The Muslim World

Vol. LXXXII, NO.3-4

July-October 1992

NOTES O N IBN AL-'Ak'lBI'S INFLUENCE I THE SUBCONTINENT N

Few Muslim thinkers have been as pervasively influential as Ibn al-(Arabi, known among Sufis as the Greatest Master /aLshaykh al-akbad. Michel an Chodkiewicz has expressed clearly one of the m i reasons for his popularity: "His work, in distinction to all that preceded it ... has a distinguishing feature: ...it has an answer for everything.'' Many Muslims in the Indian subcontinent, like other Muslims elsewhere, have continued to seek out these answers down into modem times. The secondary literature on Islam in India attests to the fact that Ibn al-(Arabi was widely known and often controversial. But few if any of the modem scholars who have studied Indian Sufism have been familiar with his works or those of his immediate disciples. The judgment that there has been influence has been based largely on the references in the texts both to Ibn al-'Arabi and to the well-known teaching usually ascribed to him, wa/ldaf-w~ud the YOnenessof Being."z It was with the aim of looking or closely at the actual nature of this influence and the routes whereby it became established that I applied to the Indo-American Subcommission on Education for a grant to study the spread of Ibn al-'Arabi's teachings in the subcontinent. As a result of having been given the generous support of the subcommission, I was able to spend eight months in India, f o May 1988 to January 1989, rm looking at Persian and Arabic manuscripts. The ten libraries at which I spent significant lengths of time are located in Aligarh, Hyderabad, Lucknow, New Delhi, Patna, and S~inagar.~

M. Chodkiewicz, 'The Diffusion of Ibn 'Arabi's Doctrine,' fou/na/ of /he Muhyyd'h ibn h a b Y W e p 9 (1991)51. Concerning the problems that arise by ascribing this doctrine to Ibn al-'Arabi without qualification,see Chittick, 'Riimi and W.d.td-WLyZd, in TheHmhge ofRUinJed. Amin Banani and Georges Sabagh (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), forthcoming. The libraries that I visited, with the abbreviations that are employed below in referring to them, are as follows: Aligarh: The Maulana h a d Library of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh State Oriental Manuscripts Library (AP), Salar Jang Museum The (SJ)Osmania University (OU), and the Abul K a l b Azad Oriental Research Institute (HARL). Lucknow: Nadwat al-UlamH (LK). New Deb: The Institute of Islamic Studies, Hamdard Nagar (111s). Patna: The Khudabakhsh Library (KH).Srinagar: Kashmir Univerity (KU) and The Research and Publication Department, Jamrnu and Kashmir Government (KOR).

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I attempted to survey all Sufi manuscripts in these libraries with a doctrinal and theoretical ~rientation.~ I focused on works dealing with metaphysics, theology, cosmology, and psychology. My aim was to determine the extent to which such works reflect the teachings of Ibn al-(Arabi and how these teachings reached the Indian authors. Did they learn of them directly through Ibn al-(Arabis own works, or through the intermediary of the works of his followers in the central Islamic lands? At the same time, I was trying to detennine who the most outstanding Indian representatives of this school of thought might be, judging the works in terms of the authors mastery of terminology and concepts, depth of understanding, clarity of expression, and original formulations. My standard of comparison was my own familiarity with Ibn alSArabiswritings and those of his well-known and relatively early followers, such as his stepson Sadr al-Din Qiinawi (d. 67311274): Qiinawis disciples Fakhr al-Din (Iraqi (688/1289),Sacid al-Din Farghiini (d. 695/1295), and Mdayyid al-Din Jan& (d. ca. 700/1300);the Fe5@ commentators Abd al-RazzaqKBshhi (d. 73611335)and Sharaf al-Din Dgwiid Qaysari (75111350); the Persian poets Mamiid Shabistari (d. ca. 720/1320) and Shams al-Din Maghribi (d. 809/1406-7);(Abd al-Karim Jili (d . ca. 832/1428), and (Abd al-R*miin J3mi (d. 898/1492). Given my limited time, I had to be selective in my approach. By investigating theoretical works that tend by their nature toward an elite rather than a popular expression of Sufi teachings, I could make little attempt to judge the extent to which this influence may have filtered down to the Muslim masses who made up the bulk of the membership of the Sufi orders. As Chodkiewicz has pointed out, a thorough assessment of Ibn al-Arabisinfluence must take into account a wide variety of sources, including what he calls second-rate literature, meaning elementary manuals for beginners, regional chronicles, collections of qa&d used in Sufi meetings, the mau@h//b composed in honor of local saints,and the /izas and the 5/;ls/;/aslocal shaykhs. of All such works stress the practice and stages of the Sufi way rather than doctrinal principles, whereas it is doctrinal principles to which I directed my attention in my s u ~ e y . ~ If, on the one hand, 1 was interested in assessing the extent of Ibn al(Arabisinfluence on Indian authors, on the other, I was concerned to specify the mode of influence. For example, it is possible to discern a broad range of
There are of course manuscripts on S f s in Urdu and various other local languages, but in uim the libraries that I visited, Arabic manuscriptsoutnumber Urdu works by at least two to one, and Persian outnumber Arabic by about the same ratio.Moreover, I did look at several Urdu manuscripts that were clearly related to this school of thought; they were invariably late and, to the extent I could tell from my limited knowledge of Urdu, derivative. My general impression was that Urdu plays an important role in disseminatingIbn al-Arabisteachings on the more popular level through poetry, but much less of a role through prose writings. Chodkiewicz. The Diffusion, pp. 41-42.

