Until the mid-16th century, Islam spread slowly among the Afghan tribes. Chieftains embraced the young religion by entering into alliances with Muslim rulers and hiring themselves out for military service – as happened during the Indian campaigns of Sultan Mahmud Ghaznavi or the military campaigns of Babur. The situation was changed by itinerant preachers. Later, authors from among the Afghans themselves began to emerge who introduced the genre of spiritual ABC to Pashtun literature, which became a symbol of the deep integration of tribal society into Islamic culture.
One of these wandering religious teachers, Bayazid Ansari, went down in history not only as the founder of the religious and political movement Roshaniya ("enlightened"), but also as an author who influenced the development of Afghan literature. He expounded the foundations of his teachings in poetry and prose, and in the second half of the 16th century he also proved himself to be a talented politician. The Pashtun tribes, among whom Ansari gained influence, caused serious concern to the Great Mughals under the pretext of protecting and spreading the Roshanite teachings.
As for the spiritual alphabet, the many surviving manuscripts from the 16th-17th centuries testify to the popularity of this genre. It is believed that the first author of Afghan spiritual alphabets was the poet Arzani Khweshqai from the Roshanites. It is probably his works that the Hanafi theologian Akhund Darveza describes: “In those times, some apostates wrote something about the alphabet, interpreting it in such a way that, supposedly, each letter contains some meaning. However, all they said was atheism and apostasy…”.
These words are contained in Darveza's short preface to his own spiritual alphabet, written in rhythmic prose. The theologian was extremely strict and often accused the Pashtuns of ignorance in matters of faith. He was the most zealous of the Hanafi scholars, who were dissatisfied with the success of the Roshanites and actively opposed them in the ideological struggle. Many Afghan tribes preached mystical ideas that were questionable from the point of view of orthodox Islam. Although these teachers remained within the framework of Sufism, their sermons about the closeness of God among the ignorant Afghans sometimes grew into claims to a prophetic mission.
Spiritual Alphabets of Arzani Khweshqai and Akhund Darveza gave impetus to the development of this genre in the Pashto language. However, the claims that the " Roshani " alphabets contained heresy are not true. Like the conventionally "Hanafi" ones, they represent a synthesis of the concepts and ideas of Sunni and mystical Islam. These works do not interpret the symbolism of the letters and are not dictionaries, but rather explain religious norms and concepts. The connection with the alphabet here is formal: the first word of each fragment begins with one of the Arabic letters.
The most complex alphabet in terms of content is a treatise on Sufism written by the Roshani poet Mirzakhan Ansari, grandson of Bayazid. The work consists of thirty philosophical ghazals, each of which contains eleven couplets. In the introduction, the author explains the purpose of his alphabet, directly stating that with its help the reader should learn the letters of the Koran and comprehend the true meaning of monotheism.
The main ideas of Mirzakhan's alphabet are the foundations of Sufism: the presence of a single divine essence in the diversity of the material world and the duty of man, having overcome attachment to the worldly, to strive to comprehend God. In one poem, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ is praised , in others, where the Almighty appears in the image of a beloved Friend, the traditional love-mystical motives of Sufi lyrics are heard.
Closer to the idea of the alphabet as the "beginning of knowledge" are the spiritual alphabets of the Roshanite poet Davlat Lohanai. One of his alphabets, the earlier one, has a Sufi bias and was clearly influenced by his predecessors. The other is addressed to ordinary believers and treats the main dogmas of Sunni Islam. Both are written in accessible language and short verse, which made them easier to remember.
Theologians in their ABCs preferred poetic form and explanation of Sufi concepts, continuing the traditions of the Roshanites, rather than following the strict line of Darveza. Some of these ABCs have the author's features: for example, the short essay of the preacher Babu Jan is written not as an instruction, but as a prayer in which the author asks the Almighty for mercy and strengthening in faith.
The contrasting combination of tradition and mysticism is evident in the ABCs of the theologian Husayn. The author's boldest deviation from the canon was a fragment in which spiritual instructions are presented as if in the name of God. Something similar is found in Roshanite poets, but not in spiritual ABCs. Such verses have deep roots - they go back to the Sufi poetry of ecstasy and are associated with the concept of " Ilham" - esoteric knowledge as a divine gift, not equal to prophetic revelation. The presence of such lines in Husayn's ABC suggests that the genre was used not only for its intended purpose, but also as a form for expressing one's views and emotions.
By the end of the 17th century, the genre of spiritual alphabet disappears from Pashto literature and is no longer found in the works of 18th century authors. However, it not only symbolizes the deep integration of Afghan tribes into Islamic culture, but also, like other religious works, reflects the ideological struggle between sectarian mysticism and traditional theology. By the middle of the 17th century, orthodoxy gains the upper hand, but this does not free spiritual literature in Pashto from the influence of moderate Sufism.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
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