Abstract
Shabistari’s Philosphy of Sufism and Examination Views in the Gulshan-i Raz
Shabistari, Mahmud ibn ‘Abd al-Karim (1284-1319) lived in the city of Tabriz, Iran, where Sufi life, culture and philosophy were widespread. Despite his short life, he produced works that made great contributions to Sufism. His works were mostly devoted to Sufism, theology, and philosophy. Shabistari’s intellectual world was inspired by Abu Said Abu al-Khayr, Shaikh Farid al-Din ‘Attar, and Mawlana Jalal al-Din Muhammad al-Rumi who were the pioneers in Sufi poetry. Especially Gulshan-i Raz is considered a masterpiece in terms of the philosophy of Sufism. Gulshan-i Raz is a Persian mathnawi composed with the request of his sheik Baha al-Din Ya‘qub answering the questions asked by one of the Khorasan Sufis, Amir Husayn Husayni. There are plenty of commentaries on Gulshan-i Raz, and it was translated into many languages. Shabistari stated that this work consisted of the answers to the questions asked by scholars and spirituals. The fact that Amir ?usayni’s questions were the required inquiries regarding the philosophy of Sufism is both interesting and gratifying. Hence, the answers in Gulshan-i Raz constitute an exact example for Sufism. In this paper, Shabistari’s views on the philosophy of Sufism will be explained, described, and re-evaluated. The answers to all these questions give us information about the philosophy of Gulshan-i Raz. In light of this information, Shabistari’s views on the philosophy of Sufism will be analyzed and evaluated.
Keywords
Shabistari, Gulshan-i Raz, sufism, meditation (tafakkur), knower (arif).
