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

Nūr ad-Dīn 'Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī (; 7 November 1414 – 9 November 1492), also known as Mawlanā Nūr al-Dīn 'Abd al-Rahmān or Abd-Al-Rahmān Nur-Al-Din Muhammad Dashti, or simply as Jami or Djāmī and in Turkey as Molla Cami, was a Persian Sunni His most famous poetic works are Haft Awrang, Tuhfat al-Ahrar, Layla wa Majnun, Fatihat al-Shabab, Lawa'ih, Al-Durrah al-Fakhirah. Jami belonged to the Naqshbandi Sufi order.

Biography

Jami was born in Kharjerd, in Khorasan to a Persian family. Previously his father Nizām al-Dīn Ahmad b. Shams al-Dīn Muhammad had come from Dasht, a small town in the district of Isfahan.

Because his father was from Dasht, Jami's early pen name was Dashti, but later, he chose to use Jami because of two reasons he later mentioned in a poem:

Jami was a mentor and friend of the famous Turkic poet Alisher Navoi, as evidenced by his poems:

Afterward, he went to Samarkand, the most important center of scientific studies in the Muslim world and completed his studies there. He embarked on a pilgrimage that greatly enhanced his reputation and further solidified his importance through the Persian world. The surviving son was called Zia-ol-din Yusef and Jami wrote his Baharestan for this son.

thumb|Youth seeking his father's advice on love from the [[Haft Awrang of Jami, in the story "A Father Advises his Son About Love"]]

At the end of his life he was living in Herat. His epitaph reads "When your face is hidden from me, like the moon hidden on a dark night, I shed stars of tears and yet my night remains dark in spite of all those shining stars." There is a variety of dates regarding his death, but consistently most state it was in November 1492. Although, the actual date of his death is somewhat unknown the year of his death marks an end of both his greater poetry and contribution, but also a pivotal year of political change where Spain was no longer inhabited by the Arabs after 781 years. His funeral was conducted by the prince of Herat and attended by great numbers of people demonstrating his profound impact. Jami is known for both his extreme piety and mysticism. He began to take an interest in Sufism at an earlier age when he received a blessing by a principal associate Khwaja Mohammad Parsa who came through town. From there he sought guidance from Sa'd-alDin Kasgari based on a dream where he was told to take God and become his companion. Jami followed Kasagari and the two became tied together upon Jami's marriage to Kasgari's granddaughter. Jami wrote about his feeling that God was everywhere and inherently in everything. For several generations, Jami had a group of followers representing his knowledge and impact. Jami continues to be known for not only his poetry, but his learned and spiritual traditions of the Persian speaking world. His poetry has been inspired by the ghazals of Hafiz, and his famous divan Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones) is, by his own admission, influenced by the works of Nizami. The Haft Awrang also known as the long masnavis or mathnawis are a collection of seven poems. Each poem discusses a different story such as the Salaman va Absal that tells the story of a carnal attraction of a prince for his wet-nurse. Jami uses allegorical symbolism within the tale to depict the key stages of the Sufi path such as repentance and expose philosophical, religious, or ethical questions.

As well, Jami is known for his three collections of lyric poems that range from his youth towards the end of his life called the Fatihat al-shabab (The Beginning of Youth), Wasitat al-'ikd (The Central Pearl in the Necklace), and Khatimat al-hayat (The conclusion of Life).

Impact of Jami's works

Jami worked within the Tīmūrid court of Herat helping to serve as an interpreter and communicator. His poetry reflected Persian culture and was popular through Islamic East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Jami's poetry addressed popular ideas that led to Sufi's and non-Sufi's interest in his work. A commentary on Ibn al-Hajib's treatise on Arab grammar Al-Kafiya. This commentary has been a staple of Ottoman Madrasas' curricula under its author's name Molla Cami.

