Triveni Journal

1927 | 11,233,916 words

Triveni is a journal dedicated to ancient Indian culture, history, philosophy, art, spirituality, music and all sorts of literature. Triveni was founded at Madras in 1927 and since that time various authors have donated their creativity in the form of articles, covering many aspects of public life....

The Coming of the Mystics

A. H. Nizami

(Lecturer, The Durbar College, Rewa)

Islam, which had dazzled the eyes of the world by its wonderful power of expansion, was practically a spent force by the middle of the 9th century. The intense spiritual zeal of the Arabs had mainly been responsible for the spread of Islam, from Spain in the West to Sind in the East. Diverse nationalities had been brought to its fold and the Caliphate had grown, under the Abbasids, into a cosmopolitan Empire with Arabic, adopted by all peoples as their literary language, as the lingua franca of the intelligentsia. With the decline of the Abbasid Caliphate the missionary zeal of the Mussalmans weakened, and Islam, no longer a world force, was content to drag on its chequered career during four centuries of storm and stress till the New Mystic Movement came to its rescue in the 13th.

This was a period of great intellectual as well as political activity–a period remarkable for the growth of culture and civilisation. But the proselytising zeal of the people soon degenerated into a spirit of sectarian fanaticism, dogmatic feuds, and ‘hair-splitting’ theological discussions. Mussalmans had very early divided themselves into Shiahs and Sunnis. Shiaism, ‘the Persian interpretation of Islam,’ had all shades of opinion. The extremist section, called the Ismailis, were looked upon as heretics for their belief in the divine incarnation of the Prophet’s Family, and were severely persecuted by the orthodox Sunnis. This state of affairs continued till the Persian Renaissance in the 10th century, with its humanising mission, sought to divert the attention of the people and their energy to a healthier and nobler occupation.

Of all the nations conquered and subjugated by the Arabs, the Persians had been, far and away, the most highly cultured. They were proud of an ancient civilisation which had temporarily fallen into decadence under the last rulers of the Sassanid dynasty. The Arab imperialism of the Omayyad Caliphs would not allow the Persians an honourable place in society and in politics. The social and political grievances of the Persians led to what has been called the ‘Mawali’ movement. Thanks to their superior culture and education, they could count among themselves commentators, jurists, poets, scholars, business men, artisans, and warriors. Naturally, before long, they began to agitate for the political rights and social privileges denied to them. They first threw in their lot with the Alides, and when the Abbasids started their propaganda they made common cause with the House of Abbas and were instrumental in installing the Abbasids on the throne of the Caliphate in place of the hated Omayyads. The Persians now got the upper hand over the Arabs. They rose to the highest civil and military offices in the State which opened to them a vast field for the attainment of distinction and glory in every walk of life. They supplied the Abbasid rulers with a set of celebrated statesmen, who raised the administration to the highest standard of efficiency and vied with their royal masters as patrons of science, art, and literature. Under the rule of this quasi-Persian dynasty 1 –the Abbasids–the free-thinkers of Persia gave a free rein to their heretical leanings which could not long be tolerated by the government. The Persian predominance too did not long remain undisputed. The Persians had displaced the Arabs and were, in their turn, ousted by the Turks who had embraced Islam in large numbers. The Turks showed little aptitude for art and literature but they soon monopolised the entire military field. They carved out a distinct and permanent place for themselves in Muslim politics and became a factor to be reckoned with. Nevertheless, in the departments of learning and administration the Persians continued to enjoy an undisputed sway.

The 9th century saw the decline of the Abbasid Caliphate and the establishment of ‘minor dynasties.’ Of all these dynasties which sprang up in Persia and Turkistan, the Samanids were the most important and the most powerful. Their descent from the legendary kings of the ancient Kiani dynasty of Persia had a special appeal to the imagination of the people. In them Persian language and literature got its first great patrons. Under their fostering care Persian poetry grew by leaps and bounds. In the free and highly cosmopolitan atmosphere of Mamun’s reign, Abbas Maruzi had turned out the first Persian verses. Raudaki, the father of Persian poetry, flourished in the Samanid Court and the seeds of the Shah Namah were sown by Daqiqi. The people soon developed a taste for the ancient Persian legends, and the Persian language, so long neglected, assumed the status of a national tongue.

