Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence: Collected Poems of an Ismaili Muslim Scholar in Fatimid Egypt 9780755611706, 9781848859135

Citation preview

The Institute of Ismaili Studies

The Institute of Ismaili Studies was established in 1977 with the object of promoting scholarship and learning on Islam, in the historical as well as contemporary contexts, and a better understanding of its relationship with other societies and faiths. The Institute’s programmes encourage a perspective which is not confined to the theological and religious heritage of Islam, but seeks to explore the relationship of religious ideas to broader dimensions of society and culture. The programmes thus encourage an interdisciplinary approach to the materials of Islamic history and thought. Particular attention is also given to issues of modernity that arise as Muslims seek to relate their heritage to the contemporary situation. Within the Islamic tradition, the Institute’s programmes promote research on those areas which have, to date, received relatively little attention from scholars. These include the intellectual and literary expressions of Shi‘ism in general, and Ismailism in particular. In the context of Islamic societies, the Institute’s programmes are informed by the full range and diversity of cultures in which Islam is practised today, from the Middle East, South and Central Asia, and Africa to the industrialized societies of the West, thus taking into consideration the variety of contexts which shape the ideals, beliefs and practices of the faith. These objectives are realized through concrete programmes and activities organized and implemented by various departments of the Institute. The Institute also collaborates periodically, on a programme-specific basis, with other institutions of learning in the United Kingdom and abroad.

viii

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

The Institute’s academic publications fall into a number of interrelated categories: 1. Occasional papers or essays addressing broad themes of the relationship between religion and society, with special reference to Islam. 2. Monographs exploring specific aspects of Islamic faith and culture, or the contributions of individual Muslim thinkers or writers. 3. Editions or translations of significant primary or secondary texts. 4. Translations of poetic or literary texts which illustrate the rich heritage of spiritual, devotional and symbolic expressions in Muslim history. 5. Works on Ismaili history and thought, and the relationship of the Ismailis to other traditions, communities and schools of thought in Islam. 6. Proceedings of conferences and seminars sponsored by the Institute. 7. Bibliographical works and catalogues which document manuscripts, printed texts and other source materials. This book falls into categories three and four listed above. In facilitating these and other publications, the Institute’s sole aim is to encourage original research and analysis of relevant issues. While every effort is made to ensure that the publications are of a high academic standard, there is naturally bound to be a diversity of views, ideas and interpretations. As such, the opinions expressed in these publications must be understood as belonging to their authors alone.

Acknowledgements

It is with the greatest of joy that I am able to see the fruits of the work that has occupied me for more than 20 years. My attraction to the writings of al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn al-Shīrāzī first began in 1983 when I was invited to speak to different audiences in the United Kingdom and North America about the Ismaili tarīqah of Islam, and in particular the life and teachings of al-Shīrāzī. As a result of this exposure and the encouragement I received then from several individuals, in particular Mr. Akbar Ali Jamal of Houston, Texas, I commenced the translation of the Dīwān. The publication of the Dīwān has relied on a truly international effort, involving a number of people. Among these, my special thanks go to Dr. Farhad Daftary, Co-Director and Head of the Department of Academic Research and Publications at The Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, for including this work in the Ismaili Texts and Translations Series. I am equally grateful to the Department’s Senior Editor, Mr. Kutub Kassam, for orchestrating the publication of this work and contributing the Introduction to it; his editorial and poetic skills are evident in many parts of the Dīwān. I wish to acknowledge further the contribution of Mr. Bulbul Shah, a doctoral candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, who reviewed the manuscript and offered many accurate observations. His detailed attention to the complexity of meanings behind various Arabic words compelled me to return to the text many times to ensure the accuracy of the translation. I am also indebted to my colleagues in Syria, the late Mr. Husein al-Jundi and Mr. Husein Mahfoud of Salamiyya, both well versed in Arabic language and poetry, who often responded promptly to my pleadings for support in understanding many difficult lines of the Dīwān. xiii

xiv

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Finally, this work could not have been achieved without the continuous support of my family, especially my daughter-in-law, Dr. Farah-Naaz Habib, for helping me to finalize the English trans­ lation. Mohamad Adra Taldara, Salamiyya, Syria

Introduction

In recent scholarship, it has come to be recognized that the Fatimid era (296–567/909–1171) is one of the most documented periods in Islamic history. This is despite the fact that the renowned libraries of Fatimid Cairo were looted on several occasions of social upheaval, and a considerable portion of the literature produced under the Fatimids perished with the collapse of their regime. Nonetheless, sufficient material has survived, or was recorded in other sources, to convey a relatively detailed picture of the history of this dynasty of Shiʿi Ismaili Imam-caliphs, and the state over which they presided in North Africa, Egypt and other parts of the Middle East for nearly three centuries. In addition to official documentation of the Fatimid state, such as histories, chronicles, decrees, letters and archival material that have been preserved, there exists a special genre of literature associated with the Ismaili daʿwa, the religio-political organization of the Ismailis with its headquarters in Cairo and branches across the Muslim world. Many important works of the daʿwa appear to have been irretrievably lost, but a significant number came to light during the 20th century, giving rise to modern Ismaili studies. Consisting mainly of theological, philosophical and exegetical treatises, as well as juristic, historical and biographical works, memoirs and poetry, this corpus of literature is perhaps the most lasting legacy of the intellectual and literary culture fostered by the Fatimids.1 The daʿwa of the Fatimids was a highly structured network of missionary-agents called dāʿīs (lit. ‘summoners’) that was founded well before the establishment of their state in North Africa in 296/909. Formally known as al-daʿwa al-hādiya (the rightly-guiding mission) or daw‘at al-ḥaqq (summons to the Truth), it comprised 1. For an analytic bibliography of materials available on the Fatimid period, see Paul E. Walker, Exploring an Islamic Empire: Fatimid History and its Sources (London, 2002).

1

2

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

a hierarchy of dāʿīs under the leadership of the Imam of the time. Its areas of activity were not confined to the Fatimid domains, but extended to many other lands, including Yaman, Syria, Iraq, Persia, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.2 As missionary-agents of the Imam, the dāʿīs were responsible for propagating Ismaili Islam, administering the affairs of their communities and preserving their well-being at all times. As such, the dāʿī was expected to demonstrate exceptional qualities of leadership and a sound knowledge of the religious and intellectual sciences of the day.3 It was customary, therefore, for many dāʿīs to devote time to composing works of prose and poetry, usually to elucidate Ismaili doctrines or to defend them against their critics and opponents. Such engagement with the written word was, in fact, carefully cultivated by the daʿwa in its protocol of training, and also consistent with the high value attached by the Fatimids to the acquisition of knowledge as a religious virtue.4 Among the scholars of the Fatimid daʿwa who made significant contributions to the Fatimid intellectual and literary heritage may be mentioned dāʿīs such as Ja‘far b. Manṣūr al-Yaman (d. c. 346/957) whose speciality was esoteric exegesis of the Qurʾān; Abū Ya‘qūb al-Sijistānī (d. after 361/971) who was among the earliest Muslim intellectuals to integrate a Neoplatonic cosmology within a distinctively Islamic-Ismaili discourse; al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān (d. 363/974), a prolific author of historical, theological, exegetical and juristical 2. On the origins, evolution and organization of this institution, see Farhad Daftary, The Ismā‘īlīs: Their History and Doctrines (2nd revised ed., Cambridge, 2007), pp. 98–116, 213–223, and his ‘The Ismaili Da‘wa outside the Fatimid Dawla’, in M. Barrucand, ed., L’Egypte Fatimide, son art et son histoire (Paris, 1999), pp. 29–43. 3. The professional requirements, ethics and pedagogy of the ideal Fatimid  dāʿī were enumerated by Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm al-Nīsābūrī (Naysābūrī) in his Risāla al-mūjaza al-kāfiya fi adab al-du‘āt (The Brief and Sufficient Epistle on the Code of Conduct and Etiquette of the Missionaries), facsimile ed., Verena Klemm, Die Mission des fāṭimidischen Agenten al-Muʾayyad fi d-dīn in Šīrāz (Frankfurt, 1989), pp. 205–277, and summarized in English in her Memoirs of a Mission: The Ismaili Scholar, Statesman and Poet al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (London, 2003), Appendix 2, pp. 117–127. 4. Heinz Halm, The Fatimids and their Traditions of Learning (London, 1997); Paul E. Walker, ‘Fatimid Institutions of Learning’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 34 (1997), pp. 179–200.

Introduction

3

treatises, including the foundational work on the Fatimid system of law; Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī (d. after 411/1020), perhaps the most erudite of Fatimid philosophical theologians, whose treatises demonstrate extensive knowledge of Islamic, Christian and Jewish metaphysics; Nāṣir-i Khusraw (d. after 462/1070), the famous philosopher, poet and traveller who is the only Fatimid notable to have produced all his works in Persian; and, last but not least, his teacher and mentor, the chief dāʿī al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn al-Shīrāzi (d. 470/1078).5 A renowned scholar, statesman, educator and author, he is the composer of the Dīwān of poems translated in this publication. It was in the person of al-Muʾayyad that the Fatimid daʿwa may be said to have reached the apex of its professional and literary expression. Before examining the Dīwān, let us take a closer look at the remarkable life and achievements of this distinguished personality. The historical context Al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn al-Shīrāzī lived during one of the most turbulent periods in Islamic history. The 5th/11th century was characterized by acute escalation of political and religious tensions in the Middle East. To a large extent, this was a reflection of the struggle for political ascendancy between Shiʿa and Sunni Muslims, which had originated in the crisis for succession following the passing of Prophet Muḥammad in 11/632. The conflict, which was as much ideological as political, manifested itself principally via the two major ruling dynasties of the time claiming the allegiance of all Muslims. Whereas the Abbasid caliphs of Baghdad, representing the cause of Sunni Islam, reigned over Iraq and much of Persia, their opponents, the Shiʿi Fatimid Imam-caliphs of Cairo, claiming legitimacy by descent from the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, and daughter Fāṭima, were established in North Africa, Egypt, Syria 5. For an introductory survey of the writings of these and other Ismaili authors of the Fatimid period, see An Anthology of Ismaili Literature: A Shiʿi Vision of Islam, ed. Hermann Landolt, Samira Sheikh and Kutub Kassam (London, 2008). Their bibliographical data are enumerated in Ismail K. Poonawala, Biobibliography of Ismā‘īlī Literature (Malibu, CA, 1977); Farhad Daftary, Ismaili Literature: A Bibliography of Sources and Studies (London, 2004); and Walker, Exploring an Islamic Empire.

4

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

and Yaman. At the same time, these two imperial domains began to be undermined internally and externally by the emergence of local, semi-independent fiefdoms, the rise of a powerful military class of mercenary soldiers, and the steady advance into their territories of Turkoman warriors from the steppes of Central Asia under the leadership of the Saljūqs. Perhaps nowhere was the mounting political crisis and hostility between different classes, sects and schools of thought more evident than in Iraq and western Persia, the heartlands of the Abbasid regime. This process was brought to a head in 334/945 with the military occupation of Baghdad by the Būyids (also known as Buwayhids), a Shiʿi family of military leaders from the Daylam region south of the Caspian Sea, who controlled much of the Fārs region in south-western Persia.6 Despite their common Shiʿi affiliation, the Būyids regarded the Fatimids as their political rivals and maintained minimal diplomatic relations with them. The Abbasid caliphs were retained by the Būyids but their authority was reduced to little more than a nominal, ceremonial role. A significant feature of Būyid rule was the greater freedom they granted to the hitherto repressed Shiʿa Muslims to practise their faith in public. These developments were much resented by the Sunnis, resulting in periodic bouts of sectarian violence between the two communities in Baghdad and other urban centres. Such was the case in Shīrāz, the capital of Fārs province, where the local ruler was under constant pressure from the Sunni majority to ensure that the religious activities of the Shi‘a were strictly circumscribed. It was in this volatile atmosphere of Shīrāz that al-Muʾayyad was born and which shaped much of his personality and early career as a Fatimid dāʿī. There is little information available about al-Muʾayyad in historical sources other than his partial autobiography, the Sīra,7 and collection of poems, the Dīwān.8 Many historians and biographers 6. See Claude Cahen, ‘Buwayhids or Būyids’, in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition, hereafter cited as EI2. 7. Sīrat al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn dāʿī al-du‘āt, ed. M. Kāmil Ḥusayn (Cairo, 1949, reprinted Beirut, 1996), hereafter cited as Sīra; also edited by ‘Ārif Tāmir as Mudhakkirāt dāʿī al-du‘āt (Beirut, 1982). An English summary of the Sīra appears in Klemm, Memoirs of a Mission, pp. 19–54, 69–86. 8. Dīwān al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn dāʿī al-du‘āt, ed. M. Kāmil Ḥusayn (Cairo, 1949).

Introduction

5

of medieval Islam have neglected to mention al-Muʾayyad, despite the fact that he was well known in Fārs and one of the pre-eminent figures of Fatimid Egypt. This may be due in part to the secretive modus operandi of the Ismaili dāʿīs who concealed their writings from the general public and made it accessible only to those initiated in the Fatimid daʿwa. In modern scholarship, however, al-Muʾayyad’s writings have attracted much attention with the editing of his major works by Muslim and Western scholars such as Muḥammad Kāmil Ḥusayn, Muṣṭafā Ghālib, ‘Ārif Tāmir and Ḥātim Ḥamīd al-Dīn, as well as specialized studies by Abbas Hamdani, Tahera Qutbuddin, Verena Klemm and Rachel T. Hawes. The translation of al-Muʾayyad’s Dīwān produced here by Mohamad Adra is intended to contribute to this endeavour by making his poetry accessible more widely to scholars, students and the general public in the English-speaking world. It is not possible in the limited space of this Introduction to give a detailed rendering of al-Muʾayyad’s career as a Fatimid dāʿī, for which the reader may consult his Sīra and related studies.9 But since some familiarity with the biography of al-Muʾayyad is indispensable for the appreciation of his Dīwān, a brief account of his life and activities follows, together with illustrative excerpts from his writings and other soures. It will be convenient for our purpose to present this material in the order of the three major phases of his life-experiences in Persia, Egypt and Syria. Al-Muʾayyad in Persia Born of a Daylamī Ismaili family in Shīrāz around 387/997, al-Muʾayyad’s full name was Abū Naṣr Hibat Allāh b. Mūsā b. Abī ʿImrān b. Dāwūd. In his writings, al-Muʾayyad offers little information about his family, early life and education, but sufficient for us to learn that his forefathers had served the Fatimids as dāʿīs long 9. The most comprehensive account in English of al-Muʾayyad’s political career, based on his Sīra and other historical sources, is provided by Rachel T. Hawes in her doctoral dissertation, Al-Muʾayyad fi al-Dīn alShīrāzī and the Fatimid Religious Propaganda in the Age of al-Mustanṣir (427–487AH/1036–1094 CE), (University of California, Santa Barbara, 2003). See also Klemm, Memoirs of a Mission, and Tahera Qutbuddin, Al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī and Fatimid Da‘wa Poetry: A Case of Commitment in Classical Arabic Literature (Leiden, 2005).

6

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

before the emergence of their state in North Africa. His father, Mūsā b. Dāwūd, retained the same office in Fārs where he was held in such high regard by the Būyid authorities that the wazir would visit him at his home in Shīrāz. In all probability, al-Muʾayyad’s early education was acquired at the feet of his father and other members of the local daʿwa. The evidence of his writings exhibits extensive knowledge of the Qurʾān, the Prophetic traditions (ḥadīth), theological positions of different schools and communities, as well as mastery of Ismaili doctrines in both their exoteric and esoteric expressions. Following his father’s death around 415/1025 when al-Muʾayyad was about 25 years old, he too was nominated dāʿī of Fārs by the seventh Fatimid Imam-caliph al-Ẓāhir (d. 427/1036). It was probably also on this occasion that the title of al-Muʾayyad fīʾl-Dīn, meaning ‘the one aided (by God) in religion’, was conferred upon him. The earliest report of al-Muʾayyad’s professional activities as a dāʿī appears in a number of poems produced during the reign of Imam al-Ẓāhir. According to these verses, he conducted regular majālis (teaching sessions) for his followers at his house in Shīrāz, a practice that he probably continued from his father’s time. As a result of his piety, charismatic personality and oratorical skills, by the age of 40 al-Muʾayyad had acquired a considerable reputation as spiritual leader of the Ismailis in Fārs. This is acknowledged by himself in the Dīwān: I am an honourable and rightly-guided person and referred to as a role model in all the regions … Since my reputation has become dignified, I have never done (anything) wrong or misguided. I have inspired people with such a high aspiration that it has risen beyond the orbit of Saturn. And I have achieved certitude in my religion, a knowledge not attained by many a resolute one. (4: 12–16)

Given al-Muʾayyad’s growing fame and status, it was inevitable that he would come to the attention of the Būyid ruler of Fārs, Abū Kālījār ʿImād al-Dīn Marzubān.10 A learned and open-minded 10. Harold Bowen, ‘Abū Kālīdjār’, EI2.

Introduction

7

man, Abū Kālījār’s authority was at the best of times precarious, since most of his subjects were Sunnis who resented the Būyids for usurping the Abbasid caliph’s authority and were hostile to the Shiʿa living among them. Likewise, the ruler’s army was in a constant state of antagonism between the Sunni Turkish cavalry and the Shiʿi Daylamī troops. Furthermore, the Daylamīs included a sizeable contingent of Ismaili soldiers, who may have been converted by al-Muʾayyad himself. Since Abū Kālījār could not afford to alienate any religious faction without incurring the threat of civil war and his own removal from power, his policies were constantly shifting in favour of one party or another, depending on which appeared dominant at any one time. This unstable balancing act was dangerously upset in the summer of 429/1038 when the Ismailis of Shīrāz, including the Daylamī soldiers, celebrated the feast of Ramaḍān in al-Muʾayyad’s courtyard a day earlier than the Sunnis.11 This provoked so much outrage among the Sunnis that their qāḍī (judge) complained to Abū Kālījār and threatened to kill al-Muʾayyad and all his followers in the city. The ruler’s alarm was further fuelled by his courtiers and Turkish commanders who demanded the destruction of the ‘heretics’. Although Abū Kālījār was generally tolerant of the Ismailis, he felt it necessary to warn al-Muʾayyad of the dire consequences of his conduct. Consequently, the following day he was summoned to court by the Būyid wazir al-ʿĀdil and ordered to either desist from his activities or leave the city altogether. The dāʿī was further required to remain in his house until the uproar caused by his behaviour subsided. This decision was deeply resented by al-Muʾayyad and the Daylamīs, who vowed to defend their spiritual leader to the death. Due to rising tensions in Shīrāz, al-Muʾayyad was compelled to transfer his activities temporarily to the neighbouring town of Fasā (or Basā in Arabic), where there was a large Shiʿa community. Here he and his followers set about constructing an assembly place around a mashhad (shrine) of a local saint whose identity remains unknown. Over the next few months, al-Muʾayyad also gave much thought to his future conduct, for in the following year he returned to Shīrāz with the aim of conciliating Abū Kālījār. He devoted 11. It is customary for the Ismailis, since at least early Fatimid times, to determine the end of Ramaḍān by astronomical calculations, instead of by sighting the moon as practised by the Sunnis.

8

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

much effort to this goal by corresponding with the ruler and later, contrary to the wazir’s orders, secretly followed the royal entourage on a hunting trip in order to contact him. These overtures eventually led Abū Kālījār to relent and respond with some kindness. Subsequently, the dāʿī was invited to the palace where he impressed the ruler with his learning, eloquence and sincerity. It is a measure of al-Muʾayyad’s power of persuasion that, over the next three years, he gradually began to win the confidence of the ruler and his wazir. In fact, al-Muʾayyad became a close confidant of the ruler and, to entertain him, composed a panegyric in his praise (no. 51) and engaged in several debates with theologians of different schools. Needless to say, such was the force of his arguments that the dāʿī always emerged victorious from these intellectual dispuations. At some point, it seems he even succeeded in converting Abū Kālījār to the Ismaili cause and persuaded him to correspond with the Fatimid caliph in Egypt. Al-Muʾayyad’s close relations with Abū Kālījār did not go without serious opposition from the ruler’s Sunni courtiers. Led by a new wazir and the qāḍī of Shīrāz, they mounted a concerted campaign of defamation against the dāʿī and threatened to have him executed by the Turkish soldiers. Interestingly enough, one of al-Muʾayyad’s most implacable critics was a courtier who had formerly been an Ismaili and was now fiercely opposed to Abū Kālījār having any relations with the Fatimids. As the plotting intensified and the ruler’s affection for al-Muʾayyad began to wane, the dāʿī became increasingly anxious and composed a lengthy qaṣīda addressed to the ruler, complaining and pleading for his understanding: I see that (now my fortune) is falling instead of rising, and there is no return to the joys of our meetings. (My) speech is no more the same speech (to you), nor is my rank the same rank (I once held). What is the value of my services in the past which distinguished and elevated me (in your regard)? All of this has become completely forgotten as if I had never done anything (for you). It is not something to be abandoned,

Introduction

9

for the like of it cannot be purchased in a market. It is offered by a sincere, kind-hearted person, granted generously by a fraternal soul. (62: 86–91)

As a result of the hostile atmosphere surrounding him in the palace and streets of Shīrāz, in 433/1042 al-Muʾayyad was once again forced to leave the city, this time to the nearby town of Ahwāz, a centre of his Daylamī supporters. Here they took possession of an old mosque that had fallen into disrepair and transformed it into a Fatimid house of prayer, with the names of the Imams engraved in golden letters on the panelling of its miḥrāb (prayer niche). When the mosque was completed, al-Muʾayyad ordered the Shiʿi call to prayer to be announced from its roof. As was the case in Shīrāz, this public confession of Shiʿism enraged the Sunni populace of Ahwāz, but they dared not attack the mosque as it was guarded by the Daylamīs mounted on their horses. The same call to prayer was repeated every Friday for several weeks until the local qāḍī wrote directly to the Abbasid caliph al-Qāʾim in Baghdad, seeking his urgent intervention. The caliph responded by dispatching one of his senior ministers (and later wazir) by the name of Ibn al-Muslima, a notorious oppressor of the Shi‘a, with orders to apprehend the dāʿī. In anticipation of his arrival and probably to entrap al-Muʾayyad, Abū Kālījār invited him for another intellectual disputation, this time with a Zaydī Shiʿi scholar. The dāʿī’s demolition of his opponent’s arguments was followed by a heated altercation with the former Ismaili turncoat, whom he accused of being secretly a Sunni or Khārijī. Thereafter al-Muʾayyad was forcibly seized, ejected from the palace and placed under house arrest. Following Ibn al-Muslima’s arrival in Shīrāz and consultation with Abū Kālījār, he conveyed a message to al-Muʾayyad guaranteeing his safety on condition that he renounced allegiance to the Fatimids. This was something quite unacceptable to al-Muʾayyad, for it contravened the very foundation of his faith. As negotiations continued for several months, there were renewed calls for al-Muʾayyad’s life and rioting broke out in the city. Besieged by Sunni mobs around his house, al-Muʾayyad made desperate appeals to Abū Kālījār for deliverance, but with the decision out of his hands, the ruler was no longer in a position to intervene. Al-Muʾayyad

10

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

recalls this dangerous moment in Qaṣīda 55 (11–23) as well as in this passage from his Sīra: When Friday came, I heard in my house what could only be the blowing of a trumpet, and I could think of nothing except that swords would take my allotted portion (of life) from me and that fire would burn the sides of my house. I sat submitting to the command of God, praising Him and His rule, and giving my soul to the path of the people of the house of the Prophet, peace be upon him.12

Finally, having lost all hope of a reprieve and certain of death if he remained in Shīrāz, al-Muʾayyad managed to escape his tormentors. Travelling first to Ahwāz and then in disguise across the desert and wilderness of Khūzistān, he found refuge with the Bedouin amir Manṣūr b. al-Ḥusayn at Hilla (in present-day Iraq). After a few months here and more petitions to Abū Kālījār, al-Muʾayyad continued his journey to Najaf and Karbalā where he prayed and shed tears at the shrines of the martyred Imams ‘Alī and Ḥusayn. The da‘ī also poured out his grief for the historical persecution of the Shi‘a and his own fear of imminent arrest in some of his most moving qaṣīdas (nos. 17, 34, 39). Thereafter, avoiding Baghdad, he headed north towards Mosul, hoping to obtain support from its Shiʿi ruler Qirwāsh b. al-Muqallad, who was known to be an ally of the Fatimids. It was only when al-Muʾayyad discovered that Qirwāsh was now supporting the Abbasids that he finally abandoned all hope of returning to his homeland, and decided to make his way to Egypt, the land of the Fatimids that he had yearned to visit since the days of his childhood. Al-Muʾayyad in Egypt When al-Muʾayyad arrived in Cairo in 437/1045, Fatimid Egypt was at the height of its power and prosperity. According to his Persian compatriot, the poet and philosopher Nāṣir-i Khusraw, who came to the city two or three years later, it was the most magnificent metropolis he had seen, with marvellous palaces, mosques and markets, enjoying such an abundance of wealth, peace and security that shopkeepers did not lock their doors.13 One of the first acts of 12.    Cited from the Sīra in Hawes, Al-Muʾayyad, p. 83. 13. Nāṣir-i Khusraw, Safar-nāma, ed. M. Dabīr Siyāqī (5th ed.,

Introduction

11

al-Muʾayyad in Cairo was to proceed to the royal palace and prostrate himself upon the dust of its threshold. For to al-Muʾayyad, the abode of the Fatimid Imam was a most sacrosanct place, the holy residence of the descendant of Prophet Muḥammad and the proof (ḥujja) of God on earth. The Fatimid Imam-caliph at this time was Abū Tamīm Ma‘add al-Mustanṣir bi’llāh, a young man of about 16 years of age. He had succeeded his father al-Ẓāhir in 427/1036 at the age of seven, and since then ruled with the advice of his mother and regent, al-Sayyida Raṣad. The most ardent desire of al-Muʾayyad was to meet al-Mustanṣir in person and request permission to serve him in whatever capacity that pleased the Imam. In the following days, therefore, he met the wazir al-Fallāḥī, who welcomed him and gave him a house and stipend, and the chief qāḍī and dāʿī, Qāsim ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, a greatgrandson of the master-jurist al-Qāḍī al-Nu‘mān. Al-Muʾayyad also came to know Abū Sa‘d al-Tustarī, a wealthy Jewish merchant who had acquired considerable political power through his close association with the Queen-mother. Despite these influential contacts and to the great disappointment of al-Muʾayyad, he soon realized that access to the Imam was denied to him. This was due to the opposition of several court officials, including the chief dāʿī who, recognizing al-Muʾayyad’s superior talents, regarded him as an upstart and potential rival for his own office. As for the wazir al-Fallaḥī, while sympathetic towards the dāʿī, he was unable to help because real authority was in the hands of al-Tustarī. As al-Muʾayyad quickly discovered, there was an intense power struggle under way focused around this dominant bureaucrat who had acquired many enemies through his control of the administration and appointments to high office. The leadership of the army was likewise divided between the two factions, as well as along ethnic lines among the Turkish, Arab, Sudanese, Berber and Daylamī troops. In such difficult circumstances, al-Tustarī was not in a position to grant al-Muʾayyad’s wish to see the Imam, but arranged an increased stipend for him. Al-Muʾayyad persisted in his demands until he became so embittered that he resolved to return Tehran, 1977); tr. Wheeler M. Thackston Jr. as Naser-e Khosraw’s Book of Travels (Safarnāma) (Costa Mesa, CA, 2001), pp. 66–75. See also Alice C. Hunsberger, Nasir Khusraw, The Ruby of Badakhshan: A Portrait of the Persian Poet, Traveller and Philosopher (London, 2000), pp. 140–173.

12

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

to Persia. Al-Tustarī would not allow this and continued to hold the prospect of an audience with the Imam, but before he could do anything about it, in 439/1048 he was murdered by Turkish soldiers. The conflict between the different parties, although long drawnout, complex and multifaceted, was in reality about the authority of the young Imam-caliph al-Mustanṣir, whose independence had been severely circumscribed by the political and military forces that had gained ascendancy during his minority years. Hence, admission to the Imam’s presence was one of the most jealously guarded privileges of the court. As al-Muʾayyad observes sorrowfully in the Sīra, ‘the one sought was a sun concealed in a curtain and the face of a day wearing a veil of clouds’.14 Around this time he composed a number of poems complaining about the court officials who were restricting al-Mustanṣir’s authority and his own efforts to meet the Imam. It was not until 439/1048, more than two years after his arrival in Cairo, that al-Muʾayyad was finally permitted to see the Imam. Although the dāʿī does not describe this encounter in the Dīwān, he records it in one of the most memorable passages of the Sīra. When al-Muʾayyad was escorted to the inner sanctum of the palace and as soon as his eyes fell on al-Mustanṣir seated upon his throne, he was so overcome with emotion that he became speechless and fell to the floor. He continues: When I lifted my head from the prostration and gathered my clothes about me in order to sit, I saw a finger signalling me to rise for someone present in that place, and the Commander of the Faithful—may God perpetuate his kingdom—frowned with his face at him in rebuke. I had not raised my head by (the signal) nor accorded it any value. I stayed in his (the Imam’s) presence for an hour, my tongue not rising to speech nor finding the way to words, and each time those present tried to get me to speak, I increased in tongue-tiedness and in storming up the steep hill of stammering, and he—may God perpetuate his kingdom—kept saying, ‘Let him be until he calms down and becomes accustomed.’ Then I arose, took his noble hand and kissed it and placed it upon my eyes and breast, and bade farewell and left.15

It was probably after this audience with the Imam that al-Muʾayyad met Nāṣir-i Khusraw. As is well known, Nāṣir was a 14. Sīra, pp. 80, cited in Qutbuddin, Al-Muʾayyad, p. 57. 15. The full passage is translated from the Sīra in Qutbuddin, Al-Muʾayyad, p. 85, and Klemm, Memoirs of a Mission, p. 72.

Introduction

13

successful tax official serving under the Saljūqs in Khurāsān, northeast Persia, until he had a transformative dream that led him to abandon his occupation and undertake a long journey to Egypt in search of the truth. During his three years in Cairo, he became a close companion and disciple of al-Muʾayyad, imbibing from him the exoteric and esoteric doctrines of the Ismailis. Al-Muʾayyad was soon able to resolve all the doubts and questions that had haunted Nāṣir for many years. When Nāṣir returned to Persia, he was already a fully fledged dāʿī with the high-ranking title of ḥujja in Khurāsān. The association of these two Persian dāʿīs is of special significance since there can be little doubt of the lasting impact that al-Muʾayyad left upon Nāṣir’s subsequent life and thought. This is clearly evident in the theological and poetic writings he produced in the remote mountains of Badakhshan where he fled to escape his Sunni persecutors in Khurāsān. In a long autobiographical poem composed during his exile, Nāṣir-i Khusraw pays special tribute to al-Muʾayyad as his teacher, healer and helper, and likens him to Riḍwān, the gatekeeper of Paradise. He concludes his praise with these lines: Then praise to the one who has freed me, My teacher, the healer of my soul, the embodiment of wisdom and glory, O thou, whose face is knowledge, whose body is virtue and heart—wisdom, O thou, instructor of humanity and its object of pride! Before thee once stood, clad in that woollen cloak, This man, emaciated, with pale face. It was the truth that, except for thy hand, I ever touched with my lips Only the Black Stone and the grave of the Prophet … Wherever may I happen to be for the rest of my life, always I shall use my pen, inkstand and paper only to express my gratitude to thee. So long as the cypress trees sway under the blows of the breeze, Let the presence (of the Imam) be adorned by thee as the garden is adorned by cypress trees! 16



The assassination of Abū Sa‘d al-Tustarī was a major turning-

16. The poem was translated by W. Ivanow in his Problems in Nasir-i Khusraw’s Biography (Bombay, 1956), pp. 21–40, and is analysed in Hunsberger, Nasir Khusraw, The Ruby of Badakhshan, pp. 68–69.

14

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

point in Fatimid politics under al-Mustanṣir, for it set into motion a protracted period of turmoil in the government. For more than two decades thereafter, supporters and adversaries of the Queenmother continued to engage in fierce confrontations. The wazir al-Fallāḥī was executed for his complicity in the murder of al-Tustarī and replaced by a succession of incumbents; there was rioting in the streets and mutinies in the army. Among these the most turbulent were the Turkish soldiers who coveted more power and privileges, and the Sudanese who favoured the Queen-mother, as she was herself of Nubian origin. On one occasion, the Turks even occupied the royal palace and looted its precious treasures and libraries. The crisis was further exacerbated by a prolonged drought that reduced the flow of the Nile, caused widespread famine and epidemics which ravaged the country for many years. It is not necessary to go into the details of this period of unrelenting political and economic chaos (which is lamented poignantly by al-Muʾayyad in Qaṣīda 54). Suffice it to say that it was not until 466/1074, when al-Mustanṣir summoned his Armenian general in Syria, Badr al-Jamālī, to Egypt, that the mutinous Turkish troops were finally subdued, order was restored and Egypt began to recover economically. We know little about al-Muʾayyad’s activities in the immediate aftermath of al-Tustarī’s demise, other than his continual protestations to al-Mustanṣir in verse about corrupt court officials, his lowly status in the daʿwa and lack of recognition from the Imam: Even when I complain of the extreme thirst (of my desire), why am I not promoted? When you consider (my services), have you examined them in comparison with others? Can you find a servant in the East whose endeavours are equal to those of this servant? Why am I opposed and plotted against in this manner in a land whose soil is fertile? What a wonderful tale this is, like a parable of a master and his slave! The Nile river overflows but I am

Introduction

15

dying of thirst upon the shores of the Nile. (10: 20–25)

Having exhausted all his efforts to attain the Imam’s goodwill, and consumed by nostalgia for his homeland (as is evident from the poems he produced in this period), al-Muʾayyad prepared to finally return to Persia. But just before his departure, a new opportunity arose that was to radically transform his life. The chief dāʿī, al-Qāsim b. ‘Abd al-‘Azīz, was removed from office and replaced by the Sunni qāḍī Abū Muḥammad al-Yāzūrī. This was a purely political appointment that deeply shocked and scandalized al-Muʾayyad, for al-Yāzūrī had neither the qualifications nor adequate knowledge of Ismaili doctrines to lead the daʿwa. Despite his misgivings, al-Muʾayyad let himself be persuaded by al-Yāzūrī to write the weekly sermons that the chief dāʿī was required to deliver on Thursdays before an Ismaili audience at the majālis al-ḥikma (sessions of wisdom) held at the Fatimid palace.17 By performing this service for al-Yāzūrī and demonstrating the wealth of his knowledge and literary skills, al-Muʾayyad appears to have earned the respect of his patron. Hence, when in 443/1051 al-Yāzūrī became the new wazir and vacated his other offices, the wazir appointed him head of the chancery of state (dīwān al-inshā’), the department for documenting and keeping records of state. Al-Muʾayyad was greatly disappointed by this decision, for although this position was a prestigious one and fetched a good salary, his goal was to attain the highest rank in the religious hierarchy of the Fatimid daʿwa, that of the chief dāʿī and second only to the Imam himself. Al-Muʾayyad in Syria It was probably during his five years at the chancery that al-Muʾayyad recorded the first part of his Sīra, focusing on the Persian period of his life. We know that he continued to write poetry, including one qaṣīda (no. 46) to mark his first and only pilgrimage to Mecca, which was then under Fatimid suzerainty. Upon his return to Cairo in 446/1054, he discovered that there had been alarming develop17. On the origins and history of the majālis al-ḥikma, see Heinz Halm, The Fatimids and their Traditions of Learning, pp. 45–49, 71–78, and his ‘The Ismaili Oath of Allegiance (‘ahd) and the “Sessions of Wisdom” (majālis al-ḥikma) in Fatimid Times’, in Farhad Daftary, ed., Mediaeval Isma‘ili History and Thought (Cambridge, 1996), pp. 91–115.

16

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

ments in Baghdad. The Saljūq leader Tughril Beg had taken the northern Persian town of Rayy and was now advancing towards the Abbasid capital. The Turkoman warlord was encouraged in this by Ibn al-Muslima, al-Muʾayyad’s erstwhile adversary in Fārs and now the wazir of the caliph al-Qāʾim. The wazir’s prime motivation was to enhance his own powers by enabling the Saljūqs to crush his Būyid masters, and also to restore the earlier hegemony of Sunni Islam in Abbasid lands. Accordingly, Tughril Beg entered Baghdad in 447/1055 and, amidst much bloodshed, terminated the Būyid dynasty. Troubled by this turn of events and fearing a threat to their own fragmentary control of Syria, the Fatimid authorities decided to disptach an expeditionary force to forge an anti-Saljūq alliance with the local princes, for the ultimate aim of capturing Baghdad. To the astonishment of al-Muʾayyad, the wazir al-Yāzūrī chose him to lead this mission. The dāʿī protested his lack of experience and physical frailty to undertake such a dangerous task, but when informed that it was Imam al-Mustanṣir’s wish, he relented and agreed to take on the assignment. Al-Muʾayyad’s appointment to head the Syrian expedition was in a sense understandable, for he had first-hand knowledge of the internal politics of the Abbasid regime in Baghdad. Moreover, in the preceding years he had composed several polemical poems (such as nos. 23 and 24) denouncing the Abbasids and vowing to take vengeance on Ibn al-Muslima, which had most probably circulated in the Fatimid court. Prior to his departure, al-Muʾayyad corresponded with a number of potential allies in Baghdad, including the former commander of the army, Abu’l-Ḥārith al-Basāsīrī. As this Turkish general and his troops had been driven out of Baghdad by Tughril Beg, he welcomed the prospect of Fatimid support and received from the dāʿī a substantial sum of money with the promise of weapons and horses to come. In 448/1056, al-Muʾayyad left for Syria with a large caravan of Fatimid troops, officials and supplies. Passing through Palestine to Damascus, he set about winning the support of local Arab and Kurdish amirs in Aleppo and other parts of northern Syria. Since these tribal leaders were mostly of Sunni persuasion, their cooperation required complex negotiations, including the inducement of financial rewards from Egypt. These efforts appeared to bear fruit when the combined force of the Fatimids and al-Basāsīrī’s troops advanced into northern Iraq and inflicted a crushing defeat

Introduction

17

upon a Saljūq army at Sinjār, near Mosul. Al-Muʾayyad did not take part in the battle but directed it via messengers from his headquarters at Raḥba in north-east Syria. He celebrated the victory in his dispatches to Cairo and also in a poem composed later, after his return to Egypt: Baghdad’s eye has never witnessed such dust of war, like (the storm of) dust raised by my deeds. After curbing the hands of its tyrant (Tughril Beg), my pen disarmed (the supporters of) his evil. There was no torch burning upon a mountain more celebrated than my banner and flag. (29: 8–10)

Following the triumph in Mosul, the southern Iraqi cities of Basra and Wāsiṭ declared their support for the Fatimids. The name of al-Mustanṣir was pronounced in the khuṭbas (Friday sermons) delivered in mosques across the land, and it seemed all that remained was for al-Muʾayyad and al-Basāsīrī to take Baghdad. Just then there was a serious reversal in their fortunes when the Saljūqs recaptured Mosul, forcing al-Basāsīrī’s troops and the Syrian amirs to withdraw to Syria. This was a major setback for al-Muʾayyad who had invested considerable resources and his own personal reputation in the campaign against the Saljūqs. So he moved to Aleppo and commenced once again to reconstitute the alliance. Al-Muʾayyad was to spend more than a year in the city, negotiating between different parties and rebuilding their forces for a final assault on Mosul and ultimately Baghdad itself. While in Aleppo, he also took the opportunity to document his Syrian campaign in the final part of the Sīra, and to enter into a famous correspondence with the blind philosopher-poet of Syria, Abu’l-ʿAlā al-Maʿarrī, on the subject of vegetarianism. As al-Muʾayyad’s coalition was about to set off for Iraq, he suddenly decided to return to Egypt. The precise reasons for his departure in 450/1058 are not clear, but it is most likely to have been provoked by another political upheaval in Cairo. His patron, the wazir al-Yāzūrī, was arrested and later executed on charges of embezzlement. The latter’s replacement, al-Bābilī, was in turn overthrown and succeeded by Abu’l-Faraj al-Maghribī, who had

18

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

little confidence in al-Muʾayyad and was unwilling to release more money for his campaign. As the new wazir was perhaps also fearful of al-Muʾayyad’s interference in his political affairs, he ordered him to remain in Aleppo, but the dāʿī was undeterred and continued on his way to Egypt. Al-Muʾayyad’s return to Egypt It was perhaps a result of his open defiance of al-Maghribī that al-Muʾayyad received a lukewarm reception in Cairo and was again denied the privilege of visiting the Imam. As was his custom, al-Muʾayyad vented his frustrations in verse by dispatching the following short poem to al-Mustanṣir: I swear by Allāh that if you were to crown me with the crown of Khosroes, monarch of the East, And you were to place me in command of all mankind, of those that are dead and those who are alive, And then lay a condition: ‘I will not see you for a moment,’ O my lord, my choice shall be to meet you, For keeping yourself at a distance from me, (even) for a moment, will make my head turn grey. (60: 1–4)

To the great delight of al-Muʾayyad, for the first time the Imam responded by inviting him to the palace and, in the presence of his courtiers, recited his own poem composed in the same metrical style used by the dāʿī (which is also included in the Dīwān). After praising al-Muʾayyad as a ḥujja who is ‘renowned all over the earth’ and ‘a mount of knowledge which none can ascend’, al-Mustanṣir expresses his regret for not having met him earlier because of ‘a painful and troublesome affair’ (possibly alluding to his political constraints). He encourages al-Muʾayyad to continue to ‘disseminate our knowledge’ and concludes with the following encomium: Even though you are among the latest dāʿīs in our daʿwa, you have surpassed (all) your predecessors. The like of you cannot be found among all the people of the past, nor from those who remain. (6–8).

