Remembrance of Shah Nematollah Vali

Hajj Dr. Nour ‘Ali Tabandeh1

I am indeed very grateful for another opportunity to speak about Shah Nematollah

Vali, and as a result I am thankful to all those who made efforts towards this end and have

made this seminar possible. I am sure that none of those in attendance will be disappointed.

Of course, with the presence of the many esteemed professors who will be speaking, you will

be privy to much interesting information, and therefore I will not take up too much of your

time.

The luminosity of this glowing star of Iranian Sufism has shone throughout the world

and he is among the important figures who have attracted the attention of poets, philosophers,

Sufis and social thinkers. Mention will definitely be made of Shah Nematollah’s biography,

of which you are aware and have studied, although his early life, and in other words his

normal life, is not what we want to focus on because everyday occurrences happen to

everyone and influence the lives of all in the same way.

As the place of his birth, Kooh-banân is where this great personality embarked upon

his travels in search of the Truth, such as is mentioned in the Divan-e Shams: “Those in

search of Allah, find yourselves” He found himself and he undertook journeys and travels

towards reaching his goal until he eventually reached the presence of Shaykh ‘Abdullah Yàfi’í

in Mecca and surrendered himself to his guidance and training. After that Hazrat Shah made

many journeys to all corners of the Islamic world of that time until he arrived at Kooh-banân

and there at the city of Mahan, he built a zawiyyah2 for his spiritual wayfaring and for the

training of his novices, remaining there until the end of his days.

On the path of his spiritual journey, he himself is an example of what he has

mentioned in his epistles about the priority of knowledge (ma’rifat) over mystical states

(Hàl). He says that this issue is dependent on the source of the knowledge. Whenever the

knowledge is from the source of knowledge, it is more honorable than a mystical state. He

adds that acquired knowledge is of a lower rank than mystical states and in this case states are

more definite. But if the knowledge, that is, the relation that is called knowledge, becomes

manifest in the world of unveiling, this knowledge is more important than mystical states.

This is what is meant by knowledge obtained through unveiling.

He himself was in search of Allah, and as was usual, he began his pursuit of it in the

exoteric sciences. After this search and realizing that this knowledge alone could not guide

man, he turned to spiritual states and armed with the weapon of the acquired sciences,

discovered many sciences. He wrote many epistles, some sixty odd of which are available,

and it is said that there were about three hundred of them. At any rate of these sixty odd

epistles, his acquired and revealed knowledge through mystical states is shown.

In order that we can understand a small example of his knowledge through unveiling,

we will refer to an interesting story mentioned by the mystic Dàràshukêh in his book Sakinat

al-Awliyà ‘ concerning the biography of his shaykh3. He says every morning he went to be at

the service of his guide, and others who were devoted to him would also attend to benefit

from what he might happen to say. One morning he noticed that his shaykh was feeling

physically unwell, as if he had a fever. He asked the shaykh about his health. He replied that

the previous night he had not slept, ran a fever, and had a pimple on his eyelid that bothered

him much. In short, there was some such discussion as this. One of those devoted to him

became very upset, and because of being so upset he became withdrawn and cut off from this

world. After a period when the novice had returned to his normal state, he asked his shaykh

to order a cucumber and to put the seeds on his eye. The shaykh accepted his prescription and

carried it out. Fortunately, his illness was alleviated. Afterward, someone asked the shaykh.

“How is it that you are the shaykh and he is the novice, yet you did not understand the matter,

but he did?” The shaykh replied, “I consider illness and good health to be guests from God.

So, although I was about to seek a cure in the usual way, I was not upset. But this Sufi

became so upset because of my illness that he was taken to a world where he saw the realities

of things, the very world where the Prophet asked God, ‘0 my God! Show me things as they

are!’4 In that world, where one can see the realities of all creatures of God, he also found that

attribute of the cucumber. After he returned from that spiritual journey, he brought back that

souvenir.”5

This is knowledge through unveiling, in which there is no doubt and it is more elevated than

the mystical state. Shah Nematollah himself also had passed through all of the stages of

which he makes mention.

