Recognizing the Women in Safvat al- Safa

Safvat al-safa is one of the mystical books in the 8th century written by Ebn e Bazzaz about the characteristics of Sheikh Safi Ardabili. This book, written in late Mongol era, has been always considered as a historical document because it illustrates the features of Mysticism and Sufism in that era especially in the west of Iran. Discovering the identity of the characters in the book while some of which have not been studied so far, gives us more information about Mysticism before the advent of Safavid. By studying the book Safvat- al-safa, we figure out the effective role of women in this era. Some of them were mystics or disciples of sheikh Safi and some of them were prominent characters in that era due to their influence on the government and society, besides their mystic trends. In this research, after the introduction, by presenting examples from stories in Safvat al-safa, 15 women are introduced in two fields of mysticism and politics , and their roles in these fields are studied.