Introduction

19

It is significant that this audience with the Imam occurred towards the end of 450/1058, shortly after news reached Cairo of the sensational occupation of Baghdad by al-Basāsīrī and his proFatimid forces. Having taken advantage of Tughril Beg’s temporary absence from Baghdad to confront a rebellious brother in Persia, al-Basāsīrī had entered the Abbasid capital with little resistance. The Turkish general was magnanimous towards the caliph al-Qāʾim by exiling him to a small provincial town on the Euphrates. But al-Basāsīrī showed no mercy for the wazir Ibn al-Muslima, who was crucified in public for having instigated the killing of his family in Baghdad. For the first time, the name of the Fatimid caliph was heard from the mosques of Baghdad and his white banners flew above the citadels of the city. It is reported that among the treasures that al-Basāsīrī looted and dispatched to Cairo were the sword and cloak of Prophet Muḥammad. For some obscure political reason, this military triumph was not publicly celebrated in Cairo, but al-Mustanṣir was clearly well pleased with the outcome. According to al-Maqrīzī, the historian of medieval Egypt, the Imam granted an annual salary to the deposed Abbasid monarch and, in a gesture of reconciliation, even contemplated the possibility of establishing a joint pan-Islamic caliphate with him.18 The Imam was evidently much impressed by al-Muʾayyad’s diplomacy and leadership, which may well account for his favourable response to the dāʿī. Moreover, as al-Mustanṣir was now in a politically enhanced position to assert his authority over his troublesome wazirs and military commanders, he gave permission for al-Muʾayyad to visit him on a regular basis. Al-Muʾayyad records his pleasure at the capture of Baghdad in both the Sīra and the Dīwān, but his elation was to be short lived, for in the following year Tughril Beg returned and retook the city by force. As al-Basāsīrī fled Baghdad, he was pursued by Saljūq 18. Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad b. ‘Alī al-Maqrīzī, Itti‘āẓ al-ḥunafā’ bi akhbār al-a’imma al-Fāṭimyyīn al-khulafā’, ed. Jamāl al-Dīn al-Shayyāl and M. H. M. Aḥmad (Cairo, 1967), vol. 1, p. 255, as cited in Hawes, Al-Muʾayyad, pp. 307–308. See also Paul E. Walker, ‘Purloined Symbols of the Past: The Theft of Souvenirs and Sacred Relics in the Rivalry between the Abbasids and Fatimids’, in F. Daftary and J. W. Meri, ed., Culture and Memory in Medieval Islam: Essays in Honour of Wilferd Madelung (London, 2003), pp. 364–387.

20

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

troops and killed in a battle outside the capital. The Abbasid caliph was restored to his throne and Tughril Beg began his reign as the overlord of Iraq and Persia. The Fatimid expulsion from Baghdad was a critical turning-point in the history of the Middle East, for henceforth the Egyptians had neither the financial nor military resources to resist the Saljūq advance into Syria. More significantly, the emergence of a vigorous form of Ḥanbalī Sunnism promoted by the Abbasids and the political decline of Fatimid Shiʿism created the conditions for the eventual rise of Sunni Islam as the dominant faith of the Arab world. Al-Muʾayyad was shrewd enough to recognize the historic significance of this event, for as he comments sombrely in his diary: ‘If the Fatimid state had accepted (my) friendly advice, then Baghdad would have remained obedient to it and the shape of Islamic history would have changed.’ 19 In spite of the debacle in Baghdad, al-Muʾayyad’s fortunes rose spectacularly in the following years as al-Mustanṣir bestowed upon him all the favours that the dāʿī had desired for 20 years. Shortly after the charming episode of the Imam and his dāʿī exchanging verses mentioned above, in 450/1058 al-Mustanṣir conferred upon al-Muʾayyad the two highest ranks in the Fatimid daʿwa of bāb al-abwāb (supreme gate) and dāʿī al-du‘āt (chief dāʿī). By virtue of these positions, he became the chief official spokesman of the Imam on religious affairs as well as the executive head of the daʿwa. It was on this occasion too that al-Muʾayyad received the other titles by which he is known, that is, ʿIṣmat al-mu’minīn (Succour of the believers) and Safiyy amīr al-mu’minīn wa walīyyuhū (the Chosen of the Commander of the Faithful and his friend). The decree of al-Muʾayyad’s investiture has been uniquely preserved by the 15th-century Ṭayyibī dāʿī of Yaman, Idrīs ʿImād al-Dīn, in his voluminous history of the Fatimids, the ‘Uyūn al-akhbār. In this lengthy document addressed directly to ‘the venerable sheikh’, al-Mustanṣir praises the service that his forefathers had devoted to the Fatimids and recounts al-Muʾayyad’s personal achievements in Persia, so that ‘each tongue and mouth discussed the report of your terrifyingly powerful stature’. Likewise, the Imam acknowledges the dāʿī’s exemplary service in Syria where he combated the Saljūqs and ‘scorched yourself in the heat of their fire’. The decree goes on to declare: 19. Hawes, Al-Muʾayyad, pp. 254–255.

Introduction

21

When you presented yourself at (the Imam’s) door, the fragrance of your beauteous deeds emanating, the tongue of your acts revealing your sincere counsel, he thought (may God guide him) to fill by you the gap in a daʿwa that has (waited) a long time (for) a reliable (person) to be entrusted with it, and whose (i.e. the daʿwa’s) hand has not become attached to an eloquent person, quick of grasp in its branches of knowledge. By giving its keys to you, he has given them to the one who believes in the religion of Right, who speaks in it with the tongue of Truth; he made you the objective towards which all the world turns, and its door (bāb) for the believers, (those) in his presence and those absent in the West and the East.20

In the remainder of the decree, al-Mustanṣir outlines the duties and responsibilities of the chief dāʿī, including the task to ‘organize the daʿwa in the provinces in a manner by which you make the ranks of worship flourish and the flower-beds of giving and receiving (knowledge) bloom’. Al-Muʾayyad held the office of dāʿī al-du‘āt for the remainder of his life, with the exception of a brief period of humiliation when, in 453/1061, he was exiled to Jerusalem by a political rival, the wazir Ibn al-Mudabbir (see Qaṣīdas 20 and 21). Since this was against the wish of al-Mustanṣir, the wazir was dismissed a few months later and al-Muʾayyad was recalled to Cairo. Upon his arrival, a special ceremony was held in the royal palace to welcome and reinstall him as chief dāʿī, during which the Imam presented al-Muʾayyad with his own robes and saddled mount. In an official epistle issued to mark this occasion, al-Mustanṣir assures his chief dāʿī that by wearing these garments and sitting upon the cushion of the saddle used by the Imam himself, he will be transported to ‘the heights of the celestial spheres’ and ‘obtain pasture and river-bed in the field of felicity’.21 This symbolic gesture of the Imam represented an outstanding honour that was probably unprecedented in the history of the Fatimid daʿwa. 20. Idrīs ʿImād al-Dīn, ‘Uyūn al-akhbār, vol. 7, ed. Ayman F. Sayyid, with summary English trans. by Paul E. Walker and Maurice Pomerantz, as The Fatimid and their Successors in Yemen (London, 2002), pp. 79–82. The decree is reproduced with English translation in Qutbuddin’s Al-Muʾayyad, Appendix E(i), pp. 374–381. 21. The full epistle is preserved in Idrīs, ‘Uyūn, vol. 7, pp, 77–79, and reproduced with English translation in Qutbuddin, Ibid., Appendix E(ii), pp. 382–385.

22

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

As we have seen, one of the important duties of the dāʿī al-du‘āt was to compose and deliver the weekly sermons at the majālis al-ḥikma. Al-Muʾayyad devoted a great deal of intellectual energy to this responsibility from his official residence at the Dar al-‘Ilm in Cairo. The product of this activity has come down to us in the form of al-Majālis al-Muʾayyadiyya (The Counsels of al-Muʾayyad), a monumental collection of 800 lectures of varying length ranging over the entire spectrum of Fatimid Ismaili thought and religion, from ethics and eschatology to ta’wīl (esoteric interpretations) of the Qurʾān and Prophetic traditions. The Majālis represents one of the great works of Fatimid literature, which has yet to be fully edited and studied by modern scholars.22 In addition to this vast compendium, al-Muʾayyad produced a number of shorter works during his tenure as chief dāʿī, mainly on theological and esoteric matters, a collection of prayers, as well as Bunyād-i taʾwīl, which is a Persian translation of al-Qāḍī al-Nu‘mān’s classic work on Ismaili hermeneutics, Asās al-ta’wīl.23 It is likely that many of these works survived the vicissitudes of time through the agency of Lamak b. Mālik al-Ḥammādī, the qāḍī of Yaman who arrived in Cairo in 456/1064 and studied under al-Muʾayyad for five years at the Dar al-‘Ilm. When he returned to his homeland, he took with him a large collection of Fatimid literature, including some of al-Muʾayyad’s works.24 Since then, the Ṭayyibī communities of Ismailis in Yaman and India have held a special regard for al-Muʾayyad as their spiritual forebear, and maintained his intellectual and poetic tradition to the present day.25 22. al-Majālis al-Mu’ayadiyya, vols. 1 and 3, ed. Muṣṭafā Ghālib (Beirut, 1974–84); vols. 1–3, ed. Ḥātim Ḥamīd al-Dīn (Oxford and Bombay, 1975– 86). All references to vol. 1 are from Ghālib’s edition. Mr. Mohamad Adra of Salamiyya, Syria, is currently preparing an English translation of the first volume of al-Majālis. 23. A detailed survey of al-Muʾayyad’s works appears in Qutbuddin, Al-Muʾayyad, pp. 358–368, and Verena Klemm, Memoirs of a Mission, pp. 113–116. 24. Qutbuddin, Ibid., pp. 12–13. 25. The Ṭayyibī community of Ismailis has its origins in the division of the Fatimid da‘wa between the Nizārī and Musta‘lī factions following the demise of Imam al-Mustanṣir in 487/1094. The Musta‘līs later became sub-divided into the Ṭayyibī and Ḥāfiẓī branches. The majority of the Ṭayyibīs today belong to the Dāʾūdī Bohra community. For details, see Daftary, The Ismā‘īlīs, pp. 241–248.

Introduction

23

After 20 years of service to Imam al-Mustanṣir as head of his daʿwa, al-Muʾayyad died in 470/1078 at the advanced age of 80 or more years and was buried in the grounds of the Dar al-‘Ilm. Such was his prestige and so esteemed were his accomplishments as a scholar, statesman and chief dāʿī that his funeral prayers were led by the Imam himself. By any yardstick of measurement, al-Muʾayyad’s odyssey from a minor provincial dāʿī in Persia to the pinnacle of the Fatimid religious establishment in Egypt is a remarkable record of individual aspiration and achievement. From an Ismaili perspective, he may be seen as the archetypal dāʿī embodying the highest ideals and values of the Fatimid daʿwa. In a broader perspective, his life story throws a unique, personal light upon the social, political and religious dynamics of an important era of Islamic history, in which he played not an insignificant part. Although al-Muʾayyad’s Sīra documents a great many details of his career as a Fatimid dāʿī, it is to his Dīwān that we must turn to discover the psychological and spiritual impulses that motivated him as he struggled to fulfil his mission in circumstances that were often inhospitable and dangerous for him. The Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad There is adequate internal and external evidence to demonstrate that the Dīwān is indisputably the work of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī, but there is no reliable information about who compiled the volume and how it was preserved and transmitted. The conjencture that it was one of the books Lamak b. Mālik al-Ḥammādī took with him to Yaman is supported by the fact that it has been diligently copied by Ṭayyibī Ismailis over the centuries for the training of their dāʿīs and edification of the community. Hence, almost all the manuscripts that have survived come from Ṭayyibī sources and are preserved in the Dāʾūdī Bohra libraries in India. The earliest of these copies is dated 1075/1665 and the most recent one was produced in 1390/1970.26 The first modern scholar to undertake a systematic study and editing of al-Muʾayyad’s works was the eminent Egyptian scholar Muḥammad Kāmil Ḥusayn (1901–1961). His edition of the Dīwān, published in Cairo in 1949 together with a comprehensive introduction, provides the foundation of our English translation. Ḥusayn’s 26. Qutbuddin, Al-Muʾayyad, Appendix B, pp. 352–355.

24

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

edition has altogether 63 qaṣīdas of varying length from 4 to 156 verses. Among these the last two are not found in any of the manuscripts: no. 62 is definitely from the pen of al-Muʾayyad as it is quoted in the Sīra, but no. 63 is not by him, for in the Majālis he attributes it to another person and for that reason it has been left out of our translation.27 There appears to be no clear, discernible order in the arrangement of the Dīwān, whether by chronology, subject, length, rhyme, metre or any other structural device. Whoever first put the poems together appears to have done it somewhat randomly, so that verses from different phases of al-Muʾayyad’s career are juxtaposed one after another. This suggests that the poems may have circulated individually during his lifetime and were collected at a later date, probably by Lamak or one of his associates in Yaman. Al-Muʾayyad’s Dīwān is of special interest for scholars and students of the Fatimid era for several reasons. First, as already indicated, it complements the Sīra in providing valuable information on the historical milieu of the Middle East during the 5th/11th century, some of which is not found in any other source. Second, the combined testimony of these two works conveys to us the most detailed, intimate, first-hand account of the activities of an Ismaili dāʿī in Fatimid literature.28 Third, the Dīwān has its own distinctive quality that sets it apart from the Sīra, for while the latter was commenced after al-Muʾayyad’s arrival in Cairo and recorded in a detached, almost impersonal style, the Dīwān has a wholly personal and intimate flavour, containing poems which al-Muʾayyad produced at regular intervals throughout his career in Persia, Egypt and other places. Their basic function was to enable the poet to express his innermost thoughts, hopes and fears in response to the trials and terrors of his daily life as a dāʿī. Athough many of al-Muʾayyad’s qaṣīdas are permeated with a vigorous promotion of the Fatimid cause and praise of the Imams, there is no evidence that he composed them in the manner of an official panegyrist for the Fatimid court. Nor 27. al-Majālis al-Muʾayyadiyya, vol. 4, majlis no. 14. 28. Other important Ismaili sources on the activities of the Fatimid da‘wa include Jaʿfar b. Manṣūr al-Yaman’s Kitāb al-‘ālim wa’l-ghulām, ed. and tr. James W. Morris as The Master and the Disciple: An Early Islamic Spiritual Dialogue (London, 2001); and Ibn al-Haytham’s Kitāb al-munāẓarāt, ed. and tr, Wilferd Madelung and Paul E. Walker as The Advent of the Fatimids: A Contemporary Shiʿi Witness (London, 2000).

Introduction

25

can it be established that his poems were specifically intended for proselytization (with the exception of two poems addressed to the Būyid ruler of Fārs). On the contrary, the primary audience of al-Muʾayyad’s poetry was his fellowship in the daʿwa and, by his own admission, they appear to have circulated throughout the Fatimid domains from Egypt to Sind in India (Qaṣīda 20: 1–4). But in a precautionary note of dissimulation (taqiyya), a principle observed by all Fatimid dāʿīs, al-Muʾayyad counsels his companions not to disseminate his verses outside the Ismaili community: Here is poetry of knowledge and wisdom, with light of guidance whenever you contemplate on it. So do not disclose it to anyone except those you choose from the guardians, the people of piety and religion. (46: 49–50)

Thus, while we can be certain that at some stage al-Muʾayyad’s poetry became popular within daʿwa circles, and a few verses may even have reached the Fatimid court before his departure for Cairo, its original impulse was an inner, psychological need for self-expression. In reality, for al-Muʾayyad the art of poetry was as much a form of personal confession as an act of faith, a devotional homage to a metaphysical order of the universe to which he was deeply committed. Some of his qaṣīdas (such as nos. 26–28) are wholly in the form of devotional prayers (munājāt) directly petitioning God for succour and intervention. This element highlights another notable feature of the Dīwān, in that while it portrays a man fully engaged with the world of political and sectarian strife raging around him, he also emerges as an intensely pious, almost ascetic man of learning. This facet of al-Muʾayyad’s personality, at once spiritual and worldly, is often alluded to in the Dīwān: Veriliy, I am Ibn Mūsā, your servant, who by your strength walks proudly among the people. Knowledge is my sword, integrity my mount, concealment my armour and trust my helmet. I am human in appearance but in essence angelic; this is evident to anyone who inquires about it.

26

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence My body is able to withstand all kinds of calamities, but inside that body I have the heart of a lion. (7: 41–44)

As far as we know, al-Muʾayyad never got married and lived a life of utmost frugality and abstinence. The poet would have nothing to do with the frivolous pursuits and passions of worldly life; rather, he is preoccupied with the prospect of imminent death, the gaining of goodly merit in this world and the attainment of salvation in the next, and encouraging others to do the same. The dāʿī never ceases to remind his readers that his ultimate goal is no less than the redemption of his soul through the intercession of Prophet Muḥammad and his progeny, the Fatimid Imams. For to al-Muʾayyad, the Fatimids belong to the Prophet’s ahl al-bayt (‘family’ or ‘household’), and as such they are the true inheritors and custodians of his legacy, the sanctuary and refuge of all people seeking the light of true knowledge in a world filled with ignorance and darkness: May my father and mother be ransomed for that neighbourhood and House! They are the crescent moon of creatures and the guides to the Truth. They are the sources of knowledge and the authority on reasoning. They are the fertile land of understanding and companions of the Qurʾān. They are the sanctum of discernment and the locus of revelation. They are the springs of righteousness and the guarantors of security. They are the blaze glowing on graceful faces, the pearls in the shells of justice. They are the fruits of the trees of intellect established by God in their glory. (25: 52–60)

By the standards of modern literary criticism, it is relatively easy to dismiss such verses of al-Muʾayyad as didactic, ideological or a

Introduction

27

kind of religio-political propaganda.29 This is to profoundly misunderstand the true character of his poetry, as would be if the same criterion were applied to some of the finest products of world literature, including the masterpieces of mystical and devotional poetry in Islam. Notwithstanding the partiality of such a reading, it overlooks the authenticity of al-Muʾayyad’s voice, the sincerity of his religious convictions and his mastery of the poetic medium in Arabic, which was not his native language. As noted by Tahera Qutbuddin, while al-Muʾayyad observes the basic conventions of classical Arabic prosody, he breaks radically from the elaborate conventions and embroidery that characterized Abbasid court poetry. His style is rich in imagery, rhetorical techniques and allusions to the esoteric lore of the Fatimid Ismailis. What al-Muʾayyad seeks to do in his qaṣīdas is to generate a lean, sharply edged, beautifully crafted mode of artistic expression, which he likens to ‘shooting stars’ (2: 154) and ‘lightning flashes’ (25: 68)—an accomplishment of which he was justly proud: I am a sword of the Prophet’s descendants, a sword sharpened by the water of eloquence. How often have I composed poetry adorned with jewels and written prose like priceless pearls! (20: 3–4)

Fortunately, al-Muʾayyad’s Dīwān has recently received its due recognition in Qutbuddin’s excellent study of the entire collection. By means of a detailed examination of its poetic style, genres, structure, themes, motifs, imagery, etc., and citing extensively from the poems in both Arabic and English translation, she demonstrates that it is a pioneering work of ‘Fatimid daʿwa poetry’ and among the ‘masterpieces of Arabic literature’. Qutbuddin also draws attention to the deeper layers of al-Muʾayyad’s poetry embedded in the esoteric hermeneutics of Fatimid thought. The significance of this symbolic dimension, arising essentially from the never-ending search for the inner meanings of creation and revelation, is essential to a fuller appreciation of al-Muʾayyad’s poetry, as asserted by himself in verses such as this one:

29. For a discussion of modern reception to al-Muʾayyad’s poetry, see Qutbuddin, Al-Muʾayyad, Introduction, pp. 1–13.

28

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Aim at the sanctuary of the symbolized and not the symbol (itself); the former is like honey and the latter like the sting of bees. (2: 80)

The poetic template created by al-Muʾayyad, bearing the hallmarks of Ismaili intellectualism, spiritualism and esotericism, was to be cultivated most assiduously by his famous protégé, Nāṣir-i Khusraw writing in Persian, and continued for several centuries thereafter in both the Ṭayyibī and Nizārī Ismaili daʿwas. Indeed, one can go further to propose that the originality of al-Muʾayyad’s contribution lies in his exposition of a new kind of religious poetry in Islam. The earliest antecedents of this genre can be found in the Shiʿi-inspired poetry produced during Umayyad times, such as the Hāshimiyyāt of al-Kumayt b. Zayd al-Asadī in the second century of Islam.30 But it was al-Muʾayyad who injected this genre with a powerful mixture of religious fervour and political commitment, which is quite distinct from the mystical poetry of the Sufis and has no precedent in Islamic literature. The contents of al-Muʾayyad’s Dīwān constitute a constellation of themes, from philosophical meditations, religious disputations and devotional praise of the Prophet’s family, to complaints about the dā‘ī’s misfortunes, persecution, exile from his homeland and the advance of old age; and his poems are infused with sentiments ranging from the depths of despondency to the heights of spiritual exaltation. Among the virtues that he celebrates are the intellect and knowledge, endurance and patience in times of adversity, and submission to God. A number of such themes and motifs have been outlined in the foregoing discussion, and for a more detailed analysis the reader is referred to Qutbuddin’s study. Those unfamiliar with al-Muʾayyad’s writings will find it more rewarding, however, to initially discover the salient features of the Dīwān for themselves through a close reading of the poems. The translator of this seminal work, Mohamad Adra of  Salamiyya, Syria, is to be congratulated for the considerable time and effort that he has invested in this project. While seeking to remain as close as 30. Wilferd Madelung, ‘The Hāshimiyyāt of al-Kumayt and Hāshimī Shiʿism’, Studia Islamica, 70 (1989), pp. 5–26, reprinted in his Religious and Ethnic Movements in Medieval Islam (London, 1992), article V.

Introduction

29

possible to the Arabic text, including the two-part structure of the verses, he has aimed to interpret the poems in a concise, lucid diction accessible to a broad audience. At the same time, he has managed to achieve that rare feat of recapturing some of the poetic flavour and rhetorical flourishes of the original. As is inevitable in any work of translation, it has not been possible to replicate all the idiomatic peculiarities and technical virtuosity of al-Muʾayyad’s poetry. This is especially the case with his skilful wordplay, such as the antithesis and reiteration of key words, which have a striking effect in Arabic but are often lost in a literal interpretation, as in the following examples: I wept until weeping itself wept for me; is it any wonder that weeping should weep? (13: 3) By your pure guidance, your followers became the sword of guidance which cuts off the heads of misguidance. (18: 7) (I am) a stranger dressed in Time’s garment of humiliation; truly, humiliation is nothing but the garment of strangers. (56: 6)

Finally, it is to be noted that our translation follows the order and sequence of the qaṣīdas found in most manuscripts of the Dīwān and also retained in Ḥusayn’s edition. In the absence of a chronological or thematic arrangement of the poems, each composition may be seen as an independent unit in time and place, thus making it possible for the reader to enter the text at any point. Alternatively, the poems may be accessed via the threefold structure of al-Muʾayyad’s life, divided into its Persian, Egyptian and Syrian phases. To facilitate the location of the qaṣīdas in their geographical and historical settings, each one is accompanied by the approximate date and place of composition.31 While it has not been possible to establish the precise locations of all the 62 qaṣīdas, at least 17 appear to have originated in Persia, 12 during his flight from Persia to Egypt, 20 in Egypt, and the remainder produced in Syria, Jerusalem, Mecca and other unknown places. This data is complemented by a chronology of the main events in al-Muʾayyad’s life to enable the reader 31. Apart from a number of modifications, the dating and locating of the poems is based largely on Qutbuddin’s chronological analysis in Al-Muʾayyad, Appendix A, pp. 337–351.

30

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

to relate the poems to his biographical context. Additionally, wherever possible, the poems have been annotated with brief comments on technical terms, historical background, references to the Qurʾān and ḥadīths, as well as relevant citations from Fatimid literature and other source materials. Kutub Kassam Research Associate The Institute of Ismaili Studies

A Biographical Chronology of al-Muʾayyad

c.387/997

Birth of al-Muʾayyad to a Daylamī family in Shīrāz, Fārs region of south-west Persia. c.415/1025 He is appointed Fatimid dāʿī of Fārs during the reign of Imam-caliph al-Ẓāhir. 427/1036 Demise of al-Ẓāhir and accession of Imam al-Mustanṣir bi’llāh in Cairo. 429/1038 Al-Muʾayyad is forced to leave Shīrāz for Faṣā (Basā) due to the hostility of local Sunnis. 430/1039 He returns to Shīrāz and enters service of the Būyid ruler of Fārs, Abū Kālījār. 433/1042 Opposition to al-Muʾayyad makes him flee to Ahwāz, where he establishes a Fatimid house of prayer. 433/1042 Al-Muʾayyad returns to Shīrāz and is placed under house-arrest on the orders of the Abbasid caliph al-Qāʾim. 433/1042 He flees to Ahwāz and then to Iraq, visiting Hilla, Najaf, Karbalā and Mosul on the way. 437/1045 Arrival of al-Muʾayyad in the Fatimid capital of Cairo. 439/1048 First audience with Imam-caliph al-Mustanṣir bi’llāh. 439/1048 He meets the Persian philosopher-poet Nāṣir-i Khusraw. 443/1051 Al-Muʾayyad is appointed head of the dīwān al-inshāʾ, the Fatimid chancery. 446/1054 He undertakes a pilgrimage to Mecca. 447/1055 The Saljūqs led by Tughril Beg occupy Baghdad, displacing the Būyids. 31

32 448/1056 448/1056 450/1058 450/1058 450/1058 450/1058 453/1061 454/1062 456/1064 470/1078

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Al-Muʾayyad leads a two-year mission to Syria to forge an anti-Saljūq alliance. Pro-Fatimid forces defeat a Saljūq army near Mosul in northern Iraq. Completion of al-Muʾayyad's partial autobiography, al-Sīra al-Muʾayyadiyya. Pro-Fatimid forces capture Baghdad, the Abbasid capital, for a year. Al-Muʾayyad appointed bāb al-abwāb (gate of gates), dāʿī al-duʿāt (chief dāʿī) and head of the Dār al-ʿIlm. He commences weekly lectures at the Dār al-ʿIlm, later compiled into al-Majālis al-Muʾayyadiyya. He is exiled temporarily to Jerusalem by political rivals. He is recalled to Cairo and reinstated as chief dāʿī. The Yamani  qāḍī Lamak b. Mālik al-Ḥammādī arrives in Cairo to study under al-Muʾayyad. Death of al-Muʾayyad and his burial in the Dār al-ʿIlm in the presence of al-Mustanṣir bi’llāh.

Dīwān al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn dāʿī al-duʿāt The Dīwān of the chief dāʿī al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn

Qaṣīda 1 (Persia, before 427/1036) Praise be to the Lord, the victorious Authority, the singular Sovereign of a decisive proof.

1

He created everything resolutely and perfectly; who is there to repudiate what He has accomplished?

2

His wisdom sets the banners fluttering, thus enabling you to see the face of Truth rejoicing.

3

When you contemplate upon His decree for an hour, you will uncover the pearls of its boundless sea.

4

Many a beholder is unable to see by his eyes, and many a discerning heart cannot be enlightened.

5

(For) contemplation has its own condition, and he who neglects them falls into the darkness.

6

There must be (the light of) a sun, moon or flame; otherwise there can be no vision (in the eye).

7

Similarly, when the intellect is reflecting on its own, it remains in the domain of bewilderment.

8

(Only) by the supporting light of another can it rise upwards along the degrees of ascent.32

9

Our community (of Muslims) split apart when people began to differentiate between this and that.

10

Consequently, their hearts became sick, 32. The same analogy regarding the transmission of spiritual light appears in al-Majālis al-Muʾayyadiyya (vol. 2, p. 112): ‘The mind is an inner tool by which man can perceive what is innermost. The eye is an external tool by which man can perceive what is external. The function of these organs is limited by a condition. That is, the eye cannot see except by an outer light such as the sun, the moon, light or fire; in the same way, the intellect cannot get a clear vision except by a Messenger, His Trustee (waṣī) or an Imām, who are like the sun, the moon and the stars.’

35

36

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

and their religion imperfect and contradictory;

11

Their minds became deranged and their souls incapacitated by disease.

12

Deprived of any truthful words or deeds, and exposed to every absurdity and calamity,

13

They violated the regulations of the law, and everyone had a most repulsive thing to say.

14

Some asserted that the Most Compassionate can be seen, supported by a verse of the Qurʾān.33

15

Others denounced and refuted them with accusations of infidelity and polytheism.

16

(Some people) alleged that both good and evil are created by Allāh, the Most High.

17

(Others) said: ‘All (good and evil) is from us; that is the religion we believe in.’

18

Others declared that Allāh appears in a canopy of clouds accompanied by majestic angels.

19

Others maintained that Allāh has a face and hand, and insisted their belief is the right one.

20

Others denied the validity of this belief, saying that if it were right, Allāh would be a visible person.

21

(There are some) who said Allāh lets us drink from His hand, and so He suffices us with His grace.

22

Others believed He is carried aloft by His Throne and that it moans under His weight,

23

(Thus) innovating to their (own) desires the meaning of ‘He is firmly established on the Throne’.34

24

33. Qurʾān 75: 22–23. 34. Qurʾān 10: 3.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

37

One professed belief in (the word) ‘established’, then another announced a change (in its meaning)

25

To ‘taking possession of’, in order to demonstrate Allāh’s power and command over the religion.

26

So it appears He was not occupying (the Throne)! O he who has strayed far from the (right) guidance!

27

It is he who has rejected the correct (verse) and turned the Book from its (true) direction,

28

And having altered the meaning of the Book, he continues to keep his distance from the truth.

29

(Seeking to) prove something that does not exist in it, he discards those verses which are clear,35

30

Like (those) who regard ‘Some faces shall be radiant,’ 36 as if their faces will turn towards the Lord’s reward;

31

And the one who interprets ‘and thy Lord comes’ 37 as ‘the command of thy Lord’ is not correct.

32

They denied that (Allāh) offered the Trust to the heavens, as He has revealed (in the Book),38

33

Because (the heavens) are inanimate and cannot be entrusted, and the jurists reject such an act.

34

(They said) Allāh meant the people of the heavens, and it was to them He was alluding by ‘heavens’.

35

Then they repeat the same (argument) about (the Trust offered to) the earth and the mountains.

36

35. Qurʾān 3: 7, according to which the revelation has two forms of expression, the muḥkam (clear) and the mutashābih (ambiguous) verses. The Islamic exegetical literature offers a variety of definitions for these terms and their relationship. 36. Qurʾān 75: 22–23. 37. Qurʾān 89: 22. 38. Qurʾān 33: 72.

38

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

What prevented the Most Merciful from explaining it? Are they able to explain it but He is not?’

37

They were ignorant of the wisdom of the Book, and everyone gave judgement according to his whim.

38

When they thought that they had repaired a rent, they fell into an (even) greater predicament.

39

We asked: ‘Who are the people of the heavens?’ Their answer, ‘the angels’, is acceptable.

40

We (then) said: ‘And who are the people of the earth?’ Their reply, ‘the human beings’, is correct in so far as analogy goes.

41

Now what about the mountains? Are they inhabited by hyenas and mountain-goats?

42

If there is any wisdom in amending the Book, then refuting it would be more deserving (for them).

43

O how weak they are and their allegations! How feeble they are and their interpretations!

44

What a community of isolated minds this is, dependent (only) upon their own individual views!

45

Their tawḥīd is a personification of humankind;39 they have no way to the right guidance.

46

For them, the Prophets were impious people, whereas through them was the ambiguity removed.

47

They said: ‘Our ancestor Adam was the first to ignite the fire of his trials because of his greed.

48

His desire for the Tree (was an act of disobedience)40 and not something (trifling) like flying sparks.

49

39. Tawḥīd is the Islamic belief in the unification and oneness of God. 40. Qurʾān 20: 120–121.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

39

Had he not disobeyed, we would not be so unhappy and remain tormented for such a long time.’

50

They said, ‘(The Tree) was wheat’—so precious it was in the past and so contemptible thereafter!

51

‘Or that it was a fig tree’—so they differed on that! They are all driven out of their minds!

52

What a great tragedy it was for Adam that the wheat inflicted upon him such a deficiency!

53

How humble Adam was! And how lofty that wheat which brought upon him the wrath (of God)!

54

Because of its sake he descended from the heights of Paradise and fell down (to earth)!

55

Are you pleased with that belief regarding the glorious and incorruptible Prophet Adam?

56

You neglected to heed the wisdom of the Book, and everyone has become blind and dumb.

57

According to you, the status of Abraham is even more shameful and his polytheism repugnant,

58

(Because) he said about the star, ‘This is my lord’, and the same of the full moon when it rose;

59

And he declared the sun as ‘the greatest lord’, since it was the brightest among them.41

60

(If all that is true), renounce the wisdom of Abraham and his faith, for God forgives not a polytheist.

61

(Otherwise) the polytheists will claim a greater right to be excused from the guilt of polytheism.

62

Verily, the Qurʾān is a light and a guidance,42 41. Qurʾān 6: 75–79. 42. Qurʾān 17: 18.

40

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

the true Word of which your share is (merely) an echo.

63

(The Prophet) Lot’s affair is a lesson for everyone and his example a reminder to those who reflect.

64

His saying (to the people), ‘My daughters are purer (for you to marry)’,43 is objectionable to you.

65

Anyone who is zealous repudiates (this statement), and anyone who is proud denounces it.

66

You considered it for a long time but failed to understand it with your limited and benighted faith.

67

You have gone astray (from the true meaning) because you have abandoned the guide.

68

(To them), the standing of David is dark as night (for ruling against one who) added a sheep to his flock.44

69

Was it not he, the vicegerent of God on earth, who secured a verdict and revoked it for Allāh’s sake?

70

So how could he follow ignorance (in his judgement) and go beyond the requirements of reason?

71

David was so dignified he could do no wrong, and the speech of God is (far) exalted to be untrue.

72

The mentality (of the people) was truly perverted by ignorance, and that is the greatest cause of decay.

73

The mention of (Zulaykhā) who desired (Joseph) and he desired her, is a story of significance.45

74

43. Qurʾān 11: 78. 44. Qurʾān 38: 21–25. For the ta’wīl (esoteric interpretation) of the story of David, see al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān, Asās al-ta’wīl, ed ‘Ārif Tāmir (Beirut, 1960), pp. 255–256. 45. Qurʾān 12: 23–24. The ta’wīl of the story of Joseph and Zulaykhā appears in al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān, Ibid, pp. 140–145; and also in Jaʿfar b. Manṣūr al-Yaman, Kitāb al-farā’iḍ wa-ḥudūd al-dīn, Ms. [53/928] in the library of The Institute of Ismaili Studies.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

41

(They said): ‘If Joseph longed for promiscuity, what of other people who commit immoral deeds?’

75

You lie! The Qurʾān speaks the truth! The right interpretation is with the custodians of its knowledge.

76

(As for) the case of al-Muṣṭafā,46 it is not easy, (for he) was blasphemed against in the affair of Zayd.47

77

(Muḥammad) is a heaven exalted above all heavens; never (before) has the earth carried one like him.

78

The peaks of heavenly knowledge are beyond their accusations made from all kinds of disorders.

79

They did not know the reality of Zayd’s affair who performed the required formalities (of divorce).

80

If only they had been guided to that reality, they would not be in (such) extremity of disbelief.

81

O people! The revelation of the Book is the last word and replete with meanings without any nonsense.

82

Think over (the verse), ‘By the Fig and the Olive’,48 and seek to discover its well-preserved secret.

83

Why did our Lord take an oath by them, 46. The name ‘al-Muṣṭafā’ (the Chosen) is one of the Qurʾānic epithets of Prophet Muḥammad. 47. Qurʾān 33: 36–40. Zayd b. Ḥāritah was formerly a Christian slave emancipated and adopted by the Prophet. When Zayd divorced his wife Zaynab, the Prophet received a divine commandment to marry her. 48. Qurʾān 95: 1. Al-Muʾayyad reports in his Majālis (1: 71–72) that when the early Shi‘i Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq’s companions asked him about the meanings of ‘fig’ and ‘olive’, he replied: ‘They are the symbols of Adam and Noah … every fruit is preceded by leaves and flowers, while figs come out directly from the bough; and every living being is preceded by pregnancy and delivery, whereas Adam was extracted by Allāh from the surface of the earth without pregnancy and delivery, and so he was symbolized by the fig. Then, the extraction of the olive is the oil as if it were the aim of the olive; so the extraction of Noah is Abraham who issued from Noah’s progeny and is symbolized in the same oath by Allāh.’

42

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

as well as the invocation, ‘By the Nūn and the Pen’? 49

84

And also in (the verses), ‘By the Break of Dawn, by the Ten Nights, and by the Even and the Odd’? 50

85

There are many such expressions in the Book that can be found by anyone (searching for) them.

