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Haydar Amuli
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Haydar Amuli
Sayyid haydar mir haydar amuli.jpg
Born 1319 CE
Amol, Iran
Died 1385 CE
Najaf, Iraq
Era 14th century
Main interests
Sufism, Shi'ism, Mysticism

Sayyid Baha al-Din Haydar, Haydar al-'Obaidi al-Hossayni Amuli, or Seyyed Haydar Amoli or Mir
Haydar Amoli a Shi'ite mystic and a Sufi philosopher, was an early representative of Persian
theosophy and one of the most distinguished commentators of the mystic philosopher Ibn Arabi,
during the 14th century.

Contents

1 Biography
1.1 Early life
1.2 Return to Sufism
2 Amuli's Main Ideas
2.1 Synthesis of Shi'ism and Sufism
2.2 Pure Monotheism
2.3 The Seal of Walya
3 Works
3.1 Notable Quote
4 Genealogy
5 Legacy
6 References
6.1 Bibliography
7 External links

Biography
Early life

Haydar Amuli belongs to the Hussayni Sayyid family and hails from the town of Amol, in
Mazandaran, located in the north of present day Iran, close to the Caspian Sea. The town of Amul
at the time was known to be heavily populated by Shi'ite Muslims. At a very young age he started
studying Imam Shi'ism and attended the juridical school of madhhab where he also devoted his
time to Sufism, until around the age of thirty.[1] Haydar Amuli first began his studies in his home
town of Amul. He eventually moved on to the town of Astarabad, located near Mazandaran, and
then Isfahan, located in the centre of Iran.[2] In his early twenties, Sayyid Haydar Amuli returned
to Amul and became a trusted confidant and eventually a special deputy and chamberlain to the
Bavandid Hasan II, who was the ruler of Tabaristan.[1] Even though Amuli had a close
relationship with Hasan II, he experienced a religious crisis. Amuli quotes in his work Inner
Secrets of the Path that he started to feel that he was corrupt and that he needed to move to a
place where he could fully devote himself to God. So Haydar Amuli gave up his position in the
court to further pursue Sufism. He abandined the courtly life, a couple of years before Hasan II
was assassinated by members of his own family.[3]
Return to Sufism

After Haydar Amuli's departure from the court, he began practicing Sufism. Living in the village of
Tihran, he began to follow a shaykh by the name of Nur al-Din Tihrani, a gnositc and ascetic of
Allah. Amuli spent a little less than a month in his company before going on to wear the symbolic
Sufi cloak or khirqa.[1] Eventually, Haydar Amuli went on to embark on a pilgrimage or Hajj, going
on to visit various Shi'ite shrines and also traveling to Jerusalem as well as the holy cities of
Mecca and Medina. Unfortunately, due to ill health, Amuli had to leave Medina .[3] It is
documented that he spent the rest of his life in Iraq. For several years he studied in Baghdad
amongst important Shi'ite scholars including Fakhr al-Din Muhammad al-Hasan and Nasir al-Din
al-Kashani al-Hilli. These two scholars were prominent figures in Shi'ism at the time. Haydar al-
Amuli then settled in the Shi'ite city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, for over thirty years until around
1385 CE, the year he was last documented to be living. This is also around the same time that he
completed his last work, called Resalat al-olum al-aliya. .[4]
Amuli's Main Ideas
Synthesis of Shi'ism and Sufism

Early on Amuli was a supporter of Imamite Shiism. Similar to Sufism, Shiism involves the ideas
of ara, t arqa and haqqa. Amuli believed that every Shiite was a believer put to the test, a
central Sufi belief. One of Amulis main ideas was that the Imams, who were believed to be
endowed with mystical knowledge, were not just guides to the Shiite community but also to the
Sufi community. Amuli was both a critic of Shiites who limited their religion to a set of rules and
equally critical of Sufis who denied certain principles that originated with the Imams.[3]
Pure Monotheism

Amuli also implemented and further explained the differences between pure monotheism and the
inner aspect. Pure monotheism is constituted by the profession of faith and of the idea of the
outward aspect of Gods unity. The inner aspect involves the idea that nothing else exists except
for God.[3] Amuli metaphorically explained the idea of the inner and outward aspects as ink and
the letters that are produced by that ink. The letters by themselves do not exist without the ink.
Amuli meant that the physical world is only a manifestation of Gods divine names.[3]
The Seal of Walya

Another belief of Amuli was that the he be proved right with the arrival of the twelfth Imam, Mahd.
Amulis idea of the twelfth Imam follows the ideas of previous scholars. Amuli specifically believed
that Ali was the seal of the universal walya and Mohammadan walya is, for Amuli, the Mahd.
These ideas differ from that of Ibn Arabi in that alArabi believes that Jesus Christ was the seal of
the universal walya.[3]
Works

It is documented that Sayyid Haydar Amuli wrote over forty different works, but of those only
seven remain.[3] In Asrr al-ara wa at wr al-t arqa wa anwr al-haqqa, Amuli individually
discusses his five basic principles of religion: divine unity, prophecy, eschatology, Imamate and
justice. He also mentions the five pillars of Islam prayer, including fasting, zakt, ha , and ehd.
He discusses all of these topics from three different points of view, the ar a, the t arqa, and the
haqqa. Jme al-asrr wa manba al-anwr is the most famous of Amulis writings. It is divided
into three books and each book is separated into four chapters or (q eda). al-Mas el al-
molya (or al-haydarya) is a work that consists of theological and juridical ideas that are
addressed by Amuli written to his teacher Far-al-mohaqqeqn. From this work an autograph is
preserved. Amuli wrote, Reslat al-wod f marefat al-mabd, in 1359 CE. It was completed
while Amuli was residing in Naaf around 1367 CE. al-Moht al-azam is a seven volume
commentary that was completed around 1375 or 1376 CE. This work titled, Nas s al-noss is a
commentary on another piece written by Ibn Arabi, titled Fos s al-hekam. This piece includes
some autobiographical passages that provide information about Amulis life. Amuli's last work was
titled, Reslat al- olm al-lya is a collection of Imamite traditions credited to Amuli. It is often
debated that it was actually written by a different author.[3]
Tomb Sayyid Haydar Amuli (Seyyed se Tan)
Notable Quote
"The ocean is the same ocean as it has been of old; The events of today are its waves and its
rivers."

"Indeed I swear by Allah that if the seven heavens were made of paper and the trees of the earth
were pens, if the seas of the world were ink and the spirits, mankind and the angels were scribes,
then they would be unable to write even a jot of what I had witnessed of the divine gnoses and
realities"
Genealogy

In Sayyid Haydar Amuli's commentary Al-Muhit al-A`zam (The Mighty Ocean, Amuli gives a brief
family genealogy.

Sayyid Ruknuddin Haydar

Sayyid Tajuddin Ali Padashah
Sayyid Ruknuddin Haydar
Sayyid Tajuddin Ali Padashah
Sayyid Muhammad Amir
Sayyid Ali Padashah
Sayyid Muhammad,
Sayyid Zayd
Sayyid Muhammad
Sayyid Ibrahim
Sayyid Muhammad
Sayyid Husayn Kusaj
Sayyid Ibrahim
Sayyid Sanaullah
Sayyid Harun
Sayyid Hamzah
Sayyid Ubaydullah al Iraj
Sayyid Husayn Asghar
Imam Zayn ul Abidin,
Imam Husayn al Shahid -
Ali ibn Abi Talib".[1]

Legacy

Amuli is not the only Imamite thinker to incorporate the writings of Ibn Arabi and his followers.
The joining of both Sufism and Shi'ism was further explored throughout history by more scholars
like Amuli. Scholars such as, Mir Damad, Mulla Sadra, Hadi Sabzavari, and Ayatollah Khomayni
continued to establish a connection between Sufism and Shiism.[2]Book of Haytdar Amuli: Inner
Secrets Of The Path
References
Amuli, Sayyid Haydar (1989). Inner Secrets of The Path. Elements Books,Zahra Publications.
Meri, Josef W., and Jere L. Bacharach (2006). Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. A-Z
ed. Vol. 1. New York: Rouledge. pp. 4243.
Kohlberg, Etan. "Amoli, Sayyed Baha-Al-Din". Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved 2011-04-03.

van Ess, Josef. "H aydar-i mul, Bahal-DnH aydarb.Alb.H aydaral-Ubayd (719/1319 or
720/1320after 787/1385)". Encyclopedia of Islam: Second Edition. Retrieved 2011-03-27.

Bibliography

Amuli, Sayyid Haydar. Inner Secrets of the Path. Trans. Asadullah Ad-Dhaakir Yate. Babagan.
Print.
Corbin, Henry. Temple and Contemplation. Trans. Philip Sherrard. London: Kegan Paul
International in Association with Islamic Publications Ltd., 1986. Print.
 Kohlberg, Etan. "Amoli, Sayyed Baha-Al-Din" Encyclopdia Iranica | Home. Center of Iranian
Studies, Columbia University, 15 Dec. 1984. Web. 06 Apr. 2011.
Kohlberg, Etan. "Some Sh' Views of the Antediluvian World." Studia Islamica 52 (1980): 41-
66. J Stor. Maisonneuve & Larose. Web. 2011.
Meri, Josef W., and Jere L. Bacharach. Medieval Islamic Civilization: An Encyclopedia. A-Z ed.
Vol. 1. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print.
Morris, James W. "Ibn 'Arabi and His Interpreters." Journal of the American Oriental Society
107 (1987): 101-19. Print
van Ess, J. "Haydar-i mul, Bahal-DnH aydarb.Alb.Haydaral-Ubayd (719/1319 or
720/1320after 787/1385)." Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Edited by: P. Bearman;, Th.
Bianquis;, C.E. Bosworth;, E. van Donzel; and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2011. Brill Online. Augustana.
1 April 2011

External linkss