Imagining the End: Visions of
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, pp.
a– a. Lapide’s division of the text is as follows: Apocalypse –
deals the beginnings of the Church in John’s time; Apocalypse –
deals with its history in two parts, with chs – , especially the seven seals, treating the Church through the centuries, and chs – the last days. Nevertheless, as Osculati has shown (‘
’, pp.
, – , – and
), Cornelius a Lapide’s fundamental concern is with the book’s moral and interior message in true Tyconian style. Notes to Chapter 8
371
. Reeves, The Influence of Prophecy , pp.
– , for references.
. Lapide, Commentaria , p.
b: ‘Nam prophetiae eius, potius somnia ac derilia videntur.’ For other attacks on Joachim, see the passages cited in Osculati, ‘
’, p.
. . The exegesis of Apocalypse takes up a rather small part of the total commentary, pages (pp. –
) of the
of the whole comment (i.e. about per cent). The attack on millenarianism is to be found in a Lapide, Commentaria , pp.
b– b. For a summary of a Lapide’s exegesis of Apocalypse , see Osculati, ‘ Hic Romae ’, pp.
– .
. R. P. D. Fr. Ioannis da Sylveira … Commentariorum in Apocalypsim B. Ioannis Apostoli , vols (Lyon,
). Another edition appeared at Lyon in
.
. On the importance of Bossuet’s interpretation, see Armogathe, ‘Interpretations of the Revelation of John: –
’, pp.
– . . J.-B. Boussuet, L’Apocalypse avec une explication (Paris, ), pp.
– , for the comment on Apocalypse , especially pp. – and
– . Bossuet concludes (p. ): ‘Concluons donc que tout ce qu’on dit de ce règne de mille ans, pris à la lettre, engage à des absurdités inexplicables … Croyons, dis-je, toutes ces choses, et laissons aux interprètes protes- tans ces restes des opinions judaïques, que la lumière de l’Eglise a entièrement dissipées depuis treize cents ans.’
. Armogathe, ‘Interpretations of the Revelation of John:
–
’, pp.
– . . The decree can be found in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis
(
), p.
.
. The Apostolic Letter On the Coming of the Third Millennium (
) (Washington, ), was first issued on November . Even more revealing than the Letter, is the present pontiff ’s curiously-neglected Encyclical on the Holy Spirit, Dominum et Vivificantem , issued on Pentecost ( May) of (see
Acta Apostolicae Sedis
[
], pp.
–
).
. On the Coming of the Third Millennium , paragraph (p.
). 9. Deciphering the Cosmos from Creation to Apocalypse Part of the research for this essay was conducted during my term in autunm
as a Mellon Foundation post-doctoral fellow in Millennialism Studies at the Council on Middle East Studies of Yale Center for International and Area Studies. In addition, a National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship from the American Research Institute in Turkey enabled me to do manuscript research on the Hurufiyya in Istanbul in the spring of
. I am grateful to these foundations and institutions for their support of the project. . Jalal al-Din Rumi, Divan-i Shamsi-i Tabriz , vols (Tehran,
) vol. , p. (
no.
). . Khwaja Sayyid Ishaq, Khwabnama , MS. Ali Emiri Farsça , Millet Library, Istanbul, a– a; Nasrallah b. Hasan 'Ali Nafaji, Khwabnama , MS. Persian , Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City, a– a. The second source gives a very short account of the incident, stating that Fazlallah abandoned normal life immediately after hearing the verse in a bazaar in Astarabad. . For previous summary assessments of Fazlallah’s life and work see: Hamid Algar, ‘Astarabadi, Fazlallah’, Encyclopedia Iranica , Vol.
, pp.
– ; Abdülbâki Gólpinarli, Hurufilik Metinleri Katalog
(Ankara,
), pp. – ; Helmut Ritter, ‘Studien zur Geschichte der islamischen Frömmigkeit: Die Anfänge der Hurufisekte’,
, no. (June ):
– ; Sadiq Kiya, Vazhanama-yi Gurgani (Tehran, ), pp.
