"Irfan" Revisited: Khomeini and the Legacy of Islamic Mystical Philosophy Author(s): Alexander Knysh Source: Middle East

Journal, Vol. 46, No. 4 (Autumn, 1992), pp. 631-653 Published by: Middle East Institute Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4328497 Accessed: 27/11/2008 19:00
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IRFAN REVISITED: KHOMEINI AND THE LEGACY OF ISLAMIC MYSTICAL PHILOSOPHY

Alexander Knysh

1968-five years after Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini's expulsion from Iran-SAVAK, the shah's secret police, raidedhis Qomhouse and confiscatedhis papers, includingcommentarieson mysticism that he had written in the 1930s. Fifteen years later, in 1983,some of Khomeini'slost works were rediscoveredby a religious student in Hamadan.The student, whose name is never mentionedin subsequent accounts of the event, bought two books from an itinerantvendor who, having failed to find a buyer in the local bazaar, came to a seminary (madraseh)to sell them for 50 tumans.' One of the books was a nineteenth-century edition of Egyptianlithographical the commentaryon Ibn Arabi'sFusus al-hikam(Bezels of wisdom) composed by Sharaf al-Din Mahmudal-Qaysari(d. 751/1350),who was both an extraordinary mystical thinker in his own right and a widely known exponent of Ibn Arabi's doctrine.2On the marginsof the book the student found numeroushandwritten notes that, in keeping with the age-old traditionof Muslim manuscriptwriting, on simultaneouslyconstituted a supercommentary the originaltext of the Fusus
IN

1. Muhammad Hasan Rahimiyan,ed., "Muqaddimat al-nashir"(Publisher'sintroduction), Ta'liqatala sharh "Fusus al-hikam"wa "Misbahal-uns" li-ayatAllah al-Khomeini (Commentaries on the interpretation Fusus al-hikamandMisbahal-unsby AyatollahKhomeini)(Tehran: of Pasdar-e Islam, 1406/1986), 7. p. 2. For Qaysari's teaching, see WilliamChittick, "The Five Divine Presences: From alQunawito al-Qaysari," MuslimWorld (1982);JamesMorris,"IbnArabiandHis Interpreters," 72 part 2, "Influencesand Interpretations," Journalof the AmericanOrientalSociety 106, no. 3 (1986). AlexanderKnysh is a senior researcherat the Institutefor OrientalStudies, St. Petersburg,Russia, and is currentlyat the WashingtonUniversityin St. Louis, Missouri,on a RockefellerFellowshipin Humanities. Thisarticle was completedin spring1992duringthe author'sstay in Princeton,NJ, as a grantee of the Institutefor AdvancedStudy, School of HistoricalStudies. He wishes to express his gratitude to the institute'sfaculty, administration,librarians,and staff, who made this research possible.
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al-hikamand a commentaryon the book by Qaysari.In amazement,the student discovered that the marginalnotes, written in Arabic, were signed "al-Sayyid RouhollahKhomeini." Not believinghis eyes, the studentrushedthe books to the preacherof Hamadan'sFridaymosque, AyatollahHosain Nuri, who immediately recognizedKhomeini's scripton the margins.The other book turnedout to be an annotated treatise on Shi'i theology with notes written by Khomeini's late son Mustafa. In either a demonstrationof loyalty to the leader of the nation, or a for demonstrationof what may have been as well a sign of genuineadmiration his intellectual achievement, several Muslim scholars hurriedto publish the newly discovered works. They presented them as pertainingto the literatureof irfan (gnosis)-a term used in the context of the Islamic culture of Iran to describe a synthesis of philosophy, speculativetheology, and mysticalthoughtthat emerged in the later medieval period and has persisted until today.3 by The text of Khomeini's supercommentary itself apparentlydid not look imposing enough to the editor, who decided to supplement it with another supercommentarywritten by Khomeini on the margins of the Misbah al-uns (Lamp of intimacy), a commentaryon Sadr al-Din al-Qunawi's(d. 673/1273-74) Miftah al-gayb (Key to the unseen) composed by the famous Ottoman scholar b. The two supercommentaries Muhammad Hamza Fanari(d. 834/1431).4 match well and give us an idea of the mystical and philosophicaloutlook of perhapsthe greatest, or at least the most influential,Muslimpolitical leader of the twentieth century. Given the author'sstatus, the editordid not dareto publishthe commentaries without Khomeini's permission, and, thus, he sent to Khomeini a draft of the for handsomelycopied manuscript correctionand approval.Khomeinisanctioned its publication after making a few minor stylistic changes.5 To bypass the enormousdifficultiesinvolved in a criticaleditionof the voluminoustexts that had been commented upon by young Khomeini, the editors chose to reproduceonly his ratherdisparateremarksand elaborations.In order to provide his discourse with a minimum of integrity, they retained those phrases from the original
3. This peculiartype of later Islamic thought,combiningin itself the elements of scholasticism, rationalphilosophy,and mysticism, has also been known in Iran as hikmat(wisdom). Henry Corbin suggested that it should be renderedinto Europeanlanguagesas theo-sophia. See Henry Corbin,Le livre des penetrationsmetaphysiques,Bibliothequeiranienne,vol. 10 (Tehranand Paris: Institutfranco-iranien, 1964),pp. 82-93; see also MullaHadi Sabzawari,Sharh-i"Ghurar al-fara'id" or Sharh-i"Manzuma"(Commentary Ghurar on al-fara'idor Commentary the Manzuma),part 1, on Metaphysics, ed. by M. Mohaghegh T. Izutsu (Tehran:Moasseseh-yeMutalaat-e and Islami, 1969), pp. 1-15 of the Englishtext. 4. For Qunawi'slife and work see WilliamChittick, "The Last Will and Testamentof Ibn Arabi's Foremost Disciple and Some Notes on Its Author," Sophia Perennis4, no. 1 (1978);idem, "Mysticism versus Philosophy: The al-Tusi, al-QunawiCorrespondence,"Religious Studies 17 (1981);idem, "Sadral-DinQunawion the Onenessof Being," International PhilosophicalQuarterly 21 (1981).For Fanari,see CarlBrockelmann, Geschichteder arabischenLitteratur,supplement,vol. 2 (Leiden:E.J. Brill, 1938),pp. 328-9; andJ.R. Walsh, "Fenari-Zade," Encyclopaediaof Islam, new ed., vol. 2, (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1960-), p. 879. 5. Some of the correctionsin his handare reproduced page 6 of the editor's introduction on to the supercommentary.

KHOMEINI* 633

lithographicaleditions that elicited his comments. Nevertheless, an attempt to graspthe author'scomplex reasoningwithouthavingrecourseto the originaltexts on which they are based is a ratherfrustrating task. Both Qaysari'sand Fanari's texts are essential, therefore, for a proper assessment of Khomeini's position vis-a-vis these thinkersand the philosophyof irfan as a whole. From the outset, it should be stressed that Khomeini's interest in Islamic mystical philosophyat the early stages of his scholarlycareeris neithernovel nor sensational.6Despite the availabilityof relevant sources, no scholar previously has undertakena systematic analysis of Khomeini's mystical and metaphysical views. What follows is an attempt to do justice to this aspect of Khomeini's legacy, which, althoughless spectacularthanhis politicalachievements,deserves a serious examination. ORIGINSAND EDUCATION Khomeiniwas born on September24, 1902, in Khomein, a small provincial town southwest of Tehran. Because he came from a family of religious scholars claiming descent from the Prophet, Khomeini obtained a solid theological training,studying initiallywith his elder brotherAyatollahMurtazaPasandideh. At age 19, Khomeiniwent to the nearbytown of Arak,where he was accepted into the circle of students of Abd al-KarimHa'iri (d. 1355/1937),an acclaimed Shi'i scholar.7When Ha'iriwas invited to Qom in 1921,young Khomeinifollowed him Ali and soon made the acquaintanceof MirzaMuhammad Shahabadi(1292/1875a 1369/1950), masterof both religiousandrationalsciences. This teacher, together with the somewhat controversialreligious thinker Mirza Ali Akbar Hakim (d. 1344/1925),and possibly several other scholars, became Khomeini's mentors in
towardmysticismand mysticalphilosophyis treatedin some detail 6. Khomeini'sinclination by Roy Mottahedeh,TheMantleof the Prophet:Religionand Politics in Iran (New York: Pantheon Books, 1985), especially, pp. 183-5, which were reproducedin Books and Religion 16 (JanuaryFebruary1986)under the title "IslamicMysticism,Politics and RuhollahKhomeini." Mottahedeh, knowledgeof Khomeini'smysticalwritings,which, this did however, apparently not have a first-hand the regarding sourcesof Khomeini's suppositions authorbelieves, led himto a numberof questionable mystical doctrines and metaphysics. Thus, Mottahedehseems to have exaggerated Khomeini's Rather,it was Ibn Arabi,Qunawi,Qaysari, al-Maqtul. dependenceon the teachingsof al-Suhrawardi as of and theirlater successorswithinthe framework wujudiSufismwho may be regarded Khomeini's influenceon himis muchless pronounced. mastersin esotericphilosophy,while Suhrawardi's primary coined by The term wujudiis derivedfrom the phrasewahdatal-wujud(unityof being), presumably Qunawiandhis circleto describethe essence of Ibn Arabi'steaching.The latter,however, neverused it in his own works. Moreover,the problemof being, which seems to have been only one of his major concerns, became central only for his followers, who, thus, quite appositely, are referred to as al-wujudiyya. pp. of 7. On Ha'irisee AbdulHadiHairi,"Ha'iri,"Encyclopaedia Islam, supplement, 342-3; Mottahedeh,Mantle of the Prophet, pp. 228-9; FarhangRajaee, Islamic Values and WorldView: Politics (Lanham,MD: UniversityPress of America, Khomeinion Man, the State, and International 1983),p. 25. It was owing to Ha'iri'sactivitiesthat Qom rose to the statusof a majorreligiouscenter of Iran.

