British Institute of Persian Studies

The Iranian Component of the Nuayr Religion

Author(s): Meir Michael Bar-Asher
Source: Iran, Vol. 41 (2003), pp. 217-227
Published by: British Institute of Persian Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4300645 .
Accessed: 08/11/2014 13:06
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

British Institute of Persian Studies is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Iran.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE IRANIAN COMPONENTOF THE NUSAYRI RELIGION*

By MeirMichaelBar-Asher
TheHebrew Universityof Jerusalem
In memoryof myfather

Studyof the Nusayrireligionrevealsthe existence

of a notable Iranian component, constituting an
importantelementin the syncretisticcomplexof this
religion.1This componentseems to have played a
greaterrole in the early stages of the formationof
Nusayrireligionthanin its laterstages.The aim of the
present study is to bring to light and analyse this
component,which,to my knowledge,has not attracted
Neverthelessthis studydoes
muchscholarlyattention.2
not attemptto evaluatethe relativeplace within the
NusayrIreligioussystemof the variouselementsthat
constituteits overallmosaic.3Rather,it focuseson the
of the
Iranianelementitself, offeringan interpretation
which
this
and
circumstances
against
background
elemententeredthe Nusayrireligion.
The earliestNusayrisourcemakingit possible to
studythe natureof Nusayrisyncretism,includingits
Iranian element, is Majmi' al-a vdd ("Book of
Festivals")by Abi Sa'IdMaymfmb. Qasimal-Tabarani
(d. 424/1034-35), a prominentleader and prolific
scholarin the formativeperiodof the Nusayriregion.4
This is an account of the Nusayri festivals based,
b.
accordingto the author,on a treatiseby al-Hlusayn
Hamdan al-Khasibi entitled al-Risala al-rcdstbashiyya
andreferredto severaltimesin Majmzi'al-a ydd.5

Mahdiis also believedto take place on these sacred

days.10

Thedeitymanifestsitselfcyclicallyin the formof a

trinity.Accordingto the Nu?sayri
trinitariandoctrine,
documented
as earlyas thetenthcentury,two entitiesor
persons(aqdnim)emanatefromthe supremeaspectof
the deity. This supreme aspect is named ma'na
(connotingmeaningoressence)andis attimesidentified
withGodhimself.The secondis the ism(theName)or
thehijiib(theVeil).11
Thethirdentityis thebab(Gate)the
namely, gatethroughwhichthegnosticbelievermay
contemplatethe mysteryof divinitywhile aimingto
attaina mysticalunionwiththe deity.12
Thistrinityrevealsitselfin sevencycles,whichspan
the historyof mankind.In each cycle (labelleddawr,
kawr or qubba), the deity has been incarnatedin
historicalor mythicalpersons.The plethoraof beings
playing a role in the Nusayri divine realm include
biblicalfigures,alongsidethosefromtheGreek,Iranian
andArabtraditions.In the seventhandlast cycle, "the
Muhammadan cycle" (al-qubba al-muhammadiyya),

whichopensthe Muslimera,the trinitywas incarnated

in threekey beings of earlyIslam:'Ali as the ma'nd;
Muhammadas the ism;and Salmanthe Persianas the
bNb.

The syncretisticnatureof the Nusayrireligionis

apparentalso in the lists of figuresin whichthe trinity
is incarnatedthroughoutthe seven cycles, theirnames
entitled Kitlb Ta'lim diydnat al-nusayriyya (literally:
A late derivingfromvariousreligioustraditions.Noteworthy
"Bookof instructionin the Nusayrireligion").6
work most probablycomposedduringthe nineteenth for the presentstudyis the role playedby Salmanthe
century,it seems to have been influencedby Western Persian,being the ultimatebab in the most important
Christiancatechismscirculatingin nineteenth-century trinity.Moreover,the identificationof Salmanwith
Riizbihb. Marzban(R-izbihbeing, in fact, Salman's
Syria,as attestedby RendDussaud.7
Theareaof theNusayrireligionin whichtheIranian Persiannamebeforehis conversionto Islam)alludesto
componentis mostprevalentis a theologicaldiscussion the conceptto whichI shallreturnlater- namely,that
the divinityis believedto have revealeditself among
of theyawmal-nawrfiz(theIranianfestivalof the New
the Iraniansalready in ancient times, prior to the
Year,beginningwiththe vernalequinox)andyawmalof
the
festival
Iranian
autumn
equinox).8 emergenceof Islam. This line of thoughtis further
mihraj]n(the
discussionof the festivalof
These are believedto be the days on which the deity elaboratedin al-Tabarani's
revealeditselfin variousformsandgarbsin all periods, Nawrfiz. The following passage, which opens the
illustratesthe role reservedfor the
both mythicaland historical.9Moreover,the eschat- chapteron
Nawrnz,
Iranians
in
the
in
of
the
of
the
manifestation
Nusayritheology:
deity
person
ological

The other source, though it contains somewhat

meagreadditionalinformation,is a Nusayricatechism

217

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

218

JOURNALOF PERSIAN STUDIES

[Nawrfiz]alwaysfallson the fourthdayof April.It is

the firstday of the Iranianyear,whichbeginsin the
monthnamedfarwardin.It is a praiseworthy
day,of
in
moment
and
the
of
God
and
great
importance
eyes
themawall13- peacebe uponthem- onwhichthey
bestowtheirgrace...Know,mayGodsupportyou by
yourobedienceto Him, thatthe PersiansKings,the
Khosrows (mul/k al-furs al-akdsira)14used [to
celebrate]it and to glorify it. They furtherused to
wear [on this day] crownsmadeof myrtle(as) and
andto sprinklewater;andthis
marigold(adharyfn),15
is why it is callednawrfiz.16
Theyusedto greeteach
otherandofferpresentsof myrtle,marigoldandolive
leaves,andaskedforall goodwishesandblessingson
themselves.17
The patron(al-mawld,i.e. God manifestedin 'Ali)
revealedHimselfin [thefiguresof] theIraniankings,
and manifestedin them His Names (asmd'),His
Gates (abwdb),and the ranks of His holiness namely,the greatluminousworld(al-'dlamal-kabir
Our masteral-Khasibi- may God
al-nfirmnt)18...
his
sanctify spirit- clarifiedthisin his epistleandhis
treatiseon the sequence[of divine manifestations]
(Fi'l-siydqa)19saying: Adam, having concealed
himself,revealedhimself in [the figureof] Enosh;
Seth, who was then the ma'nd, removed him
andrevealedhimselfin a formsimilarto
(azdlahu)20
his [Adam's=Enosh].
Adamthenrevealedhimselfin
[the figure of] Alexander,"the two-homed"(aliskandardhu'l-qarnayn);21
Daniel,22who was then
the ma'na,removedhim and revealedhimself in a
formsimilarto his [Adam's=Alexander].
Adamthen
revealedhimselfduringthe Iranianera(al-qubbaalsonof Babakthe
farisiyya)in [thefigureofJArdashir,
thefirstIraniankingof theSasaniddynasty;
Iranian,23
[Alexander]"the two-homed",who was then the
ma'na,removedhim andrevealedhimselfin a form
similar to his [Adam's=Ardashir].Adam then
revealedhimself in [the figure of] Shabtr,son of
Ardashir.24Ardashir,who was then the
ma'nta,
removedhim andrevealedhimselfin a formsimilar
to his [Adam's=Shabir].
Adamthenrevealedhimself
- in [the
in the Houseof theArabs(baytal-'arab)25
figureof] Lu'ayyb. Ghalib.Lu'ayywas given this
name becausehe turned[alwi] the [divine]lights
fromthe landof Persiato the landof theHijaz- for
[thepersonsof thetrinity,i.e.] thema'na,the ismand
thebabmanifestedthemselvesthere.[God],however,
left the representatives
of His wisdomso
(maqcmcit)

that it [the wisdom]wouldpass amongtheirkings.

