Mir Findiriski

Mir Findiriski, Findiriski, Sayyid Mirza Abu al-Qasim Findiriski (ca. 1562-1640), Imami mystic, philosopher, and poet, well-known as Mir Findiriski, a distinguished philosopher of the Isfahan School of philosophy flourishing under the Safavids. His ancestors had been notable sayyids of Istarabad and his grandfather, Mir Sadr al-Din, possessed estates in Findirisk, a village in Istarabad who after the accession of Shah ‘Abbas I (1558) attached himself to the court. His father, Mirza Beyg was a respected courtier. Born in the village of Findirisk, Abu al-Qasim received his preliminary education in his hometown. Later, he studied philosophy and other sciences in Isfahan under ‘Allama Chalabi Beyg Tabrizi, a former student of Afzal al-Din Turka Isfahani. Later, he taught in Isfahan, but since he was of a indapendant turn of mind and disliked imitation, he, similar to his master, Chalabi Beyg Tabrizi and many other scholars, mystics, and artisans, left for India. India had attracted people from other lands owing to the peaceful policies of Akabar Shah as well as its economic prosperity, social security, diversity of religions, a freedom from religious and sectarian bias, an ideal home for independent thinking people. He first traveled to India in 1606 accompanied by Awhadi Balyani, the author of ‘Arafat al-‘Ashiqin, according to whom, upon his arrival in India, Mir sought the patronage of Mirza Ja’far Asaf Khan, himself a Persian poet and litterateur who had emigrated to India and had been vested with a vizierate. Asaf Khan offered him patronage, but prepared the means of his return to Persia. nonetheless, Mir departed once again for India, first arriving in Gujerat, though he later traveled to Deccan. While authoring his ‘Arafat al-‘Ashiqin between the years 1612 and 1615, Awhadi states that Mir Findiriski made further journeys to India in his last years. He traveled to India once again in 1627 and another time in 1636 when he joined audience with Shah Jahan at the suggestion of his vizier, Abu al-Hasan Isfahani. Mir Findiriski enjoyed the respect of the Persian court too and according to Nasrabadi, upon Mir Findiriski’s return from India to Isfahan he was visited by Shah Safi. He died in Isfahan and was laid to rest at the tomb of Baba Rukn al-Din, known today as Tikyih-yi Mir, in the Takht-i Fulad Cemetery in Isfahan. His grave is located in an open space on which a stone slab bears an inscription in the Thulth script and is dated 1640, though the date of his death is recorded as 1639 at the end of a manuscript of Risala-yi Sina’iyya and the same date is recorded in a chronogram in the form of a quatrain. His tomb has been accorded great respect and has been visited by people. His books were bequeathed to the library of Shah Safi. His biographical account is scantily known. One of his descendants, Mir Abu Talib ibn Mirza Beyg, was a distinguished scholar and poet and a student of ‘Allama Majlisi who wrote numerous works. The descendants of the family in recent times who were venerable sayyids in Istarabad. A contemporary of Mir Damad and Shaykh Baha’i, Mir Findiriski had taught distinguished scholars, like Mulla Sadiq Ardistani, Muhammad Baqir Sabziwari, Aqa Husayn Khwansari, Mirza Rafi’a-yi Na’ini, and Shaykh Rajab’ali Tabrizi. According to some sources, Sadr al-Din Shirazi, the prominent philosopher in the Safavid times, was a former student of Mir Findiriski, though the former makes no mention of the latter in his works, though in his introduction to his commentary on Usul-i Kafi, greatly revers his other two teachers, Mir Damad and Shaykh Baha’i. However, it is quite probable that Mir Findiriski’s views and the impacts of Indian philosophy and intellectual milieu on him found their way into the cultural circles of Persia and gave birth to certain thoughts and views. According to the author of Dabistan-i Madhahib, Mir Findiriski associated with the disciples of Azar Kaywan; as a consequence of which he never harmed any animal. When he was inquired about his not going on pilgrimage to Mecca despite possessing the means, he replied that one had to slaughter a sheep there by one’s own hands. Few of his works are available, but the phrases and epithets inscribed on his grave reflect that he was deeply respected in his lifetime and he was highly regarded by the elect and the laity as a distinguished scholar, philosopher and also mystic. There was an aura of sanctity around him, hence the miraculous legends attributed to him, according to which a lion once entered his circle; further he was depicted, together with Shaykh Baha’i in pictures and on pen-cases and his visiting the temple of the polytheists served as theme in an elegant poetical composition by Mulla Ahmad Naraqi. Anecdotes have been reported concerning his intelligence, magnanimity, repartees, and boldness in presenting replies to the criticisms posed by rulers and dignitaries which indicate his distinction, keen perception, bravery, dignity, and piety. It is reported that there was once a discussion on a geometrical question according to the view of Khwaja Nasir al-Din Tusi. Mir Findiriski presented an argument concerning the question and inquired, ‘Did Khwaja present this argument?’ The reply was negative. He presented further arguments following each of which he reiterated the same question and received the same reply. The brief references to his biographical accounts in biographical sources indicate that notwithstanding his mystical and scholarly prestige, he lived a simple life, abstaining from administrative offices and worldly recognition and even did not refrain from associating with ordinary people, even the rogues. Wala states that Mir wore felt clothes in the main and kept the company of the rogues and the lowly. He even attended cock competitions holding one in his arms. Wala proceeds to report a famous story about Mir’s conversation with Shah ‘Abbas and the bold and frank replies of the former and the tacit and polite protest of the latter which is recorded in further sources as well. Mir Findiriski was an expert in all the disciplines, specifically in geometry, mathematics, and alchemy and some books on these subjects have been attributed to him. His extant works and also his students’ philosophical and intellectual