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linkedthe futureayatollah Theseteachersandtheirmasters9 his studyof irfan.8 of Islam that combinedmysticaland to the long tradition learningin Iranian of in figures Shi'i trendsdatingbackto the teachings suchseminal metaphysical and Sadra 1050/1640),'1 (d. intellectual (d. historyas MirDamad 1040/1630) Mulla from eminentpredecessors,such as Haydar who had drawntheir inspiration Ibn also Amuli(d. ca. 787/1385), Arabi,and Yahyaal-Suhrawardi, knownas al-Maqtul (executedin 587/1191)." al-Suhrawardi it that Kitabal-asfar In the lightof theforegoing, seemsquitenatural Sadra's (Book of journeys)was the first work on irfanthat Khomeinistudiedunder develan MullaSadraprovided accountof the spiritual Shahabadi's guidance.12 and by opmentexperienced the mysticalwayfarer stressedthe mystic'sobligaof fromhis seemingly individualarising tionstowardthe community the faithful to journeyintofourstagescorresponding istic quest. Sadradividedthis spiritual on attainment, the one hand,and,on the other, the wayfarer's degreeof spiritual In as to his function a divinemessenger. the firststage,mantravelsfromhis self and the worldto God;the secondjourneytakes him fromGod to God, as he and of oscillatesbetweenconsiderations divineattributes divineessence;in the mansets out on the roadfromGod backto the worldandhis self; thirdstage, on a frommanto man,bestowing his community new he finally, beginsto wander and of dispensation spiritual moralorder.
8. See RouhollahKhomeini,Misbah al-hidayaila al-khilafawa al-wilaya: Ta'lif ayat Allah al-Khomeini(Lamp [showing]the right way to vicegerency and sainthood:A writingby Ayatollah Khomeini),ed. al-SayyidAhmadal-Fihri(Beirut:Mu'assasatal-wafa', 1403/1983), 37-8 and 78; pp. HamidAlgar, Islam and Revolution:Writingsand Declarationsof Imam Khomeini(Berkeley, CA: Mizan Press, 1981),pp. 424 and 434, note 94 and 97. See also Rahimiyan,"Muqaddimat al-nashir," pp. 3-4. 9. For instance, Ali Akbar Hakim was a student of Mulla Hadi Sabzawari(1295/1878),the celebrated Iranianphilosopherand theologian. For the latter's metaphysicalviews see Sabzawari, Sharh-i "Ghuraral-fara'id." Sabzawariundertookan overall criticalreassessmentof previous mystical and metaphysicaldoctrines, creating yet another intricatefusion of mystical experience, theology, and analyticalthinking. 10. See A.S. Bazmee Ansari, "Al-Damad,"Encyclopaediaof Islam, vol. 2, pp. 103-4;Fazlur Rahman,ThePhilosophyof MullaSadra (Albany:SUNY Press, 1975);JamesMorris,The Wisdom of An the Throne: Introductionto the Philosophyof Mulla Sadra (Princeton,NJ: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1981);Parvez Morewedge,trans., The Metaphysicsof Mulla Sadra (Tehranand New York: Institutefor CulturalStudies, 1991). 11. On Haydar Amuli, see Josef van Ess, "Haydar-i Amuli," Encyclopaedia of Islam, supplement,pp. 363-5; Sayyed HaydarAmoli, La philosophieshi'ite, ed. Henry Corbinand Osman Yahia, Bibliothequeiranienne,vol. 16 (Tehranand Paris: Institut franco-iranien,1969);and Peter Antes, Zur Theologie der schi'a: Eine Untersuchungdes Jami' al-asrar wa manba' al-anwar von Sayyid Haidar Amoli (Freiburg:FreiburgerIslamstudien,1971). Suhrawardi's and work were life carefullyexaminedby Henry Corbin,En Islam iranien:aspects spirituelset philosophiques,vol. 2, Sohrawardiet les platoniciens de Perse (Paris: Gallimard,1971);idem, YahyaSohrawardi:ope'ra metaphysicaet mystica, Bibliothequeiranienne,vol. 17 and 17a (Tehranand Paris: Institutfrancoiranien, 1952-1970).For Ibn Arabi's teachings, see Ralph Austin, trans., Ibn Arabi: The Bezels of Wisdom(New York and Ramsey: Paulist Press, 1980);Michel Chodkiewicz,Le sceau des saints: prophe'tie saintete'dans la doctrined'IbnArabi(Paris:Gallimard,1986);and WilliamChittick,The et SufiPath of Knowledge:Ibn Arabi'sMetaphysicsof Imagination(Albany:SUNY, 1989).For the best biographyof Ibn Arabi, see ClaudeAddas, Ibn Arabi:ou la quete du soufre rouge (Paris:Gallimard, 1989). 12. Rahimiyan,"Muqaddimat al-nashir,"p. 4.

KHOMEINI* 635

This model of humandestiny outlinedby MullaSadra-and later adoptedby Khomeini-harks back to earlierSufi teachings. Thus, Sadra'sdescriptionof the spiritual journey is reminiscentof Ibn Arabi'sconcept of the perfectman (al-insan al-kamil) in its particularemphasis on his functions as a religious leader of the community of believers-a function some Western scholars have tended to downplay, instead focusing their attention on the perfect man's role in the cosmic force tying togetherthe originand the return.13 all-important Khomeini's next textbook on irfan was Qaysari's Sharh "Fusus al-hikam" 14 on (Commentary the Fusus al-hikam). This work, togetherwith the commentary on the Fusus al-hikamwrittenby Qaysari'steacher, Abd al-RazzaqKashani, are probablythe most influentialand widely read elucidationsof Ibn Arabi's masterpiece. Qaysari'sSharhhad a profoundand lastingeffect on Khomeini'soutlook in general and his metaphysicalviews in particular.He made extensive use of this book in his writingson irfan. After studyingQaysari'scommentary,Khomeiniturnedto the fountainhead of the traditionof rationalizing of interpretation IbnArabi'sheritageas epitomized in the works of Qunawi,Ibn Arabi'sdirectdisciple.'1Khomeini'sfirstexposure to the teachings of Qunawi presumablywas through a commentaryon Qunawi's Miftah al-gayb. This particularcommentarywas the work of Fanari, who for many years held the position of chief qadi in Bursa. Fanari claimed to have received the rightto teach the Miftahal-qaybfrom his father, supposedlya pupil of Qunawi.16 In the traditionalcurriculumof Iran's madrasehs, the text of the Miftah al-qayb with Fanari'sglosses was consideredthe most advancedwork on metaphysics taughtafter the Fusus al-hikamof Ibn Arabi and the Kitab al-asfar of Mulla Sadra.17 lasted at least Khomeini'sstudies in Qom underthe supervisionof Shahabadi six years, until the irfanteacher moved to Tehran. Left more or less to his own devices, Khomeini apparentlycontinuedto read the works of medieval Muslim philosophers and mystics. It seems likely that he adopted a number of ascetic of practicesassociated with the early stages of the Sufipath:renunciation worldly delights and desires, self-imposedpoverty, scrupulousdiscernmentof the "lawful" and "forbidden," and so forth. His biographerspoint out that his bent for

of G.S. Hodgson, The Venture Islam: Conscienceand History 13. See, for example, Marshall in a WorldCivilization,vol. 2 (Chicago:Universityof ChicagoPress, 1974),pp. 222-7, 242-3. 14. See Da'wud b. Mahmudal-Qaysari,Sharh "Fusus al-hikam"(Cairo, 1299A.H.). 15. Qunawi played a major role in the systematizationand disseminationof Ibn Arabi's teachings.See Chittick,"The Last WillandTestament";idem, "Sadr complexandloosely structured al-Din Qunawi";idem,"Mysticismversus Philosophy." 16. See J.R. Walsh, "FenariZade," Encyclopaediaof Islam, vol. 2, p. 879. 17. Chittick, "The Last Will and Testament,"p. 48; see also idem, ed., English "Introducof ibn tion," Abd al-Rahman AhmadJami,Naqd al-nususfisharhnaqsh "al-fusus"(Critique the texts in the commentaryon the engravingsof al-Fusus [al-hikam]), (Tehran:Intisharat-eAnjoman-e Falsafeh-yeIran, 1977),p. xv. Shahanshahi-e

