Hajj Nematollah

Hajj Nematollah

Born: 1871, Jeyhounabad, Persia (renamed Iran, March 21, 1935)

Died: February 28, 1919, Jeyhounabad, Persia

Hajj Nematollah (aka Hajj Ne'mat) is considered one of the greatest leaders and mystics in Kurdish / Ahl-e Haqq history. Two of his most famous works of poetry/history are Forqan ol-Akhbar (aka Firqan Al-Akhbar, The Firkan, Furqan al-Akhbar) and Shah-Nama-Ye Haqiqat (Haqq ol-Haqayeq) which was published in 1966, by Bibliotheque Iranienne, Librairie D’Amerique Et D’Orient Adrien - Maisonneuve. According to encyclopedia Britannica, “The chief source of information about the Ahl-e Haqq is the Firqan al-Akhbar, written in... early 20th century by (Hajj Ne’mat)...”

Forqan ol-Akhbar

The original manuscript of Forqan ol-Akhbar was completed in 1910 by Hajj Nemat and is in four parts. His son Nur Ali Elahi wrote an introduction to Forqan ol-Akhbar and the biography of his father under the title of Kashf Al-Haqa’iq (which is approximately the first 14 pages of the manuscript with the most exquisite calligraphy by Nur Ali Elahi). Forqan ol-Akhbar, is the only manuscript entirely handwritten by Hajj Ne’mat and is considered a historical masterpiece. Hajj Ne’mat gave the manuscript to Dr. Saeed Khan Kordestani (Dr. Kordestani wrote a dissertation in order to prove the origins of the Ahl-e Haqq started from Christianity and not Islam) in order for him to transport it to France to have it translated by Dr. Vladimir Minorsky. Unfortunately Dr. Minorsky died in 1966 before the manuscript was fully translated and published. After Minorsky’s death the manuscript became misplaced and remains unpublished as of this date.

The first part of Forqan ol-Akhbar deals with the fundamental principles of the haqiqat established in pre-eternity by the Divinity who in the stage of “ya-yi ghaybat” became externalized in the garment of Khawandagar. The law remained concealed till the coming of Sultan Sohak. Then the daftardars recorded these doctrines but each in his own way and according to the sources which were accessible to him. As a result the Ahl-e Haqq community has no (single) sacred book and its divisions are distinguished by different views. The Ahl-e Haqq required a kutb-I kull which would be unique. So after 1324/1906 Ne’matollah, by God’s command, abandoned the world and became the “messenger of the Lord of the Hour”, of Pir Benyamin (explained as bin + ya + amin “faithful son of Ya). Then comes the explanation of metempsychosis (gardish-e dun be-dun = “going from one garment to another”). The creatures of the world are divided into two distinct categories according to their original element (zarda-gil or khak-i siyah). To the first belong the Saved and Luminous beings whose receptive sardars are Benyamin and Sayyid Muhammad (in his avatar of Buzurg-sawar). To the other category belong beings of fire and darkness whose respective "sardars" are Iblis and Khannas, with whom are associated the first three caliphs, Mu’awiya, Aisha, etc. The intermixture of the two categories of beings produces combinations which may be recognized even externally.

The second part of the treatise is mainly concerned with the correspondence of the avatars through the ages. Thus manifestations of Benyamin are Noah, Jesus and provisionally (mihman) Rustam of the Persian epic; those of Razbar: Bilkis, the Queen of Saba, Mary the mother of Jesus, etc.; those of Sayyid Muhammad: Zoroaster, the prophet Muhammad, etc. Next we are given the history of Sultan Sohak (Ishak) and of his successors.

The third part relates the personal experiences of Ne’matollah and the commandments which he received from God during his journey “to the beyond” (safar-I ukba), notably his mission to unite the khanadans, to give absolution from sins (az khiyanat pak namudan) and to intercede (shifa’at) with the “Lord of Time.”

The fourth part is the very full description of the rites and customs (amr wa-nahy), with the Gurani text of the formulae recited on each occasion.

Text by K. Morgan, 1995.