Iranian philosophy or Persian philosophy^{[1][2][3][4][5]} can be traced back as far as to Old Iranian philosophical traditions and thoughts which originated in ancient Indo-Iranian roots and were considerably influenced by Zarathustra's teachings. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, the choronology of the subject and science of philosophy starts with the Indo-Iranians, dating this event to 1500 BC. The Oxford dictionary also states, "Zarathushtra's philosophy entered to influence Western tradition through Judaism, and therefore on Middle Platonism."

Throughout Iranian history and due to remarkable political and social changes such as the Arab and Mongol invasions of Persia, a wide spectrum of schools of thoughts showed a variety of views on philosophical questions extending from Old Iranian and mainly Zoroastrianism-related traditions, to schools appearing in the late pre-Islamic era such as Manicheism and Mazdakism as well as various post-Islamic schools. Iranian philosophy after Arab invasion of Persia, is characterized by different interactions with the Old Iranian philosophy, the Greek philosophy and with the development of Islamic philosophy. The Illumination School and the Transcendent Philosophy are regarded as two of the main philosophical traditions of that era in Persia.

Ancient Iranian Philosophy[link]

See also Ancient Iranian Philosophy

Zoroastrianism[link]

The teachings of Zarathustra (Zoroaster) appeared in Persia at some point during the period 1700-1800 BCE.^[6][7] His wisdom became the basis of the religion Zoroastrianism, and generally influenced the development of the Iranian branch of Indo-Iranian philosophy. Zarathustra was the first who treated the problem of evil in philosophical terms.^[7] He is also believed to be one of the oldest monotheists in the history of religion. He espoused an ethical philosophy based on the primacy of good thoughts (pendar-e-nik), good words (goftar-e-nik), and good deeds (kerdar-e-nik).

The works of Zoroaster and Zoroastrianism had a significant influence on Greek philosophy and Roman philosophy. Several ancient Greek writers such as Eudoxus of Cnidus and Latin writers such as Pliny the Elder praised Zoroastrian philosophy as "the most famous and most useful". Plato learnt of Zoroastrian philosophy through Eudoxus and incorporated much of it into his own Platonic realism.^[8] In the 3rd century BC, however, Colotes accused Plato's The Republic of plagiarizing parts of Zoroaster's On Nature, such as the Myth of Er.^[9][10]

Zarathustra was known as a sage, magician and miracle-worker in post-Classical Western culture, though almost nothing was known of his ideas until the late eighteenth century. By this time his name was associated with lost ancient wisdom and was appropriated by Freemasons and other groups who claimed access to such knowledge. He appears in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute ("Die Zauberflöte") under the variant name "Sarastro", who represents moral order in opposition to the "Queen of the Night". Enlightenment writers such as Voltaire promoted research into Zoroastrianism in the belief that it was a form of rational Deism, preferable to Christianity.

In 2005, the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy ranked Zarathustra number two in the chronology of philosophical events. Zarathustra's impact lingers today due in part to the system of rational ethics he founded called Mazda-Yasna. The word Mazda-Yasna is avestan and is translated as "Worship of Wisdom" in English.

The Persian philosopher Osthanes was also under the influence of Zarathustra's ideas and philosophy, which afterwards affected the Greek philosophy through Democritus, his student. Zoroastrianism likely had as much influence on the formation of Christianity as did Judaism and the Greek mystery religions.

Manichaeism[link]

Manichaeism, founded by Mani, was influential from North Africa in the West, to China in the East. Its influence subtly continues in Western Christian thought via Saint Augustine of Hippo, who converted to Christianity from Manichaaeism, which he passionately denounced in his writings, and whose writings continue to be influential among Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox theologians. An important principle of Manichaeism was its dualistic cosmology/theology, which it shared with Mazdakism, a philosophy founded by Mazdak. Under this dualism, there were two original principles of the universe: Light, the good one; and Darkness, the evil one. These two had been mixed by a cosmic accident, and man's role in this life was through good conduct to release the parts of himself that belonged to Light. Mani saw the mixture of good and bad as a cosmic tragedy, while Mazdak viewed this in a more neutral, even optimistic way.

Mazdakism[link]

Mazdak (d. 524/528 CE) was a proto-socialist Persian reformer who gained influence under the reign of the Sassanian king Kavadh I. He claimed to be a prophet of God, and instituted communal possessions and social welfare programs.

