Şeyh Âzerî’nin Kasidelerinde Hz. Ali

Abstract

ʿAlī Hamza b. ʿAlī Melik al-Ṭūsī al-Bayhaqī al-Isfarāyīnī, shortly known as Shaykh Āẕarī (d. 1461-1462) is a Timurid-era Persian Sufi poet from Khorasan region of Iran who also stayed in India for a while. The fact that he received the appreciation of both Timurid king Shāhrukh and Bahmanī king Aḥmad Shāh Walī and was admitted for service in their palaces is testimony to his prowess as a poet. That said, academics have paid little attention to Shaykh Āẕarī until recently and the content of his poetry almost completely remained outside the scope of research. Hence, this paper attempts to tackle a key element in his poems, which is the praise of ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib (R.A). Shaykh Āẕarī's diwan contains no beyts praising kings and other patrons. Instead, his qasidas are marked with the praise of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), his Ahl al-Bayt and especially ʿAlī. A scrutiny of Shaykh Āẕarī's qasidas reveals that he sees ʿAlī as the paragon of the perfect human being, who is free of sins and outstanding in his valour and knowledge. Moreover, the poet maintains that ʿAlī is the rightful Imam i.e. the ruler of Muslims after the Prophet. Indeed, Āẕarī describes ʿAlī as above all created beings with the exception of Prophet Muhammad, whose pre-eminence he clearly states in a number of beyts. It is concluded that Shaykh Āẕarī's portrayal of ʿAlī is in line with ithnāʿasharī Shiism.