Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

brill.nl/jss

The Controversy of Shaykh Awad al-Dn Kirmn

and Handsome, Moon-Faced Youths: A Case Study
of Shhid-Bz in Medieval Susm
Lloyd Ridgeon
University of Glasgow
UK

Abstract
The ability to witness the divine in creation has been one of the features that has often distinguished Sufis from non-Sufis. One of the most controversial manifestations of this was shhidbz (playing the witness), which was a practice of gazing at the form of young males in
order to witness the inner, divine presence. Since medieval times a Persian Sufi by the name of
Awad al-Dn Kirmn has been most commonly associated with shhid-bz (especially during
the samor the ritual of Sufi music and dance). The controversy relating to Kirmn seems
to have focused on the homoerotic nature of shhid-bz, yet a close examination of the texts
reveal that the criticisms about Kirmn relate to a wide range of Sufi practices and doctrines.
An investigation of the contexts of these criticisms indicate that thirteenthfourteenth-century
Sufism was diverse and fluid, and that the systematisation of Sufism into brotherhoods (arqa)
which was taking place in Kirmns lifetime had not resulted in a bland conformity of faith
and practice.
Rsum
La capacit tmoigner du divin dans la cration a t lune des caractristiques qui distinguent les soufis de la non-soufis. Une des manifestations les plus controverss de cette caractristique t shhid-bz (en jouant le tmoin), une pratique de regarder la forme de jeunes
hommes afin pour contempler la prsence divine intrieur. Depuis lpoque mdivale le soufi
persan Awad al-Dn al-Kirmn a t le plus souvent associ avec shhid-bz, surtout pendant
le rituel soufie de la musique et danse (sama). La controverse relative Kirmn semble avoir
port sur la nature homorotique de shhid-bz, cependant un examen attentif des textes
rvlent que les critiques propos Kirmn concernent un large ventail de pratiques et de doctrines soufies. Une enqute sur les contextes de ces critiques montrent que le soufisme au cours
des XIIIe et XIVe sicles a t diversifi, et que la systmatisation du soufisme en confrries
(arqa) qui avait lieu dans la vie dKirmani navait pas abouti une conformit terne de la foi et la
pratique.
Keywords
Awad al-Dn Kirmn, eroticism, ull, sam, shhid-bz, Sufism

Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2012

DOI: 10.1163/221059512X617658

L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

Introduction
Shaykh Awad al-Dn Kirmn (d. 635/12378) was a renowned Persian Sufi
who became notorious for some or celebrated by others for a practice known
as shhid-bz (literally, playing the witness). For Kirmn this was a ritualised
activity that was grounded on a belief that God may be seen by contemplating pleasant faces that bear witness to divine beauty. Shhid-bz in Kirmns
case meant gazing at and dancing with young men during musical concerts
(sam), a ritual that for many practitioners culminated in spiritual ecstasy.1
A number of anecdotes that were recorded during the hundred years after
Kirmns death bear testimony to the controversy that surrounded him. In
these anecdotes celebrated Sufis including Jall al-Dn Rm, Shams-i Tabrz,
and Ab af Umar Suhraward expressed opinions on Kirmn, which cast
him in a negative light.2
This paper will investigate the controversy surrounding Kirmn and shhidbz. Unfortunately Kirmn did not leave behind any systematic treatise that
detailed his understanding of the practice; the only writings attributed to him
are a large corpus of quatrains that most probably include a number that originated from the pens of other Persian Sufis. The doubtful attribution of all of
these verses to Kirmn, and both their insuffficient number and inadequate
treatment of shhid-bz render problematic the task of comprehending his
own views on the practice. For this reason, the practice of shhid-bz will be
explained in this paper by analysing the arguments of one of most coherent and
1
This is typified in the treatise that is cited frequently in this paper, the Manqib-i Awd
al-Dn mid b. Ab l-Fakhr-i Kirmn, edited B. Furznfar (Tehran: Sursh, 1969). The treatise
describes the mystical state of Shaykh Sad al-Dn ammya, who lost normal consciousness during a sam for two hours and was transported to another spiritual station (98). The treatise also
describes the mystical experience of Kirmn who in a state of ecstasy during the sam would
recite quatrains that he witnessed written upon a green tablet that appeared before his eyes. The
inference being that these verses were divine in origin (1023).
2
Non-Sufis too have offfered information on Kirmn that endorsed the criticisms levelled at
him. amdallh Mustawf (d. 749/1349) relates how when the sam was in full swing, Kirmn
would rip open the shirts of young men and dance breast to breast (Trkh-i guzda, ed. Abd
al-usayn Naw [Tehran: Amr Kabr, 1362/19834], 667). Note how the practice of tearing open
the shirt of males was rendered by Rm into a spiritual teaching:

O boy, if you want spirit rend the shirt,

So that you may become pure quickly.
A Sufi is one who seeks that purity
Not woollen clothes, patching and buggery.
(Mathnaw V. 3623. This translation [which is my own] is from the Persian edition that was used
by R.A. Nicholson for his translation. See Mathnaw-yi manaw Mawlaw [nuskha-yi Nicholson]
[Tehran: Pizhmn, 1373/19945]).

L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

systematic advocates of shhid-bz, namely those of Ayn al-Qut Hamadn

(d. 526/1131), whose Persian work Tamhdt delineates how an infinite and
incomparable God appears in a finite world in a manner that humans can
comprehend. Ayn al-Qut was not the only Persian Sufi to discuss in a systematic and sympathetic fashion the metaphysics and practice of shhid-bz,
indeed both Amad Ghazl (d. 520/1126) and Fakhr al-Dn Irq (d. 688/1289)
earned a reputation that approximated that of Kirmn. However, the confines
of this article do not permit an extended survey of all medieval Persian Sufis
who elaborated on the theme of this topic. Ayn al-Quts explanation of the
ideal shhid-bz is subsequently balanced with an examination of the fears
expressed by some Persian Sufis of the dangers pertaining to the sam, when
there was an opportunity for Sufis to engage in shhid-bz. Having outlined
the contours of the ideal and the dangers pertaining to the practice, the article
will then briefly review the little that is known about Kirmns life and his
version of Sufism. Subsequently an assessment will be made of three Persian
Sufi sources which were all composed within one hundred years of Kirmns
death, that either appear to condemn shhid-bz, or else criticise him for
abusing a spiritual practice.
The purpose of this article is to understand the ideal of shhid-bz, the
metaphysical and practical issues that were associated with it, and finally the
controversy surrounding Kirmn. To anticipate the conclusion to the third of
the three aims, the criticisms of medieval Sufis levelled against Kirmn do not
always appear to be related to sensual shhid-bz. Although the reasons for
the antipathy of these Sufis is not always clear, it may have included jealousy
and rivalry, a preference for alternative forms of Sufi discipline and practice,
and an aversion for the ontology that Kirmns Sufi world view endorsed. This
suggests that medieval Persian Sufism was far from homogenous, and that the
establishment of Sufi orders around the time of Kirmns lifetime certainly did
not result in a unity of practice or belief.
Although the controversy surrounding Kirmn and shhid-bz is no longer
a burning issue3 (as Sufism no longer enjoys the same widespread following
3
Despite this Kirmn has been chastised by the Iranian anti-Sufi commentator Amad
Kasrav (d. 1946) who suggested that he engaged in pederasty. See Kasravs fgar, translated
as Sufism, in Lloyd Ridgeon, Sufi Castigator: Ahmad Kasravi and the Iranian Mystical Tradition
(London: Routledge, 2006), 79. Kasrav uses the term sda-bz which means playing with beardless youths. But it is clear that he meant pederasty as he continued by quoting from Jm, who
disguised Kirmns evil acts (zishtkr) with other garments (i.e. in other phrases). See Kasrav,
fgar (Sunnyvale, Calif.: Kaweh Publications, n.d.), 28. Western scholars of Sufism such as
William Chittick defend Kirmn. Chittick states that Certain Sufis, such as Awad al-Dn
Kirmn and Fakhr al-Dn Irq, seem to have made systematic use of outward objects in the
world as supports for the contemplation of the inner Witness (William Chittick, The Sufi Path of
Love [Albany: SUNY Press, 1983], 288).