[Moreover],He establishedan image(mithll)of [the
trinity]of the ma'na,the ism and the bib [in the
figuresof thekings]Shirvin,KhirvinandKhusrowup
to Khusrow Abarviz [=Aparwez], son of
The latter"changedandmodified[the
Anfishirvan.26
truereligion?],was arrogantandopposedthe master
Muhlammad.
Kingshipwas cut off fromthe Iranians
because of his [Khusrow's]disobedience"(wainnahu ghayyara wa-baddala wa-stakbara wakhdlafaal-sayyid Muhammad
fa-nqarada al-mulk
minal-fursbi-ma'siyatihi).27
Al-Tabaranlpresents here concisely the doctrine of
the Nusayri cyclical manifestationof the divinity in the
form of a trinity that reveals itself recurrently
throughout human history. Adam, who is repeatedly
mentioned in the passage, appearinglaterunderthe title
adam al-idacm,28is a sort of archetypalor pre-cosmic
Adam.29The divinity - or more precisely an aspect of
it, the ism, personified in the form of Adam - conceals
itself and reveals itself in the figure of Enosh; Seth who
was then the ma na - the supreme aspect of the trinity
- removes the ism, the second person of the trinityand
reveals himself in a form similar to his (Adam's). This
process repeats itself in the various manifestations of
the deity. Moreover, our text is characterisedby the
introductionof the notion of internal dynamics within
the divine realm, known from other Nusayri texts, an
example being an epistle by the tenth-centuryNusayri
scholarAbu'Abd Allah al-Husaynb. Harunal-Sa'igh.30
Thus a figure that in a certainmanifestationof the deity
appears as playing a minor role may be elevated in
anothercycle to a higher degree, that of a ma 'na.Hence
in the second cycle Adam, the ism, reveals himself in
the form of Alexander,whose role is presumablythat of
a bab, and is removed by the ma 'nd,Daniel. However,
in the next manifestation of the deity - during the
Iraniancycle31- Alexanderis elevated to the degree of
ma'n; Adam remains in his role of ism and manifests
himself in the person of Ardashir, son of Babak, the
bMb.Later, Ardashirhimself ascends to the degree of
ma'na, and so on. The uniqueness of this theology lies
in the role reserved in it for Adam. In contrastto other
Nusayri texts,32Adam seems to representthe person of
the ism in all the cycles.
The most essential point in this passage is the way
the authorpresentsthe deity as being incarnatedamong
the Iraniankings of the Sasanid dynasty. It should be

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE IRANIAN COMPONENT OF THE NUSAYRI RELIGION

219

stressed,first,thatthereis nothingexceptionalin the

concept that the deity manifests itself among the
Iranians;for since its beginningsthe Nusayrireligion,
like the Druzereligion,has been characterised
by its
universalisttendency.The religionaddresseditself to
all mankind,and the doctrinaljustificationfor this
foundits expressionin thebeliefthatthedeity,whichin
its finalmanifestation
was incarnatedin the figuresof
'Ali, Muhammadand Salman, had initially been
manifestedamong various peoples and nations
hencethe plethoraof namesby whichareknown'Alithe-Godand the many figureswho play variousroles
within the Nusayri divine realm.33Against this
then,the tendencyto accordthe Iranians
background,
an appropriaterepresentationis not surprising.Our
passage however goes further.It reflects a strong
andseemsto
tensionbetweenArabismandIranianism,
have emerged from Shu'ibi or ratherneo-Shu'abi
circles.34However,the strugglebetween Arabs and
Iranians,which has its echoes in both Shi'i and nonin ourtextfromtheearthlyto
Shi'icircles,is transposed
the divine realm.From the outset, says al-Tabarani,
Godpreferred
theIraniansovertheArabsandtherefore
revealed himself among their kings. The sins
committedby theIranians- or,moreprecisely,by one
of theirkings,KhusrowII- broughtuponthemGod's
punishment, that is, the transfer of his lights
the divinepresence)fromamongthemto
(representing
the Arabs,God'snewly electedpeople.
Precisionin chronologyis not the strongestfeature
of this text, which is characterisedby its mythical
nature.Onthe one handit is statedthatthetransitionof
the divinepresencefromthe Iraniansto theArabstook
place duringthe lifetimeof KhusrowII, whose reign
(590-628) corresponds partially to the years of
Muhammad's
activityas a prophet;on the otherhand
Lu'ayyb. Ghalibis presentedas the personin whose
lifetime this transformationtook place. Lu'ayy,
however,was one of the ancestorsof Qurayshand
lived, accordingto the traditionalchronology,some
The author
eight generationsbefore Muhammad.35

earthlyarena- that is, the collapse of the Sasanid

monarchyand the transitionof kingship from the
Iraniansto theArabs- is a reflectionof theirfall in the
divinearena.Ourtext does not elaborateon the sins of
the Iraniansthatresultedin the loss of theirkingship.
The authormerely states that the king in question
(Khusrow II) "changed and modified [the true
religion?], was arrogantand opposed the master
laterhe addsto the two generalsins a
Muhammad";37
no
less
third,
generalsin, "[KhusrowII] laid claim to
to
which
he had no right"(wa-dda'dli-nafsihi
things

furtheranchorsthe role of Lu'ayy in a play of words on

his name: "Lu'ayy was given this name because he
turnedthe [divine] lights from the land of Persia to the
land of the Hijaz." (wa-innamaisummiya lu'ayyan liannahu alwcial-anwar min ardfaris ild ard al-hijlz).36
Leaving aside the chronological inaccuracy of the

Iraniannatureof the authorand his desire to witness a

world in which Iraniansupremacyis restored.

text, it seems that the author'smain purposeis to

introducethe idea that the decline of the Iraniansin the

ma laysa lahu).38

AccusingKhusrowII of forgeryandof alteringthe

religiontallieswith the way he is depictedin Muslim
historicalsources.Thus al-Mas'uidiin his Muri@jaldhahabdescribesthis king as "he who removedthe
rulesof the [Zoroastrian]
priests,therebybreakingthe
accustomedshari'a and sunna, altering rules and
removing prescriptions"(wa-qad ktna azdla ahkidmalmitbadhdn fa-kharama bi-dhtlika al-shari'a wa'lsunna al-ma 'hida wa-ghayyara
alal-ahkctmwa-azila
rusuim).39

It seems furthermore
thatthe fact thatKhusrowII
was the Sasanid monarch during whose reign
Muhammad's
propheticmissiontookplaceexacerbated
the process of denigratinghim, making him an
archetypal enemy of Islam, the newly emerging
civilisation.
It is noteworthythatin theNusayrimythof the Fall,
prideandarroganceareamongthe sins thatcausedthe
souls of the believersto fall fromthe divineworldof
lights to the materialworld.40However,the author,
whose identification with the Iranians and their
religiousheritageis unequivocallyexpressedin this
text, mitigatesthe severe implicationsof the text by
of the Iraniansis
explainingthatGod's abandonment
not categoricalor withouthope for the future.On the
contrary,in various explicit and implicit ways, the
natureof the removalof
authorpointsto the temporary
God'spresencefromthe Iranians.
Three majorpoints attest the unequivocalphilo-

