Continuity and change within the Persian Sufi tradition in later Timurid Iran : a study of Shams al-Din Lahiji and his commentary upon the Gulshan e-Raz

Abstract

This dissertation brings to light unrecognised patterns of historical change and transformations that occurred within the wider Persian Sufi community of later medieval Iran, more specifically within the later Timurid and Āq Quyunlū era (851-906/1447-1501). Starting with A. J. Arberry, a prevailing sentiment has been that this Sufi tradition had exhausted its original and creative possibilities during the medieval period and had entered a period of stagnation, even decline. Scholars such as Alexander Knysh, Nile Green, and Devin Deweese have recently challenged this long-held and deeply rooted assumption. This thesis demonstrates that Sufism""especially in its manifestation within the Persianate world of later Medieval Iran""was still a highly dynamic tradition that enjoyed a mass following amongst all social classes of medieval Iranian society under both the Timurid and Āq Quyunlū polities. There is no doubt that Sufism""as an inseparable and fundamental aspect of Perso-Islamic civilization and medieval Iranian societies""was undergoing deep and permanent changes as a result of the social-political upheavals caused by the military and political conflicts between the various Turco-Mongol dynasties who had divided Iran between themselves during most of the fifteenth century. By providing a deep analysis of one of the most significant and influential works of Sufism written during this period, the Mafātīḥ al-eʿjāz fī Sharḥ Gulshan-e Rāz, by Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad Lāhījī (865-912/1433-1506-07), this thesis will show that profound and subtle changes took place within the Persian Sufi tradition as part of broader changes taking place in Iran during that historical period. Lāhījī played a definitive role as systematiser, consolidator, and transmitter of the entire intellectual heritage of the medieval Persian Sufi tradition that positively impacted future generations of Persian Sufis throughout the Persianate world. Especially for those Sufis living within the Safavid period, and even for Iranian Sufis living in contemporary times. His commentary was widely read and influential among Persian Sufi works but remains under-studied and largely ignored in Western academia. Lāhījī attempted to synthesise the entire intellectual heritage of the Persian Sufi tradition with his lengthy commentary on the Gulshan-e Rāz. The approach is a line-by-line reading and analysis of the entire text in its original language, Persian. Lāhījī's magnum opus was undoubtedly a product of its time. As such, an in-depth analysis and contextualisation of this significant work of the Persian Sufi textual tradition can disclose distinguishing features and unique teachings of the Persian Sufi tradition as it existed during the later medieval period.

Date of Award	2022
Original language	English