L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

that it enjoyed in pre-modern times), this article hopes to shed some light on a
neglected aspect of medieval Persian Sufism by examining the relevant texts,
and as such is an essay on historiography. There has been very little research in
English on this important thirteenth-century Sufi,4 although his name appears
regularly, though sporadically in many of the academic surveys written by
Western scholars about other Sufis of the period. The most extensive nonPersian study is Mikail Bayrams Turkish work on the topic which investigates
Kirmns life, teachings and students.5 The Persian literature offfers more depth.
The first major contribution was Furznfars introductory essay and edition
of a thirteenth-century hagiography entitled Manqib-i Awd al-Dn (The
Virtues of Awd al-Dn).6 The identity of the author of this text is not known,
but Furznfar has shown that it must have been composed after Kirmns
death, most likely during the second half of the seventh century (hijri) that is
between 12521301.7 Although the author presented Kirmn in a positive light,
Furznfar suggests that he did not know Kirmn personally, but related the
stories about him from another source, perhaps one of the shaykhs immediate
disciples. As a result it is necessary to exercise due caution when assessing this
text as a source for Kirmns own belief and practice.8
A large dwn of Kirmns quatrains was published by Amad Ab Mabb
in 1987, which included the editors introductory essay that surveyed the same
territory as Furznfars earlier work.9 The Dwn appears in a manuscript from
the Ayasofya collection (Istanbul) that is composed of several other irfn texts.
It was not authorised by the poet himself, as the editor states that Kirmns
writings were scattered here and there, so the task was to assemble them into
a coherent form. Thus the editor collected 1724 quatrains and placed them
within twelve subject headings.10 Of particular interest are the quatrains that
4
One notable exception is an English translation of 120 of Kirmns quatrains: B. Weischer &
P.L. Wilson, Hearts Witness: The Sufi Quatrains of Awaduddn Kirmn (Tehran: Imperial Iranian
Academy of Philosophy, 1978).
5
Mikail Bayram, eyh Evhadd-Din Hmid el-Kirmni ve Evhadiyye Tarikat (Konya: mer
Faruk Bayram, 1993).
6
See note 1. Furznfars untitled introduction (964) is henceforth referred to as Introduction.
7
Furznfar, Introduction, 556.
8
Ibid.
9
Dwn-i rubaiyt-i Awad al-Dn Kirmn, ed. Amad Ab Mabb (Tehran: Sursh, 1987).
10
Chapter One: On unity, praise of God and remembrance and a eulogy of the prophet and his
followers; Chapter Two: On the shara; Chapter Three: On Sufism and the inner states; Chapter
Four: On purity, cleansing the self and renouncing lust; Chapter Five: On good works and whatever is included in a good name; Chapter Six: On love and witnessing; Chapter Seven: On the
approved qualities; Chapter Eight: On ugly qualities; Chapter Nine: On journeying and departing;
Chapter Ten: On spring, wine and sam; Chapter Eleven: On ecstatic words (mt); Chapter
Twelve: On the last wills and the grief for the departed, on fan and baq and mystical states.

L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

describe the sam, and those pertaining to shhid-bz.11 The Dwn was republished in 1996 by Waf with a long introduction (that covered topics such as
Buddhism and the rise of Sufism) that was mainly derivative of earlier sources.12
The main interest of this publication was the inclusion of a mathnaw entitled
Mibh al-arw (which has been attributed to Kirmn, although this attribution is generally considered to be incorrect). Just as there have been very few
surveys relating to Kirmn, the concept and controversy of shhid-bz has
fared little better, although there are several works that have offfered preliminary or summarised sections within articles or books on related topics.13

I.The Shhid
The early and medieval Sufi discussion of a more immanent God tended to be
legitimised with reference to a handful of Quranic verses. These included 41:53
which states, We shall show them Our signs in the heavens and in their own
souls, until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. Does it not sufffice your
Lord that He is a witness to everything. Just as God is a witness, this verse suggested to Sufis that God too could be witnessed in the created world and also
mystically within the heart of the individual. Sufis themselves claimed that the
mystical unveiling resulted in an ecstatic overflowing of uncontrollable emotions, and seemingly outrageous statements that were uttered during these
overwhelming experiences were considered tolerable if they were denied at
a later stage of sober reflection, which would in theory endorse a more transcendent divine.14 One of the most celebrated, or notorious cases, was that
of Manr al-allj, whose supposed declaration I am the Truth was often
understood to be the reason for his execution.15 While allj witnessed God
within himself, a contemporary of his, Ab l-usayn Nr, heard God through
the bark of a dog (an animal considered unclean according to the Islamic
11

Dwn-i rubaiyt, 2248 (nos. 1068105).

Awl wa sr-i Awad al-Dn mid b. Ab al-Fakhr Kirmn, ed. Muammad Waf
(Tehran: M, 1375/1996).
13
Hellmut Ritter, The Ocean of the Soul, trans. John OKane (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 448519; Leonard Lewisohn Prolegomenon to the study of fi, in Hafiz and the Religion of Love in Classical
Persian Poetry, ed. idem (London: I.B. Tauris, 2010), 4355. In Persian see Syrus Shamisa, Shhidbz dar adabiyt-i frs (Tehran: Firdaws, 1381/2002).
14
See for example Rms story about the ecstatic statements of Byazd Bism, who asked
his followers to stab him with knives should he repeat his statement (The Mathnaw of Jalluddn
Rm, translated by R.A. Nicholson [London: Luzac, 192540], 4:38890).
15
The context of alljs execution has been summarized in Carl Ernst, Words of Ecstasy in
Sufism (Albany: SUNY Press, 1985), 10210.
12

L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

legal tradition), and replied labbayk (Here I am, Lord) which is a phrase
more commonly associated with the utterance of a pilgrim approaching the
Kaaba on pilgrimage. Of all the early cases related to witnessing God one of the
most coherent and sophisticated descriptions was penned by Ayn al-Qut
Hamadn. His Persian masterpiece, Tamhdt, includes discussions on the
spirit and mystical witnessing which have a direct relevance to the topic under
discussion.16 Chapter seven of this treatise, entitled The reality of the heart
and spirit,17 analyses in a direct yet familiar fashion (features which have made
the work so idiosyncratic and appealing in the Persian tradition) the mystery
of the spirit, which as the Quran states And they ask you about the spirit.
Say, The spirit is of my Lords command, and you have not been given except
a little knowledge (17:85). Ayn al-Qut elaborated on this verse and stated
that Adam, and those with Adams attributes (that is, all humans) possess this
spirit since God breathed into him of My spirit (38:72). More provocatively,
he argued that the spirit was eternal, and that the Quranic phrase [the spirit]
is from the command of my Lord should be understood in such a way that the
spirit is the same as the command. This implies a direct relationship between
the human and divine spirit, which renders the following statement of Ayn
al-Quts more comprehensible: [the spirit] is the Actor, not the acted; it is
the Powerful, not the overpowered.18 Moreover, he considered that the world
was brimming with the spirit, or in other words, Gods existence was present
everywhere: The spirit is neither inside nor outside [the body], and nor is it
inside or outside the world. Alas! Understand what is being said! The spirit is
neither attached to nor separated from the body. God Most High is with the
world.19
Ayn al-Qut was precipitous to deny that this belief represented the
descent of Gods spirit into the human who already possessed a spirit. Such
a perspective would have been tantamount to heresy as the concept of two
spirits in one body (ull) was a charge often levelled against the Sufis by
their opponents. Rather Ayn al-Qut claimed that his description of the
spirit expressed utter existential unity (tawd).20 To witness the reality of the
16
Ayn al-Qut Hamadn, Tamhdt, ed. Afif Osseiran (Tehran: Manchihr, 1373/19945).
One of the better surveys of particular aspects of Ayn al-Quts thought is Leonard Lewisohn,
In Quest of Annihilation: Imaginalization and the mystical death in the Tamhdt of Ayn
al-Qut Hamadn, in Classical Persian Sufism from its Origins to Rumi, ed. idem (London: KPI,
1993), 285336.
17
Tamhdt, 141167.
18
Ibid., 150.
19
Ibid., 2578.
20
See his vehement denials of ull in relation to the unity of the shhid and mashhd in
Tamhdt, 115.

