مقدمه

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SUFI ORIGINS OF ART AND BEAUTY IN ISLAM WITH REFERENCE TO MATHNAWI MAWLAVI

In the first glance at art in the Muslim world and within the ideas and works of Muslim thinkers, a coherent artistic system cannot be found, and what have been said is imagined to be a result of either simple-mindedness or imitation of others. Thus, if we take aesthetics in the sense which is popular in the modern times, there is no such a thing as Islamic aesthetics or science of art and beauty, and those who maintain as such are right. However, if we take beauty, in the sense which has been popular in the Islamic world, then we will find a sort of deep thought and great principles concerning beauty, which is perfectly other than modern aesthetics. As a matter of fact, with a little sympathy and attempt to understand the spiritual world of Muslim artists, we will soon find that they had a peculiar and deep vision to art and beauty; and thus followed lofty principles which cannot be contained in our scientific minds, and thus they are difficult to understand for us. All principles of art and beauty in the world of Islamic art are Sufi ones, following Muslimsʹ particular spiritual attitude. These principles differ basically from those of modern art. Among the Muslim Sufis, Mawlavi (Rumi) introduced the attitude specific to Sufis in his masterwork Mathnawi, in the 7th century A.D. Thus, his book is probably the best entry to the artistic world of Muslim artists. In this paper the most important principles of art and beauty as well as two main arts of painting and poetry in Muslim Sufi world in reference to Mathnawi of Rumi are dealt with.