Spiritual Realization of Sufism and Divine Knowledge of Brahman

Abstract

The Illuminator of Divine Knowledge （Shāriq al-ma‘rifah）, ascribed to Fayżī, Abū al-Fayż （1547-1595） provides us with a testimony of how pre-modern Indian Muslim intellectuals understood Indian religio-philosophical ideas within their own cultural background. The precise examination of Persian sources has clarified that the author of this treatise was inspired by a Persian translation of the Yogavāsiṣṭha, particularly the version of Farmulli （Jogbāsishta） in the age of Akbar. We find a reference to the book title, a direct quotation of the text, a summary of the stories and peculiar wording shared with the original Sanskrit text. As the author mentioned in the introduction, he acquired the essence of specific Sanskrit classics and rewrote their ideas in his own cultural terms in Persian. A variety of Sanskrit terms are transliterated and explained in Islamic religio-philosophical terms, and most of them are shared terminology in other Persian translation of Sanskrit classics, especially on Yoga by Sufi Sharif. The idea of liberation through the light of wisdom to realize that the Self-shining Brahman manifested this universe through the intermediary Absolute Reality was aligned with their own Sufic theological ideas of the Unity of Being.