86

Are these oaths comical expressions of the Lord, or playthings—or what are they?

87

If you can demonstrate a proof, then offer it; otherwise be silent as if you are dead!

88

If the miraculous nature of the Qurʾān is in the letters only and not contained in its meanings,

89

Then you will find it full of perplexities; that is so when you deny its esoteric meaning.51

90

If you cast off the veils that cover your hearts, then you will find the enlightenment,

91

(And) be rescued from the (abode) of darkness; so recognize the excellence of Islam.

92

There is a lesson (also) for people to learn in the abridged letters at the beginning of the surās,

93

49. Qurʾān 68: 1. 50. Qurʾān 89: 1–3. 51. The principle of ẓāhir (exoteric) and bāṭin (esoteric) is a fundamental feature of Ismaili thought. The ẓāhir is the outer, literal expression of a sacred text or prescription and the bāṭin its inner, spiritual meaning. The method for uncovering the bāṭin is through ta’wīl (lit. to take things back to their original state), that is, symbolic hermeneutics. The Imams are held to be the authority on the esoteric meaning of the Qurʾān, as maintained by al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān in Asās al-ta’wīl (pp. 31–32): ‘God brings down on every single thing having an outer meaning and an inner one. He, to whom belongs glory and power, made the outer meaning the miracle of His Messenger, and the inner meaning the miracle of the Imams from among his family, which inner meaning is only found with them.’

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

43

Such as (the letters) kāf, hā, yā, ʿayn, ṣād:52 how many secret meanings are contained in them?

94

They were revealed to be known, not ignored, as they would be invalid if impossible to comprehend.

95

Their occurrence in the perfect Book is a reminder to the people of understanding.

96

There are manifold meanings contained in its words, like light is (concealed) within darkness,

97

Preserved in the word like grain in the ear of corn, in the most fortified of fortresses.53

98

Surely, the gate to meanings (of the Book) is locked, and most people are ignorant of it.

99

Its key is in the hands of its guardians (the Imams), to whom my Lord has entrusted His knowledge,

100

So that all people may resort to them who are ordained by that distinctive Light from their Lord.

101

In this regard, neither Abū Ḥanīfa nor al-Shāfiʿī were able to offer any benefit (to the people).54

102

52. Qurʾān 19: 1. The ‘abridged’ or ‘mysterious’ letters are a number of Arabic alphabetical characters that appear at the beginning of 29 surās of the Qurʾān whose significance is much debated among Muslim and Western scholars. In Fatimid literature, these letters are interpreted symbolically in the esoteric sense. See, for example, Abū Ya‘qūb al-Sijistānī’s Kitāb al-yanābīʿ, tr. Paul E. Walker, The Wellsprings of Wisdom (Salt Lake City, 1994), pp. 45–49, 51–52 passim. Al-Muʾayyad refers to these letters again in Qaṣīda 2: 1–18. 53. Al-Muʾayyad reports in the Majālis (1: 77) that when Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq was asked why it was necessary for the esoteric to be concealed in veils, he replied: ‘It is necessary for grains to be in the covers of an ear and fruits to be in their covers, so that people of insight and vision may obtain them. By means of this, Allāh, the Exalted, shows the ranks of the hardworking and lazy ones, the striving people in the way of Allāh and those who hold back.’ 54. Al-Nuʿmān b. Thābit Abū Ḥanīfa (d. 150/767) and Muḥammad b. Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī (d. 205/820) were among the most influential jurists of

44

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

The progeny of al-Muṣṭafā are a noble people, by whom (the mounts of) Marwa and Safā are dignified.55

103

They are the glittering moon and stars, the source of guidance to all kinds of knowledge.56

104

They are the trustful, the eliminators of every doubt, the saviours of people from every perplexity.

105

It is to them we listen and offer our allegiance, so that our fears are converted into peace by them.

106

For us, there is no such thing as a problem, for we are secured from every difficulty by them.

107

They are our guides to the path of reason, who convey to us the right knowledge of the Book,

108

Vindicating it from the defects of contradiction and protecting it from the vanities of the vainglorious.

109

Its meanings are all consistent and harmonious, as has been affirmed by Allāh (in the Book),57

110

Encouraging us to reflect upon this and shaking our thoughts (to search for its truth).

111

If (the Book) had originated from other than God, they would find endless divergences in it.58

112

If we admit only the exoteric meaning of its words, Sunni Islam and founders of two schools of law named after them. 55. Qurʾān 2: 158. Safā and the Marwa are two hillocks near Mecca famous for their association with the lives of the Prophets Abraham, Ishmāʿīl and Muḥammad. They also feature in the annual hajj ceremony when pilgrims run between the two hills seven times reciting the prescribed prayers. Al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān says in Asās al-ta’wīl (p. 117): ‘Safā and Marwa are symbols of the Imam and his ḥujja (proof). The running between them represents obedience (to them).’ 56. Cf. a Prophetic tradition (ḥadīth): ‘Stars are security to the people of Heaven, and my people (family) are security to my umma (community).’ 57. Qurʾān 39: 23. 58. Qurʾān 4: 82.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

45

we would then be delivering it to disputation.

113

There are many arguments over the Qurʾān, about every word of it held by all kinds of groups.

114

These (differences) are between quarrelling men; they are not the stories of spinning women.

115

O people! The secret of the heavenly kingdom is so (exalted), it will break your idols into pieces!

116

It was for this secret that Moses accompanied Khiḍr who said to him, ‘You will not have patience with me.’ 59

117

Moses replied, ‘I shall be patient (and obey you),’ but he then he fell short of his commitment.

118

Think of this story if you are not in the sleep (of negligence): what is the purpose of this narrative?

119

(Perhaps) you may think it was an evening chatter then you have failed to comprehend the soul.

120

For anyone in possession of a mind and sight is capable of reaching ‘the junction of the two seas’.60

121

There he will drink from the water of life quickly and not seek anything else from it.

122

O the people whose water has become evaporated and whose sky is empty of rain-bearing clouds!

123

They harbour hostility against our community and expose us to all kinds of outrages.

124

59. Khiḍr was the anonymous travelling guide and companion of Moses whose journey is narrated in the Qurʾān 18: 59–82. In Ismaili thought, the figure of Khiḍr is synonymous with the Imams, and for the Sūfīs he is their invisible master on land and sea. In popular literature, he is identified variously with the Prophets Idrīs, Elijah, Jesus, as well as the legendary Dhū’l-Qarnayn who led Alexander in search of the spring of immortality. A. J. Wensinck. ‘Al-Khaḍir (Al-Khiḍr)’, in EI2. 60. Qurʾān 18: 60.

46

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

They are angry only because of our allegiance to the lords of the people, the progeny of al-Zahrā.61

125

They accuse us of heresy and polytheism, and perversion of the ways of religious guidance.

126

They allege that we have abandoned religion and suspended the faith of Islam.

127

O Lord, judge between us with the truth! O the One who knows all the secrets of creation!

128

We say what was revealed to the Seal of the Prophets62 about the monks: ‘Say: Come let us invoke’,63

129

So that God may curse the liars (among them), and see who will turn back discomfited.

130

They accuse us of deviating, but they are the ones to be condemned, not us who have no defects.

131

It is like a sick person to whom water tastes bitter, (but) the illness is in him, not in the water.

132

And who will be vindicated by the law when everyone is ignorant, denouncing and attacking?

133

We make the souls, earth and horizons speak, as well as the seven heavens above, layer upon layer,64

134

61. The name ‘al-Zahrā’ (the Resplendent) is a title of Fāṭima, the Prophet’s daughter, wife of Imam ʿAlī and progenitor of the Shi‘a Imams. 62. The ‘Seal of the Prophets’ (khātam al-anbiyā) is a Qurʾānic designation of Muḥammad mentioned in 33: 40. 63. Qurʾān 3: 61, also known as the verse of mubāhala (‘mutual imprecations’), refers to the occasion when Prophet Muḥammad assembled his household (ʿAlī, Fāṭima, Ḥasan and Ḥusayn) under his mantle to bear witness to a conversation with a deputation of Christians from Najran regarding the doctrine of Jesus. On this account, the Prophet and his family are known as aṣḥāb al-kisā, ‘people of the cloak’. 64. An allusion to the Fatimid vision of the cosmos, an elaborate system of thought integrating a series of emanating intellects, a cyclical theory of prophetic history and the hierarchy (hudūd) of the daʿwa. For an overview see Henry Corbin, History of Islamic Philosophy, tr. from French by Liadain

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

47

By means of decisive proofs which can break and subdue each and every heretical one.

135

No one can speak about these matters but we who are the masters in this kind of activity.

136

So how can we reject what the prophets delivered, and should we seek refuge only in them?

137

By their light we are enabled to ascend the ranks on high and meet the ‘honourable recorders’.65

138

O my Lord, accursed be the one who rejects the laws, and send him down to the worst of calamities!

139

Accursed the one who considers the forbidden licit, and censure him with a curse for all to see!

140

O my Lord, accursed be the extremists66 and hatemongers, and clear the earth of them all!

141

O my Lord, we are free of (the guilt of) these people, because to us they are akin to the Jews.67

142

Let them all be covered with ignominy, and those who accuse us of doubt be humiliated.

143

We are the people of knowledge and mission, and Philip Sherrard (London, 1993), pp. 79–93. 65. Qurʾān 82: 10–12; i.e., angels appointed to record the deeds of individuals. 66. The term ghulāt (lit. ‘exaggerators’) is a derogatory term for those accused of holding extreme views in religious matters, and traditionally associated with a group of the early Shi‘a whose beliefs regarding the Imams and other issues were deemed to be extravagant. See M. G. S. Hodgson, ‘Ghulāt’, in EI2. 67. In the Majālis (1: 63), al-Muʾayyad comments: ‘We considered the situation of the Jews and found out that they were the most mischievous and stubborn to the Prophet, the most rejecting of his message. … We considered them similar to (some) people of the umma, for we found out that just as some people obstructed ʿAlī from the position of wasī (Trustee) by means of trickery and deceit, so the Jews obstructed the Prophet from his position of (the Messenger of God).’

48

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

faithful to Allāh, the Most Lofty and Honourable.

144

We are monotheists and ascribe no human attributes to God, and our faith is free from every doubt.

145

We are the followers of al-Muṣṭafā and his family, and there is no doubt we are guided by them.

146

Our raiment is nothing but righteousness, and there is no doubt about (the truth of) our faith.

147

How grotesque is the one addicted to slandering, vilifying and condemning a certain group!

148

His faith has become weak as a spider’s web; he creeps his way among people without a shoulder.

149

Although they are referred to as groups, each one of them has departed from the right way.

150

Here is the finest verse which comes from one whose character is clear of any calumny.

151

It is composed by Ibn Mūsā,68 the servant of al-Ẓāhir, the Imam, the son of the pure Imam.69

152

May our Lord bestow His blessings upon him, the one by whom we are delivered from blindness.

153

68. Ibn Mūsā is a patronymic of al-Muʾayyad, derived from his father Mūsā b. Dāʾūd. He uses this name in the signature-verses (takhalluṣ) of several poems, as well as Ibn Abī Imrān, Hibat Allāh, Hibat Allāh Mūsā and Abū Naṣr; but he never refers to himself by his official title of ‘al-Muʾayyad fīʾl-Dīn’ received at the time of his appointment to the Fatimid daʿwa. See Qutbuddin, Al-Muʾayyad, pp. 17–19, 198–200. 69. The sixth Fatimid Imam-caliph, al-Ẓāhir li-Iʿzaz Dīn Allāh, inherited the Imamate from his father al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh in 411/1021, and passed away in 427/1036, shortly after al-Muʾayyad composed this poem.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

49

Qaṣīda 2 (Persia, 429–433/1038–1042) Abundance of praise and unique thanks are due to the Creator of the exalted, the glorious Kāf.

1

He, the Most Exalted, is the One who perfected it when He created it first and invented the Nūn with it.70

2

Then He established from them both that which became elevated by its lightness and that which descended by its heaviness;

3

From which was generated a vortex turning for a long period of time, and a rising and setting comet;

4

From which also emerged the earth as a wide expanse, and upon it the mountains deep-rooted.71

5

And (He created) different species of animals, (each in possession of its own) organs of sensibility,

6

As well as human beings who subdued other creatures and—upon my life!—became the choicest ones.

7

The humans expressed themselves by means of the tongue, thereby overcoming every dark perplexity.

8

The humankind is distinguished by the tongue, the virtue of which is its (power of) communication.

9

O friends, what do you think are the Nūn and the Kāf ? The universe is (a configuration of) pearls 70. The combination of the letters kāf and nūn appears in the Qurʾān as the creative force of the Divine Command ‘kun’ or ‘Be!’ (36: 82). In Fatimid cosmology, the kāf and nūn represent the Universal Intellect (al-‘aql al-awwal) and Soul (al-nafs al-kulliyya), also called al-Sābiq (the Preceder) and al-Tālī (the Follower). For a survey of Ismaili cosmological theories, see W. Madelung, ‘Cosmogony and Cosmology: In Ismaʿilism’, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, ed. Ehsan Yarshater (New York, 1982–), vol. 6, pp. 322–326. 71. Qurʾān 78: 6–7.

50

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence and they are the shells.

10

Verily, anyone who considers them simply as two letters deserves to be rebuked by every wise man.

11

O blind men, how can two letters of the alphabet be the support of the heavens and the earth?

12

O people, try to understand what the two letters are, for truly, the salvation of man is through knowledge and insight.

13

The Creator of the world is not like the created one, nor is the supporter like the one supported.

14

The Kāf and Nūn are the means by which the universe created by Allāh received its cohesion.

15

Through them, all existence became unified for the observation of any living person.

16

How can they be regarded as inanimate when from them emanate the sources of life?

17

They are two exalted beings; so contemplate and extract the pearls from the depths of the sea.

18

If you can, (know) that there are two kinds of seas:72 one is that which is perceived by the eyes,

19

While the other is discovered by the heart, (and) its existence depends on the consciousness.

20

That which is discerned by reflection is the spiritual, and that perceived by sight is the corporeal.

21

The former is of high and celestial (character), whereas the latter is lowly and terrestrial.

22

Whosoever wades into their depths can drown and the maelstrom therein will destroy him,

23

72. Qurʾān 55: 19–20.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

51

Except for those who enter the Ark that is shielded by security and tranquillity.73

24

(As for) drowning, it is of two kinds: one is of the body and the other of the soul.

25

The body can be drowned in the sea, while the soul can be drowned by thoughts.

26

Everyone seeks an ark for safety, but only he who boards it will be secure, or else he will perish.

27

Also (know that) there are two kinds of arks: one is for the physical body and its corpse;

28

The other is for the soul, which is saved by transporting it far beyond this tablet (of the body),

29

(Until) it reaches a courtyard of wide-spreading shade in the abode of Paradise, the auspicious sanctuary.

30

So venerate (the Ark), for it shelters whosoever seeks it; it is the most trustworthy handhold that never breaks.

31

(Otherwise) You will find neither protector nor mercy for wrongdoing from God’s decree (on the Last Day).

32

There are those who foolishly missed the Ark which could have saved them from the drowning.

33

So they perished in the waters and sank to the bottom of a most turbulent and capacious sea.

34

Do not be misled by (the appearance of) healthy bodies, (while) their souls are decomposing in the fire.

35

73. A similitude derived from the Prophetic tradition: ‘The likeness of my family is that of the Ark of Noah. He who gets into it is saved, and he who turns away from it will be lost.’ On the margin of al-Majālis (1: 244) appears a note from Jaʿfar b. Manṣūr al-Yaman’s Sarāʾir al-nuṭaqāʾ (ed. Muṣṭafā Ghālib, Beirut, 1984): ‘To enter into (the Ark) means that they accepted the daʿwa of the Imam appointed by the Messenger-Prophet (al-nāṭiq), who asked people to obey the Imam and accept his call.’

52

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Many are the people sound in blood and body whose souls are in the depths of a sea of destruction.

36

Those who have left the path of guidance in this world by their blindness will be blind in the Hereafter.74

37

(Their) calamity has propelled them into the depths of an abyss of religion and a potential hell.

38

They tumbled from the path of truthfulness when they compared the Creator with the creation.

39

The creation is either physical or spiritual; the former is visible, while the latter is concealed.

40

One commentator said, ‘(God) can be seen’. Upon my life! This is detestable and disgraceful,

41

Because the vision of the eye is restricted to bodies possessing the dimensions.

42

Another exponent replied to this after considerable deliberation and deep thinking,

43

That the vision of the eyes is misleading, (and) we can see Him only through the intellect.

44

He enquired carefully but did not say anything new, nor did he distinguish truth from error.

45

The human intellect is a faculty like the eye, (except that) the former is unseen, the latter seen.

46

If you (try to) approach Allāh with the mind, you will never go beyond formulating analogies.

47

The faculties of sight and imagination are comparable, a point that can be confirmed without practice.

48

O people! God does not belong to the genus of intellects. God forbid! He cannot be perceived by the mind.

49

74. Qurʾān 17: 72.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

53

He is (far too) exalted to be incarnated into forms and thus become visible to the eye.

50

Both these groups are believers in anthropomorphism, wandering randomly in ignorance and blindness.

51

They cannot think beyond the limit of human attributes and describe the features of their souls likewise.

52

This is anthropomorphism—but what is the Unity of God? This is incarnation—but what is absoluteness?

53

What is the Pen which generates all that is ordained, and the Tablet upon which the Pen has moved? 75

54

Are they (constructed) of cane or wood, (or) do they comprise of pearls, silver and gold?

55

Do they comprehend what they write (or are they) so ignorant as to have no idea what they write?

56

I ask you, for God’s sake, to tell me what they are, since no (other) dignitary has taken their place!

57

You cannot distinguish (a loftier) medium of creation between both of them and the Truth.

58

O the mantle of the pearl that burst open with manifold wisdom, and through them emanated a symbol from Allāh!

59

75. Qurʾān 68: 1, 85: 21–22, 96: 1. In Fatimid thought, the symbolism of the the Pen (qalam) and the Tablet (lawh) correspond at the cosmic level to the Universal Intellect and Soul, and on the earthly plane with the nāṭiq (Messenger with a law) and the asās (the Founder, i.e. the Imam who accompanies the Messenger). Regarding these terms, al-Muʾayyad observes in the Majālis (1: 212–213): ‘We say that the Sharīʿa has given us the knowledge that Allāh the Exalted, has created a Pen and a Tablet, and that the Pen has put down on the Tablet what was there, what is, and that the whole creation existed from the scripture of the Pen on the Tablet. The opponents of the daʿwa, because they had no vision of this meaning, said that these two objects were a pen of red ruby and a tablet of a green emerald. If they think that they are of precious gems, it means that they did not recognize the living gems from the inanimate gems.’

54

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

O how far the dim-witted masses have gone astray from the abode emanating the light of religion,

60

(From) the realm of luminous stars and crescents, the signs of Truth and suns of the community!

61

Afflicted by storm and eclipse, the common people became the supporters of every rabble-rouser.

62

O speculators! What are the Throne and the Chair? 76 I need a rational reply, not a blind imitation of reports.

63

Speak! What is the Throne and how was it created? Many a throat has chocked from swallowing this water.

64

Since the Throne is only meant for the Most Gracious,77 whosoever denies this point rejects the Qurʾān.

65

(So) if the Lord of the Throne were to be the carried, then He would be inferior to the carrier.

66

(And) if the Lord were to carry the Throne, the term ‘Throne’ mentioned by you is a travesty.

67

According to reason, the Throne is that which carries, as befits a carrier, and not what is carried by it.

68

If the former is regarded as grotesque and abhorrent, the latter is (even) more grotesque and abhorrent.

69

76. Qurʾān 9: 129, 23: 86, etc. According to a tradition of the early Shiʿi Imam Muḥammad al-Bāqir: ‘These two (the Throne and the Chair) are two of the greatest thresholds of the invisible worlds. They are themselves invisible and intimately connected in the Invisible, for the Chair is the exoteric threshold of the Invisible; it is the place where those created beings from which all things proceed appear. The Throne is the esoteric threshold that contains the knowledge of how, of existence, of quantity, or limit, of where, of volition and the attribute of will; it contains also the knowledge of words, of movements, and of immobility, as well as the knowledge of the Return and of the Origin … .’ As cited in Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, The Divine Guide in Early Shiʿism: The Sources of Esotericism in Islam, tr. from French by David Streight (New York, 1994), p. 31. 77. Qurʾān 20: 5.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

55

The Message is guarded by the people of the Message; the truth is in the hands of the people of authority.78

70

(Let us) next investigate what the Chair is about, (which is) an important matter not to be forgotten.

71

It is (said to) extend over the entire seven heavens as well as the earth of (many) dimensions.

72

What is the (meaning of) the Chair? What created it? What is its essence and what are its virtues?

73

What is the benefit for the learned who know (its meaning) and the harm for those ignorant of it?

74

Why is it described as larger than any other creature and the whole of creation smaller than it?

75

I have asked you for the best explanation, and no argument will be valid without its proof.

76

It is (also) delightful to engage in debate on the veracity of the revelation of the (Straight) Path,

77

And how it is extended across (the abyss of) Hell, sharper than a sword and thinner than a hair.79

78

Can it not be asked what kind of path is that? (Such) a question sticks in the guts of an intellectual.

79

Aim at the sanctuary of the symbolized and not the symbol (itself);80 78. Qurʾān 4: 59. In Shiʿi doctrine, the expression ulu’l-amr (people of authority) designates the Imams from the Prophet’s progeny, whereas in the Sunni tradition it is often appropriated by politicians, theologians, jurists, Sūfīs and the like in positions of authority. 79. From a Prophetic tradition: ‘The path of God, to whom belongs all that is in the heavens on the earth, is thinner than a hair and sharper than a sword.’ 80. The theory of al-mathal wa al-mamthūl (the symbol and the symbolized) is central to the Ismaili system of ta’wīl for extracting the esoteric meaning from the exoteric. As al-Muʾayyad observes in the Majālis (1: 84): ‘Allāh, the Exalted, has ordained the order of wisdom that all

56

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

the former is like honey and the latter like the sting of bees.

80

Then our discussion leads to the Balance81 that distinguishes the diminutive from the weighty.

81

It is said that Allāh has lowered (the Balance) down from the heavens to the earth,

82

Thereby to measure the conduct of human beings, their good deeds as well as the wicked ones.

83

Would that I knew why no one is able to observe it when it (is supposed to) exist amongst us.

84

Whosoever among you has dealings with the Balance (seeks to) rectify the weight (of his own deeds), just like (a market trader).

85

In this regard, it is fitting that any evidence of deficiency (in you) be investigated and discovered.

86

You demand an impartial Balance of justice to inform you of misdeeds that cannot be denied.

87

(But) in order to witness the truth of Allāh’s word and be secure from the distress of uncertainty,

88

You seek to avoid doing anything wrong, thus exceeding the conditions and requirements thereof.

89

Your rejection of Allāh’s word is ignorance creation be sensible (and) rational, symbol and symbolized.’ M. K. Ḥusayn, in his edition of the Dīwān (pp. 106–107), quotes from Jaʿfar b. Manṣūr al-Yaman’s Sarā’ir al-nuṭaqā’: ‘Allāh has given them a symbol which indicates that which is symbolized, so people know the symbolized by the symbol, as God says, ‘And indeed we have set forth in this Qurʾān every kind of parable that they may reflect’’ (39: 27). So you should know that He hid the symbolized and covered it, and made the symbol as a way to know the symbolized in order to test and try them.’ 81. Qurʾān 21: 49. Al-Muʾayyad does not give his interpretation of the Balance (al-mīzān) here, but he indicates in Qaṣīda 46: 1–5 that it represents the domain of the Imams.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

57

when you know of similar objects (as the Balance);

90

Or your mind is hasty and reckless, indicating your ignorance of the proper requisites of intellect.

91

(Know that) by the intellect you are distinguished from the deaf and dumb grazing animals.

92

(Then also there is) the ‘Cock of the Throne’, an amazing matter that must be examined.

93

They say that the cock is so enormous that when it is seen its claws are embedded in our earth.

94

According to tradition, its head is under the Throne, and it is reported to have two (mighty) wings.

95

The wings encompass both east and west, from the rising of the sun to its place of setting.

96

The duty (of the cock) is to announce the time of prayers before the call is made for them.

97

When the time of prayer is near, it calls out as a reminder to those people who are negligent,

98

Awakening them from the sleep of ignorance and summoning them from error to guidance.

99

Then the rest of the cocks respond to it in chorus by following the same manner of crowing.82

100

O the community that has lost the clarity of guidance by adopting the blind to be its guides!

101

Nay, Allāh will never extinguish the light of intellect, (just as) He never ignites the fire of ignorance.

102

82. The only other mention of this angelic cock or rooster in Ismaili literature is by al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān who reports the same tradition from Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq in Daʿāʾim al-Islām, ed. Asaf A. A. Fyzee, 2 vols. (Cairo, 1985, 1991), vol. 1, p. 212; tr. Fyzee and revised by Ismail K. Poonawala as The Pillars of Islam (New Delhi, 2002–2004), vol. 1, pp. 260–261.

58

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

So seek the sanctuary of the House of Safety, which is surrounded by good fortune and blessings.

103

Its (interpretation of) the revelation is supported by esoteric knowledge,83 (and) its legislation enhanced by the intellect.

104

It liberates souls from their darkness (and) nurtures fruit to come out of their buds.

105

Therein you will see bright suns of transparency and a boon that is both specific and universal;

106

A most marvellous wisdom that heals the heart (and) rejuvenates it with abounding mercy.

107

The sanctuary of the Prophet, his Trustee Ḥaydar,84 (and of their) pure, immaculate progeny.85

108

They are the springs of knowledge whose water quenches the extremity of thirst, while the utterance of others is nothing but an echo.

109

They are the ones who resurrect the dead bones by means of their immense bountiful grace.

110

They are the first and the last in generosity, the manifest and the hidden among humankind.

111

Because of their incomparable nobility, they became manifested in the vast universe.

112

(But) the greatness of their (spiritual) standing is concealed in the physical world.

113

83. See note 51 above. 84. Ḥaydarah (or Ḥaydar, meaning ‘lion’) was the name which Imam ʿAlī’s mother, Fāṭima bint Asad, had chosen for him, but subsequently it was changed to ʿAlī by his father Abū Ṭālib. The term ‘trustee’ or ‘legatee’ (waṣī) refers to Imam ʿAlī as inheritor and executor of the Prophet’s legacy. 85. In Shi‘a Islam, the expression ‘Prophet’s progeny (itra)’ designates in particular the Imams descended from him through ʿAlī and Fāṭima.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

59

The vulgar (people) disputed and obstructed their right (to leadership), but then they forfeited it and were at a loss.86

114

Their faith was shaken with a complete jolt, and they were subjected to many (other) burdens.

115

Darkness descended upon their abode, and they became uncertain about many facts.

116

So you cannot find among them awareness of any problem, nor a direction towards wisdom.

117

For them, to be asked a question is a calamity; and anyone who seeks to inquire ‘why’

118

Is exposed to these vile, dangerous, imbecile people; his blood and property becomes permissible.

119

They seized authority by deposing the Ahl al-bayt,87 and occupied a position which is not theirs.

120

If they were to capture, even for a day, the (legacy) of the (Prophet’s) progeny, you will see their tongues shrivel in their mouths,

121

Until the wicked (impostors) are stripped of leadership and return the authority they hold temporarily.

122

This is the birthright of the progeny of al-Muṣṭafā and al-Murtaḍā,88 which will have to be returned to them, either 86. Al-Muʾayyad is alluding here to the crisis of succession and civil war that followed the Prophet’s passing in 11/632, leading eventually to the permanent division of Islam between Shi‘a and Sunni Muslims. For a comprehensive study of this period, see Wilferd Madelung, The Succession to Muḥammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate (Cambridge, 1997). 87. The Shiʿa understand the Qurʾānic expression Ahl al-bayt (lit. ‘people of the house’) to mean Prophet Muḥammad’s immediate family, i.e. ʿAlī, Fāṭima, Ḥasan and Ḥusayn, as well as the Imams descended from them. Al-Muʾayyad uses this term interchangeably with itra (progeny). 88. Al-Murtaḍā, ‘the Favoured’, is one of Imam ʿAlī’s epithets.

60

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence willingly or unwillingly.

123

Blessed is he who contemplates in purity and sincerity the Divine Unity in the ranks of the hierarchy. 89

124

The Imams are endowed with authority and guidance, and the refuge for anyone who resorts to them.

125

Obedience to them is enjoined upon all mankind, for both the Arabs and non-Arabs alike.

126

Read (the verse), ‘Obey Allāh and the Messenger, and those in divine authority associated with them.’ 90

127

(These) three categories of obedience became revealed in one ordered verse (of the Book).

128

He who restricts his obedience to only one of them is being disobedient to his Lord.

129

All these categories of obedience are obligatory, absolutely and universally, upon the ignorant and the learned alike.

130

The rulers of nations have no bearing on that position, nor have the jurists any capacity to be obeyed,

131

Because they are tempted disgustingly to issue declarations of different opinion and desires.

132

They are all exposed to (the evil of) disobedience, as well as to misjudgements and transgressions.

133

Verily, obedience is due to the pure (Imams), the blessed elite, the descendants of the Prophet.

134

Who are the people of guidance, piety and certainty? They are the Imams who are free of dishonour.

135

89. The ‘hierarchy of ranks’ is the configuration of intellects in Fatimid cosmology and its reflection in the organization of the daʿwa. See note 64 above. 90. Qurʾān 4: 59. See note 78 above.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

61

This has been affirmed in the well-ordered Book, which describes the principles of obedience sequentially,

136

Such as obedience to Allāh by all His creatures, and to al-Muṣṭafā by all the people of his community.

137

In every age there is an Imam by whom only can people be guided to the right path.

138

He who knows him dies in satisfaction, whereas he who denies him dies in ignorance.91

139

(The Imam) leads the faithful in fasting and prayer, and he guarantees (our) purification by charity.

140

He communicates a wealth of unique meanings, removes ambiguity and discloses the (secret of) symbols.

141

He possesses the key to the treasure house of knowledge; the truth (shines) in him like a glittering lamp.92

142

His mission is established all over the world, prominent and (recognized) clearly by its features.

143

The stations of Safā and Mashʿar are his own,93 and his sword is drawn against the adversaries.

144

Reflect upon who (is signified) by these signposts; the one in whom they exist is the Imam (of the time).

145

Yes, he is al-Mustanṣir and al-Manṣūr, the aided one,94 the lord by whom the abode of guidance is inhabited.

146

91. As in the Prophetic tradition also cited by al-Muʾayyad in the Majālis (1: 237): ‘He who dies without knowing his Imam of the time dies the death of ignorance and his place is in Hellfire.’ 92. Qurʾān 24: 35. 93. The Mashʿar al-Ḥarām is a monument in Mecca where pilgrims halt after their return from ʿArafat. On Safā and Marwa, see note 55 above. 94. Abū Tamīm Maʿadd al-Mustanṣir bi’llāh, whose birth-name was al-Manṣūr, became the eighth Fatimid Imam-caliph at the age of seven in 427/1036. His reign of fifty years is contemporaneous with much of al-Muʾayyad’s adult life, and it is to him that many poems in the Dīwān are dedicated.

62

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Abū Tamīm, the best of Fāṭima’s descendants, the offspring of Imam al-Ẓāhir, son of Imam al-Ḥākim,

147

The (source of) provisions for the Day of Judgement, and a mercy from Allāh to all His servants.

148

May Allāh bestow His blessings upon him as long as a garden flourishes and rejoices in rain-bearing clouds.

149

This poem is by Ibn Abī ʿImrān in praise of the Masters, (its verses) strung together like pearls and jewels.95

150

(Our) poems comprise (important) issues that are versified to capture the minds of people,

151

(And) those desiring and seeking the right guidance, but they are calamities for every insolent aggressor.

152

With (my) words, I reach the inmost heart of the hateful, a target that cannot be pierced by spears.

153

Like the shooting stars, I strike with dazzling proofs which are far removed from sedition and slander.

154

Since I am never intimidated by the menacing cries (of my enemies), death will come easily to me.

155

Death is my desire and the gateway to my security, whereupon I shall be released from my imprisonment.

156

95. Ibn Abī ʿImrān is one of the signature-names of al-Muʾayyad.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

63

Qaṣīda 3 (Persia, 429–433/1038–1042) Old age has eradicated the evidence of youth; the guard of death has drawn near to me.

1

Fragility of body, feebleness of bones, and the colour which is pale and fading.

2

I am bereft of beauty and radiance, and thereby deprived of a pleasurable life.

3

The black hair has turned into white, which appears as dark as black to the eye.

4

All these features are clear and evident proofs that the (time of) departure is nigh.

5

Do I seem to you the same as in the past, or somebody else? What a strange condition!

6

If I am who I was, where is that likeness of me, that fresh, flowering shoot and soft bough,

7

(That) elegance of figure, speech and glance, which captured and plundered every heart?

8

A hand that constantly extended its power; how many a calamity has turned away from it!

9

A tongue excellent in prose and poetry, delighting in exceptional modes and meanings.

10

A heart that has confronted fate courageously and fought against lions furiously.

11

All that has now passed away and finished; all I can do is shed a torrent of tears.

12

My heart is tormented by regrets and suffering from the calamities of time.

13

64

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

It has turned away and no charm will do; it is worn out and no physician will benefit.

14

Truly, I am in a strange abode where it is not uncommon for one to be humiliated by it.

15

An abode whose pleasures are contaminated by misery, pain, trial and tribulation.

16

Its favour is foul, its sweetness bitterness, its deeds wicked, and false are all its promises.

17

Its honour is ignominy, its generosity avarice, its ease difficulty and all its affairs contradictory.

18

An abode of infamy where the body is formed, making it as foul and defective as the abode.

19

It is preoccupied by eating and drinking, with a range of play, merriment and pleasures.

20

An old man with all kinds of weaknesses, disclosing by his grey hairs the defect of ageing.

21

He is so avaricious that his bond is fixed, and he desires to dress in soft, new garments.

22

(Thus) he persists in his intoxication, even as a trap has been set to destroy him.

23

Alas for the wickedness of desire that has oppressed and extinguished my mind!

24

O woe be to me! I have wronged myself, (deserving) all the blame and reproof of me.

25

Why did I waste my life in misconduct when the way of guidance was wide and open?

26

Why do I have to be tormented by my body which is a dark particle of (dusty earth)?

27

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

65

And (why) dissipate the light by which I am related to those noble and near to God?

28

Is the one who debases precious pearls and values cheap and trivial shells intelligent?

29

Is there anyone other than me who has been so generous in his love and devotion?

30

What is my excuse while the true mission is a person in whose abode I was born and raised? 96

31

What is my excuse when my home is a resort for anyone seeking refuge from terror? 97

32

The family of Aḥmad and ʿAlī, well-pleased, 98 are the means of my preparation for the Return.99

33

They are Masters of the noblest in root and branch, from whose dignity every other dignity is derived;

34

The Masters who rejuvenate decayed bones; by remembering them every difficulty is resolved;

35

The Masters who are the destination of all people 96. Al-Muʾayyad alludes here to his family’s long and active service to the Ismaili da‘wa going back to pre-Fatimid times. This was recognized by Imam al-Mustanṣir in the decree appointing him as chief dāʿī in 450/1058: ‘You come from a family of godly dāʿīs who ‘spent (their money for the cause) since before the conquest, and fought’ (Qurʾān 57: 10) before the first heralds of dawn. They did da‘wa for the concealed Imams, forefathers of the Commander of the Faithful, when no banners had yet been unfurled for them, and undertook the establishment of the signs of their religion when the world was [full of] injustice and darkness, pursuing the best path of piety and right guidance, and taking the most protecting shields from godliness and appropriate action.’ Translated from Idrīs ʿImād al-Dīn’s ʿUyun al-akhbār, vol. 7, in Qutbuddin, Al-Muʾayyad, pp. 376–381. 97. It was one of al-Muʾayyad’s responsibilities as a Fatimid dāʿī to provide refuge and security to his co-religionists in times of persecution. 98. The name Aḥmad (‘most glorified’) is a verbal form of Muḥammad (‘glorified’). 99. The ‘Return’ (ma‘ād) is an eschatological term synonymous with the ‘Resurrection’ and ‘Day of Judgement’.

66

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

of the past, the present and the future.

36

They distribute Paradise and Hell among them so that everyone has his apportioned share.

37

They are the sanctuary for those without refuge; they respond to the distressed who has no listener;

38

The trustworthy guides and the fortified shelters of their followers when beset by misfortunes;

39

The prodigious oceans which never decrease; the full moons which never fade by setting.

40

The shade of Allāh’s mercy extends from them, and the water of guidance is poured out by them.

41

Among us is Mount Sinai, wherein the speech of Allāh is heard and the unseen revealed.100

42

We drink from the fountain of nectar, whereas the misguided drink boiling water.

43

O sons of Muṣṭafā! From you and you alone, the distressed seek refuge in times of calamity!

44

O sons of Muṣṭafā! From you and you alone are our wishes sought (and accomplished).

45

You and you alone come to our help when our souls become stained by sinfulness.

46

You and you alone are our comforter when anyone of us perishes from his sins.

47

O my Masters! How can I praise you enough when the limit of my praise is weariness?

48

100. Cf. al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān, Asās al-ta’wīl (p. 191), on Mount Sinai (Tūr): ‘It is the symbol of the rank of the nāṭiq’, i.e. a messenger-prophet who, by enunciating a religious law, inaugurates a new cycle of prophetic history.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

67

You are created from the same clay as us, except for your distinctive status.

49

Our hearts are derived from the (same) clay of which your bodies are created.101

50

May I be excused for not praising them because this Dīwān is composed in their praise.

51

May the Lord and Creator bless them for as long the rain descends from the clouds;

52

And also upon their successors to come, and those who convey guidance from them.

53

The Imam revives those who call upon him; so congratulations to whoever responds to him!

54

(He is) the best guardian and saviour of all, while those he guards not are left to the wolves;

55

The Book who speaks of truth and goodness, and by whom the concealed is manifested;102

56

Our Master, the just Imam al-Mustanṣir, of noble origin and descent, a lamp in darkness.

57

101. Cf. al-Majālis (1: 326): ‘Verily, Allāh’s friends (awliyā’, i.e. the Imams) are created from the earth, and in the physical form they are surely to exist and be worn; they are affected by hunger and thirst, they will be affected by diseases and pain, and they will die when their hour comes.’ 102. Cf. al-Majālis (1: 222): ‘There are two kinds of books of Allāh. One is the Silent Book which is gathered out of the alphabet and is between two covers; the other part is the Speaking Book, who is Allāh’s Messenger’s Trustee. He interprets the meanings of the Silent Book, discloses its closed ideas and explains them. The common people say that the exalted Allāh’s speech, ‘Ask the ahl al-dhikr (people in possession of the Message) if you do not know’ (16: 43), means that they are the carriers of the Holy Qurʾān and their learned who keep its meanings. If they accept this rank for their learned ones who have no relation or tie with Allāh’s Messenger except Islam, it is sufficient that ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib and the Imams of his issues be the people of the Qurʾān. They are the Speaking Book who render the Silent Book.’

68

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

The Master to whom are submissive all other masters, like bees to their queen-bee.

58

He makes evident the religion of right guidance and dispels the darkness of doubt.

59

(His) followers are a power in the religion, shooting forward like an arrow towards its target.

