''Gulshan-i Raz'' (also spelled ''Gulshan-e Raz'' and ''Golshan-e Raz''; ( fa, گلشن راز, "Rose Garden of Secrets") is a collection of poems written in the 14th century by Sheikh Mahmoud Shabestari. It is considered to be one of the greatest classical

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

works of the Islamic mystical tradition known in the west as Sufism. The poems are mostly based on

Irfan In Islam, ‘Irfan (Arabic/Persian/Urdu: ; tr, İrfan), literally ‘knowledge, awareness, wisdom’, is gnosis. Islamic mysticism can be considered as a vast range that engulfs theoretical and practical and conventional mysticism, but the co ...

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

Sufism Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, r ...

and sciences dependent on them. The book was written about 1311 in rhyming couplets. It was written in response to seventeen queries concerning Sufi

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...

posed to "the Sufi literati of Tabriz" by Rukh Al Din Amir Husayn Harawi (d. 1318). It was also the main reference used by

François Bernier François Bernier (25 September 162022 September 1688) was a French physician and traveller. He was born in Joué-Etiau in Anjou. He stayed (14 October 165820 February 1670) for around 12 years in India. His 1684 publication "Nouvel ...

when explaining Sufism to his European friends (in: ''Lettre sur le Quietisme des Indes''; 1688). In English the book's title is variously given as "Garden of Secrets," "The Garden of Mystery," "The Mystic Rose Garden," or "The Secret Rose Garden." Sufi poet Sheikh Alvān of Shiraz translated Gulshan-i Raz into Azeri Turkish verse. This is the opening verse of Gulshan-i Raz:

به نام آنکه جان را فکرت آموخت / چراغ دل به نور جان برافروخت
In the name of Him who taught the soul to think,
and kindled the heart's lamp with the light of soul

English editions

* The Secret Rose Garden; Translated by Edward Henry Whinfield; 1920, England.

References

External links

{{commonscat inline, Gulshan-i Raz
Golshan-i Raz in English

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Poetry collections Sufi poetry Ancient Persian mystical literature Mystical books