views and compositions indicate that Mir was a peripatetic philosopher who taught Ibn Sina (Avicenna). At times he made sarcastic remarks about Ibn Sina and Khwaja Nasir al-Din Tusi, two prominent peripatetic philosophers. In a couplet in his famous philosophical qasida, he states that Farabi and Ibn Sina simply had recourse to outward perception. Although his qasida opens with the Platonic world of ideas and ascension to the ideal purgatory, he refutes platonic ideas after the fashion of peripatetic philosophers. His extant works include some brief treatises on scientific and philosophical subjects, annotations and commentaries on a translation of Yoga Vasistha, a Hindu spiritual text, and some poetical compositions. His most significant work is entitled Sina’iyya or Haqa’iq al-Sana’i’, in which he uses the term sina’a in very broad sense implying whatever is created by the rational and practical faculties. The work, comprising 24 chapters and an epilogue, is devoted to the definition of sina’a, its different categories, and its relations with different sina’as, the advantages, goals, use, nobilities, lowly qualities, and the position of different artisans and arts in the society, and the hierarchy of sana’as according to their goals and qualities the noblest of which is the one which is the final goal (finis) per se and there is no final goal beyond it. In this treatise, animal faculty (animativa), human organs (microcosm), and the functions of each have been compared with the elements of the world of existence and the worlds of the intellects and the self (macrocosm, macros anthropos, homo maximus) on the one hand and on the other, parallels have been draw between them and different classes of the society and its individuals, members, and their functions in society. Mir Findiriski presents delicate philosophical discussions in a clear and eloquent diction interspersed with Qur’anic verses, traditions, and the sayings of notable scholars and philosophers. Risala fi ‘l-Haraka is a brief treatise in Arabic in five chapters devoted to definitions of movement and its categories and the question that every movement requires a mover and the movements have to originate from one single mover, i.e. the first mover that requires no mover per se. in this treatise, Mir Findiriski discusses the questions from a peripatetic view and refutes Platonic views in this respect. Risala dar Tashkik is an epistle in which Mir Findiriski replies peripatically to a question posed by Aqa Muzaffar Kashani about essential gradation (tashkik dar dhatiyyat). In contrast to the Illuminationists who believe in essential gradation, he maintains that essentials are not subject to gradation. His annotations on a Persian translation of Yoga Vasistha on Hindu mysticism and philosophy which was undertaken under Akbar Shah. The original text, Laghu Yoga Vasistha, is an abridgement of Yoga Vasistha, also entitled Maha Ramayana and Vasistha Ramayana. The main theme of the book is the oneness of absolute existence constituting a pivotal theme in Hindu philosophy and mysticism, mainly represented by Sankara. However, Mir Findiriski presents a simpler and clearer account of the complicated thoughts of this Hindu school in which he makes use of appealing tales and legends to render it further intelligible to the laity. The unabridged work is not available in Persian translation, but its abridgement made in Sanskrit in the ninth century is. It was rendered into Persian by Nizam al-Din Panipati under Akbar Shah and further translations and abridgements were later made in Persian. Having been introduced to the work upon his arrival in India, Mir Findiriski developed a keen interest in it and wrote useful annotations on it which are still extant on the marginalia of some of its manuscript copies. His annotations reflect his keen interest and attempts in learning Hindu teachings. His references to Sanskrit terminology indicates that he had perceived the necessity to reading such books in their original versions. His annotations make references to the comparison of Hindu thoughts with Greek philosophical topics and Islamic beliefs and his references to Biruni’s Patanjali reflects his familiarity with Biruni’s Indica. He had also compiled a glossary for Yoga Vasistha, entitled Kash al-Lughat-i Juk, manuscript copies of which are extant independently or as supplements to his commentary and annotations. Indian terms have been presented alphabetically which are followed by definitions, extracted from the book, and at times explanations by Mir Findiriski. Besides this glossary, two manuscripts of selections of Yoga Vasistha bearing the name of Abu al-Qasim Mir Findiriski as the compiler exist. The selection includes short pieces with mystical themes extracted from Panipati’s Persian translation of Yoga Vasistha; each piece is followed by a Persian couplet with a similar theme by poets like ‘Attar, Rumi, Shabistari, Sayyid Husayni, Maghribi, and Hafiz. The selection seemingly aims at presentation of the harmony between Islamic and Hindu mystical thoughts. It is worthy of note that the selection includes numerous couplets by Fani Isfahani (fl. Nineteenth century) that at the first glance refutes the ascription of the work to Mir Findiriski, but the large number of such couplets, compared to those by further poets (more than half of the couplets are by Fani), indicates that those couplets were later additions to the original selection. The book was published by Fath Allah Mujtaba’i (Tehran 2006) under the title Muntakhab-i Jugbasisht (Selections of Yoga Vasistha). Some verses by Mir Findiriski have been included in biographical sources. His extant poetry includes two qasidas and some quatrains and qit’as. One of the qasidas is a complaint from the visistudes of time and the ingratitude of the world and the other is a philosophical and theological composition. The latter has been subject of commentaries, one by Muhammad Salih Khalkhali, a scholar flourishing in the eighteenth century, lithographed in 1894 with a commentary on a prayer by the Commander of the Faithful (Ali) and Jami’s Lawa’ih; the other is by Hakim ‘Abbas Sharif Darabi Shiraz which is published by Fazl Allah Layiq (Tehran 1958).

Atashkada-yi Azar (2/ 792-797); Rayhanat al-Adab (4/ 357-360).