نگاهي به تفسير سوره يوسف يا يوسف نامه اثر پير جمالي اردستاني اصفهاني

A Survey of Pir Jamali Ardestani Isfahaniʹs Interpretation of the Surah Yusuf (Joseph) or Yusuf-Nameh

Yusuf-Nameh or the interpretation of the surah Yusuf was written by Pir Jamali Ardestani, the great mystic of the ninth century. In this work, which is a combination of poetry and prose, the poet adapts the verses of the Qurʹan to his mystic beliefs, interpreting them mystically. These explanations are novel stemming from his intuition and religious experiences. Telling the story of Yusufs life, he elaborates on different stages of the spiritual journey, analyzing a great number of the hidden mysteries of the verses of the Qurʹan. In this work, Zoleikha has a positive, mystic character. Zoleikha and her love are presented as an allegory through which he expresses his mystical view about the divine love. He mentions three main points about love: 1- Love is predestinated not voluntary; 2- Love is eternal; the lover and the beloved have known each other pre-eternally and inherently (Ahde-Mast); and 3- Love, the lover and the beloved are one. In Ardestaniʹs mystical viewpoint, light is the origin of the lover and the beloved which appears in two distinct forms. This viewpoint resembles that of Ibn Arabi and Fakhr al-Din Iraqi about the unity of being. In this paper, a comparison is made between parts of the story of Yusuf and Sheikh Ahmad Ghazaliʹs Savaneh, Fakhr al-Din Iraqiʹs Lamaʹat and Ibn Arabiʹs Fotoohat al-Makieh.