L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

spirit (of God and man) was one of the secrets of mystical experience, yet Ayn
al-Qut offfered an account of his own unveiling: I saw a light which separated from [God] and a light which came from me. The lights met and joined
together and made [such] a beautiful form that I remained bewildered in this
state for some time.21
Such witnessing is associated with a spiritual station in which life and death
are understood in an unconventional manner, for death is separation and
exile, and life is meeting and ecstasy; either way, the reality is the presence
of God with the lover. Only the real shhid-bzn understand the reality of
this station, and Ayn al-Qut offfers two adths (relating to Muammads
so-called ascension (mirj) when he travelled through the heavens to witness God)22 to guide his readers. Both of these have a particular resonance to
the way that the term shhid-bz unravelled in the later Sufi tradition: I saw
my Lord on the night of ascent in the form of a young man and Beware! The
beardless youth has a complexion like that of God.23 Ayn al-Qut continued,
giving an explicit reference to the practice of shhid-bz during the sam:
Know that the leader of the shhid-bzn was Muaf [Muammad]. He gave
the trace of infidelity and Islam in the following way: Oh God! Life is through you
and death is through you. Alas! A singer must be a beautiful-faced shhid when
singing these couplets [in the sam] so that perchance a particle of this reality
may appear:24
That idol-shhid whose love is in the core of our soul
His exile is pain and his union is our balm and remedy
And his face is religion and the qibla; His tresses is infidelity and unbelief
Without a doubt he is both infidelity and faith.25

Ayn al-Quts witnessing of this beautiful form or Muammads vision of

the divine is labelled tamaththul (or likeness),26 which is a clear reference back
21

Ibid., 303.
Ibid., 294, 321.
23
Ibid., 321.
24
This sentence alludes to a practice found in some Sufi sams when the singer and the
shhid were the same person. Sometimes, the shhid was dressed up in special clothes, perhaps
as Ritter suggests, as an ascetic test of strength (The Ocean of the Soul, 512). Ritter provides three
examples of singers also being the shhid at a sam: Religious Love of a Beautiful Person, 513.
It is perhaps worthwhile stating that it seems Ayn al-Qut endorsed the practice of sam and
dancing, indeed at one point he states that he and his father were dancing (raq kardm) with
a group of town leaders. In the same session his father witnessed Amad Ghazl dancing with
them (Tamhdt, 2501).
25
Tamhdt, 321.
26
The expression used is lam-i tamaththul, which shows that Ayn al-Qut considered this
an ontological realm, which was explicated in greater detail by Ibn Arab a century later. For Ibn
22

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L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

to the Quran where the term is used with reference to the angel Gabrielwho
is associated with the spirit.27 To illustrate his point, and moving from Gabriel
to God, he cites the adth: Truly, God created Adam and his children in the
form of the Merciful.28 Thus, tamaththul is discussed by Ayn al-Qut in conjunction with the shhid, or the witness, because it denoted the likeness of God
that was contemplated during the vision of the spirit, which as argued above,
pertains to both the individual and God. From this perspective the witness and
the witnessed are the same, even if rationality dictates otherwise:
Since the love of the witness and the witnessed are one, the witness is the witnessed
and the witnessed is the witness. You consider this a form of ull but it is not, it is
the perfection of unity (iid) and oneness (yignig).29
The witness and witnessed are one in truth, but they appear many with regard to
describing and alluding [to them]... if you consider well, sometimes we are his
witness and sometimes he is our witness. In one way he is the witness and we are
the witnessed and in another way we are the witness and he is the witnessed.30

Although Ayn al-Quts attention is focused on understanding God through

witnessing the spirit within, as suggested above there are occasions when the
witness may be viewed through other human beings:
A share [may be] obtained for hearts of real witness-playing (shhid-bz) in a
metaphorical witness (shhid-i majz) who has a fair face. This is the reality of
tamaththul. It can be [manifested] in a fair form... But do not suppose that I
speaking of love of the self, which is [nothing but] lust, rather, I am speaking of
love of the heart, and this love of the heart is rare.31

The kind of argumentation offfered by Ayn al-Quts was rejected by many

religious scholars because such ideas violated their conception of tawd, Gods
unity, in which the chasm between creator and created could not be bridged.
Yet, the ultimate agency of God, so important in Asharite theology is preserved
by Ayn al-Qut as a necessary corollary of the annihilation of the ego. His Sufi
Arab on tamaththul (or imaginalization) see Henry Corbin, Creative Imagination in the fism
of Ibn Arab, trans. Ralph Manheim (Princeton University Press, 1969), 179215. Ayn al-Qut
uses the idea of tamaththul to explain the states of the afterlife, and the phenomena that appear
there (28890).
27
Gabriel is referred to in 19:17: We sent to her [Mary] Our Spirit [Gabriel], and he appeared
to her in the likeness (fa-tamaththala) of a mortal without fault. For Ayn al-Qut and Gabriel
as a tamaththul see Tamhdt, 2934.
28
Ibid., 296.
29
Ibid., 115.
30
Ibid., 295.
31
Ibid., 297.

L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

11

tawd world view eroded a normative perspective that was based upon a
basic duality between creator and created. The accusation of ull-ism hovers beneath the surface in much of the Tamhdt, and indeed, Ayn al-Quts
fear for his safety as a result of challenging normative Islam were legitimate
as he was executed at the tragically young age of thirty-three.32

II.The Shhid Controversy

Ayn al-Quts Tamhdt provides ample evidence of the danger that his kind
of world view provided. Indeed, the controversy was generations old as several
theologians had voiced their opposition to the practice in the tenth century.
Al-Ashar (d. 324/936) was explicit about the connection between the concept of ull, witnessing God in creatures and beautiful men, Sufi ascetics, and
casting aside the sacred law (shara).33 The practice was condemned by subsequent generations of scholars, including the historian al-Muqaddas (writing in about 355/966),34 and Abd al-Qdir Baghdd (d. 429/1038).35 Many of
the major Sufis also voiced concerns about shhid-bz. One of the first was
Hujwr (d. ca. 467/1075) who had expressed his worry about the practice of
looking at youths which he claimed was rejected by all genuine Sufi masters,
but the adherents of incarnation (ulliyn)a group that he believed were
not genuine Sufisseem to have endorsed the practice, and this had left a
stigma on the friends of God.36 In the generation subsequent to Hujwr one
of the most important opponents of shhid-bz was Ab mid al-Ghazl
(d. 504/1111), whose significance for the burgeoning Sufi tradition was his correlation between Islamic spirituality and normative Islam with Sufism in his
magnum opus, the Iy ulm al-dn (Revivication of the Religious Sciences).
That Ghazl was concerned about shhid-bz is evident from his writings
related to the Sufi ritual of the sam, and in one fatwa he stated that the name
Sufi disappears when the Sufi sits with a young lad, performs the sam with
him, and when he loves him and they talk to each other much.37 In addition, in
his chapter on sam in his Kmiy-yi sadat, Ghazl expressed reservations
about men and women who wore Sufi garments in pretence and engaged in Sufi
32
For the circumstances behind Ayn al-Quts execution, see Ernst, Words of Ecstasy, 11015;
and Firoozeh Papan-Matin, Beyond Death: The Mystical Teachings of Ayn al-Qut al-Hamadhn
(Leiden: Brill 2010), 2839.
33
Ernst, Words of Ecstasy, 121.
34
See Sara Sviri, akm Tirmidh and the Malmat Movement, in Classical Persian Sufism, 591.
35
Ernst, Words of Ecstasy, 121.
36
The Kashf al-Majb, trans. R.A. Nicholson (London: Luzac & Co, 1911), 4167.
37
Fatwa included in N. Prjavd, D Mujaddid (Tehran: Nashr-i Dnishgh, 2002), 90.

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L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

practices such as shhid-bz. He complained that these individuals excused

themselves by saying things like, Our pr glanced at so and so a lad, and this has
always been the way of the eminent ones. This is not sodomy (liwat), rather
it is shhid-bz. He added, Perhaps they say, It is the same as spirit-playing
(ayn-i r-bz).38 In the context of sam and shhid-bz, Ghazl also discussed the possibility of the essence of angels and the spirits of the prophets
taking a form or likeness (mithl) of a beautiful-looking human.39 He stated
that once the spiritual unveiling had terminated, the Sufi who had witnessed
the mithl would occasionally seek a form which was suitable or close to that
spiritual likeness in order to regain that lost mystical state. Ghazl claimed
that this efffort was permissible, however, he lamented at the individual who
had no knowledge of the divine secrets, but had an inclination to a person that
he supposed possessed the spiritual attribute that he was seeking.40
This controversy would have been familiar to Ayn al-Qut if only for the
reason that his own master, the celebrated Persian Sufi, Amad Ghazlthe
brother of Ab mid al-Ghazlhad a reputation for shhid-bz. His
exploits were detailed by Shams-i Tabrz (Rms spiritual mentor) at least
one-hundred years after the death of Ghazl.41 Shams portrayed Amad
Ghazl in a series of episodes in which he appears in compromising situations with young males. However, Shams intention in these stories is to vindicate Amad Ghazl who demonstrates that his actions have secret meanings,
and thus it is necessary that his followers do not doubt his spiritual motives.
Spiritual masters must be obeyed at all times. Even if Shams shocking
stories about Amad Ghazls shhid-bz were merely fabrications with the
sole purpose of yielding this spiritual teaching, there is much textual evidence
to indicate that shhid-bz was quite a common practice. The promotion of a
sensual or carnal type of shhid-bz has been observed in the writings of a number of well-known Persian texts, including the Qbs-nma, and in the works
of Umar Khayym and Sad42 (although the ambiguity of the sensual-spiritual

38

Kmiy-yi sadat (Tehran: Intishrt-i Ilm va Farhang, 1361/19823), 2:486.

