Posted by The physical Nawruz is brought about by a change of the year
The spiritual Nawruz occurs but with the transformation of life itself
The Nawruz of the people of verity lies in changing their actions
The Nawruz of the people off falsehood lies in changing their clothes
Nawruz is not something set to fade
Nawruz is something safe from ever fading.
Husayn b. Yaʿqub Shah, Tazyin al-majālis (‘Adornment of Assemblies’) cited in Shafique N. Virani’s “Spring’s Equinox: Nawruz in Ismaili Thought”
The symbolism of spring in general, and of Nawruz in particular, can be found in Ismaili literature of every historical period including Ginans. The season serves a as metaphor for the blessings of the Imam of the time, and conveys symbols of a spiritual world beyond sensory experience.
From the Western Land has arrived the lord
Vested in him are countless hopes
Shattered is the night, the sun has risen!
The imam’s coming is the advent of spring
Flowers have blossomed, the season has bloomed.
Pir Sadaradin, Pachham desathi parabhu padhareya, v 1-3 tr. Shafique N. Virani
Serve none other than that very lord, my brother
Friend, never doubt in this
Hail the advent of the lord, as glorious as the risen sun!
The Imam has arrived, friends, as the spring, and flowers have burst into bloom.
By God, the believers blossom, redolent with fragrance.
Pir Sadaradin, Jugame phire shahaji muneri, tr. Shafique N. Virani
With vigilance exult in the word of the Guide
For this is what illumines the pure soul
As when spring arrives and flowers burst into bloom
In the heart are showers of divine light.
Pir Sadaradin, Abhi abhi antar buj bujantar, tr. Shafique N. Virani
“The imagery of spring sets the stage for a composition by Sayyid Fatḥ ʿAliShah Shamsi [d. after 1792] specifically about Nawruz, which is recited annually by the South Asian Ismailis at the time of the festival.
The Pir describes his encounter with Imam Shah Khalil Allah [d. 1817] on the day of the festival. Considering the association of Nawruz and spring with the revival of souls at the end of time, this epithet carries intriguing symbolic value, and is already a subtle indication of the sublimation of meaning that occurs throughout the composition.
Saddened to learn that the imam had gone hunting in the woods, and overwhelmed by feelings of love, in search of his imam he too entered the forest, and it was there that he encountered Shah Khalil Allah. While the occasion for the composition of the poem is clearly a physical encounter, it is evident that the author wishes, at the same time, to convey something of a profound spiritual experience. Symbols of transformation abound, including that of the coming of spring.
The author is dyed in the eternal colour the master, his life-breath blossoms like a flower and the empty caskets are filled with pearls, which are a symbol of supreme knowledge in the Indian poetic imagination. Most importantly, the author’s ultimate desire is fulfilled when he is blessed with a vision of the lord in the form of pure light.
On the glorious day of Nawruz
The most luminous imam, lord of the resurrection, had gone hunting
This humble servant’s heart was filled with longing
His very life-breath remained at the feet of the imam
I was bound to my lord in rapture by love
Being dyed in the master’s eternal colour
Such was the absorption of my thoughts in the lord of the resurrection
that the treasuries of truth overflowed with pearls
I strolled merrily with the lord
Obtaining the troves of both matter and spirit
The souls shall be saved
Of those who listen wholeheartedly to these words of gnosis
When a soul attains the mystic way
Its life-breath blossoms like a flower
Love envelops it in the fragrance of aloes and sandalwood
Pure as a swan, it lovingly glides along the lake
Shah Khalil Allah was hunting near the citadel at the ring of fortresses
And graciously called for Fatḥ ʿAli
My untold hopes were realized
The lord appeared eternally as light
Faithful brethren, venerate the lord with all your heart
Listen, O saints, such is the teaching of Sayyid Shamsi
Those who forget not the lord’s bounties
Shall never be touched by sorrow
Navroj na din sohamna, tr. Shafique N. Virani
The most thorough treatment of Nawruz in extant Ismaili literature in any language probably occurs in the magnum opus of the learned Husayn b. Yaʿqub Shah [fl. seventeenth century], a [descendant] of a family of Ismaili dignitaries. His hitherto unpublished Tazyin al-majālis (‘Adornment of Assemblies’), … explores the spiritual dimension of commemorations such as Nawruz….
Auspicious Nawruz has arrived, O lord, may blessings abound
Mirth pervades all around, O lord, may blessings abound. . . .
Abloom is jubilation’s garden, brimful is the heart’s chalice
Atwitter is the soul’s nightingale, O lord, may blessings abound
By the bounty of mercy divine, has passed all sorrow and suffering
Resplendent the world has become, O lord, may blessings abound
Flourish and bloom does the rose garden, filled with light and purity is the house
Wax eloquent does the lily’s tongue, O lord, may blessings abound
The goblet increases good cheer, the ambergris exudes perfume
For fragrance there is incense, O lord, may blessings abound. . . .
Winter’s severity has been snapped, tidings of spring reach the heart
Every moment, say a hundred times: O lord, may blessings abound.
It soon becomes clear in the work, however, that Husayn b. Yaʿqub’s purpose is not solely to celebrate the festival with eloquent verse. Throughout his treatise, he exhorts the believers to observe these occasions as opportunities for transformation. His treatise is addressed to ‘the people of insight, whose hearts are fragrant with perfume, and the people of virtue, whose minds are the treasuries of spiritual gnosis.’
Therefore, beyond simply celebrating the joyous advent of spring, in a manner typical of Ismaili luminaries, he wishes to explain subtleties of much more profound import. He informs the readers that Nawruz is not simply when the sun enters into the constellation of Aries, signalling the moment of the equinox and the transformation of the physical world with the arrival of spring.
For the believers, the true Nawruz occurs when their actions, deeds and very existence are transformed such that their iniquities are exchanged for virtues, and their misdeeds for noble actions. While the people of exterior forms take Nawruz to be the time when fields are to be sown, the people of interior meaning realise that this world is the sowing ground for the next world, and act accordingly.”
Tazyin al-majalis reflects an incident related from the time of Imam Ali b. Abi Ṭalib [d. 661]:
Ali (may God be pleased with him) saw a group dressed in finery. ‘What is going on?’ he asked. He was told, ‘This day is one of their festivals.’ He replied, ‘For us, a festival is a day on which we commit no sins” (p 474).
Extracts from Shafique N. Virani’s “Spring’s Equinox: Nawruz in Ismaili Thought” published in Intellectual Interactions in the Islamic World, Edited by Orkhan Mir-Kasimov, I.B. Tauris in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, 2020, p 453-481
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