Nasir-i Khusraw (1045-1052)

by Paul Lunde

Nasir-i Khusraw is the most mysterious of medieval Muslim travellers. Poet, philosopher, radical theologian, secret agent, ascetic, sorcerer and political exile, after his death he became the object of a cult which still exists in Badakhshan.

It is extremely difficult to separate the reality from the myths that grew up around this remarkable man. Even the dates of his birth and death vary widely in the sources, some claiming that he lived to be well over 100 years old, subsisting entirely upon the fragrance of food, not its substance. The 13th cosmographer al-Qazwini says that Nasir was king of Balkh. Others claimed he had been Prime Minister (wazir) of the Fatimid Caliph of Egypt, al-Mustansir, particularly charged with the education of Nizar, the caliph’s son and heir who was later the focus of the shi‘a sect of the Nizari Isma‘ilis, known during the Crusades as the Assassins.

He was accused of having embraced every known heresy and even to have rejected revealed religion entirely – to have become a rationalist. The most durable charge levied by his political and religious opponents was that he was a secret agent (da‘i) of the Fatimid ruler of Egypt, charged with spreading Isma‘ili propaganda in the territories of the staunchly sunni rulers of Transoxania. This was most probably true.

Abu Mu‘in Nasir ibn Khusraw ibn Harith al-Qubadiyani al-Marwazi, usually known by the Persian form of his name, Nasir-i Khusraw, was born in 1003 in Qubadiyan, a town in the district of Balkh, and his mother tongue was Persian. He died in exile in Badakhshan, where he fled to escape assassination. His grave in Yumgan is still venerated. The date of his death is uncertain; scholars have suggested dates ranging from 1060 to 1104. The most probable suggestion is 1088.

His family was in government service, and Nasir followed the family tradition, first as a scribe and later as a revenue officer. He did not receive the standard education of the scholarly elite, but pursued his own interests. In one of his poems he says, speaking of his youth: ‘In order to satisfy my desire for knowledge, I had studied Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit, Turkish, Sindhi, Greek and Hebrew; I had studied the philosophy of Mani, the doctrines of the Sabians and those of the Rationalists.’ Intellectual arrogance, interest in heterodox beliefs, great curiosity and profound spiritual disquiet – all these characteristics contributed to the legends that later grew up around him.

He rose to a high position serving the Saljuq ruler of Marw, Jaghri Beg. He was probably Minister of Finance. On a tour of inspection of the province, when he was 42 years old, he suffered a spiritual crisis as the result of a dream. He formally renounced his dissolute life, quit his job, gave away his possessions and set out for Makkah. The account of this journey, the Safarnama, has come down to us, albeit in an abridged form. The text we have was almost certainly edited at some time to remove Isma‘ili elements.

The Safarnama is a most valuable account of Islamic lands between the years 1045 and 1052. His description of Fatimid Syria and Egypt is precious. Impressed with the efficiency and justice of Fatimid rule, he became an Isma‘ili – although he never explicitly refers to this in the Safarnama itself – and on his return to his native land in 1052 wrote and taught the tenets of this shi‘a sect on behalf of the Fatimid Caliph; he was in fact in charge of Fatimid propaganda for the province of Khurasan. He was persecuted for his activities, and took refuge in Badakhshan, where he continued to write until his death. A number of his works have survived, all of them of great interest.