Aside from this, Hazrat Shah Nematollah also held spiritual influence within the society and

he trained and spread his benevolence to people of all social levels, and many of the rulers

benefited from him. It is even well known that Tamerlane6 held him in great respect. The

point must be made here that unfortunately we have the habit of seeing things only in black

and white, and since we know Tamerlane to have been a bloodthirsty man, some of us do not

consider anything he may have done to be good. This is the fault of past historians, but all of

the details about a person or a society need to be explained. The good must be seen as good

and the bad seen as bad. The prophet Lot did not curse the people in his society, but says:

(verily, I am one who abhors your deeds),7 meaning that he was averse to their deeds, not to

them as persons. It was not by carnage alone that Tamerlane took over the world. He showed

great respect and courtesy toward religious leaders and those in whom the people placed their

trust and to whom they were devoted. He was also a friend of the Islamic sciences. It is well

known that he donated the proceeds from six hundred villages in trust to Shaykh Safíuddín

Ardibílí. Likewise, he also held Shah Nematollah Vali in great esteem. Once because of some

occasion, Shah Nematollah Vali said to him:

My kingdom is a world without end.

Your kingdom is from khata to shiraz

Also Shahrukh, the son of Tamerlane, who after his father became the ruler of

Khorasan, witnessed his fathers respect for Hazrat Shah Nematollah and he himself followed

this pattern. It is obvious that this respect provided a reason for jealousy and even at one of

the gatherings where Hazrat Shah Burhànuddín Khalilullàh, the eldest son and successor of

Shah Nematollah Vali paid the same Shahrukh a visit, he rode right up to the building door

and, as was his custom, sat right next to the Amir.

One of those present at the gathering, out of his own jealousy said: “How much better

it would have been if Hazrat Burhànuddín had observed the necessary etiquette toward the

ruler and because the king is the leader, he should not have ridden right up to the door of the

building, nor sat next to the king, because all pay their respects standing,” also adding other

things of this sort. In reply, Burhànuddín said: “My father visited the king’s father in the very

same manner and also it is not proper in my rank that I should stand. I heard my father say, ‘If

someone expects that I stand in his or her presence that person is illegitimate.”‘ This in

actuality was also a metaphor. The king said to the courtier: “Do not interfere. This does not

concern you.” This shows what great respect was paid to Hazrat Shah Nematollah Vall.

As a result of the great respect and interest that the Indian Kings had for Shi’ism,

Hazrat Shah Nematollah Vali was repeatedly invited to that country. He sent Shah

Burhànuddín Khalilullàh there, where he stayed for some time, and because his brothers and

other members of his family married Indian princesses and formed relationships, they

practically became residents of that land. Even after Hazrat Shah, they remained there and for

some time the Nematollahi Order spread throughout India.

In many writings and books it has been mentioned that the founder and originator of

the Nematollahi Order is Shah Nematollah Vali. This statement might be somewhat dubious

to those not acquainted with matters of mysticism. This is because the words ‘founder’ and

‘originator’ are usually used for founders or originators of new schools of thought, sects or

religions. A principle tenet of Sufism and ‘irfan’ is that the permission for training must be

received from an authorized religious leader and it is not sufficient if attained only from

books, otherwise if it was sufficient to attain this from books, the Qur’an which is the most

sublime of books, would have been able to guide all people. In that case, all those who read

the Qur’an, including the Khawàrij, whose foreheads bore the marks of prolonged

prostrations in prayer, should have been refomed. Therefore, one must be trained by a guide

and a leader. Who is this leader’? According to Mowlana [Rumi]:

Since many a devil has the face of a man,

One must not give one’s hand to just anyone.8

Towards the end of the Prophet’s (æ) era and after him at the time of Abu Bakr,

Musailímàh Kadhdhàb had created a religion, and Aswad ‘Ansi also did the same, but these

soon disappeared because there was no spiritual, social or scientific base behind it. Our Wali

‘Ali (‘a) is known as the leader of the Sufis and leader of the Shi’ia because he received direct

training from the Prophet (æ), and’ Ali (‘a) is called Imam because the Prophet (æ) specified

this, In the same way, after ‘Ali (‘a) we know his son Hasan to be Imam, because he was

explicitly appointed by Imam ‘Ali. From this it can be reasoned that every leader must be

chosen by the previous one. In the same way that the Prophet and Imams were not chosen by

the people, rather by Allah, the leaders that follow must indirectly be chosen through divine

inspiration, meaning that every leader must choose his successor after him, and this is the

very situation that occurred in the period of the twelve Shi’ite Imams.

