Abstract:
Kashf-ol-Mahjub of Hujwiri is one of the most authoritative ancient sources of the mysticism in Persian literature. So it might be useful in searching for the unknown sources influential in forming Persian-Islamic mysticism، which have mostly been used by the author without mentioning them since during the translation movement، mainly from Greek into Arabic، the exact titles or authors of most translated works were ignored، and remained unknown for Muslim writers. This was because، traditionally، ancient authors rarely mentioned the source of their citation. This resulted in the fact that some considered the second author the true owner of the quotation. In this article، introducing the sources of some phrases used in this book، we have tried to show the common sources in forming Islamic and Christian mysticism and to investigate their traces in Kashf-ol-Mahjub. Clearly، it might be the case that association of ideas has developed common thoughts between these two cultures. It is hard to render every similar idea to adaptation، or a direct influence of one on the other.
Machine summary:
In this case, considering that the original source of the translation was unknown due to the lack of familiarity with Greek and Latin languages by people like Hujwiri, some contents of those sources have been transmitted as well-known sayings from generation to generation and are sometimes categorized among Arabic and Persian proverbs and wisdom.
(Ibid: 256) علم دارد طرف گوناگون مرو از حد ضرورت بیرون (Ibid: 256) The fame of the latter mentioned (which is counted among aphorisms 1 ) in Western literature is largely influenced by the quotation and translation of Seneca 2 , the Roman philosopher, in his treatise "On the Brevity of Life" 3 , as follows: "Vitam brevem esse, longam artem" In this treatise, according to the Stoic school of philosophy, Seneca calls upon his interlocutor (Paulinus) to seize the opportunity and fulfill his duty, and for this reason, he cites the saying of Hippocrates, whom he refers to as the greatest of physicians: aforisma Seneca De brevitate vitae "O Paulinus, most mortals complain of the wickedness of nature because our stay in this world is brief, and the opportunity of life passes so swiftly that, except for a few, it abandons the remainder of life at its very beginning.
In this regard, Hajviri's sayings are not a direct translation of ancient Greek and Latin texts, especially the writings of the Church Fathers, but rather it seems that propositions previously discussed among Western theologians have been blended with Islamic thought and entered mystical works such as Kashf al-Mahjub.
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