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approachesto Ibn al5Arabisdoctrinal teachings. On one extreme, certain works reflect concerns that are mainly philosophical and theological, showing mastery of the learned discourse of the mad/aSasand relatively little attention to the unveiling fiashd of the unseen world and the direct vision of God in His self-disclosuresthat forms the ground on which Ibn al-(Arabi stands. These sorts of works tend toward dryness and logical exactitude and are more likely to be written in Arabic than in Persian. On the other extreme, many works reflect visionary experience and appeal more to heart-knowledge and *tasting/dhawp/ than to logical exposition of philosophical concepts. These works are more often in Persian and expressed in poetry rather than prose. But many sorts of writings fill in the middle ground between these two extremes and provide a great variety of permutations. Thus we have poetical Arabic works written in visionary prose and prosaic works of Persian poetry dominated by the concern for rational exactitude. The task of evaluating the works was made more difficult by a variety of imponderables connected with each individual text and the fact that my time was extremely limited. My conclusions, in short, depend a great deal on my own subjective appraisal. Nevertheless,I hope that some of the information that I gathered may be useful to scholars concerned with Islamic intellectual history in India. During the eight months that I stayed in India, I looked at several hundred manuscripts, grading them on a scale from I to VII (the Roman numeral mentioned after works mentioned below refers to this scale): I. Of no relevance to the school;noted simply to avoid repetition. II. Little relationship with theoretical Sufism; mainly concerned with practical matters. 111. Intrinsically important for theoretical discussions, but not directly related to Ibn al5Arabisschool. IV. Containing intellectual content especially worth noting, but again not connected to Ibn al5Arabis school. V. Displaying important instances of influence from the writings o Ibn al-(Arabiandlor his followers. VI. A n important text in Ibn f al-(Arabis school;or deals in some detail with the debate between the supporters of w&dat a/-wu/iidand W & J& a/-shuhud (the position of Shaykh *mad Sirhindi).VII. An outstanding work, offering fresh and original contributions to Ibn al-(Arabis school of thought. When going over my notes, I was able to separate out about fifty figures who wrote works in the V to VII categories, along with a dozen or so individual works in the same categories by unidentified authors. In what follows, I mention about thirty of these authors, without attempting in every case to describe all the works I saw. I also refer to other figures in order to help situate the authors in their historical context. All works are in Persian unless otherwise noted.

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Before entering into details, let me set down here some of my general conclusions and observations: The received wisdom is correct in telling us that Ibn al-(Arabi was widely known in the subcontinent. As a rule, the later the text, the more thoroughly it reflects the world view elaborated by Ibn al-(Arabi and his immediate followers. However, relatively few authors were familiar with Ibn al-(Arabis own writings, even if most had some acquaintance with the &s~sd-~12mthrough of its numerous commentaries.The one major lines of influence were not Ibn al-(Arabisown works, but those of such (both of whom, let it be noted, authors as Farghm- and (Abd al-R&mib Jmhave major works in both Arabic and Persian). A good deal of the writing that I studied w s of exceptionally high quality, a reflecting the authors thorough assimilation of the teachings and practices of Sufism and their ability to express the world view of Ibn al-(Arabisschool in a fresh and original manner. Many other works were written by authors who were simply compilers or popularizers, interpreting the received teachings of Sufism for their contemporaries or disciples. I paid less attention to these popular works, since their content was familiar to me and I was especially interested in discovering the more sophisticated masters of the school. But the large number of popular works of this sort is a sign that Ibn al-Arabis influence extended into all levels of the Sufi orders and Islamic society. The vast majority of texts that I looked at have not been studied with a view toward content by scholars trained in modem methods (though some of these texts are no doubt still being read in kh&wqi%h5orprivate homes). z n, Scholars such as S.A.A. Ripi, author of A Hzktory of S u h . h I & have pointed to an enormous amount of intellectual activity over the centuries, but most contemporary authors have remained oblivious to the issues discussed in these works, and what himself has to say about their content is drawn largely from Western secondary sources. It does not seem to have occurred to the specialists, especially not to natives of the subcontinent, that we may be dealing here with an intellectual tradition that is inherently interesting, innovative, and relevant to contemporaryconcerns. Most scholars trained in modem methods seem to hold the conviction that the significant elements of Islamic civilization are those that have an immediate connection to social context and political events; to the extent these texts have been read, scholars have been hunting for details unrelated to the primary concerns of the authors. A glance at the books and articles being published (both in the West and in Islamic countries) on the great Sufis of Islamic history, such as Hallaj, Riimi, and especially Ibn alJArabi, makes it clear that Sufism has been recognized by a siflicant contemporary audience as a repository of spiritual and religious teachings that still have value in our own age. The Indian libraries hold a

