Fażlu l-Lāh Astar-Ābādī (Persian: فضل‌الله استرآبادی‎), also known as Fażlullāh Tabrīzī Astarābādī by a pseudonym al-Ḥurūfī and a pen name Nāimī, was an Iranian mystic who founded the Ḥurūfī movement. The basic belief of the Ḥurūfiyyah was that the God was incarnated in the body of Fażlullāh and that he would appear as Mahdī when the Last Day was near in order to save Muslims, Christians and Jews. His followers first came from the village of Toqchi near Isfahan and from there, the fame of his small community spread throughout Khorasan, ʿErāq, Azerbaijan and Shirvan. The center of Fażlullāh Nāimī's influence was Baku and most of his followers came from Shirvan. Among his followers was the famous Ḥurūfī poet Seyyed Imadaddin Nasimi, one of the greatest Turkic mystical poets of the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Fażlullāh was born in Astarābād, Iran, circa 1339/1340, to a family of judges. According to the traditional Ḥurūfī biography, Fażlullāh Astarābādī was born in a household that traced its descent to the seventh Shī‘ah Imam, Musa al-Kazim. Fażlullāh's predecessor, in eighth or ninth generation, was Muhammad al-Yamanī, from the family which originated in Yemen, the center of heterodox Islam at the time. Fażlullāh's family was from the Shāfi‘ī school of Sunni Islam — however, this did not figure greatly in his religious development. When his father died when he was still a child, Fażlullāh inherited his position and appeared at the courthouse on horse back everyday, acting as a figurehead while his assistants carried out the work of the court. At the age of eighteen he had an extraordinary religious experience when a nomadic dervish recited a verse by Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi: Why are you afraid of death when you have the essence of eternity? How can the grave contain you when you have the light of God? Fażlullāh fell into a trance and when he inquired as to the verses meaning his religious teacher told him that to understand it one would have to devote their life to religious pursuits and then one could experience the meaning rather than knowing it intellectually. After a year of trying to maintain his duties as a judge during the day while engaged in solitary prayer in a graveyard at night, he abandoned his family, possessions and security to become an itinerant religious seeker. As he left Astarābād, he exchanged his clothes for the felt clothing of a shepherd he met. From then on he always wore this shirt as a symbol of having abandoned worldly connections and comforts. Works Fażlullāh composed his works in Standard Persian as well as the Persian dialect of Astarābād. His most significant work which establishes the foundation of Ḥurūfism is titled Javidan-namah "Eternal Book". Two recensions were made of the Javidan-namah. The one which is designated as Kabīr "Great" is in the Astarābādī Persian dialect and the one that is entitled Ṣaghīr "Small" is in standard Persian. Another book in the Astarābādī Persian dialect is the Nawm-namah, giving an account of the dreams of Fażlullāh at various times in his life. A prose work, entitled Mahabbat-namah in the Astarābād Persian dialect was imitated by Turkish Ḥurūfīs. He also composed a book of poetry in standard Persian and gave it the title Arsh-namah. In addition to this book, he also composed another small collection of poetry in standard Persian using the pen name Nāimī. From his poetic works, it is evident that he knew Arabic, Persian and his native language, the Gurgan dialect. He was well-versed in Persian literature, and that he was capable of composing poetry in the classical style. Sahib-i ta'vil: the Master of Esoteric Interpretation According to Encyclopedia of Islam, one of the key tenets of Ḥurūfism is that Allah reveals himself in the Word and that words (ḥurūf) are composed of sounds that are associated with letters. The total number of letters (and their numerical value according to the abjad) is the total of all emanating and creating possibilities of God and is God himself made manifest. Dreams of Fażlullāh Fażlullāh made his way to Isfahan in central Iran. Unused to walking, he suffered a leg injury by the time he arrived. Here he found a variety of religious seekers many of whom shunned contacts with wider society and often flouted religious convention.

• published: 05 Apr 2015
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