When the Ghaznavides stepped into the shoes of the Samanids, Mahmud of Ghazni, although a Turk, behaved like a true born Persian, thanks to the influence of Persian culture which had extended among all classes of people and among all communities. The Persian Renaissance, which had borne its first fruits during Samanid rule, reached its high-water mark during Mahmud’s reign, culminating in the intense patriotism of the Shah Namah of Firdausi. The glories of ancient Persia captured the minds of the people, and consciously or unconsciously in their ordinary daily life they allowed the Shah Namah to occupy a place higher than the Quran itself. 2 They were inspired more by the lessons of the Shah Namah than by the teachings of the Quran, more by the lives of the ancient heroes of Iran than by the lives of the heroes of Islam. 3 This spirit of national awakening did two things. It gave birth to an abundance of culture and refinement, extended among all classes of people in a manner wanting in all races including even those of modern Europe. 4 It also heralded the dawn of a new era remarkable for its feverish military activity, leading to the establishment and destruction of empires and kingdoms. 5 For, the Turks, the military community par excellence of the Mussalmans, who, like their prototypes, the Rajputs of India, had the characteristic failing of engaging in fighting for its own sake, imbibed this bellicose aspect of the Persian Renaissance most. But the outlook on life remained essentially secular, and religion continued to be looked upon as the private affair of the individual.

The Seljuqs eclipsed the Ghaznavides as rulers and statesmen, and under them the Persian civilisation reached its highest pinnacle of greatness. But the capture of Sultan Sanjar, the last of the Great Seljuqs, at the hands of the Ghazz Turks, marked a the beginning of the end of this great dynasty which had not only preserved the best features of the Persian civilisation inherited from the Ghaznavides but had considerably enriched it. Upon the ruins of the Seljuq edifice rose two rival Houses–those of Khwarizm and Ghor. But the times had changed. The age of Shahabuddin of Ghor has been called an age devoid of morals. 6 The Persian Renaissance had given culture without morality. It had failed to provide any ideal for the people to live by. No inspiration could be derived from the lives of the ancient heroes of Iran except a fondness for purposeless wars without the moral conviction which characterised the early votaries of Islam. Even the best elements of the Persian Revival were practically dead by the end of the 12th century. "Never has public life among the Mussalmans sunk to a lower depth than in the period between the death of Sultan Sanjar and the sack of Baghdad by Halaku Khan." It was an age of indiscipline, distrust, fraud, unscrupulousness and disloyalty. This moral degeneration of the Mussalmans was reflected in every field of their activity, warlike or peaceful. The noble qualities of chivalry, magnanimity and gentlemanly behaviour engendered by the Persian Renaissance were fast disappearing. The age of the Shah Namah was giving place to the age of the Gulistan. 7 For, with due deference to its wonderful literary qualities, it must be frankly admitted that the Gulistan is after all a book of selfish wisdom and worldly precepts and maxims of life. It was in such a moral atmosphere that the Mussalmans came to India as conquerors. And before they had found time to settle in this country and consolidate their conquest, Changez Khan, with his terrible hordes of Mongol barbarians, swept over Central Asia and threw the entire Muslim world into confusion. It was a catastrophe unprecedented in the history of Islam–a catastrophe which was bound to exercise a far-reaching effect over the fortunes of the various States then constituting Muslim Asia. Fortunately for India, Changez Khan did not cross the waters of the Indus, although the Mongols of his sons and grandsons continued to harass the frontier of the Emperor-Sultans of Delhi for a period of over one hundred years.

The Persians, being a critical and thoughtful people, discovered that unless they had some moral conviction, the world would go to ruin. No nation can prosper with war alone. Islam, which had lately spread among the hill tribes of Ghor and the Turkish tribes of Turkistan and Transoxonia, was being diverted to paganish channels simply because it had remained only skin deep. Consequently the momentous decision was made that Islam–real Islam–should be carried to the masses. The New Mystic Movement with its highly organised Silsilas was started not only to convert the infidel to the faith but to make Mussalmans better Mussalmans.

1 Alberuni calls the Abbasids a Khorasanj dynasty. Sachau.

2 This has led Ibn-ul-Asir to call the Shah Namah ‘the Quran of Persia.’

3 For the influence of the Shah Namah over the life of the people. see Browne: Literary History of Persia; Shibli: Sher-ul-Ajam. Also see Hadi Hasan: Studies in Persian Literature.

4 I make this assertion on the first-hand testimony of Professor Mohammad Habib that the Persians even today know no abusive or obscene language.

5 Habib: Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznin, Page 61.

6 Habib: Shahabuddin of Ghor in The Muslim University Journal. Jan. 1930 Page 16. See also footnote.

7 Supposed to have been completed in 1258. Encyc. Britt. 9th edition.

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