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particularly rich collection of original works that constantly reinterpret Sufi doctrine while maintaining a clear focuson i s unchanging ground. These works t reconfirm the universal preoccupation of Muslim intellectuals classical with a the real and the essential as opposed to the accidental and the historical. I w s struck in the works by the unanimity of the voices down into the nineteenth century despite a great diversity of styles and approaches. By and large the literature is infused with the values that are omnipresent in the writings of Ibn al-(Arabi or R m - . The authors attempt to bring out the relevance of taw& for life and practice. They perceive the world and human affairs as theaters in which the divine signs f; Q become manifest in ever-changing patterns of . g multiplicity. They see the purpose of human life to lie in bringing the soul into harmony with the self-manifestationof God on the basis of the SXwn5, These concerns were of course also present in works written before Ibn al5Arabi. s What differentiates these works from the earlier works i the use of specific rm technical terminology and concepts deriving f o Ibn al-(Arabiswritings and refined and systematized by Sadr al-Din Qiinawi and his followers. Many of the works written over the five hundred year period that I surveyed could have been written at any time during the period. There are relatively few references to contemporary events or specifically local concerns. But this does not mean that all these works say the same thing in the same way. In short, the Indian libraries contain writings by important Sufi philosophers, theologians, and sages who remain practically unknown and are eminently worthy of study. A number of the following authors can be ranked as first-rank representatives of the Islamic intellectual tradition, yet they remain almost completely unstudied. s Let me also record here my sense of tragedy at what i occurring through widespread neglect of Indian libraries. I would not be surprised if many of the manuscripts I mention below are soon unavailable because of the rapid deterioration of resources that is taking place. The present political problems of the subcontinent make the situation much worse than it was in the past, when the climate w s always an enemy of books (never before in studying manua scripts have I been so annoyed by wormholes and disintegrating pages). Most of the libraries I visited are directed by well-meaningpeople, but the resources for long-termpreservation are often not available. I heard of several important libraries that have been or have recently become inaccessible. Recent fires in two of these libraries, one of which was caused by communal violence and the other simply by neglect, destroyed many manuscripts that may well have been irreplaceable.

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EighWourteenth Century
Sayyid Ashraf Jahiingir SimnSni (d. probably in 82911425) studied i his n youth withAlI) al-Dawla Simna- (d. 736/1337),who is famous for his critical views of Ibn a l k a b i expressed in his correspondence with the Fisqs commentator, (AM al-RazzIq KIshiini. Sayyid Ashraf was not completely satisfied with (Alii) al-Dawla and went to &hSn at about the age of twenty-three to s study with (AM al-RazzBq, leaving after the latters death in 730/1330. He i said to have become a traveling companion of Sayyid (Ali Hama(d. 786/ 1385).He visited and corresponded with Gisa D a r a , became the disciple of a shaykh in Bengal, and eventually settled down in Jaunpw6 &d~FiAshrafi (VT) is a work of some 850 pages compiled by his student N m H2ji a l - Y m - , in sixty fq&%4 explaining Sayyid Ashrafs views on a variety of topics, The twenty-eighth /qh% is particularly important since it is dedicated to wahdat a/-wu/;d This is probably J-?s source in N&&?ta/-uns for the text of the correspondence between Simnilni and IGsh*- and also for the idea that this debate concerns wa,3daf d-wyii~! since t i term is not mentioned by the hs two principles. Sayyid Ashraf offers several arguments to show that s lmnali had misunderstood Ibn al-(Arabisposition and that his criticisms are unjustified. I saw two of Sayyid Ashrafs works having no special relevance to the (11). school: kshda-Lkhw2n (111) and anbih al-Ik~3.n~ R i y i tells us that Sayyid Ashraf wrote M>%t aJhaqdq and Kanz afdaqgfqforthe benefit of specialists,l0and these may deal with advanced technical discussions His AiGkfth? l1 (VI) are certainly of importance, and these along with the &f2& are enough to show that he was a major conduit for Ibn alshabis influence. Another important channel of influencewas the above-mentionedKubrawi shaykh SayyidAli Hamad-, the patron saint of Kashmir. He is the author of at least forty works, most of which are short rasdZ He is probably the author a/-&kam known as &kBi&s<s l2 of the commentary on Ibn al-(Arabis
Cf. S.A.A.Rivi, A H i f o pofSuhkmh India (hereafter HSI), I. pp. 267-268;B.B. Lawrence,
An Overvew OfSdfiteratureh the SuhnatePenid(Patna:Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library,

n.d.)68. (Delhi: Ntqrat al-MatHbS. 1295).Manuscripts are rather common. AMU Univ.Pcrs. Tas. 263. AMU Univ.krs. Tas. 265. lo HSI 1268. LK Tas. Pers. 81: cf. Lawrence, Sufififemturej pp. 33-34. IZ This work w s recently published in Tehran by J. Misgarnizhad but attributed to Khwaja a Muhammad PUS& The editor shows that much of it is taken from Jandis commentary on the N. Maya Hirawi offers a number of reasons supporting HamadHnis authorship (Danish [Islamabad] 11, 1366/1987, pp. 101-108).Manuscripts include IIIS 3179, KOR 905,AP 780, LK 2, and LK 82. A copy is found in a collection of Hamadm-s works i Istanbul, $chid Ali Pawsa 2794, ff. n 508-684,dated 901. In that collection,his treatise Wyiid-, which is identical to the introduction to jXBjjdfusus (Mayil Hirawi, pp. 106-107),is called &t%@#t(ff. 478-481).