– ; Ya'qub Azhand, Hurufiyya dar tarikh (Tehran, ), pp.
– ; H. T. Norris, ‘The Hurufi Legacy of Fazlullah of Astarabad’, in Leonard Lewisohn (ed.) The Legacy of Mediaeval Persian Sufism (London, ), pp.
– . . For a discussion of this period of Shi'ism see Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, The Divine Notes to Chapters 8 and 9 372 Guide in Early Shi'ism: The Sources of Esotericism in Islam , trans. David Streight (Albany, ).
. This is, of course, an oversimplification of the debate within Sufism regarding the identity and authority of those entrusted with esoteric knowledge. For detailed analyses of the issue of spiritual authority or
in Sufi thought see: Michel Chodkiewicz, The Seal of Saints: Prophethood and Sainthood in the Doctrine of Ibn al-'Arabi , trans. Liadain Sherrard (Cambridge,
), pp. – ; Bernd Radtke and John O’Kane, The Concept of Sainthood in Early Islamic Mysticism :
(Richmond, Surrey,
); Vincent Cornell, Realm of the Saint: Power and Authority in Moroccan Sufism (Austin, TX, ),
. For the historical development of the imam as the foremost religious guide see: Amir- Moezzi,
; Marshall Hodgson, ‘How did the Early Shî'a become Sectarian?’
(
): – . . For the development of Shi'i legal thought see: Wilferd Madelung, ‘Authority in Twelver Shi'ism in the Absence of the Imam’, in George Makdisi, Dominique Sourdel and Janine Sourdel-Thomine (eds),
(Paris,
); idem., ‘The Sources of Isma'ili Law’, Journal of Near Eastern Studies
(
): – . . For the background and aftermath of this event see: Marshall Hodgson, The Order of Assassins (The Hague, ), pp.
– ; Farhad Daftary, The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge, ), pp.
– . . The loss of Nizari intellectual momentum is evident most conspicuously from the dramatic decline in both the quantity and quality of Persian Nizari literature in the post- Alamut period (cf. Daftary, Isma'ilis , pp.
– ). . For general secondary overviews of such religious activity during this period see: Marshall Hodgson, Venture of Islam (Chicago, ), Vol.
, pp.
– ; B. S. Amoretti, ‘Religion under the Timurids and the Safavids’, in P. Jackson (ed.), Cambridge History of Iran (Cambridge, ), Vol.
, pp.
– ; Shahzad Bashir, ‘Between Mysticism and Messianism: The Life and Thought of Muhammad Nurbakhs (d. )’, PhD dissertation, Yale University, , pp.
– . . For a wide survey of surviving Hurufi literature see Gólpinarlı’s Katalog . . The year of birth is recorded in brief chronologies found in the following Hurufi manuscripts: MS. Ali Emiri Farsça , Millet Library, Istanbul, a; MS. Ali Emiri Farsça , Millet Library, Istanbul, a; MS. Or. , British Library, London, a (cf. E. G. Browne, ‘Further Notes on the Literature of the Hurufi Sect’,
[ ]:
– ). . These dreams are narrated in considerable detail in Fazlallah’s prose works. See parti- cularly, his
, MS. Ee. .
, Cambridge University Library, Cambridge,
a– b. . Nafaji, Khwabnama , a– a. . Ibid., b. The first three names are transcribed incorrectly in the manuscript. The fourth person mentioned in the dream is possibly Bahlul Majnun (d. c.
/
– ) named in the Akhbar 'uqala' al-majanin of Abul-Qasim Hasan b. Muhammad Nishapuri (d. /
– ). For details about his life see Zarrinkub, Dunbala-yi justuju dar tasavvuf-i Iran (Tehran, ), p.
. . Nafaji, Khwabnama , a–b. Solomon and the hoopoe appear also in other dreams reported in the
Nawmnama ( b) and Khwaja Ishaq’s Khwabnama (
a).
. Nafaji, Khwabnama , a–b; Ishaq, Khwabnama , b– a. 'Ali al-A'la, another major disciple of Fazlallah, also calls Fazlallah varis-i mulk-i Sulayman in his versified Kursinama (MS. Persan , Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, b).