In many ways Mazdak's teaching can be understood as a call for social revolution, and has been referred to as early "communism".^[11]

Zurvanism[link]

Zurvanism is characterized by the element of its First Principle which is Time, "Zurvan", as a primordial creator. According to Zaehner, Zurvanism appears to have three schools of thought all of which have classical Zurvanism as their foundation:

Aesthetic Zurvanism[link]

Aesthetic Zurvanism which was apparently not as popular as the materialistic kind, viewed Zurvan as undifferentiated Time, which, under the influence of desire, divided into reason (a male principle) and concupiscence (a female principle).

Materialist Zurvanism[link]

While Zoroaster's Ormuzd created the universe with his thought, materialist Zurvanism challenged the concept that anything could be made out of nothing.

Fatalistic Zurvanism[link]

Fatalistic Zurvanism resulted from the doctrine of limited time with the implication that nothing could change this preordained course of the material universe and that the path of the astral bodies of the 'heavenly sphere' was representative of this preordained course. The According to the Middle Persian work Menog-i Khrad: "Ohrmazd allotted happiness to man, but if man did not receive it, it was owing to the extortion of these planets." is ka tran

Classical Islamic period[link]

The intellectual tradition in Persia continued after Islam and was of great influence on the further development of Iranian Philosophy. The main schools for such studies were, and to some extents still are, Shiraz, Khurasan, Maragheh, Isfahan, Tehran.^[12]

Avicennism[link]

In the Islamic Golden Age, due to Avicenna's (Ibn Sina's) successful reconciliation between Aristotelianism and Neoplatonism along with Kalam, Avicennism eventually became the leading school of Islamic philosophy by the 12th century. Avicenna had become a central authority on philosophy by then, and several scholars in the 12th century commented on his strong influence at the time:^[13]

"People nowadays [believe] that truth is whatever [Ibn Sina] says, that it is inconceivable for him to err, and that whoever contradicts him in anything he says cannot be rational."

Avicennism was also influential in medieval Europe, particularly his doctrines on the nature of the soul and his existence-essence distinction, along with the debates and censure that they raised in scholastic Europe. This was particularly the case in Paris, where Avicennism was later proscribed in 1210. Nevertheless, his psychology and theory of knowledge influenced William of Auvergne and Albertus Magnus, and his metaphysics had an impact on the thought of Thomas Aquinas.^[14]

Illuminationism[link]

Illuminationist philosophy was a school of Islamic philosophy founded by Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi in the 12th century. This school is a combination of Avicenna's philosophy and ancient Iranian philosophy, along with many new innovative ideas of Suhrawardi. It is often described as having been influenced by Neoplatonism.

Transcendent theosophy[link]

Transcendent Theosophy is the school of Islamic philosophy founded by Mulla Sadra in the 17th century. His philosophy and ontology is considered to be just as important to Islamic philosophy as Martin Heidegger's philosophy later was to Western philosophy in the 20th century. Mulla Sadra bought "a new philosophical insight in dealing with the nature of reality" and created "a major transition from essentialism to existentialism" in Islamic philosophy, several centuries before this occurred in Western philosophy.^[15]

Contemporary Iranian philosophy[link]

Philosophy was and still is a popular subject of study in Iran. Previous to Western style universities, philosophy was a major field of study in religious seminaries. Comparing the number of philosophy books currently published in Iran with that in other countries, Iran possibly ranks first in this field but it is definitely on top in terms of publishing philosophy books. [2]

Among journals being published in Iran on philosophy there are FALSAFEH-The Iranian Journal of Philosophy[3] published by the department of philosophy of the University of Tehran since 1972 and Hikmat va Falsafeh published by Allamah Tabataba'i University in Tehran, Ma'rifat-e Falsafeh published by the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute in Qom, and many others. Also worthy of mention is the journal, Naqd o Nazar published by Daftar Tablighat in Qom, which often includes articles on philosophical topics and other issues of interest to religious thinkers and intellectuals.

It is important to note that Sufism has had a great amount of influence on Iranian/Persian philosophy.

