Chirag-i Rawshan

(Luminous Lamp)
and
Hak‰m P‰r Nasir-i Khusraw
A Universe of Knowledge

By
Allamah Nas‰r al-D‰n Nas‰r Hunzai
Research Associate, University of Montreal

Translated from Urdu into English

by
Faquir Muhammad Hunzai
Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai

Edited by
Aziz Punja

Layout/Printing
Zahir Lalani

Published by
Khanah-i Hikmat/Idar ah-i Arif
 Table of Contents
®
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Background to the Ismacili Dacwat in the Northern

Areas of Pakistan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Chiragh-i Rawshan - cAmali Ta’wil

Luminous Lamp - A Practical Ta’wil . . . . . . . 15

Hakim Pir Nasir-i Khusraw

A Universe of Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

List of Non-English Words

with Transliteration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
 Preface
®
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Hazrat cIsa, son of Maryam prayed in the Divine court thus:

"O Allah! Our Lord! Send down to us from heaven a
(spiritual and intellectual) table (ma’idah) (full of bounties),
that it may be an cId (recurring day of happiness) for us, for
the first ones of us and for the last ones of us and a miracle
(for us) from You, and give us (spiritual and intellectual)
sustenance, and You are the best of sustainers" (5:114).

Wise people have not the slightest doubt that the above
mentioned verse is an universal principle according to the
Divine law (sunnat), relating to all times, since the mu’mins
of the past, the present and the future are mentioned in this
prayer. For, Hazrat cIsa was the Divine light in his time
(61:6-8) and hence he prayed for the mu’mins of every age.
It is obvious that this cId of happiness of the unveiling and
of miracles is for the mu’mins of the past, the present and
the future. Think about the word " cId", which is derived
from "cawd" which means to return and to recur. It should
be noted that the external cId comes in its own time, but the
spiritual cId is beyond time and hence can come at any time.

Although apparently it appears that the ma’idah of Hazrat

c
Isa was a miracle limited in time, in reality it is the field of
the complete spirituality of every Perfect Man. Some of the
proofs of this fact are:

1
(a) In this prayer the heaven which is mentioned is the
heaven of the Universal Intellect, and therefore, it is
the table of the spirituality of Prophets and Imams.
(b) The satisfaction of the heart which is sought in this
prayer is not possible without spiritual and intellectual
observations.
(c) One of its purposes is that what is promised for
tomorrow should be ascertained today ( sadaqtana,
5:113).
(d) The word "shahid‰n (witnesses)" which is mentioned
in the verse (5:113) prior to the prayer, shows that they
sought spiritual observation.
(e) The explanation of "for us" is that all Prophets, Imams
and the people of faith from the first to the last are
included in it.
(f) Ayat is the name of miracle and God’s miracle is
intellectual, spiritual and perpetual; it is not something
evanescent that it disappears instantly.
(g) By sustenance is meant the sustenance of the intellect
and soul which is comprehensive.

The command of God has already been uttered and His act
has already been done and His promise has already been
fulfilled (33:37; 8:44) and none of them is awaited. That is,
no command of God is unsaid and no act of His is
unaccomplished. If this is the case why did the prayer and
the search become necessary? According to this eternal law,
has not the table of the intellectual and spiritual bounties
been revealed forever? Can an act of God be
unaccomplished?

2
Answer: Undoubtedly the command of God has already
been uttered, His act has already been done, His promise
has already been fulfilled and the table of inner bounties has
already been revealed forever, yet word, deed and prayer
are necessary, particularly the prayer of the True Guide.
Because, although God has granted every kind of bounty
(14:34), due to (lack of) good deeds, veils have been
created, thus true knowledge and good deeds are extremely
important in order to remove these veils.

In the light of this discussion, we want to say that Pir Nasir-

i Khusraw is among those great sages and carifs for whom
the table of intellectual and spiritual bounties is always
spread. Thus from that heavenly table, Hazrat Pir made
available another table, which is the wisdom-filled
collection of his precious works.

The light of the Imam of the time shone on the blessed heart
of Hakim Pir Nasir-i Khusraw, and it is because of this that
countless ta’wilic secrets of the Wise Qur’an and the
religion of Islam were revealed to him. It is in this form of
the light of guidance that the True Imam commanded him
to establish anew the ceremony of Chiragh-i Rawshan, or
Luminous Lamp. Thus his disciples gradually prepared the
Chiragh-namah and spread it wide amongst the circle of his
dacwat.

The ceremony of Chiragh-i Rawshan is a compendium of

countless virtues. Another booklet would be necessary if we
were to describe them in detail, so we have been brief here.

3
A bright proof of the fact that great religious secrets are
hidden in it is that Mawlana Hazir Imam, salawatu’llahi
c
alayh, considers it full of wisdom, for he declined the
request submitted to him to abandon this sacred ceremony.

(Sometimes in the case of dacwat-i fana’ (i.e. dacwat after

the demise of a person) questions arise about the lawfulness
of the food from the home of the bereaved family and the
age of the deceased). According to me Chiragh-i Rawshan
is not an issue relating to jurisprudence. Therefore, it is not
relevant to discuss the lawfulness or the unlawfulness of
food or age. This is evident from the fact that dacwat-i baqa’
(i.e. dacwat during the life time) is on behalf of all the
members of any house in which are included young as well
as old because it is also a work worthy of great reward.

Humble servant,
Nasir al-din Nasir Hunzai,
22nd April, 1993.

4
 Background to the Ismacili Dacwat in
the Northern Areas of Pakistan
®
Early life of Hakim Nasir-i Khusraw and his
education:
Pir Nasir himself has referred to his vast and extensive
learning in several places of his Diwan, such as:

Whatever kind of knowledge I heard of

I sat adjacent to its door (to acquire it).

Not any kind of knowledge was left

Of which I did not benefit more or less.

There is an interesting account of his learning in a spurious

Sargudhasht (autobiography) attributed to him. In the
Sargudhasht there are many things which have nothing to
do with Pir Nasir’s life but the description of his education
seems to be quite close to what is found in his Diwan,
which is summarized by MawlawicAbd ar-Razzaq Kanpuri,
who translated his Safar-namah into Urdu, as follows:

After the four stages (of growth), when he attained the

rational faculty, he was sent to school in his sixth year. By
the age of nine he had memorised the entire Qur’an. During
the following five years he studied literature, grammar,
prosody, and arithmetic. After acquiring elementary
education, he studied astrology, astronomy, geomancy,
Euclid and the Almagest for three years. At the age of

5
seventeen he began his studies in literature, jurisprudence,
exegesis of the Holy Qur’an and Hadith. He studied
specifically Imam Muhammad Shaybani’sJamic-i Kabir and
Siyar-i Kabir and in connection with his Qur’anicstudies he
studied some three hundred commentaries, both those
included in the syllabus and others on his own initiative.
Thereafter he studied Greek philosophy for fifteen years.
He remained in Balkh until adulthood. In addition to
Persian which was his mother tongue, he knew Arabic,
Turkish, Greek, Hebrew and Hindustani (Sindhi). His
knowledge of Hebrew is confirmed by his Safar-namah.

At the age of thirty-two he studied the Old Testament, the

Psalms and the Gospel under Jewish scholars and then he
studied them critically himself for a further six years. He
also studied the Metaphysical Logic and Physical Logic
system expounded by the sage Jamasb, medicine and
mathematics and finally Sufism, Spiritualism, Evocation
and Talismans. At the approximate age of forty-four, Nasir-
i Khusraw emerged as a matchless sage, philosopher,
scholar, dialectician and poet. He acquired all these sciences
in Balkh, Bukhara, cIraq and in the province of Khurasan,
where the leading authorities of these sciences lived at that
time. Nasir was so well known in his time for his erudition
that even the Jewish and Christian scholars sought his help
to study their own religious books.

Hakim Nasir’s Wisdom-filled Dream:

He says in his Safar-namah: I used to drink wine. The Holy
Prophet said: "Tell the truth, even if it be against your own

6
selves". One night in a dream I saw someone saying to me:
How long will you continue to drink this wine, which
destroys man’s intellect? If you were to stay sober, it would
be better for you.

In reply I said: The wise have not been able to come up

with anything other than this to lessen the sorrow of this
world.

To be without one’s senses is not repose, he answered. He

cannot be called wise who leads men to senselessness.
Rather, one should seek that which increases reason and
wisdom.

Where can I find such a thing? I asked. He said: He who

seeks, finds. And then he pointed toward the qiblah and said
no more.

Some scholars think that the dream which Pir Nasir-i

Khusraw has mentioned is an example of him having been
influenced by an Ismacili daci. This is most probably true,
because he quite often uses allegorical and parabolic
language in his writings. It is true that a great daci
prohibited him to drink and indicated to him the Imam of
the time, who is the fountainhead of intellect. Such a
systematic and luminous dream is not possible if one is
drunk.

Pir Nasir-i Khusraw in Yumgan:

7
Professor Bertels in his work "Nasir-i Khusraw and
Ismacilis" has written that the valley of Yumgan became the
true seat of the Hujjat of Khurasan (i.e Nasir-i Khusraw).
He writes that it is not wrong for people to say "Shah
Nasir", because the close circle of the dacwat considered
him to be the king of knowledge and wisdom. He says that
Nasir-i Khusraw in Yumgan continued the chain of dacwat.
He used to send letters inviting people to the Isma cili
Tariqah, as is found in his Diwan:

Har sal yak‰ kitab-i dacwat

Ba-atraf-i jahan ham‰ firistam

Ta danad khasm-i man kih chun tÅ

Dar d‰n nah dac‰f-Å khwar-Å sustam.

I send a letter of dacwat every year to all

directions of the world;

So that the adversary may know that in religion

I am not weak, abject and idle like you.

In many of his qasa’id he says: Although I live in a cave far

from and cut off from my familiar country, in the eyes of
my friends I am esteemed and respected.

As he says in his Rawshana’i-namah:

Za Hujjat ‰n sukhanha yad m‰dar

8
 Kih dar Yumgan nishastah padshahwar

Remember these words of the Hujjat

Who sits in Yumgan like a king.

The above-mentioned book notes that Pir Nasir had

correspondence from Yumgan with the centre of the dacwat
in Egypt. It also notes that Pir Nasir wrote most of his
philosophical works in Yumgan, including Rawshana’i-
namah, Jamicu’l-Hikmatayn and Zadu’l-Musafirin (pp. 185-
86).