. The shorthand used for technical terms by Hurufi authors usually abbreviates the title to
from
sahib-i ta'vil . . Nafaji, Khwabnama , b; Ishaq, Khwabnama , b. The general significance of dream interpretation is explained also in Ishaq, Khwabnama , b– b. Notes to Chapter 9 373 . Ishaq, Khwabnama , b, b. . Ibid., b,
a,
a,
a–b. For the religious environment of the Sarbadar state see: Bashir, ‘Between Mysticism and Messianism’, pp. – ; C. Melville, ‘Sarbadarids’, Encyclopedia of Islam , nd edn (hereafter cited as EI ), Vol.
, pp.
– ; Jean Aubin, ‘Aux origines d’un mouvement populaire médiéval: le Cheykhisme du Bayhaq et du Nichâpour’, Studia Iranica
(
):
– . . Ishaq, Khwabnama , a– a, a. . Ibid., b. Later Hurufi chronologies place the event in the year / (cf. MS. Ali Emiri Farsça ,
a and MS. Ali Emiri Farsça
, a). The discrepancy may indicate the difference between the revelatory moment and the time when Fazlallah publicly proclaimed his message.
. Nafaji, Khwabnama , a– a. A more extended version of this hadith , which identifies the inquisitor as Abu Dharr al-Ghiffari, is given in the anonymous Hurufi treatise
(MS. Ali Emiri Farsça , Millet Library, Istanbul, b– a). For a general discussion of the properties attributed to letters in Islamic thought see: T. Fahd, ‘Huruf ’, EI , Vol.
, pp. – ; idem., ‘Djafr’, EI , Vol.
, pp.
– . . The significance of the additional Persian letters is discussed in numerous Hurufi works. In addition to the basic principle, one Hurufi source argues that the transposition of the four letters is an instance of the concept of abrogation in the Qur'an (cf. J. Burton, ‘Naskh’, EI , Vol. , pp.
– ). In normative Islamic thought, this principle implies that if a Qur'anic verse is contradicted by a later verse or action of Muhammad, the later saying supersedes the earlier. When extended beyond Muhammad’s life, this same essential principle justifies Fazlallah’s revelations abrogating the literal message of the Qur'an (cf. Anonymous, Muqaddimat al-'ushshaq , MS. Ali Emiri Farsça , Millet Library, Istanbul, b–
a). . 'Ali al-A'la, Kursinama , a. . The considerable erudition of many of Fazlallah’s close companions is evident from extant Hurufi literature attributed to them. See, for example, works by Abu l-Hasan, Khwaja Ishaq, 'Ali al-A'la, Sayyid Sharif, 'Imad al-Din Nasimi and Kamal al-Din Hashimi described in Gólpinarlı’s
. . For the Mahdi see: W. Madelung, ‘Mahdi’, EI , Vol.
, pp.
– ; Abdulaziz Sachedina, Islamic Messianism: The Idea of the Mahdi in Twelver Shi'ism (Albany, NY, ); Bashir, ‘Between Mysticism and Messianism’, pp.
– . . Astarabadi, Nawmnama , b. In another dream, he saw the sun rising from the West which was commonly accepted as a sign for the arrival of the Mahdi ( Nawmnama , b; 'Ali al-A'la, Kursinama , a). . e.g. 'Ali al-A'la, Kursinama , b, a, b, etc.; Nafaji, Khwabnama , b; Kathleen Burrill, The
(The Hague,
), p.
. . For the full development of this idea see my ‘Enshrining Divinity: The Death and Memorialization of Fazlallah Astarabadi in the Development of Hurufi Thought’, Muslim World , no. (Fall
):
– . . Ishaq, Khwabnama , b. . Ibid., a–b.
. Shams al-Din Sakhawi, al-Daw' al-lami' li-ahl al-qarn al-tasi' , vols (Beirut,
), Vol.
, p.