After the occultation of the twelfth Imam, the issues of education and training in

Islamic law (shari’ah) and the spiritual path (tariqah) became separated. The Imam

dispatched the work of shari’ah to the jurisprudents, such as is narrated from Imam Sàdiq

(‘a): “It is a responsibility of the people to follow any jurisprudent who has self-control,

protects his religion, opposes his carnal desires and follows the orders of his Mowla

(Master).” Therefore, it is obligatory on every religiously duty-bound person to search for and

follow any of the jurisprudents who possess these characteristics. This of course concerns

action and not belief. But in the period of occultation of the Imam the permission for spiritual

initiation (bay ‘ail) and guidance was given to Junayd Baghdadi and he was given the

permission to choose his successor and that successor to do the same and so on until the day

of Resurrection. This connection of the continuous presence of the spiritual leader is called

‘silsilah’ (chain or order) in Sufism. Therefore when silsilah Nematollahi is mentioned it

refers to the chain or permission, which Shah Seyed Nematollah Vali had at the time, him

being part of a chain. Other than this, Shah Nematollah Vali was no different as concerns

religious leadership to his shaykh, Hazrat Shaykh Abdullah Yàfi’í or his successor Hazrat

Shah Burhànuddín Khalilullàh, and they were all equal. According to various circumstances

and situations, the great mystics and religious leaders, excelled over others, e.g. socially, or

when the period called for specific changes in the order or in rulings given. Because of this,

the order was thereafter named after that particular leader, e.g. Suhrawardiyyah order,

meaning the order after Shaykh Shahabuddín Suhrawardi or Nematollahi which means the

same order where Shah Nematollah was one of the shaykhs and then became the spiritual

pillar (qutb) and after Hazrat Shah Nematollah Vali became famous under the name of this

great personality.
Now the reasons for the uniqueness of Hazrat Shah, which led to the order being

named after him, are most present in the outstanding characteristics of the order and for

further information we must refer to the relevant detailed books, but here I will mention some

of the important issues. One is the matter of being occupied with work, while being idle is

unacceptable in this order. Another matter is observing a balance between spiritual states of

sobriety (æahw) and intoxication (sukr), and yet another being the elimination of sama’. Of

course there are other issues, but for now they are not part of the present discussion.

The matter which we will discuss here, is that of sama’ and music.

Music comes from the order and harmony of sounds and voices. e.g. when you sit

down next to a mountain river, the sounds of the small waterfalls, of the river and the leaves

of the trees as they make contact with one another, together form a special music which

moves the mystic, an inner movement, meaning attention to Allah and His remembrance,

Therefore, it can be said that music itself cannot be generally prohibited, In one of his poems,

Sa’di tells the following story:

Last night a fowl cried at the morning.

Reason and patience were carried away with tolerance and consciousness.

One of my sincere friends,

When my voice reached his ears,

Said, “I did not believe that you

Could be so confused at the noise of a fowl! “

I said, “This is not a condition for humanity:

That the fowl sings praise, and I be silent. “9

This itself is a type of music or in other words samà’. Following this, Sa’di says:

The camel, by the song of íts driver; reaches a state and dances.

In this line there is an allusion to Hudà. Hudà was a specific music song by the camel

herdsmen which excited the camels and they in turn would be stirred to movement. It has

been narrated that there once was a caravan that was destined to leave Baghdad and travel to

Isfahan. The camel herdsman sang a very attractive song, (Hudà). They moved forward all

night and he sang all night. The camels ran the whole way such that they arrived in Isfahan in

the morning, but all of the camels died from exhaustion and increased heartbeats.