List of schools and philosophers[link]

Ancient Iranian philosophy[link]

See also: Ancient Iranian philosophy in article Ancient philosophy

• Zoroastrianism
  • Zarathustra (Zoroaster)
  • Jamasp, Old Iranian nobleman, regarded as one of the first Iranian philosophers, see also Middle Persian book Jamasp Namag.
  • Ostanes
  • Tansar, influential Persian high priest (mobad) considered one of the pivotal figures in the development of the political philosophy of the Sassanian state based on the concept of vohu kshathra or huxwadāīh ("Good Sovereignty")
  • Mardan-Farrux Ohrmazddadan
  • Adurfarnbag Farroxzadan
  • Adurbad Emedan
  • Azar Kayvan
  • Avesta
  • Gathas
• Anacharsis, a Scythian philosopher
• Mazdakism, Iranian proto-socialism in the Sassanid Empire
  • Mazdak
  • Mazdak the Elder
• Manichaeism
  • Mani
• Zurvanism
• University of Gundishapur
  • Borzouye, Persian philosopher, physician and Chancellor (vizier) of the Persian court, inventor of Backgammon. Borzouye wrote several books such as the translation of Panchatantra into Middle Persian and Burzoe's quotes. His philosophical ideas were described by Ibn al-Muqaffa.
  • Bakhtshooa Gondishapuri
• Emperor Khosrau's philosophical discourses
  • Paul the Persian
• Pahlavi literature

Islamic period[link]

]]

• Al-Farabi
• Abu Bakr Razi
• Miskawayh
• Avicenna
• Imam Mohammad Ghazali Tusi
• Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani
• Iranshahri
• Kateb Qazwini
• Zakaria Razi
• Qutb-al-din Razi
• Baba Afdal Persian genius Philosopher in 12th centurey.
• Fakhr al-Din Razi known as Imam Fakhr Razi
• Nasir al-Din Tusi
• Zakariya Qazwini
• Farid al-Din Attar (Attar Nishapuri)
• Umar Suhrawardi
• Umar Khayyam
• Semnani
• Ali Hamedani
• Mowlana Jalal ad-Din Balkhi (Rumi)
• Mahmud Shabestari
• Shams al-Din Lahiji
• Nematollah Vali Kermani
• Abdol-Rahman Jami
• Noor Ali Shah
• Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi and Illumination School
• Sadr al-Din Dashtaki Shiraz School
• Mir Damad and Isfahan School
• Mulla Sadra and Transcendent Philosophy
• jabir ibn hayyan
• Rajab Ali Tabrizi
• Qazi Sa’id Qumi
• Tehran School and Qom School
• Khorasan School
• Mulla Hadi Sabzevari and Neyshabor School

In the history of Islamic philosophy, there were a few Persian philosophers who had their own schools of philosophy: Avicenna, al-Farabi, Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra. Some philosophers did not offer a new philosophy, rather they had some innovations: Mirdamad, Khajeh Nasir and Qutb al-Din Shirazi belong to this group. Some philosophers had new narration of existing philosophies: Ali Modarres is an example of such philosophers.[4]

Iranian Bahá'í Philosophy[link]

• `Abdu'l-Bahá on Divine Philosophy

See also[link]

• Intellectual movements in modern Iran
• Eastern philosophy
• Ancient philosophy
• Iranian traditional humanism
• Religious intellectualism in Iran
• International rankings of Iran

References[link]

External links[link]

• Iranian philosophy (in Persian)
• Persian Religion and Philosophy
• Persian philosophy

Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Hossein Nasr at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on October 1, 2007
Born	(1933-04-07) 7 April 1933 (age 79)
Era	Modern era
Region	Iran
School	Sufism،Shia Islam

Seyyed Hossein Nasr (in Persian: سید حسین نصر‎) (born April 7, 1933 in Tehran) is an Iranian University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, and a prominent Islamic philosopher. He is the author of many scholarly books and articles.^[1]

Nasr is a Muslim Persian philosopher and renowned scholar of comparative religion, a lifelong student and follower of Frithjof Schuon, and writes in the fields of Islamic esoterism, Sufism, philosophy of science, and metaphysics.

Nasr was the first Muslim to deliver the prestigious Gifford Lectures, and in year 2000, a volume was devoted to him in the Library of Living Philosophers.

Professor Nasr speaks and writes based on the doctrine and the viewpoints of the perennial philosophy on subjects such as philosophy, religion, spirituality, music, art, architecture, science, literature, civilizational dialogues, and the natural environment. He also wrote two books of poetry (namely Poems of the Way and The Pilgrimage of Life and the Wisdom of Rumi), and has been even described as a 'polymath'.^[2][3]

Nasr speaks Persian, English, French, German, Spanish and Arabic fluently.^[4]

Biography[link]

Origins[link]

Nasr was born in 1933 in south-central Tehran to Seyyed Valiallah, who was physician to the Persian royal family, and one of the founders of modern education in Iran. His parents were originally from Kashan.

