An Analysis of the Mathnavi Commentary by Mir Noor Allah Ahrari and Its Comparison with the Other Ones

The Qoran, the everlasting book of guidance for mankind, was descended in the language of revelation through the Holy Prophet Mohammad to the human community. The teachings and warnings of this celestial book were explained and interpreted in many books written by man. Among them, the Mathnavi by Mowlana Jalal al-Din is a unique one, and it is likely to say that it is the most responsible authorship in the promotion of the Qoranic and religious culture and teachings. As indicated by the great scholars of literature and mysticism, this valuable book should be somehow considered as a Qoranic mystical exegesis, since it bears the two basic Qoranic characteristics: first, like the Qoran, it has outward and multi-layer inward aspects: and second, following the example of the Holy Qoran, it uses stories and parables to elaborate the conceptions in order that everybody takes advantage of them according to his/her capacity. Since the time this valuable poem was composed, there have been many discussions and commentaries written on it. Each of them looked at it from a certain outlook and some of them paved the way to understanding it by solving the problems. One of these commentaries is written by Shah Mir Noor Allah Ahrari of Delhi. He explains many difficulties of the verses which appeared as questions to the students of the Mathnavi until his age, in addition to criticizing his predecessors and concentrating on them. Then, other commentators such as Vali Mohammad Akbar Abadi and Khwaja Ayyub Parsa, took advantage of his book.