The background of Sheikh Mahmoud Shabestari's view on the nature and conditions of thinking in Persian mystical texts before the Gulshan-e-Raz

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Persian language and literature department, the faculty of Persian literature and foreign languages, university of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

2 -Persian language and literature department, the faculty of Persian literature and foreign languages, university of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

10.29252/kavosh.2026.22068.3616

Abstract

Thinking and its nature and characteristics are among the most important and frequent topics raised in the mystical texts of the Islamic period. They are also among the intellectual-mystical concerns of Iranian mystics and the first question that Hosseini Heravi asked Sheikh Mahmoud Shabestari. This led to the writing of the Gulshan-e-Raz, which is related to thinking and its nature. In this article, the authors emphasize the essential distinction between the definitions of thinking in the two fields of mysticism and philosophy while examining the opinions of Islamic mystics in Persian verse and prose works before the Gulshan-e-Raz. They have shown Shabestari's adherence to the Iranian-Islamic theological and mystical tradition on the subject under discussion. Shabestari's perception of the nature of thinking, as an esoteric journey based on discovery and intuition to achieve truth, is in complete agreement with the mystics before him. He also speaks of abstraction and attraction as the necessary conditions for acquiring correct thinking that is immune to deviation. This view is clearly seen in the works of his predecessors as well. Such agreement of opinions may indicate the distinguished position of the Gulshan-e-Raz and the Azerbaijani mystical school in the convergence of mystical currents of the eighth century.

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Main Subjects

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Journal of Kavoshnameh in Persian Language and Literature
Volume 27, Issue 68
June 2026
Pages 75-103

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