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Among his ra&il is the Arabic ASIZ? d-nuqfql3 which shows his mastery of the technical terminology of Qihawi and his followers. Bruce Lawrence remarks that Hamadh-, like Sayyid Ashraf, taught the principles of nmhdat d-wyZdwith contagious zeal .14 One of the most prolific Sufis of this period was the Chisti shaykh, Sayyid Mdpmmad Husayni, known as Gisii DarB, who died at the age of over 100 in 8291422. Many of his works were published in Hyderabad and Gulbarga by Sayyid (A@) Husayn in the first half of this century. Perhaps Gisii Daras work that shows the most indebtedness to Ibn al-(Arabis school is A m & d - a s e l5 in which he criticizes Ibn al-Arabi and some of his followers, such as Fakhr al-Din (Iraqi, on several occasions. In one of the chapters of 7h&ikat d2.&7%2t aJsL5jya (W), GIs0 Darbs eldest son, Sayyid Akbar Husap-, gathers together all these criticisms and adds his own commentary.16In general, GIs0 Dark employs the terminology of Ibn al-<Arabisschool, though he is more inclined to the ecstatic mode of expression, as exemplified by IrHqis bmagt than the more philosophical and logical, as exemplified by most of the Fus~s commentators .17 According to The pioneer of Delhis Wahd~t a/-U/yZdmovement was Madiid Bak,18 who probably died in 789/1387.9Hewas a disciple of N w al-Din AwliyI and authored a number of interesting Persian works. He tends towards an ecstatic expression of ideas, but shows little or no influence from the writings of Ibn al-(Arabi and his followers. He can only be considered a proponent of wahdt d-wtyZuifwe take the term in the most general sense, i.e. to indicate the expression of tawhiyin a Sufi mode, but not in the more particular sense of representing the position of Ibn alJArabi. In M>$td$n& (IV)zo Maskid Bak may be reflecting some influence fromIrHqis Lava54 but for the most part he expresses himself in modes much more reminiscent of (Ayn al-Quc&t Harnadihis Tmh82L The work is divided into fourteen ka5& It begins by discussing the reality of wtyiXi and in a second section, on tawbix the author quotes the expression mgfi/-wyiidiYa*gh (Thereis nothing in

w,

(Shiraz: Matba al-Gmadi. 1343/1925). Sufifiterature, p. 55. The work was printed in Hyderabad, ed. by H a f i A@ Husayn, 1350. Manuscripts include AMU J.F.921,AP 1321,AP 1582,SJ hs. 8. There i also a commentary on this work, AP 1464 s (482ff., 1911). l6 Ed. by Sayyid A@ Husayn (Gulbarga:Kutubkhha-yi Rawdatayn, 136Y1946) 67-94. l 7 Though Gisii DarHz criticizes Iraqi, he also paraphrases parts of the h m a h (without acknowledging the source), as i the first =ma1 which is takcn from Flash 3 (ed. J. Niirbakhsh n [%ban: KhhaqHh-i Ni(matullHhI. 1353/1974], 10;trans. Chittick and Wilson [New York: Paulist p. Press, 19821,p. 78,first paragraph).Note that i both the AsmB/and the hma!k the passage n concludes with the same two lines of poetry by the Fu5@ commentator Mdayyid al-Din Jandi. 18 HSI 1241. l9 Lawrence. Su!h?&ature, p. 27. 2o Published i the Deccan: Matbal-i Mufid, 1310,184 pp. For an appraisal of the contents, cf. n Lawrence, Su!f2&atuc pp. 27-29.
Is
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existence but God),often employed by Ibn al-(Arabi. But his mode of explaining the meaning of ti idea shows no sign of being dependent on Ibn al-<Arabis hs school. The rest of the work deals mainly with various stations of the Sufi path. A second work, U r n &a@Yfi &m a J . 2 hzY (IV),21 an imporis tant and fascinating discussion of the symbolism of the Arabic letters. Finally, I should mention Shams al-Din ibn Sharaf al-Din Dihlawi, about whom I know nothing except that he wrote an Arabic commentary on Ibn 22 alSArabis Naqsh &-fuses dated 79511392-93, which is sixty-eight years before the composition of Jiimis well-known NaqdaLnusOs B sharh naqsh aJfqs<. One manuscript indicates that the work w s written at the request a of Shihab al-Din m a d ibn M*ammad ibn (AM al-R$im. Much of the text, like that of NaqdaJnqszis seems to be based upon the well known Pusus commentaries.

