The Governance (Velayat) of the Perfect Human in the Treatises of Kashif Dezfuli and Its Position in Shiite Mysticism

Shiite mysticism is a major approach in Islamic mysticism that has its own interpretations in explaining and analyzing mystical concepts. Among them, the issue of mystical governance has a significant place in the intellectual system of Shiite mysticism. Kashif Dezfuli (18th century A.D.), a Shiite mystic, is an unfamed mystic who owns dozens of mystical books and treatises. However, his intellectual conduct is not as well-known as one might expect. The governance of the perfect man is one of the key issues in his works. In the present study, Kashif Dezfuli's opinions have been analyzed using an analytical-descriptive method based on the first and second mystical traditions. Kashif interprets the concept of mystical governance in the context of the unity of existence, calling the perfect man the manifestation of divine light and calling him the truth of reason. The superiority of the governance (velayat) over the Prophecy, the end of the guardianship with Promised Mahdi, the number of saints, and their attributes are other issues related to the province in his works. Some of Kashif's citations to Ibn Arabi and the similarity of his views on the issue of mystical governance to the views of gnostics such as Hamuwayi, Nasafi, and Sayyed Heydar Amoli show that Kashif Dezfuli's mysticism is a continuation of Shiite mysticism in the 13th and 14th centuries A.D., and his unique way of viewing the issue can be followed and spotted through Kashif Dezfuli up to the 18th century. From this point of view, examining the views of Kashif Dezfuli has a special importance and position.

After the period of formation and maturity, Islamic mysticism gradually attended to the basic terms and concepts of Sufism more. In the 13th century A.D., the interpretation and justification of mystical terms gained more depth and scope to the extent that, in mystical studies, the 13th century is considered to be the starting point of the movement of theoretical mysticism. According to the conventional division and reading of the history of mysticism, the mystical tradition after the seventh century or the second mystical tradition has a different approach from the first tradition. The first tradition is based on practical mysticism and the second one is based on theoretical mysticism. However, this judgment deserves more precision: “(a) although the 7th century of Hijri is the turning point of this evolution, (b) a clear-cut boundary in terms of time for these two mystical traditions may not be drawn, (c) it cannot be said that the first tradition did not continue after the second century, and (d) the second tradition did not appear before the seventh century” (Mirbaghri Fard, 2011, p. 73). Critiques of this division believe that Islamic mysticism is based on two practical and theoretical powers, and Islamic mysticism has never been devoid of these two powers. Nevertheless, to what extent and depth each mystical drinker has paid attention to each of these two faculties, he has had a different conduct and approach (ibid. p. 84).
     ‘Governance’ is one of the fundamental topics of Muslim beliefs, especially among Shiites. It has a special place in Islamic mysticism, and many Shia and Sunni thinkers and mystics such as Hakim Tirmidhi, Ibn Arabi, Saad al-Din Hamouye, Aziz al-Din Nasfi, Seyyed Haider Amoli during the history of Islamic thought have written about it. Although this topic has been open since the first centuries of Islamic mysticism and in the words of the mystics of the first mystical tradition, in other mystical books such as Risalah al-Qashiriyyah and Kashf al-Mahjub, ‘guardian’ and ‘guardianship’ have also been mentioned. In the following centuries, especially in the 13th century A.D., the issue of ‘guardianship’ was noticed as outside the rites of Sufis and practical mysticism, and more attention was paid to its nature and place. It can be inferred that in passing from the first tradition to the second tradition, in addition to changes in the goal, approach, and method, we are faced with a kind of metamorphosis in the field of topics and concepts. Thus, along with the concepts that do not change in the second period, some new concepts and terms were invented. On the other hand, a group of concepts with different semantic loads appear in the second period; this group of concepts and terms share words with each other, but the semantic load has changed a little (Mirbagheri Fard, 2015, pp. 18-19). Topics such as the perfect human being, guardianship, the connection between guardianship and prophecy, the termination of the guardianship, and the number of holy persons can be considered the most important topics that were discussed by mystics and mystic researchers from new viewpoints in this period. The commonalities between the discussion of mystical guardianship and the religious principles of the Shiite School led to the expansion of these discussions and the creation of various works and treatises, and many people interested in the Shiite School attempted to interpret and justify the mystical categories based on their own thought system. Among them, Seyed Sadruddin Kashif Dezfouli is one of the prolific mystics and theologians but unfamed and underappreciated in the field of Shiite mysticism, who has attempted to expand, explain, and interpret mystical subjects based on the Shiite worldview by creating numerous works. Among the various topics raised in the works of Kashif Dezfuli, the topic of ‘mystic governance’ is of special importance since it is examined from the perspective of a Shiite mystic view. Kashif, in connection with the category of guardianship, brought up the issue of the perfect human being and explained the dimensions of these two categories by presenting special interpretations. The present study seeks to answer two research questions: 1) how is the mystical thought of Kashif Dezfuli similar to the mystical views of the followers of the second mystical tradition on the subject of mystical guardianship and the perfect human being? 2) What are his main opinions on this field? Clearly enough, the purpose of the research is not to compare Kashif's views with the mystics prior to his age, but rather to determine the position of Kashif Dezfuli in the trajectory of Shia mysticism and the topic of guardianship, which has been followed more seriously since the 13th century. Therefore, in the presentation of the viewpoints of the mystics of the opinion in the discussion of governance and Shiite mysticism, it will suffice to analyze their opinions in a comprehensive and general way.

