Of Poetry and Patronage: A Scholar's Lament by Husayn b. 'Abd al-Samad al-'Amili (d. 984/1576).

• Author: Stewart, Devin J.

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Twelver Shi'i scholars from Lebanon, Iraq, and Bahrain played significant roles in supporting the propagation of Shi'i Islam as the official religion of the Safavid empire (1501-1722). Scholars from these traditional Arab Shi'i enclaves that maintained local traditions of Islamic legal study traveled to Persia to seek teaching positions, endowment stipends, and posts as prayer leaders and jurisconsults. Foremost among these scholars was 'Ali b. 'Abd al-'Al al-Karaki (d. 940/1534), who supported the dynastic claims and religious policies of Shah Isma'il I (r. 1501-1524), justifying ritual cursing of the Companions, waging war against neighboring Sunni states, collection of the land tax, and public performance of Friday prayer. In subsequent generations, other 'Amili scholars (from the Jabal 'Amil region in Lebanon) continued to play similar roles, serving the Safavid shahs by countering Ottoman ideological attacks on Shi'i law, doctrine, and practices. Indeed, 'Amili scholars served as the highest religious authorities in the empire, maintaining a monopoly over the position of shaykh al-islam (chief mufti) of the Safavid capital until the death of Baha' al-Din al-'Amil' in 1030/1621. (1)

However, it has also been argued that other contemporary Arab Shi'i scholars avoided Safavid territory on ideological grounds--they viewed the Safavids as adherents of extremist, unorthodox dogma, insincere in their commitment to orthodox Shi'i principles, and prone to militant anti-Sunnism, a stance that often proved disastrous for Shi'i communities--and that a majority of this group rejected al-Karaki's close association with political power, along with his conciliatory legal opinions. (2) Against the background of this debate, the Twelver Shi'i jurist Husayn b. 'Abd al-Samad al-'Amill (918-984/1512-1576) presents an intriguing case. His decision to emigrate to Persia, where he became a leading Shi'i legal authority during the later reign of Shah Tahmasb (r. 1524-1576), contrasts with that of his mentor and closest companion, Zayn al-Din al-'Amili, who remained in Jabal 'Amil and was executed as a heretic by the Ottomans some years later, in 965/1558. (3) This study examines a recently discovered poem by Husayn b. 'Abd al-Samad that alludes to his motivations and experiences as he attempted to pursue a career in the Safavid empire.

HUSAYN B. 'ABD AL-SAMAD'S BIOGRAPHY

Husayn b. 'Abd al-Samad al-Harithi al-Juba'i al-'Amili was born in the town of Juba' in Jabal 'Amil, in what is now southern Lebanon. He studied with Twelver Shi'i teachers in his native region, as well as with Sunni teachers in Damascus and Cairo in 942-43/1535-37, including intensive studies with the leading professors of Shafi'i law in Cairo, such as Shihab al-Din al-Ramli (d. 957/1550) and Abu al-Hasan al-Bakri (d. 952/1545f). In 945/1539 he traveled to Istanbul and dedicated his work Nur al-haqiqa wa-nawr al-hadiqa (The light of truth and the blossoms of the garden) to the Ottoman ruler at the time, Sultan Sulayman (r. 1520-1566). He was probably seeking an appointment as professor of law at a Sunni endowed institution, perhaps in Baghdad. He traveled to Iraq immediately after his sojourn in Istanbul, but did not remain there, returning instead to Jabal 'Amil. (4)

For much of his youth and early career, he was the constant companion of Zayn al-Din al-'Amili, the leading Twelver jurist of the generation after 'Ali' b. 'Abd al-'Al al-Karaki. In 952/1545, he made a second trip to Istanbul and then Iraq, of which his mentor Zayn al-Din provided a detailed account in his autobiography. Husayn had been awarded a position as professor of law at an unspecified madrasa in Baghdad, but exchanged it for another one when he heard that the endowment was defunct. He ended up not taking the position, even after the exchange. Instead, he returned to his native region with Zayn al-Din, who had been appointed professor of law at the Nuriyya Madrasa in Baalbek in northern Lebanon, and presumably acted as Zayn al-Din's mu'id or assistant. They remained in Baalbek for about two-and-a-half years, until late in 955/1548, when a mysterious problem occurred that forced them both to leave. One presumes that Zayn al-Din was denounced to the authorities as a Shi'i heretic. He went into hiding in the villages of Jabal 'Amil, while Husayn fled to Iraq.