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simplicity and asceticism, acquired during his studies in Qom, remained unchanged when he became the leader of Iran.18 The phases of Khomeini's spiritualand intellectualadvancement,as well as his textbooks, were deeply traditional.He followed the steps of many a religious thinker as described in medieval biographicaland autobiographicalaccounts: from a formal legal and theological training to an ascetic devotion and selfpurification,which usually led the seeker to a divine "illumination"and a direct vision of cosmic realities and God. A similarspiritualand intellectualevolution of may be construedfrom the autobiography the great Sunni theologianMuhammad al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111) and from the biographies of the two prominent representativesof Shi'i esotericism, HaydarAmuli and Mulla Sadra. WORKSAND INFLUENCES studiesandspiritual The resultsof Khomeini's laborsin Qomwere philosophical in the Sharh "Du'a' al-sahar" (Commentaryon Du'a' succinctly summarized on al-sahar[the morning prayer])-his 1928commentary a popularShi'i litany-and in his firstindependent treatiseon irfan,Misbahal-hidayaila al-khilafa al-wilaya wa (Lamp [showing]the right way to vicegerencyand sainthood),written one year later.'9The latteris a relativelycoherentexpositionof Khomeini'sviews on Islamic philosophyand esotericism,which deserves a closer examination. Khomeini's Misbah al-hidaya displays some features common to many others' early, but not yet mature,writings:a lack of compositionalperfectionwhich in Khomeini's case is the disparityof the parts constitutingthe discourse, an unnecessary repetition of rather trite metaphysical propositions, and the absence of a clearly definedapproach.The impressionof immaturity reinforced is references to the Muslim thinkers whose writings determined the by constant course of Khomeini's reasoningand his overall attitude toward religion. These same features, however, facilitatethe task of analyzingKhomeini'sfirstindependent contributionto the Iranianesoteric tradition.Thus, even a cursory survey of his quotationsbetrays his indebtednessto the world of ideas associated with the name of Ibn Arabi. Khomeini was particularlyfascinated by the rationalizinginterpretationof akbarian20teachings initiated by Qunawi and, from the fourteenth century onward, adopted by Shi'i thinkers of esoteric slant. Apart from his direct teachers-Shahabadi and Sa'id Qommi,both of whom apparently belonged to the
18. See M.H. Siddiqui, "Ayatullah Ruhullahal-Musavi Khomeini's Ultimate Reality and Meaning,"UltimateRealityand Meaning:Interdisciplinary Studiesin the Philosophyof Understanding 9 (1986), p. 127. 19. See Sharh "Du'a' al-sahar": Awwal ta'lif li-ayat Allah al-Khomeini(Commentaryon Du'a' al-Sahar: The first writing of Ayatollah Khomeini), ed. al-Sayyid Ahmad al-Fihri (Beirut: Mu'assasatal-wafa', 1402/1982); Misbahal-hidaya. 20. This adjectiveis often used to referto the teachingsintroduced al-Shaykhal-Akbar(the by greatest master)-an honorifictitle of Ibn Arabiused by his followers.

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same wujuditradition2l-Khomeinidisplaysa special likingfor Ibn Arabi'sFusus al-hikamand al-Futuhatal-makkiyya (The Meccanrevelations),Qunawi'sMiftah al-ghayb, Qaysari's Sharh "Fusus al-hikam," Kashani's Sharh qasidat Ibn on al-Farid(Commentary Ibn Farid'spoem, thatis, al-Ta'iyyaal-kubra[Thegreat ta'iyya]), andIstilahat al-sufiyya(Thetechnicaltermsof the Sufis). He also makes frequent references to al-Asfar al-arba'a (The four journeys) of Mulla Sadra.22 Even without such overt quotations, Khomeini's dependence on those thinkers can be inferred,since the text of the Misbahal-hidayais permeatedwith stylistic of features and terminologycharacteristic the writingsof the school of Ibn Arabi. At the same time, Khomeinioccasionallymentionedthe names of Sufis who al-Maqtul, stood outside the akbariantradition.Thus, apartfrom al-Suhrawardi Khomeiniquotes who is cited in passing without referenceto any of his works,23 a couple of mystical verses: one by Abdallahal-Ansari(d. 481/1089),a famous HanbaliSufifromHerat, the otherby Rumi(d. 672/1273).24 Poetic lines are quoted in Persian-a practiceemployed by Khomeiniin his later writingsin the tradition of irfan. He apparentlygave preference to the Persian language as a means of conveying the subtleties of mystical experience, while his metaphysicalspeculations and theoretical statementsare invariablyclothed in Arabic theological and esoteric terminology,approvedby many generationsof his predecessors. It is interestingthat the title of Khomeini's first mystical treatise coincides with that of the popular Sufi manual by Izz al-Din Mahmud Kashani (d. 735/1334-35),which is an adaptationof the Arabicwork Awarifal-ma'arif(Gifts of mystical knowledge), written a century earlier by Shihab al-Din Umar alThe similarityin title may, of course, be an unconSuhrawardi(d. 632/1234).25 scious borrowing,since the moraland practicalaspects of Sufismthat are central to Kashani's Misbah are far from the metaphysical concerns that inform the discourse of its namesakecomposed by Khomeini. One should add to the list of authoritiesquoted in the Misbah al-hidaya a numberof references to the sayings of the Shi'i imams, primarilyAli and his son Hussein,26as well as reportsof their "reliable"transmitters,notably Kulayni(d. 329/940-41)27and Ibn Babawayh al-Saduq (d. 381/991-92).28Occasionally,
21. See Misbah al-hidaya, pp. 27, 37, 112, 116, 134, 153.

22. Ibid., pp. 41, 51, 52, 69, 84, 110, 112, 113, 114, 131, 148-51. 23. Ibid., pp. 93 and 109;see also note 7. 24. Ibid., p. 147. On Ansari, see Serge Laugier de Beaurecueil,Khwaja AbdullahAnsari Chittick,The Sufi Path of Love: The Spiritual Teachings views, see William mysticalandphilosophical of Rumi (Albany:SUNY, 1983). and 25. On Umar al-Suhrawardi his commentators,see RichardGramlich,trans., Die Gaben
der Erkenntnisse des Umar as-Suhrawardi ("Awarif al-ma'arif') (Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag, (386-48111006-1089): mystique hanbalite (Beirut: Institut franqais de Damas, 1965). For Rumi's

in Kashani'scommentary the historyof PersianSufism,see Chittick, 1978).For the place of Mahmud English "Introduction,"p. xvii. 26. See Misbah al-hidaya, pp. 113, 127-8. of 27. On this Shi'i authority,see WilferdMadelung,"Al-Kulayni,"Encyclopaedia Islam, vol.
5, pp. 362-3. 28. See A.A.A. Fyzee, "Ibn Babawayh,"Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 3, pp. 726-7.