(based upon Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani’s Anba' al-ghumr fi abna' al-'umr ). . The arrest was accomplished by Shaykh Ibrahim, the Timurid overlord of Shirvan (cf. Ishaq,
Khwabnama , a; 'Ali al-A'la, Kursinama , a). The year of death is reiterated in several Hurufi sources (Gólpinarlı, Katalog , pp.
– ). . Astarabadi, Nawmnama , b. In another instance, he identified the violent death of a person in the dream of a certain Qazi Bayazid in Shamakhi as a pointer for his own imminent execution (Ishaq,
, b– a). For Fadlallah’s last will and testament see Abdülbâki Notes to Chapter 9 374 Gólpinarli, ‘Fadlallah-i Hurufi 'nin wasiyyat-nama'si veya wasaya'si’, S
): – . . Four of Fazlallah’s children (two male and two female) died in a plague in –
(cf. Ghiyas al-Din Muhammad Astarabadi, Istivanama , MS. Persian , Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Vatican City, a–b). Another son was alive in since he was persecuted following an attempt on the life of the Timurid Mirza Shahrukh (cf. Abdülbâki Gólpinarli, ‘Fadlallah- i Hurufi 'nin og luna ait bir mektup’, S
]:
– ). For more details on the activities of Fazlallah’s children and principal disciples see the discussion below and Ritter, ‘Anfänge’: – . . For the significance of the ritual and the second expectation see below. . For a sophisticated analysis of Islamic hagiographic literature see Cornell, Realm of the Saint. Besides this work, the structural features of Islamic hagiography as a literary genre have so far received little scholarly attention. . For Fazlallah’s genealogy see the anonymous Nasbnama-yi hazrat-i sa'il , MS. Ali Emiri Farsça
, Millet Library, Istanbul, b. . The original inspiration for this assertion comes from a hadith qudsi (God’s speech reported through Muhammad and not in the Qur'an) very popular among Sufis (cf. Badi' al- Zaman Furuzanfar, Ahadis-i masnavi [Tehran, ], pp.
– ). . Qur'an, : , : , : , : , : , : . . Fazlallah Astarabadi, Javidannama , MS. Ali Emiri Farsça , Millet Library, Istanbul, bff. The phrase is discussed in varying degrees of detail in all major Hurufi works. For a pre- Hurufi emphasis on the phrase see Sa'd al-Din Hamuwayi (d.
– ), Risala dar huruf , MS.
Pertev Pas a, Süleymaniye Library, Istanbul, b– a. . Qur'an, : – , :
, : , : , : . . Khwaja Sayyid Ishaq, Valayatnama , MS. Ali Emiri Farsça , Millet Library, Istanbul, a–b,
a– b. The range of possibilities inherent in Adam are also demonstrated evocatively in an anonymous poem where the poet describes himself as the embodiment of good and evil in a series of opposing images (MS. Ali Emiri Farsça
, Millet Library, Istanbul, a). . As explained below, by ‘ huruf ’ in this context Hurufis mean not the letters of any ordinary alphabet but the primordial entities that underlie all of creation. To emphasize this crucial distinction, I will use upper case L for these entities in the present discussion. . Ghiyas al-Din , Istivanama , a. . In an interesting incident, this Hurufi theory was challenged at the Central Asian court of Ulugh Beg where Chinese speakers stated that their language required producing more than thirty-two sounds. Fazlallah’s son Nurallah defended the Hurufi viewpoint by trying to prove that the ‘extra’ Chinese sounds were in fact only combinations of the thirty-two basic ones (cf. Gólpinarlı, ‘Fazlallah-i Hurufi 'nin og luna ait bir mektup’, ). . Anonymous, Hidayatnama , in Clément Huart, Textes persans relatifs à la secte des houroûfîs (Leiden, ), p.
. . Sayyid Sharif, Risala-yi ism va musamma in Huart, Textes persans , . The work is printed anonymously here but its identity is certain based upon other manuscripts (cf. MS. Ali Emiri Farsça
, Millet Library, Istanbul, a– a).