It is interesting to note that Ghazl chose to illustrate his argument with reference to Gabriels appearance to the prophet in the likeness of Daya Kalb, the handsome Arab malethe very
same example provided by Ayn al-Qut (Tamhdt, 294).
40
Kmiy-yi sadat, 487.
41
Nasrollah Pourjavady, Stories of Ahmad al-Ghazali Playing the Witness, in Reason and
Inspiration in Islam, ed. Todd Lawson (London, I.B. Tauris, 2005), 20020.
42
Minoo S. Southgate has noted how the works of Sad include both spiritual versions of the
shhid, and also more secular and sensual offferings. See Men, Women, and Boys: Love and Sex in
the Works of Sadi, Iranian Studies 17.4 (1984): 41352.
39

L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

13

nature of love in some of these works inevitably yield contrary views).43 The
ideal shhid, according to Schimmel is a boy of fourteen,44 whose liminal
physical appearance is both male, yet softened by beardless cheeks offfering,
perhaps, a female dimension.45 Liminality and ambiguity were certainly key
elements in the presentation of the shhid in Persian poetry, for the undefined
status of the shhid (male/female, divine/secular) permitted a degree of transgression and sedition against the normative values expressed in society. It is
possible that such unconventional expressions and behaviour were utilised
by Sufis too, in promoting their own spiritual progress. This theme shall be
addressed further in the next section.

III.Awad al-Din Kirmn

By Kirmns time the literary tradition, if not the actual practice of shhidbz, was well established, which makes the controversy surrounding Awad
al-Dn appear a little peculiar. Awad al-Dn mid b. Ab l-Fakhr-i Kirmn
was one of the most eminent Sufis of the thirteenth century who moved in
elite Sufi circles. His associates form a veritable whos who of Sufis in the first
half of the thirteenth century: these include Ibn Arab, adr al-Dn Qnaw,
Shams-i Tabrz, Sad al-Dn ammya, Najm al-Dn Rz, and Ab af Umar
Suhraward. Kirmns own spiritual genealogy leads back to several of the
Sufi masters who had written about or been associated with shhid-bz (see
fig. 1). Awad al-Dn was trained in Sufism by a well-known and demanding
master, Rukn al-Din Sujs,46 who in turn had been nurtured by Qub al-Dn
Abhar, a student of the celebrated master Ab l-Najb Suhraward. Some
have regarded Kirmn a disciple (murd) of Ab af Umar Suhraward
(who was the spiritual mentor of the Abbasid caliph, al-Nir li-Dn Allh).47
43
It is interesting to compare Southgate with Leonard Lewisohn who appears to read Sad
only through a mystical lens. See his Prolegomenon, 467, 71 n. 362.
44
Annemarie Schimmel, A Two-Colored Brocade: The Imagery of Persian Poetry (Chapel Hill:
University of North Carolina Press, 1992), 97.
45
Leonard Lewisohn summarises and agrees with the arguments of M. Istilm that the
shhid (in particular, as understood by fi) is female. See his Prolegomenon, n. 356. While this
may be true in relation to fi, it seems to me that the shhid according to Kirmn was male.
The reason for this is that in the discussion of the shhid in his poetry, the witness is the subject
of contemplation during the sam, when females were largely excluded (see the Manqib which
relates how Kirmns disciples refused permission for female participation in the samsee
note 96 below.
46
See B. Furznfar, Introduction, 18.
47
The Tadhkiratu Sh-Shuara (Memoirs of the Poets) of Dawlatshh Bin Alud-Dawla
Bakhtshh al-Ghz of Samarqand, ed. E.G. Browne (London: Luzac & Co, 1901), 210, 223.

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L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

Amad Ghazl

Ab l-Najb Suraward

Ayn al-Qut Hamadn

Qub al-Dn Abar

Ab af Umar Suhraward

Rukn al-Dn Sujs

Awad al-Dn Kirmn

Shams-i Tabrz

Figure 1.The Spiritual Lineage of Awad al-Dn Kirmn

This may have been possible, given that the two lived in Baghdad in the same
period, and that Kirmns hagiography and other documents portray how the
shhid-bz regarded Suhraward with the utmost respect. Such a possibility
is worth considering because it was to Kirmn that the prestigious directorship of the large Marzubniyya rib was given after the death of Suhraward.
(The Marzubniyya rib had been built for Suhraward by the caliph al-Nir
li-Dn Allh, and it included a large hall, a bath and garden.)48 Kirmn was
awarded the post of director of the rib by the caliph al-Mustanir bi-llh
(r. 62439/122742), who was considered his follower (murd).49 The caliph

48
See the al-awdith al-jmia wa-l-tajrib al-nfia f l-mia al-sbia, attributed to Ibn
al-Fuwa (d. 723/1323), ed. Mahd al-Najm (Beirut: Dr al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya, 2003), 72.
49
The Tadhkiratu Sh-Shuara, 210.

L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

15

also made him the shaykh al-shuykh, a term used to denote the leading Sufi
shaykh of a city.50
Despite the prestige and eminence that Kirmn enjoyed there are indications that his relationship with Suhraward was not always cordial. This shall
be discussed in due course. But as a master in his own right, Kirmn attracted
his own following of dervishes: Furznfar lists the names of seventeen of his
deputies (khulaf), while Bayram presents the case for twenty-eight.51 Kirmns
own form of Sufism appears to have been very arduous. He was a proponent
of travelling to seek knowledge, and he met the spiritual masters of the age in
the regions of Iran, Iraq, Khorasan, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Egypt, and his own
poetry refers to his travels:
Awad! You knock at the hearts door, but where is the heart?
You have spent a life wandering, but where is the home?52
How long will you boast of isolation and those who engage in seclusion?
You completed seventy-two seclusions, but where is the result?53

The above verse refers to seclusion (chilla) which was a particular form of Sufi
spiritual exercise, when the dervish would undertake a period of forty days
for uninterrupted prayer and contemplation. If the number of seventy-two
50

Manqib, 241, 243.

See Furznfar, Introduction, 446; and Bayram, eyh Evhadd-Din, 85114. One of
Kirmns disciples seems to have been the author of three treatises which have been translated
by William Chittick, and published under the general title of Faith and Practice of Islam (Albany:
SUNY Press, 1992). This is because a certain Nir al-Dn is mentioned on a manuscript of one
of the treatises, and he is also mentioned by Aflk (The Feats of the Knowers of God, trans. John
OKane [Leiden: Brill, 2002], 1302) as the author of Clarifications (the title of one of the treatises). (In OKanes translation of Aflk, however, the word tabirat is not rendered as a book title
[Clarifications], but rather as a spiritual quality possessed by the individual, i.e. enlightenment).
The reason for believing that the author was a disciple of Kirmns is because the latters verses
are quoted more than any other named poet, and he is referred to in reverential terms. Chittick
believed that the author may have been adr al-Dn Qnaw, although he is now undecided. For
the identity of this author see Chittick, Faith and Practice, 2559. The mystery of the authorship
of the work is not so important in the context of this article; however, Aflks story about Shaykh
Nir al-Dn becomes all the more significant if Nir al-Dn was indeed a disciple of Kirmn.
This is because Rm accused him of being a catamite (z): In the end, it happened that he
[Nir al-Dn] would secretly pay something to sodomites so they would have their way with him
(Feats of the Knowers of God, 131). It is worth speculating that Rm may have made associations
between the catamite (Nir al-Dn) and the shhid-bz of his master, Kirmn, especially given
Rms ambiguous statements about Kirmn. It is strange though, that a disciple by the name of
Nir (or Nar) does not appear in Kirmns hagiography, nor is he mentioned in Furznfars
Introduction where he lists Kirmns disciples (456).
52
For his travels, see Furznfar, Introduction, 2333.
53
See Mabb, Dwn, no. 1716, 304; cited also by Dawlatshh, The Tadhkiratu Sh-Shuara, 210.
51

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L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

chillas is to be taken at face-value, Kirmn would have spent a total of just

under eight years of his life engaged in this practice.
Another facet of Kirmns Sufism that requires much further study concerns
his understanding of the world view of Ibn Arab, for the two enjoyed exceptionally warm relations (which shall be discussed below). Given this, it might
be expected that Kirmn would have been sympathetic, if not a proponent,
of the Great Shaykhs sophisticated and elaborate ontology. This is diffficult to
verify with any certainty because Kirmn did not compose any treatise (at
least, none that can be attributed to him) that discusses his world view.
Although he bequeathed nothing substantial in prose, as a poet of prodigious creativity, Kirmn left behind a dwn comprising 1731 quatrains.54 As
with the manuscripts of many medieval Persian poets, this dwn includes
some quatrains that were probably composed by other poets, and this only
adds to the problematic task of proving the influence of Ibn Arab upon
Kirmn by an analysis of this poetry.55 His quatrains contain themes that were
all too common in the Persian Sufi world of the thirteenth century, although
there are some on the theme of shhid-bz that perhaps bear a certain stamp
of Kirmns originality. The quatrains do not lend themselves to easy analysis,
especially as contrary messages appear in some of these. Compare the following two quatrains in which the first points to a sensual shhid but who is not
the object of desire or joy, with the second that appears to celebrates the physical shhid over the divine:
There is no share of joy for us tonight,
That beloved of mine is not among us tonight.
Even though there is a sam, candle[s] and a witness (shhid)
The root of everything is connection to him, and he is not here tonight!56
Dont suppose that Im dancing [to show my] skill,
Or that Im dancing out of delight or [some mystical] message.
Dont even think that this dance of mine is [inspired by the] divine.
I am dancing because of such [a beautiful] boy!57

54
Furznfar did not consider these quatrains as possessing the same literary qualities as those
attributed to his contemporaries in the Sufi world. See his comments in his Introduction, 48.
55
Peter Lamborn Wilson sees the development of Ibn Arabs ideas in a group of ten quatrains
that he has selected and grouped under the term The Hearts Witness (Hearts Witness, 18). However, those familiar with the ecstatic love poetry in the Persian tradition would be familiar with
quatrains from other Sufis at a similar point in time with the same message. Ibn Arabs influence
on Kirmns quatrains cannot be verified in Wilsons selection.
56
Mabb, Dwn-i rubaiyt, 275, no. 1475.
57
Ibid., 2734, no. 1464.

