RELIGION, MYSTICISM AND PHILOSOPHY.

Less numerous and important in this period than the histories and biographies above enumerated are the works belonging to the above categories, but there are one or two of each class which deserve at least a brief notice.

(1) Ḥusayn-i-Káshifí's Mawáhib-i-'Aliyya¹.

Ḥusayn-i-Káshifí, who has been already mentioned as the author of the Rawḍatu'sh-Shuhadá, also compiled for The Mawáhibi-'Aliyya, a commentary on the Qur'án Mír 'Alí Shír a Persian Commentary on the Qur'án, which, in allusion to his patron's name, he entitled Mawáhib-i-'Aliyya. His original plan had been to write in four volumes a much larger and more detailed Commentary, entitled Jawáhiru't-Tafsír li-Tuḥfati'l-Amír (“Gems of Exegesis for a Gift to the Amír”), but after finishing the first volume he resolved to moderate his ambitions and write a much smaller, simpler and more concise work on the same subject, to wit the Mawáhib, or “Gifts,” which he completed in 899/1493-4, eleven years before his death. Manuscripts of this book are not rare, but it is not often heard of, much less studied, at the present day in Persia. In India, however, I am informed that it is still widely read, and that it has been published there, though I have never seen a printed or lithographed edition.

(2) Akhláq-i-Jalálí and (3) Akhláq-i-Muḥsiní.

Of the older manuals of Ethics in Persian, the two best known and most popular after the Akhláq-i-Náṣirí

The three most popular treatises on Ethics in Persian (written about the middle of the thirteenth century of the Christian era by the celebrated astronomer Naṣíru'd-Dín-i-Ṭúsí) are the Akhláq-i-Jalálí (properly entitled Lawámi'u'l- Ishráq fí Makárimi'l-Akhláq) composed by the philosopher Jalálu'd-Dín Dawáni between A.D. 1467 and 1477, and dedicated to Úzún Ḥasan of the Áq-qoyúnlú or “White Sheep” dynasty; and the Akhláq-i-Muḥsiní compiled by the already mentioned Ḥusayn-i-Káshifí, “the Preacher,” in 900/1494-5, and dedicated to Abu'l-Ghází Sulṭán Ḥusayn ibn Bayqará. All three books are available in printed or lithographed editions, which are enumerated by Rieu, and of that last mentioned both the text (A.D. 1823 and 1850) and the translation (A.D. 1851) have been printed at Hert-ford, for this book was, like its author's other work the Anwár-i-Suhaylí, formerly popular (especially as a textbook for examinations) amongst Anglo-Indian officials.

It is to Metaphysics and Mysticism rather than to Ethics that the Persian genius turns, and none of these The Akhláq-iJalálí and Akhláq-iMuḥsiní three books can be regarded as having any great value, except incidentally, as throwing light on Persian customs, institutions and ways of thought. The Akhláq-i-Jalálí is much the most florid in style, and used formerly to be regularly prescribed in the second or advanced part of Persian in the Oriental (formerly Indian) Languages Tripos at Cambridge, on account of its supposed difficulty, which, however, lies rather in the form than the substance. Aristotle, as interpreted by Avicenna (Abu 'Alí ibn Síná), has in the main determined the form and arrangement of Muhammadan Philosophy, which is primarily divided into “Practical Philosophy” (Ḥikmat-i-'Amalí) and “Theoretical Philosophy” (Ḥikmat-i-Naẓarí). Of these two main divisions each is subdivided into three branches: the Theoretical into Mathematics (Riyáḍiyyát), Physical Science (Ṭabí'iyyát), and Metaphysics (Má fawqa'ṭ-Ṭabí'at or Má ba'da'ṭ-Ṭabí'at); and the Practical into Ethics (Tahdhíbu'l-Akhláq), Œco-nomics (Tadbíru'l-Manzil), and Politics (Siyásatu'l-Mudun). It is with the three branches of the second division that the works now under consideration deal. The two which belong to this period have both been translated into English and printed, the Akhláq-i-Jalálí by W. F. Thompson (London, 1839) under the title of “Practical Philosophy of the Muhammadan People”; and the Akhláq-i-Muḥsiní (Hertford, 1851) by H. G. Keene. The English reader who desires to acquaint himself with their contents can, therefore, easily do so, and no further description of them is required in this place.