The Centre and Source of Dacwat-i Nasiri:

It is clear as broad daylight that the light of the Ismacili
dacwat spread to Chitral, the Northern Areas, Sariqul and
Yarqand, from Badakhshan. The fountainhead of the light
of the lamps of knowledge and wisdom and recognition of
Imam, which were lit by Pirs, Dacis, Mucallims and their
representatives was one only, which the celebrated Pir, by
the command of the exalted Imam, had prepared with great
difficulties in Badakhshan. The treasures of this immense
light were in the form of voluminous books, as well as in
the form of an army of knowledge able to fight against the
darkness of ignorance having been equipped with the
knowledge and wisdom of Nasir.

There is no doubt that just as Hazrat Hasan-i Sabbah had

established a physical fortress (in Alamut), Pir Nasir made
a fortress of knowledge and wisdom in Badakhshan which,
Hulegu Khan, or even thousands like him could not destroy.

9
The proof of this is Pir Nasir’s precious books which are a
source of pride not only to the world of Ismacilism, but are
also found in educational and intellectual centres all over
the world.

Hakim Nasir-i Khusraw accomplished the duty of dacwat

with great boldness and wisdom and made the best use of
the time available to him. That is, when freedom and
opportunity were available, he performed the dacwat and
jihad with his tongue and when things were made difficult
by his adversaries, he used his pen, so that the chain of
dacwat and sincere advice would continue forever.

Beginning of the Ithnacashari Madhhab in Hunza:

In olden times the religion of Islam was alien to the
inhabitants of Hunza. Their rites consisted of cremating the
dead or burying them with some of their possessions. From
circumstantial evidence, it seems that the traditions of
Buddhism and Zoroastrianism were widespread in the area.
People used to worship boyn (pl. boyo) which is a small
animal like a puppy. The boyo used to live under juniper
trees or on rocky land. People placed some offerings of
butter, milk or the blood of sheep for them. It was
considered a good omen if they appeared and liked the
offerings.

It is said that when cAyashu bin Mayuritham became the

ruler of Hunza, he married Shah Khatun bint Abdal Khan of
Baltistan and it is because of this marriage that the dacwat
of Islam first came to Hunza from Baltistan in the form of

10
Ithnacasharism and then gradually spread in the surrounding
areas. Nonetheless, for a long time people used to revere
boyo despite being advised against idolatry by the preachers
of Islam.

Beginning of the Light of the Ismacili Dacwat in

Hunza:
In Hunza, the first ruler from the dynasty of cAyashu was
Girkis. The fifth ruler from this dynasty cAyashu Sughay
bin Mayuritham married Shah Khatun bint Abdal Khan of
Baltistan and the Ithna cashari madhhab began in Hunza.

The nineteenth ruler of this line was Silum Khan who, in

the last days of his life, personally accepted the Isma cili
madhhab and feeling lonely, asked Pir Shah Husayn ibn
Shah Ardabil: "Who will perform my funeral rites and
ceremonies?" The Pir answered: "God willing, at that time
one of the Ismacili dacis will come".

When Silum Khan was on his death bed, he was worried

about his funeral rites and prayers and waited for someone
to come to fulfil the promise of the Pir. Therefore, he
constantly asked his confidantes to see if anyone was
coming. Finally the news came that a rider was coming
from far away. He was Pir Shah Husayn ibn Shah Ardabil.
He consoled Silum Khan according to the promise and
when Silum died, he performed his burial rites and the
funeral prayer.

11
Note: Huzurmukhi Khalifah Mihrban Shah (1910-1991)
bin Gulbahar Shah told us on the authority of Khisanay
Sayyid that during the Imamat of Mawlana Qasim Shah
(a.s.), Taj Mughul conquered Hunza after conquering
Gilgit. However, it appears that he did not make proper
arrangements for the true dacwat, and people forgot this
sacred madhhab. All this happened approximately six
hundred years ago.

Nasir Hunzai,
11th April, 1993.

12
 Chiragh-i Rawshan - cAmali Ta’wil
Luminous Lamp - A Practical Ta’wil
®
The above title explicitly means that the tradition of
Chiragh-i Rawshan is a practical ta’wil (of the Lamp Verse
(24:35).

Ta’wil literally means to take something back to its awwal

(origin), and technically it is the name of the esoteric
wisdom which is found starting from the beginning of the
spiritual stages to the end of the intellectual ranks, until the
c
arifs are certain that the fountainhead of ta’wilic wisdom is
the sun of the light of azal (pre-eternity), namely the Pearl
of Intellect. The magnificent and unique wisdom which is
at this place is praised in the Glorious Qur’an as follows:
"He gives wisdom to whom He wills, and he who is given
wisdom, is given abundant good" (2:269). Wisdom as the
sovereign of all bounties is above them and the rest, as its
subjects, are under it. If you want to know who the pure
personalities are to whom esoteric wisdom or ta’wil is given
directly, you can see in the Holy Qur’an that they are the
Prophets and the Imams.

The light of Prophethood is the living house of wisdom and

the light of Imamat is its living door. The clear indication of
this is that the wisdom of the Qur’an and Hadith is always
attainable through the Imam of the time and this has
practically continued (throughout history). For, the purpose
of wisdom is action as wisdom means to act with

13
knowledge. Thus the Qur’an alludes that Hazrat Luqman
was given wisdom so that he could thank God with it. That
is, each of his good words and deeds should be based on
wisdom so that this unique bounty may be truly appreciated
and gratitude shown for it.

An Arabic word generally does not have a ta’wil when it is

in a dictionary, but if the same word is in the Wise Qur’an,
it has ta’wil. For example, the word "habl", which means
"rope" in Arabic, has no ta’wilic wisdom in ordinary usage.
But the same word when it is used in the Qur’an, associated
with God as "hablu’llah (Allah’s Rope)", and attains an
allegorical position, then room is created in it for great
ta’wilic wisdoms. Otherwise, it is a thing without life and
reason which people use according to their will, to the
extent that it can be used as a means of committing suicide
for it does not forbid any kind of use. Contrary to this, the
Rope of Allah is attributed with Perfect Intellect and the
Holy Spirit and is free from and above all defects and
covers the whole length of time, ever-reaching and all-
encompassing. One end of it is in the Hand of God and the
other end is in front of people, so that whoever wishes, may
hold on to it firmly. This is an irrefutable example of
ta’wilic wisdom that, wherever allegories are mentioned in
the Wise Qur’an, they have ta’wils.

Now we can return to our main subject and the first

question before us is: What is the proof that Chiragh-i
Rawshan is a practical ta’wil? To which verse is this ta’wil

14
related? Is there any indication in the Qur’an about such a
practice?

In reply I say that nothing that is related to the Qur’an and

Islam is without ta’wil. Since our madhhab is a ta’wili
madhhab and Pir Nasir-i Khusraw believed in ta’wil,
therefore he according to the will of the Imam, introduced
Chiragh-i Rawshan into his circle of dacwat, which had
already been started on a limited and special scale but was
about to discontinue. It is said that, first it was established
briefly by the Holy Prophet himself on the death of one of
his sons, as mentioned in the Chiragh-namah:

Chiragh awwal ba-dast-i Mustaf a bÅd

Dal‰lash ba cAliyy-i Murtaz a bÅd
Chiragh was first in the hand of Mustafa
And its dalil (a wooden spatula) was with
Murtaza cAli (a.s.).

According to me this tradition is true, and an evidence of

this is that when Hazrat Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (a.s.)
passed away, Hazrat Imam Jacfar as-Sadiq (a.s.) ordered the
Chiragh (lamp) to be lit in the house where Imam
Muhammad al-Baqir used to live (ash-Shaf‰, Vol. III, p. 25).

Chiragh-i Rawshan is called a practical ta’wil in the sense

that it is a wisdom-filled practice in which the purpose is to
reflect upon the unique and key wisdoms of the verse of
Misbah (Lamp, 24:35), which is: "Allah is the light of the
heavens and the earth (of the personal world); His light is as

15
a niche in which is a lamp, and the lamp is in a glass, the
glass as though it were a glittering star; it is lit from a
blessed tree, an Olive neither of the east nor of the west, the
oil of which would well-nigh give light though no fire
touched it, light upon light; Allah guides to His light whom
He pleases; and Allah strikes parables for men; and Allah
all things does know."

There are bright points of guidance for us in the wisdom-

filled way in which Hazrat Mawlana Imam Sultan
Muhammad Shah (a.s.) has drawn particular attention to
this blessed verse and the way in which he has indicated its
ta’wilic spirit (See "The Memoirs of Aga Khan, Cassell &
Co. Ltd., London, 1954, pp. 171-172).

The verse following the Lamp verse, with its implication in

brackets is as follows: "(The lamp=practical example of
Chiragh-i Rawshan is lit) in houses which Allah has
permitted to be exalted, and His name to be remembered
therein. His tasbih is recited therein in the morning and in
the evenings (24:36)". This verse has at least two wisdoms.
First wisdom: In the physical houses of the Prophets, Imams
and mu’mins is lit the ta’wilic lamp of the "Lamp-Verse",
because they are exalted due to Divine remembrance, as the
tasbih of God is recited there in the mornings and in the
evenings. Thus the sacred practice of (lighting) the
Chiragh-i Rawshan is performed in such houses. Second
wisdom: In the light of the teaching and guidance of the
Prophet and the Imam, mu’mins can kindle the lamp of
Divine light in their inner houses (hearts). It is because of

16
this that God has compared His holy light with a lamp in a
house instead of comparing it with the world-illumining
sun. For, allusions such as knowledge, practice and
devotion which are in the lamp, where are they in the sun!
That is, in order to build a sacred house in the heart and to
kindle a lamp in the niche of its wall, one needs to strive
hard. Then there are the allusions of the vessel of lamp, oil,
wick, fire, flame, smoke, spread light and kindling of one
lamp from another to observe and reflect on for the
recognition of the Perfect Man, which do not exist in the
sun.

If you want to recognise the brightest and most decisive

verses of the Noble Qur’an, study the verses of light very
carefully, so that by doing so many realities may be
revealed to you. At the same time, it will also reveal that the
keys of the treasures (of knowledge and wisdom) are hidden
in the treasure of the Lamp Verse, from which you can
obtain the key of every luminous treasure and enrich
yourself with the everlasting wealth of knowledge and
wisdom. It should also be remembered that the light verses
have three ranks, which are the verses about Allah, the
Prophet and the Imams, as the bright ayats (signs) of the
universe are also in three degrees: the sun, the moon and the
stars and those of the personal world too are in three ranks:
the intellect, the soul and the numerous faculties of feeling
and comprehension, as is clear from the diagram opposite.