L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

17

The dissonance between the two verses may be explained by the Malmat legacy on Persian Sufism.58 The Malmats were individuals who sought to draw
close to God by a rigorous examination of their nafs (soul) and who attempted
to rid themselves of any trace of hypocrisy in their devotional activities. To this
end the Malmats refrained from public acts of piety in case this nurtured
sentiments of spiritual pride. Indeed, Hujwr related that some individuals of
this group would perform disreputable acts (neither a great sin nor a trivial
offfence)59 in order that people would blame them. The aim of this was to censure the nafs so that the individual would be aware constantly of his or her
own selfish ego and therefore act so that hypocrisy and pride were kept at bay.
Although the great Malmat exemplars died well before Kirmns time, the
legacy of their teachings was absorbed within the general Sufi world view. It is
from this perspective that Kirmns second quatrain cited above conforms to
the more spiritual message that is usually apparent in his quatrains.
Despite his travels, his attraction to demanding spiritual and ascetic exercises, his performance of the sam and composition of poetry, and his fondness for shhid-bz, Kirmn managed to find time for a family life. He was
married to the great grand-daughter of Ab l-Najb Suhraward. (Suhraward
married his daughter to Qub al-Dn Abhar, who in turn married his daughter
to his disciple Rukn al-Dn Sujs, who married his daughter to Kirmn.60 This
meant that the spiritual lineage from Suhraward to Kirmn was fortified by
constructing family connections.) Kirmn fathered three children; a son and
two girls.61

IV.Criticisms of Kirmn
(A).Kirmn and the Maqlt of Shams-i Tabrz
In the hagiography of the fifteenth-century Sufi Abd al-Raman Jm
(d. 901/1496), it is stated that Shams-i Tabrz was a student of Rukn al-Dn
Sinjs (which is most likely the same Rukn al-Dn Sujs who was Kirmns

58

I am particularly grateful to Dr. Lewisohn for bringing my attention to this point.

Hujwr, Kashf al-Majb, 67.
60
Manqib, 5960.
61
One of these daughters, Aymana, seems to have been intellectually gifted, and the Manqib,
602, relates how Kirmn agreed to hand over her education to Ab af Umar Suhraward.
The other daughter born from a concubine, was called Fima, on whom see Manqib, 6871;
M. Bayram, eyh Evhadd-Din, 506; and idem, Fatma Bac ve Bcyn- Rum (Istanbul: Nve
Kltr Merkezi, 2008).
59

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L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

spiritual guide).62 It is possible, therefore, that Shams met Kirmn when they
were both disciples at the same time, under the same guide. Even though Shams
himself does not mention Sujs in his own writings, there are five references to
Kirmn. These anecdotes are among the earliest references to Kirmn, since
Shams Maqlt was recorded sometime before 645/1247. In one of the stories
Kirmn took Shams to a sam, and said to him Why dont we be together?
Shams replied that they could be together if they sat down and Kirmn would
drink in front of the disciples, while Shams would refrain. When asked why he
would not drink, Shams replied, Because you would be the corruptor (fsiq)
yet the fortunate one (nkbakht), but I would be the corruptor and unfortunate (badbakht).63 Kirmns corruption referred to by Shams may relate to
breaking the law by imbibing wine, and his good fortune lay in his association
with Shams. This stands in contrast to Shams, whose association with a winedrinking Sufi (and connection with someone who was, perhaps, linked with
sensual shhid-bz) rendered him a corruptor and unfortunate because of his
companionship with the latter.
Shams mentioned Kirmn another time in the Maqlt in a less than flattering fashion, in an observation that Awad was closer to the completion of
caprice. According to Shams, caprice was the lowest of four kinds of drunkenness: these are the drunkenness of caprice, of the spiritual world, of Gods
road, and drunkenness in God.64 Shams also referred to Kirmns imaginings,
yet it is diffficult to determine whether a criticism of the shhid-bz is intended
in his observation that before knowledge, [the imaginings] take to misguidance. After that theres knowledge. After knowledge there are imaginings that
are correct and very good. After that the eyes open.65 (Parallels may be drawn
with Shams opinions with those of Ghazl concerning spiritual witnessing
discussed above.)
However, there are indications that Shams disparaging view of Kirmn
may have been caused by issues other than shhid-bz. The first of these is
Kirmns penchant for observing chilla which has already been mentioned.
Kirmns predilection for chilla was nothing exceptional in medieval Sufi circles, as it was an exercise discussed and no doubt practiced by most of the Sufis

62
Jm, Nafat al-uns, ed. M. bid (Tehran: Iilt, 1370/19901), 466. On Shams spiritual
mentors see Franklin Lewis, Rumi: Past and Present, East and West (Oxford: Oneworld, 2000),
14554.
63
Me & Rumi: The Autobiography of Shams-i Tabrizi, trans. William Chittick (Louisville, Ky.:
Fons Vitae, 2004). The Persian text is given in Furznfars introduction to the Manqib, 40.
64
Me & Rumi, 1168.
65
Ibid., 72. Chittick is also cautious about the nature of the Shams words, and says this seems
to be a critical reference to Awad al-Dn (ibid., 319 n. 67).

L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

19

in his time, such as Azz Nasaf,66 Ab af Umar Suhraward67 and also Rm.68
However, Shams appears to have been the exception to the rule, as in the
Maqlt he railed against the practice, commenting that it was an innovation
in the religion of Muammad. Muammad never sat in forty-day seclusion.69
Shams appeared to have held that seclusion for a number of forty nights was a
rather arbitrary figure, for he claimed that when in the presence of the perfect
shaykh you will have a permanent seclusion without sitting in seclusion. A
state will come over you such that you will always be in seclusion.70 In other
words, finding and serving the perfect shaykh was the pinnacle of the Sufi path,
a perspective that dovetails neatly with the anecdote of Shams and Kirmn,
and their drinking wine together, which Shams had already expressed in his
didactic tale that illustrated the obedience that was required of a Sufi novice.
Aside from the diffference of opinion relating to Sufi practices, the negativity manifested by Shams towards Kirmn may also be attributable to Shams
own irascible personality. Shams unpopularity among Rms followers is
well-known (which resulted in his departure from Konya before his return and
probable murder). He also held some very negative views of female Sufis, and
his arrogance (or self-belief in his spiritual prowessdepending upon how he
is viewed) is evident in his own prayer when he asked God: Is there not a
single created being among Thy elect who could endure my company?71 The
only person able to endure Shams was Rmthis being the case, his remarks
about and criticisms of Kirmn must be taken with some caution.
A third possible reason for Shams generally critical opinion of Kirmn may
be related to spiritual rivalry, as the two may have been vying for the attention
of Rukn al-Dn Sujs when they were learning the Sufi path. Of course this is
only speculative, and it has yet to be confirmed that Shams was indeed a student of Sujs.
(B).Kirmn and Aflk
Shams condescending attitude towards Kirmn is also reflected in an anecdote related by Aflk, and which has a direct bearing on the practice of shhidbz. Aflk (d. 761/1360) was the author of a voluminous hagiography of the
66

Azz Nasaf, Insn-i kmil, ed. M. Mol (Tehran/Paris: Maisonneuve, 1962) 102110.
See Erik S. Ohlander, Sufism in an Age of Transition: Umar al-Suhraward and the Rise of the
Islamic Mystical Brotherhoods (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 2202.
68
See Annemarie Schimmel, The Triumphal Sun (London: East-West Publications, 1980), 16.
69
Me and Rumi, 147.
70
Ibid., 210.
71
Cited in Schimmel, The Triumphal Sun, 20.
67

