Description of the Activities of the Sufis and Traditions of the Order in the Tazkira Nasoyim al-Muhabbat

This article examines the principles of interpretation applied to information related to Sufi activity and the history of Sufism in Alisher Navoi’s tazkira Nasoyim al-Muḥabbat. The main objective of the study is to identify the criteria according to which information concerning the lives of saints, stages of their spiritual activity, practices of Sufi orders, and the history of Sufism is systematized in the tazkira. Accordingly, the article provides a consistent analysis of key elements found in accounts of Sufis, including their repentance (tawba), period of discipleship (murid), stages of spiritual wayfaring (suluk), and master–disciple (pir–murid) relationships.
Based on anecdotes and narratives in the tazkira, the study explores the genealogy of Sufi shaykhs and saints, the meanings and reasons behind their additional names or epithets (laqabs) given either by themselves or by others. The factors that led the shaykhs to repentance—such as critical life situations, symbolic encounters involving animals, and repentance resulting from involvement in sensual love—are subjected to systematic analysis. Drawing on several sources, the article also illustrates the significance of asceticism, modest living, and poverty in the lives of the mashayikh. Particular attention is paid to the role of the pir–murid relationship in Sufi practice. Furthermore, the study considers information concerning the places of birth of the saints, including their countries or cities, as well as their social backgrounds.
The research employs comparative historical and textological methods, comparing the data found in Nasoyim al-Muḥabbat with those in Abdurahman Jami’s Nafoḥat al-Uns, Abdulkarim Qushayri’s Risala al-Qushayriyya, and Fariduddin Attar’s Tadhkirat al-Awliya. The usage of Sufi terminology in the tazkira, as well as the expansion or abridgment of information about certain shaykhs, is identified as a distinctive feature of Alisher Navoi’s interpretative approach.
The results of the study demonstrate that Nasayim al-Muḥabbat presents Sufi activity through a synthesis of historical and spiritual (irfani) experience, emphasizing Sufi principles and moral–ethical values in shaping the image of saints. The article concludes by theoretically substantiating the significance of this tazkira in elucidating the history of Sufism and defining the place of its interpretation of shaykhs’ and saints’ activities within Sufi literature.