Classification of Sufi Tazkiras and the Source Foundations of Nasoyim ul-muhabbat

This article examines Alisher Navo’i’s Nasoyim ul-muhabbat min shamoyim il-futuvvat in relation to the traditions of Sufi biographical literature and the sources underlying its formation. The study aims to identify the work’s connection with earlier Sufi biographical traditions, determine its principal sources, and reveal how these traditions were continued and creatively developed by Navo’i.
Within this framework, Abu Bakr al-Kalabadhi’s Al-Ta’arruf, Abu Nasr al-Sarraj’s Kitab al-Luma’, Abu al-Qasim al-Qushayri’s Al-Risala al-Qushayriyya, Ali ibn Uthman al-Hujwiri’s Kashf al-Mahjub, Abu al-Najib al-Suhrawardi’s ‘Awarif al-Ma’arif, and Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami’s Tabaqat al-Sufiyya are analyzed. Particular attention is given to their role, content, and distinctive features in Sufi biographical writing, especially the presentation of the lives and activities of Sufi masters, Sufi teachings, anecdotes, and narratives. Their connections with Nasoyim ul-muhabbat are subsequently examined to determine how Navo’i drew upon earlier biographical practices.
Methodologically, the research employs historical-comparative, historical-typological, source-critical, and textual-analysis approaches. These methods facilitate a comparative examination of specific information, interpretations, and narrative traditions found in the selected sources and their representation in Nasoyim ul-muhabbat.
The findings indicate that Nasoyim ul-muhabbat was formed in close connection with earlier Sufi biographical traditions and that Navo’i made creative use of the established textual and biographical heritage. Rather than simply reproducing earlier information and traditions, he reworked, expanded, and enriched them with new semantic and artistic dimensions.
In conclusion, Nasoyim ul-muhabbat represents both a continuation of Sufi biographical traditions and an original work that creatively appropriates earlier sources, transforming and enriching them through new literary and aesthetic perspectives. The work thus occupies a distinctive position in the development of Eastern Sufi biographical literature and demonstrates Navo’i’s creative approach to the established genre.