(1) The authoremphasises that God's abandonmentof

the Iraniansis not complete. On the contrary,even after
abandoningthem and electing the Arabs in their stead,
God deposited among them "representativesof His
wisdom" (maqamathikmatihi)- that is, a trinityin the

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

JOURNALOF PERSIAN STUDIES

220

imageof the supremetrinity,personifiedin the figures

of three kings, Shirvin,Khirvinand Khusrow.The
authorpoints out the inferiornatureof this trinity,
statingthatthe three"takecareof the [divine]wisdom
insteadof themana, the ismandthebab,sincetheyare
the servantsof the ma na andthosewho knowhim,the
ism and the bMb"(wa-annahum
yaqiimiinabi-maqdm
al-ma'ndtwa'-ism wa'l-babli-annahum'abidal-ma'n5
bihiwa-bi'l-ismwa l-bdb).41
al-'cnriftina
Onlythe thirdof these(Khusrow)canbe identified
as a historicalfigure; the other two (Shirv-mn
and
seem
to
be
as
is
often
the
case
Khirvin)
pureinventions,
withfigureswithinthedivineemanations
inNusayri(as
well as in Druzeor Ismai'ili)texts.Forthe authorit is
sufficientthatthenameshaveanIranianring.Later,this
inferiortrinity is mentionedagain, and the author
explicitly identifies Khirvin and Khusrow with
Muhammadand Salman- the ism and the bab while Shirvinis presentedas the supremehypostasisof
the trinity,identifiedwith 'Ali.42
The author further emphasises that "when
abandoningthe Iraniansand bestowinghis wisdom
upon the Arabs, God was satisfiedwith them and
promisedhe wouldreturnto them"(wa-annaal-mawlci
jallat qudratuhukhallafa hikmatahufi'l-furs wantaqala 'anhum wa-huwa rcddin 'alayhim waaw'adahum annahuya 'i"du
fihim).43

In addition,al-Khasibiattemptsto minimisethe
Iranians'loss of supremacyto the Arabsby statingthat
they continuedto celebratethe festivalsof the Nawraz
andMihrajan,
whichhadbeeninstitutedby theirkings,
as
the
observethe threefestivalsof 'id alArabs44
just
fi.tr 'id al-adhI and 'id al-ghadir.All these festivals,
then,will be celebrateduntilthe futureappearanceof
the Mahdi.45
(2) The chief meritof the Iranians,which the author
adducesas the reasonfor Godpreferring
them,is that,
unlikethe Arabs,theypreservedthe divinemysterythat is, the mystery of God's manifestationand
concealmentthroughfire, which is at the heart of
NawrQz.This notion is presentedthrougha striking
of the Qur'~nicversesrelatingto God's
interpretation
revelationto Mosesin theburningbush:
He [='Ali]is theonewho saidthatGodthemostHigh
entrustedyou with a secretand revealedsomething
amongyou [-=theArabs]andenabledyou to receive
it. But you lost it while the Iraniansguardedit. This

thing is God's concealmentfrom them and His

manifestationamong them throughfire, and His
manifestation
in light(wa-huwalammaazharafihim
al-ghaybabi'l-ndrwa'l-zuhifrbihti wa'l-nifrwa'lzuhalrbihi).And to this refer [God's]wordsin the
accountof Moses:"He[=Moses]observedon theside

of theMounta fire.He saidto hishousehold

'Tarry
you here;I observea fire. PerhapsI will bringyou
fromit' (anasaminjanib
naranqdlali-ahlihi:
al-tar
inni
naran
atikumminha)(Q.
anastu
la'alli
[u]mkuthfi
'a
brand
or
I
shall
find
at
the fire guidance'
28:29)46
aw
al-ncir
hudan)(Q. 20:10).And
(bi-qabas ajida'ald
in anotheraccount'I shallbringyou news of it or a
faggot from the fire, that haply you shall warm
yourselves'(atikumminhabi-khabarawjadhwamin
al-ncr la'allakumtastalfna)(Q. 28:29). "Whenhe
cameto it, a voicewasheardfromtherightbankof the
watercourse,in the sacredhollow,comingfromthe

tree:'MosesI am God,theLordof all Being'(falammiatdhda

al-wcidal-aymanfi'lniidiya[minshAdti'
minal-shajaraan]yd Mfisa[inni
buq'aal-mubdraka
rabb
al-'tlamina]")(Q. 28:30).'Putoff your
andtllah
shoes.Youarein the holy valleyTuwa"'(ikhla'na'.tuwan)
(Q.20:12)
laykainnakabi'l-wadial-muqaddas
- up to his [statement]
in his [=al-Khasibi's
epistle]
on Fiqh:"TheIraniansworshippedfire and awaited
fromit, henceGod'sappearance
[God's]appearance
them.
among
They constantlyupholdit, manifestit,
set it ablazeandawaitthe fulfillmentof His promise.
This is the reasonfor the Iranians'celebrationof
Nawruzandthewearingof crownson it."47

Thesupremacyof theIraniansovertheArabsfound
expressionin theirguardingof the mysterywithwhich
God had entrustedthem -

that is, the mystery of fire

and light as a mediumthroughwhich God reveals

himself to the initiated. The Iraniansare praised
discussionof the Nawrtizfor
throughoutal-Tabarani's
theirperceivingthe innerqualitiesof fire andlight.To
stress the notion of fire/light,the author- though
awareof the correctetymologyof the word nawriiz,
- bases the significance of the
connoting "new day'"48
day on a fanciful etymology of the term that he derives
from the words nir (light) and ziyy (clothes).49This
strong emphasis on fire and light may reflect a residue
of Zoroastrianreverence for fire. However, even if the
author is alluding here to his sympathy toward
Zoroastrian worship, he is reluctant to convey it
outright.He may thereforehave referredto the Qur'anic

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE IRANIAN COMPONENT OF THE NUSAYRI RELIGION

storyaboutGod'srevelationto Moses as a meansof

facilitatingthe acceptanceof thisnotion.50
The day of the Nawruzbecomesthen the heartof
the author'sdiscussion.Followingtraditionsprevalent
in Imamni
literature,it is depictedas a cosmic day,one
on whichmajorhistoricalormythicaleventstookplace.
It is believedto be the day on whichGod acceptedthe
covenantsof his servantsto worshiphimandto believe
in his unity (referringto Q. 7:172);51the first day on
whichthesunrose,thewindsblewandthe splendourof
the worldwas created;the dayNoah'sarkcameto rest
uponMountArarat.It is thedayon whichGabrielcame
down to Muhammadsummoning him to be the
Messengerof God.It is the day on whichMuhammad
bore'Ali uponhis shoulderso thathe couldflingdown
anddestroythe idols of Qurayshfromatopthe Ka'ba;
the day on whichthe Prophetorderedhis companions
to pledgeallegianceto 'Ali as his heir.It is the day on
which the Mahdi shall appear with his deputies,
triumphoverthe Antichristandcrucifyhim.52
It shouldbe emphasisedthatthe ritualdrinkingof
wine during the celebrationof the Nusayri Mass
(quddds),thoughperformedon variousoccasions,is
closely affiliatedto the day of Nawruz.This sacred
wine, calledin Nusayritexts 'abdal-nfir("theservant
of light"),is believed to be a centralelementin the
statesin the
NusayriNawruzfestival.As al-Tabarani
in it [i.e. in the Nawruiz]
"Drink53
nameof al-Khagsibi:
'abdal-nifrfor it is the entityof the fire which God
madeas his greatestsacrificeandthemostnobleentity"
(wa-sta mnilf
fiihi 'abd al-nifr alladhi huwa shakhs
al-a zam
al-nir
allatija'alahaallahqurbanahu
hadhihi
wa-shakhsahu
al-mukarram).54
This affinity between the sacred wine and the
festivalof Nawriizis furtherelaboratedin Majmii'ala'yvd in a liturgicalhymn ascribedto al-Khasibiand
Hereareits first,
citedalso in theNusayriCatechism.55
secondandfifthverses:

