The Transcendental Unity of Polytheism and Monotheism in the Sufism of Shabistari
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The Transcendental Unity of Polytheism and Monotheism in the Sufism of Shabistari iLeonard Lewisohn I. INTRODUCTION: SHABISTAR'l'S INSPIRATION AND TRADITION One of the most disturbing phenomena for both non-Muslim and Muslim Iranologists in the study of Persian Sufism is how to interpret the frequent ecstatic sayings of mystics who claimed in their raptures like Rumi to be "neither Muslim, nor Christian, nor Jew, nor Zoroastrian."l The present essay thus proposes to exam- ine, by focusing on the writings of Shabistart, the theological and theosophical foundations the Sufis' unitarian stance on religious diversity. The Sufis' advocacy of the 'unity-of-religions,,2 constituted a unique ecumenism which had its origins in a visionary consciousness (kashri /:lu(iuri) rather than an intellectual inter-faith dialogue 'aqliJ as understood by the modem theologian 3 Mal)miid Shabistari was born in Tabriz in 687-8/1288-9, where he received his elementary and advanced education. He subsequently became deeply versed in the symbolic terminology and mystical theosophy of Mul}yi ai-Din Ibn' Arabi. His er- udition and learning in respect to the latter's voluminous writings eventually led him to describe his pursuit of understanding of the "science of religion" as a quest to comprehend Ibn 'ArabI: I spent a long part of my life studying the science of divine Unity, traveling through Egypt, Turkey, and Arabia, day after day, night after night. Year in and out, for month on end, like time itself, I trekked through town and country, sometimes burning the midnight oil, sometimes making the moon I11Y bedside lamp. How vast were the climes I covered and many the scholars of the Sufic Art I met - whose wondrous sayings I loved to collect to make the subject of my own esoteric compositions. In particular, I took pains in the study of the Futil!Uit al-Makkiyya and the Fil$il$ al-I)ikam, neglecting no minute detail in either book. Despite these exer- tions in scholarship, my heart still felt restless. I was puzzling over this disquiet and anxiety, when a hidden voice seemed to cry out within me, saying: These words are written in the language of the heart; seek their meaning from your heart. Do not fol- 1. See R.A. Nicholson (trans.) Selected Poems From the Divani Shamsi Tabriz (Cambridge University Press, reprinted 1977), p. 125. 2. See Leonard Lewisohn, 'The Unity of Religions' in 'A Critical Edition of the Divan of Maghrebi (With an Introduction into His Life, Literary School, and Mystical Poetry),' Ph.D. Dissertation. at SOAS, University of London, 1988, pp. 177-82. Portions of this essay are adapted from this thesis. 3. Cf. M. Taibi, 'A Community of Communities: the Right to be Different and the Ways of Harmony' in J. Hick and H. Askari (editors), The Experience oJReligious Diversity (Shaftesbury: Blackmore Press 1985), pp. 81-82 and Karl-Wolfgang Troger, 'Peace and Islam: In Theory and Practice,' in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Vol. 1, No.1 (1990). pp. 15-16.
Transcript of The Transcendental Unity of Polytheism and Monotheism in the Sufism of Shabistari
The Transcendental Unity of Polytheism and Monotheism in
the Sufism of Shabistari
iLeonard Lewisohn
I. INTRODUCTION: SHABISTAR'l'S INSPIRATION AND TRADITION
One of the most disturbing phenomena for both non-Muslim and Muslim Iranologists in the study of Persian Sufism is how to interpret the frequent ecstatic sayings of mystics who claimed in their raptures like Rumi to be "neither Muslim, nor Christian, nor Jew, nor Zoroastrian."l The present essay thus proposes to examine, by focusing on the writings of Shabistart, the theological and theosophical foundations the Sufis' unitarian stance on religious diversity. The Sufis' advocacy of the 'unity-of-religions,,2 constituted a unique ecumenism which had its origins in a visionary consciousness (kashri /:lu(iuri) rather than an intellectual inter-faith dialogue (ba~th-i 'aqliJ as understood by the modem theologian3
Mal)miid Shabistari was born in Tabriz in 687-8/1288-9, where he received his elementary and advanced education. He subsequently became deeply versed in the symbolic terminology and mystical theosophy of Mul}yi ai-Din Ibn' Arabi. His erudition and learning in respect to the latter's voluminous writings eventually led him to describe his pursuit of understanding of the "science of religion" as a quest to comprehend Ibn 'ArabI:
I spent a long part of my life studying the science of divine Unity, traveling through Egypt, Turkey, and Arabia, day after day, night after night. Year in and out, for month on end, like time itself, I trekked through town and country, sometimes burning the midnight oil, sometimes making the moon I11Y bedside lamp.
How vast were the climes I covered and many the scholars of the Sufic Art I met - whose wondrous sayings I loved to collect to make the subject of my own esoteric compositions. In particular, I took pains in the study of the Futil!Uit al-Makkiyya and the Fil$il$ al-I)ikam, neglecting no minute detail in either book. Despite these exertions in scholarship, my heart still felt restless. I was puzzling over this disquiet and anxiety, when a hidden voice seemed to cry out within me, saying: These words are written in the language of the heart; seek their meaning from your heart. Do not fol-
1. See R.A. Nicholson (trans.) Selected Poems From the Divani Shamsi Tabriz (Cambridge University Press, reprinted 1977), p. 125.
2. See Leonard Lewisohn, 'The Unity of Religions' in 'A Critical Edition of the Divan of Maghrebi (With an Introduction into His Life, Literary School, and Mystical Poetry),' Ph.D. Dissertation. at SOAS, University of London, 1988, pp. 177-82. Portions of this essay are adapted from this thesis.
3. Cf. M. Taibi, 'A Community of Communities: the Right to be Different and the Ways of Harmony' in J. Hick and H. Askari (editors), The Experience oJReligious Diversity (Shaftesbury: Blackmore Press 1985), pp. 81-82 and Karl-Wolfgang Troger, 'Peace and Islam: In Theory and Practice,' in Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations, Vol. 1, No.1 (1990). pp. 15-16.