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L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

early Mevlevi Sufis which included reports of encounters between Shams and
Kirmn. In one of these Shams came across Kirmn in Baghdad, and the latter
was gazing at the reflection of the moon in a bowl of water. Shams criticised
him, saying Unless you have a boil on your neck, why dont you look at it in
the sky? The anecdote then continued to relate Kirmns request that they
be together (which as noted above was related by Shams in the Maqlt) and
Shams agreed on the condition that they drink wine in public. Interestingly,
Kirmn refused even though Shams said that he too would drink (contrary
to the version in the Maqlt), which suggests that in Aflks version at least,
Kirmn upholds the shara, but this enables Shams to belittle Kirmn for not
being able to follow the true spiritual guide, just like Moses inability to perceive the reality of Khir (which is based on Quran 18:6582).72
Aflk also reported the opinions of Rm. He related that one day in Rms
presence there was a discussion about Kirmn, to the efffect that he was a
shhid-bz, although he staked his all (pk-bz) and never did anything wrong.
However, Rm stated, kshki kard wa gudhasht.73 This is a rather ambiguous statement and may be interpreted in a number of ways. The two verbs in
the sentence, derived from kardan and gudhashtan, are used frequently and
have many meanings. Kardan has twenty-five meanings listed in one of the
most authoritative Persian dictionaries, from doing something to having sexual relations.74 Gudhashtan has seventeen meanings in the same dictionary,
and these range from something or someone moving past something to forgiving someone.75 Thus, the elasticity of Rms statement may offfer those doubting Kirmns spiritual integrity an interpretation such as, He should have had
sexual relations and then he should have moved on, that is to say, put the
act behind him. Those who are more prepared to defend Kirmns name may
read Rms words as, Would he had done something [to advance his spiritual station] and then gone beyond it (or surpassed it). Indeed Aflk added
that Rm then cited the following verse: Oh brother, [Gods] court is infinite,
Wherever you reach, by God, do not stop there.76 In the Nafat al-uns, the
famous hagiography by Jm such an apologetic interpretation of shhid-bz
appears in the biographical entry for Kirmn, in which Rms enigmatic comment is explained through Kirmns own quatrain:

72

See Aflk, The Feats of the Knowers of God, 4234.

Ibid., 303.
74
asan Anwar, Farhang-i buzurg-i sukhan, 8 vols. (Tehran: Kitbkhna-yi Mill, 1381/20023).
The entry for kardan appears in 6:57856.
75
Ibid., 6:60912.
76
Also found in Feats of the Knowers of God, 3023.
73

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21

With the eyes of the head we witness forms

Because the trace of [any] meaning [must] appear in a form.
This world is a form and we [have the shape] of figures
One can only see the meaning [behind the figures] through the form.77

In other words, the ideal shhid-bz looks through forms to the meaning, the
spirit, that animates the universe, and which has its origin in God.78
Aflks treatment of Kirmn through the accounts relating to Shams and
Rm are at best ambiguous. He may have faithfully reported what he had
heard about Kirmn from his sources, although the reliability of these cannot
always be ascertained. Despite this, the sting of Shams tongue, as reported by
Aflk, reflects the same acerbic wit and vitriol that is apparent in the Maqlt.
Shams venom was not simply directed at Kirmn, young males and the sam,
rather he was also advocating the pre-eminence of the guide. Rms comments
are open to interpretation given their equivocal nature.
(C).Kirmn and Suhraward
It would be reasonable to assume that the position of shaykh al-shuykh and
the guardianship of one of the most prestigious ribs in Baghdad would only
have been awarded to an individual who did not court controversy or display
moral laxity. However, the complexities of politics and intrigues of personal
relationships never make for easy assumptions. The intricacies behind the
caliphs offfer to Kirmn of these posts may be lost in history, and it is only
possible to speculate on various scenarios that account for Kirmns rise to
pre-eminence. The first of these is that in his own time Kirmn was perceived
as an advocate of spiritual shhid-bz, and only at a later period after his death
was he associated with a more sensual and reproachable version. This might
account for the ambivalent attitude to him displayed in Aflks work. Shams
aversion was not related to homoerotic shhid-bz per se; after all, he took
pains to praise Amad Ghazls antics with a handsome lad.
Certainly, Kirmns rise in Baghdad caused some unrest, especially in Imd
al-Dn, (d. 655/1257; the son of Ab af Umar Suhraward), who on his fathers
death had assumed that he would succeed his fathers position.79 The reason
for the caliph elevating Kirmn over Imd al-Dn is not entirely clear. However, the choice of Kirmn may have been natural given that he must have
77

Nafat al-uns, 588; and Mabb, Dwn-i rubaiyt, 234, no. 1153.
Jms entry for Kirmn does not add anything original, and simply summarises in an uncritical fashion most of the material relating to Kirmn from previous authors, such as Simnn and
Aflk.
79
See Manqib, 2445.
78

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L. Ridgeon / Journal of Sufi Studies 1 (2012) 330

had a significant following and reputation. Kirmn was sixty-three years old
at the time when appointed the shaykh al-shuykh, whereas Imd al-Dn was
fifty-two; the deference to age may have contributed to the caliphs decision. In
addition, the caliph may have been attempting to assert his own authority and
distance himself from the Suhraward heritage.80
Kirmn himself, as portrayed in the Manqib, had a high opinion of Ab
af Umar Suhraward, indeed, the latter is referred to in reverential terms.
The Manqib describes a sam in which the two great Sufis were present, and
Kirmn enjoyed ecstatic moments; Suhrawards presence may be seen as an
endorsement of Kirmns practice of sam and his mystical unveiling.81 There
is also an anecdote in which Kirmn praised four outstanding individuals, one
of whom was Suhraward; according to Kirmn, Suhraward did not do anything contrary to Gods demands for the whole of his life.82 Yet caution must be
observed with these anecdotes in this hagiographical work, for as a compilation of episodes that were intended to glorify and magnify the pre-eminence of
Kirmn, its author may have been attempting to appropriate the indisputably
great Suhraward to further exalt the shhid-bz.
Suhrawards standing as the caliphs favourite spiritual mentor and his general influence in Sufi circles would have ensured that Kirmn would have been
familiar with his writings. These works of his, such as the Awrif al-marif
betray Suhraward as a very cautious and sober minded Sufi, who was scrupulous in his observance of shara law. His perspective on the care that was
required of novices and their proper behaviour in the khnaqh is typical, for
here the concern is related to shhid-bz:
As for the youth, his freedom of movement is restricted to sitting in the common
room... for when he is exposed to the gaze of others most eyes will inevitably fall
on him.83

In contrast was the more colourful and exuberant Kirmn who gave full reign
to his ecstatic experiences in his quatrains:
I am a shhid-bz! Whoever denies [this practice]
When you look, they too are engaged in this day and night!
When you see them, they are all shhid-bzes.
They dont have the courage to deny this.84
80

See Ohlander, Sufism in an Age of Transition, 293.

Manqib, 42.
82
Ibid., 208.
83
Suhraward, Awrif al-marif, cited in Ohlander, Sufism in an Age of Transition, 238.
84
Mabb, Dwn-i rubaiyt, 225, no. 1075.
81

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23

Some people accuse me of libertarianism (ibat)

They laugh under their beards and moustaches.
If Marf [al-Karkh], Junayd and Shibl were alive
By God, they would approve of my libertarianism.85

Kirmns passionate poetry, animated with desire for the beloved stands in
stark contrast to Suhrawards rather dry, didactic Sufi writings. However, much
Persian Sufi poetry included features such as hyperbole, exaggeration and the
use of erotic and iconoclastic imagery that symbolised the divine beloved to
the extent that it became conventional.86 Even with due caution observed, it is
still the case that the verbal articulations of these two Sufis were poles apart.
It is also necessary to compare the ways both Sufis considered the sam, the
ritualised musical concert during which claims of mystical ecstasy were made
and which is frequently associated with gazing at young men. Suhraward
made it explicitly clear that the rules and courtesies needed to be obeyed during its practice, which generally meant that participation (and spectating)
was limited to the more advanced Sufis.87 From Kirmns hagiography it is
apparent that the sam was performed on special occasions, when dignitaries
(such as famous Sufis) visited a town, and the local population, merchants and
men of influence, wished to honour them.88 Usually Sufi treatises of the medieval period are careful to warn their readers about the dangers of the sam,
that is to say, its performance was to follow certain conditions that made it
permissible.
These conditions were discussed by Ghazl in his Kmiy-yi sadat. He
elaborated on the standard three points that he attributed to Junayd:89 the
sam must be performed at the right time (zamn), at the right place (makn)
and with the right people (ikhwnlit. brothers). Performing sam at the
right time meant that the dervish should not engage in the ritual whenever
the heart was engaged in prayer, when eating, or when the heart was disturbed
about something. The right place excluded locations such as a tyrants house
85

Ibid., 304, no. 1721.