Ninwifteenth Century
The works of the famous Firdawsi shaykh Sharaf al-Din Ya+ya Maneri (d. 782/1381) are not completelyfree of the influence of Ibn al-(Arabisschool, even though he is said to have been one of those who spoke against Ibn al-(l\rabis theories of the Unity of Being* as they became increasing popular in the Indian subcontinent.23His successors were directly familiar with some of the writings of the school. Thus some of the works of Husayn ibn Muizz Balkhi Nawshah-i lhwhid (d. 1440A.D.),the nephew and successor of Manens immediate successor, Mupffar ibn Shams B W - , touch on well known discussions, Most interesting is XZdXaJaskC? (V) by Husayns son and successor Hasan, a Persian commentary on HusaynsArabic N&ar&aJkhams. I have never before come across its scheme for the Five Divine Presences: 1. The Presence of Divinity, which is the reality of all things. 2. The Presence of Final Sanctity, which is the presence of belovedhood &&rat aJma&~%614ya). 3. The Presence of Middle Sanctity, which is the presence of the sanctity of loverhood. 4. The Presence of Beginning Sanctity, which is the presence of prophecy, vicegerency, summoning, and guidance. 5. The Presence of Y Misguiding & @ and Misleading fiqhwq. which is the presence of imprisoning m ~ l t i p l i c i t y . ~ ~
21 AP 1444 (p. 133ff.);thin is probably the same as Umm af-m&& of which Lawrence tells us, the medieval hagiographers make mention but which does not appear i any of the published n catalogues (Sfifituature, p. 67). zz AP 39 (38ff.),AP 211 (51ff.). A Schimmcl, i the foreword to Maneris BW-fPuTNha(@elhi: Idarah-i Adabiyat-i Delhi, n 1986)xiii. KH Pers. 4049 (45ff.), KH Acc. 1826/3 (24ff.). he work was printed i Bankipre (KH 6543 n and 9862). For the more standard schema. see C i t c ,The Five Divine Presences: From al-Qiinawito htik al-Qayp.ti, MUSLJ~ Worfd 72 (1982),pp. 107-128.

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One of the most outstanding representatives of the philosophical type of al-Din interpretation of Ibn al5Arabi typified by Sadr al-Din Qiinawi is (Ah) i who, according to (Ah ibn m a d ibn(Ali ibn m a d Maha) h (d. 835/1432), ML&d-akhy2~was from Gujrat. R+vi tells us that Mah&m is the same as Konkan, a region in west DeccaaZ6Among Maha) h i s works, all of which dni*$m fisharb seem to be in Arabic, are a commentary on the FusU4 K%rus&s fi@d-.dm,a commentary on Maghribis 27 /5n-i)Gh%-nm2y called MiY& a/daqi&g 28 and another on Qiinawis Nqsu. Mashra a/khgs@ 12 ma h i 7 d-nusqs 29 (VI M a h a h i is also the author of a tahix n&i? +). a/ra&2n, which has been published, and a commentary on Suhrawardis %rwMdma&2 called Dhaw2nYa/lgf2/;f completed in 319/1416. The latter shows its indebtedness to f i n al-(Arabi already in the f i y t b a , which employs the terms fgsus and fuhf&%t their literal senses. AyZat a/tapfif B shah adYat in d-tawbid 31 (VI)comments on one of the authors own short treatises. A m h a a/nasi%at a/,J;&ba 32 (VI+)answers a letter by Jamiil al-Din Muhammad al-Mizjaji [?j from Zabid in Yemen and defends Ibn alJArabi and his school in the style of KalZv polemics. Mah&mTs Arabic commentary on Maghribisf2myah2n-num2yis particularly si@icant in that it points to the widespread popularity of this treatise. Maghribi quotes most of his work, without ascription, from the introduction of Mshgnq a/dx2ri%y Farghiini, who in turn based his book on notes taken at Qiinawislectures on Ibn al-FiiridsAbzm a/suhk Maghribi provides three diagrams illustrating various important technical terms of the school; these seem to have inspired many similar diagrams by later authors. Commentaries reflect on /8m-f~~h2~-numa;vnormally thorough acquaintance with the writings of Qiinawi and his immediate followers. Typical is Dan.2 k-i f i s h 8 33(VII),by the Kubrawi shaykh Rashid al-Din Muhammad ibn (Mi Bid2wiizi.34The author tells us that after reading Maghribis treatise in the

HSI I1 336. 0. Yahia. Historle et d8ssZmtion deheuvre d/bn hr86i (Damaxus: Institut Franzais de Damas, I*), p. 246. no. 22; a copy (not seen) is also found in Dcoband. 46016. 2o Brockelmann, Ces;c3/i%l/e derarabh~hen Ldteratw S I1 311; this commentary was translated into Persian with the title DqJiq-num#ybyAbd al-Nabi Sha!tari (KH Acc. 801). who is said in the to Khuda Bakhsh handlist, on the authority of 73dhahiayvi U/am#/Hlhd, have died in 1020. 29 AP 55 (82 ff.). 3o AP 1478 (410ff.). 31 AP Xaf#m 1553. 32 KH 2579/25 (ZSff., incomplete). 33 SJ Tas. 62 (131ff.);copied in 960/1553. The author is not identified in the manuscript. except through the takhahsRashid. Bidawazi is known to have written a commentary on Shabistaris Guhhan-irBzand, in the year 852/1448-49, i& a m8thnawf called M $ & RashM He was the successor of Abd Allah Barzishabadi (d. 8721 1467-68). Kubrawi shaykh who was a disciple of Khwaja Ishaq Khuttalani. the successor of Sayyid a (AlI HamadBni. See D. Deweese, The Eclipse of the Kubraviyah in Central Asia, h n k n 9udes 21 (1988)pp. 6 6 7 .
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year 871/1467, he had a vision of the Prophet in a form within which the ninety-nine names of God were inscribed. He sent a description of the vision to his mumhid in Mashhad, Amir Shihiib al-Din (AM All& Barzishiibiidi, im who wrote back telling him that this was a sign of his fr rootedness and constancy in the S h h and the ?Awqa,The work includes several diagrams of the divine names and their interrelationships. This work, which was certainly read in the subcontinent, displays a high level of discussion of the technical terms of the school, especially those related to the writings of Qtinawi and q & Fargh3n.i. It is laced with the authorsown poetry,ending with a q w of about 100 lines. I suspect that there may be a good deal of original reformulation of the teachings of the school. Like many other Sufi works in the periods being discussed here, the text begins with a discussion of the famous had-&qud-4 I was a hidden treasure.. .. The most influential author of this period, and probably the most influential author of the school of Ibn al5Arabi after the Shaykh himself, is (Abd al-R*miin Jm-, whose numerous works in Arabic and Persian were widely studied and frequently quoted on all levels of discussion.