It is evident from this diagram, that the name of the

luminous sun of the world of Qur’an is misbah (luminous

17
lamp), for why should the inner and luminous lamp which
illumines the universe of its kind, not be called the sun? It
is known to all that in this world, there is no lamp which
functions like the sun and which on one side is called a
lamp and on the other, a sun. But the inner light is
everything, "small and great", because it can do everything
small and big, and it can have many names because of its
many functions.

Diagram of the verses of Light

The Qur’an Universe Personal World
Verse of Misbah Sun The Intellect
(24:35)
Verse of Siraj (33:46) Moon The Soul
Verse of Kiflayn Stars Human faculties
(57:28)

In verse (78:13), it is said: "And We have made a glowing

lamp (sun)". Reflect that the sun is greatly praised in this
verse, but how? By comparing it with a glowing lamp. The
wisdom of this is that in the Qur’an and spirituality
wherever the sun is mentioned or observed, it should be
known that it is this luminous lamp which is praised in the
verse of misbah (24:35). This shows that in " Chiragh-i
Rawshan" is hidden the ta’wil of the centre of inner lights.
There is no doubt that externally it is a tradition, but its
inner wisdoms are truly amazing. God willing, by the
spiritual help of the Imam of the time, we will mention
some of those wisdoms here, so that the knowledge of
students and friends may be increased considerably.

18
Wisdom 1: In general Chiragh-i Rawshan is related to all
the verses of light and in particular to the verse of misbah,
therefore, different examples and ta’wils of light are hidden
in it. Thus one great example of it is renewal, as the chain
of change and renewal continues constantly in its flame.
From this the veiled secret is revealed that the action of
"light upon light" is like a chain or a rope and there is no
delay or interval in it. And there are many wisdoms in the
renewal of the flame.

Wisdom 2: In the verse of the lamp (misbah) both light and

fire are mentioned. In Chiragh-i Rawshan also, they are
inseparable. The wisdom of this is that fire denotes ardent
love, and light is knowledge and recognition. Therefore,
unless a mu’min burns in the fire of love of Mawla, the light
of knowledge and recognition is not created in his heart.
These examples of fire are also not without wisdom: where
fire is under ashes, it is an example of hidden love, a spark
indicates weak love, embers stand for silent love and a
moving flame shows ardent love.

Wisdom 3: On the occasion of dacwat-i baqa’ or dacwat-i

fana’, a sacred lamp is lit in a house and no other light is
allowed to be kept or used as long as this lamp remains
burning, so that this light remains unique in the house. The
ta’wil of this is that in the personal world there is one light
only which is sufficient to illumine its heavens and earth.

Widsom 4: At the start of the traditional ceremony of

Chiragh-i Rawshan, the Qazi stands in front of the Khalifah

19
and with the collective recital of salawat raises the lamp
from the ground and places it down again three times. The
wisdom of this is that the light of the heavens and the earth
is one, but it has three relations: the relation to God, the
relation to the Prophet and the relation to the Imam of the
time. Also once the lamp is lit, then for some time this
luminous lamp is lifted from the ground and held in the
hand to show by allusion that the same one light of God is
both in the heavens and the earth.

Wisdom 5: Another name of Chiragh-i Rawshan is dacwat

(invitation) the main purpose of which is in two stages:
firstly, to invite to Islam (submission) and Iman (faith), as
it happened in the first cycle and secondly, to invite to the
higher ranks of spirituality and to the light of recognition,
as happened in the latter cycle. But since this great plan was
not possible without knowledge and wisdom and dhikr and
c
ibadat, in this wisdom-filled tradition, two kinds of
effective cibadat are enjoined: one is the c
ibadat of
c
knowledge and the other, practical ibadat, so that by
performing them, great reward may be availed to both those
that are alive and those who have passed away.

Wisdom 6: The sheep which is slaughtered for the sake of

dacwat is called "dacwati" and is considered sacred like all
sacrificial animals. One essential condition for the selection
of such an animal is that it should not be lean or skinny. It
should have fat, so that the lamp may be lit from the oil of
its melted fat. The wisdom-filled allusion of this is that
those mu’mins who are weak in belief, cibadat and true

20
knowledge cannot be the dacwati sheep of the rank of
spirituality, because as yet they do not have that substance
of progress and perfection from which the luminous lamp
is kindled.

Wisdom 7: A blessed saying of Hazrat Imam Muhammad

al-Baqir which is a great luminous treasure and has the
precious gems of macrifat is:

Ma q‰la fi’llahi fa-huwa fina, wa-ma q‰la fina fa-

huwa fi’l-bulagha’i min sh‰catina

(Whatever is said about Allah is about us (in

ta’wil) and whatever is said about us (in ta’wil) is
said about those of our followers who are
advanced).

Many treasures can be discovered by this key wisdom and

(similarly) a great treasure is also hidden in the example of
Chiragh-i Rawshan. Here it is important to note that the
place where a treasure is buried appears insignificant to the
eye which observes superficially.

Wisdom 8: Hazrat Imam Jacfar as-Sadiq was once asked

about the Lamp Verse (24:35). He said: It is a parable
which God has struck for us. Thus the Prophet and the
Imams are Allah’s guides and His signs (miracles) through
whom people are guided to Tawhid. (al-Mizan, Vol. 15, p.
141).

21
Wisdom 9: If you study the diagram of the Lamp Verse
(misbah) carefully, you will note that the Lamp Verse, the
Sun and the Intellect are on the same line, the reason for
which has already been explained there. Another reason is
that the word "misbah" is grammatically an instrumentive
noun from "subh (morning)". That is, misbah is the thing
from which the subh is made, that is, the sun. But by the sun
here is meant the sun of the personal world, which, in
addition to the Prophets and the Imams, also rises in
mu’mins of the first rank. Nonetheless, it should be
remembered that the light which is observed in the
beginning of spirituality is not that of the sun, nor the moon,
but of the stars. Yet its beauty and attraction is so amazing
that many people are misled into believing it to be the
Divine manifestation (67:5; 72:8; 37:6-7).

Wisdom 10: In these stars ( nujum, kawakib) and lamps

(masabih) there is great trial, because there is the possibility
of greatest deviation as well as of successful guidance. Next
comes the light of the moon and finally at the rank of azal
(pre-eternity), the sun of the light of intellect (6:75-79) rises
and the morning of azal and the evening of abad (post-
eternity) is seen, but between the two there is only a span of
a few minutes. The reason for this is that at this place, the
Divine hand enfolds everything which is spread out, for as
God says: "And everything with Him is in a measure"
(13:8). This is the misbah (Chiragh-i Rawshan) which, in
the form of the sun of intellect, always rises and sets at the
rank of azal.

22
Wisdom 11: Now we must answer an important question:
What is the relation of Chiragh-i Rawshan to the death of
a mu’min? Is spiritual salvation only by lighting the
Chiragh, or is there some other secret? Although the
answers to such questions have already been given, it can be
elaborated that when the tradition of Chiragh-i Rawshan is
an example and ta’wil of the Lamp Verse, then its purpose
is to bring forth many points of wisdom and macrifat. One
of them is that although physically a mu’min dies, spiritually
he never dies. He leaves the physical body and wears the
paradisiacal attire of the subtle body. Previously he was
dark, but now he becomes bright and transforms from
immobile into mobile, from finite into infinite and from low
into high. All these allusions are found in the practice of
Chiragh-i Rawshan , for lighting the lamp is like inbicath
(resurrection), when dense oil turns into a subtle flame, its
light illuminating darkness and its oil moves by being
transformed into light which spreads and expands and the
flame rises upwards.

Wisdom 12: Hazrat Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah,

salawatu’llahi calayh, on many occasions has mentioned in
a wisdom-filled way, the Divine lamp which it is possible
to kindle in the heart of mu’mins, such as: "The healthy
human body is the temple in which the flame of the Holy
Spirit burns." The exalted Imam thus emphasises the
importance and progress of the spark of Divine light. The
following is another farman of the Imam: There is a stock
of oil in the lamp of your soul, but if you do not kindle it
with a match-stick how will the light be created? How long

23
will you waste your remaining life in frivolity and
ignorance? You should be aware of esoteric knowledge.
Also in a special farman of the holy Imam the spiritual and
intellectual lamp is mentioned in an extremely impressive
way and all necessary instructions regarding how to kindle
it are given.

Wisdom 13: Chiragh-i Rawshan is the symbol and

evidence of the fact that every mu’min is a living martyr and
that for such martyrs, there is reward and light both in this
world and in the next. Read verse (57:19) in the Qur’an, and
the Hadith in this connection is: "Kullu mu’minin shahid
(Every mu’min is a martyr)".

Wisdom 14: Chiragh-i Rawshan is a material light which

is an example as well as an evidence of the Light of
guidance (Imam of the time). Thus when the Chiragh
(lamp) is kindled, it means that the mu’mins believe that the
living and present Imam is true and testify that the same
Mawla is the mazhar of the light of God, the light of the
Prophet and the light of cAli.

Wisdom 15: One of the beautiful names of Almighty Allah

is "an-Nur (Light)", which is mentioned in the Lamp Verse
as "Allahu nÅru’s-samawati wa’l-ard (Allah is the Light of
the heavens and the earth)". And the beautiful names of
Allah are the Holy Prophet and the Holy Imams, for as
Mawla cAli says: "I am His beautiful names and His
supreme similitudes and His great signs." That is, the
beautiful names of God are living and speaking (7:180) and

24
similarly, His supreme similitudes (30:27) and great signs
(miracles) (53:18) are also living and speaking.

Wisdom 16: Chiragh-i Rawshan, in which the verse of

misbah (24:35) and the verse of siraj (33:46) are mentioned
together, is based on the example of the book of spirit and
spirituality and light and luminosity. Therefore, Chiragh-i
Rawshan is like a wisdom-filled book, the greatest purpose
of which is the recognition of light. We have already
mentioned the three relations of light. A fourth one is that
after God, the Prophet and the Imam, the light also belongs
to the mu’min men and mu’min women, mentioned in verses
(57:12-13; 66:8). This is clearly verified by a farman of
Imam Jacfar as-Sadiq (a.s.), who said: "Thus the mu’min
lives in five aspects of the light: his entrance is light, his
exit is light, his knowledge is light, his speech is light and
his return to Paradise is light." (al-Mizan, Vol. 15, p. 140).