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which is Khomeini invokes Ibn Sina and his Kitab al-shifa' (Book of healing),29 naturalin view of the latter's markedimpacton the writingsof the wujudischool in general, and those of Qunawiin particular.30 More noteworthy, perhaps, is Khomeini's heavy reliance on the work of Khomeiniwas not the firstMuslimthinkerto come underthe influence Aristotle.31 of the ancient philosopher. The so-called Theologia Aristotelis (Theology of Aristutalis),to which Khomeiniturns for argumentsin Aristotle, or Uthulujiyya his exposition of cosmological theory, is actually only a paraphraseof Plotinus' Enneades, written by a Hellenistic author, possibly Diodocus Proclus (d. 485). Since the Theologia is "enormously remote from the genuine teaching of Aristotle,"32its attributionhas been questioned by several medieval Muslim thinkersacquaintedwith the authenticlegacy of the Stagerite. Such doubts were al-Maqtul,the founderof the mystical expressed, for instance, by al-Suhrawardi Qutbal-Din Shirazi(d. doctrineof ishraq, and laterby his renownedcommentator From the mid-nineteenthcentury until the early twentieth century, 710/1311).33 the authorship of the Theologia was the subject of scholarly debate among Western Islamicists and historians studying Hellenistic thought. Though some Muslimintellectualswho could read Europeanstudies on Islamiccivilizationmay well have known that Aristotle had never written such a work, this fact became widely known in the Muslimworld only in the 1950s,thanksto the studies of the EgyptianphilosopherAbd al-Rahmanal-Badawi.34 The text of Misbah al-hidayacarriesnot only indirectborrowings,but also a The way the number of word-for-wordcitations from the pseudo-Theologia.35 citations are used would seem to indicate that the future Iranian leader was and of the doubts regardingtheir authorship ignorantof both the misattribution voiced by medieval Muslimthinkers.This impressionis strengthenedby the fact that Khomeinimadeno attemptto be ambiguouswhen speakingof the personality refers to him as "the teacher of of Theologia's author. He straightforwardly [philosophical] profession" (mu'allim al-sana'a), "the sage" (al-hakim), and finally, "the instructorof the peripatetics"(mufidal-mashsha'iyin).36 There are two possible explanations for Khomeini's apparent ignorance: either he was simply unawareof the doubts of the medievalMuslim scholars, as
29. Misbah al-hidaya,pp. 109, 117. 30. See James Morris, "Ibn Arabiand His Interpreters," part 2, "Influencesand Interpretations [Conclusion],"Journalof the AmericanOrientalSociety 107, no. 1 (1987). 31. Misbahal-hidaya,pp. 60, 109, 116-18. 32. MajidFakhry,Historyof IslamicPhilosophy(New YorkandLondon:Columbia University Press, 1970),p. 32. 33. On Qutb al-Din Shirazi, a student of Nasir al-Din al-Tusi, and himself a distinguished philosopherand astronomer,see E. Wiedemann, "Kutbal-dinShirazi,"Encyclopaediaof Islam, vol. 5, pp. 547-8. 34. Abdurrahman Badawi, ed. and comp., Plotinus apud arabes. "TheologiaAristotelis" et fragmenta quae supersunt(Cairo, 1955);see also Fakhry,Historyof Islamic Philosophy,pp. 32-40. 35. For example, see p. 60. 36. Misbah al-hidaya,p. 116.

KHOMEINI* 639

well as of the studies of the Westernresearchers,or he intentionallydisregarded them, demonstratinghis faithfulness to the strongly entrenched stereotypes of In scholarship.37 any case, Khomeini'signoranceis revealinginsofaras traditional it provides an insight into the nature of the hermeticallysealed and apparently xenophobic intellectualmilieu that shaped his religiousoutlook. THE SYNTHESIS The list of Muslimthinkerswho influencedKhomeiniis instructiveinsofaras it reflects the major layers that constitute Khomeini's discourse in the Misbah al-hidaya. It is evidence of his preoccupationwith the metaphysicaland cosmological doctrines rooted in Ibn Arabi's doctrinesand furtherdeveloped along the establishedby Qunawiand perpetuatedby the lines of interpretation rationalizing wujudi school. Young Khomeini, however, clearly understoodthat the vision of the world held by these thinkers was based on some earlier patterns, including ones that had come into existence priorto the rise of Islam. He turned,therefore, to the texts in which these earlierpatternsfound an expression that he regarded as apposite to his aims. Not surprisingly,he yielded to the fascination and theoriesthat were, minorpoints apart,quite elegance of Neoplatonistemanational consistent with the views espoused by Muslimesotericists. In principle, Khomeini was ready to accept non-Islamictheories provided they were sanctioned by the traditionwithin the contours of which his thought operated.At the same time, he remainedalertto the limitationsof what he thought were "pagan," and thus "deficient," outlooks, unadorned, as it were, by a monotheistic revelation. Hence, he always sought to buttress the Neoplatonist theoreticalconstruct by the scaffoldingof Islamic tradition,creatinga conspicuand ously precarioussynthesis of philosophicalemanationalism religious revelation. This religiousdimension,at least in the Misbah al-hidaya, is exemplifiedby the major three branches of Islamic knowledge: the corpus of transmitted traditionalwisdom-the Quranand the Shi'i hadith;the Shi'i doctrineof imamat; and the legacy of Muslimesotericism (namely, the school of Iranianirfanwith a distinct wujudi slant). To be sure, some other sources and authorities-Ibn Sina and earlier Iranian sufis, such as Ansari and Rumi-loom vaguely in the background,but they are seeminglyassigned only secondaryroles in the overall plot. Muslimtraditionalknowledge, as well as the metaphysicaland theosophical speculationsof the proponentsof irfan, who invariablycouched their arguments in the language of Islamic revelation, enabled Khomeini to reduce the chilling impersonalityof the Neoplatonist notion of the One (The First Cause) and to
37. Interestingly,the editor of Misbah al-hidaya also seems to ignore Khomeini's views writings, or at least he never points out regardingthe Theologia and similar pseudo-Aristotelian Khomeini'sdelusion.

640 * MIDDLE EAST JOURNAL

replace it with the God of Muslim monotheism-the Essence endowed with personalfeatures and qualitiesascribedto it in the Quranand hadith.Introducing the finely chiseled concepts worked out by many generationsof Muslimmystical thinkers and divines, Khomeini, like so many of his predecessors, sought to overcome the perennialproblemposed by the transcendencyand necessity of the Absolute Being and its contingentand temporalself-manifestation the material in substratum,resultingin the emergence of visible universe. Khomeini argued,
It is said that Being [wujud]may manifestitself througha unifyingmanifestation of the Unseen in which all [divine] Names and Attributes are annihilated. Such a manifestationtakes place through God's all-comprehensiveName [al-ism al-musand ta'thir],38 the 73d letter of His GreatestName. Thus, this is the station [maqam] of non-conditionality.39 At this station He has a name, though it is containedin His knowledgeof the Unseen [al-ghayb].This is the unifyingmanifestation the aspect in that occurs due to the Most Holy Effusion [fayd]. As for the [divine] of the Unseen Essence as such, it does not appearin any mirrorof the mirrors[of Universe], and neither the wayfareramong the people of God, nor the possessors of hearts,40 nor even the friendsof God are able to perceive It. It is the Unseen, but not in the sense of the unifyingUnseen, nay It has neithera name, nor a [visible]effect, nor can It be alludedto; none aspires after It! [As a poet said:] Phoenix is impossibleto trap, So take your snare, and leave! God may, however, manifestHimself in an aspect which embracesthe realities of all the Names and Attributes.This is the stationof God's GreatestName, the Lord of Perfect Man, [the level of] intelligible manifestationthrough nominal manyness [kathraasma'iyya]thatcomprisesall othernominalmanifestations. This is the station of oneness [al-wahidiyya].41

To overcomethe dramatic polarityseparating God fromthe cosmos, Khomeini madeextensiveuse of the doctrineof divineNamesandAttributes IbnArabiand that the wujudi school elaboratedupon at length. Commenting the phrase "In the on Name of God, the Merciful,the Compassionate," whichopens the text of the Quran and is subsequently of placedat the beginning each Quranic sura, Khomeinioffered the followingexplanation the two epithetsascribedto God: of
38. Thisterm,often employedby Khomeini,mayalso be translated "the Name appropriated as by God exclusively," since, in contrastto God's other Names (Lord, Willing,Seeing, Knowing,and so forth), this Name-Allah-cannot be sharedwith Him by any creature.In this case, it should be read as al-ism al-musta'thar. 39. Khomeinirefersto the stageof divineexistence (presence)thatallows no positivejudgment (hukm)about the divine Absolute. There, it can only be conceived of in negative terms, that it is neitherthis nor that. In otherwords, it is not "conditioned"nor "specified"by any attribute,quality, property,or judgement. 40. An epithet routinelyappliedto the Sufis in general, Sufi "gnostics" in particular. 41. Ta'liqatala sharh, pp. 14-15.