60

(And his) enemies who follow a pagan religion will have no share in the gardens of Eden.

61

O Hibat Allāh! If there is war against you, it will affect you adversely, (but) you will be safe.103

62

(And if it be) the case that you are stricken by the sword of every aggressor and scoundrel,

63

You will attain the supreme achievement; so bear beautiful patience, for noble is he who remains patient in the face of calamity.104

64

103. A reference to the threats to al-Muʾayyad’s life emanating from the court of the Būyid ruler of Fārs, Abū Kālījār. Hibat Allāh is one of his signature-names. 104. Qurʾān 70: 5.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

69

Qaṣīda 4 (Persia, 421–427/1030–1036) He said: ‘Ask him, you two, if his departure was comfortable and inquire what Time has done to him.105

1

Did his heart abandon love for us, or is his heart constant with those declarations (of love and loyalty)?

2

O friends, I wonder if he has awakened from that love and persevered in his patience after the departure.

3

Why did he seek refuge from love in remoteness, so that both made him thin and thinner still?

4

Whoever cured a disease by another disease, or treated a wound by another wound, and it healed?

5

(Let us) presume that love has compelled him to act in a way that has vanquished many a brave hero.

6

Then why did he choose remoteness which has blazed into a raging fire of longing consuming his heart?

7

It had never severed their relationship (before) when he connected, nor prevented him when he asked.’

8

Then I said the following, (my) eyes overflowing, like water gushing forth from a fountain:

9

Allāh is your Reckoner, you have rejuvenated me even as my hair has turned grey on my head.

10

Your involvement of me in your love affairs has inspired me to compose love poetry in my old age.

11

I am an honourable and rightly-guided person, and referred to as a role model in all the regions.

12

105. In the prelude to this poem (lines 1–8), al-Muʾayyad reports a love affair of one of his companions, which then prompts him to recount, by way of contrast, his own love and devotion for the Prophet’s descendants.

70

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Without your reminder of my youth, I would be nothing, and my poetry and fame be like a house in ruins.

13

Since my reputation has become dignified, I have never done (anything) wrong or misguided.

14

I have inspired people with such a high aspiration that it has risen beyond the orbit of Saturn.106

15

And I have achieved certitude in my religion, a knowledge not attained by many a resolute one.

16

Why should I repudiate all that I have learned, or exchange physical health for illness,

17

Like a pregnant woman who has miscarried at her time of delivery, her labour in vain?

18

(Or) as if my ear did not recognize what it heard, or my heart ignored what it had understood?

19

It would be as though I was ignorant of this life, or did not know that poison is contained in honey;

20

As if I (was not sure) that shortly I would have to bid farewell to (my) people and pass away.

21

My allegiance to the family of Ṭāhā is my protection,107 that which revives me after stumbling and slipping.

22

They are the elite in whom Allāh manifests Himself to His creation—Glory be to Him, the Lofty, the Reverent!

23

The honourable ones whose grandfather is the best of the Messengers and their religion the best of religions.108

24

106. According to the Ptolemaic theory of astronomy which the Fatimids adopted, Saturn’s orbit was considered the highest in the cosmos. 107. The abridged letters ‘Ta-ha’ at the head of Sūra 20 of the Qurʾān signify the Prophet Muḥammad. 108. It is commonplace in Fatimid literature to represent Prophet Muḥammad and Imam ʿAlī as the grandfather and father respectively of the Imams.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

71

The progeny of the Prophet, who ‘approached and came closer and was at a distance of but two bow-lengths’ 109 —what excellent descendants he begot!

25

The sons of his Trustee (ʿAlī) who uprooted the essence of infidelity when he drew his sharp sword.110

26

Inquire if anyone other than him was referred to by the revelation of ‘Has there not come over man a time,’ 111 or occupied the high status held by him?

27

(But) his supreme achievement made some people exaggerate and go astray from the right way.112

28

They declared that he was divine and would descend upon us in canopies of clouds;113

29

And that in the past he came from (a place) never anticipated—a mangonel spreading terror!

30

How far from wisdom is what they have related! How close to confusion is their faith!

31

The exaggerator thinks that he has lofty thoughts, but his dimwittedness turns him downwards.

32

In fact, both the adversary and the exaggerator are searching for true guidance, but without the guide.

33

They were left helpless against the Lord’s decree when they forsook the Ark and betook to the mountain.

34

109. Qurʾān 53: 8–9, where the reference is to the appearance and proximity of the angel Gabriel to the Prophet. 110. A reference to the occasion when ʿAlī was dispatched to combat ʿAmr at the Battle of the Trench (5/627) and the Prophet declared: ‘Indeed, the whole of the faith goes against the whole of infidelity,’ and ‘The stroke of ʿAlī on the day of the Trench is superior to the prayers of both the worlds.’ 111. Qurʾān 76: 1, from the Sūra al-Insān (chapter on ‘Man’, also entitled al-Dahr, ‘Time’), which both Shiʿi and Sunni commentators acknowledge to have been revealed in honour of Imam ʿAlī. 112. On the ‘exaggerators’ (ghulāt), see note 66 above. 113. Qurʾān 2: 210.

72

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

They were overwhelmed by the waves (billowing) upon them like clouds, for they were deaf to the truth.114

35

If they held fast to ‘the two weighty objects’ left behind (by the Prophet), their burden would become less.115

36

But they rejected the ‘two weighty objects’ due to their ignorance and turned against them out of hatred.

37

Each one of these people rejected the directive of the Book totally, abandoning obedience and duty.

38

By rejecting the Ahl al-bayt, each of them incurred a burden of injustice, thus aggravating everybody.

39

Truly, the mother of Hubal will be toiling, weary and scorched by fire on the Day of Judgement.116

40

May I be sacrificed for you, O the best of people created for humankind to remove doubt and errors!

41

They are the impeccable and noble ones, the people ever bowing and prostrating at night.117

42

They are the Fatimids, the most courageous ones, 114. Qurʾān 24: 40. 115. From the declaration of Prophet Muḥammad at Ghadīr-Khumm after his Farewell Pilgrimage in 10/632 when he designated ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib as his successor: ‘I leave behind me two weighty things among you: the Book of God and my progeny. So long as you cling to them both, you shall not go astray. Indeed, these two shall never be separated until they meet me at the spring of Kawthar (in Paradise).’ The Prophet continued: ‘He of whom I am the mawlā (‘guardian’, ‘master’), ʿAlī is also his mawlā. O God, be a friend of whomever he befriends, and an enemy of whomever he takes as an enemy.’ On this important tradition, which is recognized in both Shiʿi and Sunni sources, see S. H. M Jafri, Origins and Early Development of Shi‘a Islam (London and Beirut, 1979), pp. 19–23. As discussed by Paula Sanders in Ritual, Politics and the City in Fatimid Cairo (Albany, NY, 1994), pp. 121–134, the festival of Ghadīr was celebrated annually in Fatimid Egypt. 116. Qurʾān 88: 2–4. Hubal was one of the pagan idols worshipped in Mecca before the advent of Islam. Al-Muʾayyad often depicts the faith of his Sunni adversaries as akin to paganism and idol-worship. 117. Qurʾān 9: 112.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

73

the perfection of gracefulness and majesty,

43

Who bequeathed their lofty nature to our Master, the like of whom no woman ever gave birth.

44

A lord whose followers can be seen over the earth, a man in whom life and religion are united.

45

He is al-Ẓāhir, son of the pure al-Ḥākim, to whom God has given authority, and he is just.

46

The second ʿAlī in his grandeur is this ʿAlī,118 the most virtuous and magnificent lion and hero.

47

O peerless sun which arose from the West, about whom the best of the Messengers gave us glad-tidings! 119

48

O Commander of the Faithful, my strength in difficult times and my security at the time of terror!

49

By you the star of guidance has mounted the horizon, and truly, through you has all disbelief vanished.

50

O qibla of the spiritual world! Towards you turn all the qiblas themselves, from the East and the West.120

51

You are my hope when I have lost all hope in people; yes, you are my accomplishment when the hour comes.

52

Without you I would not differ from those who are ‘like cattle in ignorance; nay, even worst in misguidance’.121

53

118. Abu’l-Ḥasan ʿAlī was the birth-name of Imam al-Ẓāhir. 119. The Prophetic tradition, ‘The sun will arise from the west at the end of three hundred years,’ is interpreted in Ismaili literature as foretelling the rise of the Fatimids in the Maghreb and the extension of their sovereignty to Egypt and Syria. 120. The qibla is the direction of the Kaʿba in Mecca towards which Muslims turn in prayer. In Ismaili thought, the esoteric meaning of qibla is the Prophet and Imams in their function as intercessors to God. See al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān, Ta’wīl al-daʿāʾim, ed. M. Ḥasan al-Aʿẓamī (Cairo, 1967– 72), vol. 1, p. 237. 121. Qurʾān 7: 179.

74

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

You have enabled every silent one to speak by removing the veil of darkness that fell (upon them).

54

Thus appeared the truth with a radiant face which impeded falsehood and made it turn back.

55

Those who defected from you towards your enemies were routed with those whom (they joined).

56

They have exchanged (your) blessings for infidelity. Woe to them, evil is what they have exchanged!

57

(I am) a loyal servant ready to be sacrificed for you; his forefathers flourished under your favour just as he continues to receive your favour.

58

They never deviated, even for one hour, from the praiseworthy allegiance to your command.

59

May I be sacrificed for your pure son Maʿadd,122 by whose good fortune we shall attain the ultimate aims.

60

O Abū Tamīm, auspicious star shimmering from the heavenly world, or a crescent moon rising!

61

May you enjoy the authority God has conferred on you, to which all other authorities submit themselves.

62

May He bestow special blessings upon you all the time and guide those who give alms, pray and invoke God.

63

Ibn ʿImrān has composed peerless poems in your praise, embellished with luminous jewels and fine garments.

64

(But since) his art is limited by incapacity and defects, all he can say is: ‘This is (the best) I can do.’

65

122. Abū Tamīm Maʿadd was the birth-name of Imam al-Mustanṣir, son of al-Ẓāhir. The mention of both Imams in this poem indicates that it was composed in the last years of al-Ẓāhir’s reign, following the designation of al-Mustanṣir as his heir in 421/1030.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

75

Qaṣīda 5 (Persia, 429–433/1038–1042) He said: ‘When the load was carried for decamping, your departure became real, your separation true.

1

But joking about severing the friendship is a serious matter, and not what I had expected of you.’

2

I said (to him): ‘My heart is burning with sorrow, and upon my cheeks the tears are cascading.

3

My father be ransomed for you! This parting comes only because of fate and your impossible promise.

4

Many a time you have said, “O friend, leave me,” with such harshness as to make mountains vanish.

5

The circumstance surrounding this affair is very easy to you, but extremely painful to my heart.

6

Whereas you are safe and in good physical health, I am ailing and fatally wounded by your love.’

7

He said: ‘Anyway, are you going to stay with us?’ I said: ‘There is no way (for me) to do it.’

8

He said: ‘I am living (only) for your sake.’ I said: ‘That may be so if you fulfil what you say.’

9

He said: ‘You have inflamed my heart with longing, the evidence (of which) is my hot breath.’

10

I said: ‘Enough is the humiliation I am facing now, although it is a terrifying experience for me! 123

11

It is disgraceful of me to behave like a child when the army of white (hair) has appeared on my head.’ 124

12

123. An indication of the mounting hostility towards al-Muʾayyad in Shīrāz in the years before his exile. 124. According to Qutbuddin in Al-Muʾayyad (p. 180), the foregoing lines represent a ‘love prelude’ (nasīb) in the traditional style, a rhetorical

76

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

What concerns me most (now) is the return (to the Hereafter); anything else is just a curiosity.

13

Many are those who enter the ocean of darkness, whereas those intimate with the light are few.

14

Some people say that the ultimate end of man is annihilation; the creed of this group is atheism.

15

Others proclaim (the soul’s) transmigration and transformation, with additional interpolations.

16

They deny there is another life hereafter to which everyone returns and is destined to return.

17

They do not see an abode of reward hereafter, nor the retribution they will have to endure there.

18

According to them, the rich are rewarded (in this life), and the poor are the ones punished and tortured.125

19

The most numerous are those people who believe they will obtain the (waters of) Ginger and Salsabīl, 126

20

And that after this life they will enter an abode with all kinds of delicious food and sweet drink.

21

Behind each of these views there is a driving force, device about an imaginary beloved, which is ‘not based on historical reality’ and therefore ‘empty of meaning’. The same observation is made concerning the preludes of Qaṣīdas 9, 15 and 55. Given the highly personal and confessional character of al-Muʾayyad’s poetry, an alternative reading of these amatory verses would suggest that he may be alluding to his friendship or comradeship with real characters whose identity remains unknown. 125. Al-Muʾayyad elaborates on this in al-Majālis (1: 320): ‘They said that the Paradise mentioned is present in this life. Anyone who is free of sickness and enjoys delicious food, refreshing drink or a comfortable ride belongs to the people of Paradise. Those who are opposite to these are the people of Hell. … Woe to them for this belief which is rotten in root and branch!’ 126. Ginger and Salsabīl are the names of incorruptible springs in Paradise, mentioned in the Qurʾān 55: 50.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

77

a leadership with a banner and a group (of followers).

22

Their views are contrary to what the intellect requires, nor are they accepted in the sanctuary of guidance.

23

(They are) a community who have lost their faith because of their weak, corrupt and ignorant leaders.

24

What an evil person was the chief of these people, (together with) his treacherous, self-seeking Satan! 127

25

They are doomed to perish, the misguided ones of the world who broke their covenant with religion.

26

Woe unto those who rejected their pledge at Bābil! 128 This is a brief statement but the detail is behind it.

27

They are barred from drinking the sweet waters (of Paradise), the only cure of their burning thirst.

28

They entrust their faith to every weak and effeminate one who attacks others without the ability to do it.

29

They chose a person with a neck swollen by a shackle; how is it possible for the shackled to move freely? 129

30

O you who proclaim atheism so thoughtlessly! That which you pronounce is a proof against you.

31

Do you think all the creatures are created in vain 127. In the Majālis (2: 163), al-Muʾayyad reports a saying of the second caliph Abū Bakr: ‘I have a Satan which attacks me; if you see me deviating, turn me back to the straight path.’ Originally cited by Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad al-Ṭabarī in his Taʾrīkh al­-rusul wa’l-mulūk, ed. M. J. de Goeje et al (Leiden, 1879–1901), vol. 3, p. 224. 128. Bābil is the name of an ancient city in Iraq associated with the rise of the Abbasid dynasty. In the following verses, al-Muʾayyad denounces the Abbasids who originally rose to power in the name of Shiʿi Imams and subsequently became the upholders of Sunni Islam. 129. The Abbasid caliph is depicted as ‘shackled’ presumably because his authority was circumscribed under the military rule of the Būyids and later the Saljūqs until 656/1258 when the dynasty was terminated by the Mongols.

78

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

and that there is no purpose behind them?

32

Tell me, why is there movement in the heavenly bodies, and why do they rise and set (in the sky)?

33

Do they move in their orbits by themselves or not? If not, it means they are moved by some other agency.

34

If you say this motion is according to their choosing, then your statement is not compatible with reason.

35

The same (kind of activity) is exemplified for us in water descending and the rising high of fire.

36

And if you say their action is involuntary, I say that everything is directed or sustained (by another).

37

If so, that is the proof of the Sustainer and the Doer, He who is the Most Kind and the Most Exalted.

38

For He is (the source) of perfect action, and everything below Him is accomplished by Him,

39

So there can be no annihilation in His action; He is far exalted over that which you ascribe to Him.

40

And as for the one who believes in transmigration and declares there is no other kind of existence,

41

He will be asked about the essence of simple souls and about the elements and their cause.130

42

If he affirms that this cause itself has another origin, then the souls will (surely) go back to it.

43

If he denies this, then it will be said to him: ‘Just a moment, all visible objects have an origin.’

44

If (as is said) reward means eating and drinking, then it (also) consists of pain and torture.

45

130. The standard four elements of ancient Greek and medieval thought: earth, water, air and fire.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

79

(People) find it pleasant to eat and drink, but they ignore the harm done by food and drinks.

46

But God’s reward is a secret and hidden matter, which is not the same as what is perceived (by the eye).

47

That which He, the Most Exalted, has said in the Book is a symbol under which lies its meaning.

48

If they had wished to know the truth of religion, they would have followed the Messenger’s designate.

49

It was in that respect that Gabriel came down with the verse of designation on the day of Khumm.131

50

Truly (has the Prophet said), ʿAlī is the Favourite about whose glory the revelation has spoken.

51

He is the Lord’s proof among the humankind,132 and His sword is ever drawn upon the earth.

52

So strive to obey those with authority among you, because they are superior to all other beings:

53

The Ahl al-bayt upon whom descended the revelation with its precepts of the lawful and the prohibited.

54

They are among us a security against blindness, 131. That is, the Qurʾānic verse 5: 67 which commands the Prophet to designate ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib as mawlā or ‘master’ of the Muslim community after him. The Prophet proceeded to do this at Ghadīr Khumm. See note 115 above. 132. The Shiʿi doctrine of ḥujja or ‘Proof’ is based on the notion that there is always present in every age a Prophet or Imam as the proof, evidence or guarantor of God on earth. A tradition attributed to Imam Muḥammad al-Bāqir says: ‘We (the Imams) are the proof of God and His gate. We are the tongue as well as the face of God; we are the eyes of God (guarding) His creation, and we are the responsible guardians of God on earth.’ Muḥammad b. Ya‘qūb al-Kulaynī, al-Uṣūl min al-Kāfī (Tehran, 1388/1968), vol. 1, p.145, as cited in Arzina R. Lalani, Early Shī‘ī Thought: The Teachings of Imam Muḥammad al-Bāqir (London, 2000), p. 83. In Fatimid literature, the term ḥujja was used both in its specific sense for the Imams, as well as for senior dignitaries of the daʿwa in their role as ‘proofs’ of the Imams.

80

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

a straight path and a cool, sheltered resort.

55

There is (living) in Egypt the Imam of imams, who is the guarantee against (all) doubts.

56

His grandfather is al-Muṣṭafā, his father is ʿAlī, his mother is Batūl, the best of women.133

57

The Imam of noble origin with a magnificent fortune, and a glory most elevated and deep-rooted.

58

His knowledge removes all ambiguities of ignorance; he is the best bestower (of wishes), a most exalted, most gracious and generous one.

59

He is the Imam to whom belongs the call of Truth,134 and anything beneath his knowledge is merely vain, amusing, wishful thinking.

60

A call by which he summoned the whole world, and to which the mountains and plains responded.

61

He has a generation of followers among the Indians, as well as in the land of the Romans.135

62

May peace be upon him as long as there are human beings to glorify and invoke Allāh.

63

It is from him that Ibn Mūsā receives help in times when he is overwhelmed by adversities.

64

If the enemy abuses him for his loyalty to the Imam, never mind, because he benefits greatly from it.

65

133. The name Batūl, meaning one whose life is dedicated exclusively to God, is an epithet of Fāṭima, the Prophet’s daughter and wife of Imam ʿAlī. 134. The ‘call of Truth’ refers to the the mission of the Fatimid daʿwa. 135. The operations of the Fatimid daʿwa were divided into twelve regions (jazā’ir), including al-Rum (Byzantium) and al-Sind (India). While little is known of its activities in Byzantine territories, the daʿwa was wellestablished in Sind since the 4th/9th century and spread to other parts of the sub-continent during the Fatimid period.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

81

If they call him a heretic, he will not deny it,136 because he is patient and tolerant in facing hardships.

66

Verily, glory is obtained by following the guidance, and he who seeks glory without guidance is a scoundrel!

67

136. The original has rāfiḍa (lit. ‘deniers’ or ‘rejecters’), a pejorative term for ‘heretics’, which was commonly used by Sunnis for those Shiʿa who openly renounced the first three caliphs, Abū Bakr, ʿUmar and ʿUthmān. The origin of this term is discussed in Moojan Momen, An Introduction to Shīʿi Islam (New Haven, 1985), p. 73.

82

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 6 (Egypt, 437–439/1045–1048)

O two companions! May you greet your two habitations—what splendid places they are!

1

Habitations in Persia of people beloved (to me), without which the heart cannot be sustained.

2

And tell (them) how the calamities of Time have targeted me with the arrow of chronic illness.

3

Many a battle I have fought with my two swords: a strong heart and a courageous tongue.

4

But the calamities have shortened the tongue and undermined the boldness of the heart.

5

If one is considered by these two small organs (my heart and tongue), they have betrayed me.137

6

In the past, my appearance was akin to others, but the trials I endured have effaced my features.

7

Now, my heart and mind are sunk into oblivion, and my eyes are overflowing with tears.

8

The shedding of tears, like pearls cast on the basin of the cheeks, is my adequate description.

9

Enough it is for me to be tormented in heart, unable to sleep and beset by humiliation.

10

Enough the sorrow of losing a beloved friend, and it will suffice for me to survive after him.

11

We were two fugitives, like two birds sleeping in the same roost upon a bough of bamboo.

12

137. The term aṣgharāns (lit. ‘two small members’) is a common expression in Arabic for the heart and tongue.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

83

Now one of them has been imprisoned138 and the other awaits the terror of capture.

13

I have met fatigue in the chamber of comfort and exhaustion in the house of eloquence.

14

I have been granted many a wish previously; now my only desire is to obtain security.

15

I was so aspiring that I spent my nights in a lofty place with Ursa Minor below me.139

16

Then I was knocked to the ground, which became my place instead of the Pleiades.140

17

I will surely harvest the fruits I have planted if the object of my yearning turns out to be true.

18

(Now) I shall remember what is most important to me and give the reins to thanksgiving.

19

I have met the Imam of the time, which has always been my utmost desire.141

20

The harvest of the ‘two gardens’ was remote, 142 but it has come near to me through his existence.

21

The Imam of guidance manifested to the people through an edifice of glory created by Allāh.

22

And the ‘vision of certitude’, which was once 138. This is apparently an allusion to a co-religionist arrested in Persia or Iraq for pro-Fatimid activities. 139. Ursa Minor, also called the Little Bear (in contrast to Ursa Major, the Great Bear), is a constellation conspicuous in the northern sky. 140. The Pleiades are the ‘Seven Sisters’ cluster of stars in the constellation of Taurus. 141. As noted by Qutbuddin in Al-Muʾayyad (p. 61, n133), this mention of al-Muʾayyad meeting al-Mustanṣir probably refers to the Imam’s appearance in a mosque or a royal procession. On al-Muʾayyad’s first private audience with the Imam, see the Introduction above. 142. Qurʾān 55: 62.

84

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

a mere story, became visible to the eye.143

23

O Maʿad, my intercessor on the Day of Return! O the most efficient helper and most perfect aim!

24

Grant me sanctuary because Time has burnt me for my love of you; to sacrifice oneself is not like negligence.

25

Stretch out your hand for me to meet you, so that I receive enough means to fulfill my wishes.

26

O the one second to al-Murtaḍā in majesty and who is the seal of ‘the seven oft-repeated’! 144

27

O he who is like the Prophet in origin and knows the meaning of the ambiguous verses of the Holy Qurʾān!

28

Infidelity has overcome the heart of the one who continuously aspires to al-ʿAskarī.145

29

He is thirsty and has abandoned the fresh water, in which case what he seeks does not exist.

30

The Imam of the time has offered him that which his parents were unable to proffer.

31

May Allāh inflict upon such a one the hardships 143. Qurʾān 102: 7. 144. Qurʾān 87: 15. The expression ‘seven oft-repeated’ (al-sabʿ al-mathānī) is generally understood to mean the seven verses of the opening Sūra of the Qurʾān, al-Fātiḥa, which is commonly recited in Muslim prayers. The 5th/11th-century Fatimid chief qāḍī Abu’l-Qāsim al-Malījī, in his collection of lectures, al-Majālis al-Mustanṣiriyya (ed. M. Kāmil Ḥusayn, Cairo, 1947, p. 29), gives this taʾwil of the same: ‘The seven oft-repeated are the symbols of the Imams from Hazrat ʿAlī. Whenever seven Imams pass away, another seven Imams come like the seven days of the week, and this state remains until the Day of Judgement.’ 145. Al-Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī (d. 260/874) was the eleventh and last of the visible Imams of the Twelver Shiʿa. The referent of lines 29–32 is probably the Būyid ruler Abū Kālījār, who was unable to transfer his allegiance to the Fatimids (as recounted in Qaṣīda 62: 34–153).

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

85

of time and the injury of humiliation.

32

And may Ibn Mūsā return safely with a flourishing reputation of combating the will of the enemy.

33

86

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 7 (Persia, 427/1035)

May Allāh confer victory upon the banner of al-Mustanṣir, our lord, the impeccable Imam.146

1

And may He perfect the light of Abū Tamīm, to dispel by its splendour the turbidity of nightfall.

2

May he make his power perpetual and console us for (the demise of) al-Ẓāhir, the fresh green branch,

3

The interred lord and Master (of the believers), with a youthful and moonlike countenance;

4

A branch of the Supporting Pen and its twin,147 and son of the desert-dwelling Prophet and Ḥaydar;

5

A branch whose leaves display the origins of glory; besides him all creatures are like a drop in the ocean.148

6

He despised the tight narrow siege (of earthly life), which is under the sway of Saturn and Jupiter.

7

He rose to the zenith of the horizon from where he had descended in essence and appearance.

8

He was supported and so he became a supporter, affecting the life of each and every one (of his followers).

9

But (now) hearts are pining because of his absence, and bedraggled is my garment of patience.

10

And due to the immensity of our grief, 146. This qaṣīda was composed as an elegy upon the demise of the Imam al-Ẓāhir in 427/1036 at a relatively early age and to congratulate his successor, Abū Tamīm Maʿadd al-Mustanṣir bi’llāh. 147. That is, the primordial Pen and Tablet. See note 75 above. 148. In his Sīra, p. 24, al-Muʾayyad reports a saying of the Prophet’s paternal uncle, Ibn ʿAbbās (d. c.32/953), from whom the Abbasids claimed descent and legitimacy: ‘My knowledge, in comparison with ʿAlī’s knowledge, is like a drop in the sea.’

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

87

the blood rises to the eyelids and tears pour down.

11

May Allāh bestow eternal blessings on his holy spirit and the pure body that has been laid to rest.

12

May He preserve our lord Maʿadd eternally with the ages of all those with a prolonged life.

13

Welcome be to the blessed time of our lord, who arrives with a face radiating with good fortune,

14

A time of good tidings for us about the prosperity to come and the inevitable departure of all evil.

15

O Maʿadd, the pillar and sustainer of his servants, (their) preparation and hope for the Day of Return!

16

You are like Jesus in the grace bestowed on you during childhood, and you have an abundance of it.

17

If a dry trunk can produce fresh fruit by His grace, then Jesus is more worthy and deserving of it.149

18

Life has granted its kingdom as a blessing for you, as was given to Jesus; so hurry not and be patient—may I be your sacrifice!

19

Allāh has granted you a lofty and majestic status, and thus established the signs for those who ponder.

20

By you, the Most Beneficent will fulfil His pledge to your father the Prophet, the best of Messengers, to whom the best tidings were given.

21

You have subdued and humiliated the power of Time by dressing it in the garment of the oppressed.

22

You will eliminate every treacherous enemy with a keen-edged sword and a bamboo spear.

23

And your knights with horses black and white 149. Qurʾān 19: 25.

88

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

will plunge into the bloodshot valleys.

24

You will lead the way between the Tigris and Dujayl to destroy that one-eyed deceiver,150

25

Until you drape his land and illegitimate children with the bloodstained sheet from his neck.

26

You will remove from the miḥrāb of our mosque and the wood of its pulpit, the name of that cursed one and his filth.

27

You will replace the ambiguities of Shāfiʿī and Mālik151 with the exposition of Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn and Jaʿfar.152

28

You will renounce the philosophers whose ideas are adorned by the analogies of the Muʿtazila153 and the mockeries of the fatalist.

29

O son of the chosen Prophet, his Trustee (ʿAlī) and Fāṭima, and the descendant of Mashʿar and Safā! 154

30

Truly, (the deceiver) has spread lies about you because he was an infidel and malicious towards you.155

31

150. The designation ‘one-eyed deceiver’ is applied to any person whose faith is based on a a purely exoteric interpretation, disregarding its esoteric significance. In this case, the object of al-Muʾayyad’s opprobrium is the Abbasid caliph al-Qāʾim. The river Dujayl is a tributary of the Tigris in Khūzistān, a short distance from Ahwāz. 151. Muḥammad b. Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820) and Mālik b. Anas (d. 179/796) were founders of two schools of Sunni jurisprudence that were dominant during al-Muʾayyad’s time. 152. The early Shiʿi Imams Zayn al-ʿĀbidīn (d. 95/714), Muḥammad al-Bāqir (d. c. 114/732) and Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (d. 148/765) developed and articulated the Shiʿi interpretation of Islam. 153. The Muʿtazila school of theology was characterized chiefly by its defence of reason in determining religious beliefs. The movement was rejected by the Sunnis who uphhold the primacy of tradition, in contrast to the Shiʿa who accord a high value to reason, but subordinate it to the authority of the Imams. 154. See notes 55 and 93 above. 155. A reference to the polemics encouraged by the Abbasids against the Fatimids, including a famous manifesto disputing their origins and

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

89

Truly, he did not have the offspring mentioned by Allāh, the Lord, the Most High (in the Book) —away with the one cut off! 156

32

Surely, he is cut off, while you are the wellspring of abundant progeny and the noblest descendant of the Sāqi of Kawthar.157

33

The proof of your knowledge is above the staff; you are the conqueror of the sorcerers all the time.158

34

You are the opening to the passage of the water of life, but this water is not permitted to the animal.

35

It is visible to the intellect and not superstitious talk, because the witness is superior to the reporter.

36

If all the trees were pens held by one of my fingers, and if I had all the paper to write your virtues,

37

And if the sea were amplified by seven more seas as ink to record the loftiest of your praise, 159

38

Even then, it would nor surpass your glory; I would stop writing and fall short of praising you.

39

May Allāh bestow blessings on you as long as the dawning light disperses the veil of darkness.

40

genealogy. For details, see Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs, pp. 101–103. 156. Qurʾān 108: 1. Most commentators agree that this verse was revealed to reassure the Prophet after he was chided by some Quraysh for being childless following the death of his only son. 157. A Prophetic tradition: ‘Al-Kawthar is a stream of abundant excellence (in Paradise) belonging exclusively to me. Only the righteous believers will be allowed to drink from it (and) ʿAlī will distribute water from it to them.’ From that day onwards, ʿAlī became known as Sāqi al-Kawthar, i.e. the one who quenches the thirst of believers from the river of Kawthar. According to al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān (Asās al-taʾwīl, p. 16): ‘The symbol of the river (of Kawthar) means esoteric knowledge.’ 158. An allusion to the combat between Moses and the Pharaoh’s magicians mentioned in the Qurʾān 20: 56–70, 26: 34–48. 159. Qurʾān 31: 27.

90

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Verily, I am Ibn Mūsā, your servant, who by your strength walks proudly among the people.

41

Knowledge is my sword, integrity my mount, concealment is my armour and trust my helmet.160

42

I am human in appearance but in essence angelic; this is evident to anyone who inquires about it.

43

My body is able to withstand all kinds of calamities, but inside that body I have the heart of a lion.

44

I am not terrified by the enemy’s attacks, nor has my patience ever weakened by his power.

45

My appearance blinds the enemies of ʿAlī’s progeny, and the news of me deafens them everywhere.

46

Wherever I have ventured to travel or settle, they see an evil omen in my presence.

47

Whenever I pass by a group of them, you would think them dead by their hatred of me.

48

I am not concerned by their persecution of me; it is good to be hurt and hated for the sake of Allāh.

49

160. By ‘concealment’, al-Muʾayyad means the Shiʿi principle of taqiyya (dissimulation of belief), practised as a precautionary measure against persecution in hostile environments.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

91

Qaṣīda 8 (Egypt, 437–439/1045–1048) O (the way of) exile, how appalling is your malady! Your wealth is poverty and your gifts a torment.

1

Your honour is indignity, your felicity a misery; your ease is hardship and your existence annihilation.

2

If your gratitude comes one day, it is ingratitude, because all circumstances around you are a disgrace.

3

O the exile because of which I have emigrated so far, a distance even further than is flown by the griffon!

4

I journeyed across all but half the span of the earth, and when traversing it, the wilderness mourned for me.

5

You have led me astray, or rather cast me into the sea, (so) that I have no hope of reaching a safe landing.

6

Tears poured from my eyes when you made me lose the prime of my youth and its waters dried up.

7

You have torn me apart completely by the fire of humiliation that consumes those who are exiled.

8

There was a time when I preyed upon lions in Persia, whereas now it is the sheep who try to kill me.

9

Many a mighty hand have I disconnected there, and now that dismembered hand seeks to injure me.

10

O who will communicate with my people (in Persia) because of whose remoteness my heart is rending?

11

O what a sigh I heave from the depths of my heart, such that it can split apart even a solid rock!

12

This body is not the body you encountered, nor is the figure or appearance what you witnessed.

13

92

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Because of you, I have become burdened with so much suffering that even the earth cannot bear it.

14

There is no penalty, blood money or judgement against these dumb beasts which have wounded me.161

15

Thereafter I became accustomed to all the hardships and resilient to them through endurance.

16

I recited for a long time a verse composed by one whose merit is not denied by any other poet:

17

‘I continue to complain of the pain I feel, because pain has accompanied me since (birth).’ 162

18

Devoting myself to the Prophet’s family is reunion, and to suffer a catastrophe (for their sake) a remedy.

19

(Thus), bearing all kinds of hardship is easy, and imminent is the good fortune from our Imam.

20

Abū Tamīm is the perfection of humankind, and all created beings are his slaves and servants.

21

Mustanṣir bi’llāh’s victories are sustained by Allāh, the Lord to whom belongs creation and destruction.

22

The Imam of the time by means of who the earth and the heavens were established for human guidance.

23

Even so, it is difficult for the eyes to see his brilliance because his light is like a beam in the darkness.

24

O son of the Prophet! All people of power and wisdom seek to trace their descent from you.

25

161. Here al-Muʾayyad echoes the juristical ruling that there can be no recompense of blood money for injury caused to humans by animals. 162. M. K. Ḥusayn notes in his edition of the Dīwān (p. 329) that this verse comes from one of the foremost Arab poets, al-Mutanabbī (d. 354/955). Coincidentally, a century before al-Muʾayyad’s association with Abū Kālījār, al-Mutanabbī served the Būyid ruler of Fārs, ‘Aḍud al-Dawla, for a short period.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

93

O son of the Prophet’s daughter! I have come to you appealing for deliverance against adversity.

26

Do I have to spend my nights in the City of Security163 in such misery when your sanctuary is a bulwark against the vicissitudes of Time?

27

Having endured hatred in the East because of you, should I meet the same hatred when I go to the West? 164

28

It is true I was among the first to be honoured by you with favours, but now I am one of the last ones.

29

Does a truthful lover resemble a dishonest one? Are the dead equal to the living? 165

30

O son of Muḥammad! May Allāh bestow His blessings on you, as long as the pigeon coos from its bough.

31

May you be delighted by the advent of the holy month; there is a symbol and a reference to you in it.166

32

May you also be pleased with other occasions of grandeur, as long as Gemini is rising from its sphere.167

33

163. Al-Muʾayyad uses the appellation ‘City of Security’, i.e. Mecca where bloodshed is forbidden, as a metaphor for the Fatimid capital of Cairo. 164. Al-Muʾayyad’s complaint is directed against Fatimid court officials who obstructed his desire to meet Imam al-Mustanṣir. 165. Qurʾān 35: 22. 166. Tradition places the birth of Imam ʿAlī in the month of Rajab, which precedes Ramaḍān. In al-Majālis (1: 381), al-Muʾayyad reports the Prophetic saying: ‘Shaʿbān’ is my month and Ramaḍān is Allāh’s month,’ and comments: ‘By this he indicated that every noble month is adjacent to a high and lofty limit, (and) the order of speech requires Rajab to be the month of the holy Imams of the Prophet’s family.’ The same observation appears in Qaṣīda 52: 11–14. 167. Gemini is a constellation near Orion, partly in the Milky Way, and conspicuous in the northern hemisphere.

94

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 9 (Persia, after 433/1042)

Impossible has become the separation in our love! Intending to depart, it prepared to set out.

1

Alas for the intimacy between the heart and happiness that has become impossible by their separation!

2

May I be sacrificed for the one whose immaculate beauty has captured my heart by degrees!

3

When he saw me imprisoned, he withheld from meeting me and was lacking in generosity.

4

And when he left with the sighs of his departure, my comfort declined and my sword became blunted.

5

My heart was engulfed in a blazing fire, my sleep became short and my nights prolonged.

6

My tears poured like a hail of rain, my longing intensified and my body indisposed.

7

Ask him why he has preferred remoteness and by so doing poured calamitous pain on me.

8

And as he abandoned me to weep and grieve from his departure, there were thorns in my eyes.

9

He placed upon me a weighty burden of passionate longing and the agonies of separation.

10

If some of my burdens were put upon a mountain, you would see it like a collapsed dune.

11

Was I not sincere in my love for him? There will be no justice if he refrains from meeting me.

12

Nor will justice prevail if he continues to avoid me, for where can he find one equal to me?

13

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

95

In the profound love that exists between us, he is like Buthayna and I (her beloved) Jamīl.168

14

Even if he wished that I give up my life, I would have liked to offer him that opportunity.

15

He turned away without pledging his protection; may Allāh protect that languid beloved!

16

(But) after a time he will turn back towards me with affection—so patience is beautiful.169

17

Our separation will become reunion, and he will be compassionate and approachable.

18

Would that I knew when I will reunite with you so that my aspirations can be attained.

19

When you decide to return, seek to come with the intention of delivering good fortune.

20

Your advent will raise the star of auspiciousness and compel the unlucky stars to set.

21

Thus, the good omen of the Guardian of Time will cancel the aridity of my misfortunes.170

22

O he who seeks the pure fount of Salsabīl, 171 follow the way to the gate of the best of all mankind.

23

Maʿadd, the Imam of true guidance, is a rewarder; so seek the fount of Salsabīl through his grace.

24

Venture to him for a draught of the purest drink, 168. Jamīl (d. 82/701) was a poet from the Banu ʿUdhra, a tribe of Yamanite origin settled in the Hijāz and renowned for his verses addressed to his sweetheart Buthayna, which is permeated with a pure and passionate love of the platonic type unparalleled in that age. 169. The same expression is used in Qaṣīda 3: 64. 170. On the interpretation of this ‘love prelude’ (lines 1–22), see note 124 above. 171. See note 126 above.

96

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

a fertile dwelling place and a shade for shelter.

25

The Prophet’s progeny, the scion of the Trustee (ʿAlī), and the one living among us, is a guide to Allāh.

26

My lord supports whosoever desires to help him and abandons the enemy completely.

27

You will hear him say (of the enemy): ‘Would that I had refused to take such a one as a friend!’ 172

28

There will be no advantage to one making excuses, nor will a sacrifice be accepted at that time.

29

No doubt a person of dignity is empowered by him, and a person of lowliness is diminished by him.

30

O Hibat Allāh! Sufficient are the People of the Cloak173 for you, so keep them as your intercessors (to God).

