INTERTEXTUAL ECHOES OF IMAM ALI’S (AS) SAYINGS: A STUDY OF KASHF AL-ASRAR AND MASNAVI-YE MAʿNAVI

Hazrat ʿAlī is a remarkable figure who left a significant impact on Islamic history, culture, and intellectual thought. This can be inferred not only from the deep respect and love shown by the Prophet towards him but also from ʿAlī’s activities during the period after the Prophet’s lifetime, as well as from the subsequent revitalization of ʿAlī’s image in monumental works. It is difficult to find any hadith or exegesis book where the name of ʿAlī is not mentioned or where no hadith is narrated from him. In this article, our research object is one of the earliest mystical expositions written, the Kashf al-Asrār wa Iddat al-Abrār (The unveiling of the mysteries and the provision of the pious) by Rashid al-Din Meybodī. Similar to other exegeses, this work contains numerous hadiths narrated by ʿAlī and discusses various events. In this exegesis, the portrayal of ʿAlī differs from other exegeses in that, apart from his historical and religious persona, ʿAlī is viewed from a mystical perspective. A multitude of poets have written works about Hazrat ʿAlī, leaving a lasting impact in the literature. During the Islamic period, in subsequent stages, and even today, the image of Hazrat ʿAlī is presented in many poems, symbolizing various aspects of his character. In this regard, Jālāl al-Dīn Rūmī’s Masnavī-ye Maʿnavī (Spiritual Couplets) is no exception. In fact, we will argue that Rūmī is the poet who most frequently depicted ʿAlī and his virtues in verse. In this Masnavī, although seven sections are ostensibly dedicated to introducing the personality of ʿAlī, we encounter the hadiths of ʿAlī or wisdoms from Nahj al-Balāgha presented in poetic form throughout the entire Masnavī. All of this demonstrates that Jālāl al-Dīn Rūmī held possessed high regard for the personality of ʿAlī and, at the same time, conveyed it to his readers in the most beautiful form. The fact that the same sentences from ʿAlī are presented in two monumental works- one in mystical prose and the other in mystical verse- piqued our interest. Therefore, taking into account the presentation of the same ideas of ʿAlī in both works, we decided to conduct a comparison between the two. The strong similarities between two works written in different periods and genres further prove that Hazrat ʿAlī held a very esteemed and unique position. The research carried out in this article is of great importance in recognizing ʿAlī’s position in classical Eastern literature.