Wisdom 17: When a mu’min walking on the spiritual path

is annihilated in the Imam of the time by his knowledge and
good deeds, he is also annihilated in the Prophet (fana’ fi’r-
rasul) and annihilated in God (fana’ fi’llah) and in such a
case, the same one light of God, the Prophet and the Imam
becomes his light also. That is, the great secret is revealed
to him that he, in his higher "I" (ana-yi culwi), has always
been merged in the absolute light and has never been
separated from it. For light is only one, but due to mirrors
appears to be many, just as the moon and the countless stars
are like mirrors or mazahir (loci of manifestation) for the
sun. Thus there is no doubt that there is separation among

25
bodies, but there is no separation in the light. There is
nothing except union in the light. However, since these
things are all material, therefore the complete representation
of reality is difficult.

Wisdom 18: In the world of multiplicity (this world), the

sun, the moon and the countless stars are separate and
scattered, while in the world of unity, the law is totally
different from this. In it there is only one light which
functions as the sun, the moon and the stars. The same is
true for misbah (lamp), masabih (lamps) and siraj-i munir
(luminous lamp). Because the greatest miracle of God is
astonishing that, He in His kingdom, always acts to enfold
and unfold (2:245). That is, by enfolding the world of
multiplicity in His hand, He makes the world of unity and
then by unfolding the world of unity, makes the world of
multiplicity, while they at the same time also remain in
their respective places. If we then say that the world of
unity or the subtle world is Monoreality, God willing, this
would not be untrue.

Wisdom 19: It is necessary for you to reflect upon the

Divine wisdom that in the Wise Qur’an, Divine light is
compared to a luminous lamp (misbah 24:35) and that the
light of the Prophet is compared to a luminous lamp (siraj-i
munir 33:46) too and it also says that disbelievers cannot
extinguish this lamp of guidance (9:32; 61:8). In reality, this
means that in the spiritual world, not two lamps but only
one lamp is sufficient. Because when God Himself in His
mighty Book uses the word " munir (luminous)" in its

26
sublime meanings (the light of azal=the light of the
Universal Intellect=the Luminous Book, 3:184; 22:8; 31:20;
35:25; the Throne and Dais=the Pen and Tablet=the
(glowing) Lamp, 78:13; luminous moon 25:61) then one
should realise that all the beauties of the world of unity are
gathered in the same one light and this absolute light whose
name is Chiragh-i Rawshan or luminous lamp is borne by
the living and present Imam as the successor of the Prophet.

Wisdom 20: If an caziz asks me what I think about those

jamacats who do not have the tradition of Chiragh-i
Rawshan, and whether they are deprived of this great
bounty or is it that they also have such bounties? I would
say that there is not a single jamacat of the holy and pure
Imam which does not have a special religious bounty. I
have been to several jamacats of the world and seen them
and as for the countries I have not been able to go to myself,
I have heard that the murids of the Imam wherever they live
in the world, have a tradition that brings them close to the
love of the Imam and devotion to him and it gives them
tremendous benefit in their belief.

Wisdom 21: The law of nature and the Divine act are with
the people, when one realises that God is the light of the
heavens and the earth and closer to man than his own
jugular vein (50:16), what secret then is hidden in saying
that He sent Messengers, revealed Books, sent the soul
(19:17) and that He sent the light (4:174)? Is not the
concept of spatial remoteness and height found in this kind
of saying? The answer is that such sayings are only

27
examples (amthal) and veils and their meanings
(mamthulat) and veiled realities are truly wondrous. Thus
the Wise Qur’an, for the sake of the understanding of
ordinary people, has said for example: " arsala (He sent)".
This example also veils a reality which is: " bacatha (He
brought to life)". And the ta’wil of it is: He caused the
Perfect ones to experience the complete practical death and
life both at the level of soul and the rank of intellect in this
lifetime so that they could attain every kind of knowledge
and recognition. Now, in this state, the chosen ones of God
are given every bounty from hand to hand, it is neither sent
nor revealed. Yet, this is not in the spatial or geographical
sense, but in the spiritual sense and in the sense of honour,
for there is remoteness and closeness, lowness and elevation
there too.

Historical Notes:
1. On this occasion (1992), after travelling to the west, I
decided to go to Yarqand (China) and on the 3rd September,
departing from Gilgit, reached Sost. The next day, on 4th
September, I reached Kashghar and on 5th I reached
Yarqand, where in Zarafshan, my beloved son, Sayf-i
Salman Khan lives with his family. After staying twenty-
two days in Yarqand and Kashghar, I returned home. By the
grace of God the journey was very successful, although the
roads of our area were largely destroyed by torrential rains,
which caused hardship to a certain extent, but after success,
who remembers hardship?

28
2. Divine power is extremely wondrous and unique and
not only I but many other people were amazed by the event
that my elder brother Suhrabi Khan (who was ninety-seven
years old and had not been well for a long time), after a
brief conversation and meeting, passed away that night. It
appeared that in this there was some Divine wisdom. We
made a humble attempt to talk about points of knowledge
to those many people who came during the seven days
following his demise. It has been a custom in our area that
if there is a learned man in a gathering, then those present
there should take benefit from his knowledge. Countless
thanks to God that in addition to sincere prayers of many
mu’min men and mu’min women for the soul of my elder
brother, the good deed of dissemination of knowledge was
also accomplished.

3. Gilgit is a town and the centre of our area. I reached it

on the 6th October, 1992. Here spring arrived due to
meeting with esteemed and dear friends, who asked again
and again when Dr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai and Mrs.
Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai and Mr. Zahir Lalani would
be coming. Their sweetness and those of other friends
reached its climax when all of us gathered in a spiritual
assembly ( ruhani majlis) and every lover of Mawla
appeared to be intoxicated and enraptured. Such assemblies
of knowledge and remembrance were held with many
ardent lovers of the light of Imamat, such as the Chief
Adviser, Ghulam Qadir, President Sultan Ishaq, Sube-dar
Major cAbdul Hakim, Overseer Dildar, Mr. Mahbub and
Mr. Alif Khan. I subsequently heard that the same

29
enrapturing state was experienced by all at the blessed
house of Dr. Aslam in Aliabad.

4. I am truly wonderstruck and dumb-founded: thecazizes

of which country should I mention! In a sense it is easy
because we all believe in the law of "all in one".
Nevertheless, there are many stages of the zahir which
come before the batin and accordingly by some excuse
there should be the sweet mention of close friends. Thus by
luck, when the wisdoms of this article added upto twenty-
one, I remembered a pleasant event in Chicago (U.S.A.),
which was: I was at the home of my cazizes Hasan Kamria
and Karimah Hasan. Among my other cazizes Akbar A.
Alibhai and his begum, Shamsa A. Alibhai had come to
meet me. They had spread a dining table with twenty one
different kinds of fruit. I said: Why are there so many
fruits? They replied: To satisfy your liking for research and
curiosity about everything. I asked dear Shamsa to kindly
make a list of them. She did so with their English names,
which I kept with the date 19th July, 1992.

5. It does not make any difference whether I write a few

words or not about the sacred service of knowledge in
which my cazizes have admirably participated, because the
Honourable Scribes (82:10-11) whom God has appointed as
the preservers of deeds, record everything without
omission. The chain of ta’wil (7:53) about which the Holy
Qur’an has prophesied, continues and therefore we need to
think about the Honourable Scribes and the record of deeds
according to the exigencies of modern thinking and

30
principles of spirituality. For it is not correct to think that
the record of deeds will be like a worldly book in a material
form, because the writing of angels is not like worldly
writing, but is utterly different. How can I make you
understand the nature of the record of deeds? Keeping
modern science in mind, it can be said that it is like a
movie, but as it is prepared by the Honourable Angels, it is
adorned with the beauties of intellect and soul and
knowledge and wisdom. The worldly film has neither
intellect, nor soul. However in view of the fact that
sometimes it deals with ethics, religion and science, we can
say that the writing of spirituality or angels resembles it.

6. This article "Chiragh-i Rawshan" has been written at

the earnest and sincere request of Mr. Sultan Ishaq,
President of Khanah-i Hikmat, Gilgit, whose heart is full of
and illumined by the love of the Imam of the time. He is a
well-wisher of the beloved Jama cat and a lover of
knowledge and wisdom. It is because of his suggestion that
such a wisdom-filled article has been prepared. Praise be to
Allah! It is His great favour.

Humble Nasir,
6th December, 1992.

31
 Hakim Pir Nasir-i Khusraw
A Universe of Knowledge
®
In the name of God, the Beneficent, the Merciful

It is a known fact that the external world is a macrocosm

and man himself is a microcosm. As Pir Nasir-i Khusraw
says in his Rawshana’i-namah:

Mar ‰n ra calam-i sughrash guftand

Mar an ra calam-i kubrash guftand

This one (man) is called microcosm

That one (universe) is called macrocosm

For an elaboration of calam (world) see Qamusu’l-Qur’an

(p. 344) where, on the authority of Imam Ja cfar as-Sadiq,
the reality of the words calam and calamin are explained.
But, in this meaning of man, can the common and the
chosen be alike without any difference or distinction? No,
not at all. The fact is that although man is potentially a
world, it is only the perfect ones who find themselves
actually a universe of spirituality and knowledge. It is this
status in its perfect degree which is undoubtedly the status
of Hakim Nasir-i Khusraw.

First Treasure: "Rawshana’i-namah"

Hazaran sal agar gÅyand-u pÅyand

32
 Dar akhar rukh ba-khÅn-i d‰dah shÅyand

Even if they continue to speak about and search

for Him for thousands of years,
Eventually they will wash their face in tears of
blood.

Then he says:

Chun‰n guftand raw bi-shinas khwud ra

Tar‰q-i kufr-u d‰n-Å n‰k-Å bad ra

They said: Go and recognise yourself

The way of disbelief and religion, good and bad.