31

172. Qurʾān 25: 28. 173. On ‘the people of the cloak’, see note 63 above.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

97

Qaṣīda 10 (Egypt, 437–439/1045–1048) Greetings to those beloved to us and welcome be to their remembrance.

1

Welcome be to those whose habitat is in my heart and they are its inhabitants.

2

O separation! Wait awhile before you disable me and (dissipate) my strength.

3

No, I have never come to accommodate myself to a life dissociated from my friends.

4

If such is your life, then abandon it as a life wasted—but it should not be so at all.

5

O despondency! My heart has departed from its homeland as well as its community.

6

I guided it when it was lost and adrift from its way in the wilderness of agonies.

7

I said to myself the Imam is our Imam and so think of him more than the people.

8

So I directed my face towards him and turned my back against a bygone time,

9

To seek him as a sacred object of recourse because there is good luck in his abode.

10

Then he graciously gave me a signal and revealed that which remains a secret.174

11

May my life be sacrificed for him who is the most honourable in his glory!

12

174. There is no further information available on the cryptic ‘signal’ received by al-Muʾayyad from Imam al-Mustanṣir.

98

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

The lord about whose grandfather (Muḥammad) the verse of ‘two bow-lengths’ was revealed.175

13

Everyone who dies without uniting in a relationship of faith and obedience to him

14

Will perish in the blazing fire even if he spent all his life offering alms and prayers.

15

O the mightiest qibla of the Truth and the noblest Kaʿba of the living ones! 176

16

If a pilgrimage is performed to a house of stone, it is more fitting for it to be towards you.

17

O Maʿadd, the one who emerged like daylight when he manifested amidst the world!

18

Steadfastedly is he supported by Allāh and convincingly praised in His Furqān.177

19

Even when I complain of the extreme thirst (of my desire), why am I not promoted?

20

When you consider (my services), have you examined them in comparison to others?

21

Can you find a servant in the East whose endeavours are equal to those of this servant?

22

Why I am opposed and plotted against in this manner in a land whose soil is fertile?

23

What a wonderful tale this is, like a parable of a master and his slave!

24

The Nile river overflows but I am dying of thirst upon the shores of the Nile!

25

175. Qurʾān 53: 8–9. 176. See note 120 above. 177. The term ‘al-Furqān’, meaning the criterion for establishing truth, is commonly applied to the Qurʾān.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī May Allāh bestow His blessings upon you as long as the sky irrigates the earth with rain!

99 26

100

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 11 (Persia, 427–433/1036–1042)

Is it good to rejuvenate after reaching old age with a stature that sways when one gets up?

1

And with white hair like the feathers of a falcon, while it used to be black as the feathers of a crow.

2

A face which is now attired in yellow when once it was embellished by the redness of youth.

3

And the eyes that were (sparkling) like stars have now became dull and cloudy,

4

And the well-arrayed pearls in the mouth are now all disarrayed and dispersed.

5

What a structure hurled towards its doom as your world decays in the domain of death!

6

Do you not know that my return to the dust will be reduced to a resemblance of it?

7

So why do people acquire those things which will have to be left behind as a result of it?

8

He who knows Time will not let himself be deceived by a mirage shimmering like water,178

9

And he will not spend his days by opening wide his mouth to feed upon its carrion like a dog.

10

It is an adequate lesson for people who reflect that Time is of a hand surrounded by vicissitudes.

11

It exhibited to us in a short span of time glorious deeds as well as incredible misfortunes.

12

It has been the deceiver of all people of might and blunted their sharp canine teeth.

13

178. Qurʾān 24: 39.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

101

And he who cunningly seeks to reach Arcturus179 will be destroyed by his cunning means.

14

Now he (al-Muʾayyad) is avoided by everyone who was made mighty by his nearness.

15

His close kith and kin have deserted him, ignoring their obligations to the relationship.

16

Such is the way of Time which drifts towards disintegration and curtails the age of man.

17

And whether the days helped or hindered him, they pass along like the fleeting clouds.

18

So you should never place your reliance on Time because you see that its sun is about to set.

19

Leave rejuvenation to the people of youth and let them indulge in their lack of inhibition.

20

And make your provisions ready because shortly the crow will caw announcing the departure.

21

And you will be summoned inexorably by the death monger. Is there not a need to respond?

22

Then your shameful deeds will be disclosed, even if you are rolled up like the scroll of a book.

23

If you are loyal to the Imam of the time, you will be well protected in the Hereafter for any misdeeds,

24

For he has the guideposts to the religion of guidance, as well as the landmarks along the right path.

25

He is a comet in darkness and guide to humanity; what a powerful and noble comet he is!

26

Adam received him (as the Word) of his Lord 179. Arcturus is a giant red star in the constellation Boötes that appears brightest in the northern sky.

102

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

when he repented and met with the best of return.180

27

And when the flood was in turmoil did the Lord make (Noah’s) ark sail upon the torrents.

28

So also (for Abraham) the blazing fire was commanded to be cool and peaceful for him.

29

Through him the staff conquered the disobedient, thus delivering (Moses) from his difficulties.181

30

By him was Solomon’s kingdom strengthened and David granted sound judgement in his verdicts.

31

Through him did the Spirit (Jesus) restore life to those whose spirit of life had been taken away.

32

There is no miracle like his among the people; every hardship has yielded to his miraculous power.

33

O Mustanṣir bi’llāh! O the friend of Allāh! O the glorious Master of all mankind!

34

I have set my face firmly and truly towards your command and submitted to you in every way.

35

Your face is the illuminating Face of Allāh, and your light shines like a veil from His Light.

36

Your hands are the Hands of Allāh spread out, and you are undoubtedly His (manifested) Side.

37

You are certainly His Proof among humankind and His Sword with a (steadfast) handle-hold.

38

180. In the following verses 27–32, al-Muʾayyad invokes the Shiʿi doctrine of Imamate as a permanent, divinely appointed institution of guidance that supports, complements and completes the mission of the Prophets. See Henry Corbin, History of Islamic Philosophy, Chapter 2, especially pp. 24–28. 181. Cf. al-Majālis, 2: 121: ‘… and may Allāh shower his blessings on the Trustee ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, who is Moses’s stick and white hand as well as the ark of safety for people during the flood.’

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

103

The Return is to you and you are the reckoner; so blessed is he who returns to that beautiful place.

39

You compensate the virtuous with good rewards, and by you are the evildoers condemned.182

40

May Ibn Mūsā who is devoted to the glory of your allegiance become a sacrifice for you!

41

And his ancestors will always remain your servants of high ranking and the best followers.

42

May the peace of Allāh be upon you, as long as the rain descends upon the gardens.

43

182. An allusion to the Prophetic tradition that appears on the margin of al-Majālis, 2: 19: ‘When God created the Intellect, He interrogated it and said, “Come forward!” It came forward. Then He said, “Go backward!,” and it went back. Then he said, “By my Honour and Majesty! I have not created a creature more glorious than you. By you shall I reward, and by you I shall punish.” ’

104

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 12 (Persia, 426–427/1035–1036)

The pen has provided me with good fortune, and the days have resolved to render assistance.

1

By the guidance of my faith, I have now become aware of matters neglected by other people.

2

My form is a body but its essence is an angel, by whom there are great events on the way.

3

My heart is illumined by the Light of my Lord, while darkness shrouds the hearts of other people.

4

My speech is refined and my deeds protected in a sanctuary that cannot be accosted by a critic.

5

Since my greed has died, my resolve has come alive and free, (and) my tongue is a sharp sword.

6

Satisfaction of soul and wealth in religion are my provisions; therefore, death is harmless to me.

7

If people are in fear of the pain of death and feel its bitterness, it has become sweet for me.

8

I know this is the beginning of my good fortune and the termination of my misfortune.

9

I was not created to destroy the universe of God, (like) some people who exterminate His creation.

10

So corruption in the latter is equal to wickedness, and incorruptibility of the former equal to goodness.

11

Let the gate of destruction be demolished whose pillar is free from devotion to the ahl al-bayt.

12

The progeny of Ṭāhā are Allāh’s chosen ones, the people by whom He has supported His religion.

13

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

105

They are the peaceful abode of those seeking security, a sphere of magnanimity and the holy month.183

14

They are Allāh’s blessings to creatures, even if some beasts desist to offer thanks for these favours.

15

They are the reason why God created all creatures, their final destination and place of repose.

16

The souls (of all humans) are related to them just as their bodies are related to earth.

17

The spiritual ranks they have occupied cannot be grasped even by the imagination.

18

They are the system for delivering felicity to all people, and Maʿadd is its foundation and order.184

19

They are all the Imams and Masters (of religion), and Maʿadd is their sovereign.

20

Allāh’s religion is glorified by the pure Ẓāhir, and idols are humiliated by his sword.185

21

He is the banner of the faith, an exalted sage and the Master bearing the signs of his Lord’s Light.

22

He is a luminary of the Prophet’s progeny, the great sanctuary, its bedrock, the Safā and Maqām.

23

He caused the dawn of the truths of religion to arise; the face of the guiding religion rejoices in him.

24

Allāh has witnessed for him in the Qurʾān, and it is true He has witnessed for him many times.

25

183. Qurʾān 5: 98–100, which enjoins Muslims to hold the month of Muharram as sacred, wherein security is offered to all who ask for it, and bloodshed is prohibited. 184. That is, the organization of the Fatimid daʿwa. 185. From this verse we know that al-Muʾayyad composed this poem during the latter part of the reign of Imam al-Ẓāhir, following the designation of Abū Tamīm Maʿadd (al-Mustanṣir) as his successor.

106

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

‘The setting of the stars’, 186 the glittering ones, signify the Ahl al-bayt, the honourable guides, the close kinsfolk.

26

Allāh has elevated them to an exalted place high above the other stars which are not exalted.

27

O Imam! Every glory is inferior to your splendour, even if any such glory is superior to others.

28

You are the one by whom humanity steps forward, advancing by way of marvellous deeds.

29

All the world’s monarchs are subservient to you, and the angels are at your service.

30

In you did Adam seek refuge at the beginning, and of you Noah and Sām took pride.187

31

So did (Moses) who conversed with God after His friend (Abraham), as well as Jesus who arose for prayers and fasted.

32

Your pure, magnanimous, divinely-assisted, virtuous grandfather (Muḥammad) is also proud of you.

33

He was Allāh’s mercy for mankind and the lord of everyone contained in loin and womb.

34

Likewise ʿAlī, the Prophet’s Trustee, the furious lion and the mortal blow to falsity, was proud of you.

35

O the friend of God! O you by whose (mediation) our prayers and fasting are accepted!

36

I have long desired to emigrate to you, a yearning I have cherished since childhood.

37

186. Qurʾān 56: 75. 187. Qurʾān 11: 42–46. Sām is the Biblical name of one of the four sons of Noah, and not to be confused with his unrighteous brother Cannān (known as Yām in Arabic) who refused to enter the ark and perished in the flood.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

107

Now I have reached the age of nearly forty years, but the desire still remains unfulfilled.

38

If my aspiration is fulfilled, the rain clouds will shed an abundance of good fortune upon me.

39

O friend of God! May Allāh bestow His blessings upon you, as long as the dove coos plaintively,

40

And as long as the day breaks and the night falls, and a year is succeeded by another year.

41

Hibat Allāh has not drowned but he is swimming in the ocean of your magnanimity.

42

My tongue is a versifier of your praise, and my heart is besotted with your remembrance.

43

The enemy has received many a painful wound in their hearts as a result of my speech.

44

The family of Ṭāhā is my support in returning on the Last Day, which is enough for me to acquire.

45

I am pleased to be cursed and abused for their sake; therefore let those who vilify me repeat their defamations!

46

108

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 13 (Persia to Egypt, 433–437/1042–1045)

I have been tormented in my love for a long time, so much so that my body has emaciated like thin air.

1

They say that I have an incurable disease, but only one-tenth of what I suffer may be due to it.

2

I wept until the weeping itself began to weep for me; is it any wonder that weeping should weep?

3

Our hearts are devoted to our loved ones, and their remoteness has taken our souls far from us.

4

I long for my watering place and pasture among them, for no water or pasture is more pleasant than theirs.

5

Since their separation, there is no pleasure to be found in happiness, nor comfort or joy in prosperity.

6

May Allāh keep those whose meeting delighted my heart, for no other meeting has been pleasant after that.

7

O the friend from whom I hope to get the cure (of my disease) and in whose hands is my remedy!

8

Yes, he is the lord, the Imam, relating to whom all human beings, male and female, are his servants.

9

Maʿadd, Commander of the Faithful, who is more dignified than whatever grandeur is exalted.

10

The guiding Imam, the pure al-Mustanṣir, the possessor of glory, the source and dispenser of good fortune.

11

He is the security where safety is permissible and the hope of hope if there is the possibility of hope.

12

If one wishes to put on the garment of dignity, then the garment derives its dignity from the Imam.

13

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

109

(If) people regard fate as powerful, the Imam’s decree establishes effective fate upon (any other) fate.

14

The panegyrist’s poem is adorned with his remembrance, for praise and laudation are evidently due to him.

15

O my lord, allegiance to you is my support and provision; no other allegiance is of benefit.

16

If the banner of praise can adorn its people, then you are the praiseworthy banner of that praise.

17

If light can release people from darkness, then you are the light for the signposts of light.

18

Truly, the earth takes pride in you over the sky, and you are the apogee for those living above the sky.

19

All people are followers of the seekers of dignity, and you are before that dignity and it is behind you.

20

Any discourse other than about your virtues is false; every praise is flattery except what is said in your praise.

21

The effort of anyone who prays and gives alms is dust if he does not accept the faith of the Fatimid Imam.

22

May he, nurtured by your favours, be sacrificed for you and your enemy’s morning turn to dusk by him.

23

The people of humility tried to belittle (the Imam), whereas his interest is forever with the lofty heavens.188

24

Many hearts have been wounded by his arrows, even hearts shrouded by the cover of misguidance.

25

(Al-Muʾayyad) says to the slanderer who defames you: ‘Here is a correct statement without any flattery.

26

188. Lit. ‘the sky above the sky’. The expression ‘people of humility’ refers to the Sūfīs who, being mostly Sunni-orientated, supported the Abbasids against the Fatimids. This was the case in Shīrāz, where the Sūfīs joined the opposition in denouncing al-Muʾayyad’s activities.

110

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Your misfortune is (chained) to the neck of misfortune; is it any wonder that misfortune itself has misfortune?

27

What you mention is a satire for the sake of defamation, but anyone familiar with rhetoric knows that what I say is a defamation of satire.’

28

(O al-Muʾayyad!) Your Imam is he who calls to the faith, for he has a calling in both heaven and earth.

29

He was nominated to the Imamate and his knowledge is remedy for the diseased hearts of people everywhere.

30

Who can be the object of quest other than him? Can salty water ever extinguish thirst like fresh water?

31

Is there anyone but he whose Imamate was confirmed and proofs furnished as testimony to all mankind?

32

Truly, the heavens on high and all their stars are the speaking witnesses to his Imamate.

33

Anyone whose eyes turn to the subterranean vault has a disease and disorder of the mind.189

34

Say to him he is like the one who seeks to grasp water, but no water remains when he tries to seize it.

35

This is the poem of Ibn Mūsā, a true striving servant; what he can truly accomplish best is service and prayer.

36

189. A reference to the twelfth Imam of the Twelver Shiʿa, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan, who is believed to have disappeared in a cave at Samarra, Iraq, in 260/874, and expected to return as the mahdī on the Last Day.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

111

Qaṣīda 14 (Persia, before 427/1036) Allāh’s religion has been invigorated by al-Ẓāhir, the master of all creatures, seen and unseen.

1

The offspring of the chosen Imam al-Ḥākim and the son of the noble pure Imam,

2

The light of the sun, the ocean of mind and intellect, a sun appearing through a glowing moon.

3

The earth has become luminous with its light and thereby became highly auspicious.

4

It has unfurled the banners of truth to which the system of the turning orbits submits.

5

The swords of Allāh emerged from the West, annihilating the treacherous enemies.190

6

They made them swallow what they had made the family of al-Ṣādiq and al-Bāqir swallow.191

7

Say to the descendants of Abbās: ‘You have become helpless on this earth!

8

The condition of your idols has degenerated and was rooted out (by the Fatimids).

9

You dried up the branch of guidance for a while, but now it has returned fresh and pleasing to the eye.’

10

190. The Fatimids established their state initially in the Maghreb (present-day Tunisia and eastern Algeria) in 297/909 and later extended it to Egypt, Syria and Yaman. See al-Qāḍī al-Nūʿmān, Iftitāḥ al-daʿwa, tr. Hamid Haji as Founding the Fatimid State: The Rise of an Early Islamic Empire (London, 2006); and Michael Brett, The Rise of the Fatimids: The World of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the Fourth Century of the Hijra, Tenth Century CE (Leiden, 2001). 191. The early Shiʿi Imams Muḥammad al-Bāqir and Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq endured much repression during the Abbasid period and are believed to have been poisoned by their enemies.

112

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

The pulpits of Islam have been purified from the (despicable) features of al-Tā’iʿ and al-Qāḍīr.192

11

These pulpits cannot be elevated (in piety) by one libertine orator related to another libertine.

12

They have reverted to the progeny of Abū Ṭālib,193 the miserable (pulpits) replaced by flourishing ones.

13

To their weak people were granted bounties, while the iniquity of deceit surrounds the cunning.

14

They are the designated heirs of earth and, despite their opponents, they are invincible among mankind.

15

The morning became clear and darkness vanished; how can the morning light be concealed?

16

O son of Allāh’s Messenger! O you the best of all the people residing in cities and countryside!

17

Is there anyone to compete with you when the morning light is derived from your dazzling light?

18

Who can be compared to you when human dignity is acquired from your resourceful dignity?

19

(It is) a sublime dignity derived from Adam, bequeathed as inheritance from one to the other.

20

Your past is the most noble of all people in history, as is your presence among those who still exist.

21

O Ẓāhir, by virtue of your radiant face, the countenance of piety is fresh and cheerful!

22

O the rain cloud, succour and protector of one who is hopeful of you against cruel Time!

23

192. These are the two Abbasid caliphs al-Tāʾiʿ (d. 393/1003) and al-Qāḍir bi’llāh (d. 422/1031). 193. Abū Ṭālib (d. c. 619) was the father of Imam ʿAlī, as well as uncle and foster-father to Prophet Muḥammad.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

113

O the refuge of the weak and their saviour! O the supporter of one who stumbles!

24

Verily, in relation to Aḥmad the Prophet, you are like the heart and the sight.

25

Any gift from you is life for your devotees, just as death by your sharp sword is for the enemy.

26

You are Gemini and people are the Earth; you are the utmost degree for one to be proud of.

27

Your knowledge is an overflowing ocean, whereas the world’s knowledge is but a drop of your ocean.

28

O essence of the righteous elite, you are the best of those who enjoin the good and forbid evil!

29

O the peaceful city of Allāh by means of which the sight of the infidel has gone astray!

30

O the one who establishes truth in its right place and eradicates the power of the oppressor!

31

O you breaker of false ideas fabricated by them, may my life be ransomed for the breaker and setter!

32

May the blessings of God, the Possessor of Glory, be upon you as long as we hear the singing of a bird.

33

And if Ibn Abī ʿImrān is really weak in praising you, falling short of what you are deserving of it,

34

He is not to be blamed, for even the imagination remains unable to comprehend your praiseworthiness.

35

114

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 15 (Persia to Egypt, 433–437/1042–1045)

O companion of the heart, near and afar! Separation has deprived me of mind and heart!

1

The heat of Ahwāz was coolness for me and its bitter drink became sweet.194

2

The Simoom turned into heavenly breezes,195 and the black dung sprouted flowers and grass.

3

When near, we always met each other, and when apart our meeting was intermittent.

4

We were close and amicable with each other, spending time together to dispel hardship.

5

(My) soul rejoiced in the gardens close to you, which were like ‘gardens with dense trees.’ 196

6

Then we separated and Time shattered my joy, causing my tears to flow abundantly.

7

Broken-hearted and dismayed by the stinginess of Time, my ardent wish was to be reunited.

8

I will never forget him appearing at my door, like a lover visiting his beloved.

9

I said: ‘Welcome, O light of my eyes!’ though I was full of reproach towards him.

10

He said: ‘Why all this blame and accusation? Tell me, what sin have I committed?’

11

194. Al-Muʾayyad describes his activities in Ahwāz, a short distance west of Shīrāz, in Qaṣīda 17. 195. The Simoom is a strong, suffocating, sand-laden wind of the desert prevalent in the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa. 196. Qurʾān 80: 30.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

115

I said: ‘Yesterday you declined to meet me, while I have been waiting for ages (to meet you).’

12

He said: ‘You felt uneasy when I could not meet you for a day and so made grief your accomplice.

13

Suppose I was absent, what would you do then? How would you fare alone in the mountains?

14

I have come here on purpose to bid you farewell in order to return and join my companions.’

15

Then he went away saying: ‘May God protect a lover who mixes not his love with any other love’.

16

So my tears began to flow copiously from anxiety and life became totally empty.

17

Then I felt my heart burning, taking away my patience and purpose completely.

18

If one could be struck dead by the force of suffering, then I would be dead at once,

19

Under Allāh’s protection, a person departed, left alone, without intimacy or security.

20

Say to him who torments me by his absence and inflames the fire of passion fiercely in my heart:

21

‘Do you think that my impatience for you would keep me from travelling all over the world? 197

22

Even though Shīrāz is my native abode, where I was born and grew up,

23

197. Tahera Qutbuddin suggests in Al-Muʾayyad (p. 181) that the object of al-Muʾayyad’s affection in the ‘love prelude’ of the preceding lines is a fictional female character. However, since the poet has used the masculine gender for this person, it is more likely that he refers to a male confidant unable to accompany him into exile. See also note 124 above.

116

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

It is true that I hate it because it is the nest of ʿAtīq and the evil statue (of Adlam).198

24

Therefore, since returning to the East would be aggravating for me, I went to the West.

25

I have sought the bountiful sanctuary of Maʿadd, whose guidance and help is safeguarding me.

26

The Imam al-Mustanṣir, the protector, in whose presence religion becomes a fresh green stem.

27

He turned the tragedy of al-Ẓāhir’s death into joyfulness and its gloom became a brilliance.

28

Thus did the face of religion become cheerful, while also shedding bucketsful of tears,

29

And the sword became a sharp, double-edged sword of guidance, not blunted without it.

30

By him the world of angels was exalted and its affairs became well ordered.

31

It is through Maʿadd that the planets rotate continuously because he is their axis,

32

(And) the earth produces swaying grain and herbage after a long period of extinction.

33

Through him the water of God’s mercy flows copiously and constantly for the people.

34

How pleasant is Egypt due to Imam Maʿadd, master of all mankind, Arab and non-Arab alike.

35

O Messiah who spoke when (still) a babe and makes people of intellect lose their minds!

36

198. For al-Muʾayyad, the names ʿAtīq (‘the aged hawk’) and Adlam (a pagan idol) represent the first two caliphs Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. By associating Shīrāz with them, he means that the city was a centre of fanatical Sunnism intolerant of the Shiʿa.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

117

You are not below the Messiah called ‘Lord’ by the polytheists, even if we do not call you that.

37

May the dust from under your shoes be kohl for my eyes, or may I be that dust of your shoes!

38

My soul yearns to (deliver) a discourse about you of such great significance as to dazzle the eyes.

39

It is you who dispels darkness and discloses light, and you replace drought with fertility.

40

You move ocean fleets and swift cavalries, certain of victory in their pursuit of oppressors.

41

They snatch souls (of the enemy) in a fearful way even before the commencement of war.

42

They penetrate mountains with piercing spears and split them apart by the sword.

43

You see the dust of battlefield dark as night, and spear and sword flashing like shooting stars.

44

You see the enemy carried like scum in the wind, however insignificant that may be.

45

It is Allāh’s will that you retain your sovereignty of the world that was usurped illegally.

46

And He will make hardship easy for the Fatimids and make their drink pristine.

47

He will humiliate and degrade the enemy and make them face hardship all of their lives.

48

By composing verses, Hibat Allāh strikes at the enemy, piercing their hearts.

49

He always faces the enemy and attacks them group after group in the midst of battle.

50

118

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

He exposes his honour to perish for the sake of Allāh, even if it is dispersed into pieces.

51

Upon that he has made an oath to Allāh, and in return, purchased wealth (of the Hereafter).199

52

199. Lit. ‘exchanged it for money and flocks’.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

119

Qaṣīda 16 (Egypt, 437–439/1045–1048) Welcome be to those who dwell in my heart, though they are residing in the East.

1

Though they are far, the heart is their abode and they are the owner of that abode.

2

It is because of them that my tears are pouring down the surface of my cheek,

3

(And) the body is about to perish because of prolonged grief and longing.

4

O Fate, may my Lord be your beckoner! Is what you have done to us permitted?

5

You have dispersed our happiness after having attained reunion with it.

6

Where can we find justice like that of a true Imam prevailing over all mankind?

7

May you be overcome by his splendour, so that you are tested for your deeds.

8

In the court of Mawlānā Maʿadd, I think no more of the courtyard of creatures.

9

May I be sacrificed for him whose outpouring of grace I have often received,

10

(And) my family and property too be sacrificed for him, as he is worthy of that.

11

(He is) a descendant of the Chosen Prophet, through whom is darkness removed.

12

What a noble branch Maʿadd is and the origin thereof, the pure Prophet!

13

120

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

The descendant of those by whose guidance right and wrong became clear to us.

14

The ones who bow and prostrate (in prayer):200 So, O people, invoke Allāh’s blessings upon them!

15

They are the pure, the manifested. May our Mawlā be glorified and they too!

16

A Master supported by the most dignified, whereas his enemies are the most humiliated.

17

By his kinship to the Chosen (Prophet) and the Favoured (ʿAlī), he is high and sublime.

18

Possessing aspects of density and subtlety, 201 his foundation is the Intellect and the Soul.

19

O you, the Master of all the world’s monarchs, and to whom they all are his servants!

20

Everyone in the heavenly host of angels belongs to his cavalry and infantry.

21

I have made my escape from those who raised their swords of oppression against me.

22

When they saw an axe which could topple the throne of a son of ʿAbbās,

23

They desired to extend every hand of vice to me, but fettered their own necks instead.

24

Then I approached your gate with a sword that I had sharpened through you.

25

200. Qurʾān 9: 112. 201. In Shiʿi theology, the Prophets and Imams are conceived as possessing two distinct attributes: the human (nāsūt), which is subject to the temporality and exigencies of mortal life, and the divine (lāhūt), which endows them with spiritual authority and infallibility. For a discussion of this doctrine, see Henry Corbin, Cyclical Time and Ismaili Gnosis (London, 1983), pp. 112–116.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

121

It cuts down and wears out your enemies without becoming blunt or jaded.

26

May our Lord bestow His blessings on you, for as long as there is a past and a future.

27

122

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 17 (Persia to Egypt, 433–437/1042–1045)

O Eastern breeze! Pass by Persia on coming back, and convey greetings to my precious beloved ones.

1

Visit Ahwāz and then Arjān to greet on my behalf the honourable brethren I have living there.

2

Tell them that I am hostage to an ardent love; my longing for its valley would set mountains adrift,

3

And ask how they are since my departure. I have suffered such terrors my hair has turned grey.

4

I have worn the dress of humiliation in a foreign land, but many a time I put on the garment of dignity.

5

I have suffered such hardship in travelling and settling that the least of it would crumble the rocks.

6

And as I continued, I had to struggle against the bitter cold of winter and burning summer heat.

7

I have come across many people of hard disposition, but only a few of them possessed any grace.

8

Merit and knowledge will weep over me if the cruel Time makes me a target of its adversities,

9

And severs my ties with my home and family, and renders the habitation of religion empty in me.

10

It silenced me in the sanctuary of the East where my speech polished the mirrors of virtue in people;

11

And closed a mosque ‘ founded in piety’ 202 and adorned by me for the progeny of the Messenger;203

12

202. Qurʾān 9: 108. 203. In 433/1042, al-Muʾayyad and his followers renovated an abandoned mosque in Ahwāz and turned it into a Fatimid house of prayer. The event is narrated in the Sīra, pp. 54–57, and summarized by Klemm in

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

123

And (disabled) a sharp-edged sword which for long had exhausted enemies and safeguarded friends;

13

And left me stumbling in the darkness of perplexity, alarming both the protector and the protected;

14

And ruined a community to whose call I used to respond whenever a catastrophe fell upon them.

15

O how I grieve for my weak people who have fallen victim to the keen edge of calamities!

16

Would that I knew who will come to their help when they complain about such outrageous events.

17

And would that I knew how the enemies gained their wicked goal of severing the bond that unites us.

18

O brethren, be patient for it is beautiful! I am content with this for attaining Allāh’s pleasure.

19

If I am to be exiled for the sake of Ṭāhā’s progeny, by God, I will still reject their enemies!

20

I am not a pioneer among those who were exiled; how proud am I to be second to Jundob! 204

21

Even if I were harmed by this exile, I will have attained some of the objects to which I had aspired.

22

I have visited in Kūfa a dome of glory which truly encompasses both the religious and material worlds.

23

It is a bright white dome, the dome of Ḥaydar, the legatee of the one whom Allāh sent as a guide.205

24

Memoirs of a Mission, pp. 35–36. 204. Jundob b. Junāda, more commonly known as Abū Dharr al-Ghaffārī (d. 32/652–3), was the Prophet’s companion who was exiled by the third caliph ʿUthmān on account of his undeviating loyalty to Imam ʿAlī. 205. The Great Mosque of Kūfa, which houses the shrine of Imam ʿAlī, is a major centre of Shiʿa pilgrimage and scholarship. Destroyed and rebuilt

124

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

He is the Chosen Prophet’s Trustee and cousin, who became Imam and Master on the Day of Ghadīr,206

25

And about whom some people have expressed a view similar to that of the Christians about the Messiah.207

26

How good it was to circumambulate his grave and to pray for blessings humbly and successively!

27

How good it was to press my cheek upon its dust! How pleasant to lean over it and offer a secret prayer!

28

Secretly I invoked and complained of my oppressors so burningly that tears poured down my cheeks.

29

And I visited the shrine of the pure one in Karbalā;208 May my life be sacrificed for the one slain when thirsty! 209

30

(To endure) one-tenth of the suffering of Ḥusayn, the son of Fāṭima, will suffice to console me.

31

I have made a resolution and if God fulfils my desire, it will be an adequate cure for my heart.

32

Arriving at the palace gate to find the intimacy that was previously remote will gratify my heart’s desire.

33

several times over the centuries, in 2009 the mosque was refurbished by the Ismaili Dā‘udī Bohra community after being damaged in sectarian violence. 206. See note 115 above. 207. Here al-Muʾayyad alludes to the Ismaili doctrine that conceives the Imam as the locus or manifestation (mazhar) of the Word of God. For a discussion of this concept and its relation to Christology, see Henry Corbin, Cyclical Time, pp. 59–150. 208. Karbalā, located in central Iraq, is the place where the Prophet’s grandson, Imam Ḥusayn, together with a number of his relatives and companions, were massacred by Umayyad forces in 61/680. His mausoleum, first built by the Būyid ruler ʿAḍud al-Dawla in 369/979–980, is one of the great places of Shiʿi pilgrimage and burial. 209. It is reported that when Imam Ḥusayn and his party were surrounded at Karbalā, they were deprived of water for several days in the burning desert before being killed.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

125

Then I shall perceive my star of good fortune rising and feel my star of ill-omen setting;

34

At a gate as lofty as Gemini and indeed higher than the two bright stars of Arcturus and Spica Virginis,210

35

Belonging to the world’s Master, al-Mustanṣir, the dispeller of darkness and the elect of those who walk the earth.

36

To him belong all that is contained in this world, all who tread the earth and the noblest of horse riders.

37

He is the Imam whose forelight supports the sun and the generosity of his hands delivers rain at dawn.

38

His palms are the fount of torrential blessings and wisdom by which he revives the decaying bones!

39

There is no (reason to) despair of Allāh’s mercy, for I see numerous benefits in my resolution.

40

So at his gate I shall dispense myself of every sorrow and seal the remaining days of my life.

41

O the one who rejoices at my exile, I say stop! For by it my eyes are fixed on a most elevated station.

42

O progeny of ʿAlī, how often have I been targeted and suffered calamity because of my allegiance to you?

43

How often have I traversed terrified in waterless deserts and spent my nights in despair because of you?

44

My resolve has never turned away from loyalty to you; how can I ever turn my face away from you?

45

You are my support and the preparation for my Return, the source of my hope and succour to the hopeful.

46

210. Like Arcturus, Spica in the constellation Virgo is among the brightest stars in the night sky.

126

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

You are Allāh’s Book that supports one truly guided, and eradicates the false and the misguided.

47

Deliver help to a friend fallen into a turbulent sea of sorrows, combating enemies for the sake of your love.

48

May you relieve Ibn Mūsā of his grief and passion, for he is exhausted from wearing its burden of torment;

49

And be the adversary of those who have harmed him, for otherwise he will soon fall into the pit.

50

O progeny of Aḥmad! May Allāh’s peace be forever upon you, and as long as the stars glimmer in the night.

51

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

127

Qaṣīda 18 (Egypt, 437–439/1045–1048) May my life be sacrificed for the guide of the world, a descendant of al-Mahdī, the Imam of the age, invested with authority in the cradle! 211

1

May my life be sacrificed for Maʿadd, my aid in times of distress when I find no benefit in money or children.

2

I have confirmed my oath of allegiance to the Imam, by whose support it is firm for attaining unification.

3

The progeny of al-Muṣṭafā are jewels in the necklace of creation, and Maʿadd the centrepiece of that necklace.

4

O Mawlā, through whose grace all his followers come under the protection of his blessings and felicity!

5

O he whose grandfather is the Seal of the Prophets, by your grace the daʿwa of faith has prospered greatly!

6

By your pure guidance, your followers became the sword of guidance which cuts off the heads of misguidance.

7

May my life be sacrificed for your life, since my duty is to offer you a sacrifice and I be the one to offer it.

8

Your nearness has made me forget my home and family; it was for your sake that your slave departed from them.

9

O morning breeze of the East, upon your returning, pass by Persia and ask my beloved ones how they be faring! 212            10

211. The Imam al-Mustanṣir was designated heir to his father al-Ẓāhir at the age of eight months in 420/1030. ʿAbd Allāh al-Mahdī (d. 322/934) was the founder and first Imam-caliph of the Fatimid state in North Africa. 212. The final verse here echoes the first distich of Qaṣīda 17.

128

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 19 (Egypt, 437–439/1045–1048)

A glory so exalted it became a sky for the heavens —thus was Abū Tamīm distinguished by his crown.

1

By him was Time crowned with nobility and attired with a turban of generosity encompassing all creatures.

2

He is Allāh’s caliph, His abundant flow of mercy in creation and flourishing garden of His guidance.

3

By God’s permission, he heals those born blind and helpless, and he revitalizes all existence.

4

O peaceful sanctuary for its dwellers! Disappointed is one not allowed to enter therein.

5

O the Preserved Tablet and the Pen of Guidance, who corresponds to Allāh’s Pen and Tablet! 213

6

He is what Adam received and was (thereby) saved; verily, you are those words (revealed) to him.214

7

You are the Ark which carried Noah on the flood when the waters mounted and overflowed.

8

You are the coolness and peace that Allāh imparted to His friend (Abraham) to save him from the fire.

9

Through his name, the sea fell apart, thus enabling Moses and his followers to cross it.

10

Whenever David’s eyes glanced at him while passing judgement, he fell into prostration.

11

The Spirit (Jesus) emanated from his spirit, becoming a signpost of knowledge to the Last Day.

12

213. Qurʾān 68: 1. On the symbolism of Pen and the Tablet, see note 75 above. 214. Verses 7–13 of this qaṣīda are reminiscent of 11: 27–32 above, regarding which see note 180 above.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

129

He is the completer of the glory of (Muḥammad) who was the Seal of all the prophets sent by the Lord.

13

He (Muḥammad) was related to the Trustee as father (to Fāṭima), a kinship greatly esteemed by (ʿAlī).

14

I do not lie nor do I exaggerate, but he is a light for everyone who understands.

15

He is the guidance of the guided ones, while the stubborn are blind to the light of guidance.

16

How splendid it is that the soul of his friend rejoices in the Gardens, but the brute misses that!

17

It was not you who cast into shame those envious of you, but Allāh cast them to shame.215

18

O my two (companions), tell our beloved folk: ‘Your exiled one in the West complains of his longing.’

19

O He who entrusted to me a yearning heart, just as leaving them has brought illness to my body!

20

I complain to God that Time is assaulting me, committing a crime by keeping you far from me.

21

Since departing from your shelter, I have been, without doubt, exposed to the arrows of desolation.

22

Sleep has deserted my eyelids since our separation and stolen my tears that flow copiously.

23

My face is not as (you) knew; it was radiant then, but now it has become a face of darkness.

24

When the birds fly, I begin to tremble; when an apparition roams, I keep to myself.

25

When they call for me to return, my soul is silent and my eyes shed blood out of vigilance.

26

215. Qurʾān 8: 17.

130

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

If some of my ordeals were affixed to an edifice of iron, it would certainly collapse.

27

Patience is the ultimate recourse of man, whether he be patient wilfully or from necessity.

28

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

131

Qaṣīda 20 (Jerusalem, 453–454/1061–1062) Verily, Egypt and Syria have come to know, as well as the lands of Hijāz and Yaman,

1

And before them, Persia and Iraq up to Sind, the settled and barren areas, all have known,

2

That I am a sword of the Prophet’s descendants, a sword sharpened by the water of eloquence.

3

How often have I composed poetry adorned with jewels and written prose like priceless pearls!

4

I praised the Prophet and his descendants until I kindled the flame of my understanding.

5

How often have I removed the veil of ignorance and blown a (healing) spirit into a body!

6

How often have I engaged in battle wisely and struck off the shields of error!

7

There is no flame upon a mountain more renowned than my flame in this age.

8

O he who accuses a preacher of the Prophet and his descendants of a speech defect,216

9

And who denies him, a scholar and orator, who performs a twofold function in every art,217

10

And brings guidance to the hearts like camels, driven to the House (of Kaʿba) as offerings!

11

216. Qaṣīdas 20 and 21 were composed in Jerusalem where al-Muʾayyad was exiled for a year by his political rival, the wazir Ibn al-Mudabbir, on the pretext of his ‘stammer’ while delivering sermons at the Dar al-‘Ilm. 217. Lit. ‘who shoots two arrows into every art’, possibly alluding to the exoteric and esoteric aspects of his writings, or to their guiding and healing functions, as indicated in verse 6 above.

132

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

No circumambulator is exiled from their door, (not even one) who has circled the house of idols.

12

If you remove me from the Imam’s sanctuary, with whom will you replace me then?

13

You may rejoice that the arrows you discharged have struck Ḥasan and Ḥusayn,

14

As well as Fāṭima and the Trustee (ʿAlī), by whom Allāh has tested those whom He tested.

15

They will oppose you on the Day of Judgement when everyone will account for his deeds.

16

O my Lord! I am at my wit’s end and not capable of bearing any more trials.

17

I shall lay my cheek down before you in the day, and complain and weep by night.

18

May You in Your kindness remove my misery and deliver me from sorrow!

19

O my Lord! Grant mercy to Your wronged servant, for verily, You are the Source of (all) blessings.

20

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

133

Qaṣīda 21 (Jerusalem, 453–454/1061–1062) O Lord, You are my (only) hope! In whom can I place my hope but for You?

