Explanation of grades of perfect man in the gnostical thought of Azizudin Nasafi

It goes without saying that the issue of perfect man is one of the most important problems of theoretical gnosticism which is the root of the entire divine gnosis. In viewpoint of the Muslim mystics, the holy Prophet of Islam has materialized the concepts of perfect man and manifested all human perfections in the celestial world. Ibn Arabi is known to be the first thinker to coin the concept of perfect man. However, many thinkers such as Bayazid, Hallaj, Abdul Jabbar…used this meaning in different concepts. The first systematic work in this regard was written by Azizuddin Nasafi. Nevertheless, diverse and at times contradictory definitions and notions in his works prevent a single definition of perfect man by him. However, a study of these definitions indicates that there are different grades for man in his works. The present study is an attempt to make a distinction between these grades and explain their characteristics. Also two viewpoints about perfect man, i.e. perfect man in general sense and perfect man in specific sense, that is, Nasafi’s viewpoints, have been discussed in the present paper.