TentWSixteenth Century
Perhaps the most influential master of this school in the tenthlsixteenth century is Abull-Muayyad Muhammad ibn Khatir al-Din al-shafliiri, known as Muhammad Ghawth (d. 970/1563).He was the younger brother of Shaykh Phiil and along with him a khahX3of Shaykh Zuhtir Hiijji Hamid. According to RiM, the two brothers were the most influential Shattiiris of their time. Hum2yIin was a disciple of Shaykh Pha, and the latter was killed by Hu.xn3yIins rebellious brother. Muhammad Ghawth settled in Gwalior and helped BBburs army seize the Gwalior fort. His support of =bur led to his being declared an unbeliever by Sher Shiih the Afghan, though this was ostensibly for his conR i says versations with God described in his fi32hy~*rn~$~.994a.~~~ that the most significant of his works is /awXhki kharnsi; others include Zama5k Ba&t and Kanz a / - ~ ~ 3 4 d a L ~ ~ a&yygt (III), which has been His Ba& printed,37 is a Persian translation of the Sanskrit Amritkund I saw three manuscripts of his fih&i.makh&-~h (VII),38 each of which is written in a large bold hand with about seven lines per page and copious interlinear commentary, no doubt by the author. In the introduction, Muhammad Ghawth tells us that in the year 94211035-36, when he was looking for a name for the
HSI I1 156-157. HSI I1 159. 37 HSI I1 12. 38 AF 880 (87ff.; copied in 951); LK 69 (looff.); KH 1376 (107ff.).Another copy (not seen) is found i the Re? Library in Rampur (912, 80ff.). n
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completed book, he had a vision of Abti Bakr,who gave him the key to the treasuries. The work is divided into an introduction, three daqiqa4 and a conclusion. The introduction discusses the mystery of the divine Essence or Heiness (huwiba), and the first dapqa the intelligible quiddities that come from the lleasury of nonexistence into existence. The text comments in detail on a large cosmological diagram in the form of several concentric circles. The second daqiqadiscusses the spirit hub), the third prophecy hu6uww2g and sanctity (wa/2yag, and the conclusion the resurrection (qiygmag. Wajih al-Din Ahmad ibn N q r AllSh (AlawiGujrati Gmadabiidi ShaG3ri(d. . ~ disciple Mir Sayyid 997/1539) was a disciple of Mdpmmad G h a ~ t hHis ~ U a Sibghat A ibn R@ All& was prominent in spreading Muhammad Ghawths teachings in Medina.40kcording to RiN, Wajih al-Dins ma/@2t are exceedingly frank and militant in the assertion of the superiority of W&af a/WyZd 41 Among his works is a widely-read commentary on f2m-i fahh-nums; 42 and a short Arabic summary of Ibn al-(Arabis metaphysics (VI+). and typology of the saints called al-Haqiqat al-M~hammadiyya~~ The latter seems usually to have been read along with its Persian translation and commentary by Wajih al-Dins kha& (Aziz a l - D h ~ . ~ Ibraim Shafl2ri JannatBbSdi (d. 99111583) was a disciple of Muhammad Ri+ tells us that for about eighteen years Ibrh-m w s Mu?mnmad a Gha~th.~~ Ghawths prayer leader.45He is the author of an important commentary on /am-i /kh2n-num2 called A-hwyi &q&-num2 (VI) (or A-/;a;v/ haqq-numg ),47 The work shows a great deal of influence from Jm-, Farghm-, s uU? and Ibn al-(Arabi F t & Another important author of the same period is Khiib Muhammad Chishti, who composed AmwqY KhUbi (VII) in 990/1583.48He also calls his work Shzh-iMu6 turang B o b turang being a Gujrati mathnawq- he composed

