Document Type : Scientific-research
Author
Assistant professor, ShahidBeheshti University
Abstract
Khorāsān and Baghdād mystical schools are linked together by Jibāl (or the non-Arab Iraq) school. Many researchers have studied thoughts and works of the masters of Khorāsān and Baghdād schools; nevertheless, several of the underlying intellectual and mystical structures of these schools still remain unknown. Consequently, these figures are usually considered as obscure masters, having eccentric ideas, even blamed or rejected by other masters.
This article introduces one of the most prominent mystics of the late fourth and early fifth century AH, namely, Jaʻfar ibn Mohammad ibn Hossein Abharī, known as Bābā Jaʻfar, the writer of Ādāb al-Foqarā’ (The Manners of the Seekers of Truth). There is no trace of him and no mention of his book in Persian mystical texts. However, in some Arabic biographies or treatises written about Jibāl school, Bābā Jaʻfarhas been regarded as a great mystic, poet, and scholar of Hadīth, holding an important position in the mystical thought of that region. Basing the focus of this study on classical texts and sources, a new portrait of this mystic is being depicted.
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