The Gulshan-i raz of Mahmud Shabistari
Translated by Robert Abdul Hayy Darr
In 1317, in Tabriz, western iran-less than a hundred years after the
deaths of Ibn 'Arabi and Jalaluddin Rumi, and just before the time of
Hafiz-Mahmud Shabistari, a follower of the teachings of Ibn 'Arabi and
Attar (Rumi's literary and spiritual predecessor), composed Garden of
Mystery [Gulshan-i raz] in response to questions put to him by Sayyid
Husseini, a fellow mystic. The questions introduce
controversies and metaphysical enigmas of Sufi thought and practice
that were at the heart of spiritual inquiry of that time. In a
magnificent poem of about one thousand lines, Shabistari not only
answers the questions to the fullest extent possible, but also provides a
coherent literary bridge between the Persian 'school of love' poetry
and the rapidly growing number of metaphysical and gnostic compositions
from what had come to be known as the school of the 'Unity of
Being'.Garden of Mystery holds a unique position in Persian literature.
It is considered one of the most remarkable and original compositions
in the entire history of Persian literature. It is a compact and
concise exploration of the doctrines of Sufism at the peak of their
development that has remained a primary text of Sufism throughout the
world from Turkey to India.