221

khamral-zull fa-innahu/ yawmatajallanfiruhubighama'im).56

These verses epitomisesome of the majorideas
dealtwithabove.TheIraniansarepresentedhereas the
peopleamongwhomthedeityrevealeditselfon theday
of the Nawrutzbefore its manifestationamong the
Arabs.Thesacredwineconsumedduringthe festivalof
the Nawrazsymbolisesthe divinelight,the essenceof
'Ali-the-God,who appears inter alia through the
clouds.57

1. Nawriz is a beneficialandsuccessfultruth/ realised

in the closenessto God of the most noble of [the

(3) The divinepredilectionfor the Iraniansis reflected

in their being represented also in the last two
manifestationsof the trinity- throughoutboth the
Christian cycle (al-qubba al-'isdwiyya) and the
Muhammadan
cycle (al-qubbaal-muhammadiyya)
thatis, in the eraof the Iranians'declineandthe riseof
the Arabs.In both cycles the Iraniansplay the role of
in
the bab:in the Christiancycle, the babis incarnated
in the primaryandmostperfect
Ruzbihb. al-Marzban;
trinity it is incarnatedin the figure of Salmanthe
of
Persian,who is seeminglyregardedas a prefiguration
Ruizbihb. al-Marzban
Salman's
Persian
(Ruizbih
being
name,priorto his conversionto Islam).58
The supremacyof the Iraniansover the Arabs,as
well as over all other nations,emergesadditionally
from the belief that they are the only nationamong
whichthe deitymanifesteditselfrepeatedly.
According
to al-Tabarani,
unlikeotherpeoplesandnationsamong
which the deity reveals itself in a single cycle, the
Iranians,or rathertheirkings,aredistinguished
by four
cycles of revelation,namedqibdbor tabaqdt.Threeof
in
thesecycles- primarilythe firsttwo - correspond
to
two
in
Iranian
The
periods early
mythology.
part
authorliststhe namesof kingsof the Pishdadidandthe
Kayanidmythicaldynastiesamongwhomthe divinity
revealeditself.59
The first cycle consists of five of the Pishdadid
kings - Kayiimarth,Tahmiiath,Jamshid,Bivarasp
and Faridtin;to them are added various Iranian

sons of] Hashim (nawriazhaqq mustafid ghinim /

bi-wald'i akramHaishim)
mutahzaqqiq
2. [It is] a day on which God revealed Himself in the
Iranian cycles / before the cycle of the Arabs
(yawma abana llahufihi zuhifrahu/ qabla al-a aribi
ft qibaiba 'ijim).
5. Drink pure wine, for this is the day on which his
light was manifested in the clouds (fa-shrab min al-

mythological heroes such as Rustam.60

The second cycle includes all four kings of the
Kayinid dynasty - Kay Qobad, Kay Kavtis, Kay
Khusrow and Kay Lohraisb;61accompanied by other
names, some of which are unidentifiable.Noteworthy is
the inclusion of Cyrus (Kirus), the only representative
of the historical Achaemenid dynasty.62The third and
fourth cycles include the names of kings from the

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

222

JOURNALOF PERSIAN STUDIES

Sasaniddynasty,to whom are againappendedvarious

Iraniannames,someof whichseemto be invented(e.g.
the enigmaticZadanal-akbarand Zadanal-asghar).
Evena cursoryglanceattheselistsrevealsthattheyare
andanachronisms.
Theirmain
repletewithinaccuracies
seems
to
be
to
accentuate
both
the
purpose
supremacy
of the Iraniansand the antiquityof their election as
God'schosenpeople.
Finallyof note is the placeof the Persianlanguage
in Nusayriwritingsin generalandin the accountof the
Nawriz and Mihrajanin particular.The chapters
dealingwiththeIranianfestivals,likeNusayriliterature
in general, are writtenin Arabic;this includes the
liturgicalsectionsof prayersandliturgicalinstructions.
the followingshortprayerfor
Againstthisbackground
thedayof Mihrajan,interspersed
withritualinvocations
in Persian,standsout. Theseinvocationsmay reflecta
residuefromthe earlydayswhennot only the Iranians
but also theirtongueenjoyeda distinguishedstatusin
the Nusayrireligion:
be aware,be aware,be
O Nobahar,O Nobahar;63

aware;By theeternalBahman,
by themanifestation
in theclouds,by Razbih-Salman,64
by thepriests,by
thePriestof priests;O newspring,O newspring,O
newspring;
be aware,beaware,be aware,[Ibeseech
evilfromus andto realizeforus that
remove
youto]
whichwe acknowledged
with respectto you in
preexistence...(...ya nobahir,yd nabahtr,zinhwr,
zinhar be-bahmanal-azali wa'l-zohifralzinhr,
kanhawariwa-riizbihal-salsali, bel-mabadhan,bemabadhal-mabadhan;
ya nobahr, ydcndbahir,yyi
'annaalzinhr,
zinhar,
zinhwr,
nabahtr,
illctkashafta
zulm wa-haqqaqta lanj md aqrarna laka fl'lqidam).65

Khasibi's hymn on Nawriz. The believer further

beseeches the bib Salman-Razbih,
namely,the gate
he
aims
which
to
attain
the
through
mysteryof divinity.
CONCLUDINGREMARKS
The existence of an Iraniancomponentin the
Nusayri religion is unquestionable,yet it nevertheless

raises some importantand interrelatedquestions:(1)