He is a descendant of Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri from his mother's side, and is the cousin of Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo, and the father of American academic Vali Nasr, a leading expert on political Islam.

Education[link]

Nasr went to Firuz Bahram High School in Tehran^[5] before being sent to the United States for education at thirteen. In the US, Nasr first attended Peddie School in Hightstown, New Jersey, graduating in 1950 as the valedictorian of his class and also winner of the Wyclifte Award, which was the school's highest honor given to the most outstanding all-round student.^[6]

A scholarship offered by MIT in physics made him the first Iranian undergraduate to attend that university.^[4] There, he also began studying under Giorgio de Santillana and others in various other branches such as metaphysics and philosophy. During his studies there he became acquainted with the works of the prominent perennialist authority Frithjof Schuon. This school of thought has shaped Professor Nasr's life and thinking ever since. Professor Nasr has been a disciple of Frithjof Schuon for over fifty years and his works are based on the doctrine and the viewpoints of the perennial philosophy.

Upon his graduation from MIT, Nasr obtained a master's degree in geology and geophysics in 1956, and went on to pursue his Ph.D. degree in the history of science and learning at Harvard University. He planned to write his dissertation under the supervision of George Sarton, but Sarton died before he could begin his dissertation work and so he wrote his dissertation under the direction of I. Bernard Cohen, Hamilton Gibb, and Harry Wolfson.

At the age of twenty-five, Nasr graduated with his Ph.D. from Harvard completing his first book, Science and Civilization in Islam. His doctoral dissertation entitled "Conceptions of Nature in Islamic Thought" was published in 1964 by Harvard University Press as An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines.

Back to Iran[link]

Seyyed Hossein Nasr began his teaching career in 1955 when he was still a young doctoral student at Harvard University. He became a full professor by the age of 30.

After Harvard, Nasr returned to Iran as a professor at Tehran University, and then at Arya Mehr University (Sharif University) where he was appointed president in 1972. Before that, he served as Dean of The Faculty of Letters, and Academic Vice-Chancellor of Tehran University from 1968 to 1972.

Professor Nasr also learned Islamic philosophy from the prominent Muslim philosophers Allameh Tabatabaei, Sayyid Abul-Hasan Qazwini and Sayyid Muhammad Kazim Assar during that period leading up to the revolution.

In the 1970s, Farah Pahlavi of Iran appointed professor Nasr as head of the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, the first academic institution to be conducted in accordance with the intellectual principles of the Traditionalist School. During that time, Nasr, Tabatabaei, William Chittick, Kenneth Morgan, Sachiko Murata, Toshihiko Izutsu, and Henry Corbin would meet and hold various philosophical discourses. The famous book Shi'a Islam was one product of this period.

Return to the US[link]

Upon his return to the west, Nasr took up positions at University of Edinburgh, Temple University, and since 1984 has been at The George Washington University where he is now a full time University Professor of Islamic Studies.

Nasr helped with the planning and expansion of Islamic and Iranian studies academic programs in several universities such as Princeton, the University of Utah, and the University of Southern California.

He was an advisor for the award-winning, PBS-broadcast documentary Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet (2002), produced by Unity Productions Foundation.

Awards and honors[link]

• In year 2000, a volume was devoted to him in the Library of Living Philosophers.
• Templeton Religion and Science Award (1999)^[7]
• First Muslim and first non-Western scholar to deliver the prestigious Gifford Lectures
• Honorary Doctor of Uppsala University, Sweden (1977)
• He was nominated and won King Faisal Foundation award, but his prize was withdrawn upon the prize knowledge of him being a Shia. He was notified of winning the prize in 1979 but later the prize was withdrawn with no explanation. Extracts from ( http://www.arabiaradio.org/ )

Works[link]

Nasr is the author of over fifty books and five hundred articles (a number of which can be found in the journal, Studies in Comparative Religion) on topics such as traditional metaphysics, Islamic science, religion and the environment, Sufism, and Islamic philosophy. Listed below are most of Dr. Nasr's works in English (in no particular order), including translations, edited volumes, and Festschriften in his honor:

• The HarperCollins Study Quran
• In Search of the Sacred
• Islam in the Modern World
• Islam and the Plight of Modern Man
• Ideals and Realities of Islam
• An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines
• Knowledge and the Sacred online
• Islamic Life and Thought
• Islamic Art and Spirituality
• Sufi Essays
• Sadr al-Din Shirazi and His Transcendent Theosophy, 2nd edition
• A Young Muslim's Guide to the Modern World
• The Need for a Sacred Science
• Traditional Islam in the Modern World
• Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis in Modern Man
• The Islamic Intellectual Tradition in Persia, edited by Mehdi Aminrazavi
• The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition
• Three Muslim Sages
• Science and Civilization in Islam
• Islamic Science: An Illustrated Study
• Religion and the Order of Nature
• Muhammad: Man of God
• Islamic Studies: Essays on Law and Society, the Sciences, and Philosophy and Sufism
• The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity
• Islamic Philosophy from its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy
• Poems of the Way
• The Pilgrimage of Life and the Wisdom of Rumi
• Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization
• Islam, Science, Muslims, and Technology: Seyyed Hossein Nasr in Conversation with Muzaffar Iqbal
• The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr, edited by William Chittick
• The Essential Frithjof Schuon
• Religion of the Heart: Essays Presented to Frithjof Schuon on his Eightieth Birthday, edited with William Stoddart
• The Philosophy of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, edited by L.E. Hahn, R. Auxier, and L.W. Stone
• History of Islamic Philosophy, edited with Oliver Leaman
• The Essential Sophia, edited with Katherine O'Brien
• An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, edited with Mehdi Aminrazavi (5 vols.)
• Islamic Spirituality (Vol. 1: Foundations; Vol. 2: Manifestations)
• Shi'ism: Doctrines, Thought, and Spirituality, edited with Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr and Hamid Dabashi
• Expectation of the Millenium: Shi'ism in History, edited with Seyyed Vali Reza Nasr and Hamid Dabashi
• In Quest of the Sacred: The Modern World in the Light of Tradition, edited with Katherine O'Brien
• An Annotated Bibliography of Islamic Science, edited with William Chittick and Peter Zirnis (3 vols.)
• Isma'ili Contributions to Islamic Culture, edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
• Mecca the Blessed, Madina the Radiant, photographs by Ali Kazuyo Nomachi; essay by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
• The Works of Seyyed Hossein Nasr Through His Fortieth Birthday, edited by William Chittick
• Knowledge is Light: Essays in Honor of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, edited by Zailan Moris
• Beacon of Knowledge - Essays in Honor of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, edited by Mohammad Faghfoory
• Shi'ite Islam by Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i, translated by Seyyed Hossein Nasr

See also[link]

• Sufi studies
• Higher Education in Iran
• Iranian traditional humanism

Other religious and traditional scholars

• Frithjof Schuon
• Titus Burckhardt
• Martin Lings
• Jean-Louis Michon
• Tage Lindbom
• Kurt Almqvist
• Ivan Aguéli
• James Cutsinger
• Rene Guenon
• Julius Evola
• Ismail Faruqi
• Allameh Tabatabaei
• Louis Massignon
• Henry Corbin
• William Chittick

References[link]

External links[link]

Articles and biography[link]

• Understanding Seyyed Hossein Nasr
• The Foundation for Traditional Studies
• Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
• The Seyyed Hossein Nasr Foundation
• Nasr's CV
• Biography of Sayyed Hossein Nasr by Ibrahim Kalin
• George Washington University commemorating Seyyed Hossein Nasr
• Islam and ecology - Nasr

Media[link]

• Encounters with Islam and Nature Downloadable interview with Nasr regarding Islam and the environment. June 15, 2007.
• Nasr on PBS
• In The Beginning Was Consciousness. 2003 Dudleian Lecture at Harvard University.
• Development and Muslim Societies. Lecture at the World Bank.
• Unlearning Intolerance. U.N. Conference on Islamophobia. Keynote address given by Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
• PilgrFile: The Heart of Islam. Lecture at the Washington National Cathedral.
• This is America - Show 925. Seyyed Hossein Nasr television interview on Google video.
• Controversy over the Pope's Remarks. Radio interview on The Diane Rehm Show.