That is, the Holy Prophet (s.a.s.) and Imam cAli (a.s.) said
that one should recognise oneself, so that by self-
recognition one would be able to recognise disbelief and
faith and good and bad. Here Pir Nasir alludes to the
Prophetic Tradition: "Acrafakun bi-nafsihi acrafakum bi-
rabbih (He who knows more about his soul knows more
about his Lord)", and the Farman of Mawla cAli: Man
c
arafa nafsahu faqad carafa rabbah (He who recognises his
soul, indeed recognises his Lord)". One must reflect upon
the wisdom of these sayings.

It is necessary to ask what according to Hakim Nasir-i

Khusraw the human ego "I" really is? Which soul is
referred to in the above sayings? The vegetative soul, the
animal soul, the rational soul or the Holy Spirit? Is a

33
satisfactory answer given to this important question? Yes,
the answer is as follows:

TÅ’‰ jan sukhan-gÅ’‰-i haq‰q‰

Kih ba rÅhu’l-qudus da’im raf‰q‰

Ba-chashm-i sar jamalat d‰dan‰ n‰st

Kas‰ kÅ d‰d ru’yat chashm-i macn‰st

Za jay-Å az jihat bash‰ munazzah

Bi-b‰n ta k‰st‰ insaf-i khwud dih

Nigar ta dar guman ‰nja na-yuft‰

Qadam bi-fishar ta az pa na-yuft‰

Sifat-ha-yat sifat-h a-i Khuda’‰st

TurÅ ‰n rawshan‰ zan rawshana’‰st

Ham‰ bakhshad kazÅ ch‰z‰ na-kahad

Tura dad-Å dihad an ra kih khwahad

Za nÅr-i Å tÅ hast‰ hamchÅ partaw

WujÅd khwud bi-pardaz-Å tÅ Å shaw

Hijabat dÅr darad gar na-jÅ’‰

Hijab az p‰sh bardar‰ tÅ Å’‰

Agar dacwa kunam wa’llah kih ja’‰st

Haq‰qat Nasir-i Khusraw khuda’‰st

You are the true rational soul

34
 Because you are always the Holy Spirit’s
companion.

Your beauty cannot be seen with the physical eye

He who has seen this vision has the spiritual eye.

You are free from place and direction

See, who you are and do justice to yourself!

See! Lest you doubt here;

Keep a firm footing, lest you trip!

Your attributes are God’s attributes

You have this light from that light.

He bestows but nothing decreases from Him

He gave you and gives to whom He wills.

You are from His light like a reflection,

You abandon your existence and become Him.

Your veil separates you, when you do not seek (Him)

If you remove the veil, then you are He.

It would, by God, be appropriate if I were to claim,

In reality Nasir-i Khusraw is an example of
annihilation and survival in God!

Abandoning Blind Conformity - Invitation to

Reflection, Research and Ta’wil:

35
Hazrat Pir, on the basis of the Qur’anic verse (47:24): "Do
they not reflect on the Qur’an or are there locks on their
hearts?", emphatically invites to reflection, research and
ta’wil and condemns taqlid or blind conformity. Thus
regarding the Qur’an, he says:

Sarasar pur za tamthalast tanz‰l

TÅ zÅ tafs‰r khwandast‰ nah ta’w‰l

Tanzil is full of similitudes from beginning to

end,
Of which you have read only the exegesis and
not the ta’wil.

Second Treasure: "Khwan al-Ikhwan":

For brothers in Islam and revered friends Khwan al-Ikhwan
is a dining table ever-spread with varied bounties of
knowledge and wisdom, whose spiritual and intellectual
pleasures never end. Every material bounty either comes to
an end or, due to satisfaction becomes insipid, but the taste
of the bounty of knowledge increases according to
intellectual progress and eventually begins to touch the
imperishable sweetness of the Paradise of spirituality.

The table reminds us of the great miracle of Hazrat cIsa in

which, at his request, God sent the table spread with
spiritual knowledge for his disciples. The great spiritual
secret of this miracle is: "... It may be a recurring happiness
for us, for the first of us and for the last of us." (5:114). That
is, may there be in it a demonstration of that all-embracing

36
favour of God which encompasses the hudud-i din in every
age.

An Example from the Table of Bounties:

How wonderful is the grace and attractiveness of the
extremely pleasant bounties of this wide and spacious table
of knowledge and wisdom on which Paradisiacal foods in
a hundred rows one after another are served! For example,
I kept thinking in bewilderment which one of the unique
pearls from this precious treasure should I choose when
every pearl of macrifat is splendid and invaluable. I closed
the book for a while and then opened it again with
resolution, and it was the twenty-fourth Saff (Row) (p. 79)
in which our great sage, in his pleasant way, explains the
ta’wil of the Supreme Name "Allah". He says: "Know! that
the four letters (alif, lam, lam, ha’) which are in this
Supreme Name indicate the four roots, two spiritual and
two physical, upon which all spiritual and physical
creatures depend, as it is clear from (the example of) the
close angels and the righteous servants. And each of these
letters is a mine of blessings of both the worlds. Alif
symbolises the Universal Intellect, who is the fountainhead
of ta’yid (spiritual help), the lam symbolises the Universal
Soul, who is the fountainhead of tarkib (composition), the
other lam is for the Natiq, who is the fountainhead of ta’lif
(compilation) and the ha’ is for the Asas, who is the
fountainhead of bayan and ta’wil (esoteric interpretation).
Thus, the letters of the name of God are symbols of the
fountainheads of good in both the worlds (namely,

37
Universal Intellect/Pen, Universal Soul/Tablet, Natiq and
Asas).

Third Treasure: "Gusha’ish wa Raha’ish":

In this wisdom-filled epistle Hazrat Pir has provided
sagacious answers to thirty extremely intricate questions.
Such questions could not be solved by anybody in his time
except him. He took on the responsibility of solving these
questions and in the lofty position of the Hujjat of the
Imam, scattered gems of spiritual knowledge from every
phrase of explanation. It should be pointed out here with
great regret that due to blind conformity and fanaticism, in
some places the text of this esteemed and exalted book,
some sentences of an inimical nature have been interpolated
in such a way that it has become difficult for students to
discern them, because they are not included as footnotes or
margin notes or in brackets. However, the translation by my
esteemed friend Jon Ayliya, which is preserved at ITREB
in Pakistan, is free from such stains, because when he was
translating it, I was able to indicate these adulterations to
him.

An Example: Sixteenth Question: O brother, you asked

me what is the "calam (world)", and what is that thing to
which the name "calam applies? And how should we
describe the calam as a whole? And how many calams are
there? Explain so that we may recognise!
Answer: Know, O brother, that the name "calam" is derived
from cilm (knowledge), because the traces of knowledge are
visible in the parts of the physical world. Thus we say that

38
the very nature (nihad) of the world is complete wisdom, by
being pairs of the four elements, each one of them with the
other is harmonious on the one hand, and different on the
other. Such as fire and air are pair with respect to heat and
different from one another with respect to wetness and
dryness, and water and earth are pair with respect to
coldness and are different from one another with respect to
heat (and wetness) ....

Fourth Treasure: "Risalah-i Hikmati":

Although this epistle consists of only twenty pages, it
abounds with the ta’yidi knowledge given to the Hujjat of
the Imam of the time. It is therefore a compendium of
miracles of knowledge in the eyes of the people of wisdom.
Although a physical river cannot be contained in a jug, Shah
Nasir by the grace of God, has condensed the ocean of
knowledge and wisdom in a jug everytime. It is because of
this that his precious books are getting increasing publicity
in the world of knowledge and many scholars spend their
entire lives researching them. We need to consider and
reflect on why the whole world is inclining towards him?
After all, there may be a great secret in it! Yes! there is a
secret and it is because of his "given knowledge ( cilm-i
ladunni)", which shines through his treasures of knowledge
even today.

Gems in Risalah-i Hikmati:

This epistle deals with the answers to the ninety-one short
questions related to philosophy, logic, physics, grammar,
religion and ta’wil. Thus in discussing "dahr", he says that

39
it is the absolute survival of pure souls which have no
relationship with the physical bodies, and that it does not
have any corruption or change at all. He further says that
"dahr" is self-subsistent and that which is self-subsistent
never dies .... And he says that dahr is beyond the
movement of time.

Fifth Treasure: "Safar-namah":

The eye is dazzled by the splendid writings of great and
renowned scholars, literati and poets of the world of
knowledge and the way they have praised the profound and
precious works of Hakim Nasir-i Khusraw. There is a
strong sense of shame, for my heart says: Alas! if only we
could also introduce these works with such golden words,
for we are truly lovers of the knowledge of Imamat, which
has been received through our Hujjats and Pirs, who
according to the Qur’anand the Hadith, are spiritual parents
of mu’mins.

A Miracle of the "Safar-namah":

Published by Anjuman-i Taraqqi-yi Urdu (India), No. 137,
Delhi, 1941, Safar-namah-yi Hakim Nasir-i Khusraw ,
c
translated by Mawlawi Muhammad Abd al-Razzaq
Kanpuri.

Introduction:
Mawlawi Kanpuri writes: In 1316/1898 I happened to be
visiting Delhi. During my studentship I had the honour of
the acquaintance of Shamsu’l-culama’ Khan Bahadur

40
Dhaka’u’llahDehlawi, therefore I visited him to greet him
and enquire about his health.

During one conversation we discussed the travels of certain

eminent Arabs, and then also of eminent non-Arabs. During
this discussion Mawlana mentioned the Safar-namah in
Persian of Hakim Nasir-i Khusraw and said: "A few years
ago Khwajah Altaf Husayn Hali published it with an
introduction. You must study it."

After taking leave of Mawlana I went to the Daribah

(Delhi’s famous bazar) and visited the famous bookshops.
Fortunately I found the above-mentioned Safar-namah,
which had been published in 1300 A.H./1882 A.D. This rare
Safar-namah had been copied from the manuscript of
Nawab Ziya’u’d-din Ahmad, Khan Bahadur, the Loharo
chief. I read it during the journey (from Delhi to Kanpur)
and was delighted with it. It was very comprehensive and
interesting not only from a literary point of view, but also
with respect to the events of the journey and the wonders of
the world. Because of its significance, I studied it critically
twice. When I had understood its subjects and unique
writing style, I decided to translate it and in this connection
I wrote to Khwajah Altaf Husayn Hali in January
1318/1900, to seek his permission to do so.

