Adaptations of Shams al-Din Deylami from the Old Testament in the Mystical Interpretation of Tasdigh al-Maaref

Although the history of the use of the Old Testament in the interpretation of Quranic verses dates back to the beginning of Islam, direct quotations from its Hebrew text are very rare among Muslims. Shams al-Din Deylami is the only mystic who has referred to the Hebrew and sometimes Arabic text of the Torah in his mystical interpretation Tasdigh al-Maaref, in order to explain some stages of human journey to God and man's position in creation, and also to prove the legitimacy and superiority of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). His use of the Torah text has caused him to pay more attention to the issues raised in the Quran and to have a different view of mystical and spiritual subjects than the mystics before him; As in one case he did not consider it permissible to shift from exoteric meanings to esoteric ones, and in another case he made a mistake in explaining the mystical subject of the unseen men. In the present article, we have tried to compare his interpretation of the above-mentioned issues with the interpretation of the mystics before him, while narrating the expressions that Deylami has quoted from the Torah in explaining some religious and mystical issues.