Eastern Wisdom

Since Faith at the Last Great Judgment can make my reckoning light,

Shall I fear if Faith requireth, to lose my life outright?

So the world is now my quarry and the hunter who hunts am I,

Though I was once the quarry, in the days that are long gone by.

Though others it hunt and capture, I stand from its dangers clear,

My soul is higher than fortune; then why should I Fortune fear?

-       Nasir-I-Khusraw[1]

O far-seeing falcon, whose seat is in the tree of Paradise—this corner of Labor-town is not thy rest.

-       Hafiz[2]

Through the lofty vault of Ether,

With wings of obedience I

One day shall soar to the heavens as

The sky-lark soars to the sky.

-       Nasir-I-Khusraw

The world is a book full of knowledge and justice, the binder of which book is Destiny, another binding the beginning and the end: The stitching of it is the law, and the leaves are the religious persuasions.

-       The Dabistan[3]

Let understanding marvel as it may, where men see clouds, on the ninth heaven I gaze, and see the throne of God.

-       Mahmoud

Life is a pledge of friendship from our Maker: Give me the pledge and take the pledge who will.

-       Akhlag-I-Jalali[4]

Increase in goodness as long as thou art here, that when thou departest, in that thou mayest still be joyful.

Firdawsi[5]

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[1] Abu Mo’in Hamid al-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw was born in 1004 in Qobadiyan in the district of Marv, in the eastern Persian province of Khurasan. He enjoyed high positions in the administrative ranks of the Saljuq court, including in the revenue department. Based on the quality of his writings, it is obvious he received an excellent education in the sciences, literatures and philosophies of his time, including the study of Greek and Neoplatonic philosophy. He examined the doctrines of the different Islamic schools and was not satisfied until he found and understood the Ismaili faith. From this event of conversion, he embarked on his journey, during which time he spent three years in the Ismaili court in Cairo of the Fatimid caliph, al-Mustansir (1029-1094). 

The Fatimid dynasty (909-1171) aimed at creating an Islamic state based on Ismaili tenets, and thus presented a direct theological and military challenge to the Sunni ‘Abbasid caliphate based in Baghdad. He left Cairo as the head of Ismaili missionary activities in his home province of Khurasan. When he died is uncertain. At some point, he was forced by the Sunni authorities to flee for his life; he lived the rest of his days in exile in the Pamir Mountains of Badakhshan, located in today’s Tajikistan and Afghanistan. (Source: The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy – iep.utm.edu)

[2] Hafiz is the pen name of Khajeh Shamseddin Mohammad Hafiz-s Shirazi. He was born in 1320 in Shiraz, Persia, son of Baha-ud-Din. As a young man, he memorized the Koran by hearing his father recite it; his pen-name reflects this accomplishment. Hafiz also memorized many of the works of his hero, Saadi (see footnote 181), the famous author and teacher from Shiraz, who had died thirty years before he was born. Hafiz’ father was a coal merchant; he sickened and died while the boy was in his late teens. This left Hafiz and his mother in serious debt. They went to live with his uncle Saadi, who had been named for the boy’s hero. Hafiz dropped out of school to work in a drapery shop, and later, in a bakery.

In his early thirties Hafiz became a poet of the court of Abu Ishak. He gained much fame and influence in Shiraz, and he became a teacher of Koranic studies at the college. But when he was 33, Mubariz Muzaffar captured Shiraz and ousted Hafiz from his position. Hafiz wrote protest poems. Five years later, the new tyrant was overthrown by his own son Shah Shuja. Hafiz regained his spot at the college. As the years went by, Hafiz began falling out of favor with Shah Shuja, and eventually fled Shiraz for his safety. He went into self-imposed exile in Isfahan, in central Persia. After a decade or so, Shah Shuja, invited him to return to Shiraz. He was re-instated to his post at the College. Hafiz composed over 5,000 poems in his lifetime, but few were written down. The Gift, which has been translated into English by Daniel Ladinsky, is one of his better-known works.

When he was 21, still working at the bakery, Hafiz delivered bread to a wealthy quarter of town and saw Shakh-e Nabat, a young woman of incredible beauty. Many of his poems are addressed to her. He longed to marry her, but it was not to be. Not only was he poor, physically unattractive and small, but she was promised to one of the city’s princes. In pursuit of reaching his beloved, Hafiz kept a forty day and night vigil at the tomb of Baba Kuhi. At the end of this vigil, he was visited by the Angel Gabriel, who told him that to achieve perfection, he should become a disciple of Attar of Shiraz, which he did. While still in his twenties, Hafiz married and became a father, though he continued to extol the virtues of Shakh-e Nabat.

At age 60, longing to be united with his Creator, Hafiz began a forty day and night vigil by sitting in a circle that he had drawn himself. He had a vision in which he finally achieved Cosmic Consciousness. He continued to write and teach, and died at the age of 69.  (Source: poetseers.org)

[3] This is a 17^th century Persian text surveying the many different kinds of religious experience in Asia, including Majism, Hinduism, Jainism, Judaism, Christianity, Mohammedanism and many smaller sects. It is thought to have been written by Muhammad Muhsin, also known as Fani. It was first translated into English in 1843 as Religious Doctrines by Sir William Jones.

[4] The Akhlaq-e Jalali (Jalalian Ethics) is a 15^th century treatise by Jalal al-Din Muhammad ibn As’ad al-Dawani, first translated into English in 1839 by W. F. Thompson. Al-Dawani was born near Kazarun, southern Iran, in the village of Davan in 1426. He first studied there with his father before going to Shiraz to further and complete his education in philosophy, theology and law. As other leading religious scholars of his time and place, he was directly caught up in the turbulent politics of Iran in the second half of the fifteenth century. He was inducted into various religious offices, and many of his works were dedicated to Aq Qoyunlu and other Timurid rulers and princes. He also achieved fame as a teacher in the Begum madrasa (Dar al-Aytam) in Shiraz. The question of his religious allegiance, whether Sunni or Shi’i (he wrote theological works of both persuasions), has always been the subject of debate and of many fanciful stories, but it may be of comparatively slight significance given the situation in the Iran of his time, which was marked by a Sunnism with a strong Shi’i colouring. He died in 1502 near Kazarun, a year or so before the Safavid capture of Shiraz, and is buried in his home town.

[5] Firdawsi is the pen-name of Persian poet Abu Ol-Qasem Mansur (ca 935-1020), about whom little factual information is known. He is credited with writing Shah-nameh (Book of Kings), an epic of 60,000 couplets that tells the story of the kings of Persia until the seventh century.  (Source: hjconfer.home.att.net)