1

Is there anyone other than You who can open (for me) the bolted gates?

2

My condition is of such perplexity that it has incapacitated my (intellect).

3

I am an old man with a feeble body, in whose breast lies a wretched heart.

4

That which never shook his imagination has attacked his most secure place,

5

(When) he was disturbed rudely at home without having caused any offence,

6

And despite his weak constitution, enforced with a difficult course of action.

7

His (mind) was in a state of turmoil when riding on the camel saddles,

8

Until he arrived in Jerusalem, a humiliated and embarrassed person.

9

He was flung into a mosque and received there with much suspicion.

10

Is this the way to compensate a person who has completed sixty years,

11

When to the descendants of al-Muṣṭafā, he is as clear as the bright morning (arising)

12

From the East and the West, summoning people with convincing proofs?

13

134

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

By means of their love, he ventures into the stormy waves of the sea of death.

14

O Lord, let this night of mine be superseded by the dawn of deliverance!

15

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

135

Qaṣīda 22 (Egypt, 437–439/1045–1048) A crescent moon appeared out of the darkness: the Imam of the time is an armour against Hellfire.

1

An Imam who is a fire to his concealed enemies, just as he is a paradise to his friends.

2

An Imam with whom people of allegiance seek refuge from the evil of both men and jinn.218

3

An Imam whose virtues and magnificent deeds are declared (even) by creatures unborn.

4

An Imam who always fulfils his mandate of upholding the Law and reviving the Tradition.

5

An Imam who passes judgement on the infidels with the sharp edges of sword and spearhead.

6

An Imam towards whose opinion all reins are turned when a mishap occurs.

7

An Imam who leads people in right conduct; where can righteousness be found other than him?

8

An Imam of guidance and magnanimity whose companions receive strength from him.

9

Allegiance to Mustanṣir bi’llāh purifies the soul from every defect.

10

His palms and fingertips are rain clouds bearing satisfaction to the souls of his friends.

11

An Imam of guidance, security from ruin, and possessor of the purest blessings.

12

Anyone who is his true friend is saved; woe to him with malice and hatred for the Imam.

13

218. Qurʾān 114: 1–6.

136

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Anyone hostile to him will be in a blazing fire, ever weeping, lamenting and screaming.

14

May I with my people and everything I possess be a sacrifice for the lord of the age.

15

Would that I knew when the Master of the world will appear and remove my difficulties.

16

(Then) he will hold to account those responsible for their harassments and deceptions,

17

And with his sword he will uproot the hatred and enmity concealed in their hearts.

18

They should expect no redemption at that time, nor any hope of tranquillity.

19

My tongue conveys praise for your graces, whereas others praise rosy cheeks.

20

Anything other than your praise is empty talk, as praising you is my faith, virtue and intelligence.

21

So consider this as a rejoinder to al-Mu’izz’s son: ‘Was it a herd of wild oxen which lowed or a coterie of jinns?’ 219

22

219. This line comes from a poem by Prince Tamīm, a son of the fourth Fatimid Imam-caliph al-Muʿizz. While his Dīwān (ed. Muḥammad Ḥasan al-Aʿẓamī et al, Cairo, 1377/1957) has many verses in praise of the Imams, it is characterized chiefly by celebration of wine, women and song in the traditional style of court poetry. Al-Muʾayyad contrasts that unfavourably against his own chaste poetry devoted exclusively to the Fatimid cause.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

137

Qaṣīda 23 (Egypt, 443/1051) O why is it that the sky does not move to and fro, and why do the mountains not disappear?

1

Why does the sun not collapse and why do not the bright stars tumble below the earth?

2

Why is not the earth (sundered) by a quake and why do the seas not overflow?

3

Why is blood not equal to tears in shedding so that it may come down the throat in torrent?

4

Will our hearts remain as they are as if made of rocks and not split apart in pain?

5

There has never been a day anywhere so grave and distressful as was seen in Baghdad.220

6

The one-eyed impostor has surrounded himself by many other benighted people of falsehood.221

7

There is no place where they do not rise up, nor any spot where there is no call for bloodshed,

8

Seeking to harm the progeny of the guiding Prophet, and to slay the child and massacre the old,

9

To deprive the living of their souls, and exhume the dead from their graves.

10

220. This poem is a condemnation of the Abbasids for destroying the tomb of Mūsā al-Kāẓim, the seventh Imam of the Twelver Shiʿa, in 443/1051. In the Sīra (pp. 166–167), al-Muʾayyad reports that it was recited in the court of al-Mustanṣir. 221. The ‘one-eyed impostor’ is the Abbasid wazir, Ibn al-Muslima, held responsible for massacres of the Shiʿa in Iraq. More generally, the term ‘one-eyed’ is applied to those who perceive religion only by its exoteric, literal sense without considering its esoteric, spiritual significance.

138

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

And one of the People of the Cloak was made to suffer more than the infidels did.

11

The tomb of Mūsā (al-Kāẓim) was desecrated even before he faced his resurrection.

12

Burnt down is its sanctuary which rendered proof against Hellfire to anyone who visited it.

13

The followers of the Prophet’s progeny are slaughtered and their secrets disclosed.

14

What a pity for the souls that flow! What a grief for the heads which fly (beheaded)!

15

They are vengeful on (the Shiʿa) only because their leader is the Prophet’s Trustee (ʿAlī).

16

Their excuses are (in reality) hatred for the one whom al-Ghadīr enjoined them to love.222

17

O community whose iniquity has resulted in disaster and its day of guidance become dark!

18

It will have no intercessor on the Day of Judgement, (only) woe and destruction from its Lord!

19

You killed Ḥusayn for the sake of capturing Iraq, (not) as you said for causing trouble.

20

What has Mūsā done that the edifice of his tomb becomes erased through passing time?

21

What is the purpose of doing that to him? Truly, ‘the deceiver deceived you regarding Allāh’.223

22

O people of Truth, death has become pleasant! O my people, let us rise up soon!

23

222. See note 115 above. 223. Qurʾān 57: 14.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

139

Either there will be life for us in the law of requital, or we shall end up where they end up.

24

O people of Musayyab, are you still the people of loyalty? What a fine, loyal people you are!

25

O people of ʿAwf, you are rain-clouds in times of drought, and lions when (even) lions are fearful! 224

26

O people of intellect, generosity and struggle, the party appearing like dew when the days are hot!

27

Be patient with the humiliation; your concern is not mean, nor are you powerless.

28

Will the sanctity of the Prophet’s progeny be disgraced while even a child of you is living?

29

And the grave of a son of al-Ṣādiq, a descendant of the Prophet, was disgraced while you were there!

30

You have not waded in the sea of death as yet, nor attained its heights or descended to its vales.

31

On Ḥusayn’s day, it was expected that some souls would be sacrificed and others gladdened.

32

Now Ḥusayn’s day has returned; so (consider) what is your power and weakness.

33

Then stretch out your arms and strike forcefully because the enemy’s day is declining.

34

And let Ibn Dimna’s intentions be defeated and his deceitfulness turn to nothing.225

35

224. M. K. Ḥusayn notes in his edition of the Dīwān (p. 332, n2) that the Mussayab and ʿAwf were Shiʿa tribes in Baghdad. Al-Muʾayyad documents this event in his Sīra, pp. 166–168. 225. Ibn Dimna (lit. ‘son of rubbish’) is al-Muʾayyad’s contemptful name for the Abbasid wazir Ibn al-Muslima.

140

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

For his killings and bereavements, let him be (condemned) and his hair cut off!

36

Let war break out and grind down its cause, and let it return upon him!

37

Do not be weak, for verily, al-Mustanṣir is Allāh’s friend, and he is our helping Master.

38

Will the Shiʿa be treated unjustly for their beliefs while Allāh’s illuminating torch is among us? 226

39

Will our swords become blunted while Allāh’s sword is drawn forth among us?

40

A group of people will rage in their misguidance and spill their opponents’ blood.

41

They will soon be annihilated by his power and disgrace will be on them!

42

You will hear wailing from their houses like the sound of a trumpet (on the Last Day).

43

A sea of armies will reach them; there will be no fort or wall to protect them.

44

Then upon them will fall a skyful of spears and swords from which there is no protection.

45

How many a battle will be fought against them! Amidst what uproar and tumult of trenchant swords!

46

The sword cuts through the bone with a clatter; the spear pierces the body with a squeak.

47

When their blood spills, you hear it gush, and when their souls emerge, you hear a murmur.

48

The foreheads cry out in agony when struck, while the hearts heave with sighs of grief.

49

226. Qurʾān 33: 46.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

141

Their souls will burn in Hell due to their deeds, (which is) an evil destination indeed.

50

Their bodies will be (cast into) waterless deserts and become prey for bird and beast.

51

Say to the aggressors not to hurry because it is time to purify the earth of them!

52

And say to the tyrants: ‘With your retreat a gentle breeze will arise from East and West.

53

Then your life will turn into death and your shade become unbearably hot!

54

Your destination will be Hell and your visitor destruction because of your evil deeds.

55

Religion will be far removed from your settlement, and good fortune will also keep away.’

56

To Allāh and the son of the guiding Prophet, The Imam of the time, all affairs will go.

57

O people of Muṣṭafā, a grateful servant seeks to be victorious in service rendered to you!

58

And because of his love and devotion for you, Ibn Mūsā will be in good company day and night.

59

This devotion is his only vocation, a vocation that I am certain will never fail him.

60

142

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 24 (Egypt, 440/1048)

Who will take pity on a body emaciated by passion and whose eyes have become estranged from sleep?

1

Who will pity the frail one whose solace is in himself? Who will take seriously one consumed by so much despair?

2

Who will pity the one lonely in his strange abode, without a family, a companion living there or a friend?

3

Who will pity the one whose heart has become worn out by grief like an exhausted field of stalks and stems?

4

O who is the one heading for Iraq with the travellers as they call out for their departure at forenoon?

5

Say to the son of ʿAbbās: ‘May you be pleased with what begets your pride, which is most despicable to me! 227

6

How many a time have you suffered humiliation by me before I became encumbered by my long suffering?

7

The bow that separates me from you has targeted us; (however), there are many brothers equal to me.

8

My mount and I travelled all night, along with my regret; my supply was my companion and fear was my guide in the wilderness.

9

And I made my way directly to (the Imam), in whose presence travellers stop, having (good) expectations of him.

10

Then I saw the Nile flowing abundantly, guarded by a crocodile ready to defend its sanctuary.228

11

227. Verses 6–16 are addressed to the Abbasid caliph al-Qāʾim who ordered the arrest of al-Muʾayyad in Shīrāz. 228. The Nile crocodile, which is renowned for its enormous size, strength and ferocity, is a metaphor for the general sense of peace and security in Fatimid Egypt at the time of al-Muʾayyad’s arrival from Persia. It is highly unlikely that this reptilian image represents Imam al-Mustanṣir,

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

143

Do not be regretful that you failed to kill me, for I was most cruelly slayed by the sword of humiliation.

12

The effect of suffering is harder upon a man than killing him (at once) by a piercing sword.

13

So that is how it is! But such hardship is easy for me due to my love for the family of inspiration and revelation.

14

Even if I were torn into pieces, that will not diminish the sharp edge of my allegiance to them;

15

And my firm determination will never turn back from their love, nor will I pledge allegiance to others.’

16

O people! Ibn Dimna has become (like) a flickering flame kindled by a weak hand.

17

He asked for the assistance of Qayrawān, but all of it was a plot that will turn his cunning into error.229

18

He incited its people to rise against the Prophet’s son, the owner of the House and (legislator) of the Law.

19

That is the son of Ismāʿīl, the guardian of the Kaʿba, whose foundation was raised by (the Prophet) Ishmāʿīl. 230

20

Ibn Dimna rose against us when he saw us asleep and strutted about like a cowardly assailant in armour.

21

His heedlessness made him forget that my hand can reach him, and his penalty will be wailing and lamenting.

22

as maintained by Qutbuddin in Al-Muʾayyad, p. 116. The only other refernce to the Nile river occurs in Qaṣīda 10: 25. 229. In 440/1048, Ibn al-Muslima (Ibn Dimna) attempted unsuccessfully to persuade the Zirid ruler of Qayrawān in North Africa to renounce his allegiance to the Fatimids. 230. Qurʾān 2: 127. The first hemistich refers to Ismāʿīl al-Mubārak, the second son of Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq and founder of the Ismaili line of Imams. On the events surrounding the succession of Ismāʿīl, see Daftary, The Ismāʿīlīs, pp. 88–93.

144

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

He fears I will take him by surprise and grasp his throat through the lions of battle, the Daylamīs and Jīlānis.231

23

I am a shooting star prepared to target him, and when they meet, it will inflict a severe penalty on him.

24

I will descend upon him suddenly from Egypt like death, which will come to him without a warning.

25

I will travel all night with a lion’s heart to meet him and make him taste the might of an elephant! 232

26

I will punish him in the way I am accustomed, and leave him in an evil resting place.233

27

To destroy him, I will be aided by Mawlānā’s auspiciousness, and Allāh is my guardian.

28

231. The Daylamī and Jīlānī troops of Abū Kālījār were among the most vocal supporters of al-Muʾayyad in Fārs. Cf. al-Muʾayyad’s Sīra, pp. 56–57. 232. Qurʾān 105: 1–5. 233. When pro-Fatimid forces led by the Turkish general Abū al-Ḥārith al-Basāsīrī entered Baghdad in 449/1058, Ibn al-Muslima was executed and the Abbasid caliph exiled. Cf. al-Muʾayyad’s Sīra, pp. 180–181; Klemm, Memoirs of a Mission, pp. 85–86.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

145

Qaṣīda 25 (Persia to Egypt, 433–437/1042–1045) Who is there to take pity on an old man bent down by Fate to pass away?

1

His activities are the deeds of disgrace, while death is bearing down on him.

2

He is not direct but beats about the bush, and his ignorance is a vile disease.

3

Until such a time that he repents and turns away from committing sins,

4

I say to him: ‘O villain, beware! For how long will you keep on living?

5

You are putting on the cloak of piety just as death is about to reach you.

6

Now that you are over fifty, how despicable seem all your deeds!

7

Wake up and start receiving condolences, for your age is a collapsing frame.

8

The sword of death is determined to wound you and cut apart your organs.

9

It has taken a pledge not to desist from striking you until you are buried.

10

You have sunk into the filth of ignorance, and soon enough you will depart.

11

So abandon all that you unduly assume will secure the ropes of your wishes.

12

Your feet have trodden the grave; it is time for your eyes to shed blood.’

13

146

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

He gnashed his teeth, regretting the exhaustion that led to his negligence.

14

If he has ignored a religious duty, then there is no foundation to his faith.

15

All his hopes have come to nothing, resulting only in a bitter harvest.

16

(So) weep, for no one will moan for you when your days are finished.

17

They will say that a stranger has died alone in a convulsion of sighs.

18

O mercy be upon (all such) strangers because their luck expired!

19

They left their abode here and departed with their luck to a foreign abode.

20

Broken-hearted, they languish in the most abject of circumstances.

21

Their tears are ever flowing; their bodies stripped of any clothing.

22

O one who fled from his homeland to preserve his existence!

23

O you who harmed yourself, tomorrow you will be held accountable for it!

24

He whose heart is ravaged by burning and whose eyes never go to sleep,

25

Afraid of drowning in a (flood of tears), he roams the wilderness and ruins.

26

(So) arise and wear your armour of sorrow because your dawn has turned to dusk.

27

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

147

Let there be no ‘until and ‘maybe’, and there is no need to justify yourself.

28

Make a covenant with the Messiah of mankind who revives the dead, and be alive in him.

29

Believe in the religion of truth, and what an excellent acquisition it is!

30

Be faithful to Simon the Pure, and show him the purest sincerity.234

31

Then you will attain Paradise, in whose delights there is no suffering.

32

And through the glorious Cross, there is a resurrection of dead bones.235

33

He quenches the thirsting heart with rain descending from his cheeks.

34

So become acquainted with his status, in its totality and particularity.

35

(Then) shall be resolved every difficulty and you will be well provided for.

36

Seek earnestly to be baptized and you will live thereby eternally.

37

You will receive everlasting glory, full of dignity and brilliance.

38

234. Al-Muʾayyad associates Simon Peter with the Fatimid Imam since, according to Ismaili doctrine, he was the legatee (wasī) to Jesus in the same way ʿAlī was to Prophet Muḥammad. 235. Ismaili hermeneutics draws multiple significance from the symbol of the Cross, relating its inter-crossing pillars to the creative principles of al-Sābiq (the Precedent) and al-Tālī (the Successor), the complementary functions of Prophethood and Imamate, and to the four terms of the shahāda, the Islamic profession of faith. See Abū Yaʿqūb al-Sijistānī, Kitāb al-yanabīʿ, tr. Paul E. Walker, The Wellsprings of Wisdom, pp. 91–95; and Sami N. Makarem, The Doctrine of the Ismailis (Beirut, 1972), pp. 27–37.

148

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

And let the baptizer be the one whose grandfather was Muḥammad,

39

Who is deserving of all praise, and not one who is worthy of no praise.

40

The good lies in contemplation and no benefit in becoming a Christian.

41

Turn towards al-Mustanṣir’s sanctuary and you will be far from the pain of others.

42

In his house is wisdom bestowed, so follow him to the House of Wisdom,236

43

Where tongues become articulate in explaining many a difficult question.

44

You will discover that he is pre-eminent in (the interpretation of) the Law.

45

His knowledge is a kind of magnificence, which brings pleasure (to the eyes).

46

The gain from his Law is like buttercream, while scum is the gain of those

47

Who are always opposing him, inciting uproar and tumult (among the people).

48

They are in possession of every obstacle to reach the truths of religion.

49

So ask me about the details to avoid becoming blind and dumb;

50

(Details) clearly about the progeny 236. By the expression ‘House of Wisdom’, al-Muʾayyad means the gnosis of the Imams. He may also be alluding to the Dār al-Ḥikma (House of Wisdom), also known as Dār al-‘Ilm (House of Knowledge), of which he later became the director, and the majālis al-ḥikma (Sessions of Wisdom) held in Fatimid palaces for esoteric teachings. See note 17 above.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

149

of the Prophet, inherited from the father.

51

May my father and mother be ransomed for that neighbourhood and House!

52

They are the crescent moon of creatures and the guides to the Truth.

53

They are the guardians and custodians of the community of Truth.

54

They are the sources of knowledge and the authority on reasoning.

55

They are the fertile land of understanding and companions of the Qurʾān.

56

They are the sanctum of discernment and the locus of revelation.

57

They are the springs of righteousness and the guarantors of security.

58

They are the blaze glowing on graceful faces, the pearls in the shells of justice.

59

They are the fruits of the trees of intellect established by God in their glory.

60

The custodians of the inner meaning of scriptures and the virtues of Sūra Zumar.237

61

In truth, they are the House of Allāh, the Mashʿar, and His two Marwā and Minā.

62

They are created from the Light of my Lord; may they be delighted and welcoming!

63

Generosity is part of their disposition; it is their faith and practice.

64

237. Qurʾān 39.

150

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Their love is Ibn Mūsā’s treasure for salvation; they are his only aspiration.

65

How often he rushed into the dark nights because of a treacherous villain!

66

This poem is like a bride unveiled whose beauty is adorned by radiance.

67

A vision of her removes sorrow, and it gleams in the lightning flash of my art.

68

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

151

Qaṣīda 26 (Persia to Egypt, 433–437/1042–1045) O my Lord! I have made my devotions to You, openly and secretly, O Master of the Kingdoms of Creation and Command! 238

1

O He who disposes us as He chooses, in life and death, in the Gathering and the Resurrection!

2

O my Lord! I have set out hopefully towards You; so my God, grant me pardon and forgiveness.

3

O my Lord! If were to have power over my foe, I would spread out a cover of forgiveness over him.

4

A person like me has no power over the servants of Allāh to either benefit or harm them.

5

Where shall I have such power in whose vast ocean my ship is (too feeble) to set forth or find anchor in port?

6

If there is someone with humility like me, who can be regarded among the most humble of people,

7

And if he is able to grant pardon as I do, then You are much more generous to bestow forgiveness.

8

By your Truth, O my Lord! I am not (of) the enemy, for I have opened my breast to religion.

9

The declaration of God’s Oneness has became the most concealed secret in my heart.

10

I have turned my face in loyalty to the Prophet’s progeny, and I have turned my back to the people of hatred.

11

The Fire (of Hell) has nothing to do with me; the length of my guiding hand subdues the hand of Fire.

12

238. Qurʾān 7: 54. The realm of Command (al-amr) is the divine creative power in the broadest sense, including all the cosmic agencies and processes involved in generating the physical world of Creation (al-khalq).

152

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

I have become pure gold for the Sun of guidance; it is quite impossible for the Fire to burn away the gold.

13

O my God! My intention is good; so I beseech You to bestow upon me a decent abode.

14

And let my difficulties find relief, for You have said: ‘Verily, with every difficulty comes ease’.239

15

239. Qurʾān 94: 5.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

153

Qaṣīda 27 (place/date unknown) O my God, it is my hope to receive salvation by the all-embracing Mercy of its Most Generous Bestower.

1

O Lord of Majesty! I have been consecrated (by Your Mercy) through its mosque and pulpit.

2

The rightly-guiding Prophet and his Trustee (‘Alī), the one who, when the war bared its canine teeth,

3

His sword became hot with the blood of severed necks, hot like a fire setting ablaze the brushwood.

4

His family became elevated (above all mankind) by their noble lineage and character.

5

For the people of love and devotion, loyalty to them is indicative of the purity of their lineage.

6

O my God! Because of my allegiance to (them), the nights treated me with much deceit and hardship.

7

How they made me swallow their bitter drink! How much they have worn me down by their enmity!

8

Forgive me, O my God, because I am a person who has entered the City (of knowledge) by its Gate.240

9

I have struggled in the way of God properly, and offered my life to its Masters (the Imams).

10

O my God! Punish their enemies, the followers of divination by arrows and worshippers of stones!

11

And cut off their garments from the Hellfire, for the time has come to cut out their garments!

12

240. In accordance with the Prophetic tradition: ‘I am the city of knowledge and ʿAlī is its gate. Whosoever wishes (to enter) the city must enter through the gate.’

154

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

For, O my Lord, Your Fire deserves to capture them, just as they are deserving to be captured by it!

13

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

155

Qaṣīda 28 (place/date unknown) O God! If I am always complaining about my dire condition, I am sincere in my supplication,

1

So that You bestow upon me a glance sufficient for me to withstand the night’s torments;

2

And so that the midday heat that is oppressing me returns to the coolness of the shade.

3

It seems to me as if there is a barrier between the response and the petition.

4

In case You were to turn away from the hand I have stretched out towards You,

5

O Lord of Majesty, is there any Lord other than You —O my hope!—towards whom can I set out?

6

Will You be reprehensible in responding to me as I am reprehensible in my deeds?

7

Your forgiveness will not be inadequate for my sins, even if they are as weighty as mountains.

8

Far be it from Your clemency that it becomes little in comparison with the weight of my sins.

9

O my Lord! I shall remain here supplicating as long as there is life in my body.

10

And I plead to You through the intercession of the pure ones, the Fatimid lords,

11

The Prophet al-Muṣṭafā’s descendants, who are the source of salvation against falsehood.

12

They are the people by whose cord of allegiance my robes have always been connected.

13

156

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Until the knot of my burden is untied, I shall persevere joyfully in unfettering its ties.

14

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

157

Qaṣīda 29 (Egypt, after 450/1058) I swear by God, (the One) who has no partner —and verily, it is a mighty oath!

1

If the descendants of Fāṭima have a right or sanctity with the Creator of the breath of life,

2

They are the means of my (salvation); for them I have set up camp in the centre of Suha.241

3

My sanctity with Him will be due to allegiance to them, for to be sanctified in religion is a great blessing.

4

I have a portion of what they earned of Allāh’s bounties, (and it is) the best of their apportionment.

5

How often has my foot sought its own destruction! How often have I been prepared to die for their sake!

6

The swords of kings are unable to enhance their glory as much as I do with (the power of) my speech.

7

Baghdad’s eye has never witnessed such dust of war like the (storm of) dust raised by my deeds.

8

After curbing the hands of its tyrant (Tughril Beg), my pen disarmed (the supporters) of his evil. 242

9

There was no torch burning upon a mountain more celebrated than my banner and flag.

10

The salvation of the soul is in my commandments, and the intellect is my guide in what I offer.

11

241. Suha is Arabic for the star Alcor in the constellation Ursa Major. 242. In these lines al-Muʾayyad celebrates his role in the Fatimid military campaign against the Saljūqs in Syria and Iraq, resulting in the occupation of Baghdad in 450/1058. For details, see his Sīra, pp. 96–114, and Klemm, Memoirs of a Mission, pp. 78–86.

158

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

The wounds inflicted by a sword upon bodies are not like the wounds (caused by) my words upon souls.

12

May evil befall Time whose events have turned upside down with feet above their heads!

13

It would be better for (some) people to be ashamed when reminded of the day they were my servants.

14

That time was recent and these people were not blind to what they saw when they were my attendants.243

15

I have become weary of this life, knowing that the real existence lies in my (physical) non-existence.

16

My wish is death so that I penetrate through it, from the world of darkness to the Sanctuary of Light!

17

243. Verses 14–15 allude to al-Muʾayyad’s political rivals in Cairo, possibly the wazir Ibn Mudabbir, who exiled him to Jerusalem for a year in 453/1058.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

159

Qaṣīda 30 (place/date unknown) A soul whose ornaments are the engraving of its Lord’s Oneness; how perfect are (its) crown, nose-ring and earring! 1 It shines brightly like a lamp in a glass, contrary to those people whose hearts are covered (in veils of darkness).244

2

The Prophet’s progeny are the primal cave of the soul, a cave in their glorious mountain attained by loyalty (to them).

 3

This loyalty is honourable, free from disgrace and indecency; it enlightens the face with a glow and scorns (wickedness).

4

(Who) is it that fears his soul will burn in Hellfire, when it has the means of avoiding (the Fire) through loyalty?

 5

The Fire is in the lowest of the low (regions of the Hereafter), whereas one’s soul has its abode in the seventh heaven.

6

Tomorrow, it will be accompanied by the souls of believers companionable to it, and the angels gliding and glorifying it.

7

It will stand in rank as angels do, it will recite as they recite, as it is released from the bodily garment lying down there!

8

244. Qurʾān 24: 35.

160

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 31 (Egypt or Jerusalem, 453–454/1061–1062)

O my two companions! May you be secure from whatever I encounter (tomorrow).

1

The enemy received from us more than what they had wished for because of the hand of Time.

2

By its hand they acquired the most difficult task; so they had no hand in that matter.

3

If they had known my condition, my fortitude, and the trials and troubles (I have been through),

4

Their tears would have coursed down their cheeks like a scattering of pearls!

5

If the enemy is capable of weeping for me, it is more appropriate for you to weep for me!

6

Speak to the approaching (night and day)245 that are created for the sake of every creature.

7

May there arise no good deeds from them because they are two vehicles of evil.

8

Say: ‘Carry all the weapons you can against me, even as one who labours untiringly,

9

(Because) death is the time of (my) salvation from harm—and death is nigh!’

10

There are two shelters from harm before me, which are rather like two gardens:

11

The two hands of Allāh, the Almighty, which are stretched out for my felicitation.

12

Both of them are real blessings according to the judgements and requirements of the Qurʾān.

13

245. Lit. ‘Say to the two new ones’.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

161

They are the Prophet and his counterpart (ʿAlī): O the hands of blessings, what wonderful hands they are!

14

They are the mīm and the ʿayn, (the wellspring) from whom two rivers flow besides me.246

15

I am from the City of Security, and my support is the Yamanite corner.247

16

246. The letters mīm and ʿayn are the initial characters of the names Muḥammad and ʿAlī. 247. The Yamanite corner (rukn al-Yaman) is the south-western pillar of the Kaʿba, so-called because it faces the direction of Yaman. It is regarded as a particularly holy place, second only to the Black Stone, where pilgrims congregate to touch or kiss it, because of its association with Abraham and Muḥammad. There is a Shiʿi tradition that it was besides this pillar inside the Kaʿba that Fāṭima gave birth to ʿAlī. In Qaṣīda 52: 8 below, al-Muʾayyad identifies the Black Stone and Pillar of the Kaʿba as symbols of the Imams.

162

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 32 (Egypt, 446/1054)

I permitted the sanctuary of my blood to be spilled for their sake, and for them only I lost my youth and the prime of my life. 1 For their sake I left my homeland and became a stranger, wandering across the earth, from one wasteland to another.

2

And when I came to them, an enduring physician (of the soul), knowledgeable of what is known and the unknown,

3

Defending my allegiance to them both by word and deed, and offering sincere counsel secretly and openly:

4

‘They lost me, and what a youth they have lost! For he was courageous in battle and defending a border.’ 248

5

If Fate had not diminished my fortune, they would not have failed to acknowledge my fame and virtues.

6

O yes, they do know about my obedience to religion, while others are obedient to cloaks and rags.

7

If they had drawn my sword they would have seen that it is sharp enough to cut the enemy’s jugular veins.

8

And I would have enrobed the body of religion with a fragrant garment in a way nobody else can,

9

And thereby remove the drought in Egypt—but that is innovating since Joseph is here in the land of Egypt! 249

10

248. Quoted from the Dīwān of the Umayyad poet ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar al-ʿArjī (d. c. 120/738). 249. This poem may be read as an expression of al-Muʾayyad’s disappointment at not being appointed chief dā‘ī. The final verse refers to a severe drought in 446/1054 that caused widespread famine in Egypt.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

163

Qaṣīda 33 (Egypt, 437–439/1045–1048) High above the stars of Ursa Major is a palace established whose inhabitants dwell in the highest heavens.

1

Its courtyard is justice enlightened by piety and nobility, and the ceiling is righteous conduct.

2

Allāh’s protection is always there surrounding those who are encompassed by the walls of His secure enclosure.

3

A palace it is whose gardens yearn for its loyal friends, while its enemies enter the blazing fires of Hell.

4

Residing in it are the Face and Side of Allāh,250 Muḥammad’s truthful tongue and heart,

5

Al-Murtazā’s son and successor, his right hand, his sword and spear upon a day of uproar.

6

He is from the Light which was truly manifested (in ʿAlī), and his proof is (inherited) from (ʿAlī’s) proof.

7

Whosoever is loyal to him can become a master of his time and subdue it to become the best of times.

8

That Imam Maʿadd is the one through whom Maʿadd and his name ʿAdnān became exalted in pride.251

9

He is Mustanṣir bi’llāh, the foundation of Allāh’s Truth in His creation and the Balance of His justice.

10

He is the sovereign whose soldiers are heavenly angels, while the kings of this world are his slaves.

11

250. Qurʾān 55: 26–27, 39: 56. 251. ʿAdnān and his son Maʿadd are the legendary ancestors of a northern Arab tribe known collectively as al-Maʿadd. In Fatimid literature, the term maʿadd (lit. place of return) is linked to the notion of spiritual ascent and salvation attained through the Imams.

164

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

He is the full moon and the imams of others are stars; he is the ocean but the others are merely pools!

12

For us guidance was only hearsay until his blessed presence became manifest and established.

13

Can belief in Divine Unity be true without loyalty to him? Loyalty to him is like being the title of his book!

14

Or is there someone else in whose home the Holy Qurʾān was revealed and can interpret (its true meaning)?

15

There is a servant who sacrificed himself for him, seeking refuge from the violence and vicissitudes of Time.

16

Exiled from his home and people without any cause, except for his faith which others held to be a crime.

17

His love for his homeland is his conquering, and treacherous is his fortitude in separation from his kin.

18

His neighbourhood is Mawlānā’s stronghold; his prestige the sanctuary of Mawlānā’s magnificent honour.

19

When Ibn Mūsā is apart from his family, Mawlānā is his family, and when he is far from home, Mawlānā is his home 20 Mawlānā’s devotees are at his lofty door; they are Ibn Mūsā’s brothers when his own brothers are absent. 21

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

165

Qaṣīda 34 (Persia to Egypt, 433–437/1042–1045) O descendants of Ṭāhā! May I be sacrificed for you! My mind is devoted to you and my heart cleaves to you lovingly.  1 I have sacrificed myself for them willingly, even though I had to wait all my life for my blood to be spilled.

2

For their sake, my body has become the locus of every calamity (and) my heart the encampment for every sorrow.

3

Time has removed its auspicious arrow from me, but there are many evil arrows of it embedded in my heart.

4

The cruel time of the Umayyads has passed away, but the time of cruelty does not want to leave me alone.

5

If there was a dark period in the past because of them, the present time is darker and even more unjust.

6

If injustice was inflicted upon the Shiʿa sometimes, I am being oppressed all the time.

7

I see the hands of death stretching towards me, like a lion resolute in chasing its prey.252

8

(So) I remain here, hour after hour, waiting to be thrown to its canine teeth and jaws.

9

Each passing day, I think it is tomorrow; and when the month of pilgrimage passes, I think it is still Muḥarram.

10

I keep wandering here and there like a homeless man not knowing where to go.

11

Never has there been one so overcome by perplexity, neither in early or later periods of time.

12

252. This qaṣīda, composed probably in Najaf soon after al-Muʾayyad fled Persia, reflects his fear of imminent capture and execution. Cf. Sīra, pp. 73–74, and Klemm, Memoirs of a Mission, pp. 42–43.

166

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

I spend my days in darkness because of a passion which has turned my day into a dark night.

13

And I spend my night beneath its stars, which seem to weep (for me) when I weep and suffer.

14

All that because I am one who has dedicated himself to the descendants of the Messenger of Allāh.

15

For their love I am content with Allāh’s judgement; who can reject a matter that is already preordained?

16

If my soul remains safe, it will submit to my wishes, and that will be Allāh’s grace conveyed to me.

17

If it perishes, it will succeed and receive its bliss, because to die for the sake of Allāh is beneficial for it.

18

It is adequate pride for me that I (am ready to) taste death for the sake of Aḥmad and his descendants.

19

Am I not one whose body is armed honourably by them and his head crowned by the dignity of knowledge?

20

Am I not one who dispels darkness by his discourse so that even an eloquent person is silenced by it?

21

Through them I have a field above the heavens, a rank and a feast in the highest assembly (of angels).

22

By their light I walk while others are in darkness; I live in joy while they are dead souls in the darkness.

23

Is one who provides guidance and leadership in difficult circumstances like a dumb and deaf beast? 253

24

Every evening I am replenished by them while others go thirsty; they awaken me in the morning while others sleep. 25 The enemies seek revenge on me for my piety and guidance, but the Owner of the Throne will take a more powerful revenge 253. Qurʾān 17: 97.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

on them for their misguidance.

167 26

They tried to prevent me from entering their paradise; let them and their paradise be disgraced, for it is hell to me!

27

By loving Muḥammad’s descendants, I am safe from destruction, even though its waves keep assaulting me.

28

Does the one not facing death until his hour comes have any cause to fear when he is actually secure?

29

He is the one whose religion includes love for the Prophet and his descendants, which is absolutely the true faith.

30

They are like the (bright) stars guiding humanity at night, and like shooting stars that drive away the devils.254

31

May Allāh’s peace be upon them, a peace supreme! May they always be showered with blessings and salutations!

 32

254. Qurʾān 67: 5.

168

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 35 (place/date unknown)

O God, how weary have I become of myself, and there’s little joy left in my life!

1

I wake up with an empty stomach (everyday); there’s no difference between my yesterday and today.

2

How splendid the day when I enter my grave! For that will be the day of my release from prison,

3

My day of good fortune and the removal of hardship, the beginning of my prosperity and the end of my misery.

4

As every element returns to its origin, so the (bodily) shell will remain in the sensible world.

5

(But) the essence will return to the Holy Spirit! O people, I’ve had enough of my life, I’ve had enough!

6

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

169

Qaṣīda 36 (Persia to Egypt, 433–437/1042–1045) I have been guided by Ma‘add to the ways of my return, (and) to him I have offered my pure love.

1

My heart has sought refuge from itself in (this) loyalty, which will be my provision on the Day of Judgement.

2

By God, if my heart turned to flee away from him, I will abandon my heart openly!

3

The pure Imam al-Mustanṣir is (my) lord and Allāh’s proof over the people.255

4

His grandfather (Muḥammad) is the Warner256 sent by God to mankind as custodian of (His) guidance.

5

Allāh referred to his forefathers when He said: ‘And for every people there is a guide.’ 257

6

O friend of Allāh! May my heart, family and property be sacrificed for you!

7

Your servant Ibn Mūsā (is still) a fire blazing amidst groups of obstinate people,

8

Plunging himself into mortal throes (and) offering his soul generously. O the purest of the nobility!

9

Even though I am far from my native abode, all alone, expelled from my old and new possessions,

10

Maʿadd is my treasure, my family, my property, my support, as well as my weaponry and armoury.258

11

255. See note 132 above. 256. Qurʾān 7: 184. 257. Qurʾān 13: 7. 258. An earlier version of this translation appeared in Landolt et al, An Anthology of Ismaili Literature, pp. 265–266.

170

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 37 (Syria, 448–449/1056–1057)

O companions! Let us prepare the camels for departure and travel through the deserts towards Shīrāz.

1

Let us act upon the thoughts coming from our hearts, and achieve the aims of our souls more quickly.

2

We shall renew our pledge to the dearly loved ones, for visiting the beloved ones is dear to us.

3

The (need for) patience has subsided today, therefore let us depart and throw all hesitation aside.

4

Would that I knew when I will have the delight of meeting them and relate the trials I have endured.

5

I would say that (our) separation has exhausted me and turned (the hair on) my head fully grey.

6

How many a time have I left my friends behind by wandering about all over the earth?

7

Will a time come for not bidding farewell, and will not a day arrive without hardship for me?

8

Time will never be sincere to anyone; its waters are not pure for anyone to drink of it.

9

You will find that its kindness is denial, its novelty decay, its words deceitful and its hopes a disappointment.

10

So do not be (unduly) cheerful if it is a pleasant day, nor be apprehensive if it avoids you.

11

Keep good company to it physically, but be fearful of becoming its companion spiritually.

12

The origin of your physical body is the natural world; there it will disintegrate and be forsaken.

13

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

171

The origin of your soul is a subtle element: this observation is fundamental to religious knowledge.

14

Each and every atom seeks what is suitable for it, not what is incompatible with it.

15

Your body is nourished by what the earth produces; your soul by a light that disperses darkness.

16

When the former dies, it passes away; when the latter avoids being corrupted by filth,

17

And becomes loyal to Allāh’s proof on earth, elevated by truth among the most beloved and blessed,

18

It becomes an angel over the heavens, approaches the abode of peace in safety and returns to it.

19

Turn your face towards religion and be loyal to him (so as) to reach him and ascend to these ranks.

20

He is the pure al-Mustanṣir, by whose (grace) a defeated one becomes victorious.

21

(He is) Maʿadd, Commander of the Faithful, manifest like a comet lighting the East and the West.

22

He is Allāh’s straight path for people of understanding and proof against the ignorant ones gone astray.

23

He brings disaster to the souls of the enemy and serenity for people of goodwill and guidance.

24

He is Allāh’s deputy among His servants, granting them the spirit of life or depriving them of it.

25

And from (people made out of) clay he creates angels with forelocks crowned in glory.

26

He is the Imam whose praise is the best of praises, and his virtues enhance the beauty of all other virtues.

