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Country

Turkey

City

Istanbul

Institution

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi

Collection

Özel

Shelfmark

613

Contents

Maqālāt-i Shams (Shams-i Tabrīzī, -1247)

Author

Shams-i Tabrīzī, -1247

شمس تبريزى

Show other names

Şems-i Tebrizi, -1247

Shams-i Tabrīzī, -1247 (authorised)

Şems-i Tebrizi, -1247 (variant)

Shams-i Tabrezi, -1247 (variant)

Shams-i Tabrīzī, d. 1247 (variant)

Tabrezi, Shams-i, -1247 (variant)

Tabrezī, Shamsi, -1247 (variant)

Tabrīz, Shāh Shams, -1247 (variant)

Tabrīzī, Shams-i, -1247 (variant)

Tebrizli Şems, -1247 (variant)

شمس تبريزى (variant)

Biographical notes

Although his nisba denotes an origin from the city of Tabriz, Shams-i Tabrī zī is known to have travelled the word, with the characteristic avoiding religious establishments and preferring to stay in more secular environments such as caravansarays. He visited different regions in the Middle East where he met with some of the most renowned Sufi masters of his time. For example, in Iran he met Awḥ ad al-Dī n Kirmā nī and in Syria, he encountered the famous Ibn ʿArabī. However, Shamswas allegedly not as fond of the Iberian Sufi because he “did not follow the Sharīʿa”  ( (Schimmel, Annemarie. "S̲h̲ams-i Tabrīz(ī)." Encyclopaedia of Islam. , [n.d.].)). In the early decades of the 13th century [1200-1299 CE], he came to Anatolia and acted as a teacher in the city of Erzurum (Turkey). However, one night he had a dream that would guide him to Konya, where he finally met Rūmī. It is the relationship between these two Sufi dervishes what would inspire them both in their understanding of Sufism. In the mevlevi literature, Shams-i Tabrī zī is often connected to the Kubrawiya Sufi order, however, some scholars have suggested that he might also have been closely connected to the group of antinomian dervishes generally known as Qalandars. ( (Lewis, Franklin. Rumi: past and present, east and west : the life, teaching and poetry of Jalâl al-Din Rumi. Oxford and Boston: Oneworld, 2000., pp. XXX)). In Konya, he seems to have made some enemies among the nobles of the city and followers of Rūmī. Due to the growing hostility, he left the city in early 643 AH [1246 CE] only to be found in Damascus by Rūmī’s son Sultan Valad, who brought Shams-i Tabrī zī back to Anatolia. After his return, Shams stayed for a while with Rūmī and married a girl of his household. Unfortunately, the girl died soon afterword and only a few days later, Shams-i Tabrī zī disappeared on 5 Shaʿbān 645 [1247 CE]. He was not to be seen again and his disappearance became a symbol of the high spiritual level acquired by Shams among mevlevi followers. However, more mundane reasons for the “disapearence” have been suggested such as the possible murder of Shams at the hands of one of Rūmī’s sons. ( (Schimmel, Annemarie. "S̲h̲ams-i Tabrīz(ī)." Encyclopaedia of Islam. , [n.d.].)) The literary activity of Shams is limited if compared to other Sufi authors, with most of what we know about his beliefs, teachings and life comes from the work of other mevlevi authors such as Rūmī, Sultan Valad Sipahsā lā r or Aflākī. His writings are mostly notes taken by him or his followers out of his teachings and compiled by Rūmī and Sultan Valad under different names, with the title Maqālāt-i Shams (Discurses of Shams) as the most popular way of referring to it. Like in the case of the teaching of Rūmī’s father Baha al-Din Valad, the sayings of Shams were never properly edited and only kept in different compilations in manuscript form belonging to members of the Mevlevi order until modern times. ( (Lewis_2000>pp. 135-6)).

Title

Maqālāt-i Shams

مقالات شمس

Notes

A compilation of Shams's discourses.

Main language of text

Persian

Bibliography

Editions

Aflākī, Shams al-Dīn Aḥmad. The feats of the knowers of God : Manāqeb al-ʻārefīn. Translated by O'Kane, John. Leiden: Brill, 2002.

Chittick, William. "The Central Point-Qunawi’s Role in The School of İbn Arabi." Journal of the Muhyiddin Arabi Society. 35 2004.

Sipahsālār, Farīdūn ibn Aḥmad. Risālah dar manāqib-i Khudāvandgār. Edited by Muvaḥḥid, Muḥammad ʻAlī and Ṣamad Muvaḥḥid. Tehran: Kārnāmah, 1391 [2012].

Tabrīzī, Shams-i. Makâlât. Translated by Gencosman, M Nuri. İstanbul: Ataç Yayınları, 2006.

Tabrīzī, Shams-i. Maqālāt-i Shams-i Tabrīzī. Edited by Muvaḥḥid, Muḥammad ʻAlī. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Khvārazmī, 1990.

Tabrīzī, Shams-i. Maqālāt-i Shams. Edited by Ṣādiqī, Jaʻfar Mudarris. Tehran: Nashr-i Markaz, 1994.

al-Zamānī, Nāṣir al-Dīn Ṣāḥib, ed. Khaṭṭ-i sivvum; dar bārah-ʼi shakhṣīyat, sukhanān va andīshah-ʼi Shams-i Tabrīzī. Tehran: ʻAṭāʼī, 1972.

Studies

Lewis, Franklin. Rumi: past and present, east and west : the life, teaching and poetry of Jalâl al-Din Rumi. Oxford and Boston: Oneworld, 2000.

Schimmel, Annemarie. "S̲h̲ams-i Tabrīz(ī)." Encyclopaedia of Islam. , [n.d.].

Schimmel, Annemarie. The triumphal sun: a study of the works of Jalāloddin Rumi. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1993.

Show filiations

Bayezit Devlet Kütüphanesi 1856

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 271

Mevlana Müzesi 2144

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 4

Ankara Milli Kütüphane 219

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 199

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 2250

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 184

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 786

Süleymaniye Yazma Eserler Kütüphanesi 3843

Physical Description

Number of folios

191 ff.

Columns

1

Ruled lines

23

Seal

two seals difficult to read.One of them is Muhammad Sa’id محمد سعيد postnishin (ie head) of the Mevlevi dargah. The other is a library seal, of the library of a dragah – not entirely sure which one, but presumably the same

History

Date of copy

15th century