Document Type : Original Article
Author
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Abstract
Ruzbihan Baqli Shirazi was a Persian mystic of the sixth and seventh centuries. His works abound in Quranic verses and hadith in which he communicates his thought dominated by his mystical experience of unveiling (kashf) and spiritual vision (shuhud). He believes in revelation (wahi) as the unseen inspiration that prophets receive from God, and he also views unveiling and the spiritual vision of mystics as divine grace and mercy. This study adopts a descriptive-analytical method to examine the concept of revelation and spiritual vision in Ruzbihan Baqli's mysticism. Revelation and revealed knowledge are among the concepts whose perception lies beyond the realm of the senses and are not easily accessible to reason. Since not every man is capable of attaining such knowledge, its obscure aspects are not easily grasped by the intellect. The results indicate that there is a contrast between revelation and mystical unveiling, because prophethood is a divine gift that is not achieved through acquisition. Although the acquisition of excellence by effort makes souls prepared to receive revelation, revelation itself is a divine gift that is not attained by everyone. Humans are capable of reaching the status and stages of unveiling and spiritual vision. If so, the seekers should gauge their unveiling and spiritual vision with the divine revelation and unveiling of prophets and saints, which in some cases requires interpretation, but revelation is an immediate inspiration that is clear and evident in itself and needs no interpretation. In Ruzbihan`s doctrine, revelation is viewed as synonymous with inspiration.
Introduction
Mysticism is the inner relationship of man with God; in other words, it is the knowledge and worship of God through the purification of the interior, which is called Tazkya. Iranian scholar of Persian Language, Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub (1923-1999), considers mysticism to be knowledge, based on a spiritual and indescribable state in which man feels that he has a direct and immediate connection with the Almighty. Of course, this spiritual feeling is described as a divine state that cannot be defined.
Most theologians believe that revelation (Wahi) has a different reality from such inner perceptions and has no similarity with it; however, most sages and mystics believe that revelation is a type of mystical unveiling (kashf) and intuition(shuhud); of course, there are several possibilities about this assumption: followers of divine religions consider their religion and belief to be attributed to God Almighty and have discussed the quality of the relationship between God Almighty and creatures under various headings, including revelation and divine word. Scholars and experts have written various interpretations of revelation, which sometimes overlap with mystical revelation and intuition.
Background of the Research
No independent research has been conducted so far on the comparison of revelation and intuition in the works of Ruzbihan Baqli, but a few studies have been conducted on revelation and intuition in Ruzbihan's perspective and the reality of revelation in other scholars` doctrine, some instances are:
1- "Revelation in the mystical nature of Ruzbihan Baqli", Elham Tamaddon and Mohammad Reza Nasr Esfahani, Shiraz University, Quarterly Journal of Religious Thought, Volume 18, Issue 69, December 2018, pp. 29-52. The results indicate that Ruzbihan categorizes revelation into three types: revelation of divine essence, divine attributes and acts and its instances and signs.
2- “The Nature of Apostolic Revelation and Its Relation with Mystical Intuition According to MullaṢadra”, Mohammad Mahdi Alimardi and Zeinab Artidar, Bi-Quarterly Journal of Shia Studies, Volume 10, Issue 26, Spring and Summer 2024, pp. 7-38. The results indicate that a key principle in Mulla Ṣadra's philosophy is substantial motion (al-ḥarakat al-jawhariyya). He argues that through this motion, humans evolve and progress through necessary stages to reach the ultimate truth. According to Mulla Ṣadra, those who perfect their theoretical and practical faculties can experience the intuition of God’s beauty, akin to the Prophet, and thus engage directly with divine light.
Research Method
This study adopts a descriptive-analytical approach, and a documentary-library research method was used to explore the studies carried out previously. It is obvious that in this method, an attempt was made to carefully examine and analyze the opinions and theories of experts and to provide lexical and terminological definitions for each of its words applied.
Conclusion
Ruzbihan Baqli Shirazi was a Persian mystic whose works abound in Quranic verses and hadith in which he communicates his thoughts dominated by his mystical experience of unveiling and intuition.
He believes in revelation as the unseen inspiration that prophets receive from God, and he also views mystic unveiling and intuition as divine grace and mercy.
Revelation and revealed knowledge are among the concepts whose perception lies beyond the realm of the senses and are not easily accessible to reason. Since not every man is capable of attaining such knowledge, its obscure aspects are not easily grasped by the intellect. The results indicate that there is a contrast between revelation and mystical unveiling, because prophethood is a divine gift that is not achieved through acquisition. Although the acquisition of excellence by effort makes souls prepared to receive revelation, revelation itself is a divine gift that is not attained by everyone. Humans are capable of reaching the status and stages of unveiling and intuition. If so, the seekers should gauge their unveiling and intuition with the divine revelation and unveiling of prophets and saints, which in some cases requires interpretation, but revelation is an immediate inspiration that is clear and evident in itself and needs no interpretation. In Ruzbihan`s doctrine, revelation is viewed as synonymous with inspiration.
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