Fazlallah Astarabadi

Fazlallah Naimi Astarabadi (Template:PerB), also known by a pseudonym al-Hurufi and pen name Naimi, was an Iranian mystic who founded the Hurufi movement. The basic belief of the Hurufis was that the God has incarnated in the body of Fazlullah and that he would appear as Mahdi when the Last Day was near in order to save Muslims, Christians and Jews. The center of Fazlullah Naimi's influence was Baku and most of his followers came from Shirvan . Among his followers was the famous Hurufi poet Nesîmî.

Early Life

Fazlallah was born in Astarabad circa 1339/1340, to the family of a shoe-maker Abu Muhammed Tabrizi. According to the traditional Hurufi biography, Fazlallah Astarabadi was born in a household that traced its descent to the seventh Shi'i Imam Musa al-Kazim. Fazlallah predecessor, in eighth or ninth generation, was Muhammed al-Yamani from the family which originated in Yemen, the center of heterodox Islam at the time. Fazlallah's family was from the Sahfi'i school of Sunni Islam - however this did not figure greatly in his religious development.

When his father died when he was still a child, Fazlallah 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?

Fazlallah fell into a trance and when he enquired as to the verses meaning his relgious 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 yer 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 relgious seeker. As he left Astarabad, 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

Fazlallah composed his work in Standard Persian as well as the Persian dialect of Astarabad. His most significant work which establishes the foundation of Horufism is titled Javidan Nama(Persian for Eternal Book). Two rescensions were made of the Javidan Nama. The one which which is designated as Kabir (great) is in the Astarabadi Persian dialect. The one that is entitled Saghir (small) is in standard Persian. Another book in the Astarabadi Persian dialect is the Nawm-nama, giving an account of the dreams of Fazlallah at various times in his life. A prose work, entitled Mahabbat-nama in the Astarabad Persian dialect was imitated by Turkish Horufis. He also composed a book of poetry in standard Persian and gave it the title Arsh Nama. In addition to this book, he also composed another small collection of poetry in standard Persian using the pen name Naimi.

Sahib-i ta'vil: the Master of Esoteric Interpretation

Fazlallah 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 relgious seekers many of whom shunned contacts with wider society and often flouted religious convention. However, Fazlallah never joined any of these groups, However he began to experience a series of dreams which he came to regard as prophetic. He then made Hajj the islamic pilgrimage to Mecca before moving to Kunya Urgench, the capital of Khwarazm. He decided to make another Hajj, but only got as far as Luristan when he had dream in which a man told him to go to Mashhad. Concluding the man was Ali al-Rida (d. 818) - who is buried in Marshhhad - he made a detour to al-Riza's shrimne their before completing a second Hajj and returning to Urgench. Here he practised sufi religious practices and continued to have a number of dreams. In one Jesus told him that four sufis - Ibrahim Bin Adham, Bayazid Bistami, Al-Tustari and Bahlul were the most sincere religious seekers in the history of Islam. In another dream Muhammad appeared to him and explaining to an old man that dream interpretation was very hard as the surface identities of charactersin dreams were stand-ins for others and that dreams involved far deeper meanings than their apparent concern. Then Muhammad turned to Fazlallah and said that true dream interpretation was like a rare star that becomes visible every 30,000 yers and encompasses seven thousand worlds. He told Fazlallah that he could see it if he stood under an orange tree, This Fazlallah did and saw seven stars one of which was bigger than the rest. and the luminous star emitted a ray of light which enetered his right eye conveying a special intuitive knowledge to him. This fealt like a pearly light which enabled him to understand the hadith. After this dream Fazlallah claimed he could understand dreams and the language of birds. His followers called him sahib-i ta'vil - the master of esoteric interpretation following this. He rapidly attracted a crowd of people seeking explanations of dreams drawn from all walks of life. However, he preferred the company of religious aescetics and eventually decided to leave Urgench.

Amongst the Sarbadars

Fazlallah then moved to the region of Sabzavar in North east Iran, where a significant proportion of the local population were involved in apacyptical religion. Fron 1136 to [[1381 this region was under the rule of the Sarbadars, a divrese collection of noble afmilies who did not follow a dynastic principle, with many people affiliated to a religious group known as the Shaykiyya, This sect advised its followers to prepare arms ready for a great cosmic war that would be followed by the appearance of the Messiah. there is some evidence that he was here in 1360 and that he amde the prediction that 'Ali Mu'ayyad would expel the Shaykiyya, but that the latter would return within a year. Fifteen years later Darvish Rukn al-Din was expelled, only to return in triumph within the year. There are a number of stories relating to Fazlallah in this region, but he was to leave in 1365 travelling first to Yazd and then onto Isfahan

Sojourn in Isfahan

Fazlallah made himself at home in a mosque in the suburb of Tuqchi where he attracted two kinds of visitors: firstly religious seekers seekinga guide and secondly those who wanted him to interpret dreams for more wordly reasons. Fazlallah would accept no money for his interpretations and led an aescetic life, going without lseep spending the night in prayer and weeping continually to control his carnal desires. Th Sufi Mu'in al-Din Shahrastani visited him and asked him about his undertsanding of a true man of god. he replied quoting Junayd Bhagdadi that it is someone who is silent on the outside so that his inner reality can speak through him. Shahrastani became one of his prominent followers alongside men like Nasrallah Nafaji whose Khwabnama (the Book of Dreams) became one of the main biographical sources about Fazlallah's life. These followers formed a tight-nit community around him sharing a hermit like lifestyleand a deep brotherly love which led them to think of themselves as sharing the same soul. These sincere followers claimed the received Karamat, spirtitual gifts like special knowledge about sacred texts like the Bible and the Koran, an undertsandinmg of hidden matters and clear interpretations of the sayings and deeds of Muhammad and his immediate entourage. meanwhile a steady stream of the social elite, such as scholars, ministers military and administrative officers as well as all kinds of wealthy people would ask his advice. Giving advice to such people as Mawlana Zayn al-Din Rajayi and the Amir Farrukh Gunbadi]] Fazlallah' reputation spread throughout the provinces of Khurasan, Azerbaijan and Shirvan. Eventually he decided to move to Tabriz.

Imprisonment and Execution

For his spread of Hurufism, circa 1394/1395, Fazlullah Nâimî was captured and imprisoned in Alinja, near Nakhchivan . He was subsequently sentenced for his heresies by the religious leaders and executed at the orders of Miran Shah, the son of Tamerlane .

External links

• Sufi Tale: The Lover of the ABC