HSI I1 158. HSI I1 329-30. HSI I1 11. z AMU Habibganj 211366 (92ff.),211207 (41ff.);AMU Damima Xqawwuf m i 59; IIIS 2395 s (16ff.);AP 470 (37ff.).474 (36ff.). 1332 (58ff.),1817, 1975; SJ Tas. 98, Tas. 23U1; KH P1576; LK 225. 43 SJ lsls 232/8 (6ff.);KH 1346/1 (1Off.). HSI I1 13; AP 1713 ( S f f . ) , 1841 (5Off.), SJ & (32ff.),KH 1346/2 (69ff.). I 100 . 5 According to Rip6, he was a disciple of Shaykh-i Lashkar Muhammad (Arif (d. 99311583). himself a disciple of MuIymmad Ghawth, but Ibrahim refers to Maammad Ghawth as his rnudvijh A-hayi&q#?qnum# (Hyderabad:Matba Abul-Al&i. n.d.),p. 3. *6 HSIII 169. 47 Published in Hyderabad:Matba Abul-(Al&. n.d.. 1CO pp.; AP 1452, SJb. AMU Sulaiman 23, 157158, R e handlist 872. ** AP 496 (117ff.),SJ Tas, 14, KU 93700. There is a mathmwi version of the same work by (&im written in 1166; the manuscript (AP 1527) was copied in the same year by Muhammad Yahya Qadiri. 9 kcording to the atdogue ofthe persim Manusx@tsin the s8/a//ungMuseum & hhary, vol. VIII, Hyderabad, 1983, p. 178. this is Kamal Muhammad Sistani. d. 97911571,
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in 986/1578. The author says the work is derived from passages quoted from Shaykh K a m d M&arnmad .49 It offers simple yet profound discussions of many of the basic concepts of the school, showing obvious influence from Jmand Farghm-. It is poetical and full of original analogies that are offered in place of the more common philosophical expositions. It has a number of diagrams. The n author wrote a second work &-qfaLmushqia 5o (VI), i 981, the ab/a'value of the title. The style is similar to hwa;l:I'1wri& poetical with detailed dis@ cussions of such basic ideas as w d the immutable entities, levels of existi% ence, etc. He quotes from Ibn al-kabi in several passages. A third work, M & $ d-fawhi851 (V) is a commentary,perhaps by a disciple, on a qaslb'a by Khiib M&ammad dealing with the levels of existence.

EleventWSeventeenth Century
A number of Sufis of the Bijgp- region show the influence of Ibn al-(Arabi's school, including S h a B u r h a al-Din ibn MirFmji Shams al-'Ushshiiq (d. 1005/ known a~ B w al-DinJmam." Kis M&~r~and & wamgpd ~ -! 1597),al~0 a/$nZh 53 (VI + ) describes the levels of existence in familiar style. Especially interesting is Mahl;card-su/rtl54 (VII-)by his hahi%Mhmiid Khwushdahi?i.n n Chishti (d. 1026/1617),a work which classifies eveqthmg i existence in four broad categories, apparently as an aid to meditation. This work is said to summarize all the teachings of the Bijiipm- school.%Though the terminology is instantly recognizable as belonging largely to Ibn al-(A.rabi'sschool, the explanations place the work off to the side of the main stream. The author notes that he wrote it in order to explain the meaning of the h & a , "He who knows himself knows his Lord' as his shaykh explained it in "his own terminology' fi$&&~-z*khwuqY. whole work is summed up in a single diagram, apparThe ently drawn by Shaykh BurhFin al-Din, In the early eleventhkixteenth century the Shapri line is represented by qsii ibn Q%im al-Jundi (d. 1031/1621-22)s called Sh& qsii Jund All& and (Arif sometimes (Ayn al-(Uraf$, a disciple of Shaykh-i Lashkar M ~ a m m a d (d. 993/1583),himself a disciple of Mulymmad Ghawth (97011563).R i y i calls

51

AF' 920 (29ff.). AP 724 (loff.),KU 93700.

52 For biographical references,cf. Eaton, Suh ofBQapur (Princeton:Princeton University Press, 1978),passim. 53 H-ARL 9211 (26ff.).AP 556/3. n 23215, ' . h250; Lithographed i Lucknow: Nawal Kishore, 1898; OU 752,1047 (69ff.);SJ k. AF' 30682. 55 Cf, Eaton, Sufis ofBQ8pu& pp. 146ff.,where the contents of the book are briefly summarized. Eaton reports that 'scores of later treatises' were based on the book. 56 His full name is given as ibn Q&im ibn Yiisuf ibn Rukn al-Din... al-hlahfi al-Shihabi al-Jundial-Sidi al-Hindial-BirWi al-'Ishqi al-Sha#&i al-Qadiri (HSI I1 13; cf, his h p a/mahJp. 3).

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ca "a passionate devotee of Whdaf d-W~yiid, i having closely studied Ibn

(Arabi's works which he staunchly defended. Because of this M&ammad bin Fazlubh Burh3npihi,' himself a well-known representative of Ibn al-'Arabi's school, especially due to his Z'kbht a/-mur.lq "called him iaahz&a and ZJ~&. " 57 Among %'s works is An W al-asre "a Q d d c exegesis which B can is designed to demonstrate that the seeds of the W&datd-WWu/d.. be found a commentary on the h. a/-kmil of Jili, and an.& ~ in verses of the Qda," other on the/aw2h!-ifimsa of M d p n m a d Ghawth.58 Qsii's Ayn a/-mabi-' 59 (VII), written in 997, is a commentary on his own Rau&fa/busxGIfi-shuh asma 'Mkh a/&usn2(written in 989) and displays and a great amount of attention to the works of Jm- Farghihi. It begins with an introduction of the basic theoretical teachings of the school, then turns to a commentary on the ninety-nine names of God. In discussing each name, the author refers to the rnuhm2 (puzzle), iiha/a (allusion), mazghii (loci of manifestation), wgz25Y (duties),and adghd (occupations).Under mu&mma; the work gives a single line of poetry with a brief explanation. The iih2ra explains what the name tells us about God Himself. The section on maz2.i! lists the phenomena in the cosmos and the soul that manifest the properties of the name, In dealing with waz25Y the author mentions practical duties that become increasingly inward as he moves down the list of most or all of the bY (renouncer), dd (supplicator), $sh;q following: $ , (worshiper), ~ 2 2 ~ ~ 2 (lover), b (gnostic),mufafia/Lq(the one who assumes the divine names i F as his own traits), muw~&iil (the one who professes God's Unity),rnu&agqiy (the Verifier). In the section on ashgh24 9% provides brief instructions concerning invocation of and meditation on the name. %i's short &rzakh 6o (VI) describes various meditations on the basis of the teachings of the school and provides illustrations,which the manuscripts usually give in color, of human faces composed of divine names, His ?yawBss--i Mamsa 61 (VI) deals with the correspondences between the five descents of w existence /canazzuh-t-i* y i i d and the five senses. It frequently employs mawithout mentioning the source. terial from JiXrds A%qdd-n~45@ One of %'s important disciples was Shaykh Burhm al-Din Burhaptiri (1083/1672-73),62 sometimes called RBz-i Ililhi. He is the author of Shar4-i. &mtu biY% 63 (V+ ), which quotes in detail, without ascription,from Shar$v'