Ibn Arabs Tarjumn al-ashwq provides a good example of how these conventions were
not always understood by those who were critical of Sufi poetry. Inspired by his encounter with
his muse, a beautiful lady from Isfahan, Ibn Arab composed sixty-one Arabic ghazals, the sensuous nature of which drew such severe criticisms that he felt compelled to write a commentary
that insisted the sensory terminology must be interpreted in a spiritual fashion. See The Tarjumn al-Ashwq: A Collection of Mystical Odes, trans. R.A. Nicholson (London: Oriental Translation Fund, 1911).
87
See Ohlanders citation of the Awrif in idem, Sufism in an Age of Transition, 240.
88
Sams are mentioned in Manqib, chapters nine, ten, eighteen, thirty, thirty-eight, fortyfour, forty-nine, fifty-four.
89
Ghazl, Kmiy-yi sadat, 497.
86

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or dark and unpleasant spots. Concern with the right people was Ghazls
major worry and he stated that those present should be the People of Sam
(in other words, the Sufis), who should not participate when those present
included women, youths, those who feign mystical states and dance, the negligent and arrogant, and worldly people.90 A last point worthy of consideration
is that participants in the sam should bow their heads and not look at each
other or glance in other directions, nor should they speak or drink water. They
should not move their hands or heads or take it upon themselves to move.
In other words, the dervishes should not dance unless they were compelled,
as a result of mystical unveiling.91 The three conditions for observing correct
etiquette during the sam are representative of medieval Sufism; the extent to
which the practice of Kirmn accorded with the advice of Ghazl will become
apparent below. (It is not known what dancing within the sam actually
entailed, such as specific movements of the hands and arms, and legs and feet.
Even the ritualised and symbolic spinning of the Mevlev Sufis probably developed from spontaneous movements of Sufis in Rms own lifetime.)92
The correct rules and manners of the sam did not proscribe the participation of the fair-faced, what was at issue was the spiritual level of the participants. For Suhraward, as already seen, this included the observed and
the observer. However, the Manqib does not refer to the spiritual level of
Kirmns handsome-faced partners. For example, the ninth chapter tells how
Kirmn arrived in an unspecified town where the notables agreed to show
their esteem for him with a sam:
When the sama began and [the people began] dancing, the shaykh was pleased
with [all] the beautiful faces, and he was enraptured (dhawq kard) with them
during the sam. They brought over [to him] whoever was better looking in that
group, and gave each one a candle.93 The shaykh enjoyed his ecstasy (wajd), mystical experience (lat) and spiritual tasting (dhawq). This group of [townspeople]
were surprised at his conditions, and each person began to say something, some
favourable, and others in condemnation. The judge (q) and the lecturer [of
Islamic sciences] (mudarris) also expressed opinions and said things in secret [to
each other]. The judge said to the lecturer, The shaykh is happy with this ecstasy,
mystical state and spiritual tasting, and it is permissible according to their way and
90
Ibid., 497. For more on the sam see Leonard Lewisohn, The Sacred Music of Islam: Sam
in the Persian Sufi Tradition, British Journal of Ethnomusicology 6 (1997): 132; Arthur Gribetz,
The Sam Controversy: Sufi vs Legalist, Studia Islamica 74 (1991): 4362; and F. Shehadi, Philosophies of Music in Medieval Islam (Leiden: Brill, 1995).
91
Ghazl, Kmiy-yi sadat, 498.
92
See the comments of Schimmel, The Triumphal Sun, 2178.
93
This seems to have been a particular custom of Awad al-Dn (see Manqib, 149).

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25

custom, but that cloth which has been knotted is not [part of] the ways of poverty,
and the shaykh has knotted it over his cloak.94

Of interest is not the shaykhs attachment to the beautiful boys, or shhids, but
it is the particular method of performing the ritual with a cloth or napkin that
was fastened to the cloak. The text does not elaborate on how or where the
knot was tied; whether it was tied to his own cloak or whether it fastened the
garments of the two dancers together.
A focus on the occasions during which Kirmn participated in the sam
suggests that he was quite scrupulous with regard to observing the conditions
outlined above. For example, it may be assumed that he did not permit women
to participate in the actual performance of sam. This is because the Manqib
describes the displeasure of Zayn al-Dn adaqa (who was one of Kirmns
favourite disciples)95 when a group of female Sufis not only attended, but
joined in the sam.96 If the masters favourite disciple restricted the ritual to
males, it is highly likely that the master would have transmitted to him this
particular regulation.
Further evidence of Kirmns caution relating to the suitability of the participants in the sam is evident in an anecdote that describes how he was invited
to a sam in which a number of impure (n-jins) and dull-minded (thuqal)
folk were present. The Manqib relates that the shaykh neither experienced
any spiritual expansion, pleasure or tasting and nor did he move around or
dance. From the text it is evident that even though the shaykhs inability to
enjoy the sam was connected to the inappropriate participants, he allowed
them to proceed with the sam.97 The individual who had organised the
event apologised to the shaykh, saying that he not invited those people, who
refused to leave. So that the host would not lose face completely, the magnanimous shaykh replied that it was permissible if those people did not depart and
persisted in their intrusiveness, because in any case the night would come to
an end.
On the whole, Kirmns quatrains also advocate the correct courtesy and
appropriate Islamic manners, and refer to a spiritual shid in the sam, and
that a metaphorical witness (majz) is permissible in the way of the truth
(rh-i aqq).98 Typical of his perspective is the following:
94

Manqib, 401.
Ibid., see the comments on 208 and 219.
96
Ibid., 1845.
97
Manqib, p. 65.
98
Mabb, Dwn-i rubaiyt, 276, no. 1483.
95

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Concerning those who are always seeking a shhid

Do not suppose that they are searching for a form.
It is a grace when [the form] comforts someones heart,
In the language of mystical expressions they call it [a] shhid.99

Kirmn was also keen to stress the need to control sexual appetite, as the following demonstrates:
For donkeys and bulls is sexual appetite (shahwat-bz)
You should renounce [it]. That is playing with love (ishq-bz).100
You are mistaken if you call love sexual appetite.
The road from love to sexual appetite is very far.101

He also insists on correct manners for the sam:

Dont suppose that the path of the Truth is for a discourteous person
Or the task of wailers or those who cause a commotion.
The courtesy of sam must be observed
If you dont, then you too are one of the discourteous.102

However, there is a hint in the Manqib that Kirmns sams were not always
so innocent, as the conditions were not observed all of the time. In one anecdote there is reference to the shaykhs inclination for the good-looking. These
ten to fifteen moon-faced youths (kudak-i mh-r) were dancing in the sam,
during which the shaykh experienced ecstasy and mystical states.103 The participation of the young, even if adolescent (kudak) implies spiritual immaturity, and therefore it distances Kirmns sam from the rule-bound ritual that
Suhraward endorsed.
The tensions that may have existed between Kirmn and Suhraward were
highlighted in an anecdote related by Al al-Dawla Simnn (659736/1261
1336), the well-known Sufi of the Kubrawiyya order. In his Persian work
Chihil majlis Simnn recorded a conversation that he had with a follower
of Suhraward. This un-named dervish said that he had been present when
someone mentioned Kirmn in front of Suhraward who responded by
saying, Do not mention his name in front of me because he is an innovator
(mubtadi). The dervish continued his story and said that when Kirmn
heard of this episode he quipped, Even though the shaykh [Suhraward]
99

Ibid., 225, no. 1074.

Ibid., 207, no. 906.
101
Ibid., 897, no. 904.
102
Ibid., 273, no. 1459.
103
Manqib, 212.
100

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27

has called me an innovator, the pride that my name has passed the shaykhs
tongue is suffficient for me. And he then cited an Arabic verse to reinforce his
argument:
It does not upset me that you remember me with a disreputable name,
I am just happy that I have passed through your mind.104

Interestingly, Simnn (or the unnamed dervish) concluded the episode with
the observation Shaykh Shihb al-Dn [Suhraward] approved of [Kirmns]
manner (khulq) [in his response].
This anecdote begs the question of the reason behind Suhrawards critical
opinion of Kirmn. Unfortunately the dervish who related the episode is unnamed, so it is not possible to re-construct the episode from the perspective of
the original narrator. However, the episode appears in a chapter of Simnns
work in which he is critical of a Sufi called jj mul because of the latters
claim that: Asceticism and spiritual endeavour are [necessary] so that this
becomes known: the [divine] commands for this world [exist] for the sake that
this world will not be destroyed and that iniquity does not spread among the
people... The person who realises this is released from the burden of performing [religious] duties.105 Such an litist view of spiritual discipline and the relative unimportance accorded to religious duties help to explain why Simnn
included the short anecdote about Suhraward and Kirmn within a chapter
that is largely devoted to his encounter with jj mul. The kind of Sufism
advocated by jj mul probably reminded Simnn of an Islamic world
view that he attributed to Ibn Arab. According to Simnn, jj mul related
two adth, Today there was God and there was nothing with Him, and He
is today and as he always was, which are normally understood to imply an
ontological identity between God and the universe.106 Rather than God existing in splendid isolation, absolute existence abides with everything that was,
is and will be, at least in a potential mode. Simnn cited the very same two
adth a few pages earlier in his presentation of Ibn Arabs conception of
absolute existence (wujd-i mulaq),107 where he also condemned the Great
Shaykhs understanding of absolute existence: I have explained clearly in [al-]
Urwa the corruption of his expression (fisd-i qawl-i ) that he made about
104
Chihil majlis, ed. Najb Myil Harw, (Tehran: Intishrt-i Adib, 1366/19878), 21112. The
episode is also recounted by Jm, Nafat al-uns, 586, 914.
105
Chihil majlis, 20910.
106
Jamal J. Elias, The Throne Carrier of God: The Life and Thought of Al al-Dawla Simnn
(Albany: SUNY Press, 1995), 27 n. 56.
107
Chapter 28, 1917 of Chihil Majlis is concerned with this topic.