Sixth Treasure: "Jamicu’l-Hikmatayn":

This is a book in which exoteric wisdom (philosophy, etc.)
and esoteric wisdom ( ta’wil) are both used. The book was
written in answer to various very difficult questions. But for

41
those with whom ta’yidat (pl. ta’yid, help) of the Supreme
Soul work, no question is difficult. It was the custom of the
Hujjat of Khurasan to solve extremely difficult questions
and gordian knots as it is evident from his blessed books.
You know that it is easy for someone to speak and write
according to his own likes and knowledge, but the greatest
test of knowledge and wisdom is faced only when one is
asked a difficult question. We say with certainty that
Hujjat-i Mustansir (Imam Mustansir’s Hujjat) was an
exalted personality to whom the doors of given knowledge
were always open.

A Specimen of Wisdom from the "Jamicu’l-

Hikmatayn":
The people of ta’wil have said concerning the attribution of
the seven lights to the world of ibdac: Whatever exists in
the sensory world (i.e. physical world) is an influence of
that which exists in the higher world. We can see that there
are seven planets in the physical world from which the
generated things take light and fineness. These luminous
existents (i.e. planets) indicate that in the higher world there
are seven primordial and pre-eternal lights which are the
causes of physical lights. Among those, one is ibdac, the
second is the essence of intellect, the third is the
combination of intellect which has three ranks, namely,
intellect, intellecting and intelligible. And this characteristic
does not belong to any existent except to the intellect which
(i.e. the angel of intellect) is both knowing and known. The
fourth is the soul which has been resurrected from the

42
intellect, the fifth is Jadd (Israfil), the sixth Fath (Mika’il)
and the seventh Khayal (Jibra’il).

Seventh Treasure: "Diwan-i Ashcar":

The following titles of Hazrat Pir show his spirituality,
luminosity, knowledge and wisdom: Hujjat, Hujjat-i
Khurasan, Hujjat-i Mustansiri, Hujjat-i Farzand-i Rasul,
Hujjat Na’ib-i Payghambar, Safir-i Imam-i Zamanah,
Ma’mur-i Imam-i Zaman, Amin-i Imam-i Zaman, Mukhtar-i
Imam-i cAsr, Mustacin-i Muhammad and Barguzidah-i cAli
al-Murtaza (Diwan-i Ashcar, second edition, introduction
and biography of Nasir-i Khusraw by Aqa-yi Taqi-zadah,
pp. 14-15).

A Very Important Question:

What is said in the Wise Qur’anregarding poetry and poets?
Every poet tries to fly to the heights of his imaginary world
and revels in self-praise. How can Nasir-i Khusraw’s poetry
be different from ordinary poetry and self-praise?

Answer: The wisdoms of the Qur’an and the Hadith show

that poetry is of two kinds. One is based on truth and the
other on falsehood. That is, the poetry of the poet who seeks
favour from the luminous guidance of the True Guide
automatically contains wisdom, but the poetry of one who
has deviated from the straight path and has gone astray,
contains nothing but deviation. This is why in the Holy
Qur’an it is condemned to follow poets who have gone
astray (26:224-25). Thus, if poetry is condemned due to
deviation, then why should it not be praised when it

43
contains guidance, for as the Holy Prophet said to Hassan
bin Thabit: "Recite! the Holy Spirit is with you." This
shows that where poetry is in defence of the truth, it is
accompanied by the favour of the Holy Spirit, and certainly
this is true of the poetry of Pir Shah Nasir. His wisdom-
filled poetry is free from self-praise and quite different from
ordinary poetry.

Self-praise is when the poet is aware of himself exclusively,

but when he praises himself because of the closeness he has
to someone else, then the praise belongs to the one to whom
he claims a relationship, for as Khwajah Hafiz says:

Ay dil ghulam shah-i jahan bash-u shah bash

O heart be a slave of the king of the world and be a

king!

That is: O heart, the slavery of the king of the world is a

great honour, therefore be his slave and be a king of such a
great honour. You should reflect on this verse and
determine whether this is his own (Hafiz’s) praise or is it
that of the king of the world?

Second Important Question:

In verse (36:69) God says about His Prophet: "And We
have not taught him poetry, nor is it worthy of him." Here
the question is: In what way was the poetry helped by the
Holy Spirit lacking, due to which it was not worthy of the
Holy Prophet?

44
Answer: There are different stages of the ta’yid (help) of
the Holy Spirit. Some Prophets are given precedence over
others (2:253), and the same is true of the Awliya’ and
mu’mins (3:163) and each one of them is able to receive
ta’yid according to his rank (58:22). This means that the
sacred Psalms of Hazrat Da’ud and Hazrat Sulayman were
not without Divine teachings. However, the personality
which comprised all virtues and to whom the Great Qur’an
was revealed was free from the need for poetry because of
its blessing. Thus this verse implies that to whoever God
wills, He teaches Divine poetry through the Holy Spirit, and
that the exalted rank of the Holy Prophet is far higher than
this.

Examples of Pir Nasir’s Poetry:

Mara Hassan-i Å khwanand az‰rak

Man az ihsan-i Å gashtam chÅ Hassan

I am called his (Imam Mustansir bi’llah’s)

Hassan, because I have become like Hassan
because of his favour.

By Divine help, in this wisdom-filled and soul-nourishing

verse of Pir Nasir, there are many beauties, such as:

a) This verse alludes to Hassan bin Thabit’s poetry and

the Prophetic Traditions about it.
b) It reminds one of the time of Prophethood and the
great Companions of the Prophet.

45
c) This verse is a proof of the importance and usefulness
of poetry in True Religion.
d) It is mentioned in this verse that Pir Nasir had become
like Hassan due to the favour of the Exalted Imam.
e) "Hassan" means handsome and pious.
f) Pir Nasir says that due to the Exalted Imam’s favours
his soul became very beautiful and he had become
pious. Pir Nasir in his Diwan has compared himself six
times with Hassan, so that we should understand that
his verses are illumined by given knowledge ( cilm-i
ladunni).

Pir Nasir’s Diwan is an ocean from which precious pearls

are acquired only from its depth, although ships full of
wealth and goods sail on its surface. That is, Pir Nasir’s
poetry has an aspect of wisdom which is not understandable
by everyone. For example take this qasidah which begins
with:

Ay khwandah bas‰ cilm-Å jahan gashtah sarasar

TÅ bar zam‰-Å az barat ‰n charkh-i mudawwar

O widely read and globally travelled one,

You are on the earth and above you is this
circular sphere.

Further on in this qasidah, he says:

RÅz‰ bi-ras‰dam ba-dar-i shahr‰ kan ra

Ajram-i falak bandah bud afaq musakhkhar

46
 One day I reached the gate of a city to which,
The heavenly bodies are slaves and the world
subjugated.

Can you tell me which city in this world has such a gate? Is
this not really an example of the spiritual journey and
reaching the sacred light of the Imam of the time? Is this
not a practical ta’wil and exegesis of the Hadith: "I am the
city of knowledge and cAli is its gate." This is so and this
indeed is the wisdom in it.

Pir Nasir says: It was a city whose gardens were full of

fruits and flowers, whose walls were all decorated with
floral patterns and whose earth was full of trees. Its forest
was painted like a brocade and its water was pure honey
like Kawthar. A city in which without (knowledge and)
eminence there is no abode and without intellect no tree; a
city in which sages wear brocades which are not spun by a
female nor woven by a male. A city which, when I entered
it, my intellect told me: Seek what you need here and do not
leave this place. Then I went to the gate-keeper of the city
(by whom is meant the Imam of the time) and told him of
my problems. He said: Do not worry, because now your
mine has turned into gems ....

Truly speaking, Hazrat Pir presents the events and the

observations of his initial spirituality in accordance with the
Hadith: "I am the city of knowledge and cAli (the Imam of
the time) is its gate". It is clear that the focus of praise
everywhere in this poem is the city of knowledge (and not

47
the poet himself). Nonetheless, it is strange that inspite of
entering the city, it is the gate-keeper to whom recourse is
made and great wisdom lies in this. In the same qasidah,
Hazrat Pir Shah Nasir says:

Dastam ba-kaf-i dast-i nab ‰ dad ba-baycat

Z‰r-i shajar-i cal‰ pur-sayah-Å muthmar

He (the Imam of the time) placed my hand into

the hand of the Prophet for the baycat
Which took place under the exalted tree with
extensive shade and abundant fruit.

This is a description of the practical ta’wil of the baycat-i

ridwan which occurs at the final stages of spirituality and at
the rank of intellect. This stage has countless names, one of
which is "tree" under which the spiritual and intellectual
baycat is taken. But you may be amazed that the same tree
is in fact the tree of Hazrat Musa, the Olive tree and also the
farthest Lote-tree described in the Holy Qur’an.

Eighth Treasure: "Tahlil-i Ashcar-i Nasir-i

Khusraw":
This pleasant book has been compiled by Mahdi Muhaqqiq,
a Professor at Tehran University, in which the verses are
analysed and linked to the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith, or
to Arab proverbs. Thus, by God’s grace, an additional
treasure has been provided.

48
Examples from the Tahlil-i Ashcar:
Pir Nasir says:

Har kas kih nayalfanjad Å bas‰rat

Fardash bah mahshar basar nabashad

He who does not acquire insight (for himself)

here,
Tomorrow on the Day of Judgement will not have
sight.

In this verse it is alluded to the Qur’anic verse: "And

whoever is blind in this, shall (also) be blind in the
hereafter; and more erring from the way." (17:72).

ˆzad catash dad Muhammad ra

Namash cAl‰ shinas-Å laqab Kawthar

God granted him to Muhammad as a gift

Whose name was cAli and title Kawthar (108:1).

Tan tura gÅrast b‰-shak ham-chunan chÅn

wacdah kard
RÅz‰ az gÅrat bi-rÅn arad Khuday-i dad-gar

Undoubtedly body is the grave for you, and as

God the Just has promised, He will raise you
from it (22:7).

This shows that the ta’wil of the grave is the human body.

49
 Ba-ghar-i sang‰n dar nah ba-ghar-i d‰n andar
RasÅl ra ba-dil-i pak sahibu’l-ghar‰m

Not in the cave made of stone but in the cave of

religion (i.e. spirituality),
We, due to our pure hearts, are the companions of the
Prophet (9:40).

Here it is evident that by the cave is meant spirituality and

therefore, "people of the cave" is the name for certain souls.

ChÅ janat qaw‰ shud ba-‰man-Å hikmat

Bi-yamÅz‰ angah zabanha-yi murghan

Bi-gÅyand ba tÅ haman mÅr-u murghan

Kih guftand az‰n p‰sh-tar ba Sulayman

When your soul because of faith and wisdom

becomes strong,
You will understand the language of birds.