57 5B 59

HSI I1 169. HSI I1 170. Hyderabad: Matba' Fayd al-Karirn, n.d., 242 pp.; SJ %s. 115, AP 418. KH 1363. AP 617 (7ff,),AP 867 (8ff.),AP 186, SJ 'hs. 66/2.

AP ~ f f ! u l b 6 8 / 4(35ff.). His death date is given so by Rv (HSI I1 13),but he also gives it as 1678-79 (HSI I1 171). ii a SJ Tits. 97 (IMf.), SJ Tits. 238/2 (8ff.),AMU Subhanullah 297.7/28 [l], M U H.F. Wsir 467, Ah4U Habibganj 211329. The work i also given the titles A3izh-y' s wa&&/--iwu/iid(AP and A3dfg 717) dar 5 ~ r n - i r n ~ h ~ r t - i /(AP753). ad// ~
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Guhhan-lr2~ important Persian compendium of Ibn al-(Arabisteachings an by Muhammad Ghiji (d. 912/1506).Burh3n al-Dinsshort Daq2lq a/&aq&q or &k%td-&qi?qa 64 (VI)is attributed in some copies to %3. Burhiin al-Dins disciple (Aqil Kha (d. 1108/1696)compiled his masters m&iz2tas ~rnm-td++p-Pj is himself the author of Nagzizmgta/i>hq 67 (VI-VII), mi a work inspired by (Iraqis h a $ L (Abd al-Jalil ibn Sadr al-Din Il&ibcIi may be identical with Shaykh (Abd al-Jalil of Lucknow (d. 1043/1633-34),a Chishti shaykh who showed great frankness in expressing his belief in the M&datAWqCd and little concern for the strict observance of the Shans. Among his works are k.h2daL~X&2 (11), written because one Muhammad MiyS $ Muhammad had complained ?l i* that the shaykh had many theoretical works, but none dealing with the practices of the path. It describes in detail the invocations /adk2@and spiritual practices b5hgh84 of the Chishtiyya and other orders. He may be the author %IbdalyW69 (V), which contains forty letters, mostly simple of A42ktih-f-i and practical; the R e v Library (Rampur)list ascribes the work to (Abd al-Jalil of Lucknow, while the Khuda Bakhsh catalogue says it is by (Abd al-JalilSiddiqi. By far the most relevant of (Abd al-Jalilsworks for our concerns here are two visionary conversations, one between the spirit and the soul, and the other between (AM al-Jalil and Ibn al5Arabi. RU& fig nafsor b b U d t a/-lazyYo (VII)was written to show that belief in wa&dfaLwyCdin no sense contradicts the necessity of following the Shada. One of the manuscriptswas copied in the year 47of the accession presumably that of Akbar, i.e. 1010/1602.71 The spirit introduces itself as the locus of manifestation for the names Allah and Guide, while the soul calls itself the locus of manifestation for the name The treatise exhibits a mastery of many of the subtle isMisguider sues that are raised by Ibn al-Arabis teachings and a thorough familiarity with the philosophical mode of exposition. Though the soul is transformed into nafs-imqtm2hna(the soul at peace with God)by the end of the treatise, in the first parts it skillfully describes the theory of wa&dat a/-tr~u/idas was it presented by authors such as Awhad al-Din Balym- in &iG!%t a/a4!~d;i=va.~~

/m&v.

AF 1945, AP 1975, OU 178 (2-3ff.). More cornpleteIy,(Ah(Ash-ibn Mdpmmad ?aqi ibn M$ammad Q&irn al-Khwafi (HSI I1 13). a H I I1 13. S 67 Printed i Fathpur, 1265; M U Subhanullah 297.7/56[q (14ff.). ev handlist (Rampur)980B. n R 6o HSI I1 289-290. However, RiNi also refers toAbd al-JalilI-lahabndI.without any elaboration (HSI I1 97). 69 AP 1413 (33ff.);SJ Ad. 1W13, KH 1584. R e v handlist. 942, 965. LK Maj. 3112 (10ff.); AMU Subhanullah 297.7/46 [4]. I Conceivably it could be the 47th year of Awrangzeb, in which case the year would be 1115/1704, 72 Cf. M. Chodkiewicz, @7re sur LhkMAbsofue (Paris: Les Deux Octans, 1982);Chittick, R W and Wa4dataLWyiid This work is attributed explicitly to Balywi i its h s i a n translation n (AP 450, SJ k. 72).
61