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absolute existence.108 Simnn desired to uphold a position that preserved

absolute existence from contamination with the relatively impure conditional
existence that characterised being in the world.
Simnn may have associated Kirmn with Ibn Arab and followers of the
school attached to him. Indeed, the Manqib includes references to the close
relationship that existed between the two. The relationship seems to have
started in Konya in 601/1205,109 and continued over a number of years when
they were in the same location in Egypt and Syria.110 Kirmn and Ibn Arab
appear to have respected and trusted each other to the extent that the latter
entrusted the former to educate his step-son, adr al-Dn Qnaw, who was
instrumental in spreading the world view of Ibn Arab. Kirmn agreed to the
request, and Qnaw subsequently spent fifteen to sixteen years in Kirmns
companionship.111 The reverence that Qnaw felt for his master is revealed in
his desire to be buried on Kirmns prayer mat,112 and also in his observation,
I suckled from the breast of two mothers, (meaning Kirmn and Ibn Arab).113
That Kirmns esteem for Ibn Arab was reciprocated is borne out by the
trust that the Great Shaykh manifested in leaving his step-son with Kirmn.
Addas has observed that Ibn Arab must have considered Kirmns practice
of shhid-bz purely spiritual, otherwise he would not have left him with a boy
who was dearer than a real son.114
Since Simnn had grave reservations about aspects of Ibn Arabs thought,
the former must have considered Kirmn who was linked with the Great
Shaykh with great caution. This does not mean to say that Simnn simply
invented the anecdote in his Chihil majlis about Suhrawards apparent negativity towards Kirmn, but at the very least it is necessary to ask questions about
its narrator, and the circumstances surrounding his story. Did Simnn allude
108
Ibid., 192; [al]-Urwa is a reference to another of Simnns treatises. For more on Simnn
and Ibn Arab see Hermann Landolt, Simnn on wadat al-wujd, in Wisdom of Persia, ed.
H. Landolt and M. Mohaghegh (Tehran: La branche de Thran de linstitut des tudes islamiques
de lUniversit McGill, 1971), 91112.
109
See Claude Addas, The Quest for the Red Sulphur (Cambridge: Islamic Texts Society, 1993), 229.
110
Manqib, 856.
111
Ibid., 87.
112
See Chittick, Faith and Practice of Islam, 261 n. 13.
113
Manqib, 87.
114
Addas, Red Sulphur, 229. The issue is complicated by the fact that Ibn Arab had been a
vehement opponent of shhid-bz in his Kitb al-amr al-mukam written in 601/1205. With
regard to the practice of sam he remarked, As for the use of a witness, in other words a young
beardless man, this is the most serious of pitfalls and the most immoral form of wickedness, see
ibid., 1634. Perhaps he changed his mind over time, for certainly he must have been aware of
Kirmns self-professed shhid-bz, or perhaps, he considered Kirmn to have other qualities
that would compensate when raising his son-in-law.

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29

to his distaste for Kirmns type of Sufism before hearing the tale from the
un-named follower of Suhraward, and thus influence how the story unfolded?
Even if the story as related by Simnn is true, the reason for Suhrawards original antipathy for Kirmn remains unclear. Perhaps Simnn held reservations
about Kirmn due to the latters well-known fondness for the sam and
shhid-bz. While Simnn did not completely reject the permissibility of
sam, he believed that only advanced mystics should participate in it because
sam ...is a drug, which if eaten by itself without being prepared together
with other good medicines, becomes a deadly poison.115

Conclusion
While there can be no doubt that Kirmn celebrated and propagated the practice of shhid-bz it appears that criticisms of him were due to a number of
factors. A close reading of the relevant sources and an investigation into the
context of their authors suggests that these Sufis were concerned with advancing their own particular brand of Sufism, both in terms of ritual activity and
also theory (where the correct ontological perspective was of primary concern). Such Sufis may also have been aware of the wider historical tradition
in which the practice had resulted in accusations of ull. And it should not
be forgotten that Sufis were individuals who just like everyone else struggled
with jealousies and rivalries. At the same time as reviewing the literature that
criticises Kirmn, the hagiography which serves to sing his praises must also
be subject to scrutiny, for the advocate of shhid-bz is presented as infallible
and beyond reproach. It is interesting that in one of the very last anecdotes,
Kirmn is contrasted with a certain Shaykh Al arr,116 who sat naked with
boys in the bath house. If this is not explicit enough, the hagiography proceeds
to describe how the boys used to rub and massage him although he would not

115
Cited by Elias, The Throne Carrier of God, 132 n. 59. Elias states that the citation is from a
treatise that Simnn wrote called Ful al-ul. The very same sentence (in Persian) appears in
Simnns Mlbud minahi f l-dn, which has been edited and published by Najb Myl Haraw in
Muannaft-i frs (Tehran: Intishrt-i Ilm va Farhang, 1990), 113. Chapter six of this treatise is
called On the Sam and its Conditions, 11325. Simnn composed another treatise on the sam
called The Secret of the Sam (sirr-i sam), which is included in Muannaft-i frs, 16.
116
See Louis Massignons entry arriyya, in The Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition
(Leiden: Brill, 19542004), 3:222, in which he says A sect of Rifiyya in the region of Damascus,
founded by Al b. Abl-asan al-arr al-Marwaz, d. 645/1247 at Baar (awrn). Its excessive
pantheism... was repudiated by Ibn Taymiyya.

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get an erection.117 The text proceeds to describe how the townspeople would
bring their sons to him, and he would ask, Does he have a big arse, this son of
yours? They said, Yes, extremely big! And he would ask, Is it worthy of this...
of mine?118 Can he endure it? They replied, Yes. This is clearly more than the
usual obedience required of a student for a Sufi shaykh,119 and at the end of
the anecdote Kirmn criticises Shaykh Al arr as an incomplete master.120
The point here is that the hagiographer was at pains to protect the controversial shhid-bz by projecting into the hagiography a fall-guy who received
Kirmns censure. However, the hagiography did not present Kirmn in a
completely sanitised fashion, for as mentioned above there are references to
Kirmn dancing with adolescent males (kudak), which obviously violated the
acceptable Sufi fashion of conducting the sam.
Regardless of the nature of Kirmns shhid-bz, rumours and exaggerations related to him can only have contributed to the fascination that Sufism
exercised within medieval society. Whether in terms of the practice of shhidbz or the theoretical underpinning of the ritual that God is witnessed in
creation, Kirmn stretched the elasticity of permissible Sufism to a breaking-point as the reaction of a number of thinkers in subsequent generations
suggests. Even in the late fifteenth century, some 250 years after Kirmns
death, the issue must have remained controversial enough for Jm to explain
apologetically:
The favourable opinion, or rather the sincere belief [that one should hold] in relation to the group of eminent ones such as Shaykh Amad Ghazl, Shaykh Awad
al-Dn Kirmn and Shaykh Fakhr al-Dn Irq... who were engaged in contemplating the beauty of sensual forms is that they witnessed the beauty of the absolute Truth in them and did not pay attention to the sensual form. Although some
of the great men have denied them, their purpose in this was that the lovers do not
make this [shhid-bz] a custom, nor compare their experiences to those [of the
great shaykhs mentioned above].121

117
Nudity would have been covered in the bath house and anywhere else for that matter, even
with a towela point that Kirmn indirectly makes later in the anecdote (Manqib, 264).
118
Furznfar notes that the obvious missing word has been replaced in the manuscript by
some dots (Manqib, 263).
119
Caution is always necessary, however, as the following observation comes from Rm in his
Fhi m fhi: What the shaykh prescribes for you is the same as what the shaykhs of old prescribed,
that you leave your wife and children, your wealth and position. Indeed, they used to prescribe for
a disciple, Leave your wife, that we may take her; and they put up with that. (Translated by A.J.
Arberry as Discourses of Rumi (London: John Murray, 1961), 1078.
120
Ibid., 2634.
121
Jm, Nafatal-uns, 589.