v t e Sufism and Tariqa Ideas Qutb Wali Abdal Fakir Dervish Tazkiah Baqaa Fanaa Haal Keramat Haqiqa Ihsan Irfan Kashf Lataif Manzil Marifa Nafs Noor Sufi cosmology Sufi metaphysics Sufi philosophy Sufi poetry Sufi psychology Sulook Yaqeen Silsila Practices Anasheed Dhikr Haḍra Muraqaba Qawwali Sama Whirling Ziyarat Sufi orders Azeemia Akbarī Alians Ba 'Alawī Bayramī Bektashī Chishtī Galibī Gulshanī Ḥurūfī Idrīsī Jelvetī Jerrahī Khalwatī Kubrāwī Madarī Malāmatī Mawlāwī Mourīdī Naqshbandī Naqshbandi Uwaisī Khalidiyya Nasuhī Ni'matullāhī Nuqtawī Qadirī Qalāndārī Rifa'ī Safāvī Shadhilī Suhrawardī Sunbulī Tijanī Ussakī Uwaisī Zahedī Notable early Sufi saints and mystics Abdul-Qadir Gilanī Abul-Khayr Ahmad Ghazālī Ahmed Yasāvī Al-Ghazālī Al-Hallaj al-Misrī Al-Qāsim al-Qunawī Amīr Kulal Ardabilī Ata Allah Attar Balım Sultan Baha ūd-Dīn Naqshband Bande Nawāz Baqī Billah Bastamī Bhita'ī Bulleh Shah Shah Waliullah Dehlāvī Farīd ūd-Dīn Fozail Gālib Gharīb Nawāz Ghujdawanī Ghulam Farīd Sheik Edebali Gül Baba Hajji Bayram Hajji Bektash Hazrat Mai Safoora Qadiriyya Haddad Hamadānī Hansvī Harabatī Baba Hasan Basri Mahmud Hudayī Hujwirī ibn ʿArabī Jābir ibn Hayyān Jahangasht Jamī Jan-e-Jānāān Jazoulī Junayd Baġdādī Kākī Kaliyarī Karkhī Kharaqanī Kubrā Nāimī Najib al-Suhrawardī Nasīmī Mansur Al-Hallaj Ni'matullāh Nizām ūd-Dīn Nurī Otman Baba Pir Sultan Qutb ūd-Dīn Haydār Rabbānī Rabia Basri Razī Rifa'ī Rukn-e-Alam Rūmī Ibrahim ibn Adham Saadī Salman al-Farisī Sanai Mevlana Halid-i Bagdadi Sarı Saltuk Semnanī Shadhilī Shahāb al-Dīn Suhrawardī Shams Tabrizī Shiblī Shirazī Sultan Walad Surkh Bukhari Taj al-Dīn Gilanī Umar al-Suhrawardī Uwais al-Qarni Yunus Emre Magtymguly Pyragy Zakariya Zarruq Notable modern Sufi saints Auliya Azeemi Nagpuri Meher Ali Sheikh Muhammad Uthman Sirajuddin Qadeer Piya Muhammad Maliki Gohar Shahi Tahir ul-Qadri Tahir Allauddin Taqi Usmani Abdal Hakim Murad Nazim Al-Haqqani Hisham Kabbani Nuh Keller Nooruddeen Durkee Abdalqadir as-Sufi Zaheen Ghulam Mustafa Reshad Feild Ahmad al-Alawi Ashraf Ali Thanvi Bawa Muhaiyaddeen Abd al-Rahman al-Shaghouri Omar Shah Haeri Raza Khan Syed Shujaat Pir Zulfiqar Abdullah Naqshbandi Sufi Barkat Ali Hafiz Qamaruddin Saheb Qibla Fultali Feisal Abdul Rauf Osman Nuri Topbaş Sufi studies Aguéli Almqvist Burckhardt Chittick Corbin Ernst Frager Guénon Hixon Lindbom Lings Nasr Schimmel Sells Shah Schuon Topics in Sufism Art Fiction History Music Poetry Shrines Texts Portal

Abu Mo’in Hamid ad-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw al-Qubadiani or Nāsir Khusraw Qubādiyānī [also spelled as Nasir Khusrow and Naser Khosrow] (1004 - 1088 AD (Persian: ناصر خسرو قبادیانی‎,Tajik: Носири Хусрав) was a Persian poet, philosopher, Isma'ili scholar, traveler and one of the greatest writers in Persian literature. He was born in Qubadyan, a village in middle-age Bactria in eastern Iranian province of Khorasan,^[1][2] now present-day in modern Tajikistan^[3] and died in Yamagan, Central Asia (now in Afghanistan). He is considered one of the great poets and writers in Persian literature. The Safarnama, an account of his travels, is his most famous work.

Life[link]

Nasir Khusraw was born in 1004 AD, in Qubadyan. He was well versed in the branches of the natural sciences, medicine, mathematics, astronomy and astrology, Greek philosophy, and the writings of al-Kindi, al-Farabi and Ibn Sina; and in the interpretation of the Qur'an. He also studied Arabic, Turkish, Greek, the vernacular languages of India and Sindh, and perhaps even Hebrew; and had visited Multan and Lahore, and the splendid Ghaznavid court under Sultan Mahmud, Firdousi's patron. He later chose Merv for his residence, and was the owner of a house and garden there.

