Pir-i Mugan, Hoca Ahmet Yesevi’s Diwan-i Hikmet and Its Influence on Sufi Poets in Iranian Literature
Keywords:
Literature, Sufism, Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, Pir-i Mughan, Hafez, Attar, RumiAbstract
«Pir-i Mughan» is a significant mystical and literary term that refers to a spiritual guide or a sage who possesses esoteric knowledge. In Sufism, Pir-i Mughan is a symbolic figure, a spiritual mentor, a free-thinking mystic, and an opponent of hypocritical asceticism. He leads the seeker (salik) away from superficial appearances toward the truth of divine love, mystical ecstasy, and spiritual liberation. On the surface, Pir-i Mughan refers to the leader of the Magi priests (Zoroastrian clergy), but in esoteric literature, it has become a symbol of a spiritual guide who directs people toward truth, divine love, and liberation from worldly constraints. This mystical term first appears in Khoja Ahmed Yasawi’s Divan-i Hikmat, as there is no record of it in the works of earlier poets. However, in the poetry of later Sufi poets such as Hafez, Rumi, Attar, and others, the term Pir-I Mughan frequently appears with various meanings and interpretations. Hafez, Rumi, and Attar used this concept extensively, often contrasting it with the image of the hypocritical ascetic. This study aims to analyze and examine the symbolic and mystical components of Pir-i Mughan in the Divan-i
Hikmat and its semantic and conceptual similarities in the poetry of the mystic poets who came after Khoja Ahmed Yasawi.
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