Fars's Hagiographies from the 4th to the 8th Century A.H.

Abstract

From the 4th to the 8th century A.H. in the Fars Region, eight manuscripts were written, translated, or selected in Persian and Arabic. Due to the many similarities between these works, after Sirat ibn Khafif it is very likely that the later writers were influenced by Abu al-Hassan Dailami's writings on Sheikh Kabir Shiraz ibn Khafif. Arabic and the scholarly writing style of the authors of works such as the Sirat of ibn Khafif and Firdows Al-Morshedieh in introducing the great personality of the mystics show the existence of special audiences and scholars for these works and the weakness of style and the inclusion of material miracles (Karamat) of Roozbihan's hagiographies represent the purpose of these writers that is to make Roozbihan stand out to the general public and to a kind of productivity for themselves. It may be concluded that with the spread of Sufism over time, the specific audience of these works became the general audience, and as a result, the change of the audience was effective in the way the authors wrote these works. Also, the writers of these hagiographies, who have usually been among the children or grandchildren of the sheikh, have tried to gain a place and rank for themselves by exaggerating the sheikh's honors and finding high credit for him.

Keywords

• mysticism
• hagiography
• fars mystics
• 4th to 8th centuries