The ants and birds will say to you

What they used to say to Hazrat Sulayman
(27:16).

It is the path of spirituality which is the straight path and the

path of the Prophets, Awliya’ Shuhada’ (martyrs, witnesses)
and Salihin (the righteous ones) and it is their path which
the mu’mins have to follow (4:69). This path contains only
miracles so that macrifat can be attained.

50
 `l-i rasÅl-i Khuday habl-i Khuday‰st
Garash bi-g‰r‰ za chah-i jahl bar a’‰

The progeny of the Prophet of God (Imam of the

time) is the rope of God,
If you hold it, you will emerge from the well of
ignorance (3:103).

There are many examples of good and bad in this world.

One of them is the example of a dark well, and in order to
bring people out of it, God has sent down the rope of His
sacred light from the higher world.

RasÅl khwud sukhan‰ bashad az Khuday ba-khalq

Chunakih guft Khudawand dar haq-i cˆsa

(In addition to) the Book, the Prophet is also a

word from God to the people,
Just as God says about Hazrat cIsa.

This is a reference to the Qur’anic verse (3:45): "O

Maryam! Surely Allah gives you good news with a word
from Him (bi-kalimatin minh)", which establishes that the
Holy Prophet and the Imam of the time are the Qur’an-i
natiq or the "Speaking Qur’an".

Ba-san-i tayr-i abab‰l lashkar‰ kih ham‰

Bi-yÅftad guhar‰ zÅ ba-jay har hajar‰

51
 The flocks of birds (which had pelted the owners
of the elephants with stones) will come
And from each of their stones will fall a pearl
(105:3-4).

When one reflects upon its verses, one realises just how
amazing Qur’anic wisdom is.

Qissah-i Salman shun‰dast‰-Å qawl-i Mustafa

KÅ za Ahlu’l-bayt chÅn shud ba zaban-i pahlaw‰

You may have heard the story of Salman and the

Hadith of the Prophet,
How he became a member of the Ahlu’l-bayt
despite being a Persian and speaking the Persian
tongue.

The Holy Prophet said: "Inna Salmana minna ahli’l-bayt

(Indeed (in a spiritual sense) Salman is from us, the Ahlu’l-
bayt).

Garchit yakbar zadah and bi-yab‰

c
`lam-i d‰gar agar dubarah bi-za’‰

Even though you are born once, (now) you will

be given
Another world if you are born again.

52
As Hazrat cIsa has said: "He who is not born twice (by
dying in this life), cannot enter the kingdom of heaven (i.e.
spirituality)".

Ba-miyan qadr-Å jabr rah-i rast bi-jÅy

Kih sÅy ahl-i khirad jabr- Å qadr dard-Å canast

Seek the straight path between free-will and

predetermination,
Because according to the wise, predetermination and
free-will are only pain and distress.

As Hazrat Imam Jacfar as-Sadiq has said: " La jabra wa-la

tafw‰da bal amrun bayna’l-amrayn (There is neither
(absolute) predetermination nor (absolute) free-will (in the
actions of man) but it is a matter in between." (See at the
end of Ghusha’ish wa Raha’ish).

SÅy an bayad raftanat kih az amr-i Khuday

Bar khaz‰nah-i khirad-Å cilm-i Khudawand darast

You should have recourse to him who by the

command of God
Is the gate (and gate-keeper) of the Divine intellect
and knowledge.

53
For as the Prophet has said: "I am the city of knowledge and
c
Ali is its gate, and whoever wants knowledge should come
through the gate."

Parrat az parh‰z-Å tacat kard bayad kaz Hijaz

Jacfar-i Tayyar bar culya ba-d‰n tacat par‰d

You should make your wings from abstinence

and obedience,
Because Jacfar-i Tayyar (bin Abi Talib) flew from
Hijaz to the higher world with (the wings of) this
obedience.

For as the Holy Prophet has said: "I saw Jacfar in Paradise
with two wings".

Bi-farmÅd justan ba-Ch‰n cilm-i d‰n ra

Muhammad shudam man ba-Ch‰n-i Muhammad

The Holy Prophet Muhammad said: Seek

knowledge (of religion) in China,
Therefore, I went to the Holy Prophet’s China
(i.e. the luminosity of the Exalted Imam). Hadith:
"Seek knowledge, even if it is in China".

Andak andak cilm yabad nafs chÅn cal‰ buwad

Qatrah qatrah jam c gardad wangah‰ darya
shawad

When the soul of someone becomes fortunate

and elevated,

54
 Then it always receives (given) knowledge little
by little, just as drop by drop water gathers and
turns into a river.

Wa-qatrun ila qatrin idha’jtamacat nahrun

Wa-nahrun ila nahrin idaha’jtamacat bahrun

When drops join one another they become a

river,
And when rivers join one another they become
an ocean.

Ninth Treasure: "Zadu’l-Musafirin":

Zadu’l-Musafirin means the provision of the spiritual path
and the path of the hereafter. About this unique and
unprecedented book, it is beyond my capacity to describe it
properly, and I should make this clear for otherwise my
childish words may become a veil for it. However, there is
another way of describing it and that is that we should
describe it using Hazrat Pir’s own words for, as he says
about it:

Za tasn‰fat-i man Zadu’l-Musafir

Kih macqÅlat ra aslast-Å qanÅn
Agar bar khak-i AflatÅn bi-khwanand
Thana khwanad mara khak-i FalatÅn

Among my works, Zadu’l-Musafir is

Like the "Principles and Laws" (to examine and
scrutinise the knowledge) of intelligibles.

55
 If it is read at the grave of (the famous Greek
philosopher) Plato,
Even his dust will praise me (because of the
wonders of this book).

Such is the praise of this treasure of pearls of knowledge

and wisdom!

Examples of the Wisdom of this Book:

Zadu’l-Musafirin (pp. 519) contains 27 major subjects
which are subdivided into 335 sections. Pir Nasir wrote this
noble book in 453 A.H. Since he was born in 394 A.H. he
wrote it at the age of 59. In chapter sixteen he writes about
"mubdic-i haq, ibdac and mubdac" and says that the mubdac
is the trace (athar) of the True mubdic. This point is of key
importance and belongs to the knowledge of secrets. He
also says: Intelligible things are above time and sensible
things are under time (p.117). When a thing comes to an
end, its (movable) time comes to an end, but the dahr or
immovable time does not come to an end like the time of an
individual comes to an end with his death. Thus if the
heaven whose movement surrounds all movements, comes
to an end, then the universal time will come to an end, but
not the dahr, because dahr is not movable time, but it is the
life of a thing which is self-subsisting whereas the movable
time (zaman) is the name of the life of something which
subsists by something else. Dahr does not move, rather it
remains in the same state because it is the life of a thing
whose state never changes. When this reality is conceived,

56
then it will be evident that zaman or movable time is not
applicable to the spiritual entities (ruhaniyyin).

Man is sovereign over everything which is in the creation

and he is the vicegerent of God on earth (p. 462). God has
made man the sovereign of the spiritual kingdom also
(p.464). Man in this world is like a traveller and his desired
destination is the presence of the Creator of the universe (p.
465).

This world is the first destination and the life of man is like
a path and man travels on this path towards the desired
destination so that he may reach the presence of the Creator
of the universe. Thus in this noble and exalted book of
Hazrat Pir Nasir-i Khusraw, there are countless wisdoms to
describe which, let alone this small article, it would be
difficult to do even in an encyclopaedia.

Tenth Treasure: "Wajh-i Din":

Although it is a bright and well established fact that every
book of Pir Nasir-i Khusraw is a precious and everlasting
treasure of knowledge and wisdom, nonetheless his Wajh-i
Din, in many respects, is the quintessence and compendium
of all his books. Thus we can rightly say that this book
stands for the treasure of treasures, because it is his final
work.

Examples of the Wisdom of this Book:

I am very fond of books and I have enjoyed and benefitted
from the study of various books as much as possible, yet the

57
books of Pir Nasir-i Khusraw are full of wonders and
marvels, particularly the Wajh-i Din. Because this book is
so amazingly comprehensive and full of the kernel of
wisdom that, despite constant struggle, the blessings of its
knowledge never come to an end. And the reason for this is
that it specifically deals with the ta’wil of the Qur’an and
Hadith and the knowledge of Imamat and all this is the
result of the inner and spiritual path. That is, there is the
world of unveiling and spiritual miracles in this book.

Even though you may have studied the Wajh-i Din for a
long time, you can be sure that there are still many ta’wili
secrets which have not been revealed. For instance, in the
eighth chapter of this book, read the passage regarding the
six directions of the planet earth carefully and experiment
with it and answer how can its six directions, namely, front,
back, right, left, above and below be determined while it is
always rotating?, so that we may be sure that the inhabitants
of the earth have six directions and God has sent them a
great Prophet from every direction. But nobody, by marking
the six places of the globe of the world, can establish that
from these six directions six great Prophets have come to
the people, because they do not live only in a particular city
or country, rather they are scattered in different continents
and therefore, they do not have collective directions except
the above.

The spiritual example and recognition of how the six

Prophets came to the people from the six directions is found
in the personal world (microcosm). Thus in the personal

58
world, without any doubt, there are six directions of the
human body. Thus, Hazrat Pir alludes that in the personal
world the light of Hazrat Adam comes from above the head,
the light of Hazrat Nuh from the left ear, the light of Hazrat
Ibrahim from the back, the light of Hazrat Musa from the
feet, the light of Hazrat cIsa from the right ear and the light
of the Holy Prophet enters from the forehead, as Imam
Jacfar as-Sadiq has said in his prayer:

"O Allah! make for me a light in my heart, and a

light in my ear, and a light in my eye, and a light
in my tongue, and a light in my hair, and a light
in my skin, and a light in my flesh, and a light in
my blood, and a light in my bones, and a light in
my nerve, and a light in front of me, and a light
behind me, and a light on my right side, and a
light on my left side, and a light above me and a
light below me." (Daca’imu’l-Islam, Vol. I, Dhikr
after the salat).

