Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Ph.D Candidate of Persian language and literature, Imam Khomeini International University of Qazvin, Iran
2
Assistant professor of Persian language and literature, Imam Khomeini International University of Qazvin, Iran
Abstract
Recognizing influential faces in literature and culture while having them immensely praised seems identical to eulogize the culture and knowledge. One of the not well-known Iranian scholars is Mullah Mir Ghari Guilani. Living in Safavid era, he has not been paid deserved attention. However, reviewing predecessors’ works, we confront with dual faces of Mullah Mir Ghari. On the one hand, he has been known as a member of Bolyani family and on the other hand as Taghio’ddin Mohammad Ohadi Bolyni’s father- in- law )973-1043), the holder of Arefatol Asheghin. He has published about 42 works, including vocabulary, Qoran reading, correspondence, and astronomy. Some of his works, in terms of manuscripts, are preserved in different libraries available for all researchers. The present contribution bears an attempt to correct the historical misunderstandings regarding Mir Ghari;s dates of birth and death, his attributed dual faces, and the date of his publications. Moreover, we will represent a new biography of his mysterious life based on his manuscripts, except Anisolaghalin,
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
One of the duties of literature is to recognize the authors and introduce their works. Molla Mirqari Gilani is one of those anonymous authors and scientists of Iran that deserves to be recognized. In this article we try to share our findings with other researchers.
This article has four sections. The first section contains those findings that are collected from the works of the others. These works include books of memoirs, the history of literature, the list of manuscripts, the biography of the celebrated and the collection of letters.
The second section is on the opinion of Anis-al-aqelin as a proofreader about Molla Mirqari Gilani. His book had the chance to be corrected three times, first time was corrected by Nazila Abouʹee Mehrizi in 2008, second time by Tayabeh Azari-Nia in 2009, and the third time by Fatemeh Aqaee Kandanqoli in 2009. This article will focus on the correction of Nazila Abouʹee Mehrizi.
In the third section we have referred to the works of Molla Mirqari Gilani. There were some hints of his life in his works, that may illuminate the corners of his life. These hints were derived and recorded, consequently, and according to data collected, the studies of other researchers were criticized and examined.
In the fourth section, the result of search in manuscripts is presented briefly.
2. Theoretical framework
Our theoretical approach in this article is a critical and analytical approach. Studying the sources that exist about Molla Mirqari and according to his works, we have concluded that venerable researches may have been mistaken so that they have supposed two different individuals with the same name and contemporary characters as one single individual. The aim of this article is to criticize the opinions of earlier researchers and to present another biography based on his works.
3. Metodology
This article employs an inductive and library research method. First of all, we read the book of Anis-al-aqelin, and noted it down. Afterwards, we collected, studied and took notes of the works referred to Molla Mirqari. Besides, according to his works such as Sayahef-al-ahbab, Mataleb-al-oshaq, Lavazem-al-ensha and the principle of letter writing, all in the form of manuscripts; we rewrote and derived certain points through them. Moreover, by referring to some collections of letters, we found some letters connected to Molla Mirqari and derived particular information from them. In the next step, and using the information obtained from his works and the collection of letters, we examined and criticized the studies of other researchers.
4. Results and Discussion
Considering the works of researchers about Molla Mirqari and studying his own works, we doubted some researchers to have supposed two different characters with the same name as one single character and gave one biography to the other. The summary of what they have said about him is as follows: Molla Mirqari was born in the second half of the tenth century. He had a relation with Balyani family. Taqi-al-din Mohammad Ovahedi Balyani was his pupil for four years. Molla Mirqari was his father’s cousin and his uncle. Molla Mirqari had a daughter, to a certain degree, since he chose Taqi-al-din as his son-in-law. However, some believe that he had a son named Abd-al-razaq Gilani. The books such as Zobdah-al-haqayeq, Lavazem-al-ensha, Mataleb-al-oshaq, Asra-al-Qoran, Anis-al-aqelin, description of Nasab, Asrar-al-hekam, treatise of astronomy, treatise of Kimia, Daqayeq-al-haqayeq, rosoom-al-alaj and Sahayef-al-akhbar are known to be of his works.