As regards their authors, Jalálu'd-Dín-i-Dawání was born in 830/1426-7 at the village of Dawán (from which Jalálu'd-Dín-iDawání he derives his nisba) in the province of Fárs near Kázarún, where his father was Qáḍí or judge. He himself held the same office in the province and was also a professor at the Dáru'l-Aytám or Orphans' College at Shíráz, where he passed most of his life. He died and was buried at his native place in 908/1502-3. * His fame even during his life-time spread far beyond the confines of his native land, and, as we have seen, * received recognition even at the distant Ottoman Court. In spite of his fame, he seems to have left but little behind him besides his work on Ethics, except some Quatrains, written and commentated by himself, and an explanation of one of the odes of Ḥáfiẓ.

To Ḥusayn-i-Káshifí we shall recur later.

(4) The Jawáhiru'l-Asrár, (5) the Lawá'iḥ,
and (6) the Ashi“atu'l-Lama'át.

Of the rich mystical literature of this period the major portion, which is in verse, will be discussed when we come Three mystical prose works to speak of the poets. Of the prose portion the three books mentioned above may be taken as typical. Two are commentaries on earlier texts, while the third is an independent work.

The Jawáhiru'l-Asrár wa Zawáhiru'l-Anwár (“Gems of Mysteries and Manifestations of Lights”) is a commentary on the great Mystical Mathnawí of Mawláná Jalálu'd-Dín Rúmí by Kamálu'd-Dín Ḥusayn b. Ḥasan of Khwárazm, the author or translator of several other works,*

The Jawáhiru'lAsrár who was killed by the Uzbeks some time between 835 and 840 (A.D. 1432-37). He was the pupil of a somewhat celebrated Ṣúfí Shaykh, Khwája Abu'l-Wafá, had assiduously studied the Mathnawi from his youth upwards, and had already written a briefer commentary on it entitled Kunúzu'l-Ḥaqá'iq (“Treasures of Truths”). The Jawáhiru'l-Asrár, the later and fuller commentary, has been lithographed in India. There is a manuscript of the first half in the British Museum, and one of the second Book (or Daftar) in the Cambridge University Library, besides a lithographed Indian edition. The most important part of the work is the Introduction, which deals with the history, terminology and doctrines of the Ṣúfís.

The two other works mentioned above are from the fertile pen of the great poet and mystic Mullá Núru'd-Dín 'Abdu'r-Raḥmán Jámí.

The Ashi“atu'l-Lama'át, or “Rays of the ‘Flashes,’” is a running commentary on the Lama'át of 'Iráqí, which has Jámí's Ashi“atu'lLama'át been already discussed in a previous chapter. * Apart from manuscripts, which are not very common, the text has been published in Persia in an undated volume containing this and several other mystical treatises. Of the genesis of the work Jámí speaks thus in his Preface:

“It is represented that at the time when the learned, practising, gnostic lover, the author of excellent prose and admirable verse, that Quotation from the Preface cup-bearer of the bowl of generosity to men of high aspirations, Fakhru'd-Dín Ibráhím of Hamadán, commonly known as 'Iráqí, attained to the society of that Exemplar of learned seekers after Truth and that Model of Unitarian Gnostics Abu'l-Ma'álí Ṣadru'l-Ḥaqq Wa'l-Millat wa'd-Dín Muḥammad of Qúnya*

(may God most High sanctify their secrets!), and heard from him the truths contained in the Fuṣúṣu'l-Ḥikam, * he compiled a short manual, which, inasmuch as it comprised several “flashes” from the lightnings of these truths, he entitled Lama'át. Therein, in pleasant phrases and with charming allusions, he flung together jewels of verse and prose and mingled aphorisms Arabic and Persian, from which the signs of learning and wisdom were apparent, and in which the lights of taste and ecstasy were manifest, such as might awaken the sleeper, render him who is awakened cognizant of the mysteries, kindle the fire of Love and put in motion the chain of longing.