Read more
I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies
The Ismaili missionary and poet, Nasir-i Khusraw (d. after 462), wrote Khwan al-ikhwan (The Banquet of the Brethren) when he was living in his remote mountain refuge of Yumgan in Badakhshan. It is a work of philosophical theology and a reflection of the learning of the age consisting of a sequence of dynamic arguments for divine unicity (
tawhid), the authority of the Prophet Muhammad, his legatee, 'Ali b. Abi Talib, and his descendants, the imams from the line of Isma'il b. Ja'far al-Sadiq. Originally written in Persian,
Khwan al-ikhwan includes a precis of ideas found in a work by an earlier
da'i, Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani (d. ca.361), the
Kitab al-Yanabi', which Nasir-i Khusraw recast and then extended in 100 chapters.
The current publication is an English translation, which is the first translation of
Khwan al-Ikhwan in any language outside the Persian milieu. It includes an extensive introduction that discusses
Khwan al-ikhwan in the context of both Nasir-i Khusraw's other works and al-Sijistani's
Kitab al-Yanabi', as well as the role of
ta'wil (allegorical or esoteric interpretation) in the Ismaili understanding of the message of the Revelation. This makes the work of Nasir-i Khusraw further available to a wider audience and opens up for the reader the intellectual world of the 5th century in all its sophistication and variety.
List of contents
Translator’s Introduction
English Translation of Khwan al-Ikhwan
Bibliography
Index
About the author
Rahim Gholami is a Research Associate at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, UK. He received his PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter, UK, in 2021. He has translated over 100 articles for Encyclopaedia Islamica (2008- ), an abridged and edited translation of the Persian Da'irat al- Ma'arif-i Buzurg-i Islami, which is a comprehensive reference work on the Muslim world, with a focus on Shi'i Islam. His research interests include Shi'i esoterism and poetics, Ismaili intellectual traditions, and esoteric hermeneutics and literature.
Summary
I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies
The Ismaili missionary and poet, Nasir-i Khusraw (d. after 462), wrote Khwan al-ikhwan (The Banquet of the Brethren) when he was living in his remote mountain refuge of Yumgan in Badakhshan. It is a work of philosophical theology and a reflection of the learning of the age consisting of a sequence of dynamic arguments for divine unicity (tawhid), the authority of the Prophet Muhammad, his legatee, 'Ali b. Abi Talib, and his descendants, the imams from the line of Isma'il b. Ja'far al-Sadiq. Originally written in Persian, Khwan al-ikhwan includes a precis of ideas found in a work by an earlier da'i, Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani (d. ca.361), the Kitab al-Yanabi', which Nasir-i Khusraw recast and then extended in 100 chapters.
The current publication is an English translation, which is the first translation of Khwan al-Ikhwan in any language outside the Persian milieu. It includes an extensive introduction that discusses Khwan al-ikhwan in the context of both Nasir-i Khusraw’s other works and al-Sijistani’s Kitab al-Yanabi', as well as the role of ta'wil (allegorical or esoteric interpretation) in the Ismaili understanding of the message of the Revelation. This makes the work of Nasir-i Khusraw further available to a wider audience and opens up for the reader the intellectual world of the 5th century in all its sophistication and variety.
Foreword
The first English translation of Nasir-i Khusraw's Khwan al-Ikhwan complete with comprehensive introduction and notes