Until A.H. 437 (1046 AD), he worked as a financial secretary and revenue collector for the Seljuk sultan Toghrul Beg, or rather for his brother Jaghir Beg, the emir of Khorasan, who had conquered Merv in 1037. At around this time, inspired by a heavenly voice in a dream, he abjured all the luxuries of his life, and resolved upon a pilgrimage to the holy shrines of Mecca and Medina, hoping to find there the solution to his spiritual crisis.

The graphic description of this journey is contained in the Safarnama, which still possesses special value among books of travel, as it contains the most authentic account of the state of the Muslim world in the middle of the 11th century^{[citation needed]}. The minute sketches of Jerusalem and its environs are even today of practical value.

During the seven years of his 19,000-kilometre journey (1046–1052), Nasir visited Mecca four times, and performed all the rites and observances of a zealous pilgrim; but he was far more attracted by Cairo, the capital of Egypt, and the residence of the Fatimid caliph-imam Ma'ad al-Mustansir Billah, the Imam of the Ismaili Shi'a Muslims, which was just then waging a deadly war against the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad, and Toghrul Beg the Seljuk, the great defender of the Sunni creed. At the very time of Nasir's visit to Cairo, the power of the Egyptian Fatimids was in its zenith; Syria, the Hejaz, Africa, and Sicily obeyed al-Mustanir's sway, and the utmost order, security and prosperity reigned in Egypt.

At Cairo, he learned mainly under the Fatimid dā‘ī ("missionary") Mu'ayyad fid-Din al-Shirazi, and became thoroughly imbued with the Shi'a Isma'ili doctrines of the Fatimids, and their introduction into his native country was henceforth the sole object of his life. He was raised to the position of dā‘ī "missionary" and appointed as the Hujjat-i Khorasan, though the hostility he encountered in the propagation of these new religious ideas after his return to Greater Khorasan in 1052 A.D. and Sunnite fanaticism compelled him at last to flee. After wandering from place to place, he found refuge in Yamgan (about 1060 A.D.) in the mountains of Badakhshan, where he spent as a hermit the last decades of his life, gathering a considerable number of devoted adherents, who have handed down his doctrines to succeeding generations.

Works[link]

• Safarnama (Persian: سفرنامه‎)

Safarnama (The Book of Travels) is his most famous work. He visited dozens of cities in about seven years (1046, March 6 – 1052, October 23) and wrote comprehensively about them, including details about colleges, caravanserais, mosques, scientists, kings, the public, the population, the area of the cities, and, of course, his interesting memories. After 1000 years, his Safarnama is still readable for Persian-speaking people.

• Diwan (Persian: دیوان‎)

Among his other works, most of the lyrical poems in his Diwan were composed in his retirement, and their chief topics are an enthusiastic praise of Ali, his descendants, and al-Mustansir in particular, along with passionate outcries against Khorasan and its rulers, who had driven him from his home. It also explores his immense satisfaction with the quiet solitude of Yumgan, and his utter despondency again in seeing himself despised by his former associates and excluded from participation in the glorious contest of life. Scattered through all these alternating outbursts of hope and despair, there are lessons of morality, and solemn warnings against the tricks and perfidy of the world, the vanity of all earthly splendour and greatness, the folly and injustice of men, and the hypocrisy, frivolity and viciousness of fashionable society and princely courts in particular^{[citation needed]}.

• Gushayish wa Rahayish (Persian: گشایش و رهایش‎)

Another work of Nasir Khusraw is the Persian philosophical work "Gushayis wa Rahayish" which has been translated into English by F.M. Hunzai under the title: "Knowledge and Liberation". The work discusses creation, questions related to the soul, epistemology, creation, and Ismaili Islamic doctorines. From a linguistic point of view, the work is an example of early philosophical writing in new Persian.