How did Iranianelements find their way into the
Nusayr!religion?(2) Whatis the relativesignificance
of these elementsin the NusayrIsyncretisticmould?;
(3) Why did this Iranian,neo-Shu'iibiphasehave only
a marginalimpacton theNusayrireligion?
A betterknowledgeof the formativephase of the
Nusayrlreligionandits earlydevelopmentwouldhelp
to resolve these issues. If we were to accept the

assumption that the Nusayriyya emerged among

extremistShi'~groupsin third/ninth-century
Iraq,69it
wouldbe rathereasy alsoto explaintheexistenceof an
Iraniancomponentwithinthisreligion.Itis possible,on
the basisof Muslimheresiographic
to drawa
literature,
pictureof the politico-religiousfermentin Iraqat the
end of the third/ninth
century.Thiswas the timeof the
Minor Occultationof the last Imam of the Twelver
factionand the resurgenceof the hithertoclandestine
Isma'ilimovementin Iraqand otherprovincesof the
Muslimempire.OtherextremistShi'i groups- later
labelled ghuldt70-

were active at the time, among

prevailsonce againin this liturgicalhymn.The divine

emanationwhich the believerssummon,here named
Bahman- the VohuManah(Good Thought)of the
AvestaandthePahlavitexts66- doesnot seemto refer

them apparentlythe proto-Nusayricircle centred

aroundthe figureof Muhammad
b. Nusayr,theeponym
of the Nusayri religion.7' Iranian devotees and
missionaries were active in these movements,
thecovert- or evenovert- aspirationof
entertaining
Iranian
past glory,or at least of mouldinga
reviving
between
Arabism(or ratherShi'ism) and
synthesis
Iranianculture.Among these philo-Iranians
may be
mentionedthe Mughiriyya,Mansu-riyya,
Khattabiyya72
and other Shi'i sub-sects. The neo-MazdakiKhurramiyyamovementwas also active in that period,

to a specific deity but ratherto indicate Iranianidentity

in general.67Bahman, the most supreme manifestation
of the Iranian deity, is mentioned recurrently under
various abstractderivations such as al-bahmaniyya alsughra and al-bahmaniyya al-kubra, al-qibab albahmaniyya. Moreover, the deity is depicted as
manifesting itself in clouds, here named kanhawar,68 a
synonym ofghama' im in the above-citedverse from al-

aspiring to restore the lost Iranian past through a

renaissanceof the Mazdaki religion.73
Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi's recent study,
"Shahrbani, dame du pays d'Iran et mbre des Imams:
entre l'Iran pr6islamique et le shiisme imamite",74
contributes significantly to promoting a better
understanding of the complex encounter between
Arabism and Iranianismin the early centuriesof Islam.

The syncretistic dimension of Nusayri religion

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE IRANIAN COMPONENT OF THE NUSAYRI RELIGION

Amir-Moezzi focusses on the legend about the

betrothalof the daughterof YazdgirdIII (regn. 632-51),
the last Sasanid king, to the Imam Husayn. This
legendary marriage was perceived in certain Shi'I
traditions as the beginning of the sacred encounter
between Arabismand Iranianism,and the Imams of the
Husaynid line were seen as drawingtheir sanctity from
two holy sources. That this tendency to fuse Arabism
and Iranianism was rife with tension is abundantly
reflected in the texts studiedby Amir-Moezzi as well as
in the Nusayri sources presented here. Alongside
attempts at conciliation, Amir-Moezzi points to three
major tendencies of Iranians toward Arab-Muslim
heritage: (a) an extremist attitude, often characterised
by a complete rejectionof Arab heritage;(b) an attitude
of turningback on the Iranianheritage and striving for
an unconditionalacceptance of and total immersion in
the Arab-Muslimidentity;and (c) an attemptto achieve
harmonisationbetween the Iranianheritage and ArabMuslim civilisation.75The Nusayri texts presentedhere
naturallyreflect the first tendency.
However, the philo-Iranianspirit did not thrive for
long. It seems that with the emigration of the Nusayri
sect from its cradle in Iraq, where it was exposed to
Iranianinfluence, to its new centre in Syria in the days
of al-Khasibi and his successors, the Iranianelements
lost their relevance whereas other, notably Christian,
components prevailed.76
The marginalisation of Iranian motifs notwithstanding, their memory was imprintedon the Nusayrl
collective memory and survived in the domain of ritual
in the form of the Nawruz and Mihrajanfestivals. The
persistence of these festivals in recent times is attested
both by the Nusayri catechism and by al-Adhani's alBikiira al-sulaymdniyya,both of which include them
among the various Nusayri holy days.
In addition to the general tension between
Iranianism and Arabism reflected in the passages of
Majmfi'al-a jdd cited here, it would not be difficult to
point out specific figures who may have served as
channels of Iranian influence on the nascent
Nusayriyya. Especially worthy of mention is alKhasibi's teacher, Abt 'Abd Allah al-Jannan alJunbulani(d. 287/900), of the districtof Faris,who had
seemingly played an important role in introducing
Persian elements into the Nusayri religion.77Moreover,
some of the prominent sages appearingin Majmii' ala ~yidas transmittersof traditions- e.g. al-Husayn b.
Ahmad al-Qazwini, Abu Muhammad 'Abd Allah b.

223

Ayy-ib al-Qummi, Abu al-Husayn 'Ali b. Ahmad alKhurasani,al-Fayyaidb. Mulhammadb. 'Umar al-Tusi
- are of Iranianorigin. These scholars also may have
contributed to introducing Iranian elements into the
new religion.78

Notes

* An earlierversionof thisarticlewasreadin a seminarof a

researchgroupon "ExclusivityandUniversalityin Shi'i
Islam",heldat the Institutefor AdvancedStudiesof The
in thewinterof 2002-03.
HebrewUniversityof Jerusalem
Ali Amir-Moezzi,
am
to
Mohammad
I
grateful Professors
EtanKohlbergand ShaulShakedfor readingthis article
andfortheirinstructive
comments.
On the syncretisticnatureof the Nusayrireligion,see R.
Dussaud,Histoire et religiondes Nosairds(Paris, 1900), pp.

17-76 ("lesnosairisdepuisl'6poqueromainejusqu'anos
jours"); M. Moosa, ExtremistShi'ites: The Ghulat Sects

(New York,1988),especiallythe chapteron the Nusayri

festivals(pp. 382-97). On the presenceof syncretistic
motifsin Islamin general,see C. Colpe,"ThePhenomenon
of Syncretismand the Impacton Islam",in Syncretistic
Religious Communities in the Middle East: Collected
Papers of the Symposium, Berlin 1995, ed. K. Kehl-

Bodrogi, B. Kellner-Heinkeleand A. Otter-Beaujean

(Leiden,New YorkandCologne,1997),pp. 35-48.
SamuelLyde,whoin
ExceptionsaretheBritishmissionary
on theNusayrireligion- The
his pioneeringmonograph
Asian Mystery: The Ansaireeh or Nusairis of Syria

(London,1860)- devoteda few pages(137-38) to this

topic;andMoosa,op. cit.,pp.332-36. 392-93, 399-400.
in theNusayrireligion,seeH.
OntheChristian
components
Lammens,"Les Nosairisfurent-ilschretiens?A propos
d'un livre recent",Revue de l'Orient ChretienVI (1901),

de
"Surles 6l6mentschr6tiens
pp.33-50;M.M.Bar-Asher,
JA CCLXXXIX(2001),
la religionNusayrite-'Alawite",
pp. 185-216.
Thecompletetitleof thebookis KitdibSabil rahatal-arwidh
wa-dalil al-surir wa'l-afrhz ila failiq al-a.sbh. A critical

in Isl. XXVII
editionwas publishedby R. Strothmann
(1946). General accounts of the Nusayri festivals are

offeredby somemodemscholars.Seee.g.Lyde,op cit.,pp.

