Research Article

A Journey in Search of “I”: The Self in Shabistarī’s Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-i Rāz)

Number: 59 June 30, 2023
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A Journey in Search of “I”: The Self in Shabistarī’s Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-i Rāz)

Abstract

Who or what is “I”? Does “I” refer to the soul, body, or something else? This paper aims to clarify the Iranian Sufi Maḥmūd Shabistarī’s metaphysical account of the self in The Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-i Rāz). Some of Shabistarī’s commentators-for example, Lāhījī-argue that the “self is the determined Real” without offering a full account. This paper presents Shabistarī’s self by examining Gulshan in the context of commentaries, secondary sources, and Islamic thought and by presenting opposing interpretations and reasons for the most prominent interpretations. In Gulshan, the self is neither the soul nor the body. It is the Real’s determination, a face among the eternally manifesting, unrepeated faces of the Real. This paper argues that the self is the human’s fixed entity (quiddity, ʿayn-i thābitah), whose aptitudes are perpetually unfolding; it is an eternal becoming of the Perfect Man. The self is not reified (i.e., it is of no definite content or form) or fully known; it changes every moment; it is the ever-changing “I” of the moment. Shabistarī’s metaphysics helps the modern person realize that her self is divine; it teaches her that because the world-including humans, animals, and the environment-is God’s manifestation, it deserves care.

Keywords

References

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  7. Ibn ʿArabī, Abū ʿAbd Allāh Muḥammad. Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam. Critical ed. Samad Muwahhid. trans. Muḥammad Ali Muwahhid. Tehran: Nashr Karnameh Publications, 1427/2006.
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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

-

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Saliha Uysal This is me
Türkiye

Publication Date

June 30, 2023

Submission Date

December 30, 2022

Acceptance Date

March 3, 2023

Published in Issue

Year 2023 Number: 59

APA
Rahbarı Ghazanı, R., & Uysal, S. (2023). A Journey in Search of “I”: The Self in Shabistarī’s Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-i Rāz). İlahiyat Tetkikleri Dergisi, 59, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5152/ilted.2023.22270
AMA
1.Rahbarı Ghazanı R, Uysal S. A Journey in Search of “I”: The Self in Shabistarī’s Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-i Rāz). ilted. 2023;(59):1-11. doi:10.5152/ilted.2023.22270
Chicago
Rahbarı Ghazanı, Rasoul, and Saliha Uysal. 2023. “A Journey in Search of ‘I’: The Self in Shabistarī’s Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-I Rāz)”. İlahiyat Tetkikleri Dergisi, nos. 59: 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5152/ilted.2023.22270.
EndNote
Rahbarı Ghazanı R, Uysal S (June 1, 2023) A Journey in Search of “I”: The Self in Shabistarī’s Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-i Rāz). İlahiyat Tetkikleri Dergisi 59 1–11.
IEEE
[1]R. Rahbarı Ghazanı and S. Uysal, “A Journey in Search of ‘I’: The Self in Shabistarī’s Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-i Rāz)”, ilted, no. 59, pp. 1–11, June 2023, doi: 10.5152/ilted.2023.22270.
ISNAD
Rahbarı Ghazanı, Rasoul - Uysal, Saliha. “A Journey in Search of ‘I’: The Self in Shabistarī’s Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-I Rāz)”. İlahiyat Tetkikleri Dergisi. 59 (June 1, 2023): 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5152/ilted.2023.22270.
JAMA
1.Rahbarı Ghazanı R, Uysal S. A Journey in Search of “I”: The Self in Shabistarī’s Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-i Rāz). ilted. 2023;:1–11.
MLA
Rahbarı Ghazanı, Rasoul, and Saliha Uysal. “A Journey in Search of ‘I’: The Self in Shabistarī’s Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-I Rāz)”. İlahiyat Tetkikleri Dergisi, no. 59, June 2023, pp. 1-11, doi:10.5152/ilted.2023.22270.
Vancouver
1.Rasoul Rahbarı Ghazanı, Saliha Uysal. A Journey in Search of “I”: The Self in Shabistarī’s Rose Garden of Mystery (Gulshan-i Rāz). ilted. 2023 Jun. 1;(59):1-11. doi:10.5152/ilted.2023.22270

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