(The Gift to the Noble’), and
Subhat al asrar
(‘The Rosary of the Secrets’).
These poems deal with a wide range of subjects relevant to the way of life
of the mystics, but also lay stress on the proper behaviour of kings, scholars
and poets.
Jami’s lyrics, including many ghazals, were assembled in three volumes,
according to the stages of his life, following the example set by Amir
Khusrowof Delhi:
Faatihaat ash-shabab
(‘The Beginnings ofYouth’),
Vasatul‘iqd
(‘The Middle Pearl of The Necklace’), and
Khatimat al Hayat
(‘The Seal of
Life’). The influence of Jami exceeded the boundaries of Persian poetry,
and is noticeable in the Persian-style poetry of classical Ottoman Turkish
literature. Professor Browne has summed up his teachings in these words:
“The mystical and pantheistic thought of Persia may be said to have found
its most complete and vivid expression in him.”
Jami was endowed with a deeply aesthetic temperament and poetic
imagination.These might have been the reasons for his conception of God as
the Eternal Beauty. Starting from the
hadith
: “I (God) was a hidden treasure
and I desired to become known; therefore I brought creation into being in
order that I might be known,” Jami proposed that the sole purpose of divine
creation was to manifest the Beauty of God. Since God was Eternal Beauty,
the human soul’s craving for beauty was a means to link the soul to God.The
ephemeral, transitory beauty of this world thus provided a bridge to the
Real Beauty, which was synonymous with God Himself.
Jami believed that a mystic might develop himself spiritually only
through divine love. He believed that mundane love for a human being,
which he calls
ishq-e-majazi
, helped the mystic to cultivate his love for God,
which was the true love or
ishq-i-haqiqi
.The reasoning went thus: Once an
adept seeking a mystical union with God was in the grip of human love,
Th e Na q s h ba n d i Or d e r 162
