This study
consists of a critical edition and introduction to an Arabic epistle entitled al-Wārid al-shārid al-ṭārid shubhat al-mārid, written by a leading figure of the Kubrawiyya order in Mongol-governed Iran, ‘Alā’ al-Dawla al-Simnānī (d. 736/1336). Born in the village Bayābānak
of the town Sūfīābād, in Simnān
of modern Iran, his birth name was Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Aḥmad and he became known as ‘Alā’ al-Dawla
al-Simnānī. His father and maternal and paternal uncles served prominent posts in
the Ilkhanate court and he also served under the ruler of the Ilkhanate, Arghun
Khan, when he was only about fifteen years old. He served within the court for
approximately ten years and then, after some spiritual experiences, he left his
lofty life and felt inclined toward sufism. First, he studied independently the
works of the great masters of sufism and was then initiated by a Kubrawī shaykh in Baghdad, Nūr al-Dīn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān Isfarāyīnī (d. 717/1317), from whom he would
take ijāza (permission) for spiritual guidance.
Simnānī
contributed widely to sūfī literature with his written works, which numbered
around ninety, and also with his spiritual lineage (silsila) through
which the mainstream Kubrawiyya order traces back to today. He offered
important insights, especially into phenomena such as latā’if (spiritiual
organs of the soul), rijāl al-ghayb (men of the unseen) and narrations
of spiritual experiences, influencing
eminent figures after him such as Muḥammad Pārsā (d. 822/1420) and Imām Rabbānī (d. 1034/1624). He was also known for his
critique of Ibn al-‘Arabī, which constituted the first critique of Ibn
al-‘Arabī’s doctrine of waḥdat al-wujūd in the history of sufism. One of his
salient characteristics was his meticulousness regarding following the sunnah
of the Prophet Muhammad. Another noteworthy quality of his was his aversion to takfīr
(declaring someone unbeliever) and his efforts to help resolve conflict among
different firqas (factions). Among Simnānī's greatest contribution to sūfī thought was his interpretation of the Qur’ān according to seven laṭā’if, which included identifying each laṭā’if and matching it to a prophet. The ultimate
influence of his view of being was upon Imām Rabbānī, who developed the idea of waḥdat al-shuhūd against waḥdat al-wujūd. In his Maktūbāt (The Letters), Rabbānī says that his thought on
existence is the same as Simnānī’s and quotes from Simnānī his
crucial sentence: “There is a
realm (‘ālam) of Malik al-Wadūd (Zāt) above the realm of beings”.
Simnānī
authored approximately ninety books in both Arabic and Persian. He wrote all of
his books after his initiation into Isfarāyīnī.
His first work, Sirr-i Samā, was written in 687 AH. The work that we are
concerned with in this critical edition was written in 699 AH when Simnānī was
around forty years old. There are five manuscripts of this work that we could
locate, all of which were found in libraries in Istanbul. None of the copies
are in the author’s handwriting, nor were they written during, or around, his
lifetime. There is not any indication that the manuscripts were heard directly
from the shaykh or edited (muqābala) and
there is not an istinsākh (handwritten copy) lineage that traces them to
the author. During this critical edition, manuscripts found in Hüdai Efendi
(Hacı Selim Ağa Library), Pertev Paşa (Süleymaniye Library), Hekimoğlu
(Süleymaniye Library) and Topkapı Palace Library collections are compared.
Another copy, found after the completion of the critical edition in Aga Efendi
Tanacan collection (Süleymaniye Library), is left out of the study since there
is not any distinctive quality to it compared to the first four manuscripts.
In the
critical edition, according to the ISAM critical edition guidelines, we
implemented “elective
method.” Accordingly, each of the manuscripts are considered as though they
were the principal copy; if there happens to be any differences among them, the
one that is thought to be most accurate is selected and the others are
indicated in footnotes. Therefore, it is not preferred to choose a principal
manuscript. The text is not interrupted or edited significantly during the critical
edition except for some necessary corrections; some titles are included in
brackets for ease of reading.
The epistle
that we made its critical edition consists of four independent chapters and
each addresses more than one subject. In the first chapter there is criticism
directed towards philosophers, specifically Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna). In the
meantime, incapability of the intellect (‘aql) in comprehension of the matters which can be
known by experience and inspiration (ilhām) is mentioned. Here the quotations from great sūfī masters who have
seen the Prophet Muhammad in their vākı‘as (dreamlike spiritual
experiences) expresses their belief that Ibn Sīnā went astray. The main theme
of the second chapter is the spirit (rūḥ) and the relationship between spirit and body.
The author comments on different opinions on this issue and tries to reconcile
them. Death and the doomsday (qiyāma) are other topics of this chapter.
In the chapter that
follows, the author states a laṭīfa which he calls al-laṭīfa al-anā’iyya, and reveals some manifestations (tajallī)
that the servant of God attains. In the longest chapter of the epistle, the
fourth and final chapter, Simnānī
covers significant details about his life. Meanwhile, he explains how he found
the salvaged faction (al-firqa al-nājiya) by referencing the distinct theological factions of his era, and
reflects upon his commitment to “ahl al-sunna” explicitly. The importance of masters, the classes (ṭabaqa) among sūfīs and treatments for bad character
are other subjects of this chapter.