It is the same strain which runs, although in a somewhat lower key, through his two larger mathnavis, the Rawshana-i-nama (Persian: روشنایی نامه‎) (or Book of Enlightenment, also known as Shish Fasl), and the Sa'datnama (Book of Felicity). The former is divided into two sections: the first, of a metaphysical character, contains a sort of practical cosmography, chiefly based on Avicenna's theories, but frequently intermixed both with the freer speculations of the well-known philosophical brotherhood of Basra, the Ikhwan al-Safa, and purely Shi'ite or Isma'ili ideas; the second, or ethical section of the poem, abounds in moral maxims and ingenious thoughts on man's good and bad qualities, on the necessity of shunning the company of fools and double-faced friends, on the deceptive allurements of the world and the secret snares of ambitious men craving for rank and wealth. It concludes with an imaginary vision of a beautiful work of spirits who have stripped off the fetters of earthly cares and sorrows and revel in the pure light of divine wisdom and love.

If we compare this with a similar allegory in Nasir's Diwan, which culminates in the praise of Mustansir, we are fairly entitled to look upon it as a covert allusion to the eminent men who revealed to the poet in Cairo the secrets of the Isma'ili faith, and showed him what he considered the heavenly ladder to superior knowledge and spiritual bliss.

A similar series of excellent teachings on practical wisdom and the blessings of a virtuous life, only of a more severe and uncompromising character, is contained in the Sa'datnama; and, judging from the extreme bitterness of tone manifested in the reproaches of kings and emirs, we should be inclined to consider it a protest against the vile aspersions poured out upon Nasir's moral and religious attitude during those persecutions which drove him at last to Yumgan.

Of all other works of the author, the Zaad al-Musafirin (or Travelling Provisions of Pilgrims) and the Wajh-i-Din (or The Face of Religion) are theoretical descriptions of his religious and philosophical principles; the rest of them can be dismissed as being probably just as apocryphal as Nasir's famous autobiography (found in several Persian tadhkiras or biographies of poets), a mere forgery of the most extravagant description, which is mainly responsible for the confusion in names and dates in older accounts of our author.

• Book on Mathematics (Arabic: عجایب الحساب و عرایب الحساب‎)

Nasir Khusraw wrote a book on mathematics which has now been lost. He states in his other work that he could: not find one single scholar throughout all of Khorasan and eastern lands like myself [who] could grapple with the solutions to these problems. But he felt it his responsibility to take the task for readers he would never see, 'those yet to come, in a time yet to come'

Poetry[link]

The poetry of Nasir Khusraw is replete with advice and wisdom. Being the representative of the Fatimid Imams in Khorasan, Nasir guided his followers through his poetry. His Persian poetry is enjoyed by the average Persian speaker of today and is taught in grade school.

Have you heard? A squash vine grew beneath a towering tree.
In only twenty days it grew and spread and put forth fruit.
Of the tree it asked: "How old are you? How many years?"
Replied the tree: "Two hundred it would be, and surely more."
The squash laughed and said: "Look, in twenty days, I've done
More than you; tell me, why are you so slow?"
The tree responded: "O little Squash, today is not the day
of reckoning between the two of us.
"Tomorrow, when winds of autumn howl down on you me,
then shall it be known for sure which one of us is the most resilient!"
نشنیده‌ای که زیر چناری کدو بنی بر رست و بردوید برو بر به روز بیست؟

پرسید از آن چنار که تو چند ساله‌ای؟ --- گفتا دویست باشد و اکنون زیادتی است

خندید ازو کدو که من از تو به بیست روز --- بر تر شدم بگو تو که این کاهلی ز چیست

او را چنار گفت که امروز ای کدو --- با تو مرا هنوز نه هنگام داوری است

فردا که بر من و تو وزد باد مهرگان ---

آنگه شود پدید که از ما دو مرد کیست

See also[link]

Poetry portal

• List of Persian poets and authors
• Persian literature

Notes[link]

References[link]

• E. G. Browne (1998). Literary History of Persia. RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-7007-0406-X. 
• Jan Rypka (1899). History of Iranian Literature. Springer. ISBN 90-277-0143-1. 

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Further reading[link]

• Alice C. Hunsberger (2003). Nasir Khusraw, the Ruby of Badakhshan: A Portrait of the Persian Poet, Traveller and Philosopher. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1-85043-926-5. 
• Annemarie Schimmel (2001). Make A Shield From Wisdom: Selected Verses from Nasir-i Khusraw's Divan. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-725-1. 

External links[link]

• Nasir Khusraw's works in original Persian at Ganjoor Persian Library
• Naser Khosrow in jazirehdanesh(persian)
• Millenary Celebrations of Nasir Khusraw
• Sayyidna Nasir Khusraw
• Nasir Khusraw: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow
• Nasir Khusraw: The Ruby of Badakhshan
• Nasir Khusraw: Fatimid Intellectual
• Nasir Khusraw (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy)