifies the psychical phenomena recorded in his original, the Manáqibu’l-‘Árifín (composed about 718/1318, only some thirty years earlier than the Ṣafwatu’ṣ-Ṣafá, which was very probably modelled on it), as follows: dreams; knowledge of future events; second sight and divination of hidden objects; thought-transference; luminosity of bodies, human and inanimate; automatic opening of closed doors; ubiquity; anaesthesia and immunity against poisons; action on material objects at a distance; production of the precious metals; abnormal muscular, digestive and sexual powers and physical enlargements of the body; shifting features and instability of countenance; apparitions; psychotherapy; replies to difficult questions; conversions to Islám; sermons to animals; vengeance of the Saints; mental alienation; protracted seclusion and fasting; talismans; sudden disappearances. Examples of all, or nearly all, of these phenomena are to be found in the Ṣafwatu’ṣ-Ṣafá, while a smaller but fairly representative selection is contained in the Silsilatu’n-Nasab, but a detailed examination of them, though not without interest and value, would be out of place in this volume. It must be noted, however, that certain aspects of these Muslim saints, as recorded by their disciples and admirers, are to Western [page 41] minds somewhat repellent; their curses are no less effective than their blessings, and their indulgences no less remarkable than their abstentions, while grim jests on the fate of such as have incurred their displeasure are not uncommon. Thus a certain prince named Siyámak, son of Shírwánsháh, when setting out for the Mongol camp (urdú), spoke in a disparaging manner of Shaykh Záhid’s disciples, and threatened on his return to pull down or burn their monasteries. When this was reported to the Shaykh he merely remarked, playing on the prince’s name, that Siyámak would become Siyáh-marg (meaning “the Black Death”); which saying was duly fulfilled, for, having in some way incurred the wrath of the Mongol sovereign, he was, after the barbarous fashion of these people, wrapped up in black felt and kicked or trampled to death72. To Shaykh Záhid, on the other hand, Gházán Khán73 the Mongol Ílkhán showed the greatest respect, especially after the saint had exhibited his powers of mind-reading, which so impressed Gházán that he insisted on kissing his feet. Externally the life of Shaykh Ṣafí, especially after he became the disciple of Shaykh Záhid and settled at Ardabíl, was not very eventful. As a child he was serious, unsociable and disinclined for play. At a comparatively early age he appears to have got a “concern” about religion, and to have seen visions and held converse with the Unseen World. Finding no adequate direction in Ardabíl, and hearing the fame of Shaykh [page 42] Najíbu’d-Dín Buzghúsh of Shíráz, he desired to go thither, but, having finally overcome his mother’s opposition to the journey, arrived there only to find the saint dead74. While at Shíráz he made the acquaintance of many notable saints and darwíshes, and of the celebrated poet Sa‘dí, of whom, however, he seems to have formed but a poor opinion. Indeed he appears to have treated the poet with scant civility, even refusing to accept an autograph copy of his poems. Finally Ẓahíru’d-Dín, the son and successor of Shaykh Buzghúsh, told Shaykh Ṣafí that no one could satisfy his spiritual needs except Shaykh Záhid of Gílán, whose personal appearance and dwelling-place on the shore of the Caspian Sea he described to him in detail. Four years elapsed, however, ere he was successful in tracking down the elusive saint, then sixty years of age, by whom he was cordially welcomed, and with whom he spent the next twenty-five years of his life. Shaykh Záhid’s full name, as given in the Ṣafwatu’ṣ-Ṣafá, is Táju’d-Dín Ibráhím ibn Rawshan Amír ibn Bábil ibn Shaykh Pindár (or Bundár) al-Kurdí as-Sanjání, and the mother of his grandfather Bábil is said to have been a Jinniyya. The title of Záhid (“the Ascetic” or “Abstemious”) was given to him by his Director Sayyid Jamálu’d-Dín for reasons which are variously stated. He gave his daughter Bíbí Fáṭima in marriage to Shaykh Ṣafí, to whom she bore three sons, of whom the second, Ṣadru’d-Dín, ultimately succeeded his father as head of the Order. The author of the Silsilatu’n-Nasab was one of his descendants, who were collectively known as Pír-záda and apparently continued to enjoy high consideration during the whole Ṣafawí period. From the data given by the Silsilatu’n-Nasab, viz. that
Shaykh Ṣadru’d-Dín succeeded his father at the age of 31 in 735/1334 and controlled the affairs of the Order for 59 years until his death in 794/1392. He also composed verses in Persian, and is besides credited with many miracles, the most celebrated of which was his recovery and restoration to Ardabíl of the door of the principal mosque which had been carried off by the Georgians when they raided that city about 600/1203-481. Amongst the most celebrated of his disciples was the poet Qásimu’l-Anwár, whose orthodoxy was somewhat suspect, and who was expelled from Herát by Sháh-rukh under circumstances which I have discussed elsewhere82. That Shaykh Ṣadru’d-Dín’s influence and ac- [page 45] tivities also aroused the suspicions of neighbouring potentates is shown by the action of Malik-i-Ashraf83, who lured him to Tabríz and kept him in confinement there for three months, when, warned by a dream, he released him, but subsequently attempted to recapture him and compelled