. Sharif, Risala-yi ism va musamma , pp.
– . . Anonymous, Risala dar huruf , MS. Ali Emiri Farsça , Millet Library, Istanbul, b– b, b. The manuscript does not identify the text’s author but it is likely to be Sayyid Sharif based upon stylistic and contextual considerations. . Khwaja Sayyid Ishaq, Mahramnama , in Huart, Textes persans , pp.
– . . Ibid. . Ibid., pp. –
. Notes to Chapter 9 375 . The way the science of letters could be applied to the Arabo-Persian alphabet in specific is described in the anonymous Hidayatnama (Huart, Textes persans , pp.
– ). . Khwaja Ishaq states that Fazlallah could divine people’s circumstances by just observing their comportment before they even uttered a single word (cf. Khwabnama , a, a, a).
. Fazlallah’s ability to transcend the boundaries of space and time is illustrated in a series of dreams recorded in the
in which he saw himself present at signature moments in the lives of previous prophets (e.g. Adam at the moment of creation, Moses in front of the burning bush, Muhammad during his ascension to heaven, etc.) (cf. Nawmnama , b,
a– b,
b).
. Kamal al-Qaytagh, Ita'atnama , MS. Ali Emiri Farsça , Millet Library, Istanbul, a– a. For the identity of the author of this work see Gólpinarlı, Katalog , pp.
– . . Khwaja Sayyid Ishaq, Tahqiqnama , MS. Farsça , Istanbul Üniversitesi Library, b. Islamic ideas about the end of the world were never standardized and could vary considerably even within a single sect. For a popular presentation by a highly influential theologian see Muhammad al-Ghazzali, The Remembrance of Death and the Afterlife , tr. T. J. Winter (Cambridge, UK,
). . Nafaji, Khwabnama , b. . Ibid., b– b. . Ibid., a– b; Ghiyas al-Din, Istivanama , b– b. . This segment of Hurufi history is discussed in detail in my forthcoming article ‘En- shrining Divinity: The Death and Memorialization of Fazlallah Astarabadi in the Development of Hurufi Thought’. . Qur'an, : , : , :
, : , etc.
. Ghiyas al-Din, Istivanama , a–b. This part of Istivanama is discussed also in E. G. Browne, ‘Some Notes on the Literature and Doctrine of the Hurufi Sect’,
( ): – . It is worth noting here that our information about the proponents of this viewpoint may be biased since it comes to us only from those who opposed them. In the absence of any direct sources, however, there is little choice but to take it at face value. . Cf. Hamid Algar, ‘'Ali al-A'la’, Encyclopedia Iranica , Vol.
, p.
. . Ghiyas al-Din, Istivanama , b– a. . Ibid., a.
. The Nuqtavi or Pisikhani movement, which traced its roots at least partly to Fazlallah’s inspiration, exhibited antinomian traits during the Safavid period and was brutally crushed by political authorities (cf. H. Algar, ‘Nuktawiyya’,
, Vol.
, pp.
– ; Sadiq Kiya, Nuqtaviyyan ya Pisikhaniyyan [Tehran, ]; Abbas Amanat, ‘The Nuqtawi Movement of Mahmud Pisikhani and his Persian Cycle of Mystical-Materialism’, in Farhad Daftary [ed.], Mediaeval Isma’ili History and Thought (Cambridge, ).
. 'Ali al-A'la, Kursinama , a. . For a detailed discussion of the provenance of this hadith see Wilferd Madelung, ‘'Abd Allah b. al-Zubayr and the Mahdi’,
(
):
–
. . The ritual is described most extensively in Ghiyas al-Din, Istivanama , b–
a, and Ishqurt Dede, Salatnama , MS. Ali Emiri Farsça , Millet Library, Istanbul, a. . Ishaq, Mahramnama , , , . . Kalimatallah’s life is discussed in Mu'in ad-Din Mihrabi, Kalimatallah al-'Ulya (Dukhtar- i Fadlallah Nai'imi, bunyad-guzar-i junbish-i Hurufiyya): Banu-yi inqilabi va gumnan az qarn-i nahum (Cologne, ).