Studying the works of Molla Mirqari, we conclude that the available information on his date of birth, his relation to Balyani family, his son-in-law, his son and the writing date of some of his works are not correct. We have discussed it in conclusion section.
5. Conclusions and Suggestions
Molla Mirqari Gilani was born in the first half of the tenth century in ‘Gouke’ village. He learned the introductory knowledge in Guilan. We know little about his youth, except that he had no good memories of those days.
We know little about his family. In one of his letters he has mentioned a brother that lived in Gouke and in another letter he’s mentioned his sisters. In the book Mataleb-al-oshaq, he has talked about a well-spoken beloved, who seemed to had lived with him for a while, but death had separated them. From then on, until the date of writing Mataleb-al-oshaq in 1005 AH; he was so sorrowful. After this event, he lived in isolation.
From 974 AH, his trace is observable in Guilan. In 975 AH, he was a well-known personality. He wrote his first work by the request of his friends and entitled Sayahef-al-ahbab. This work and the principle of writing indicate that probably Molla Mirqari must have been working as a scribe for noblemen in a while; being famous for his technique. But this career didn’t last long because of an air of despondency which led him to solitude. The despondence had begun a long time ago before 974 AH. In his first work, he drew a sorrowful and dependence face of himself. This aspect remains more vigorously, until his last work, description of Nasab. The sorrow of his beloved death made him a dissociable and isolated one. This isolation that, was associated with poverty, disturbed his soul more than ever. In addition, unorganized situation of Guilan, the slaughter that the princes who have ruled at the two sides of Sepidrood, have caused, the oppression of the rulers who ruled Guilan on the Safavid kings’ behalf who treated unjust to the people of Guilan; all these matters made him more despondent and annoyed. Due to this matter, he wrote letters of protest for the king and noblemen to complain of the situation.
On the other hand, the self-imposed isolation gave him enough time for research and authorship. Between 975 AH and 982 AH, his works reached 32 works. But because of his poor financial condition, he wasn’t able to give his works to the scribes to be at the disposal of the scholars. From 982 AH to 1016 AH, he added ten other works to his works. From 982 AH to 1000 AH, there’s no sign of him in our studied works. Some others have written for Molla Mirqari too. One of these letters is the letter of Mirza Mohammad Shafi ̍the secretary of Guilan. Although he was one the influential men in the Shah Abbas court, he responded to Molla Mirqari respectfully.
The works of Molla Mirqari can be divided into two groups: the works that exist and those that don’t exist, and we just know about their titles.
The works of the first group are:
1) Asrar-al-Qoran, 2) Sahayef-al-ahbab 975 AH, 3) Mataleb-al-oshaq 1002 AH, 4) Lavazem-al-ensha 1003 AH, 5) Anis-al-aqelin 1005 AH, 6) The principal of letter writing 1005 AH, 7) Asrar-al-hekam 1009 AH, 8) The description of Nasab 1016 AH, 9) The treatise of astronomy, before 1016 AH, 10) A brief treatise in syntax, before 1000 AH, 11) Zobda-al-haqayeq 1000 AH, 12) The treatise of Kimia, before 1016 AH, 13) The translation of Lom ̍a ez-al-din ebn jafar ebn shams-al-din Amoli into Arabic. Molla Mirqari has inserted this work into Zobda-al-haqayeq.
The works of the second group are:
1) Bahr-al-oloum, 2) Hqayeq-al-asrar, 3) The description of Isaqouji, 4) Halal-al-ma ̍ani, 5) Romouz-al-Qoran, 6) the minor description of Nasab into Arabic, 7) Daqayeq-al-haqayeq, 8) Rosoum-al-alaj, 9) Rosoum-al-falah
Among 42 works that Molla Mirqari has mentioned them, only 22 works are recognized by now. By searching more, we hope to find more works attributed to him.
The last work of Molla Mirqari, the description of Nasab, has been written in 1016 AH. From then on, there’s no other sign of him. Probably he has passed away at this time.
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