Jami

Nūr ad-Dīn 'Abd ar-Rahmān Jāmī, also known as Mawlanā Nūr al-Dīn 'Abd al-Rahmān or simply Jami, was a Sunni poet and prolific scholar of mystical Sufi literature. Born on 7 November 1414 in Kharjerd, Khorasan, to a Persian family, his father Nizām al-Dīn Ahmad had originally come from Dasht, a small town near Isfahan. Shortly after Jami's birth, the family moved to Herat, where he studied Peripateticism, mathematics, Persian literature, natural sciences, Arabic, logic, rhetoric, and Islamic philosophy at the Nizamiyya institution.

His father, also a Sufi, was his first teacher. In Herat, Jami held an important position at the Timurid court, engaging with politics, economics, philosophy, and religious life. He was a Sunni Muslim.

Jami's early pen name was Dashti, after his father's hometown, but he later adopted Jami. In a poem, he explained this choice: his birthplace was Jam, and his pen had drunk from the knowledge of Sheikh-ul-Islam Ahmad Jam, so for these two reasons his pen name became Jami. He was a mentor and friend of the Turkic poet Alisher Navoi, writing that though Navoi was a Turk and he was Tajik, they were close. After his studies in Herat, Jami went to Samarkand, a major center of scientific learning, to complete his education.

A subsequent pilgrimage greatly boosted his reputation across the Persian world. Jami had a brother, Molana Mohammad, a learned man and master of music, whose death Jami lamented in a poem. Jami fathered four sons; three died in infancy, but one, Zia-ol-din Yusef, survived, and Jami wrote his work Baharestan for him.

In his later years, Jami lived in Herat. His epitaph reads: "When your face is hidden from me, like the moon hidden on a dark night, I shed stars of tears and yet my night remains dark in spite of all those shining stars." He died in November 1492, a year that also marked the end of Arab rule in Spain after 781 years. The prince of Herat conducted his funeral, which was attended by a great multitude, reflecting his profound impact.

Teachings and Sufism

Jami began his role as a Sufi shaykh in 1453, teaching about following the Sufi path. He distinguished between two types of Sufis, now called the "prophetic" and the "mystic" spirit. Known for his extreme piety and mysticism, he remained a staunch Sunni while developing images of earthly love to depict spiritual passion for God. His interest in Sufism began early, after receiving a blessing from Khwaja Mohammad Parsa.

He later sought guidance from Sa'd-alDin Kasgari, following a dream instructing him to take God as his companion. Jami married Kasgari's granddaughter, strengthening their bond. His commitment to God and desire for separation from the world often made him forget social norms.

After re-emerging into society, Jami engaged in a wide range of social, intellectual, and political activities in Herat. He worked within the school of Ibn Arabi, enriching, analyzing, and altering its teachings. Through miraculous visions and feats, he sought greater awareness of God. He believed three goals led to "permanent presence with God": ceaselessness and silence, unawareness of one's earthly state, and constant guidance from a spiritual guide.

Jami felt God was everywhere and inherent in everything. He defined key Sufi terms, including sainthood, the saint, the difference between a Sufi and a seeker, the seekers of blame, levels of tawhid, and charismatic feats of saints. Sometimes his methodology diverged from Ibn Arabi's school; on the mutual dependence of God and creatures, Jami stated, "We and Thou are not separate from each other, but we need Thee, whereas Thou dost not need us." He emphasized an all-embracing unity among lover, beloved, and love itself, removing the belief they were separate.

Works

Influenced by predecessors and contemporaries, Jami incorporated and developed their ideas into new concepts. He considered love for Muhammad the fundamental stepping stone. His most famous poetic works include Haft Awrang, Tuhfat al-Ahrar, Layla wa Majnun, Fatihat al-Shabab, Lawa'ih, and Al-Durrah al-Fakhirah. He belonged to the Naqshbandi Sufi order.