. Besides the incident involving Kalimatallah, the Hurufis were implicated also in an attempt on the life of the Timurid ruler Mirza Shahrukh (d. ) in
. For a review of the historical material relating to this event see my above-mentioned article and Roger Savory, Notes to Chapter 9 376 ‘A
th-century Safavid Propagandist at Heart’, in Semi-Centennial Volume of the Middle Western Branch of the American Oriental Society (Bloomington, IN, ).
. Tasköprüzade, al-Shaqa'iq al-nu'maniyya fi'ulama' al-dawla al-'Uthmaniyya , ed. Ahmet Subhi Furat (Istanbul,
), pp. – . The only corroboration for this story in a Hurufi source is a cryptic reference in the verses of an anonymous Hurufi poet who states that the beard and moustache of an accursed demon ( div-i la'in ) caught fire because he denied Fazlallah’s status (Anonymous,
v
, MS. Ali Emiri Farsça
, Millet Library, Istanbul, b). . For the connection between Hurufis and Bektashis see: Abdülbâki Gólpinarlı, ‘Bektasilik- Hurufilik ve Fazl Allah'in öldürülmesine düsürülen üç tarih’,
( ):
– ; John Birge, The Bektashi Order of Dervishes (London, ), pp.
– ,
– . . Ahmet Yas ar Ocak, Osmanlı Toplumunda Zindiklar ve Mülhidler ( . – . Yüzyillar) (Istanbul, ), pp.
– . . See, for example, Anonymous, Muqaddimat al-'ushshaq , a– b. Fazlallah’s own works also contain scattered discussions of rituals, though it is easier to see the issue clearly from summaries assembled in later Hurufi works. . Ishaq, Khwabnama , a–b. 10. American Millennial Visions . Two terms central to this essay, millennialism and apocalypticism, require brief comment. Millennialism defined narrowly is the belief in a , -year period of earthly peace and prosperity. It is, however, commonly applied more broadly to any period of happiness or good fortune. Apocalypticism, derived from a verb meaning ‘to disclose’ or ‘uncover’, refers broadly to prophetic disclosure or revelation. Both of these terms have acquired additional meanings through centuries of eschatological use. The broader term is apocalypticism. Some scholars use the two almost interchangeably. In this chapter initially the terms will be linked closely, but by the end of the chapter apocalypticism will be preferred. . Jonathan Edwards, ‘Some Thoughts Concerning the Present Revival of Religion in New England’, in C. C. Goen (ed.), The Great Awakening , Vol.
of
The Works of Jonathan Edwards (New Haven, CT, ), p.
. . For a sustained discussion of Edwards’s
speculation, see Gerald R. McDermott, One Holy and Happy Society: The Public Theology of Jonathan Edwards (University Park, PA, ), pp.
– . . See Stephen J. Stein (ed.), Apocalyptic Writings , Vol.
of
The Works of Jonathan Edwards (New Haven, CT, ), pp.
– , which contains the text of Edwards’s ‘Notes on the Apocalypse’. . James D. Tabor and Eugene V. Gallagher, Why Waco?: Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America (Berkeley, CA, ), p.
. . The text of Koresh’s exegetical reflections has been published as an appendix in ibid., pp.
– . . Ibid., pp. , . . Ibid., p. . . Additional literature on the Branch Davidian tragedy includes James Lewis (ed.), From the Ashes: Making Sense of Waco (Lanham, MD, ); Stuart A. Wright (ed.), Armageddon in Waco: Critical Perspectives on the Branch Davidian Conflict (Chicago, IL, ); and Dick Anthony and Thomas Robbins, ‘Religious Totalism, Exemplary Dualism, and the Waco Tragedy’, in Thomas Robbins and Susan J. Palmer (eds), Millennium, Messiahs, and Mayhem: Contemporary Apocalyptic Movements (New York, ), pp.
– . . David E. Smith, ‘Millenarian Scholarship in America’, Yüklə 4,01 Mb. Dostları ilə paylaş:
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