Sanai

For the village in Nepal see Sanai, Nepal
Sanai or Sanayee
Born 1080
Ghazni, Afghanistan
Died 1131/1141[1]
Occupation Persian literature
Genre Sufi poetry, Wisdom Literature
Notable works The Walled Garden of Truth

Hakim Abul-Majd Majdūd ibn Ādam Sanā'ī Ghaznavi (Persian: حکیم ابوالمجد مجدود ‌بن آدم سنایی غزنوی) was a Persian poet who lived in Ghazni between the 11th century and the 12th century in what is now Afghanistan. He died between 1131 and 1141.[2]

Life

Sanai was a Sunni Muslim.[3] He was connected with the court of the Ghaznavid Bahram-shah who ruled 1117 – 1157.[4]

Works

He wrote an enormous quantity of mystical verse, of which The Walled Garden of Truth or The Hadiqat al Haqiqa (حدیقه الحقیقه و شریعه الطریقه) is his master work and the first Persian mystical epic of Sufism. Dedicated to Bahram Shah, the work expresses the poet's ideas on God, love, philosophy and reason.[5]

For close to 900 years The Walled Garden of Truth has been consistently read as a classic and employed as a Sufi textbook. According to Major T. Stephenson: "Sanai’s fame has always rested on his Hadiqa; it is the best known and in the East by far the most esteemed of his works; it is in virtue of this work that he forms one of the great trio of Sufi teachers — Sanai, Attar, Jalaluddin Rumi." Sanai taught that lust, greed and emotional excitement stood between humankind and divine knowledge, which was the only true reality (Haqq). Love(Ishq) and a social conscience are for him the foundation of religion; mankind is asleep, living in a desolate world. To Sanai common religion was only habit and ritual.

Sanai's poetry had a tremendous influence upon Persian literature. He is considered the first poet to use the qasidah (ode), ghazal (lyric), and the masnavi (rhymed couplet) to express the philosophical, mystical and ethical ideas of Sufism.

Influence and legacy

Rumi acknowledged Sanai and Attar as his two great inspirations, saying, "Attar is the soul and Sanai its two eyes, I came after Sanai and Attar." The Walled Garden of Truth was also a model for Nizami's Makhzan al-Asrar (Treasury of Secrets).[6]

Quotations

While mankind remains mere baggage in the world
It will be swept along, as in a boat, asleep.
What can they see in sleep?
What real merit or punishment can there be?

His means for this awakening is surrender to God, his poetry has been called "the essential fragrance of the path of love". He hits out at human hypocrisy and folly;[8]

See also

Notes

  1. C.E. Bosworth, The Later Ghaznavids, (Columbia University Press, 1977), 108.
  2. C.E. Bosworth, The Later Ghaznavids, 108.
  3. Edward G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia from the Earliest Times Until Firdawsh, 543 pp., Adamant Media Corporation, 2002, ISBN 978-1-4021-6045-5, ISBN 978-1-4021-6045-5 (see p.437)
  4. Ghulam Abbas Dalal, Ethics in Persian Poetry. (Abhinav Publications, 1995), 95.
  5. "Sanāʾī." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 15 Jul. 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/521711/Sanai>.
  6. J.T.P. De Bruijn (December 15, 2002). "ḤADIQAT AL-ḤAQIQA WA ŠARIʿAT AL-ṬARIQA". Iranica. Retrieved 2010-09-06.
    The Ḥadiqat al-ḥaqiqa is not only one of the first of a long line of Persian didactical maṯnawis, it is also one of the most popular works of its kind as the great number of copies made throughout the centuries attest. Its great impact on Persian literature is evidenced by the numerous citations from the poem occurring in mystical as well as profane works. It has been taken as a model by several other poets, including Neẓāmi, ʿAṭṭār, Rumi, Awḥadi, and Jāmi.
    "
  7. Source: From: Enclosed Garden Of Truth, Edited and translated by J. Stephenson in 1910
  8. Osho, Unio Mystica, Vol 1, Chapter 1, Rajneesh Foundation International
  9. Source: From: Enclosed Garden Of Truth, Edited and translated by J. Stephenson in 1910

References

Further reading

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Sanā'ī.
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