Jami

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Jami (1414-1492) is usually described as the last of the great classical Persian poets. He was a mystic and a member of the Nakshibandi Sufi order, an influence vital to understand when reading his poetry.

Maulana Nur al-Din Abd al-Rahman, called Jami, was born in the district of Djam in the province of Herat in what is today Afghanistan. His father came from the district of Dasht around Isfahan, and thus the first takhallus (poetical name) Jami adopted was Dashti. This he later changed to Jami.

Early in his life Jami was given to a strong interest in mysticism. Contrary to what one might expect, this was quite natural for intellectuals in his day. Mysticism was popular during the time Jami lived, because life in general was in such turmoil. Thus Jami became a follower of the disciple who had succeeded the great saint Baha al-Din Nakshiband, the founder of the mystical Sufi order of Nakshibandis. This was to affect his later writings by means of philosophical innuendo.

The great portion of Jami's life was spent in Herat. He was not a great traveler, like Sadi or Rumi. Apart from two pilgrimages, one to Meshed in Persia and another to the Hejaz in 1472 with a side trip to Baghdad, Damascus, and Tabriz, he stayed at home and lived a quiet, introspective life. It is said that in his later years, after his writings were completed, he suffered from senility and eventually went mad.

The type of work Jami produced is considerable and varied. It is typified by a depth and variety of knowledge and a finely honed mastery of diction and style. Although he wrote a great deal of prose, it is for his poetry that he is known mainly. He used the theme of the court epic to great benefit as had his predecessor Firdausi. Most famous of these are his stories "Salaman and Absal," "Yusuf and Zulaikha," and "Laila and Majnun." These are three of the seven long tales that make up his famous literary series called The Seven Stars of the Great Bear. All of these works appear on first observation to be love stories of young couples. But when considering the serious nature of Jami's mysticism, it is realized that in fact these works are meant to be read as object lessons for teaching pupils a unique Sufi way to approach God. Like many of his contemporaries, Jami must be read on many philosophical levels.

In the field of lyric poetry he wrote late in life three diwans (collections of poetry): Beginning of Youth (1479), Central Part of the Chain (1489), and Close of Life (1491). Finally he wrote in prose the Baharistan, an imitation of Sadi's Gulistan, and the Zephyrs of Intimacy, a compendium of biographies of many Sufi saints.

Thus it may be said of Jami that he brought a fresh, subtle, and graceful style to his writing. His theme was usually on a philosophical-level, pantheistic mysticism. He deserves comparison with the greatest of the Sufi poets. His death in Herat marked the passing of the last great mystical Persian poet.

Further Reading

Jami is represented in English translation in James Kritzeck, ed., Anthology of Islamic Literature (1964). The best biographical sources are Edward G. Browne, A History of Persian Literature under Tartar Dominion, A.D. 1265-1502 (1920), and Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature, edited by Karl Jahn (1956; trans. 1968). There is also a useful introduction by F. Hadland Davis in his translation of poems by Jami, The Persian Mystics: Jami (1908). For a comprehensive discussion of the Sufi thought of Jami see A. J. Arberry, Sufism: An Account of the Mystics of Islam (1950), and Idries Shah, The Sufis (1964).

Mosque serving the population of an area, also called masjid al-jami.

Quotes:

"In every veil you see, the Divine Beauty is concealed, making every heart a slave to him. In love to him the heart finds its life; in desire for him the soul finds its happiness. The heart which loves a fair one here, though it knows it not, is really his lover."

"To display his eternal attributes in their inexhaustible variety, the Lord made the green fields of time and space."

Illustration from Jami's Rose Garden of the Pious, dated 1553. The image blends Persian poetry and Persian miniature into one, as is the norm for many works of Persian literature.

For other uses, see Jami (disambiguation).

Nur ad-Din Abd ar-Rahman Jami (Persian: نورالدین عبدالرحمن جامی) (August 18, 1414–November 19, 1492) was one of the greatest Persian poets in the 15th century and one of the last great Sufi poets.

Contents 1 Teachings 2 Works 3 Divan of Jami 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

Teachings

In his role as Sufi shaykh, Jami expounded a number of teachings regarding following the Sufi path. In his view, love was the fundamental stepping stone for starting on the spiritual journey. To a student who claimed never to have loved, he said, "Go and love first, then come to me and I will show you the way."^[1]

Works

Same youth conversing with suitors
Another illustration from the Haft Awrang

Jami wrote approximately eighty-seven books and letters, some of which have been translated into English. His works range from prose to poetry, and from the mundane to the religious. He has also written works of history. His poetry has been inspired by the ghazals of Hafez, and his Haft Awrang is, by his own admission, influenced by the works of Nezami.

Divan of Jami

Among his works are:

• Baharistan (Abode of Spring) Modeled upon the Gulistan of Saadi
• Nafahat al-Uns (Breaths of Fellowship) Biographies of the Sufi saints
• Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones) His major poetical work. The fifth of the seven stories is his acclaimed "Yusuf and Zulaykha" which tells the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife based on the Quran.
• Lawa'ih A treatise on Sufism
• Diwanha-i Sehganeh (Triplet Divans)
• Tajnīs ’al-luġāt (Homonymy/Punning of Languages) A lexicographical work containing homonymous Persian and Arabic lemmata.^[2]

See also

• Ghazal
• Persian literature
• List of Persian poets and authors
• Nazar ill'al-murd

Notes

1. ^ http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/X/X_3_4.htm
2. ^ Shīrānī, 6.

References

• E.G. Browne. Literary History of Persia. (Four volumes, 2,256 pages, and twenty-five years in the writing). 1998. ISBN 0-7007-0406-X
• Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature. Reidel Publishing Company. 1968 OCLC 460598 ISBN 90-277-0143-1
• Ḥāfiż Mahmūd Shīrānī. “Dībācha-ye awwal [First Preface].” In Ḥifż ul-Lisān [a.k.a. Ḳhāliq Bārī], edited by Ḥāfiż Mahmūd Shīrānī. Delhi: Anjumman-e Taraqqi-e Urdū, 1944.

External links

Wikisource has original works written by or about: Abdorrahman Jami

• Jami on PoetryPortal
• Jami on Iran Chamber Society Website
• Jami's Yusuf and Zulaikha: A Study in the Method of Appropriation of Sacred Text
• Jami's Salaman and Absal as Translated by Edward Fitzgerald. 1904

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