27

172

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

You can recognize Truth when he walks among people, and feel the Holy Spirit mounted in human shape.

28

Meeting him (is like) meeting the Prophet al-Muṣṭafā, (in terms of) divine attributes and the like.259

29

When you see him pray, it is the Prophet praying; when he rises to preach, it is the Prophet preaching.

30

If you have not witnessed the dignity of Ḥaydar (ʿAlī) and how he repeatedly defeated legions (of his enemy),

31

(Or) seen him delivering sermons from the pulpit, deliberating upon the wonders of divine truths,

32

Then witness his pure descendant Maʿadd, and find him equally confident in dignity and glory.

33

He is the night for anyone seeking to conceal himself and the morning light for those travelling by night.

34

He is the Sun casting light upon the sun of the world and spreading the light of its moon and stars.

35

Is there any other able to open the Gate of Heaven by means of his precious water (of knowledge)?

36

Is there anything that can relieve man of evil and suffering without invoking him?

37

Is there anyone else who listens to the distressed when they call upon him during hardship?

38

Other than him, who is there feared by Time whose forebodings so terrify the people?

39

Would that I knew when my soul will reach its goal as I lead the mounts towards it from Egypt,

40

And confront the vile enemy in (battle) so that they are killed, fallen and put to flight!

41

259. See note 201 above.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

173

Those present fearing death will be captured, while those absent from fright will not be protected!

42

There the hearts of believers will be healed, and religion will turn to anger for the sake of God.

43

It is the religion bestowed by the Great Bestower, so respect what is bestowed and glorify the Bestower.

44

O Hibat Allāh ibn Mūsā, praise Him continuously for the gifts He has bestowed upon you!

45

So neither be unhappy if complications arise, nor be moved to anger because of it.

46

The Lord of the Throne suffices all with His bounty, and will make the outcome agreeable to you.

47

174

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 38 (Egypt, 450/1058)

If I were a contemporary of Prophet Muḥammad, I would not have fallen short of Salmān in rank.260

1

And he said publicly: ‘You are (one) of my ahl al-bayt,’ disclosing clearly the meaning of his declaration.

2

My deeds are renowned in the land of Iraq, as well as in Persia and Kirmān.

3

It was a most wretched day for the son of ʿAbbās when death appeared before his eyes personified.261

4

He found himself stumbling in the tails of humiliation, by exchanging his spacious court for a narrow prison.

5

And he saw (mounted) on the post Ibn al-Muslima, whose aggression had enraged the mouth of Islam.262

6

May Allāh shower His merciful waters upon the grave wherein Abū ʿImrān is buried! 263

7

For on how many occasions did his son remain firm in adversity, with a steadfast heart and tongue,

8

Raising high the banners of the Prophet and his progeny, fighting and dispatching their enemies?

9

How many a time does he support the sons of Aaron 260. A devoted Persian supporter of Imam ʿAlī, Salmān al-Fārisī was ransomed from slavery by Prophet Muḥammad and adopted into his own family; hence the Prophetic tradition: ‘Salmān is one of us, the people of the house (ahl al-bayt).’ Al-Muʾayyad was sometimes called al-Salmānī because of his self-identification with Salmān. 261. The Abbasid caliph al-Qā’im was exiled when Baghdad fell briefly to pro-Fatimid forces led by al-Basāsīrī in 450/1058. 262. The wazir of al-Qāʾim, Ibn al-Muslima, was executed by al-Basāsīrī following his capture of Baghdad. 263. Abū ʿImrān was al-Muʾayyad’s father.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

175

and destroys the sons of Hāmān for your sake? 264

10

Is there anyone on earth who can resemble him or compete with him in his endeavours?

11

Eminent is he by virtue of his faith and loyalty to the pre-eminent one, his lord, the Imam of the time.

12

The Imam is the best among Allāh’s servants, and I am the most excellent among his servants!

13

264. The poet identifies the Fatimid Imams with the sons of Aaron, brother of Moses, and their opponents with the sons of Hāmān, the Pharaoh’s wazir, as in the Prophetic tradition addressed to Imam ʿAlī: ‘You are to me what Aaron was to Moses, except that there will be no Prophet after me.’

176

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 39 (Persia to Egypt, 433–437/1042–1045)

I am pleased with the hard bitter life, and I have bound my bodily desires securely.

1

I have abandoned the objective of former kings to bend down in prostration to the people.

2

It suffices me that I worship Allāh sincerely; I worship Allāh alone, not any servant of Him.

3

If my hand was inferior to any other in generosity, I would never drink from my own hand.

4

If the intercession of my virtues makes me not a king, I will reject the rule of any other intercession.

5

My hopes in the people have fallen short, even if they are enlarged in Allāh’s forgiveness.

6

After reaching the age of fifty years, I am certain that the day of gaining my objective is near.

7

My honour has never been disgraced, nor my canine tooth ever desired forbidden things.

8

If I was once a man easily moved to laughter and joy, now the laughter is inhibited by my greying hair.

9

I have become a companion to repentance and my time is fully devoted to obedience alone.

10

I am still haunted by despair, but it is dismissed, its force broken up by my powerful resolution.

11

When enemies conspire against me, they are themselves entrapped by the snare they set for me.

12

When my throat is gripped by (fear) and I see no way of escape, I cry out: ‘O progeny of Aḥmad!

13

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

177

Help me, help me! O Muḥammad’s cousin! Give me a hand, my lord! My life be sacrificed for you!’

14

Then I see the enemy’s army scatter before me and I witness the sword of victory drawn besides me.

15

They are my treasure unequalled in both the worlds; they are my refuge today and my provision for tomorrow.

16

178

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 40 (Persia to Egypt, 433–437/1042–1045)

Generous are my eyes in making the tears flow; my heart is consumed by sorrow,

1

Because Persia was my homeland, but now my place of dismounting is Amad.265

2

I have become disenchanted with longing, for it has debilitated (my) body.

3

The body has become indisposed by an excess of longing (for my people).

4

How miserable I feel (when I recall) our days together, while Time neglects us!

5

Our community was once united and many a good thing was achieved by us.

6

(Then) the calamities of Time came forth to kneel and prostrate before me.

7

O friends, my star that was once ascending has now begun to descend!

8

Comfort is draining away from me, while I am beset by a host of difficulties.

9

Time is full of revenge against me and behaves most spitefully towards me.

10

With its bow and arrow, palm and forearm, it is shooting at me from afar.

11

(Wherever I go), from place to place, its target always remains the same,

12

265. Amid (as in M. K. Ḥusayn’s edition) can mean one of two things, or both: Amad, a place near Diyār Bakr, in southern Turkey, or amaad, meaning ‘far away’.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

179

As if Time was hunting (a beast of prey) all across the surface of the earth!

13

(So) I travel with sleepless eyes, and my only provision is ardent love.

14

Humiliation accompanies me everywhere; it would be a blessing to be left alone!

15

I am striving and struggling like that only because of the nobility (of my cause).

16

What is it that has incited all these scoundrels to chase after me?

17

All of them bear hatred for me; everyone tries to lay snares for my soul.

18

It is their wicked mentality and base origin that stirs them up against me.

19

Their hostility to the Trustee (ʿAlī), and his progeny bears witness against them.

20

The perverse and despicable one opposes me only because of my love for them.

21

It is for my devotion to the ahl al-bayt that I continue to be harassed and maligned.

22

Ask (the people of) Persia about my standing and the battles I fought there.

23

(Ask) about the one who proclaimed the religion of guidance when its light was dying.

24

About the one who protected its sanctuaries from being violated by the enemy.

25

He who repulsed the enemy and led armies when there was no leader or general.

26

180

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Who is there with deeds considered praiseworthy by all witnesses?

27

It is he whose powerful sermons became like precious pearls (to them).

28

By these sermons which captivated the hearts, he identified the People of the Cloak.

29

O Maʿadd, whose grandfather was al-Hādī and whose father was Ḥaydar! 266

30

By God, truly, these fateful events have brought about good fortune for you!

31

Everything that happened was easy for me and now I am ascending to you.

32

I am aiming at reaching your gate and coming to your (house of) honour.

33

Through you, much have I achieved, more than anyone else even with great effort.

34

Inquire from (the people of) Ahwāz about my performance and they will confirm it.

35

There is no one who can deny or disregard the claims of my forefathers.

36

They rendered service even before the emergence of Fatimid spears.

37

They devoted their lives to you at a time when fear was like a quiet night.

38

O Abū Tamīm, through whom a devotee seeks to have his services accepted!

39

266. Al-Hādī (the Guide) refers to Prophet Muḥammad, and Ḥaydar (lion) is Imam ʿAlī.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

181

I turn to you for recognition among those who have attained maturity of heart.

40

Allāh has enlarged your sovereignty greatly, and He is the best Provider!

41

May Allāh bestow His blessings on you as long as there are wayfarers on the road!

42

182

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 41 (Egypt, 437–439/1045–1048)

May peace be upon (the Prophet’s) pure progeny and welcome be to their resplendent lights.

1

First, may peace be upon Adam, the father of all people, nomads and city-dwellers.

2

May peace be upon (Noah) by whose flood the oppressors were overwhelmed by adversity.

3

May peace be on (Abraham) who received peace when he was encompassed by fire.

4

May peace be on (Moses) who, with his staff, overcame the tyrant Pharaoh’s disobedient people.

5

May peace be on the Spirit Jesus, through whose mission Nazareth was honoured.

6

May peace be on the chosen Aḥmad (Muḥammad), the master of intercession in the Hereafter.

7

May peace be on the favoured Ḥaydar (ʿAlī) and his descendants, the illuminating stars.

8

May peace be on you who is the essence of them all, O you, the sovereign of Cairo!

9

May my soul be sacrificed for al-Mustanṣir bi’llāh, who is supported by the armies of Heaven.

10

I witness that you are the Face of Allāh, by whom the faces of your followers are all aglow,

11

And you are the possessor of the fountain of life, whereas your enemy’s essence of life is exhausted.

12

Your palm is an ocean of generosity, and knowledge abundant is forever joined with you

13

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

183

So as to regenerate our eternal souls and reconstitute our dead bodies (on the Last Day).

14

The swords and blades of your (eloquent) speech have cut short the lives of your enemies.

15

(O friends!) Convey good tidings to those whose hearts (have lost courage) in the sanctuary of Persia,

16

Because I am far away from them and their traces have become effaced in the ruins.

17

(Tell them) I am safe from the oppressors and that my midday heat has turned into shade;

18

That I have emigrated to the Imam of the time and preceded them in attaining Paradise.

19

My soul is soaring freely in (gardens of heavenly) bliss and my eye is fully ‘attentive to its Lord’.267

20

May peace be upon you, the salutations of a person who has brought calamity to your enemies.

21

Peace be upon you, O son of the Messenger’s daughter, the peace (enfolded) in magnificent garments.

22

(Tell them) that he strove in Allāh’s cause rightfully, (and) spread reports of him among the people.

23

Ask (the people of) Persia about his (noble) stations and you will find the proofs aplenty.

24

I left Baghdad (ruled by) its tyrant, (who lived in constant) fear with sleepless eyes.

25

And it was for you (O Imam) that I established a clear and open mission there in his area.

26

(Without) your boundless good fortune (to me), my limited hand could have reached nowhere.

27

267. Qurʾān 75: 22–23.

184

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

This servant came to your gate seeking rain from the overflowing clouds of your mercy.

28

Ibn Mūsā and his forefathers are flourishing houses of the Truth they pursued.

29

They have served you even before the flag-bearer hoisted the banner of your victory.

30

May you abide forever and let (all) the earth be clearly paved and subjected to you.

31

May your armies always be victorious and your enemies humiliated among the people.

32

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

185

Qaṣīda 42 (Persia, before 433/1042) O inquisitor who questions me about myself! Be aware that I am a Sunni man! 268

1

I love the Companions of the rightly-guided Prophet; my faith is based upon love for them.

2

Our Ṣiddīq is the pure one and our Fārūq is like the pupil of my eye.269

3

I dissociate myself from he who said ignorantly: ‘I am a man to whom appears a devil.’ 270

4

And I curse Adlam (begotten of) Ṣahhāka, who never stopped committing adultery.271

5

I repudiate the Rafidīs and their followers,272 as I am free of them!

6

There is no other way of guidance; if you seek true guidance, then follow me!

7

268. Al-Muʾayyad claims to be a true Sunni in the sense that he upholds the sunna (customs and traditions) of the Prophet, in particular regarding the Imamate of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib which the Sunnis reject. 269. The Sunnis attribute the names al-Ṣiddīq (the trustworthy) and al-Fārūq (the distinguisher of truth from falsehood) to the first two caliphs Abū Bakr and ʿUmar respectively, whereas for the Shiʿa they belong exclusively to Imam ʿAlī. 270. See note 127 above. 271. Adlam and Ṣahhāka were among the pagan idols worshipped in Mecca before the advent of Islam, and here they allude to the caliph ʿUmar and his grandmother Ṣahhāk. 272. See note 136 above.

186

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 43 (place/date unknown)

O You who beholds a gnat spreading its wings in the depths of the pitch-black night!

1

Who sees the intersection of its veins and the substance of those feeble bones!

2

He sees and hears what is even smaller at the bottom of a torrent or overflowing sea.

3

Nothing of His creation is hidden from His ken, not ‘even the weight of a mustard seed’.273

4

He knows everything and its composition. Glorified is He, the Most Exalted and Generous! 274

5

(O Lord), bless me with a glance so that I become alive (again), as it was at the first creation! 275

6

273. Qurʾān 21: 47, 31: 16. 274. M. K. Ḥusayn observes in his edition that verses 3–5 are similar to lines composed by the Muʾtazilī scholar Maḥmūd al-Zamakhsharī (d. 538/1144) in his commentary al-Kashshāf. 275. Lit. ‘the first of ages’, alluding to Qurʾān 7: 172 on the creation of mankind.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

187

Qaṣīda 44 (Persia, before 433/1042) I dissociate myself from the first Hubal and the cross-eyed Adlam.

1

(Then from) Naʿthal and his people, as well as the lady of Mahmal.276

2

I dissociate myself from violators of the rights (of ʿAlī) and the Rafidīs who exaggerate about him.

3

I am satisfied with taqiyya as my doctrine, and I am not prepared to follow any other way. 277

4

Loving the (Prophet’s) Companions is my sanctuary, far above any other stronghold.

5

My loyalty is to (ʿAlī), the most truthful Companion and the best Fārūq of our community.

6

I believe that good and evil come from our Lord, and I keep away from the liar’s proof.

7

Anyone guided by Allāh will never be misled, and he who is misled will never be truly guided.

8

I dissociate myself from (all acts of) rejection, separation and enmity (among Muslims).

9

O Lord, increase my guidance with (more) guidance278 for the sake of Muḥammad, the Messenger!

10

276. Naʿthal, meaning ‘feeble old man’, was a name given to the caliph ʿUthmān by his opponents. The ‘lady of Mahmal’ refers to ʿĀʾisha, the Prophet’s wife, who led the campaign against Imam ʿAlī at the Battle of the Camel in 36/656. 277. On taqiyya, see note 160 above. 278. Qurʾān 47: 17.

188

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 45 (Persia to Egypt, 433–437/1042–1045)

O Abu’l-Ḥasan! O he who is like the Warner (Muḥammad)! 279 Without you there would be no one equal to him.

1

O moon who illuminates the dark night following that glittering sun (of the Prophet)!

2

O possessor of proofs, the one who leads us to ‘bliss and a kingdom magnificent’! 280

3

Protect your humble slave who comes seeking refuge with you, O Master of the world!

4

For your sake he was exiled from his land and traversed the wilderness to you in destitution.

5

O Allāh’s friend, come to my help and be my support against the evildoers!

6

Destroy the land of the oppressors and overturn the tyrants, be they young or old!

7

O God! My intercessor is the Trustee (ʿAlī); so accept his mediation, O the All-hearing, the All-seeing One!

8

279. The name Abu’l-Ḥasan, ‘father of Ḥasan’, refers to Imam ʿAlī. 280. Qurʾān 76: 20.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

189

Qaṣīda 46 (Mecca, 446/1054) Come to the holy land, the dwelling place of those who have secured immunity against death.

1

Come to the learned Man of Faith, the qibla to which you were directed and guided beyond doubt.

2

Come to the Balance of the Lord of the world, by which you will be rewarded for fulfilling your duties.

3

Come to His most trustworthy and firm handhold which shall never break away or become weak.

4

(The one) in whom you see the proof of everything and bear witness to Him, as you would wish.

5

Do you think by imitating your fathers you will attain true faith, or is what you follow a creed of the ignorant?

6

Come, I will show you that which is truly the House of Allāh, not what you imagine to be the House of Allāh.

7

Is a house of stone more sacred than the chosen guide (Muḥammad) who established the House?

8

Worship the signposts (of Allāh) as do all creatures, and keep away from the idols and devils.

9

Respond to Allāh’s dā‘ī who summons to guidance, or else to whom, O one astray, will you respond?

10

You say that the Messengers are the proof of God and there are no more to come after the former ones. Then you contradict yourself!

11

May He be glorified who has protected the secrets of His religion through mystery and silence!

12

Do you not see that Noah gathered his people in an Ark that was built sturdily of timber,

13

190

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

While the earth lay submerged in a colossal flood? Upon which mountain will you seek shelter to be saved?

14

If you do not belong to his company and people, you will perish and be engulfed in the waves.

15

And here is (Abraham), Allāh’s friend and emissary who summoned people from all over the world.

16

He proclaimed Allāh’s decree that everyone worship Him by performing pilgrimage to the House.281

17

So come to it by foot and mount and make it your direction (of worship) wherever you are settled.282

18

Give the evidence if you have visited (the House) and followed the ones who bow and mingled with them.

19

Why is then the fragrance of the Black Stone not evident or emanating from you if you have kissed it?

20

And here is (Moses), the one to whom Allāh spoke, with a staff in his right hand, who explained the appearance of signs.283

21

His illuminating Torah enjoins you to do any kind of work but warns you about the Sabbath.

22

Likewise, when the calf of his people lay bleating, anyone who harkened to it was deserving of contempt.284

23

And (here is) Elias for whom the sun returned; if there, you would have despaired to see the sun setting.285

24

To him Allāh revealed a warning for his people regarding circumcision. O ignorant one, have you had it done?

25

281. Qurʾān 2: 125. 282. Qurʾān 2: 144. 283. Qurʾān 17: 101. 284. Qurʾān 20: 85–98. 285. The Biblical Prophet Elias (Elisha) is mentioned in the Qurʾān 6: 86, 38: 48.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

191

And right now Jesus is traversing all over the world, if you consider him true and believe in him.

26

Do you know of the place that was usurped by some people instead of the one who purified it?

27

Allāh, by His command, revealed a spirit to him by which he made the blind see and revived the dead.

28

And he said: ‘Verily, O people! Do you know beyond doubt when I shall be departing (from you)?’

29

And here is Allāh’s Messenger (Muḥammad), the most honourable, whom the recorders are incapable of describing correctly.

30

He is the best of creatures by origin and descent, the noblest soul and the most perfect being.

31

He established the pillars of religion, right conduct and guidance, and erased the abode of infidelity by (means of) the Truth.

32

How many a sign, token and brilliant knowledge was with him by which the unbelievers are bewildered!

33

Allāh has made guidance easy for the wise through his tongue so that that you may reflect.

34

All the signs of Allāh’s religion blossom in the Light which will become evident to you if you reflect.

35

Its ta’wīl is preserved with one person alone; 286 if you do not seek it from him you will be misled.

36

Aḥmad is the House of Light and its gate is no doubt Abu’l-Ḥasan, and the House is entered through the gate.287

37

There are counterparts of the two in every (generation); sometimes declaring or concealing themselves.

38

286. Qurʾān 3: 6. 287. See note 240 above.

192

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Do you think that Allāh has changed His religion and law? Such (a belief) is very, very far from what you desired!

39

What about the advent of the Imam of the Resurrection, the mahdī of whom the Prophet gave glad tidings? 288

40

Only if you become a Shiʿa and loyal to all the Messengers will you drink from their basin in the Hereafter.

41

Believe in the love for them, which Allāh has ordained,289 so you can unite that which you have separated.

42

If you believe in Islam, you will be safe and be promoted to the highest (spiritual) rank.

43

Prepare for the Day of Judgement when you will be asked about what you have left behind.

44

Do you think that Allāh will be pleased with all the world’s vanities you have accumulated in this life?

45

Surely He who has elevated and chosen (the guides) will accumulate any great bliss conferred upon you.

46

Will He reckon you for an atom’s weight while you (continue to) ignore what He has asked you to follow?

47

If your hands cling to the rope of loyalty to (the guides), you will be saved; otherwise you will burn in Hell.

48

288. The belief in the mahdī (lit. ‘the rightly guided one’), the messianic saviour expected towards the end of the world, is held by many Muslims, following a number of Prophetic traditions such as: ‘If there were to remain in the life of the world but one day, God would prolong that day until He sends in it a man from my community and my household. His name will be the same as my name. He will fill the earth with equality and justice as it was filled with oppression and tyranny.’ In Twelver Shiʿism, the mahdī is associated with the return of its twelfth Imam from occultation. In Fatimid doctrine he was identified with all the Imams and in paricular the Imam of the final, seventh era of prophetic history. For more details see W. Madelung, ‘Al-Mahdī’, EI2. 289. Qurʾān 42: 23.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

193

Here is poetry of knowledge and wisdom, with light of guidance whenever you contemplate on it.

49

So do not disclose it to anyone except those you choose from the guardians, the people of piety and religion.

50

194

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 47 (Egypt, 437–450/1045–1058)

O conspirator! Plot actively as much as you can! Truly, Allāh will put out the fire you ignite!

1

Have you come here to tie a knot undone by the power of Allāh in a way you did not expect?

2

O one deluded! Are you seeking to reap the harvest of which Allāh, the Merciful, is the Sower?

3

But stay! This House is forever protected by the Lord who constructed it.

4

The House of the progeny of our guide Muṣṭafā has pillars established by Allāh alone.

5

If you intend to destroy it, (remember) how many were led aright to the path of guidance.

6

Allāh disgraced a group among them last time. Lo! Their (time of reckoning) is nigh.

7

So offer them a plan which may appear easy, but it has an exceedingly lofty and mighty origin!

8

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

195

Qaṣīda 48 (place/date unknown) Justice has become evident in the Imam’s domain, as it has in the udders of animals.

1

(The sun) of Truth and the stars of Truth have ascended above all the creatures.

2

Through Maʿadd Abū Tamīm, my work is acclaimed everywhere and my concerns respected.

3

O friend of Allāh! O Allāh’s proof against His creatures on the Day of Judgement! 290

4

You are my treasure and armoury for the Return, and my salvation when death approaches.

5

I have disassociated myself from all enemies and grasped the rope of allegiance.

6

By retaining my allegiance to the Imam, falsehood is vanquished as darkness is by light.

7

Surely you have gained the pleasure of Allāh, just as the hypocrites received His wrath.

8

O son of the Prophet’s daughter! O son of ʿAlī! You are the defender of God’s kingdom.

9

Those who fight you about your birthright have gone astray and become blind.

10

They have become like Gibtarīn Sahhāk 291 and the black (idols) of the past.

11

In the wake of Aḥmad’s death, they performed all kinds of satanic practices.

12

290. In the orginal, the word ghadāh denotes the forenoon or morning; it also bears the meaning of day, and has been translated as such here. 291. The name Gibtarīn Sahhāk is probably a scribal error for the pagan idol Gibt bin Sahhāk, meaning ‘son of the black one’.

196

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

They spilled blood in their lust for power and committed uncountable crimes.

13

How many a lawful thing they held unlawful, and a forbidden thing permissible for the people!

14

They desired to appoint the false and the sinful (as their rulers) by divination of arrows.

15

They abandoned true knowledge and religion and became idol worshippers instead:

16

Like a bride of sweet speech and sentiment, who is adorned by other people’s glory, not her own.

17

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

197

Qaṣīda 49 (place/date unknown) My love for Aḥmad and ʿAlī suffices me as my source of refuge when death draws near.

1

Then, after them both, the purest one in the world is Abū Tamīm Ma‘add, the son of ʿAlī.

2

He is the victorious one aided by Allāh; he is the qibla of Truth and the noblest Kaʿba.

3

He is lord of the guiding religion and a sky of generosity that rejuvenates by its first and later rains.

4

They are my hope, the only hope of ensuring survival when my deeds betray me.292

5

292. An earlier version of this translation appeared in Landolt et al, An Anthology of Ismaili Literature, p. 266.

198

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 50 (Persia, before 433/1042)

They took my heart away when they departed; so permissible is the sanctuary of my tears for them.

1

O the remoteness! I wish you had not resolved (to leave), and may fate bring your day (of return) earlier.

2

There is no terror in my heart like yours; I have no wound like that inflicted by your sword.

3

The pleasure of my fresh youth has become diminished like dry stubble scattered by the winds.

4

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

199

Qaṣīda 51 (Persia, 430–433/1039–1042) God’s eye has taken care of you wherever you have settled in the East and the West as an absolute authority! 293

1

O possessor of Time’s kingdom which you received from His Kingdom! The pride of earth is (greater) compared to Heaven.

2

O one who enhances beauty of the crown which is normally used to adorn foreheads and the partings (of hair)!

 3

When his forehead is seen (reclining) upon the throne, kings (come to) kiss the earth in front of him.

4

They acknowledge obediently and willingly that he is their absolute lord.

5

I wonder how his vision came to encompass the world altogether (with) his omnipresent glance.

6

O you in whom every glory terminates, while your (own) glory never ends!

7

You have placed the people of earth justly in a paradise, replete with play and entertainment.

8

You have gouged the eye of Time for them so that because of you, Time has turned a blind eye to them.

9

The earth is defenceless without your sword to protect it; the command is weak without your word to safeguard it.

10

I hold fast to the rope of Muḥammad’s descendants in religion and life through (you), O the king of kings.

11

The king of kings is the right hand of Muḥammad’s progeny, the refuge of all people, the pillar of God’s religion.

12

293. This qaṣīda is a panegyric addressed to Abū Kālījār, the Būyid ruler of Fārs, in which al-Muʾayyad seeks to persuade him to transfer his allegiance to the Fatimids.

200

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Two good fortunes, one (the Prophet) lies behind me, the other (the Imam) is always available to me in the world.

13

(The king’s) high opinion ever brings blessings and is a dissipater of great disasters.

14

O king, the one whom my Lord has created, incomparable in his exaltedness!

15

I have wasted (some of) my past life in forgetfulness, without seeking to serve him.

16

My excuse is that I was unduly fearful of the power and violence arising from a wrathful encounter (with him).

17

My object is not wealth, but rather your ever abiding existence is my abundant wealth and glory as long as I live!

18

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

201

Qaṣīda 52 (Egypt, 437–439/1045–1048) By (the grace of) our lord, Imam Abū Tamīm, I have been guided on the straight path.

1

Our lord Maʿadd is a disposer of (souls in) Hell and the lofty gardens (of Paradise), and he is also the son of a disposer.

2

He is the victorious lord, the powerful oath of the Great Almighty.

3

He is the lucky star of those who perform remembrance, and the knower of the setting of stars.294

4

(The Imams) are guiding stars when the earth is dark and the deep oceans in the darkness of night.

5

They are the stars by which one is guided, as well as missiles to repulse the accursed Satan of evil intention.295

6

He (Maʿadd) is the living wise remembrance whose proof is evidenced in the Wise Remembrance (the Qurʾān).

7

He is the City of Security and signified therein by the Black Stone and Pillar of the Kaʿba.

8

He is our Lord’s mercy which became manifest among us out of the generosity of the Merciful Lord.

9

When the question is raised about the ‘bounties’, 296 there is no one to be asked for its answer except him.

10

294. Qurʾān 53: 1. 295. Qurʾān 67: 5. 296. It is reported by al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān in Kitāb al-majālis waʾl musāyarāt, ed. al-Ḥabīb al-Faqī et al, revised by M. al-Yaʿlawī (Beirut, 1995, p. 18), that: ‘Imam Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq was asked about the verse, ‘Then shall ye be questioned on that day about the bounties (ye enjoyed)’ (102: 8). He replied: ‘By Allāh, we are the bounties that God granted to them, and they will be questioned about what they knew of our rights and about our obedience which is enjoined upon them.’

202

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

It is from you that (the month of) Rajab derives its sun of happiness, and the full moon thereof is the full moon of knowledge.

11

Then arrives Shaʿbān, which is the month of the pure and noble Prophet.

12

Which is followed by Allāh’s month (Ramaḍān); every month is a sign of one possessing great honour.297

13

Like these days (of the months) held in the highest regard, so are you (O Imam) honoured among the people.

14

Your grandfather (the Prophet) is the best of them, then your father (ʿAlī), for their glory and pure nobility.

15

And you are the third in (possessing) every honour as required by the rightful religion.

16

My people are fearful because I have departed from them. By God, they have become emaciated with sorrow!

17

Due to their grief and bitterness at having lost Ibn Mūsā for so long, my relatives find themselves speechless.

18

If I am deprived of my loving and intimate friends, then let Allāh be my (one and only) Guardian.

19

297. See note 166 above.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

203

Qaṣīda 53 (place/date unknown) Allāh alone suffices me and upon Him is my trust.

1

My hope is al-Muṣṭafā, who is second to Allāh in fulfilling all my wishes.

2

And (also) ʿAlī, Fāṭima and the lords, the descendants of ʿAlī,

3

And the Imam of the time, who is my guardian in religion.

4

All of them are my strength in hardship, and by them is my sorrow removed.

5

204

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 54 (Egypt, after 440/1049)

I have mounted the stallions of hope, full of joy in their countenance,

1

And I have come to an area of forbidding might and structure.

2

Unbeknown I came—and my wings dropped their fore-feathers!

3

I witnessed a place from which all marks and attributes had been erased.

4

It is Time that destroyed (the land), and reduced its crops to (empty) straw.

5

O (barren) landscape! My heart is confused and my tears flow out of sorrow for you.298

6

How did Time betray you so that your pillars (of strength) have collapsed?

7

I came here to be blessed in your sanctuary with all its tender comforts.

8

Instead I found myself broken-backed with blows falling (upon me) in your courtyard.

9

So weep for me as I weep for you sadly, and mourn for we have both fallen victim to our womenfolk! 299

10

298. Although al-Muʾayyad does not identify by name his desolate landscape, it is evident from the final verse that he is referring to Egypt in the period after 440/1049 when it was ravaged by many years of drought and famine, mutiny in the army, economic collapse and administrative chaos. 299. The ‘womenfolk’ (maḥārim, lit. ‘blood-related women’) are the women of the royal palace led by the Queen-mother al-Sayyida Rasad. In her role as regent during the early years of al-Mustanṣir’s reign, she became the most powerful person in the state, with the authority to appoint and

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

205

Qaṣīda 55 (Persia, 433–435/1042–1044) She saw me when grey hair was dawning upon my head, and the night of sorrow and anxiety covered my mind.300

1

Many a hardship has made me slender like a grain of crop that has dried up from damaging injury.

2

I have lost the prime of my beauty and joyfulness, (which makes) the tears flow down my neck.

3

So when she saw me, she was unable to recognize me, and, as I did not reveal myself, began to inquire about me.

4

She asked: ‘Who is this one in ragged form and mount? I feel sorry for him.’ They replied: ‘(He is) Abuʾl-Naṣr.’

5

She cried aloud, moaned in sorrow and poured out her tears which emanated from her heart.

6

She said: ‘May I be sacrificed for you, why are you so changed since (our parting)? What has overcome you?

7

Your features are not those known to me, nor does your light (shine) in splendour and estimation.

8

Also your figure is not that I had seen, nor your appearance which was like the full moon in a dark night.

9

dismiss wazirs at will. As such, she became the focus of considerable opposition from disaffected elements in the government and army. For more details on the politics and intrigues surrounding Rasad, see Delia Cortese and Simonetta Calderini, Women and the Fatimids in the World of Islam (Edinburgh, 2006), pp. 110–114. 300. Whereas Qutbudddin, in Al-Muʾayyad (p. 181), regards the female character in this dialogue is ‘an imaginary woman’ created to fulfil a poetic role, Verena Klemm suggests in Memoirs of a Mision (p. 40) that this part of the poem represents a ‘conversation with the soul’, in which al-Muʾayyad seeks to resolve his inner conflict between remaining in his homeland or going into exile. The possibility also remains that the woman was an old acquaintance of the dāʿī from the Ismaili commuity in Fārs.

206

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

You have become thin, grey-haired and feeble-boned, with an emaciated body and a hunched back.’

10

I replied, ‘The Umayyad dog came forth to attack me and the people of Sakhr flew into a rage to take revenge on me.301

11

And the person to whom I surrendered handed me over, demonstrating enmity to me by his betrayal.

12

All my friends turned their backs on me and abandoned me (just when I was) poised for victory.

13

All my enemies became inflamed against me, and Shīrāz became tumultuous with their persecution.

14

The despot of their religion denounced me from Baghdad with a cavalry of doubt, polytheism and unbelief.

15

My blood began to boil when they vowed to spill my blood, their hearts boiling like a furnace with enmity for me.

16

If only you had seen me when I was in custody among them, bound by fetters of humility, impotence and captivity!

17

Night exhausted me as its shadows descended over me, and I thought that, due to my capture, my hour (of death) was near.

18

I spent my evenings in terror and my mornings in fear, stamping on fiery coals and drowning in the sea.

19

I complained to the powerless and begged him to remove my misfortune instead of increasing it.302

20

And during parts of the dark night I faced perils that would have burst open the hearts even of rocks,

21

301. The ‘Umayyad dog’ is Ibn al-Muslima, and the ‘people of Sakhr’ (an ancestor of the Umayyads) are al-Muʾayyad’s Sunni opponents in Shīrāz. 302. The ruler Abū Kālījār is referred to as ‘powerless’ because he was not in a position to overrule the orders of the caliph al-Qāʾim to arrest al-Muʾayyad.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

207

You would have been surprised without any doubt by my display of high endurance and, even more so, at my patience.

22

Anyone (finding himself) in a condition like mine would have ample excuse to put on a garment of decay.’

23

She said: ‘I see that every two days Time plots against you, striking you like a person devoid of intelligence.

24

Yet you continue to bear humiliation in this manner, with much endurance in the face of disgrace and ignominy.

25

Tell me, why do you remain in these conditions, and—woe unto you!—why do you not go away to Egypt?’

26

I said: ‘I am waiting (here) to obey and follow the command of God’s friend in the world of Creation and the world of Command.

27

And to protect a religion in the cultivation of which I have suffered (many) ordeals in my recent past.

28

I have spread a (protective) cover over a weak people who would be buried if I were buried in the grave.

29

If I were to forsake (them) tomorrow, I would draw closer to death, just as they are felled by hunger and poverty today.’

30

She said: ‘It is better for you to flee to safety (now), as they will be protected after losing you.

31

That is more deserving and worthy for you than to be separated (from them) until the Day of Resurrection.’

32

I said: ‘It would suffice me if death were to betake me because of my love for the progeny of Ṭāhā – that is adequate honour for me.

33

I have taken a vow to sacrifice my life, a vow I shall fulfil for the sake of whom the verse “They fulfil their vows”

208

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

was revealed.303

34

In their glorious praise was revealed “Has there not come …,”304 the progeny of Murtaḍā and Muṣṭafā, the magnanimous lords. 35 And “By the star” includes the praiseworthy stars305 which shine from above and fill other stars with radiance.

36

They are my helpers in (times of) difficulty, the foremost in whom I seek refuge in good times and bad times.

37

If I am in poverty, (in reality) I am immensely rich because of my oath of allegiance to them.

38

When sadness strikes me, it is to them I complain, (for) they are the source of safety for my troubled soul.

39

They are the way of salvation for my soul when it is faced by adversities caused by the evil deeds it performs.

40

Shall I forget our lord ʿAlī’s remark to the world: “Seduce someone else, I am not one to be seduced”? 306

41

And he also said: “Ask me before you lose me physically, to reveal to you the hidden secret of the Unknown.” 307

42

He was truly the Apostle’s Trustee (and) brother, the cutting sword of the skull of infidelity.

43

He was the one who sacrificed himself for the Apostle at Ḥunayn and confronted the bravest in Badr.’ 308

44

O Muṣṭafā’s descendants! I have set out for you by aiming my hopes on you, thus strengthening myself.

45

303. Qurʾān 76: 7. 304. Qurʾān 76: 1. 305. Qurʾān 53: 1. 306. Nahj al-balāgha, ed. Ṣubhī Sāliḥ (Qumm, 1387/2008), p. 481. 307. Ibid., p. 208. 308. ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib is reported to have displayed exceptional courage during the Battles of Badr (2/624) and Ḥunayn (9/630).

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

209

If I am the target of people because of you, I turn to the right way to receive guidance from you.

46

My soul is purified when I sacrifice it for you, (because) its purification lies in sacrificing itself for the people of purity.309

47

And the glittering star among you is our lord, Maʿadd, the Prophets’ descendant, the lord of the time.

48

May Allāh’s peace be upon you whenever the dawn by its brightness dispels the night’s darkness.

49

Through you Ibn Mūsā implores Allāh for his deliverance from the most evil of houses and abodes,

50

So as to enter the spacious shade of his Master’s courtyard and to reside peacefully in the sanctuary of his palace.

51

309. Qurʾān 33: 33.

210

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 56 (Persia to Egypt, 433–437/1042–1045)

O friends! Separation has became so long for us that its hand has torn apart the shirt of solace on my chest.

1

Weeping has become my companion (and) healer; sufficient it is for anyone of you that he be healed by weeping.

2

May Allāh feed remoteness by the glass with which it fed us, and may He afflict it with the death of its people and relatives!

 3

I have left deserts empty with (only) darkness before me, and I have left my heart behind me.

4

I have wandered aimlessly with a roaming heart because of the excess of passion and yearning within me.

5

(I am) a stranger dressed in Time’s garment of humiliation; truly, humiliation is nothing but the garment of strangers.

6

O Lord, bestow upon me Your mercy and help! O my Lord, to Your mercy I have tied (the cord of) my hope!

7

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

211

Qaṣīda 57 (place/date unknown) O community that put up a cruel idol as her arbiter! No wonder they have become devoid of knowledge and wisdom. 1 They are blind, (for) Christ has wiped (the light) off their eyes; they are deaf because of their deafness to (the truths of) religion. 2 O the people of Ṭālūt! Water is very close to you; so drink until you are satisfied (and) do not die thirsty! 310

3

O people! The lights of Allāh’s religion are glittering; so do not wade into darkness in your religion!

4

Clearly there are people empowered with knowledge, appointed by the Lord of the World like mountains on the earth.  5 Or they are like a ladder by which to ascend to the heavens; so whosoever submits himself to them will be saved.

6

310. Ṭālūt is Arabic for the Biblical King Saul, mentioned in the Qurʾān 2: 247–249.

212

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 58 (Persia, 430–433/1039–1042)

The burdens of Time can be difficult or easy, and its affairs (both) bitter and sweet.

1

If Time brings about a predicament sometimes, it brings a pleasant situation at other times.

2

How many a fractured (bone) was followed by a setting, and how many a treachery found an excuse!

3

How much corruption is resolved by Time, how many (expressions of) complaint and gratitude!

4

It cures (some) and causes (others) to lose their strength, and that is its permanent magic.

5

I am enveloped by the darkness of unjust people, which may not be driven away by the dawn.

