A Reconsideration of Post-Alamut Nizari Ismaili Literature in Iran: Prose and Poetry
Book Chapter in "The Renaissance of Shiʿi Islam: Facets of Thought and Practice"
“The remarkable Ismaili tradition of producing religious literature in both prose and poetry, despite a lessening of momentum after the fall of Alamūt, continued to be a dynamic mean of expressing the religious identity, the tenets of faith, the history and above all of highlighting the lineage of the Nizārī Ismaili imams. With reference to new discoveries in the field, this study aims at producing a brief survey of the bulk of post-Alamūt Nizārī Ismaili literature in the Persian language and introduces a hitherto unknown compendium of poetry by the 11th/17th-century Iranian Ismaili poet known as Darvīsh Quṭb al-Dīn.
In general terms, the Ismaili written heritage, has not enjoyed treatment equal to the majority of the Muslim written heritage of which it constitutes an important part. In the eventful course of Ismaili history, the main repositories of their literature were destroyed twice: first by the Ayyubids, under the command of Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn at the fall of the Fatimid caliphate in 567/1171, and again by Hülegü the Mongol warlord at the fall of Alamūt in 654/1256. In the case of the Fatimids, the celebrated Ismaili dāʿī al-Muʾayyad fi’l-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, foreseeing the volatile political conditions that were to come, or 18perhaps seeking to elevate and strengthen the Ismaili mission, transferred part of the Ismaili literature to Yemen which at the time was governed by the Ṣulayḥids as part of the Fatimid empire. This collection seems to have been preserved up to the present time among the Mustaʿlian Ismailis. The Nizārī Ismailis on the other hand, possessing invincible fortresses, did not take the precautionary measure of transferring their written heritage to an alternative safe place and consequently when they surrendered to the Mongols a sizable bulk of their written heritage was put to the fire.” (S. J. Badakhchani)
Author: S. J. Badakhchani
Link to Full Chapter: The Renaissance of Shiʿi Islam: Facets of Thought and Practice