KHOMEINI* 641

Know, that the Name "the Merciful[rahman]the Compassionate[rahim]"is one [divine]Names. Indeed, "Merciful"is a and of the all-embracing all-comprehensive station where the [potential]expanse of external existence is unfolded, and thus becomes visible as it emergesfromthe obscurityof the unseen Reality[of God] to the [world ofl absolute witnessing. It is a manifestationof mercifulMercy. The "Compassionate," on the other hand, is a station where existence is brought together througha unifyingcontraction,and is thus takenback to the realmof the Unseen.... Whenever existence enters into obscurity, arrivingat the gates of God-it is the compassionateMercy. As for God's GreatestName, it is the station where both the unifying expansion and the unifying contractionare brought together. This is the bringingtogether.That's why in the phrase "In the station of the all-comprehensive Name of God, the Merciful,the Compassionate"these two epithets are placed after God's GreatestName [Allah].42

While handlingtwo types of divine Mercy, Khomeini almost surely had in mind an importanttheme discussed in Ibn Arabi'sFusus al-hikam.In that work, Ibn Arabi depicts divine Mercy as operatingin two directions: "outwardly, in creating the necessary object of the divine love" (rahman) and "inwardly in reestablishingthe originalsynthesis of the Reality" (rahim).Both authorsseem to be pursuingthe same goal, insofaras they endeavorto illustrate"the double and inevitable necessity of otherness and nonothernessfor love whether divine or human,which creates the tension necessary for the experience and awareness of "43 self-consciousness.' an Demonstrating intimateknowledgeof Ibn Arabi'sproblematics,Khomeini then took up the task of achieving a reconciliationbetween a representationof with andremovedfromthe world(tanzih),and God as absolutely "incomparable" a more "scriptural" view, portraying Him as more or less "similar" and To "immanent"to His creation (tashbih).44 this end Khomeinihad recourse to a method of reasoning described by a contemporaryscholar as "mystical dialectic. "45 Such "dialectic" occupied a prominentposition in Ibn Arabi's discourse philosophy to and was later inheritedby those who followed his lead in marrying In discussing the problemof tanzih and tashbih, Khomeini unequivmysticism. ocally took sides with the Sufi "sages" (hukama') and rejected scholastic solutions advocated by the Muslim speculative theologians:
You will see that these people [speculativetheologiansand rationalthinkers]may deny any relationship[between the world and its Maker],and postulate a diversity
42. See ibid., p. 16, insofaras these two namesexemplifythe two possibleaspectsof the Divine with the world. Essence (Allah)and its two possible relationships 43. Austin, Bezels, p. 29. 44. For Ibn Arabi's position with regardto tanzih and tashbih, see Chittick, Sufi Path of Knowledge,pp. 68-76. Khomeini'stacklingof this theologicalproblemappearsto be nothingbut a reiterationof the solutionofferedby Ibn Arabi. 45. For a discussion of this notion, see Michael Sells, "Ibn Arabi's 'Garden among the Flames': A Reevaluation,"History of Religions 23, no. 4 (1984);idem, "Apophasisin Plotinus:A
Critical Approach," Harvard Theological Review 78, nos. 3-4 (1985).

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fromthe Creation[al-khalq]. They are [betweenthem],thus isolatingthe Real [al-haqq] [ta'till God of His attributes resultsin stripping obliviousof the fact that this inevitably with the ropes of causality.May theirown handsbe manacled! and in tying His hands [Godand Occasionally they inclineto intermingling Cursedbe they for whatthey taught! as betweenthem, beingignorant they whichleads themto asserta similarity creatures], In are of the authenticnatureof His incomparability. contrastto them, the gnostic, the alongthe paththattakeshim unveiling [divinemysteries], divineone [ilahl],traveling is to gnostic sciences [ma'arjfl,46 possessor of both eyes. By his right eye he will and or the of the contemplate relationship the annihilation, rather, negation othernessand of and whileby the othereye he will see the negation the [previous] negation multiplicity, inherentin multiplicity. will also see that everyone He the emergenceof the properties deservingit is given his due. Thanksto this his feet will neverever slip in whatconcerns of enterthe ranksof those who [theproperunderstanding] tawhid,andhe will eventually have achievedthe unifyingvision.... 47 When discussing cosmology and metaphysics, Khomeini often employed the concept of "immutable entities" (a'yan thabita)48-one of Ibn Arabi's most important contributions to Islamic theology and mysticism. Placed between the Absolute and the empirical world, the "immutable entities" help to bridge the dramatic gap between the intrinsic uniqueness and transcendency of the former and the visible multiplicity and perceptibility of the latter. Know that immutableentities are but the entitification[ta'ayyun]49 nominal of In manifestationin the Presence of Oneness.50 this realm, manifestationtakes place throughthe Most Holy Effusion. The one which becomes manifest is the [divine] Essence devoid of the nameswhich are enclosed withinthe unseennessandlatency of divine He-ness. The one to whom the manifestationpresents itself is, first, the [divine]Names [al-asma'al-muhita],and, further,in the Presence all-comprehensive of of Oneness and immutableentities, the particularizations the manifestation,or, in the [divine] Names. . . . The manifestation[directed]to the Names other words, occurs throughthe Essence Itself, while the entitiespartakeof it [indirectly],in virtue of their dependencyon and subordination the Names.51 to Because the problem of the status enjoyed by the immutable entities-which were often viewed by Muslim thinkers as the universals-has a long history in

of 46. For the numerousmeaningsandconnotations this Sufitermin the context of Ibn Arabi's teaching, see Chittick,Sufi Path of Knowledge,pp. 148-9. 47. Misbahal-hidaya,p. 12. 48. Western studies of Sufi philosophy offer a wide variety of possible translationsof this ambiguousArabicterm. In this study the authorfollows the versionintroducedby WilliamChittick. See Chittick,Sufi Path of Knowledge,index, pp. 444. 49. This Arabic term may also be translatedinto English as "particularization concrete in entities." 50. For the concept of "presence" in Ibn Arabi's teaching, see Chittick, Sufi Path of Knowledge,index, pp. 452 and 467, under "presence" and "hadra";for its later development,see idem, "The Five Divine Presences." 51. Ta'liqatala sharh, pp. 22-3.

KHOMEINI 643 *

to literature, Khomeini deemed necessary it Islamic philosophical theological and the definehis own positionin this regard.He discarded views of those who conceivedthemas a specialkindof existents(wujudat) supervenient either on that wouldlogically presuppose mentalor concreteexistence.52 This,he argued, from therewerecertain existententitiesindependent theexistenceof God,which on of was tantamount an encroachment the principle tawhid.Forwas not God to theonlypossessorof the realandnecessary existencethatHe bestowed uponthe Neitherdid Khomeini the creatures? accepta theorytreating a'yan thabitaas thatthe material since this wouldhave implied worldas absolutenonexistents, suchdid not exist, andhad, actually,nevercomeintobeing.53 entitiesare severalother Linkedverycloselywiththe conceptof immutable notions introduced Ibn Arabiand developedby his followers. important by theseothernotions,andtheyoftenappear his works in Khomeini borrowed also citedtexts haveshownthathe madefrequent of the use on irfan.Thepreviously akbarian theory of divine "presences"-the levels at which the transcendent graduallyemergingfrom the selfDeity makes its successive appearances, centeredlatency to the outwardexistence. He adoptedIbn Arabi'stwo-fold to in uniqueness the system, according which Absolute'sinitialunfathomable makesits firststeptowards Presence Unity(hadrat of differentiation al-ahadiyya) whenit descendsto the domain the Presenceof Oneness of and concretization The but (hadrat al-wahidiyya). latteris, in fact, nothing the firstcreativeimpulse in of embodied the thingsandphenomena thatentailsthe emergence multiplicity of the positiveworld.Like Ibn Arabi,Khomeini usuallyassociatedthese two the withtwo typesof divineeffusion, respectively, MostHolyEffusion presences
(al-fayd al-aqdas) and the Holy Effusion (al-fayd al-muqaddas).In Khomeini's

with and associated it constitute greatest the view, the latterpresence theeffusion and of mysteryof being,sinceit is therethatthe "introversion" uniqueness the Absolute start to externalizeand multiplyin a series of consequentselfexistence. manifestations takingplaceon variouslevels of external of To anyoneversedin the writings IbnArabiandhis school,the akbarian is of Manypassagesin the Misbah inspiration Khomeini's reasoning undeniable. of to and al-hidaya his laterworksappear be a slightreformulation IbnArabi's favoritethemes.54 cosmological theory,one may say Summing Khomeini's up he the in tradition, envisioned material that,likemanyof hisforerunners akbarian and into divineself-image self-knowledge a primordial of as universe a projection in void, which is followed by their gradualobjectification the entities and world. beingsin the surrounding phenomena perceived human by
5 b

52. Ibid., p. 27. 54. For a vivid example, see the myth of divine Names, seekingthe realizationand fulfillment of their qualities. It was originallyrecountedby Ibn Arabi in his Insha' al-dawa'ir(The drawingof circles), ed. HenrikS. Nyberg, KleinereSchriftendes Ibn Arabi (Leiden:E.J. Brill, 1919),pp. 32-7, and then reiteratedby Khomeiniin the Misbahal-hidaya, see pp. 143-5.
53. Ibid., pp. 27-8.