him to flee into Gílán. Other holy and learned men suffered at the hands of this tyrant, and one of them, the Qáḍí Muḥyi’d-Dín of Barda‘a, depicted in such vivid colours the odious oppression of Malik-i-Ashraf to Jání Beg Khán son of Uzbek, the ruler of the Dasht-i-Qipcháq, that the latter invaded Ádharbáyján, defeated Malik-i-Ashraf, and put him to death. According to the Silsilatu’n-Nasab84 he also had an interview with Shaykh Ṣadru’d-Dín, treated him with great respect, and confirmed to him the possession of certain estates whereof the revenues had formerly been allocated to the shrine at Ardabíl. Shaykh Ṣadru’d-Dín, like his father Shaykh Ṣafí, performed the pilgrimage to Mecca at the end of his life, and is said to have brought back with him to Ardabíl the Prophet’s standard. Shortly after his return he died, in 794/1392, and was succeeded by his son Khwája ‘Alí, who controlled the affairs of the Order for thirty-six years until his death on Rajab 18, 830 (May 15, 1427). This happened in Palestine, where he is buried, his tomb being known as that of “Sayyid ‘Alí ‘Ajamí85.” Like his father and grandfather he [page 46] was a worker of miracles and a poet, and over two hundred of his Persian verses are quoted in the Silsilatu’n-Nasab. In him strong Shí‘a tendencies reveal themselves: instigated by the Ninth Imám Muḥammad Taqí in a dream he converts the people of Dizful, by a miraculous stoppage of their river, to a belief in and recognition of the supreme holiness of ‘Alí ibn Abí Ṭálib; and he exhorts Tímúr, whose regard he had succeeded in winning by a display of his psychical powers, to “chastise, as they deserve, the Yazídí Kurds, the friends of Mu‘áwiya, because of whom we wear the black garb of mourning for the Immaculate Imáms86.” More celebrated is his intercession with Tímúr on behalf of a number of Turkish prisoners (asírán-i-Rúm)whose release he secured, and whose grateful descendants, known as “the Turkish Ṣúfís” (Ṣúfiyán-i-Rúmlú),became the most devoted adherents and supporters of the Ṣafawí family87. [page 47] Shaykh Ibráhím, better known as Shaykh Sháh, succeeded his father in 830/1427 and died in 851/1447-8. Little is recorded of him save the names of his six sons, and he is even omitted entirely in the succession by the Ta’ríkh-i-‘Álam-árá-yi-‘Abbásí. He was succeeded by his youngest son Shaykh Junayd, with whom the militant character of the family first asserted itself. He visited Diyár Bakr and won the favour of Úzún Ḥasan, the celebrated ruler of the “White Sheep” Dynasty, who bestowed on him the hand of his sister Khadíja in marriage. This alliance, combined with the assembly round his standard of ten thousand Ṣúfí warriors (ghuzát-i-Ṣúfiyya), “who deemed the risking of their lives in the path of their perfect Director the least of the degrees of devotion88,” aroused the alarm of Jahánsháh, the Turkmán ruler of Ádharbáyján and the two ‘Iráqs, and other neighbouring princes, and Shaykh Junayd fell in battle against Shírwánsháh89. His body, according to one account, was brought to Ardabíl and there buried, but according to others it was buried near the battle-field at a village variously called Quryál, Qarúyá1 or Qúriyán. Shaykh Ḥaydar (the “Sechaidar” of Angiolello), like his father Junayd, whom he succeeded, found favour in the eyes of the now aged Úzún Ḥasan, his maternal uncle, who gave him in marriage his daughter Marta, Ḥalíma, Bakí Áqá or ‘Álam-sháh Begum, whose mother, the celebrated Despina Khátún (“Despinacaton”), was the daughter of Kalo Ioannes, the last Christian Emperor of Trebizond, of the noble Greek family of the Comneni90. The anonymous Venetian merchant whose narrative is included in the Italian travels in Persia in the [page 48] fifteenth and sixteenth centuries91 describes him as “a lord about the rank of a count, named Secaidar, of a religion or sect named Sophi, reverenced by his co-religionists as a saint and obeyed as a chief. There are,” he continues, “numbers of them in different parts of Persia, as in Natolia (Anatolia) and Caramania (Qaramán), all of whom bore great respect to this Secaidar, who was a native of this city of Ardouil (Ardabíl or Ardawíl), where he had converted many to the Suffavean (Ṣafawí) doctrine. Indeed he was like the abbot of a nation of monks; he had six children, three boys92 and three girls, by a daughter of Assambei (Ḥasan Bey, i.e. Úzún Ḥasan); he also bore an intense hatred to the Christians.” He it was who, divinely instructed in a dream, bade his followers adopt in place of the Turkmán cap (ṭáqiya-i-Turkmání) the scarlet cap of twelve gores (Táj-i-duwázda tark)93 from which they became universally known as “Red Heads” (Qizil-básh in Turkish; Surkh-sar in Persian). “They are accustomed,” says the anonymous Venetian merchant cited above (p. 206 of the Italian Travels), “to wear a red caftan, and above that a high conical turban made with a dozen folds, representing the twelve sacraments of their sect, or the twelve descendants of ‘Alí94.” Shaykh Ḥaydar, like his father, fell in battle against the hosts of Shírwánsháh and his Turkmán allies at Ṭabarsarán near Darband. Twenty-two years later his death was [page 49] avenged and his body recovered and brought to Ardabíl by his redoubtable son Sháh Isma‘íl, who was at this time (Rajab 20, 893: June 30, 1488)95 only a year old. Sháh Isma‘íl. (Born 892/1487; crowned 905/1499-1500; died 930/1523-4) Yüklə 1,57 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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