Review of the Literature :

Nasir Baghban and Hekmatfar (2019) have published fifteen handwritten letters belonging to Seyyed Sadruddin Kashif in a book titled Kashif's Letters. The book has an introduction, pictures, announcements, verses, hadiths, poems and Arabic sentences and proverbs. Latifpour (2017), in his Kashif Asrar, compiled the life, personality, and works of Seyyed Sadruddin Kashif Dezfuli along with pictures of people and places and related documents, extracts of the poems, and prose works of this Shiite mystic. In a book called Dorr Maknoon, Pezeshki (2004) corrected one of Kashif Dezfuli's works of poetry written in the form of Masnavi and is mystic love in the style of ten letters. Pezeshki (2006) in a book entitled Marat al-Ghaib along with Haq al-Haqhi Le-Arbab al-Tariq has examined two works of Kashif Dezfuli's manuscripts. In this work, a brief description of Kashif's life story, the introduction of his works, the Persian text of Marat al-Ghaib, Kashif's text of Haq al-Haqiqah in Arabic are included along with a dictionary and various indices. Along with introducing various Sadat families living in Dezful, Imam-Ahwazi (2002) in a book titled Khaandan-e Sadat-e Gooshe, has a detailed description of the Sadat-e Gooshe, especially the lives, works and thoughts of Seyyed Sadruddin Kashif Dezfuli. In an article titled ‘Works and Thoughts of Sadr al-Din Kashif’, Hosseini Qaim Maqami (1996) investigated the late Kashif's departure to Kermanshah in the early 1200s Hijri Qamari (c. 1785-1795) and how he was accused of Sufism and how he defended himself. There are many works about the perfect human being and governance. Few works, if any, were found investigating this issue in the works and thoughts of Kashif Dezfuli. In the above-mentioned studies, Kashif's name was mentioned to refer to his life.

The present research investigates the concept of governance and its place in Kashif Dezfuli's treatises in an analytical-descriptive way and by referring to his works and other publications. Considering the importance of the first and second mystical traditions in the history of Islamic mysticism, the place and position of Kashif Dezfuli's opinions will be analyzed and emphasized with this historical background. Up to now, more than 15 treatises by Kashif Dezfuli have been published, and the present analysis is based on these treatises.
Conclusion:

The guardianship of the perfect human being is one of the main and fundamental topics in the mysticism of Kashif Dezfuli. Kashif, in explaining and defining the concept of governance, with a view based on the unity of existence, considers governance to be the central point of the circle of existence and believes that the perfect human being is the other side of Muhammad's light or intellect. Kashif explicitly emphasizes the superiority of the position of governorship over the position of prophethood and believes that the position of guardian is superior to the position of prophet. In the interpretation of the burden of trust, Kashif believes that this trust is the ‘comprehensiveness’ that Allah has deposited in the perfect human being. In the division of the governance into public and special, the special one is considered to be the twelve Imams (AS) after the Prophet (PBUH), and the righteous servants after the Imams are considered to be the general guardians. He considers the position of the plural and the status of the special, as well as the attribute of being popular and mixing among the ranks and attributes of God's saints.
Kashif considers the number of holy persons to be twelve and the end of the governance is the twelfth Imam, the Promised Mahdi (AS). According to the above explanations, and comparing the views of Kashif with the mystics before him, it can be concluded that Kashif has considered the works of these mystics in many of his statements in the area of the guardianship of the perfect human being. In addition to the hidden similarities between the views of Kashif and the aforementioned mystics, there are some obvious similarities that prove that Kashif did not avoid studying the works of these mystics. Among them, the interpretation of the existential unity of the discoverer of the state of the perfect human being is similar to the interpretation of Hamuyeh and Nasfi, especially since all three of them pay attention to the connection between the perfect human being and the first creation (reason, pen, Mohammadi light, ...) (c.f., Table, section of the guardianship of the perfect human being). The superiority of guardianship over prophethood is the opinion of Ibn Arabi, Saad al-Din Hamouyeh, and Seyyed Haydar. Kashif, like Seyyed Heydar Amoli, interpreted the hadith attributed to Imam Ali (PBUH) as the superiority of guardianship over prophethood, and his words that the perfect human being is the intermediary between the unseen and martyrdom are completely similar to the words of Nasfi on the perfect human.
The burden of trust, which he interprets as ‘totality’, is very similar to the words of Ibn Arabi, who considers trust to be a form of God. The fact that a human being who carries the divine image has comprehensiveness, means that he has all the divine attributes and is his image. Using terms such as ‘khas al-khas’ and ‘jam al-jam’, which have a history in Nasafi and Seyyed Haider, as well as the similarity of his views on the number of holy persons and the end of the governance with the opinions of the aforementioned mystics, shows that Kashif had an opinion on their works. The sum of these similarities and his reference to the words and poems of Ibn Arabi, Sheikh Mahmoud Shabastri, Saad al-Din Hamouyeh, and Seyyed Haydar Amoli in his treatises, brings the trajectory of Shiite mysticism from the 13th and 14th century to the 18th century. In this way, Shiite mysticism can be traced to the Qajar period through the discovery of Dezfuli’s thoughts. The main achievement of this research is to prove the continuity of the governance thinking of prominent mystics of this field through the works and treatises of Kashif Dezfuli until the twelfth century. Considering this importance, it can be said that Kashif Dezfuli's opinions have a remarkable place in the history of Shiite mysticism, and this emphasizes the importance of further studying his works.