Maktubāt-e Sadi, one of the sources of Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt

Undoubtedly, Gisu-drāz (1322/1323-1424 AH), the mystic scientist of Chashtieh dynasty in the subcontinent, has used some sources in his Maktubāt. The recognition of these sources, on the one hand, reveals Gisu-drāz's intellectual treasures to us; on the other hand, introduces the works attracting the attention of the elders of Cheshtiyyeh at that time. In the only stoneprint of Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt, there is a letter adopted from the Seven Letters, existing in Sadi of Sharaf al-Din-e Manyari's Maktubāt (1263?-1381 AH). In this paper, the full text of this letter (i.e. the third letter of Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt) has been analyzed and, in the end, it has been shown that this letter is a combination of the twelfth, fourth, second, fifteenth, nineteenth, tenth, and sixteenth letters of Sadi's Maktubāt. It is also possible that Gisu-drāz has combined Sheikh-e Manyari's Seven Letters with direct quotations and his own additions due to their common area of life, simultaneity with Sharaf al-din-e Manyari, and the study of Sadi's Maktubāt. Then, he has sent it to one of his disciples in his own name. Through this research, one may regard Maktubāt-e Sadi as one of the sources of Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt, where this human has made the most of it without mentioning this name. In addition, this influence can be considered as a proof of the popularity of Maktubāt-e Sadi a short while after its writing.
Keywords: Sharaf al-din-e Manyari, Maktubāt-e Sadi, Gisu-drāz, Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt, Adaptation.
 

Introduction

Gisu-drāz is one of the great Sheikhs of the Cheshtiyyeh Order in the subcontinent, who was highly good at Persian poetry and prose. Many of his works are in Persian and some are in Tazi. One of these works is his Maktubāt in Persian. His student and disciple, Maulana Abul Fatah Alauddin Kalpoi/ Kalpuri Qureshi (d: 1457 H.), compiled Maktubāt in 1448 H. on the way of Hajj and added an introduction to it (for more information, see: Gisu-drāz, 1943: 2-3).
Gisu-drāz is contemporary with a mystic of Ferdowsiyya's Kobraviyyeh Order, named Sharaf al-din-e Manyari (782 A.H.). When Sheikh-e Manyari wrote his famous Maktubāt, known as Maktubāt-e Sadi, in 1346 H in the Behār, twenty-seven years had passed since Gisu-drāz's birthday.
Sharaf al-din-e Manyari, referred back to India’s Manyar in India (a village in the current Bihār province: a state in eastern India), is one of the great mystics of the subcontinent in the 7th and 8th centuries of Hijri (see: Hasani, 1931 H: 8/2; Mati-ul-Imam, 1372 AH/ 1993 AD: 51). Sharaf al-Din is the sheikh of Ferdowsiyya's Kobraviyyeh Order with the highest numbers of Maktubāt. In addition to his numerous works, he has also compiled three collections, consisting of three hundred and twenty-eight letters. However, the first collection, known as Sadi’s Maktubāt, is superior to the other two collections in terms of the variety of topics and textual eloquence (see: La'li Badakhshi, 1997: 913; Moti al-Imām, 1993: 173-178).
In his Maktubāt, Gisu-drāz has used some sources in his Maktubāt. The recognition of these sources, on the one hand, reveals Gisu-drāz's intellectual mystic treasures to us; on the other hand, introduces the works attracting the attention of the elders of Cheshtiyyeh at that time. This makes a great contribution to know more about Sufism and mysticism during this great man of Cheshtiyya at that time. In addition, when it comes to identifying the sources of Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt, one can reach the sources of his knowledge circle and also gain more information about Sayyed Mohammad Gisu-drāz's interpretation (a contemporary mystic of Gisu-drāz).
In the only non-critical stoneprint of Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt, there is a letter adopted from the Seven Letters available in the Maktubāt-e Sadi Sharaf al-Din-e Manyari, a contemporary of Sayyed Mohammad Gisu-drāz. In this letter, Gisu-drāz has mixed Sheikh-e Manyari’s Seven Letters with direct quotations and his own additions and has sent it to one of his disciples in his own name (see: Gisu-drāz, 1943: 11-17). This is interesting and worthy of attention due to their common area of life (i.e. the subcontinent) and contemporaneity with Sharaf al-Din-e Manyari. The current authors have investigated this item in the present study since the intellectual foundations of this old Cheshtiyyeh have been under their influence.
 

Materials and methods

The current research is of a descriptive-analytical nature. Maktubāt-e Sadi Sharaf al-din-e Manyari’s and Gisu-drāz’s Maktubāt are primarily the main focus of the sources of this article and the required pieces of evidence were extracted from them. In other parts of this article, these data have been evaluated and analyzed by means of other relevant sources.
 

Discussion

In the only non-critical stoneprint of Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt, there is a letter adopted from the Seven Letters available in the Maktubāt-e Sadi Sharaf al-din-e Manyari, a contemporary of Seyyed Mohammad Gisu-drāz. In this article, the text of third letter of Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt has been analyzed and has been compared with a selection of Maktubāt-e Sadi Sharaf al-din-e Manyari’s Seven Letters.
The central theme of this research is to highlight Gisu-drāz's borrowing from Sheikh Manyari’s Maktubāt-e Sadi without mentioning his name. This is of great importance due to the scientific examination of Gisu-drāz's opinions and thoughts and the identification of his intellectual influences; thus, it clarifies the necessity of doing the current research. This paper is an attempt to respond to the following questions in a descriptive-analytical method after studying this issue scientifically:

What is the importance of Maktubāt-e Sadi Sheikh Manyari’s in knowing Gisu-drāz’s sources?
What contribution does the corrected text of Maktubāt-e Sadi make to correct Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt?

 

Result

Undoubtedly, Gisu-drāz has been influenced by sources in his Maktubāt, the knowledge of which on the one hand reveals to us Gisu-drāz's intellectual passions, and on the other hand, introduces the works that were considered by the elders of Cheshtiyyeh at that time. In this article, it was highlighted that there is a letter in the only stone print of Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt, which is a selection of seven letters from the Maktubāt-e Sadi Sharaf al-din-e Manyari, which has not been mentioned so far and no research has been done regarding the authenticity of its relation to these two mystics. Therefore, from the point of view of etymology, these seven letters were analyzed in the third letter of Gisu-drāz, and the correctness of the attribution of those selections from the Maktubāt-e Sadi was shown. Through this research, it is possible to consider Maktubāt-e Sadi as one of the sources of Sayyed Mohammad Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt, which this old man Chishti used without mentioning his name, in addition to the fact that this influence can be considered as a proof of the popularity of Maktubāt-e Sadi in the subcontinent shortly after they were written. In addition, through the identification of Maktubāt-e Sadi as one of the sources of Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt, it is possible to reach the information circle of this Chishti Sufi and also gain more knowledge about Gisu-drāz's perception of the mysticism of his time. Also, by comparing the third letter of Gisu-drāz with the Maktubāt-e Sadi, the authors found out that in some variants of Gisu-drāz's letter, there have been distortions or corrections, which are the result of the lithographer's transcription of Gisu-drāz's Maktubāt from the latest manuscripts of this work, as well as the mistakes and slips of the scribes. Therefore, some of the propositions of Gisu-drāz's letter were corrected through Maktubāt-e Sadi.