Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani

Ayn-al-Qużāt Hamadānī, also spelled Ain-al Quzat Hamedani or ʿAyn-al Qudat Hamadhani (1098–1131) (Persian: عین‌ القضات همدانی‎‎), full name: Abu’l-maʿālī ʿabdallāh Bin Abībakr Mohammad Mayānejī (Persian: ابوالمعالی عبدالله بن ابی‌بکر محمد میانجی‎‎), was a Persian^[1]^[2]^[3] jurisconsult, mystic, philosopher, poet and mathematician who was executed at the age of 33.^[4]^[5]

Origin of the title

Ayn-al-Qużat in Arabic means "the pearl of the judges". As Ayn means the eye or something very valid and Qozat is the plural of Qadi which means Judge.

Life

He was born in Hamedan and his ancestors were of Hamedan judges. He was a disciple of Ahmad Ghazali and devoted of Hallaj. He became a famous scholar at early ages, and by the time he was thirty he was chosen judge. Along with Abu Hamed Al-Ghazali, he is one of the founders of doctrinal Sufism. Unlike most of the Sufis who have lived as respected and revered members of their communities, he fell afoul of Caliph in Baghdad and was put to death at the age of thirty three. Ayn al-Quzat along with Mansur al-Hallaj and Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi are known as the three martyrs of Sufism.

Work

His most significant works are Ayn-al-qożāt are Tamhīdāt (Preludes) and Zubdat al-ḥaqāʾiq fī kašf al-ḵalāʾeq (The Essence of Truth). Both books are masterpieces of Sufi literature and have mystical and philosophical significance.^[6] Ayn al-Qożāt Hamadānī quoted a few verses apparently in his own Iranian dialect (where it is called fahlavī; bayt-e pahlavī in a manuscript variant).^[7]

Poetry

A famous quatrain is said to be his:

ما مرگ وشهادت از خدا خواسته ايم
وآن هم به سه چيزکم بهاخواسته ايم
گردوست چنين کندکه ماخواسته ايم
مـا آتـش و نفـت و بـوريا خــواسـته ايم

which is translated as:

I want death and martyrdom from God
I want it in three low-priced things
If the friend (i.e. God) grant my wishes
I want fire and oil and straw

This quatrain refers to his execution by Caliph's order.

Notes

^ Hamid Dabashi, "Theology of discontent", Published by Transaction Publishers, 2006. pg 104: "..Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani, a twelfth century Persian mystic"
^ Nadia Eboo Jamal, "Surviving the Mongols", I B Tauris & Co Ltd (May 23, 2003). pg 91: "At the same time, there was an opposite, more diffused, movement of some Ismaili ideas entering into Persian Sufism, as is evident, for instance, in the work of the mystical philosopher 'Ayn al-Qudat Hamadani, who was executed in 525/1131 by the Saljuqs
^ Hellmut Ritter, John O'Kane, Bernd Radtke, "The ocean of the soul", Brill Academic Publishers (June 2003). excerpt from page 719: "'Ayn al-Qudat al-Hamadhani (Abu'l Ma'aali 'Abda Allah b. Muhammad Mayanji, Persian mystic, executed in Hamadan
^ . 2007. pg. 69Martyrdom in IslamDavid Cook,
^ AYN-AL-QOŻĀT HAMADĀNĪ in Encyclopedia Iranica by G. Böwering
^ Hossein Nasr (2008), The Garden of Truth, New York, HarperOne
^ Fahlaviyat in Encyclopedia Iranica by Dr. Ahmad Taffazoli

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Ayn al-Quzat Hamadani