The Ismaili-Sufi Sage of Pamir: Mubarak-i Wakhani and the Esoteri ...

The organisational structures as well as certain doctrinal features of Pamiri Ismāīlism clearly indicate that it was deeply influenced by Sufism. However, little scholarly attention has been directed towards the Sufi phenomenon in Ismāīlism in general and in Pamiri Ismāīlism in particular.¹¹ It is worth noticing that this phenomenon is clearly apparent in the works of Mubārak.

As far as the religious context of Mubārak’s time is concerned, it was entirely based on the single-faith domination of Pamiri Ismāīlī orthodoxy with its strong institution of pirship, a socio-religious network of the higher religious hierarchy, pīrān (religious guides) and their deputies (khalīfas). Although Mubārak, as a respected scholar, was necessarily involved in the religious and educational activities of the network, he never restricted himself to its basic local philosophy; he went far beyond the concerns of local Ismāīlī belief, and became engaged in a wider philosophical discourse about Islamic mysticism.

It is, therefore, intended in chapter 3 of this study to provide a cohesive examination of Mubārak’s theosophical discourse in the light of Ismāīlī esotericism and Sufi mysticism, as a remarkable example of the reconciliation of these two doctrines in the local Pamiri religious context. More specifically, this chapter explores Mubārak’s approaches to certain issues relating to Sufi epistemology, ontology and psychology, such as knowledge, unity, truth, illusion and love. Likewise, it discusses the relationship of Mubārak’s works to and their influence by the works of other poets and mystics. An examination of his various works reveals that he was mostly influenced by Rūmī’s philosophy of love, al-allāj’s applied asceticism, Aār’s mystic symbolism, āfi and Bīdil’s romantic language of the expression of love ( ishq), beauty (jamāl) and majesty (jalāl).¹² It is true that Mubārak’s ideas are strongly influenced by the mainstream of Sufi mysticism and Ismāīlī esotericism. Nevertheless, his thoughts are original in their own way, for he was able to deploy the core principles of Sufi ideas and methodology, symbols and language in order to create his own system of thought, a fusion of Sufi and Ismāīlī ideas applied in a sophisticated way in a local religious context.