  • Haft Awrang (Seven Thrones) His major poetical work. The fifth of the seven stories is his acclaimed "Yusuf and Zulaykha", which tells the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife based on the Quran.
  • Jame -esokanan-e Kaja Parsa
  • Lawa'ih A treatise on Sufism (Shafts of Light)
  • Nafahat al-Uns (Breaths of Fellowship) Biographies of the Sufi Saints
  • Resala-ye manasek-e hajj
  • Resala-ye musiqi
  • Resala-ye tariq-e Kvajagan
  • Resala-ye sarayet-e dekr
  • Resala-ye so al o jawab-e Hendustan
  • Sara-e hadit-e Abi Zarrin al-Aqili
  • Sar-rešta-yetariqu-e Kājagān (The Quintessence of the Path of the Masters)
  • Shawahidal-nubuwwa (Distinctive Signs of Prophecy)
  • Tajnīs 'al-luġāt (Homonymy/Punning of Languages) A lexicographical work containing homonymous Persian and Arabic lemmata.
  • Tuhfat al-ahrar (The Gift to the Noble)

Along with his works are his contributions to previous works and works that have been created in response to his new ideas. However, contemporary scholars perceive the usage of this word in a more transnational fashion, i.e., also take into account all the regions wherein Persian as a language, culture, and tradition flourished and developed. For instance, the Indian subcontinent is one such region where Persian (ever since the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries) evolved and played a significant role. Not only was Persian the court language of the Mughal Empire, but it was also the language of official discourses led by intellectuals and civil society. Although the native Persian speakers of Iran always distinguished themselves from their counterparts in South Asia. The former considered themselves as superior to the latter. Despite the politics of language and geo-cultural identity, Jami was well recognised in the Indian subcontinent, during his lifetime prior to the consolidation of the Mughal Empire. This was because of Mahmud Gavan ʿImad al-Din (d. 886/1481), a Gilani migrant who was in service of the Bahman Shahs of the Deccan.

See also

  • Ghazal
  • Naqshbandi
  • Fariduddin Attar
  • Hazrat Ishaan
  • Ahmad Sirhindi
  • List of Persian poets and authors
  • Persian literature

References

Citations

Works cited

  • Ḥāfiż Mahmūd Shīrānī. "Dībācha-ye awwal [First Preface]". In Ḥifż ul-Lisān [a.k.a. Ḳhāliq Bārī], edited by Ḥāfiż Mahmūd Shīrānī. Delhi: Anjumman-e Taraqqi-e Urdū, 1944.

Further reading

  • E.G. Browne. Literary History of Persia. (Four volumes, 2,256 pages, and twenty-five years in the writing). 1998.
  • Jan Rypka, History of Iranian Literature. Reidel Publishing Company. 1968
  • Aftandil Erkinov A. "La querelle sur l`ancien et le nouveau dans les formes litteraires traditionnelles. Remarques sur les positions de Jâmi et de Navâ`i". Annali del`Istituto Universitario Orientale. 59, (Napoli), 1999, pp. 18–37.
  • Aftandil Erkinov. "Manuscripts of the works by classical Persian authors (Hāfiz, Jāmī, Bīdil): Quantitative Analysis of 17th–19th c. Central Asian Copies". Iran: Questions et connaissances. Actes du IVe Congrès Européen des études iraniennes organisé par la Societas Iranologica Europaea, Paris, 6–10 Septembre 1999. vol. II: Périodes médiévale et moderne. [Cahiers de Studia Iranica. 26], M.Szuppe (ed.). Association pour l`avancement des études iraniennes-Peeters Press. Paris-Leiden, 2002, pp. 213–228.
  • Jami. Flashes of Light: A Treatise on Sufism. Golden Elixir Press, 2010. (ebook)

Further reading

  • Chopra, R. M. (2014). Great Poets of Classical Persian. Sparrow Publication. Kolkata. .
  • Jami's Yusuf and Zulaikha: A Study in the Method of Appropriation of Sacred Text
  • Jami's Salaman and Absal as Translated by Edward Fitzgerald. 1904
  • Persian deewan of Jami Uploaded by Javed Hussen
  • Online books by Jami – maktabah.org