Politics, Poetry, and Sufism in Medieval Iran
Subtitle: New Perspectives on Jm's Salmn Va Absl
Publisher: BRILL
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 294
ISBN-13: 9789004254046
Subjects: Sufism; Politics and literature; Iran, history
Description: In 'Politics, Poetry, and Sufism in Medieval Iran' Chad Lingwood offers new insights into the political significance of poetry and Sufism at the court of Sultan Ya'qub (d. 896/1490), leader of the Aq Qoyunlu. The basis of the study is 'Salaman va Absal', a Persian allegorical romance by 'Abd al-Rahman Jami (d. 898/1492), the great Timurid belletrist and Naqshbandi Sufi, dedicated to Ya'qub. Lingwood demonstrates that 'Salaman va Absal', which modern critics have dismissed as "crude" and "grotesque," is a sophisticated work of political and mystical advice for a Muslim ruler. In the process, he challenges received wisdom concerning Jami, the Aq Qoyunlu, and Perso-Islamic advice literature. Significantly, the study illustrates the extent to which Jami's compositions integrated the Timurid and Aq Qoyunlu realms.