BŪZJĀNĪ, DARWĪŠ ʿALĪ (d. after 929/1522), a Sufi scholar attached to Aḥmad-e Jām and his descendants who in the 10th/16th century were numerous in several towns and villages of Khorasan. Būzjān, a large village near Jām (itself called Jām according to Yāqūt, Boldān II, p. 909 s.v. Zām), had been the seat of a ḵānaqāh where Aḥmad’s own early development unfolded. Some 40 stories narrated in the Maqāmāt-e Žandapīl Aḥmad-e Jām (ed. H. Moayyad, Tehran, 2nd enlarged ed., 1945 Š./1967) took place in Būzjān. It apparently remained a center of Aḥmad’s family and followers for centuries after him.
Little is known about Būzjānī’s own life and activities. He is known as the author of Rawżat al-rayāḥīn (ed. H. Moayyad, Tehran, 1345 Š./1966), written in 929/1522, in which he originally intended to offer the biography of his teacher and spiritual mentor Ḵᵛāja ʿAzīz-Allāh Jāmī (d. 902/1496-97), who followed the Naqšbandī order, but decided to expand it by adding a general introduction and three sections (maqṣads). In the first maqṣad he offers a brief account of Aḥmad-e Jām’s life, culled from earlier sources. The second maqṣad includes short biographical information about 38 of Aḥmad’s sons and later descendants, mostly unavailable elsewhere. In the third maqṣad, which is not extant, Būzjānī intended to describe “the qualities and kinships (nesbathā wa nasabhā) of Aḥmad’s clan members down to his time. It is not clear how this part, if ever written, differed from the second one. The stylistic quality of the book demonstrates Būzjānī’s deep acquaintance with Persian poetry as well as Sufi writings and doctrines.
(Heshmat Moayyad)
Originally Published: December 15, 1990
Last Updated: December 15, 1990
This article is available in print.
Vol. IV, Fasc. 6, pp. 587-588