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Turningto the discussion of the practicalreligious and soteriologicalimplithought. cations of his metaphysicaltenets, Khomeiniremainsfaithfulto akbarian His treatmentof humanfunctionsand obligationsis rooted in Ibn Arabi'sdoctrine of the perfect man, and the related conceptions of vicegerency and sainthood accordedto the perfect humanindividualin each epoch. In the Misbah al-hidaya and the commentaries,Khomeinitreatedthem in the light of the Shi'i doctrineof imams-a practice that can be tracedback to a periodwhen Ibn Arabi's teaching gained wide currencyamong Shi'i thinkersof Iran-from the fourteenthcentury on. It often implied the identificationof the akbarianperfect man with the Shi'i Hidden Imam. The latter, as a rule, substituted for Ibn Arabi's "Seal of Mohammedan Sainthood," while the "Seal of Universal Sainthood"-a rankIbn Arabi reserved for QuranicJesus-in Shi'i milieu, was invariablyascribedto the Shi'i hero Ali ibn Talib. In the Misbah al-hidayaand the other esoteric writingsof Khomeini, such a Still, he seemed Shi'i bent was somewhat muted, althoughcertainly palpable.55 unwillingto concentrateon the doctrinaldifferencesbetween the Sunnis and the Shi'as, and in the context of the cosmic and metaphysicaltheoriesdiscussed in his early writings, these differences seemed to appear to him as matters of minor significance.Centralto his discourse is man's place in the divine plan with regard to the creation, and, more specifically, the place of the saint or prophet among mankind. Closely following the doctrine of the perfect man as outlined by Ibn Arabi and finalized by Qunawi and his successors,56Khomeini arrives at the familiarnotion of human destiny, aptly described by MarshallHogdson as "a myth of the microcosmic return." This myth makes it possible to "apply the findings about the unconscious to the cosmos as a whole-and conversely to illuminatethe self fromwhat could be understoodfromthe cosmos."57Hodgson's definitionis fully pertinentto Khomeini'sidea of vicegerency and sainthoodthat rests on an inextricablefusion of personal experience and putatively objective ontologicalthinking.This is the principaltopic of discussionin both the Du'a' and the Misbah al-hidaya. Khomeiniinvariablyreturnedto it in his later writingson irfan, when he tried, in a typical akbarianmanner, to place the perfect human being in the context of cosmic processes:
The more perfect is God's manifestationin the mirrorof His Essence, the more clearly it points to what is hidden in the world of the Unseen. This world, which mudabbira] from free encompasses the pure intellects and the governingsouls [nufus the darkness of substratum,far removed from the contaminationof matter, and
55. See Misbah al-hidaya,p. 42; Ta'liqatala sharh, p. 48. al-Jili(d. 832/1428), 56. Especially,by Abd al-Karim who expoundedthe doctrineof the perfect man in his al-Insan al-kamil. For Jili's life and work see Helmut Ritter, "Abd al-Karimal-Djili," Encyclopaediaof Islam, vol. 1, p. 71; Morris,"Ibn Arabiand His Interpreters," part2, "Influences andInterpretations [Conclusion]," 108-10.For the Yemeniperiodof his life see AlexanderKnysh, pp. "Ibn Arabiin the Yemen:His AdmirersandDetractors,"Journalof the Muhyiddin ArabiSociety Ibn 11 (1992). 57. Hodgson, Ventureof Islam, vol. 2, p. 225.

KHOMEINI* 645

but to is pertaining quiddity, nothing God's unmixed with the dust of entitification words.However,due to the fact thateach of those entitiesreflects mostperfected and Attributes, only one of his manyNames,each of only one of God'snumerous
these words, by itself, is incomplete. .
.

. The Perfect Man, being the all-encompass-

ing entity, the perfect mirror,which reflectsall divine Names and Attributes, his God's most perfectWord.Furthermore, is the divinebook, which constitutes dating backto ourLord,Commander of embraces totality divinebooks.A report, the the of God'suniqueness,58 says: of the Faithful, master thosewhoproclaim "Don'tyou knowthatyou area smallbody, Whilein you the entiregreatworldis foldedup! Book'59 through You area 'Manifest secrethasbecomeexplicit.. . "60 The lettersof whichthe hidden Khomeini's portrayalof the perfect man as the divine Logos (kalimatAllah) was almost certainly inspired by the ideas of Ibn Arabi. One will immediately recall the latter's doctrine of the divine words that become embodied and exemplified in the personalities of the prophets of the Muslim Revelation. This doctrine is the principle theme of the Fusus al-hikam-a book that Khomeini diligently studied and commented upon, and that no doubt played a preeminent role in his spiritualformationand metaphysicaleducation. At the same time, the phrasing of the passage is not necessarily akbarian. Some terms, such as, for example, "the perfected words [of God]" (kalimat tammat), might have their origin in the works of Mulla Sadra-another major source of Khomeini's outlook.61This, however, does not affect the general conclusion of Khomeini's greatindebtednessto Ibn Arabi, since, in manyrespects, MullaSadrahimselfmay be considered Ibn Arabi's indirectdisciple. The theme of the perfect man, the contours of which were delineated in the previously cited passage from the Du'a', is further refined in the Misbah al-hidaya, where it occupies the centralposition. In that treatise, the metaphysical and cosmic functions of the perfected human individualare consistently being linked to his magisterialand soteriologicalmission. The two aspects achieve a harmonioussynthesis in the perfect man's role as God's "vicegerent" (khalifa), or "deputy" (na'ib), who represents the Deity in the created world with which guidanceand preservationhe is entrusted.The timeless archetypalvicegerencyis, in Khomeini's opinion, a model upon which all individual and "historical" prophetic (and saintly) missions are based:
58. Meaning Imam Ali. 59. In the Quran, one of the synonyms of divine Revelation. See the Quran, 5:15, 6:59, 10:61, 11:6. 60. Du'a', pp. 66-7. 61. See Morewedge, Metaphysics of Mulla Sadra, pp. 71-2; see also Douglas B. Macdonald and Louis Gardet, "Kalima," Encyclopaedia of Islam, vol. 4, pp. 508-9. For Mulla Sadra's role in the subsequent development of Persian philosophy, see Sabzawari, Sharh-i "Ghurar al-fara'id," pp. 10-11 of the English text; and Morris, Wisdom of the Throne, p. 46-50.

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Know, oh spiritualfriend-may God grantyou success in obtainingHis satisfaction and may He bestow upon you and us a vision of His Names andAttributes !-that this vicegerency is amongthe loftiest divine ranksand the noblest lordly stations granted the by God. It is the main gates of Divine Appearance[zuhur]and Being [wujud],62 majorkey to the [worldof] Unseen and the worldof Witnessing.This is the stationof proximity [to Godhead]which contains the keys to the Unseen, the keys known to Him and nobody else. By means of those keys the divine Names have made their appearancefrom their concealment, and the divine Attributeshave come out from their hiding. . . . Such vicegerency is the spirit of Mohammedan successorship, its master, its root, and its principle.It is the root from which sprangthe vicegerency in all existing worlds. It is simultaneouslythe vicegerency, the vicegerent, and the one who appoints the vicegerentto the world. . . . This type of vicegerency manifested itself in its most completeform in the presenceof God's GreatestName, which is the Lord of Absolute MohammedanReality, the root of universal divine realities. Therefore, this vicegerency is the root of vicegerency per se, while the latter is nothingbut its [outward]manifestation.... 63 Therefore, in Khomeini's view, each concrete prophethood, as well as each particular sainthood, may be regarded as an instant of "externalization" and "publicizing" of the archetypal vicegerency that otherwise would have remained occult and imperceivable: consists in disclosingthe mysterieswhich Verily, the realand absoluteProphethood reside in the secret depths of the Unseen. This disclosure occurs on the level of Oneness in accordancewith the predispositioninherentin the loci of manifestation [mazahir].Such predisposition,in its turn, takes place in keepingwith the authentic [divine] instruction and the tidings [coming] from the divine Essence.64 Hence, Prophethoodis a stationwhere vicegerencyand sainthoodbecome manifest,while, at the same time, it is a station of their latency.65 Khomeini was especially anxious to stress the fact that the instruction and the tidings vary depending on the intrinsic nature of those upon whom they are bestowed. On the other hand, he maintained that from a certain point of view, the instruction and the tidings were but a gradual self-disclosure of the divine
62. On the complex meaningof wujudin the context of IbnArabi'steaching,see Chittick,Sufi Path of Knowledge,index, p. 478. The word has both ontologicaland experiential connotationsto it, which are closely intertwinedand must always be borne in mind by anyone seeking an adequate of understanding the doctrinesespoused by the wujudischool. In this concrete passage, Khomeini may have impliedboth the objectiveontologicalexistence of God and the supersensible irrational and "finding"of God throughindividual experience,since the verb wajadain Arabicmeansboth "to be" and "to be perceived." 63. Misbah al-hidaya,pp. 36-37. 64. Also see Ibn Arabi, who argued that the predisposition,or "preparedness," of the recipient,namely,of the a'yan thabitawhichformthe matrixfor the whole creativeprocess, haditself been entirelydetermined His Most Holy Effusion,"for all powerto act [all initiative]is from Him, by in the beginningand at the end." Austin, Bezels, p. 50. This logicallyleads to a fatalisticconclusion that both Ibn Arabi and his exponents from Qunawi to Khomeini have sought to overcome by introducing "mysticaldialectics." the 65. Misbah al-hidaya,p. 61.

