Welcome to the 94th weekly episode of the series Iranian Notables, Sources of Global Honor. Today, we become familiar with the works of the Iranian mystic of 8th Century AH, Mir Seyed Ali Hamedani.

Born in the city of Hamedan in the year 714 AH, Mir Seyed Ali Hamedani completed his preliminary studies in his hometown. Later on, he attended the classes of prominent lecturers of his era, learning the science of hadith, philosophy, and mysticism. Under the influence of his lecturers, he strived for purification of soul and attainment of spiritual growth. He was instructed by his lecturers to promote the divine religion of Islam overseas. He continued this mission for the rest of his life, in addition to grooming countless students.

In addition to piety and devoutness, he highly excelled in science and philosophy and mastered the traditional and rational sciences of his era. He has also penned several books. Hamedani’s writings consist of more than 110 volumes of books and treatises, and a collection of poems, all of which are unique in regard to content and writing style. These works cover a diverse range of topics, including philosophy, ethics, mysticism, and literature. The delicate points that this great mystic has taken into consideration in creation of these works, capture the attention of every reader.

Several hand-written scientific works and treatises of Hamedani are at hand; of which only a handful have been published. This comes while the French historian, Henry Corbin, opines that Hamedani commenced a new path, and a philosopher can highly benefit from his books.

Mir Seyed Ali Hamedani’s character maintains religious and mystic aspects; the first one of which is evident in his book, named: “Zakhirat al-Molouk”, while his mystical aspect is evident in his other works. In addition to guiding the public, Hamedani also advised rulers to make every effort in order to dispel people’s concerns and needs.

The book named: “Zakhirat al-Molouk” contains an introduction and ten chapters, which according to the compiler have been written upon the collective request of a number of rulers. It is considered as the most detailed and comprehensive work of Mir Seyed Ali Hamedani. The names of the compiler and the book have been clearly mentioned in the prelude of the book.

According to researchers of Hamedani’s books, the majority of the content of this book is in fact a translation and summarization of a book, authored by Abu Hamed Mohammad Ghazali. However, the text of this book has not mentioned this fact and has only referred to Ghazali once.

In each of the chapters of this book, a number of ayahs and hadiths have been cited with their related translations. Meanwhile, the main goal of the author in compilation of this book has been the promotion of virtues, and prevention of vice.

This book was warmly welcomed by Muslims and has been named among Hamedani’s major compilations. In 10^th Century AH, this book was translated into Turkish language by a Turkish author, translator, and poet. Currently, many hand-written copies of this book are kept in a number of libraries in Iran, France, Britain, Russia, and Afghanistan. The book Zakhirat al-Molouk has also been published in Lahore and Mumbai.

 “Sair al-Taalebin” is another mystical work of Mir Seyed Ali Hamedani, which has been compiled to guide those, who seek to cover the righteous and truthful path. Its writing style is similar to that of Zakhirat al-Molouk.

Another short, mystical work of this great mystic of 8^th Century AH is “Dah Qaedeh” Treatise. In this book, Hamedani has divided those, who seek the righteous path into three groups, while detailing the path which should be covered by each of these groups. One group is comprised of worshippers and the pious. The other group consists of those, who aim to purify their soul, and the third group is comprised of those, who seek the truth.

One of the other works of Mir Seyed Ali Hamedani is “Darvishieh” Treatise, which mentions the conditions which those who guide people, should maintain.

MR/SS