The Subject of Love in the treatise of “Miṣbāḥ Hidāyah wa Miftāḥ al-Kifāyah” by ‘Izz ad-Dīn Maḥmūd Kāshānī, the Sufi author of the XIV th century

Abstract

A prominent Persian Sufi of the XIV th century ‘Izz ad-Dīn Maḥmūd ibn ‘Alī Kāshānī-yi Naṭanzī (d. 735/1334–35) is a sheikh of the Sufi order of Suhravardīya and anauthor of some writings in Persian and Arabic. The most well-known his work is a prosaic treatise Miṣbāḥ al-Hidāyah wa Miftāḥ al-Kifāyah (“The Lantern Directing to the Right Way and the Key to the Sufficiency [of the Mystical Knowledge]”), which became the Persian translation of one of the main reference book on Sufism that is the Arabic Writing of ‘Avārif al-Ma‘ārif (“Gifts of Divine Knowledges”) by Shihāb ad-Dīn Abū Ḥafṣ ‘Umar ibn Muḥammad as-Suhrawardī (539–632/1145–1234), the founder of the Sufi order of Suhravardīya. The paper covers religious views and scientific heritage of ‘Izz ad-Dīn Maḥmūd Kāshānī, proposes the translation of the beginning of the Section I “On Love” from the 10th Chapter «The Explanation of Mystical States» of the Miṣbāḥ al-Hidāyah with detailed commentaries. As the Persian poem Kunūz al-asrār wa Rumūz al-Aḥrār (“The Treasures of the Secrets and the Symbols of the Righteous”) of more than 660 beits long explaining psychological aspects of Mystical Love is ascribed to ‘Izz ad-Dīn Maḥmūd, three chapters of this poem were translated into Russian with commentaries as well. The comparison of the parties of these two works belonging to one author shows considerable disagreements in the explanation of Love that probably may be connected with the fact that in the first writing the author envisages the concept of Love according to ascetic Sufism (taṣavvuf-i ‘ābidāne), but in the second one — to Sufism of Love (taṣavvuf-i ‘āshiqāne). The second direction is connected with the Writing of As-Sawāniḥ fī-l-‘Ishq (“The Revelations on Love”) by Aḥmad al-Ghazālī (d. 520/1126) the Persian mystical philosopher. But it is possible as well that ‘Izz ad-Dīn Maḥmūd is not the author of the poem of Kunūz al-Asrār.