KHOMEINI* 647

When reflected in human Essence that follows the familiarfive-fold pattern.66 revelatory insights, however, this pattern assumes a reverse order: the seeker starts from the lower stages associated with engenderedmaterialexistence, then to graduallyascends to the highermysteriesof Being pertaining the unfathomable Godheadas such. Thus, the experientialprogressof man towardsa realizationof God is made possible by the correspondencebetween the humanand the divine. It is in the structureof his own self and his own thinkingthat man finds the vital clue to the mysteriesof cosmos and creation.For manis a condensedimageof the world that is nothingbut God's rationalityprojectedinto outwardexistence.67 In the final section of the Misbah al-hidaya, Khomeinidelineatedthe path to be taken by those human beings seeking to fulfill their preordained cosmic function. Although this is also one of the characteristic akbarian themes, Khomeini departed, in this case, from Ibn Arabi's two-fold scheme, replacingit with a more detailed one involving four stages of human self-fulfillment.He seemed to be following the pattern established by Mulla Sadra in his al-Asfar al-arba'a. Ibn Arabi used to envision the gnostic's goal as "passing away from self"(fana'), culminating in a complete comprehension of Divine Unity and rejecting any notion of "otherness." This comprehensionresults in a drastic departurefrom the multiplicityassociated with the phenomenal existence-an experience succeeded by the stage of subsistence (baqa'), when the seeker returnsfrom his unifyingvision back to the multipleuniverse. From this spiritual journey the gnostic bringswith him a newly acquiredknowledgethat he is obliged to impartto the others. Very probablyKhomeini'sfour-stageventure is simply a furtherparticularization of Ibn Arabi's vision of an exemplarhumandestiny and self-fulfillment. Seen in the light of the myth of the microcosmicreturn,the experientialventure performed by the perfect man is a mirrorreflection of the experience of the Absolute: an abstract and insipid image of Himself projected into nothingness returns to Him in the variegated and colorful form of material existence. man's uninitiatedand thus chaotic vision of universaldisparity Correspondingly, and multiplicitygraduallybecomes orderly and structuredas he gains an ever deeper understandingof the creative situation and the all-pervasivenessof the divine Absolute and its Being. The similaritybetween divine and humanexperi-

of 66. For a detailedanalysis of such a patternin the works of medievalrepresentatives the wujudischool, see Chittick,"FiveDivine Presences," passim. 67. Ibid., p. 62. Much of what Khomeinisays here has close parallelsin Ibn Arabi's Fusus al-hikam,where man is portrayedas "the microcosmicimage of the macrocosm"who experiences process both as being partof the greatercreativeprocess and also as havingwithin "the imaginative himself an imaginativefaculty." As a result, man experiences "an imaginationwithin an Imagination," his own microcosmicdreambeingpartof the greatermacrocosmic"dream."Austin,Bezels, p. 119. For Ibn Arabi's general view of humanfunctionin the universalcreative process, see Austin, Bezels, pp. 46-59.

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ences have wide-ranging theological and philosophical implications that are complicatedand requirea separate study.68 KHOMEINI'SPATH In summarizing overallimpressionproducedby the Du'a' and the Misbah the al-hidaya, one may describethem as apologeticworks writtenby a beginner,and, therefore, somewhatlackingin focus. They were constructedfrom roughlyhewn blocks of the traditional knowledge, which do not always fit well together. Because of this, the works in questionmay remindthe readerversed in irfanof a student's compendium, embracinga great deal of important, yet often poorly digested, information.It seems likely that, at the beginning,young Khomeiniwas too overwhelmedand fascinatedby the traditionto make a coherent renditionof it. Writtensomewhatlater, Khomeini'sglosses on Qaysari'scommentaryof the Fusus al-hikam display the greater maturityand growing independence of the author'sthought. His overall approachwas dictatedby the genre of commentary writing that imposed on the commentatora number of substantiallimitations, albeit allowinghim a certaindegree of discursivefreedom. Unlike Qaysari,whose concern with the metaphysicalaspects of Ibn Arabi's masterpiecepromptedhim to make long digressionsfrom his direct subject,69 Khomeiniconsciously circumscribed his comments to the issues raised in the text. His notes were brief and mostly to the point, furnishinga helpful guide to the reader. He seemed quite at home in the complex and often reconditeterminologyworked out by the wujudi school, of which Qaysari is a vivid representative. On many occasions he corrected the latter's interpretations.70 The authorities cited in Khomeini's supercommentarywere more or less similarto the ones that appearin the text of the Misbah al-hidaya. His principle sources were either the works by Ibn Arabi (such as Insha' al-dawa'ir [The drawingof circles]) or writingscomposed by his followers. The future ayatollah also quoted several Shi'i traditionsattributedto Ali. It is interestingto note that in the writings of Sunni authors these same traditionsare routinely ascribed to Sunni authorities, namely the first Caliph Abu Bakr,71generally detested by Shi'as, who regardhim as the usurperof leadershipin the Muslim community, which they believe should have gone to Ali.
68. For an interesting discussionof the provenanceanddevelopmentof the teachingsbased on the notion of such similarity an Islamiccontext, see Masataka in Takeshita,Ibn Arabi's Theoryof the Languagesand Culturesof Asia and Africa, 1987). 69. One may stress the fact that Qaysari'scommentary muchlongerthanthe originaltext of is
71. See Misbah al-hidaya, p. 20; see also p. 57.

Perfect Man and Its Place in the History of Islamic Thought (Tokyo: Institute for the Study of the Fusus al-hikam.

70. See Ta'liqatala sharh, p. 27, wherehe defies Qaysari'sunderstanding the a'yan thabita. of

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In other respects, Khomeini's work appears to be an amplificationand elaboration of the keynotes first introduced in the Misbah al-hidaya. The discourse again centers on the process of emergenceof the materialworld from the transcendentalGodhead, "the thought thinking itself," as it differentiates itself througha series of manifestations takingplace on variouslevels. The divine plan in regard to creation achieves its consummationin the personality of the perfect man. Combiningin himself both the traits of God, and the features of the engendered universe, he rises to such a preeminencethat he becomes invested with divine "deputyship"(nayaba)and vicegerency. As a true servantof God, he manifests divine properties "in the most perfect manner, giving everything its due."`72In a sense, he establishes himself as the rulerof the cosmos, acting as a channel of divine Will. He is the only creaturein the world who is granted the vision of both God's intrinsictranscendenceand His immanentpresence in the events and things of material being. "His relationship to the world," said Khomeini, "is that of the spirit to the body; he has attainedthe true existence, and, having abandonedthe creaturyone, his body has become identicalwith the universal Body, his soul-with the universal Soul, and his spirit-with the "73 universal Spirit. These are variationson the basic themes set by Ibn Arabi and elaboratedin greatdetail by his followers. Anyone seekingto readKhomeini'sesoteric treatises in search of some bold theoreticalinnovationsor, perhaps, "a stroke of genius," is likely to be disappointed:neither of these are there. Instead, a reader would discover careful and duly respectful ponderingon the long traditionof Islamic esotericism, with slightdeviationson issues of minorsignificance.One is likely to be struck by the vigorous self-sufficiency,tenacity, and seeming immutabilityof this tradition,its imposingresilience and indifferenceto outwardinfluences, be it sensationalscholarlyand scientificachievementsor dramaticchangesin the social and political life of Muslim societies duringthe last centuries. From a certain viewpoint, Khomeini's esoteric works mightbe seen as timeless insofar as they reader could have been writtenthree, four, or five centuriesago. The non-Muslim well have the impressionthat at least from the time of MirDamadand Mulla may Sadra, and probably much earlier, neither the methods of reasoning, nor the concerns and favorite themes of the wujudiwritershave undergoneany substantial changes, or even minoralternations. This view, however, is a one-sidedreceptionof the situationinformedby the inherently Eurocentricnotions of originalityand change. Despite the purported "immutability"of the tradition that Khomeini tried to revivify in his early seems less apparentupon closer examination.Indeed, writings, this immutability the reader steeped in the irfan and hikmatliteraturewill always be able to spot offeredby the subtle, albeit extremely meaningful,nuances in the interpretations
72. Chittick,Sufi Path of Knowledge,p. 380. 73. Misbahal-hidaya,pp. 89, 90.