6

So whatever comes from (Time) has no benefit for me, but is that which (only) causes harm.

7

Nothing that arises from it brings advantage to me, but what comes from it is always detestable.

8

My share from it is a long torment, and my abode in its ocean of recompense is the land.

9

My companion is pain, my solemnity grief, and my garment is empty of the comforts of life.

10

Unrestrained, I roam the deserts where wild beasts roam, and thus I cannot settle in one place for long.

11

Was it not said that ‘with every difficulty comes ease’ ? 311 Then why has (this saying) disappointed me?

12

I conceal my agony in the heart, but my running tears disclose it, so that no secret is contained.

13

311. Qurʾān 94: 5–6.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

213

I conceal my secrets, but the secret that I hide from the people is well known to them.

14

That is because I am a stranger with a heart tormented and besieged by the darkness of long nights.

15

Rejected, homeless, alone and forsaken, I yearn for a loving and faithful companion.

16

I am (confined) in an assembly of ruthless enemies; how much hatred they harbour for me!

17

They are devils keen on opposing me, each scheming one following another among them.

18

Then where shall I place my hope? With whom seek refuge? How can the way be followed and where the escape?

19

Enough will be your recovery with the aid of speech, (even if it leads to) accusations of wrongdoing.

20

(So) proclaim the bounties of the Master of the age, (for) it is ingratitude to conceal your master’s bounties.

21

He has fulfilled all that you desired so that your good reputation spreads among the people.

22

Did he not elevate your status in the whole world to the extent that no rank is similar to yours? 312

23

Did he not protect your forefathers? So is there a distinction higher than that?

24

Peace be upon the sun of the Messenger’s progeny, the Imam, through whom Creation and Command were established!

25

312. Al-Muʾayyad was appointed the dāʿī of Fārs some years before the demise of Imam al-Ẓāhir in 427/1035. In this position he would have been the most senior missionary-agent of the Fatimids in western Persia, as was his father, Mūsā b. Dāʾūd, in the time of Imam al-Ḥākim.

214

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

May my soul be sacrificed for Mustanṣir bi’llāh; fortunate are his subjects for his conquests and victories.

26

The heavens come down in humble prostration to him and the earth quakes in fear of him.

27

He is the Imam of guidance and annihilator of enemies, the heaven of generosity from whose hands generosity pours out.

28

Through him, you will see al-Muṣṭafā and al-Murtaḍā; leadership belongs to him, occupant of the highest position.

29

O Master of the age, peace be upon you, as long as the raindrops keep descending (from on high)!

30

When Ibn Mūsā composes verses in praise of you, poetry becomes obedient to him and he is liberated.

31

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

215

Qaṣīda 59 (Persia, 430–433/1039–1042) O Time, how much enmity and prejudice is there between us! Are there blood-revenges between you and me?

1

You constantly swing me between settling and travelling; you neither revive me nor kill me! 313

2

Calamities have stretched their hands towards me, and disasters have opened their mouths wide (for me).

3

I am convinced that even the minimum suffering caused by it is (enough) to destroy a mountain.

4

Every star (portending) misfortune is rising for me, and every star of intimacy is setting for me.

5

There is no fire except the one blazing in my heart, and no (tears) except those flowing from my eyes.

6

I have lost people who were my sanctuary in youth, when I used to frolic in the chains of childhood.

7

I am drowned in an ocean without shores because of my sorrows, captivity and humiliation.

8

I have become embroiled with people whose chests boil like cauldrons with anger and hatred (towards me).

9

I keep alternating between settling and travelling, so that both places (of my abode) are denied to me.

10

I migrate to the most distant lands, but find no comfort; wherever I travel the pain follows me continuously.

11

Thus, the glorious days of my youth have vanished and now my hair has inevitably turned grey.

12

313. In the text, the word ‘kill’ reads ‫( قائل‬qā’il), which appears to be a misprint for ‫( قاتل‬qātil) given al-Muʾayyad’s convention of juxtaposing opposites.

216

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

I used to have one companion, a supporter who accompanied me at times of difficulty and ease.

13

But the misfortunes of Fate cut the rope of friendship between us when they began to lay snares for me.314

14

So I remained in that state, and there’s no one on earth as despondent as I, nor a bereaver grieving as I do.

15

O say to him whom the earth has buried in a grave: ‘Our hot tears are flowing in abundance.

16

O friend, although our home is empty of your presence, my heart is inhabited by your remembrance!

17

Truly, if you have become distanced from me, your loss has distracted me from the rest of the world.

18

If therefore you have forgotten my love, my heart will disregard everything except your love.

19

Was your behaviour adequate to (our) noble covenant? Do the people of love act as you did?

20

I seek refuge with my Lord! You are not to be blamed, nor did you break the lovers’ promise.’

21

I do not complain of anyone except Fate, Because, truly, all this mischief emanates from it.

22

All the sweet things of Fate turn bitter, its events become funereal, and those who resist it are warriors.

23

Its gifts are trivial, its offerings without value, and its days (of favour) are considered to be few.

24

Although the evil generated by it is common to all, it seems much of it is reserved for the elect.

25

Fate is my body’s owner and master, so let it obtain whatever is the object of its aim.

26

314. This is possibly the same person mentioned in Qaṣīda 6: 11–13.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

217

But my soul has reached the highest peaks and difficult it is (for Fate) to grasp it dishonourably.

27

For (my soul) has a station in the world of holiness, a rank (higher) than all the other ranks.

28

The progeny of Ṭāhā are its means to (draw near) Allāh, and what a good means they are!

29

The shade of the Fatimid Imam protects (my soul) and provides it with manifold blessings.

30

He is the Imam before whom all souls stand in awe, and no other (source of) security except Allāh indeed.

31

The Imam, besides whom all people of eminence are inferior and all the heights are below his height!

32

The Imam who is like a capacious ocean, while all others are in comparison like streams.

33

The Imam with whom all creatures seek refuge when Fate seizes them by a dreadful terror.

34

Angels fall down to prostrate and remember him, just as people everywhere are submissive to his name.

35

His serenity is peace and mercy from the Beneficent One, whereas his anger is truly His wrath and retribution.

36

He is the glorified lord, al-Mustanṣir, through whom the truth is established and falsehood invalidated.315

37

He is the House, God’s holy House, the sword by which infidelity and idolatry are beheaded.

38

He is the Face, Allāh’s Face; he is the Side, Allāh’s Side, established in proofs furnished by the Revelation.316

39

315. Qurʾān 17: 81. 316. See note 250 above.

218

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

O son of Allāh’s Messenger, of his Trustee and (daughter), the like of whom was never born to a woman on earth!

40

O he through whom the potency of guidance is activated, and by whose utterance misguidance is extinguished!

41

O he who is the protector of Truth towards whom people of successive generations return!

42

For your servants there is ease, happiness and paradise, but for your enemies there are shackles and chains.

43

May Ibn Mūsā be sacrificed for you! To him has been granted a bounty by dewdrop and rain everyday.

44

O Commander of the Faithful, give me strength to defend myself and confront (my enemies)!

45

Combating the misfortunes of Fate has worn me out; what pain and grief has my heart received from it!

46

Would that I knew when I will spend a night in peace after having achieved what I desired,

47

And thus quench my burning thirst—or will I pass away with a tormented heart, my objective unrealized?

48

I am amazed at the one who counselled me to be strong, but is ignorant of the knowledge between my ribs.

49

If I had the heart to listen to his speech, it would be good-tiding for me because I am wise.

50

O friend! By God, you are not a sincere counsellor! O censurer! By God, you are not a (true) admonisher!

51

No such advice (from you) will penetrate my hearing, nor any speech be acceptable to my heart!

52

May Allāh extend His mercy to me, that I may live in felicity in the present and the future!

53

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

219

Qaṣīda 60 (Egypt, 450/1058) I swear by Allāh that if you were to crown me with the crown of Khosroes, monarch of the East,

1

And you were to place me in command of all mankind, of those that are dead and those who are alive,

2

And then lay a condition: ‘I will not see you for a moment,’ O my lord, my choice shall be to meet you,

3

For keeping yourself at a distance from me, (even) for a moment, will make my head turn grey.317

4

[From Imam al-Mustanṣir to al-Muʾayyad]: O you ḥujja who is renowned all over the earth! 318 O you who is a mount of knowledge which none can ascend!

1

You were prevented from meeting us only because of a painful and troublesome affair.319

2

We did not prevent you from meeting us out of boredom with you; therefore place confidence in our affection and resort to the worthier (task).

3

We feared for your heart when you heard of (that affair); so we shunned you, (with) the shunning of an affectionate father.

4

O friend, our followers have lost their right guidance in the West as well as in the East.

5

317. This poem was submitted by al-Muʾayyad to Imam al-Mustanṣir following his return from the Syrian expedition. The Dīwān also includes the Imam’s response in verse using identical metre and rhyme. 318. On the term ḥujja see note 132 above. 319. An allusion to the political intrigues of al-Mustanṣir’s wazirs and other courtiers who for several years had obstructed al-Muʾayyad’s access to the Imam.

220

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

So disseminate (among them) our knowledge as you like and be like an affectionate father to them.

6

Even though you are among the latest dāʿīs in our daʿwa, you have surpassed (all) your predecessors.

7

The like of you cannot be found among all the people of the past, nor from those who remain.320

8

320. Shortly after the exchange of this poetic correspondence, al-Muʾayyad was granted audience by the Imam, who also appointed him bāb al-abwāb (gate of gates) and dāʿī al-duʿāt (chief dāʿī), as well as director of the Dār al-ʿIlm academy.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

221

Qaṣīda 61 (Egypt, 450–470/1058–1078) O Thursday morning, welcome be to you! 321 May the One, the Protector, increase His favours to you!

1

You are indeed a venerable festival for the believers whose faith has united them in you.

2

Whenever Thursday approaches and passes, we gather the fruits which grow in the gardens of Eden,

3

The gardens where streams of pure pristine water flow, and the pure maidens appear in palaces.

4

(Our) souls quench their thirst from the streams with water more sweet and healing than cool fresh water.

5

This rank is chosen for us by the Lord of the age, the Trustee of God, the Most Exalted and Glorified!

6

He is Allāh’s Proof, Allāh’s Kaʿba (and) Allāh’s Eye, the best of creatures by his origin and lineage.

7

He is a dweller of the Praised Station,322 the ever-living one who vanquished the tyrants by his sword.

8

(Our) lord Maʿadd is a just Imam, a descendant of the one invested with prophethood.

9

A blessed descendant is he of his grandfather al-Muṣṭafā and his father the pure Trustee ʿAlī.

10

How can the virtues of the son of ʿAlī be concealed when ʿAlī signifies allegiance and devotion?

11

321. Thursday was a special occasion for al-Muʾayyad because it was on this day that he presided over the weekly ‘sessions of wisdom’ (majālis al-ḥikma) held for Ismaili audiences at the Fatimid palace in Cairo. See note 17 above. 322. Qurʾān 17: 79.

222

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

His status is that mentioned by Allāh to al-Muṣṭafā: ‘Then he approached and came closer’.323

12

He has the vessel from which he dispenses nectar to his followers, while his opponents are scorched by fire.

13

(His supporters) stand firm on justice in Allāh’s cause; they are the guides and pathways to Allāh.

14

He is a master of miracles and exhibitor of all the signs manifesting by word and deed in the world.

15

Once, a friend (but in reality) a hypocrite and enemy in whom I see the deception of the enemy,

16

He came to me bewildered and said ignorantly: ‘I do not see in the people anyone resembling the Messiah.

17

For verily, Jesus spoke with God as an infant from the cradle, and he also spoke to the people as an adult.’

18

I replied: ‘This is the lord of the people, Maʿadd, who received the kingdom and the Imamate as an infant.’

19

He said: ‘Jesus openly revived the dead to life.’ I said: ‘Wait, O you ignorant one, wait (a while)!

20

This is the lord of the people, Maʿadd, who revives with knowledge those who die of ignorance.’

21

He said, ‘Jesus cured the blind.’ I said: ‘My lord removes blindness when manifested.’ 324

22

He said: ‘That is enough! You have responded with an esoteric answer which explained its rationality to me.’

23

Then he turned away from me, acknowledging the rightness of the Imam of guidance, and I departed proudly.

24

323. Qurʾān 53: 8–9. See note 109 above. 324. In this verse, it is unclear whether the subject of the verb ‘tajalla’ (to be manifested) refers to ‘my lord’ or ‘blindness’. The ambiguity is probably intentional given its ‘esoteric’ nature mentioned in the following lines.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

223

I am Riḍwān, the servant of the servants of Maʿadd, (and) I will never abandon my loyalty to him. 325

25

325. The name of the angelic gatekeeper of Paradise, Riḍwān, also alludes to al-Muʾayyad’s rank of bāb al-abwāb conferred upon him in 450/1048.

224

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence Qaṣīda 62 (Persia, 433/1042) 326

My tongue begins with Your name, O God, the Most Merciful, the Most Beneficent!

1

After this prayer, it glorifies You by invoking: O the One just in Your Judgement! How just You are!

2

And then I always pray for blessings upon the Prophet, the thrice-fold, pure and high-minded Arab,

3

Muḥammad, the most honourable man begotten by a womb, and the best of creatures who trod upon the earth.

4

Then (I call blessings for) ʿAlī, the able-bodied one,327 the son of Abū Ṭālib, the generous.

5

My lord ʿAlī is the earth-shaker of the time, by means of whom the proof of religion became manifest.

6

He is the mountain of guidance, the fount of happiness, the one who, if a pillow was folded for him (to sit),

7

He would interpret the Torah in detail for its people, (and) remove its ambiguities and deviations.

8

Similarly, he would interpret the Bible for its people to remove from it all kinds of dark perplexities.

9

And he would also interpret the scriptures of the Psalms to reveal the secret meaning of the written Book.

10

He spoke to people about the true Qurʾān (with) clear explanation to remove every kind of obscurity.

11

That is what al-Murtaḍā said when he rose to the pulpit that became illuminated by his light. 328

12

326. This qaṣīda does not appear in the manuscripts of the Dīwān, but was included in M. K. Husayn’s edition from al-Muʾayyad’s Sīra, pp. 48–54. 327. Lit. ‘the one with a big belly’. 328. The tradition about Imam ʿAlī’s knowledge of the esoteric content

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

225

Who is there to object to his speech other than those whose hearts are diseased?

13

May the Lord shower blessings on him and his progeny, who are the best friends of Allāh.

14

They are Allāh’s bounties among us, (and) he who rejects them is worse than an animal.

15

In conclusion to what I have described so far, (I declare that) I am a slave of Ṭāhā’s descendants.

16

The purity of my love for them is well known; it is through that (devotion) alone that I seek salvation.

17

How many a calamity befell me because of it, and how many a cruel heart harboured malice for me?

18

Whenever the conflagration of war was ignited, my Lord put it out, (for which) I praise my Lord.

19

Most of the Shiʿa who follow the (Fatimid) daʿwa, did not fall into an abyss except for me.

20

No one was pursued for Ṭāhā’s progeny except for me, and none was exiled from his land except for me.

21

None of them was similarly harassed even for a day, nor confronted by a most dangerous affair every day.

22

As they (the Shi‘a) become divided among themselves into groups, fearful of resisting the terror,

23

They did not look for a leader among the scholars to raise the standard of Ṭāhā’s descendants,

24

(Nor) from the chiefs of the hypocrites led by idolaters and practitioners of divination by arrows.

25

of all scriptures is cited in Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd, Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha, ed. M. A. Ibrāhīm (Cairo, 1959–1964), vol. 6, p. 136.

226

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Yes, when they saw the dark night descending, all of them turned to me for refuge.

26

I speak intelligibly while they are mute with fear; I stand firm on the offensive while they stop fighting.

27

(But) as soon as the fearsome day is over, they start slandering and cursing me as if it was their creed.

28

They do not spare their sharp tongues to vilify he who is the most courageous before the hangman.

29

(Indeed), if they left me (alone) to rely upon myself, I would consider it a great justice.

30

I do not consider Fate to have been just to me, (for) the noble station shows no compassion for me.329

31

Lost is the pleasure that my life (once enjoyed) from (his) kindness and friendly greetings.

32

I no longer have the courtesies I received previously, nor the generosity I was familiar with.

33

O master, the sovereign of my body and soul, you are the sun and (your) kingdom the celestial sphere.

34

O the paragon of virtue and personage of generosity, star of good fortune and lamp in darkness!

35

Whosoever sees your blessed appearance will surely see the seven heavens contained in it.

36

O pillar of God’s religion! You are the foremost in rank and pride of the learned.

37

329. The ‘noble station’ is Abū Kālījār, the ruler of Fārs, to whom the remainder of this qaṣīda is addressed in a final appeal by al-Muʾayyad to seek his support. I have followed Qutbuddin’s reading of the word ‫يعطف‬ (compassion) here instead of ‫( يعتف‬to pluck out something) that appears in the original text, possibly due to a scribal error, and which obviously does not fit the context of the verse.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

227

You are the purest in origin, physically and morally, like a jewel in the midst of silver and gold.

38

I have chosen our great king of kings330 to be my refuge from the vicissitudes of Fate.

39

O Kālījar, whose protector is God, and whose abode is in His sanctuary and courtyard!

40

(O) Marzubān, for who Time has become subservient, and the honourable recorders are his hosts! 331

41

Truly, al-Muṣṭafā and his progeny are his support, and his allegiance to them a provision for the Hereafter.

42

O possessor of purity in moral conduct! O one whose glory is renowned in all the horizons!

43

O summit of dominion and estimation! Look, you are indeed the owner of intimate knowledge.

44

Do you not see that I am nothing but a zealot with exceptional love for you, not a mere follower?

45

How is it that my claim has been neglected by you, and why is (my counsel) not heeded?

46

Should a servant like me be ignored in this manner (and) the arm of injury extended to him?

47

I feel unable to remain here because of the false rumours defaming me for a long time.

48

Someone said: ‘How is he? Was he not promoted? Why is it that his status has been downgraded?’

49

Another said: ‘His king treated him with hostility when his disloyalty became apparent.’

50

330. Shāhanshāh al-Muʾazzam was one of the regal titles of Abū Kālījār. 331. Marzubān, a Persian term for ‘governor’, is Abū Kālījār. The expression ‘honourable recorders’ comes from the Qurʾān 82: 10–12.

228

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Another said: ‘Some people were not pleased with him, and so they interpreted his story disparagingly.’

51

Everyone rejoices at my misfortune as he likes, some to efface (my reputation), others to find faults.

52

Those seeking my injury are outsiders, including a treacherous one who is secretly a Sunni or Khārijīte.332

53

I am grieved to learn of people in this house asking each other: ‘What crime has he committed?’

54

I wonder what mistakes have I committed unsuspectingly for other people to desert me!

55

Did I not receive an affectionate reception (from you)? So what is it that has severed our relationship?

56

I am troubled by these events, so come to my rescue. I take refuge with Allāh and with you.

57

O master of the world! Be merciful to me so that (my) enemies turn away from me in kindness.

58

If I am guilty of a crime, then you are aware of it, and what you know cannot be put aside.

59

If my crime was the incident in Basā, have I not apologized for it and you were pleased? 333

60

(Or) it happened during our days in the army encampment by the seaside over the lookout.

61

(At that time) an allegory was told about Alexander and his son, a fable you will remember.334

62

332. The ‘treacherous one’ refers to a former Ismaili co-religionist of al-Muʾayyad who was among his leading opponents in the court of of Abū Kālījār, as recounted in the Sīra, pp. 44–54. 333. Basā (in Persian: Fasā) is a town near Shīrāz where al-Muʾayyad fled in 429/1038 to escape his persecutors. The ‘incident’ of the verse relates to his establishment of a Fatimid da‘wa centre in Basa. Cf. Sīra, p. 12. 334. This episode from the Sīra (pp. 46–47) is summarized by Klemm in

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

229

If what I said then exceeded the call of duty, do not be angry with me about a duty discharged.

63

And if you will accept an apology and bestow forgiveness for what caused your anger,

64

Then forgive the teacher, or else excuse him, when you saw that his mind was becoming tired.

65

For as you see, I am a teacher (and) there you are— my mind was a little fatigued (at the time).

66

Perhaps you are embittered with me because I asked you to correspond with (the Fatimids of) Egypt.

67

Your comprehensive justice will suffice for me, and I have no choice but to agree to your verdict.

68

Was it a disagreeable or deceitful thing I did, or (something) prohibited and forbidden altogether?

69

Was my intention anything other than good, or was therein an impediment to your pleasure?

70

When I said: ‘Write to the presence of the son of Fāṭima and follow the guidance of the Hashimite,’ 335

71

(That is because) ʿAbbās is not comparable to al-Murtaḍā, nor can his son be compared with a son of ʿAlī.

72

Memoirs of a Mission (p. 31) as follows: ‘On another occasion al-Muʾayyad complains about the influence his enemies exert on the ruler. He says to him: “God has awakened you from sleep and brought me and you together. Thereupon I did more for you than even your father did.” His opponents are outraged by this presumptuousness, because of which he is forbidden to carry out his teachings. The dāʿī excuses himself with the parable of Alexander and his son. In brief, the parable relates how Alexander took him to task for adoring his teacher more than his father. The young man justified this on the grounds that his teacher gave him spiritual salvation from the earthly pleasures his father chose for him.’ 335. The Hashimites are a clan of the Quraysh tribe named after Hāshim b. ʿAbd Manāf, to which Prophet Muḥammad and Imam ʿAlī belonged. The Hashimites enjoyed great esteem in their traditional role as guardians of the Kaʿba.

230

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Your forefathers not only corresponded with (the Imam) but also manifested affection and became close to him.336

73

(His) courtyard became especially radiant by the news I had dispatched to Egypt,

74

With which his supreme opinion was in agreement; the dispensing of his blessings should always be well ordered.

75

And (indeed), it was regarding this matter that you sent emissaries (to Egypt) from Ahwāz a year ago.

76

When I came to consult you on this you said: ‘It is you who are the one with authority in this regard.’

77

(O) you with a felicitous and radiant face! What you are writing now is contrary to what you said earlier.           78 I (replied): ‘It is a bounty of Allāh, the Generous, and a blessing of the good fortune to come for a king.

79

And you said: ‘Some of the things we write about may strengthen the bond of affection (with the Fatimids).’

80

Now I am awaiting the return (of the emissaries) bearing the highest honours (for you),

81

As well as a reply (conveying) virtuous prayer and renewed gratitude for the service (rendered)

82

To the progeny of Ṭāhā by their most honourable helper and radiant face of the time.

83

The king in whose kingdom is the star of Daylam has gained ascendancy over (other) stars in the horizon.

84

If you consider (my proposal) criminal, then you have 336. There was some diplomatic exchange between the most renowned of Būyid rulers, ʿAḍud al-Dawla (d. 372/983), and the fifth Fatimid Imamcaliph al-ʿAzīz with the view of forming an alliance. See Shainool Jiwa, ‘Fāṭimid–Būyid Diplomacy during the Reign of al-ʿAzīz Billāh (365/975– 386/996)’, Journal of Islamic Studies, 3 (1992), pp. 57–71.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

231

made (a decision of) extreme consequence.

85

I see that (now my fortune) is falling instead of rising, and there is no return to the joys of our meetings.

86

(My) speech is no more the same speech (to you), nor is my rank the same rank (I once held).

87

What is the value of my services in the past which distinguished and elevated me (in your regard)?

88

All of this has become completely forgotten as if I had never done anything (for you).

89

It is not something to be abandoned, for the like of it cannot be purchased in a market.

90

It is offered by a sincere, kind-hearted person, granted generously by a fraternal soul.

91

No power can prevent, nor riches benefit from, the Day (of reward and punishment) when it comes.

92

Why have all my deeds become defiled when you were offended by only one of my doings?

93

All the traces of my good deeds have been erased because of one characteristic held to be reprehensible.

94

Have I not explained clearly the harmony that exists between the intellect and the Qurʾān?

95

Have I not been a dispeller of the gloomy darkness arising from the (perplexing) issues of religion?

96

Did I not resolve (the mystery) of every symbol from which the cleverest people withdraw helplessly? 337

97

337. A reminder to Abū Kālījār’s of the intellectual disputations held in his court between al-Muʾayyad and scholars of various denominations. In the Sīra (pp. 16–43) al-Muʾayyad gives a detailed account of one such debate on the ta’wīl of the Qurʾān, which is also summarized in Klemm, Memoirs of a Mission, pp. 26–29.

232

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

I nurture minds with healing knowledge for them to find security on the day they return to the Hereafter.

98

So why have you, O man of intelligence, deprived your noble intellect of its sublime nourishment?

99

Why do you not curtail the body’s desires? For to deprive the intellect of nourishment is injustice.338

100

Will your rejection of (intellect’s) benefits do me harm, or denial of its goodness cause me evil?

101

How many resources have I collected (to overcome) desires over a long period of time!

102

Whom do you regard to be an adviser, a rightly-informed guide for your incorporeal intellect,

103

To enrich it with glory from the Qurʾān? Time will perish, but this glory will not be extinguished.

104

(The right teacher) sets up a firm foundation for glory, while (all other) glory is dispersed and passes away.

105

(So) do not cast me aside! I am that man! My past deeds are (sufficient) indication of this.

106

Do not exchange an established truth for something doubtful that an impostor comes up with.

107

O king of kings (and) ornament of the age! do not cast me aside, for I am (a person) of high value.

108

My standing in knowledge is much higher than others, by the grace of the descendants of Aḥmad.

109

I am able to heal with respect to the Hereafter, just as Galen healed with respect to (physical) bodies.

110

338. One of the factors that had apparently alienated Abū Kālījār from al-Muʾayyad was his disapproval of the ruler’s addiction to wine-drinking with his boon-companions.

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

233

Abstinence has turned my beard grey, and I remain weighty on its scale of balance.

111

My heart never longed for a string or wind instrument, nor has wine ever crept into my veins.

112

My habit is to perform religious services all the time; I have never been led by the hand of desire.

113

I am resolute in fighting evil desire and greed, to which I have never inclined since my nature existed.

114

Do not be deceived by the opinions of the envious ones, each and every one a proud and sinful liar,

115

Nor by the words of those among the dim-witted people who say: ‘We hold the views of the philosophers.’

116

There they are! Ask them (for you) to know: do they set up a ladder (of signification) in the Qurʾān

117

To elucidate one story or a part of that (in accordance with) the dialectics of intellect?

118

How can they teach what they do not know? False are those who issue legal edicts out of ignorance.

119

How feeble is what they have founded upon ignorance! They teach it to us, but forget it themselves!

120

For us, the Qurʾān has the most auspicious origin, and the philosophers have no part in it.

121

We unite the virtues of the Qurʾān with the intellect, and we suppress injustice by the sword of justice.

122

O high-minded one! This is a tale in recounting which my breast is filled with agony.

123

I have heightened it by wearing the clothing of verse and the objective of explaining my sorrow.

124

234

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

There is an expiation of sins by lengthening (this poem), and a revival of good reasoning in it.

125

So listen and be just! Time has been just to people for your sake and purified the filthy.

126

If you open the eye of approval for me, you will find that my only purpose is to render service.

127

The aim of everyone else falls below this; may you distinguish the vigilant from the negligent!

128

You will not find me offering such service to anyone except (in the cause of) the most sacred.

129

(I shall be) a servant among other servants, by whose company I shall not be ashamed, nor shun them;

130

A minor official, not a secretary (of state), even if the volume of writing (is of great quantity);

131

(As well as) a preacher when preaching is mentioned, as the prayer-niche does not disparage my sermon.

132

If one can be proud of his expertise in poetry and (be recognized for it by) many people as well,

133

Then your forefather was blessed by God with guaranteed success for a long period of time.

134

(However), the product of my (poetic) skills is limited, and the tongue of pride is too weak to utter it.

135

In spite of this, if I can rightly be proud of it, then I am like the dawn (arising from) the darkness.

136

In which case, no doubt my people benefit greatly from the grace of Allāh, and my (verse) is more powerful.

137

(But) in the present case I have fallen back as I am prohibited from communicating with my equals,

138

Dīwān of al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī

235

Without having committed any offence, and without a misdemeanour of which I am cognizant.

139

O Time, if you were not so disloyal to me, I would not (dare to) praise myself so highly!

140

O cruel Time! Let those contemptible people burn in fire and ask of them: ‘Who are you?’

141

Others are secure by the kind treatment they receive, whereas I suffer in the valley of desertion.

142

O master of the earth! What my tongue articulates is the moaning of a person with a weary heart.

143

So both tongue and heart turn to you for security, in the same way as you once offered them sanctuary.

144

May the Most Merciful secure you against mischief! May the face of earth be ever blossoming because of you!

145

The horizons of justice remain brilliant by means of you, and the crown is always shining by means of you!

146

The minaret of sovereignty is held high by you, and the principles of religion are enlightened by you.

147

May your shade be an abiding provision for me, and my prayer remain a protecting refuge for you.

148

Praise is due to the Possessor of all praise, the Powerful, the Reverent and the Glorified!

149

May the pure blessings of everyone be upon the people of the most exalted status,

150

On Muḥammad and his pious descendants, the noble, the generous, the elect, the pure ones.

151

They are the Imams of justice, the guides of people, the source of generosity and suns of the Truth.

152

236

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

(They are) the founts of knowledge, the keys to intellect, the abode of wisdom and the lamps dispersing the darkness.

153

Select Bibliography

Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali. The Divine Guide in Early Shiʿism: The Sources of Esotericism in Islam, tr. David Streight. New York, 1994. Bowen, Harold. ‘Abū Kālīdjār’, EI2. Brett, Michael. The Rise of the Fatimids: The World of the Mediterranean and the Middle East in the Fourth Century of the Hijra, Tenth Century CE. Leiden, 2001. Cahen, Claude. ‘Būwayhids or Būyids’, EI2. Corbin, Henry. Cyclical Time and Ismaili Gnosis, tr. R. Manheim and J. W. Morris. London, 1983. ____  History of Islamic Philosophy, tr. Liadain and Philip Sherrard. London, 1993. Cortese, Delia and Simonetta Calderini. Women and the Fatimids in the World of Islam. Edinburgh, 2006. Daftary, Farhad, ed. Mediaeval Isma‘ili History and Thought. Cambridge, 1996. ____  A Short History of the Ismailis: Traditions of a Muslim Community. London, 1998. ____  ‘The Ismaili Daʿwa outside the Fatimid Dawla’, in M. Barrucand, ed., L’Égypte Fatimide, son art et son histoire. Paris, 1999. ____  Ismaili Literature: A Bibliography of Sources and Studies. London, 2004. ____  The Ismāʿīlīs: Their History and Doctrines, 2nd revised ed., Cambridge, 2007. Dayf, Shawqī. Taʾrīkh al-adab al-‘Arabī. 2nd ed., Cairo, 1990. The Encyclopaedia of Islam, ed. H. A. R. Gibb et al. 2nd ed. Leiden, 1960–2006. Halm, Heinz. The Fatimids and their Traditions of Learning. London, 1997. ____  ‘The Ismaili Oath of Allegiance (‘ahd) and the “Sessions of 237

238

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

Wisdom” (majālis al-ḥikma) in Fatimid Times’, in Farhad Daftary, ed., Mediaeval Ismaʿili History and Thought, pp. 91–115. Hamdani, Abbas. The Sīra of al-Muʾayyad fi’d-Dīn ash-Shīrāzī. Ph.D. thesis, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1950. Hawes, Rachel T. Al-Muʾayyad fi al-Dīn al- Shīrāzī and the Fatimid Religious Propaganda in the Age of al-Mustanṣir (427–487 AH/1036–1094 CE). Ph.D. thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara, 2003. Hodgson, M. G. S. ‘Ghulāt’, EI2. Hunsberger, Alice C. Nasir Khusraw, The Ruby of Badakhshan: A Portrait of the Persian Poet, Traveller and Philosopher. London, 2000. Ibn Abī al-Ḥadīd. Sharḥ Nahj al-balāgha, ed. M. A. Ibrāhīm, Cairo, 1959–1964. Ibn al-Athīr, ‘Izz al-Dīn. al-Kāmil fi’l-taʾrīkh, ed. ‘Umar ‘Abd al-Sal Tadmurī, Beirut, 1385–1387/1965–1967. Ibn al-Haytham, Abū ‘Abd Allāh Ja‘far. Kitāb al-munāẓarāt, ed. and tr., Wilferd Madelung and Paul E. Walker as The Advent of the Fatimids: A Contemporary Shiʿi Witness. London, 2000. Ibn al-Walīd, ‘Alī b. Muḥammad. Kitāb al-dhakīra fi’l-ḥaqīqa, ed. M. Ḥ. al-A‘ẓamī. Beirut, 1391/1971. Idrīs ʿImād al-Dīn b. al-Ḥasan. ‘Uyūn al-akhbār wa funūn al-āthār, vol. 7, ed. Ayman F. Sayyid with summary English trans. by Paul E. Walker and Maurice Pomerantz as The Fatimid and their Successors in Yemen. London, 2002. Ivanow, Wladimir. Problems in Nasir-i Khusraw’s Biography. Bombay, 1956. Jaʿfar b. Manṣūr al-Yaman. Kitāb al-‘ālim wa’l-ghulām, ed. and tr. James W. Morris as The Master and the Disciple: An Early Islamic Spiritual Dialogue. London, 2001. ____  Kitāb al-farāʾiḍ wa-ḥudūd al-dīn. Ms. [53/928] in the library of The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London. ____  Sarāʾir al-nuṭaqāʾ, ed. Muṣṭafā Ghālib. Beirut, 1984. Jafri, S. H. M. Origins and Early Development of Shi‘a Islam. London and Beirut, 1979. Jiwa, Shainool. ‘Fāṭimid-Būyid Diplomacy during the Reign of al-ʿAzīz Billāh (365/975–386/996)’, Journal of Islamic Studies,

Select Bibliography

239

3 (1992), pp. 57–71. Klemm, Verena. Memoirs of a Mission: The Ismaili Scholar, Statesman and Poet al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn al-Shīrāzī. London, 2003. al-Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Ya‘qūb. al-Uṣūl min al-Kāfī. Tehran, 1388/1968. Lalani, Arzina R. Early Shī‘ī Thought: The Teachings of Imam Muḥammad al-Bāqir. London, 2000. Landolt, Hermann, Samira Sheikh and Kutub Kassam, ed. An Anthology of Ismaili Literature: A Shiʿi Vision of Islam. London, 2008. Madelung, Wilferd. ‘The Hāshimiyyāt of al-Kumayt and Hāshimī Shiʿism’, Studia Islamica, 70 (1989), pp. 5–26; reprinted in his Religious and Ethnic Movements in Medieval Islam. London, 1992, article V. ____  ‘Cosmogony and Cosmology: In Ismaʿilism’, in Encyclopaedia Iranica, ed. Ehsan Yarshater (New York, 1982–), vol. 6, pp. 322–326. ____  The Succession to Muḥammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge, 1997. ____  ‘Al-Mahdī’, EI2. Makarem, Sami N. The Doctrine of the Ismailis. Beirut, 1972. al-Malījī, Abu’l-Qāsim. al-Majālis al-Mustanṣirriyya, ed. M. Kāmil Ḥusayn. Cairo, 1947. al-Maqrīzī, Taqī al-Dīn Aḥmad b. ‘Alī. Itti‘āẓ al-ḥunafā’ bi-akhbār al-a’imma al-Fāṭimiyyīn al-khulafā’, ed. Jamāl al-Dīn al-Shayyāl and M. Ḥ. M. Aḥmad, vol. 1. Cairo, 1967. Momen, Moojan. An Introduction to Shiʿi Islam. New Haven, 1985. al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn al-Shīrāzī. Dīwān al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn dāʿī al-du‘āt, ed. M. Kāmil Ḥusayn. Cairo, 1949; Beirut, 1996. ____  Sīrat al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn dāʿī al-du‘āt, ed. M. Kāmil Ḥusayn. Cairo, 1949; also ed. ‘Ārif Tāmir as Mudhakkirāt dāʿī al-du‘āt al-dawla al-Fāṭimiyya al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn Hibat Allāh al-Shīrāzī. Beirut, 1983. ____  al-Majālis al-Muʾayyadiyya, vols. 1 and 3, ed. Muṣṭafā Ghālib. Beirut, 1974–84; vols. 1–3, ed. Ḥātim Ḥamīd al-Dīn. Oxford and Bombay, 1975–2005. Nahj al-balāgha, ed. Ṣubhī Sāliḥ. Qumm, 1387/2008. al-Nīsābūrī, Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm. Risāla al-mūjaza al-kāfiya fī adab al-du‘āt, facsimile ed. in Verena Klemm, Die Mission des

240

Mount of Knowledge, Sword of Eloquence

fāṭimisdischen Agenten al-Muʾayyad fi d-dīn in Šīrāz. Frankfurt, 1989, pp. 205–277. Nāṣir-i Khusraw, Safar-nāma, ed. M. Dabīr Siyāqī. 5th ed., Tehran, 1977; tr. Wheeler M. Thackston Jr. as Naser-e Khosraw’s Book of Travels (Safarnāma). Costa Mesa, CA, 2001. Poonawala, Ismail K. Biobliography of Ismāʿīlī Literature. Malibu, CA, 1977. al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān. Asās al-ta’wīl, ed ʿĀrif Tāmir. Beirut, 1960. ____  Daʿā’im al-Islām, ed. Asaf A. A. Fyzee. 2 vols., Cairo, 1951– 1961; tr. Asaf A. A. Fyzee and revised by Ismail K. Poonawala as The Pillars of Islam. New Delhi, 2002–2004. ____  Ta’wīl al-daʿā’im, ed. M. Ḥasan al-Aʿẓamī. Cairo, 1967–1972. ____  Kitab al-majālis wa’l-musāyarāt, ed. al-Ḥabīb al-Faqī et al and revised by M. al-Yaʿlawi. Beirut, 1995. ____  Iftitāḥ al-daʿwa, tr. Hamid Haji as Founding the Fatimid State: The Rise of an Early Islamic Empire. London, 2006. Qutbuddin, Tahera. Al-Muʾayyad al-Shīrāzī and Fatimid Daʿwa Poetry: A Case of Commitment in Classical Arabic Literature. Leiden, 2005. Sanders, Paula. Ritual, Politics and the City in Fatimid Cairo. Albany, NY, 1994. al-Sijistānī, Abū Ya‘qūb. Kitāb al-yanābīʿ, tr. Paul E. Walker as The Wellsprings of Wisdom. Salt Lake City, 1994. al-Ṭabarī, Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad. Taʾrīkh al-rusul wa’l-mulūk, ed. M. J. de Goeje et al. Leiden, 1879–1901. Tamīm b. al-Muʿizz. Dīwān al-Tamīm b. al-Muʿizz li-Dīn Allāh al-Fāṭimī, ed. M. Ḥasan al-A‘ẓamī et al. Cairo, 1377/1957. Walker, Paul E. Exploring an Islamic Empire: Fatimid History and its Sources. London, 2002. ____  ‘Fatimid Institutions of Learning’, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, 34 (1997), pp. 179–200. ____  ‘Purloined Symbols of the Past: The Theft of Souvenirs and Sacred Relics in the Rivalry between the Abbasids and Fatimids’, in F. Daftary and J. W. Meri, ed., Culture and Memory in Medieval Islam: Essays in Honour of Wilferd Madelung (London, 2003), pp. 364–387. Wensinck, A. J. ‘Al-Khaḍir (Al-Khiḍr)’, EI2.