In striking contrast to other Ismaili writers of the time (s.v., Hamid
ai-din al Kirmani; Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani), a good deal of
information exists on Khusraw's life, most written by his own hand,
some by a (hostile) contemporary, some by later historians, and some
apocryphal. He has been included in every major literary or historical
survey produced since his lifetime. We can divide Khusraw's life into
four periods: his early years up to age forty (for which we must pull
snippets from various texts); his conversion to Ismailism (of which he
has left two different versions, one prose, one poetry); his
seven-year journey (found in his Safarnama); and his years of
preaching followed by persecution and exile (drawn primarily from his
poetry, but also a few statements in his philosophical works).
Abu Mo'in Hamid al-Din Nasir ibn Khusraw was born in 1004 in Qobadiyan
in the district of Marv, in the eastern Iranian province of Khurasan.
He and at least two of his brothers enjoyed high positions in the
administrative ranks of the Saljuq court (he says he himself was in
the revenue department), and there is evidence that he was also
familiar with the court of previous dynasty, the Ghaznavids. Based on
the quality of his writings, it is obvious he received an excellent
education in the sciences, literatures and philosophies of his time,
including the study of Greek and Neoplatonic philosophy. He tells us
he examined the doctrines of the different Islamic schools and was not
satisfied until he found and understood the Ismaili faith. From this
event of conversion, he embarked on his journey, during which time he
spent three years in the Ismaili court in Cairo of the Fatimid caliph,
al-Mustansir (1029-1094). The Fatimid dynasty (909-1171) aimed at
creating an Islamic state based on Ismaili tenets, and thus presented
a direct theological and military challenge to the Sunni 'Abbasid
caliphate based in Baghdad. He left Cairo as the head (hujjat) of
Ismaili missionary activities in his home province of Khurasan. At
some point, he was forced by the Sunni authorities to flee for his
life; he lived the rest of his life in exile further east, in the
Pamir Mountains in Badakhshan, located in today's Tajikistan and
Afghanistan.
2. Philosophy
Khusraw's philosophical works reveal a strong Neoplatonic structure
and vocabulary. For example, his cosmogony closely follows Plotinus,
moving from God and God's word (logos), to Intellect, Soul, and the
world of Nature. In holding to this cosmogonic description, Khusraw
follows his fellow Ismailis (Nasafi and al-Sijistani) and ignores the
structure introduced by al-Farabi and picked up by Ibn Sina and the
Ismaili philosopher al-Kirmani.
Before looking at this more closely, it is important to understand
that underlying each of the Ismaili cosmogonic systems is a
fundamental division of all into two realms, the esoteric and the
exoteric, the batin and zahir. With this division, everything in the
physical world points to its counterpart in the spiritual, which is
seen as its source, its home, its true form. Thus the cosmogonic
structure itself reveals a purposeful, providential unfolding from the
imaginal, spiritual into the physical, which looks back at the
spiritual and seeks to grasp it and comprehend it.
Khusraw begins with a discussion of tawhid (oneness, God's unity), the
clear understanding of which is the only way to achieve spiritual
perfection. For Nasir, God Himself is indescribable (nothing which has
an opposite can be ascribed to Him, since that would be limiting Him
to human concepts) and is not a being, in fact, is beyond all
categories of being and non-being alike. However, from God emerges his
Word (kalmia), 'Be!', which brings into existence Universal Intellect,
perfect in potentiality and actuality. Intellect contains all being
within itself, with no time or space, all opposites with no
differentiation. Intellect enjoys a worshipful intimacy with God and a
perfection born of this intimacy. From this worship, emerges Universal
Soul, perfect in potentiality but not in actuality, because it is
separated from God by Intellect. Universal Soul recognises this
separation, desires the perfection enjoyed by Intellect, and moves to
approach closer to God. With these three actions, and its movement
seeking perfection, Soul introduces the first movement into the entire
structure, thus also time and place. The entire cosmos has thus been
set into motion, and with it the oppositions of hot, cold, wet, dry,
and from them the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. From
these elements arise first the minerals, then the plants, then the
animals, and finally, the summit of physical creation, human beings,
embedded within whom are individual intellects and individual souls
manifesting the same characteristics (but on an smaller level) as the
universals. In fact, the entire cosmos is laid down on a matrix of
Intellect and Soul; everything within it displays the original
intelligence and drive exhibited by the original duo.
Khusraw's ethics grow from and reflect this cosmogony. Each
individual's task is to recognise his or her own imperfections and
then move to correct them, seeking the closest relationship possible
with God. For Khusraw, this is achieved by stringent and repeated
application of the intellect, to both physical and spiritual matters.
The believer must find a guide, must study diligently, must perform
all required religious acts with full understanding, and must
accompany new understanding with new, superior levels of worldly
activity.
As an Ismaili, Khusraw held the Shi'i doctrine that God would not send
a revelation without a guide to interpret it. For the Ismailis, this
guide must be a living person, the Imam of the Time, divinely
inspired, infallible, and perfectly capable of providing guidance in
spiritual and worldly affairs, who thus serves as a living bridge
between the two realms.
3. References and Further Reading
The following sources elucidate Khusraw's philosophy:
* H. Corbin, 'Nasir-i Khusrau and Iranian Ismailism,' in The
Cambridge History of Iran: Volume 4, ed., R. N. Frye (Cambridge 1975),
pp. 520-42 and 689-90;
* A. Hunsberger, 'Nasir Khusraw: Fatimid Intellectual,' in F.
Daftary, ed., Intellectual Traditions in Islam (London 2000), pp.
112-29;
* A. Hunsberger, Nasir Khusraw's Doctrine of the Soul: From the
Universal Intellect to the Physical World in Isma'ili Philosophy, PhD
thesis, Columbia University, New York, 1992;
* S. Meskoob, Shahrokh, 'The Origin and Meaning of 'Aql (Reason)
in the View of Nasir Khusraw,' Iran Nameh, 6 (1989), pp. 239-57, and 7
(1989), pp. 405-29.
For a full bibliography of Nasir Khusraw's works and ideas, see:
* A. C. Hunsberger, Nasir Khusraw, the Ruby of Badakhshan: A
Portrait of the Persian Poet, Traveller and Philosopher
(London 2000).
For works still in manuscript, see:
* I. K. Poonawala, Biobibliography of Ismaili Literature, Malibu,
Calif., 1977), p. 123.
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