After long remaining a mystery to modern scholars, the dates and routes of Husayn b. 'Abd al-Samad's flight from Lebanon to Iran are now known in some detail. (5) In particular, the claim that he left Ottoman lands after the martyrdom of Zayn al-Din in 965/1558, which derives from the account of Iskandar Beg Munshi (d. ca. 1043/1633f.) in the Safavid chronicle Tarikh-i 'alam-ard-yi 'abbasi, has been decisively proven incorrect, for Husayn left his native region fully a decade earlier. (6) He describes the journey in some detail in an eloquent letter-cum-travel account addressed to Zayn al-Din (henceforth "the Iraqi travel account"). (7) Setting out from Baalbek in the winter, late in the month of Dhu al-Hijja 955h (early January 1549), the small caravan with which he was traveling took a route across the Syrian Desert to the Euphrates River valley, avoiding the cities of Horns, Damascus, and Deir al-Zor, then followed the course of the Euphrates south, eventually arriving in Karbala in the spring of 956/1549.

Husayn stayed in Iraq for several years, presumably using the time to prepare for emigration to Safavid territory, making contacts, writing learned works to present as credentials. and learning the Persian language. He must have earned a living during that time by teaching, probably in Karbala, for he granted an ijaza to a student there in 958h (1551). (8) During this period, he composed another letter to Zayn al-Din, of which a draft has been preserved. Penned in response to one Zayn al-Din had sent along with a copy of one of his recently authored works, Husayn's draft includes elaborate praise of the book. (9) Then, at the beginning of 961/1554, about five years after his arrival in Karbala, Husayn set out for Persia, passing through Baghdad and Ba'quba in Iraq, crossing the border into Safavid lands, stopping in Kermanshah in Kurdish territory and Khorramabad in Lorestan, and finally arriving in Isfahan shortly after Nowruz, in March 1554. From Isfahan he wrote a third letter to Zayn al-Din that included an account of his journey from Iraq into Persia (henceforth "the Persian travel account"). (10)

Husayn lived in Safavid Persia for over two decades, from 961/1554 until 983/1575. After performing the pilgrimage to Mecca in 983/1575, Husayn traveled to Bahrain, where he died a year later. (11) His legacy has been overshadowed by that of his more famous son. Baha' al-Din Muhammad aI-'Amili, known as Shaykh Baha'i, who served as the leading religious authority in the Safavid empire for most of the reign of Shah Abbas I (r. 1587-1629). (12)

HUSAYN B. 'ABD AL-SAMAD'S POEM AND TRANSLATION

A new piece of evidence related to Husayn's migration to Safavid Persia has recently come to light: an individual poem copied into a multiple-text manuscript (majmu'a) preserved in the Majlis Library in Tehran. The copy of the poem is not dated, but it is presented immediately after a text ending with a colophon in the same hand, copied by Muhammad 'Ali b. Mahmud al-Tabnizi in Isfahan in Safar 1033h (November--December 1623), so this poem was probably recorded on that same date. (13) The copyist reports that he obtained the poem from a source at one remove from the original of the author, but he does not name the intermediary, who may have been Husayn b. Haydar al-Karaki (d. Rabi' I 10, 1041 /October 6, 1631). the student-servitor of Husayn b. 'Abd al-Samad's son. Baha' al-Din al-'Amili. (14)

By the author Husayn b. 'Abd al-Samad al-Harithi--may exalted God improve his condition through the blessings of Muhammad and his pure descendants.

1. I emigrated from my homeland, aiming for a distinction the acquisition of which was impossible in my native region.

2. I strove with all my effort to acquire virtues and entered a fire whose heat was impossible to bear.

3. I was subject to beating so frequently--not on account of a failing I had committed--that it crushed my strength.

4. I exercised patience, as those do who are sure of the path, out of endurance, consoling myself that I might become something worthy of note.

5. I have spent my life seeking a pious brother, so that I might serve him while he performs his ablutions.

6. I kept stored in surety what had been entrusted to me, and I returned it as a trustworthy man should, but I do not see that I am thanked.

7. I concealed the loved ones' secrets, turning a blind eye to their wrongs--thus does the infatuated one forgive.

8. My body has grown jaundiced from the parting of my loved ones, but I conceal the affliction, showing it to be fair.

9. When I am beaten, I let out a moan that delights the listener--like musk, which gives off a sweet fragrance when hands scrape it.

10. At times I moan, not on account of pain, but rather out of fear that, afterward, my loved one will leave me.

These (20) verses were copied, through one intermediary, from the handwriting of their author, Husayn b. 'Abd al-Samad--may God sanctify his precious soul.

PATRONAGE AND POETRY IN THE ARAB PROVINCES OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE

Husayn makes a clear statement in the opening verse of this poem that he attempted to pursue his scholarly ambitions within the Ottoman system and found it impossible. From what was known of the course of his career, scholars have suspected that this was the case, both for Husayn and for his teacher Zayn al-Din, but the poem provides explicit confirmation in Husayn's own voice. (21) The implication is that this failed experiment--the lack of opportunity for academic success--was the proximate cause of Husayn's emigration to Safavid territory, though the role...