175-82;Dussaud,op cit.,pp. 136-52;Moosa,op. cit.,pp.
382-97; Abu Musa Hariri,al- 'Alawiyyiinal-nusayriyyimn:
bahthfi'l 'aqida wa'l-ta'rikh (Beirut, 1984), pp. 133-62;
'A. al-Dujayll, Kitiab Majmh' al-av5ad wa'l tarqa alkha.sibiyya,in Majallatal-majma'al-'ilmi al-'iraqi (1956),

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

224

JOURNALOF PERSIAN STUDIES

andthe
naw'anmin
inyila 'ubaynayadayhiwa-lawnan
calendar
pp.618-29.Forananalysisof the
al-rayih.
N.uayri
andantinomian
nature
of theNusayrifestivals,
'aldrasmmuntagam
minal-sharcib
syncretistic
ldyukhdfifinahu
fi'al-anwir
see M.M.Bar-AsherandA. Kofsky,TheNusayri-'Alawi
[Beirut,1403/1983],vol. LVI,p.
tarffib)(Bilhr
115). Myrtlebranchesalso play an importantrole in
Religion: An Enquiryinto Its Theologyand Liturgy
Mandaeanritual(see E. Luplen,The Mandaeans:The
(Leiden,2002),pp. 111-51.
5 The Persian title, rJstbishiyya,is derived from the
Last Gnostics[GrandRapidsandCambridge,2002], pp.
Thiswork,ascribedto
rastbash(be righteous).
15, 23, 25, 29).
imperative
inMajmii' 16 The explanationgiven hereregardingthe affmityof the
is thusfarknownonlyfromquotations
al-Kha.ibi,
al-a
and
ritualsto thenameof thefestivalis notclear.Onthevarious
vd, p. 12,line10,andp. 154,line10.Onal-Khaslbi
hisrolein theformation
of the
for thenameNawriz,
religionandidentity,
etymologiesofferedby al-Tabarani
N.uayri
A
see YaronFriedman,
ibnHamdanal-Khas~bi:
see above,p. 218, andnn.48-49.
"al-H.usayn
theFounder
of
of theNusayr-'Alawite 17 Someof theritualsdepictedhereseemto preserveancient
Historical
Biography
Studia
Islamica
rites performedin pre-IslamicIran.See e.g. P. Azk-yi,
XCIII(2001),pp.91-111.
Sect,"
6
The text is availablein two manuscripts:ms. Paris
Nowriiz:Thrikhche
va-marja'Shendsi
(n.p.,1353sh/1974),
Muhammadan
Festivals
Nationale),fonds arabe6182, ff. la-20b;
(Bibliothbque
pp. 2-14; G.E.von Grunebaum,
ms.Berlin(KiniglicheBibliothek),
no.2086,pp.3-84. For
(London,1976),pp. 53-56; R. Levy andC.E.Bosworth,
aneditionaccompanied
by anannotated
Englishtranslation
"Nawrtz",EP, vol. VII, p. 1047.On Nawrozin Sasanid
of thetext,see Bar-Asher
andKofsky,op.cit.,pp. 163-221
Iran,see also M. Grignaschi,
"Quelquesspecimensde la
litteraturesassanideconserves dans les bibliothbques
(henceforth:
NusayriCatechism).
7 Dussaud,op cit.,introduction,
JA CCLVI(1996),pp. 1-142, at pp. 103-08
d'Istanbul",
p. xxii.
8 Majmii'
al-a aid,pp. 188-229.
Arabic
textof Kitdibal-Tijfi siratAn(ishirvinli-Ibn
(The
9 Ibid.,p. 202, lines9-16.
Frenchtranslation
pp. 129-35 (anannotated
al-Muqaffa'),
10 Ibid.,pp. 199,lines 17-18;cf. alsoibid.,p. 201, lines 1-5.
of Ibnal-Muqaffa"s
text).
"APersianGulfin theSeaof Lights: 18 Thatis, theprimordialworldof lightin which,according
SeealsoJ.Walbridge,
The Chapteron Naw-Rfizin the Bihir al-anwir",Iran
to the Nusayrimyth,the souls of the believersexisted
XXXV(1997),pp. 85-92.
before their fall into the terrestrial
world. See e.g. al11 These terms representthe two aspectsof its dialectic
aled.
Adhani,al-Bakilra sulaymdniyya, Beirut,pp.59-61
nature:pointingto the divinityandthusrevealingit to the
andKofsky,op cit.,pp.
(=ed.Cairo,pp.69-71);Bar-Asher
initiated,whileveilingit fromtheuninitiated.
52, 75-77.
12 For a more detailed
trinitarian 19 Thisseemsto be identicalwiththe morecompletetitleF7
analysisof the
N.uayri
inthethirteenthdoctrine,see Dussaud,op. cit.,pp.46-72;
Moosa,op. cit.,
siydqdtal-guhardit
occurring
anonymously
342-51.
See
also
Bar-Asher
and
treatise
pp. 50-56,
Kofsky,op.
centuryNusayripolemical
by Yfsuf
[=Munctzara]
"Sur
les
de
la
b.
Paris
chrdtiens
cit.,pp. 14-42;Bar-Asher,
al-'Ajiiz al-Nashshabi,ms.
(Bibliotheque
616ments
religionNusayrite-'Alawite,"
pp. 191-99.
Nationale),fondsarabe1450,fols. 118b.Thetitleseemsto
13 I.e. the Imamsand the otherpersonsin whom the deity
refer to the sequenceof God's cyclical manifestations
manifestsitselfthroughout
thehistoryof mankind.
history.
throughout
14 I.e.the
20
of
the
Sasanid
This
notion
of removal(izdla)of a certaindivineemanation
kings
dynasty.
15 These two plantsare integralelementsof the Nawroz
to makeroomfor anotherappearsalso in al-Nashshabi's
rituals.Apartfromthepassagecitedhere,see Majmii'alMundiara.See ibid.,pp. 117a-b.
21 OnthisQur'anic
a tdd,pp. 201, 202, 208, 211. For the use of myrtlein
of Alexander
theGreat(Q. 18:
appellation
cf.
Kitib
see
W.
al-Bikiira
rituals,
al-Adhani,
83,
Nusayri
Watt,"al-Iskandar",
Sulayman
86, 94),
Montgomery
E2,
vol. IV,p. 127.It is noteworthy
thatin Iranianmythology
ft kashfasrir al-diyina al-nusayriyya
al-sulaymuniyya
Alexanderappearsinteralia as an Iranianking. See e.g.
(Beirut,n.d.),p. 37 (-new edition[Cairo,1410/1990],p.
47). See also MuhammadBaqir al-Majlisi[citing Ibn
Firdawsi, Shah-ncima,books 18-20. See also W.L.
Babawayhi's'Ilalal-shari'i'and 'Uyiinakhbural-Ridci]:
EIr,vol. VIII,pp. 609-12;
Hanaway,"Eskandar-N~ma",
Iskandarnawah.
A
Persian
Mediaeval Alexander"TheSasanidsappointedforeachdayan appropriate
sort
of aromaticplant and flower and a kind of wine,
Romance,tr. M.S. Southgate(New York, 1978); Y.
presentedin an orderlyfashionfromwhichthey did not
Yamanaka,"Ambiguit6de l'image d'Alexandrechez
sassanidesdansle Livre
Firdawsi:les tracesdes traditions
deviate" (wa-kainatal-akisira rasamat li-kulli yawm

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE IRANIAN COMPONENT OF THE NUSAYRI RELIGION

des Rois," in Actes du Collogne de Paris, 27-29 novembre

22

1999(Paris,1999),pp.341-53.
HereandelsewhereDanielis associatedwith the Iranian
era.See e.g.NusayrtCatechism,
pp. 173-74(question14),
withnote46. Accordingto Muslimtradition,
Daniellived
in Iranandis believedto be buriedat Susain thedistrictof
Khfizistan.See e.g. Ibn Ishlq Ahmad b. Ibrahimal-

31

23

shahan, wa-huwa alladhi band al-mudun wa-azhara alabniya al-'ajibafmal band min al-mudunwa-tarraqa al-

32
33
34

35

36

25

I.e. ShaborI (regn.241-72).

Majmi' al-a~did, p. 189, line 3. Cf. ibid., p. 211, line 1,
wheretheauthoremploysthepluralform:buyctiatal-'arab.

37

27
28
29

Ibid.,pp.210, lines22 - 211,linel.

Muriaj al-dhahab wa-ma'idin al-jawhar, ed. C. Pellat

(Beirut,1966),vol. I, p. 312. On this king see also alTabari's instructive chapters, The History of al-Tabari
(Ta'rikh al-rusul wa-l-muliik), vol. V, translated and

annotatedby C.E. Bosworth(New York, 1999), pp.

146-62, 236-45, 260-67.
40

See above,n. 18.

41

Majmii'al-avtd, p. 189,line 18-p.

See also ibid., p. 223, line 5: al-buyiit al-farisiyyatwa'lamiakinal-bahmaniyyatwa'l-masakin al-afjamiyycit(for

is derived,see
Bahman,fromwhichthetermbahmaniyyat
n.
The
notion
of
the
as
below, 66).
divinity residingin a
in
is
place widespread Nusayritheology.See e.g. BarAsherandKofsky,op.cit.,pp.54-55. See alsoM. Sharon,
ba-maqomva-yalensham...',"- Le-mashma"'Va-yifga'

44

43

45

referringin factto the Shi'iswho aretheonlyMuslimsto

celebratetheGhadirKhummfestival.
of the
Ibid.,p. 189, lines 11-14. A similarinterpretation
cultof firewithits affinityto therevelation
to Mosesin the
burning bush is given by Shihab al-Din Yahya alSuhrawardi(d. 587/1191). See ShihabaddinYahya

L'Archangeenpourprd:quinze traitis et recits mystiques,

46

translatedfromPersianandArabicby H. Corbin(Paris,
1976),pp. 113-16. I owe the referencesto Suhrawardi's
worksto M.A.Amir-Moezzi.
The English translationof Qur'Rnicverses here and
throughoutthe article is taken from A. Arberry,The
Qur'cn Interpreted (London, 1955), with occasional

modifications.
47

See Bar-Asherand Kofsky,"A NusayriTreatiseon the

Duty to Know the Mysteryof Divinity",in eidem,The
Religion,pp. 89-97.
Nusayri-'Alawi

Ibid.,p. 190, lines 2-3.

It goes without saying that by "Arabs" the author is

et MysticaIII),ed. S.HNasrandH. Corbin(Paris,1970),

pp. 188-90. For an annotatedFrenchtranslationof the
latter paragraphs,see ShihaboddinYahya Sohravardi,

(Jerusalem,
1996),pp. 188-98 (in Hebrew).
KhusrowII (regn.590-628).
Majmia'al-a 'ycd,pp. 188-89.
Ibid.,p. 197,line 13.
For the notion of a pre-cosmicAdam or ratherseven

idamiyyinal-sab'a).

190,line 1.
Ibid.,p. 207, lines13-14. See alsoibid.,p. 211,lines5-13.

Sohrawardi,Shaykh al-Ishrq, (Euvresphilosophiques et

mystiques,vol. II (fEuvres en persan: Opera Metaphysica

Mufaddalb. 'Umaral-Ju'fi),editedby 'A. Tamer(Beirut,

1969), pp. 160-77 (ft ma'rifat mc ja 'a ft tashih a/30

Majma"'al-ayid,p. 189, lines 6-7.

39

42

Adams (sab'at zdamiyinor awadim), see the protoNusayri work Kitacbal-Haft wa'l-azilla (attributedto al-

Muhammad Ibn Islhfq's The Life of the Prophet

Muhammad,tr.A. Guillaume(Oxford, 1955), p. 4.
Majm"'al-a~ycd,p. 189, lines 3-4. The traditionis cited

38

'at ha-mmila 'maqom' ba-miqra",in Mehqarimbe-miqra

u-ve-hinnukh muggashim li-professor Moshe Arend
(="'And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried
there...' [Gen. 28:11] - On the meaning of the word
'place' in the Bible", in Studieson the Bible and Education
presented to Professor Moshe Arend, ed. D. Rafel
26

See e.g.NusayrfCatechism,
p. 171(question5).
183-85
Ibid.,pp.
(questions43-44).
Onwhichsee S. Enderwitz,
EF, vol. IX,
"al-Shu'%biyya",
pp. 513-16.
See e.g. the genealogyof the Prophetat the beginningof

also in al-Tabarmni's
Kitabal-Ma'crif,ms. Or.304 in the
Staats-undUniversititsbibliothek
Hamburg,Carl von
lines
1-2.
Ossietzky,p. 28a,

turuq wa-sharra'a al-shard'i' wa-aqaimausll al-din al'arabiyyawa-kashafamdkcna qadimanmin al-diyandtalfarisiyyat) (Majmii'al-a~yid, p. 210, lines 17-19).
24

Laterit will become clearthatthereare in fact several

Iraniancycles (al-qibabal-farisiyyat).

Tha'labi, Qisas al-anbiyd' al-musamma bi-'ard'is al-

majalis(Beirut,n.d.),pp. 187-91.
Namely,Ardashir(regn.224-41), conquerorof Iranand
the firstking of the Sasaniddynasty.Later,al-TabaranT
depictshim as "theking of kings,who built cities and
marvellousbuildingstherein,pavedroadsand
constructed
theArabfoundations
of religion
enactedlaws,established
(!), and unveiled the ancientIranianreligions"(shah

225

Majmii' al-a'vcd, p. 190, lines 3-11. See also a partial

translation
of thepassageinLyde,TheAsianMystery,
p. 137.
48

Majmci'al-a vcd, p. 208, line 13: "wa'l-nawriz al-yawm

al-jadid"

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

JOURNALOF PERSIAN STUDIES

226

49

"Fa-sammaAllah dhalika al-yawm al-nfr wa-sammat-hu

al-furs nawrtiz mushtaqqmin al-nir wa'l-ziyy" (ibid. p.

198, lines 9-10). See also the otherpopularetymology

ascribedto Abu 'l-Khattab
(d. c. 138/755),theeponymof
in Persian
the KhattabiyyaextremistShi'i sect:
"Rtiz
denotesprotectionfrom transmigration;
its meaningin
Arabicis 'he who knowsGod,mayHe be exaltedon the
dayof theNawruz,is safefromtransmigration"',
(riizbi7farisiyya amanmin al-musFikhiyya;
tafsiruhubi'l'-arabiyya
man 'arafa Allah yawma al-nawraz amina min almustikhiyya)(ibid., p. 202, lines 7-8).
50

51

The authorrefershereto a numberof accountsof God's

manifestation
throughfireto variousindividuals,
e.g. Abel
andAbraham(ibid.,pp.213-14).
On thisverse,knownas "theverseof covenant"(iyat almithcq),and its importancein Shi'i doctrine,see R.
"DerUrvertrag
in derKoranauslegung
Gramlich,
(zu Sura
LX
7, 172-73)",Isl.
(1983),pp. 205-30, whichdiscusses
this versein detailandalso devotessome spaceto early
Imnamexegesis.See alsoM.A.Amir-Moezzi,TheDivine

59

60

Majmi' al-a ?dd, pp. 209-10.

