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Persian mysticism, or the Persian love tradition, is a traditional interpretation of existence, life and love in Iran. It relies on revelatory and heart-felt principles and bases in its reasoning. In fact, Perso-Islamic sufism is the practical aspect of Persian mysticism.
Persian mystical thought
Persian mystical thought has been analysed critically by Abdolhossein Zarrinkoub, Abdolkarim Soroush, and Dariush Shayegan.
In Ghazzali, one can witness the fear-based mysticism in its most detailed and eloquent form; in Rumi, one can find love-based mysticism; in Hafez the pleasure-based mysticism. Under Rumi's influences, Abdolkarim Soroush is currently working on power-based or epic mysticism.
Persian mystical music
Persian mystical poetry
Persian mysticism has a significant impact on Persian poetry. From about the twelfth century, lyric poetry was enriched with a spirituality and devotional depth not to be found in earlier works. This development was due to the pervasive spread of mystical experience. Sufism developed in all Muslim lands, but its literary expression reached its zenith in the countries located within the sphere of Persian cultural influence. As a counterpoise to the rigidity of formal Islamic theology and law, mysticism sought to approach the divine through acts of devotion and love rather than through mere rituals and observance. Love of God being the focus of the Sufis' religious sentiments, it was only natural for them to express it in lyrical terms, and Persian mystics, often of exceptional sensibility and endowed with poetic verve, did not hesitate to do so. The famous eleventh-century Sufi, Abu Sa'id of Mehna, for example, frequently used his own love quatrains (as well as others) to express his spiritual yearnings, and with the appearance of a vowed mystic poets like Attar and Eraqi, mysticism became a legitimate, even fashionable subject of lyric poems. Furthermore, as Sufi orders and hospices (khanaqahs) spread, mystical thought gradually became so much a part of common culture that even poets who did not share Sufi experiences ventured to express mystical ideas and imagery in their poems.*
Mystical lyrics culminated in the ghazals of Rumi. Fired by an irresistible love of the divine and endowed with unusual poetic gifts, he wrote lyrics of extraordinary passion and musicality. The ecstatic fervor, explosive spontaneity, and rich but unconventional language of Rumi's lyrics place him in a class all his own. His Mathnavi, generally considered the greatest literary monument of sufism, is a long poem of twenty-seven thousand couplets designed primarily to expound and preach his dynamic mysticism. His method is anecdotal, his tone frequently lyrical. The complexity of Rumi's mystical thought, wedded to a loose, "centrifugal" treatment, and his indifference to polishing his language do not make the Mathnavi easy reading, but the work contains many charming stories, moving passionate lines, and well-expressed profound thoughts that account for its great popularity.*
Persian mystical figures
Modern art and the Persian mystical tradition
Persian mysticism has a significant impact on Iranian modern art.
World experts in Persian mysticism
See also
"Persian mysticism"