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writers who pledged themselves to the school of thought started by Ibn Arabi. Each of those writers proceeded from the accumulatedwisdom of his predecessors, introducingalmost imperceivablemodificationsthat were quite obvious to with the the "insiders," but mightwell pass undetectedby the readerunfamiliar nuances of their ideas and terminology.Yet, on the whole, the discourse of those who adopted akbarianteachings tended to operate within the invisible contours set by the tradition'sfounder. It was within those limits that the wujudi writers were free to exercise their creativity and discursive skills, hence, the acute interest in every new nuance of reasoning,every terminologicalsubtlety, and the great significanceaccorded to the most delicate details of the inheritedauthoritative texts. As time went on, the traditionabsorbeda numberof themes that, although derived from differentsources, proved congenial, in the long run, to the esoteric world outlook introducedby Ibn Arabi. Not surprisingly,Ibn Arabi, being the and "foundingfather," was regardedby his interpreters exponents as the highest authority to whom they appealed when they disagreed with their peers or precursors over a thorny metaphysicalor theological problem. This is exactly what Khomeinidid when he opposed Qaysari'selucidationsof Ibn Arabi's ideas. Nonetheless, on rareoccasions, Khomeiniwas audaciousenoughto question Ibn Arabi's own statements, thus demonstratinga considerabledegree of indepenFor the most part, however, Ibn Arabi, like Caesar's wife, dence of thought.74 remainedabove suspicion. In conclusion, one is obliged to raise the inevitable question of how Khomeini's interest in Islamic esotericism may have affected his political stance as the leader of the IranianRevolution. To answer, the subsequent stages of his career must be reviewed. As years passed, his interestin esoteric philosophyand mysticism did not wane. While still in Qom, he taught mystical philosophy to a close circle of friends and students, amongwhom were the futureayatollahsand Muslimleaders MortezaMotahhari Hosain Ali Montazeri,75 were to play and who active roles in the overthrow of the shah and the establishmentof the Islamic governmentin Iran. Khomeini did not suspend his classes despite opposition to esoteric teachingson the partof many eminentShi'i scholars, includingAyatollah Hosain Borujerdi,the highest Shi'i authorityfrom 1946to 1961.76 Paradoxically, shortly after Borujerdi'sdeath, Khomeini-for unknownreasons-canceled his irfan classes. From the early 1960s onwards he apparentlywas too preoccupied with political activities to give attentionto his philosophicalinclinations.Still, he occasionally introduced the overtones of irfan and hikma philosophy into his
74. See Du'a', pp. 52-3. 75. See Michael M.J. Fischer, Iran: From Religious Dispute to the Islamic Revolution

(Cambridge, MA, and London:HarvardUniversity, 1980),p. 242 and index, p. 310. 76. See Mottahedeh, Mantleof the Prophet,pp. 242-43;Fischer,Iran, p. 242. The reasonswhy the majorityof Shi'i jurists and theologianswere often suspiciousof, or forthrightly opposed to, the irfan-hikmat speculationsare finely explainedin Morris, Wisdomof the Throne,pp. 41-50.

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and of The of morals themeaning Quranic verses.77 rest public discussions Islamic of his life was devotedto the struggle againstthe shah'ssecularregimeandto of foundations the Islamicrevolution.His major workingout the ideological of to of contribution political theorywastheconcept "theguardianship thefaqih" ascension role whichwasto playanimportant in his subsequent (velayat-efaqih), The legacyeclipsedthe other,purportto power.78 political aspectof Khomeini's and his including statusas a edly "less significant less relevant,"dimensions, masterof irfan. never seems to have abanNevertheless,as previouslystated, Khomeini and intellectual doned his early spiritual allegiances. Thus, in publiclectures in he referred delivered late 1972to an audience religious of students, frequently He that of esotericphilosophy. insisted political activity to his knowledge Islamic and in advancement orderto purification spiritual alwaysmustbejoinedto moral validandeffective.79 this end, students shouldmaster the To makeit Islamically and thinkers philosophers thepast.Inhis of mystical workswritten theMuslim by in insights therealstateof affairs the into deeper view,theseworkswouldprovide valuesthatstudents and mustembrace theywantto if universe inculcate genuine and socialharmony attaining perfection. spiritual devotetheirlives to achieving to version In his lectureon the divineNames,whichappears be a simplified and foundin his mystical treatises commentarof the moreintricate speculations himself a strong as advocate mystical of gnosisanddirect ies, Khomeini presented fromthe "outsiders." Such enjoyed a chosenfew, buthidden by visionof realities all instruments by far surpass rational that gnosisanddirectvisionare cognitive and sciences,whichare only able to providean approximate inexactpictureof awareness the saintsand of Reality.Those who deny the insightsandintuitive At of gnosticswithoutproof "forfeitthe attribute humanity." the same time, as is insofar it helpsto avoidthe illusions and rational logicaltraining necessary that and aberrations may be produced unenlightened by mysticalvisions and
ravings.80

to Khomeini's permission publishhis earlierworkson irfan,when he was also at career, bearswitnessto thefactthathe had already thepeakof hispolitical
77. See Mottahedeh,Mantle of the Prophet, p. 242. 78. For this crucialconcept of Khomeini'spoliticaloutlook, see NormanCalder,"AccommoKhomeiniand the ClassicalTradition,"Middle dation and Revolutionin ImamiShi'i Jurisprudence: for Eastern Studies 18, no. 1 (1982); Said Ariomand,The Turban the Crown:Islamic Revolution (Oxfordand New York: OxfordUniversityPress, 1988),index, under"velayat-efaqih"; idem,"The Reviewof Sociologyof Religion36, no. 4 (1989); Rule of God in Iran," Social Compass:International Dabashi,"By WhatAuthority?"ibid.;MichaelKimmel," 'New Prophets'and 'OldIdeas':Charisma and Traditionin the IranianRevolution," ibid.; Seyyed H. Nasr, HamidDabashi,and Seyyed V.R. Shi'ism in History(Albany:SUNY, 1989),pp. 288-367. Nasr, eds., Expectationof the Millennium: 79. See Algar,Islam and Revolution,p. 349. 80. See ibid., pp. 411-13. Also see the positionof Sabzawariand his predecessors,who were between mysticalexperienceand logical thinking" "wholly convinced of the reciprocalrelationship is realization but a vain whichdoes not leadto the highestspiritual andinsistedthat "all philosophizing al-fara'id," p. 10 of the Englishtext. On Mulla and useless pastime." Sabzawari,Sharh-i "Ghurar Sadra'sview of this relationship,see Morris, Wisdomof the Throne,pp. 45-6.

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not disavowed the predilectionhe had harboredin his early years. His open letter to Soviet presidentMikhailGorbachevis yet anotherstrikingexample of how he used his proficiencyin esoteric philosophy.8'Praisingthe formerSoviet leaderfor his heroic efforts to destroy the "repressive Communist regime," Khomeini suggestedthat the ideologicaland culturalvacuumcreated by the fall of Marxism should be filled with immortalphilosophicalteachings and moral values worked out by the medieval Muslimthinkers. Khomeininamed Ibn Arabi and several of his followers as particularly helpful. He invited Soviet scholarsto Qom in orderto partakeof the fountainheadof wisdom and to acquirethe knowledgeessential for the constructionof a new society based on truthandjustice.82This episode is an enlighteningexample of how Khomeinitried to employ his extensive knowledge of irfan for propaganda purposes. Unfortunately,the letter is not equally instructiveas to how his preoccupation with mysticalphilosophycontributedto the shapingof his politicalviews and programs.Neither can it help us to deduce how Khomeini'sirfanleaningsaffected of his understanding his role in the events that broughtdramaticchanges in the political and culturaldevelopmentof Iran. He may have regardedhimself as the perfect man of his time destined to rescue the world of Islam that was overwhelmed by evil and corruptionspawned by the atheistic superpowers. Moreover, he may have viewed his politicalreformsin the context of the cosmological and metaphysical theories outlined above, presenting himself as a "divinely guidedruler," an embodimentof the perfect man of his epoch.83Scholarsneed to examine these questions, although they may not come up with satisfactory solutions because the relationshipis too subtle and personal to yield to even the most competent scholarly analysis. CONCLUSION This survey of Khomeini'sviews on esoteric philosophyhas not exploredthe manyparallelsand similaritieswith Sufidoctrinespriorto Ibn Arabi. These earlier doctrines, no doubt, exercised a profoundinfluenceon Ibn Arabi, and, through themes used by Khomeiniback him, on Khomeini'soutlook. Tracingall akbarian to their origins would be a dauntingand formidabletask. Furthermore,it would not, necessarily, be valuable, because it was in the akbariansynthetic teaching that medieval Sufi traditiontook its final shape, and it was Ibn Arabi's terminology, intellectualmodels, and theologicalthoughtthatbecame the startingpointfor
81. For the English and the Persiantext of the letter, see Iran Times, January13, 1989. Its Russianversion, printedin the form of a flyer, was widely distributed the formerSoviet Union in in 1989-1990.Such flyers seem to have first appearedat an annualbook fair in Moscow and were then reproducedon photocopymachines. 82. This authorhurriedto write a letterto the Iranian embassyin Moscow expressingthe wish to visit the scholars of Qom and to profitby their extensive knowledgeof irfan. A reply was never received. 83. For such bold conjecturessee Rajaee,Khomeini,pp. 35-7.

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the doctrines of most Muslim esotericists-not just those of his adherents. This analysis, at least, demonstratesthat it was those teachings, terminology,models, and theology that played the decisive role in the formationof irfanideas espoused by Khomeini.