The principle effect of music is undeniable. The obvious effect that music has on man

may be used in the path of drawing man near to Allah and to the remembrance of human and

spiritual responsibilities; but it may also lead to the path away from God and to surrender to

carnal desires.
Thus, music can be considered in two ways: firstly, music which draws man towards

God, e.g. the reading of Sufi books in a melodious voice which is now the practice in Sufi

gatherings, or what Sa’di expresses about the cock’s crow which is at the time of the morning

prayer. This is music, which draws man close to God; and, of course, this type of music

cannot be prohibited. In contrast to this, there is music which pulls man away from God.

Much of the music of today is of this latter type, meaning that a necessary consequence of

this music is that it causes the incitement of feelings, instincts and lusts. In such a case it is

obvious that music is prohibited and this is the very music which is referred to in Islam as

ghinà. In actuality, ghinà is music which draws man away from God.

With such a distinction, how is it that some would place a universal prohibition on

music? This is because there is an ambiguous distinction between divine music and ghinà,

and it is impossible to formulate a criterion by which to specify the boundary between them.

In reality, those who view themselves as responsible for protecting man’s morality generally

prohibit music so that these deviations do not occur. However, if the music is of divine type,

it is acceptable; but this also depends on the person involved. Because of this, many past

Sufis, such as Ghazali, have at times allowed and at other times banned music and the samà ‘.

What has been left behind for us from those gone by is that today, at the gatherings of

the sincere followers of Shah Nematollah Vali, poems of the great Sufi poets are read in

melodious voices so that the attention of those listening is drawn both to the music created

and to the meaning of the poems, resulting in their spiritual elevation. Thus, the music of

Samà ‘, which in addition to music also involves certain movements, is prohibited by the

Nematollahi Order. The good of this prohibition can probably be seen and understood more

clearly today. But Shah Nematollah Vali never himself prohibited music.

In the biography of Hazrat Sultan ‘Alishah, one of Hazrat Shah Nematollah Vali’s

successors who was martyred in A.H. 1327, it is written that one of his followers asked of

him: “Do you give me permission to play an instrument?” He was answered in the negative.

In explanation of his request, the pupil said that the late Hazrat Mushtàq (referring to the

famous Sufi master of the Qàjàr period Mushtàq ‘Alishah) played the tàr (an eastern string

instrument). He was told: “You become (like) Mushtàq and then do as you like.” The famous

statement “Do whatever you like,” of the Sufi masters is interpreted as “Gain faith, and then

you may do as you like.” This means that if you gain faith and, for example, become like

Mushtàq, then you will not want anything other than Allah, and so, then you can do what you

like; not that you can do any improper act that you may like.

In conclusion, I would again like to thank all those involved in this Seminar, and Dr.

Seyed Mostafa Azmayesh in particular, who initiated it; and I hope that experts in the field

benefit from this seminar and that such seminars are held for other great scholars and mystics

of Iran, so that people in general and those of our country can be proud of their society and

religion.
_______________________________________

1Hajj Dr. Nour ‘Ali Tabandeh is the current Qutb of the Nematollahi Sultan ‘Alishahi (Gonabadi) Order.

2 This is a place for the gathering of Sufis. also serving as a place of retreat.

3 Sakinat al-Awliya’, ed. Tarachand and Jalali Na’ini (Tehran: Elmi, 1965).

4 A similar hadith is narrated in “Awali al-Li’ali, ed. Ibn Abu Jumhur al-Ahsa’i. Vol. 4. p. 132.

5 This story is a summary – rather than a direct quotation – from the one told in Sakinat al-Awliya’, pp. 138-139.

6 Tatar conqueror in southern and western Asia: ruler of Samarqand 1369-1405. [Tr.]

7 Quran (26:168).

8 Mathnavi, Bk. I. 316.

9 Sa’di. Golistan, ed, Gholam Husayn Yusufi (Tehran: 1368/1989), 97.

_____________________________

Second Annual International Symposium of

Seyed shah Nematollah Vali

The Proceeding, pp.11-18

University of Leiden, 1 Rapeuburg ,Doeleustraat,

Cleveringaplaats, Lak Theatre, The Netherlands

October 11-12, 2003

Source : Sufism.ir