Rajab Bursi

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Rajab Bursi

← Previous revision Revision as of 19:58, 1 May 2026
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[[Category:Hermeticists]]
{{Short description|Iraqi Shia theologian (d.1411)}}
{{Short description|Iraqi Shia theologian (d.1411)}}
{{Infobox religious biography
{{Infobox religious biography
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| birth_place = Bors, Iraq.
| birth_place = Bors, Iraq.
| birth_date = 1333
| birth_date = 1333
| notable ideas = Twelver [[Neoplatonism]], [[Hurufism]], High Imamology
| notable ideas = [[Neoplatonism]], [[Hermeticism]], [[Hurufism]], [[Imamate in Twelver doctrine|High Imamology]]
| notable works = Mashariq Anwar al-Yaqin, Mashariq al-Amaan, al-Durr al-Thameen, al-Alfayn fi Saadatul Kawnayn
| notable works = Mashariq Anwar al-Yaqin, Mashariq al-Amaan, al-Durr al-Thameen, al-Alfayn fi Saadatul Kawnayn
| sect = Shia Islam
| sect = Shia Islam
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| death_cause = Unknown.
| death_cause = Unknown.
}}
}}
'''al-Hafiż Raḍī al-Dīn Rajab b. Muḥammad b. Rajab al-Ḥillī al-Borsi''' ([[Arabic]]:الحافظ رضي الدين رجب بن محمد بن رجب البرسي الحلي; c. 1333-1411){{Cite web |title=193 ــ رجب البرسي: (733 ــ 813 هـ / 1333 ــ 1411 م) |url=https://imamhussain.org/arabic/30884 |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=العتبة الحسينية المقدسة |language=ar}} was an [[Iraqis|'Iraqi]] [[Shia]] theologian, [[Mysticism|mystic]], hadith narrator, writer, and [[Arabic poetry|poet]].{{Cite book |last=al-Khaqani |first=Ali |title=Shu'araa al-Hillah vol. 2 |pages=368}} Bursi was born in contemporary [[Iraq]], near [[Hilla]], in the village of [[Borsippa|Bors]],{{Cite book |last=Ya'qubi |first=Muhammad Ali |title=al-Babiliyat vol. 1 |pages=118}} and moved to the Iranian province of [[Greater Khorasan|Khurasan]], to escape accusations of [[heresy]], later in his life. Some sources indicate that he might have been murdered by the [[Timurids]] during the [[Shia]] persecutions.{{Cite book |last=Amir-Moezzi |first=Mohammad Ali |title=Ali, the Well-Guarded Secret |isbn=9789004522435 |pages=203–206 |translator-last=Luis |translator-first=Francisco José |chapter=The Precious Pearl Attributed to Rajab al-Bursī: 500 Quranic Verses about ʿAlī |date=7 November 2022 |publisher=BRILL }}
'''al-Hafiż Raḍī al-Dīn Rajab b. Muḥammad b. Rajab al-Ḥillī al-Borsi''' ([[Arabic]]:الحافظ رضي الدين رجب بن محمد بن رجب البرسي الحلي; c. 1333-1411){{Cite web |title=193 ــ رجب البرسي: (733 ــ 813 هـ / 1333 ــ 1411 م) |url=https://imamhussain.org/arabic/30884 |access-date=2025-01-18 |website=العتبة الحسينية المقدسة |language=ar}} was an [[Iraqis|'Iraqi]] [[Shia]] theologian, [[Mysticism|mystic]], hadith narrator, writer, and [[Arabic poetry|poet]].{{Cite book |last=al-Khaqani |first=Ali |title=Shu'araa al-Hillah vol. 2 |pages=368}} Bursi was born in contemporary [[Iraq]], near [[Hilla]], in the village of [[Borsippa|Bors]],{{Cite book |last=Ya'qubi |first=Muhammad Ali |title=al-Babiliyat vol. 1 |pages=118}} and moved to the Iranian province of [[Greater Khorasan|Khurasan]], to escape accusations of [[heresy]], later in life. Some sources indicate that he might have been murdered by the [[Timurids]] during the [[Shia]] persecutions.{{Cite book |last=Amir-Moezzi |first=Mohammad Ali |title=Ali, the Well-Guarded Secret |isbn=9789004522435 |pages=203–206 |translator-last=Luis |translator-first=Francisco José |chapter=The Precious Pearl Attributed to Rajab al-Bursī: 500 Quranic Verses about ʿAlī |date=7 November 2022 |publisher=BRILL }}


==Early life==
==Early life==
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Bursi was also a [[Mujtahid]], and allegedly wrote a full treatise on [[Ja'fari school|Fiqh]], making him an [[Ayatollah]] by modern standards.{{Cite book |last=al-Bursi |first=Rajab |title=Mashariq Anwar al-Yaqin |pages=20 |translator-last=al-Huruufi al-Ha'iri |translator-first=Ibn Hisham |trans-title=The Oriental Lights of Certainty concerning the Truthful Arcana of the Prince of the Believers}}
Bursi was also a [[Mujtahid]], and allegedly wrote a full treatise on [[Ja'fari school|Fiqh]], making him an [[Ayatollah]] by modern standards.{{Cite book |last=al-Bursi |first=Rajab |title=Mashariq Anwar al-Yaqin |pages=20 |translator-last=al-Huruufi al-Ha'iri |translator-first=Ibn Hisham |trans-title=The Oriental Lights of Certainty concerning the Truthful Arcana of the Prince of the Believers}}


Rajab al-Bursi was eventually forced out of Hillah by a "group of envious monkeys", most likely a group of heavily orthodox jurists, and he eventually migrated to [[Sabzevar|Sabziwar]] in [[Khorasan]], then to [[Mashhad]], which at the time was under the [[Sarbadars|Sarbedars]] following the Ilkhanate collapse. There is a story pertaining to Bursi: that as he was being oppressed in Hillah, he received a vision of a "large light" coming from the East (Khorasan), which prompted him to travel. Bursi wrote most of, if not all of his works in Mashhad, as all manuscripts have been traced or found in Mashhad.
Later on, he came in contact with various [[Hermeticism|Hermetic]] doctrines propagated by the [[Hurufism|Hurufi]] movement of [[Fazlallah Astarabadi]], such as [[Correspondence (theology)|Correspondence]], [[Microcosm–macrocosm analogy|the Microcosm–macrocosm analogy]] and [[Transcendence (religion)|Transcendentalism]].[https://toddlawson.ca/pdf/lawson_dawning_places_rajab-bursi.pdf Heritage of Sufism: Rajab Bursi] This eventually forced him out of Hillah by a "group of envious monkeys," most likely a group of heavily orthodox jurists, and he eventually migrated to [[Sabzevar|Sabziwar]] in [[Khorasan]], then to [[Mashhad]], which at the time was under the [[Sarbadars|Sarbedars]] following the Ilkhanate collapse. There is a story pertaining to Bursi: that as he was being oppressed in Hillah, he received a vision of a "large light" coming from the East (Khorasan), which prompted him to travel. Bursi wrote most of, if not all of his works in Mashhad, as all manuscripts have been traced or found in Mashhad.


After the [[Sarbadars|Sarbedars]] collapsed, Bursi once again fled, from Mashhad all the way to [[Ardestan]], to a small village, known as Beheshtabad, where he died, and is currently buried.{{Cite web |title= مقبره شيخ "حافظ رجب برسي" در غربت کویر زواره رو به نابودی است|date=8 January 2012 |url=https://www.imna.ir/news/52267/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B8-%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A8-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%8A-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%BA%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%AA-%DA%A9%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%B2%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%B1%D9%88-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA}} He is known by the people of the village as "Shaykh-e-Biyabani". His tomb is in poor condition but receives thousands of pilgrims yearly.
After the [[Sarbadars|Sarbedars]] collapsed, Bursi once again fled, from Mashhad all the way to [[Ardestan]], to a small village, known as Beheshtabad, where he died, and is currently buried.{{Cite web |title= مقبره شيخ "حافظ رجب برسي" در غربت کویر زواره رو به نابودی است|date=8 January 2012 |url=https://www.imna.ir/news/52267/%D9%85%D9%82%D8%A8%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%B4%D9%8A%D8%AE-%D8%AD%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B8-%D8%B1%D8%AC%D8%A8-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%8A-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D8%BA%D8%B1%D8%A8%D8%AA-%DA%A9%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B1-%D8%B2%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%87-%D8%B1%D9%88-%D8%A8%D9%87-%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF%DB%8C-%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA}} He is known by the people of the village as "Shaykh-e-Biyabani". His tomb is in poor condition but receives thousands of pilgrims yearly.


== Theology ==
== Theology ==
Rajab al-Bursi evidently had access to many archaic [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver]] works, such as the source material of the famous Kitab al-Wahida by [[Ibn Abi Jumhur al-Ahsa'i|Ibn Jumhuur]]. The source of most controversy upon him, however, has been the many sermons in his magnum opus (Mashariq Anwar al-Yaqin), where [[Ali]] purportedly makes various gnostic declarations, such as the self-declaration of "I am the First, I am the Last". However, these sermons are fairly tame among the [[Irfan|"high maarifah"]] strain of [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver Imamism]], and have had a fair share of theologically conform interpretations. The [[Shaykhism|Shaykhi]] [[Hierophant]], [[Kazim Rashti|Kazim al-Rashti]], wrote a multi-voluminous commentary on one of these sermons.{{Cite web |title=شرح الخطبة التطنجية - ثلاثة أجزاء |url=https://www.alfeker.net/library.php?id=1272 |access-date=2025-10-24 |website=www.alfeker.net}}
Rajab al-Bursi evidently had access to many archaic [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver]] works, such as the source material of the famous Kitab al-Wahida by [[Ibn Abi Jumhur al-Ahsa'i|Ibn Jumhuur]]. The source of most controversy upon him, however, has been the many sermons in his magnum opus (Mashariq Anwar al-Yaqin), where [[Ali]] purportedly makes various gnostic declarations, such as the self-declaration of "I am the First, I am the Last". However, these sermons are fairly tame among the [[Irfan|"high maarifah"]] strain of [[Twelver Shi'ism|Twelver Imamism]], and have had a fair share of theologically conform interpretations. The [[Shaykhism|Shaykhi]] [[Hierophant]] [[Kazim Rashti|Kazim al-Rashti]], wrote a multi-voluminous commentary on one of these sermons.{{Cite web |title=شرح الخطبة التطنجية - ثلاثة أجزاء |url=https://www.alfeker.net/library.php?id=1272 |access-date=2025-10-24 |website=www.alfeker.net}}


Bursi believes that God, ineffable and transcendent, beyond all form and likeness, in an almost [[Neoplatonism|neo-platonic]] sense where the One is the [[Monad (philosophy)|Monad]], created the "[[Logos|Word]]", which is the Kalimah, Qalam, and Light of Muhammad identified across Islamic literature, and that Word was used to create creation. It is through this belief that he receives the most criticism, along with his alleged Sufi-tendencies due to him quoting a hadith of [[Junayd of Baghdad|Junayd al-Baghdadi]] in his work Mashariq al-Amaan.
Bursi believes that God, ineffable and transcendent, beyond all form and likeness, in a [[Neoplatonism|neoplatonic]] sense where the One is the [[Monad (philosophy)|Monad]], created the "[[Logos|Word]]", which is the Kalimah, Qalam, and Light of Muhammad identified across Islamic literature, and that Word was used to create creation. It is through this belief that he receives the most criticism, along with his alleged Sufi-tendencies due to him quoting a hadith of [[Junayd of Baghdad|Junayd al-Baghdadi]] in his work Mashariq al-Amaan.


These sermons are: Khutbatul Tutanjiyyah (the Sermon of the Two Gulfs), Khutbatul Iftikhariya (the Sermon of Pride) and Hadith al-Nawraniyya (the Tradition of Luminous light).
These sermons are: Khutbatul Tutanjiyyah (the Sermon of the Two Gulfs), Khutbatul Iftikhariya (the Sermon of Pride) and Hadith al-Nawraniyya (the Tradition of Luminous light).
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