61

Ibid.,p. 210.
Ibid.,p. 210, line6.
This can be renderedeitheras "spring"(literally"new
fireshrine.
spring")or as a Zoroastrian
Salmanis referredto in the Arabictext thatfollows as
Salsal,one of the appellations
by whichhe is sometimes
known.
Majmai'al-a?vd, p. 224, line 19- 225, line4.
On Bahman(=VohuMana)in Zoroastrianism,
see M.

62
63

64

65

66

Royce, A History of Zoroastrianism(Leiden and Cologne,

Guide in Early Shi'tsm: The Sources of Esotericism in

Islam,tr.D. Streight(New York,1994),p. 34; M.M.Bar-

67

Asher, Scripture and Exegesis in Early ImcmitShiism

andLeiden,1999),pp. 132-33.
(Jerusalem
52

53
54

55

56

57

68

Majmf' al-ayidd, p. 199; See also, Bihidral-anwcr, vol.

is citedinthename
LVI,p. 92. Inbothsourcesthetradition
of Ja'faral-Sadiq's
al-Mu'alla
b.
Khunays.See also
mawlkd,
Walbridge,"A PersianGulf in the Sea of Lights",pp.
88-89.
use.
Literally:

Majmii'al-a dd, pp. 208-09; Nusayri Catechism,p. 195

(question 90). See also Moosa, Extremist Shi'ites: The
GhulatSects, pp. 399-400.
Majmi ' al-a i d, pp. 208-09; see also Nusayri Catechism,

p. 195(question92) in theEnglishtranslation;
pp.218-19
Arabic
(the
text).
Forthe beliefamongcertainghulatgroupsthatthe deity,
manifestedin 'Ali, reveals itself in various celestial
'Abdal-Karim
elements,see e.g. Abu 'l-FathMuhammad
al-Shahrastni,Livredes religions et des sectes (=Kitab al-

vol. I, p. 399.
69

70

71

72

58 See al-Tabarani'sKitib al-Ma'irif p. 83, lines 2-3: "inna

P~ket
1411/1991-92),pp.27-29; L. Massignon,"Salmain

See e.g. Lisdn al-'Arab:"al-kanhawarmin al-sahib huwa

qita' min al-salhb amthil al-jibcl",whence E Steingass,A
Comprehensive Persian English Dictionary (London,
also the expressional-qubbaal-kanhawariyya(Majmti'alavidd, p. 211, line 15). See also M. Ullmann, Wirterbuch
der klassischen arabischen Sprache (Wiesbaden, 1970),

milalwa-l-nihal),annotated
Frenchtr.D. GimaretandG.
Monnot(ParisandLouvain,1986),vol. I, p. 451.
awwal muJizcitSalmcn wa-huwaRiizbihibn al-Marzbanfi
awqcdt'Is 'alayhi al-salim." See also Husayn al-Nuri alTabarsial-Tabrisi,Nafas al-rahiminfifad~'il Salman (n.p.,

1975),vol. I, pp. 209-11, 277-78; J. Marten,"Bahman",

EIr,vol. III,pp.487-88.
It seemsthenthattheauthorpresentsBahmanhereas the
his usualroleas baib.
ma'nd,whileSalmanmaintains

a largemass."See
1892),p. 1056:"cloudslikemountains;

Majmii' al-a yad, p. 215, lines 16-17. See also Nu?sayrf

Catechism,
p. 196(question92).

les premicesspirituellesde l'Islam iranien",in Opera

Minora, ed. Y. Moubarac(Beirut,1963), vol. I, pp.
443-83, esp.pp.450-53.
A treasure
troveforthestudyof thesedynastiesandforthe
mythologiesrelated to the kings mentionedhere, is
Firdawsi'sShah-naima.See also A. Christensen,Les
Kayinides(Copenhagen,
1931);"Kayanids,"
E/R,vol. IV,
809.
p.

73

See e.g. H. Halm,Die islamische Gnosis,die extremeSchia

unddie 'Alawiten
(ZurichandMunich,1982),pp.282-83.
See on this Arnir-Moezzi,"Aspectsde l'imrnologie
duodecimaineI: remarquessur la divinit6de l'Imam",
StudiaIranicaXXVI (1996),pp. 194-216,especiallypp.
195-96.
OnIbnNusayrandhis rolein theformation
of Nusayrism,
andKofsky,"DogmaandRitualinKitacb
see Bar-Asher
alma'arifbytheNusayriTheologianAbu Sa'IdMaymunb.
(d. 426/1034-35)"(forthcomimg).
al-Q~simal-Tabar~ni
On thesesects,see e.g. Shahrastani,
Livre des religions et
dessectes,vol. I, pp. 515-25. See alsotheentrieson these
groupsby W. Madelungin EZ, vol. VII,pp. 347-48 (alvol. VI, pp. 441-42 (Mans~iriyya);
vol. IV,
Mughiriyya);
pp. 1132-33("Khatttibiyya").
On this sect, see e.g. Madelung,Religious Trendsin Early

IslamicIran,ColumbiaLectureson Iranian
Studies4 (New
York,1988),pp. 1-11; idem,"Khurramiyya",
ER, vol. V,

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE IRANIAN COMPONENTOF THE NUSAYRI RELIGION

pp. 63-65; P. Crone,"Kavad'sHeresy and Mazdak's

Revolt",IranXXIX(1991),pp. 21-42.
74

In Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam XXVII (2002),

pp. 497-549.

75

76
77

bush]areprobablydueto somePersian,and,in fact,oneof

the divisionsof the bookwhereit is to be foundis styled
'the traditionary
sayings of Abu-Ali of Busra, in his
dwellingsin Shiraz,in the year of the Hijra327 (A.D.

Fora detailedanalyticalsurveyof thesethreeattitudes,

see

938)'." (The Asian Mystery, pp. 137-38). The book

ibid., pp. 532-34.

referredto by Lyde is a Nusayrimanuscriptentitled

"Manualfor Sheikhs"(probablyidenticalwith the work

See above,n. 3.
See Halm,Die islamischeGnosis,pp. 296-97. See also
Amin Ghalib al-Tawil, Ta'rikhal-'alawiyyin
Muh.ammad

78

227

(Beirut,n.d.),pp.258-59.
Of interestis Lyde's observationin his discussionof
Naw-rzthat"thewild conceitsto be foundin thepassage
from which I have taken the above [namely, the
commentaryon the revelationto Moses in the burning

known from other sources as Kitab al-Mashyakha),

extractsof whichareincludedinLyde'sbook(pp.233-69).
So far I have not been able to tracethis Abu 'Ali, who
appearsalso in Majmi7'al-a~vid(p. 28), thoughin a
differentcontext,andmay also have servedas a link,as
of Iranianmaterialsinto
Lydesuggests,in the importation
theNusayrireligion.

This content downloaded from 208.120.98.218 on Sat, 8 Nov 2014 13:06:34 PM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions