Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Sajjad Rahmani Falah ¹
• Seyed Abolfaz Razavi ²

¹ Ph.D Candidate of History, Kharazmi University

² Associate Professor, Department of History Khwarazmi University,Tehran

Abstract

The book Mirsad al-'Ibad by Najm al-Din Razi is a mystical work encompassing ethical and political themes. Drawing inspiration from the concept of divine charisma (farr-e izadi) and Islamic political thought, Razi presents the king as the shadow of God and His divine vicegerent on earth, who, through mystical practice, attains the ethical and spiritual qualities necessary to achieve divine approval. Unlike the world-rejecting approach of some Sufis, Razi emphasizes the king’s role in reconstructing socio-political order amid the crises of the Islamic Middle Ages, particularly the Mongol invasions. In pre-Islamic Iran, the concept of kingship, centered on farr-e izadi, portrayed kings as representatives of God, granting them political legitimacy within the framework of Iranshahri thought. After the advent of Islam, Iranian elites integrated this concept with Islamic intellectual and political principles, adapting and perpetuating it. This study, focusing on the first chapter of the fifth Baba of Mirsad al-'Ibad and employing a descriptive-analytical approach, examines Razi’s politico-mystical thought within the framework of Islamic epistemology, the Ash'ari school, and Iranshahri traditions. The findings indicate that Najm al-Din Razi, by synthesizing religious and mystical concepts, proposes an idealized model of kingship that not only addresses the administration of justice and the establishment of social order but also redefines the ruler as a spiritual wayfarer on the path to divine proximity.

Keywords

• Najm al-Din Razi, Mirsad al-'
• Ibad, kings’ spiritual journey, mysticism and politics, farr-e izadi (divine charisma), social order

Main Subjects

• History