Subjects of the Wajh-i Din:

In this blessed and miraculous book there are 51 major
subjects and there are 24 sub-subjects. However, the
subjects which are spread throughout the book are more
than this, such as the recognition of God, science of Tawhid,
Prophethood, Imamat, science of hudud, spirituality,
resurrection, Hazrat Qa’im, Hujjat of Qa’im, science of
ta’wil, numerical ta’wil, ism-i aczam (Supreme Name),
physical world and spiritual world, prophecy, secrets of

59
spirituality, roots of religion, branches of religion, keys of
wisdom, self-recognition, the chain of guidance, law of
wasayat (legateeship), secrets of the Qur’an, etc.

A Miracle of Wajh-i Din:

Long ago one of the devoted and knowledge loving students
of the late eminent Sayyid Munir Badakhshani told me that
he began to gain tremendous pleasure from the study of
Wajh-i Din, therefore it became a daily practice for him to
study it. His happiness increased more and more and
consequently his inner eye opened. This was a miracle of
the exercise of knowledge of Wajh-i Din. It should be
remembered that if you get tremors of happiness from
knowledge and wisdom, this is a glad tiding of the grace of
the Holy Spirit.

Key Ta’wil:
There is a great treasure of ta’wil of a practical and key
nature, due to the blessings of which are removed not only
doubts and ambiguities of the readers, but answers to
countless questions are also provided. The disease of
ignorance can most effectively be cured only by ta’wil and
ta’wili wisdom is the honey about which God says: "In it
there is healing for men (from diseases)" (16:69).

Hudud-i Din:
The foundation of ta’wil is based on the hudud-i din,
without which it is not possible and this is evident from the
Wajh-i Din. Now, even though there is the cycle of qiyamat
and except the sun of Imamat no other star is visible, how

60
can we forget the spiritual history of our sacred Tariqah in
which are mentioned the feats of Pen, Tablet, Israfil,
Mika’il, Jibra’il, Natiq, Asas, Imam, Hujjat, Daci, etc. This
is called ta’wil and this is the path of macrifat.

Exalted Imam - Personal World:

Hazrat Imam cAli (a.s.) says:

Do you think that you are a small body;

Yet the great cosmos is contained in you;
You are the speaking book;
By whose letters the hidden secrets are revealed.

This saying and its meaning are first and foremost

applicable to Mawla cAli himself and then every Imam,
because it is he who is the luminous personal world and the
Speaking Book from which reveal the secrets of ta’wil. Now
arises the great question: In what form was the light of the
Imam of the time shone on Pir Nasir-i Khusraw? Pir in his
Diwan says: "When the light of the Imam of the time shone
on my soul, I became the bright sun, though previously I
was pitch dark night". The amazing answer to this
extremely important question is that the light of the Imam
of the time shone upon him in the form of the personal
world, which contains everything. It was this luminous
world which was the Speaking Book and Pir Nasir’s science
of ta’wil is related to this subtle world which is discussed in
the fourth chapter of Wajh-i Din.

c
Ilm-i Bayan - cIlm-i Ta’wil:

61
In many places in Wajh-i Din, Pir uses another synonym for
ta’wil - the word "bayan". From this subtle teaching of the
celebrated sage appears an extremely beautiful revolution
in meaning, such as at the end of the 46th chapter, Pir
explains: "Thumma inna calayna bayanah (Again on Us
(devolves) the ta’wil (bayan) of it." (75:19). That is, O
Prophet! We will make the ta’wil of the Qur’anthrough your
successor, as it is obvious from the noble Hadith,
mentioned in Wajh-i Din, chapter 35, p. 269.

Imam-i Mubin (36:12):

When it is established that in Wajh-i Din another word for
ta’wil is bayan, let us see the word "mubin" also in the
Qur’an. From verse (43:18), it is evident that in this verse
the word mubin has come in the sense of "speaking" or "one
who explains". Thus Imam-i Mubin means the Imam who
is manifest and makes ta’wil. Because, he in whom are
confined and encompassed all spiritual and intellectual
things, can be the custodian of ta’wil also.

Numerical Ta’wil:
In Pir Nasir’s Wajh-i Din the numerical ta’wil is also very
conspicuous. The essential reference to this hidden science
is given in the 48th chapter of this book, in which is
mentioned the obligation of wajibat on mu’mins. You can
see clearly here that according to the will of God and the
Prophet, the numerical ta’wil in the true religion was started
first of all by Mawla cAli (a.s.). (See pp. 330).

A Universe of Knowledge:

62
According to me the most pleasant and understandable
thing to say is that Pir Nasir is a universe of knowledge and
wisdom. However, this description is not only due to his
treasure of books, but it includes many other things which
are increasing with the passage of time. For instance, what
is the extent of the circle of dacwat of Pir Nasir and the
extent of the circle of blessings of his books? What can be
the number of those fortunate people who have become
attached to the holy hem of the True Imam as a result of the
dacwat-i haqq which has continued for approximately a
thousand years? Is everyone who is a student of Nasir-i
Khusraw not himself a personal world? If all these extents
of his tradition are true in their respective places and all this
is happening in the universe of his dacwat or dacwat-i
Nasiri, then let us see those wisdom-filled and inspiring
verses in which allusion is made to all these facts, which
are:

Gar bayadat ham‰ kih bi-b‰n‰ mara tamam

ChÅn caqilan ba-chashm-i bas‰rat nigar mara

Ma-nigar ba-d‰n dac‰f tanam zankih dar sukhan

Z‰n charkh-i pur sitarah fuzÅnast athar mara

Harchand maskanam ba-zam‰nast rÅz-u shab

Bar charkh-i haftumast majal-i safar mara.

If you want to see me fully

Then see me with the inner eye like the wise
ones.

63
 Do not look at my feeble body, because in speech
I have a greater effect than this sphere full of
stars.

Although day and night my dwelling is on earth

I have the power to travel to the seventh sphere
(i.e. the sphere of spirituality).

In the eyes of wise people, the collective purport of these

meaningful and wisdom-filled verses is very clear and
evident that Hakim Nasir-i Khusraw, both in an exoteric
and an esoteric sense is a universe of knowledge. Had it not
been so, he would not have said: "See me with the inner eye
like the wise ones". I would like to say that a religious sage
who has the rank of Hujjat or Pir, never exaggerates. His
speech is full of veracity, truth and wisdom so that thereby
the luminous guidance of the True Imam may be available.
Thus, without any doubt, the sacred light of the Imam of the
time shone on Hazrat Pir Nasir-i Khusraw completely and
perfectly, by which his personal world was illumined as
mentioned in the beginning.

Conclusion:
It is greatly satisfying and useful that a two day seminar on
Hazrat Pir Nasir-i Khusraw has been arranged in Gilgit.
Indeed, this will give great happiness to the entire Jamacat
and will also have far-reaching benefit and will spread the
fragrance of the recognition of the Imam in all directions.
When the people of the world like to have flowers all

64
around them, then why should there not be an abundance of
the flowers of knowledge and fruits of wisdom?

Al-hamdu li’llah, I was also graciously invited to this

historical seminar by the esteemed Tariqah Board on 8th
September, 1990, which invitation I received on 15th
September in Gilgit. To comply with the writing of this
paper, I came to Karachi on 24th September. The seminar
was held on 8th and 9th November, 1990.

I beg forgiveness for any defects in this paper due to the

shortage of time. Let us pray that may the Holy Lord enable
us to thank Him for each and every favour. Amin!

Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai,

Day of cId Miladu’n-Nabi, 12 Rabic I 1411/3rd October,
1990.

65
 List of Non-English Words
with Transliteration
®
c
Abad `lam‰n
c
Ahlu’l-bayt Arif
c
al-Hamdu li’llah Awd
c
al-M‰zan Az‰z
Alif Chiragh
Allah Chiragh-i Rawshan
Am‰n-i Imam-i Zaman Chiragh-namah
c
an-NÅr Ibadat
Ana-yi culw‰ c
‰d
c
Asas Ilm
c
ash-Shaf‰ Ilm-i ladunn‰
c
`thar Ilm-i bayan
c
Awliya’ Ilm-i ta’w‰l
Awwal Daca’imu’l-Islam
`yat Daci
Azal Dacwat
Barguz‰dah-i cAli Dacwat-i fana’
al-Murtaza Dacwat-i haqq
Batin Dacwat-i baqa’
Bayan Dacwat-i Nasir‰
Baycat Dacwat‰
Baycat-i ridwan Dahr
Bazar Dal‰l
Boyn Dhikr
Boyo D‰wan
c
`lam D‰wan-i Ashcar

66
Fana’ fi’llah Khwan al-Ikhwan
Fana’ fi’r-rasÅl Lam
Farman Ma’idah
Fath Ma’mÅr
Ghusha’ish wa Raha’ish Macrifat
Ha’ Madhhab
Habl Masab‰h
Hablu’llah Mawla
Had‰th Mazahir
HudÅd Mazhar
HudÅd-i d‰n Misbah
Hujjat Mu’min
Hujjat Na’ib-i Payghambar Mubdac
Hujjat-i Mustansir ‰ Mubdic
Hujjat-i Farzand-i Ras Ål Mubdic-i haqq
Hujjat-i Mustansir Mub‰n
Hujjat-i Khurasan Mucallim
Ibdac Mukhtar-i Imam-i cAsr
Imam-i Mub‰n Mun‰r
Inbicath Mur‰d
Salman Mustac‰n-i Muhammad
Ism-i aczam Natiq
Jadd NujÅm
Jamacat P‰r
Jamic-i Kab‰r QamÅsu’l-Qur’an
Jamicu’l-Hikmatayn Qasa’id
Jihad Qas‰dah
Kawakib Qaz‰
Kawthar Qiblah
Khal‰fah Qiyamat
Khayal Qur’an-i natiq

67
Rawshana’i-namah Wajh-i D‰n
Risalah-i Hikmat‰ Wajibat
Riyadat Wasayat
RÅhan‰ majlis Zadu’l-Musafir
Ruhaniyy‰n (or al-Musafir‰n)
Safar-namah Zahir
Saff Zaman
Saf‰r-i Imam-i Zamanah
Salat
Salawat
Salawatu’llahi calayh
Salih‰n
Sargudhasht
Shamsu’l-culama’
Shuhada’
Siraj
Siraj-i mun‰r
Siyar-i Kab‰r
Subh
Sunnat
Ta’l‰f
Ta’w‰l
Ta’y‰d
Ta’y‰dat
Ta’y‰d‰
Tahl‰l-i Ashcar
Tanz‰l
Taql‰d
Tark‰b
Tasb‰h
Tawh‰d

68