بررسی موطن عهد الست از دیدگاه علامه‌طباطبایی وحافظ‌شیرازی

 

Introduction

 
The covenant of Alast or the world of dharr (pre-existence) is a concept with Quranic roots. Verse 172 of Surah A'raf mentions that God made a covenant with the sons of Adam to acknowledge his oneness. Islamic scholars consider the realm of this knowledge to be the world of pre-existence. In the above verse, the word “dhoriyah” is used, but there is disagreement among theologians, commentators, mystics and other Islamic thinkers about its interpretation. Some have presented a metaphorical interpretation of the verse and given it an allegorical aspect. Some others have considered this covenant as a real issue and presented different views on the interpretation of the covenant and its abode. (Javadie Amoli, 1384 and Tabarsi, 1372). Hafez, who is considered a great mystic, has expressed mystical concepts in code language and mentioned them in his lyric poems with words and expressions such as the covenant of Alast, the eternal covenant, the eternal rule, the compass of fate, and so on. Hafez considers the realm of the covenant as the eternal hexeity of human beings in the eternal divine knowledge, but according to Allameh, the realm of the covenant is the celestial existence of human, which is in a higher rank than his material existence. This study investigates Hafez's theory on the origin of the Covenant or Alast and compares it with the theory of Allameh Tabatabai in this regard. The following questions are answered in this research: 1- What is the relationship between Allameh's theory and the mystics’ theory of the covenant of Alast, which is frequently mentioned in Hafiz's sonnets? 2- What are the commonalities and differences between these two theories? 3- What is the role of mystics’ principles in explaining Hafez’s theory of the covenant of Alast?
 
Research Method
The present study has been carried out through descriptive-analytical method, and is based on interpretive and mystical texts and the library method. After being extracted from the main sources, comments have been arranged and explained, and the concepts and words that refer to the Covenant of Alast in Hafez's sonnets have been compared to the theories of mystics extracted from mystical books.
Discussion
There are several meanings for the word “dharr” in dictionaries. According to most of the lexicographers, this word refers to tiny creatures (Farahidi, 1988). Some have refrained from explaining the concept of the world of pre-existence and have asked the scholars of Shari'a to deal with it. But those who have sought to interpret and explain it are divided into two groups.
 
 A- one group believe that there has been no covenant, and the Qur'anic verse has an allegorical aspect. Human beings are innately theists and theology is considered a part of human nature . This is an evident issue which is interpreted as the Covenant of Alast (Javadi-Amoli , 2005). According to the second group, the world of pre-existence indicates a real matter. God has not spoken to man in the language of allegory and metaphor, but in the language of creation and existence. However, several ideas have been put forward in the interpretation of this existential issue and its abode
1- This covenant has been made in the world of nature. When God created Adam, he produced from his back the specks of all human beings who were to live on the earth from the beginning of creation to the end of the world. God then joined the souls of all human beings to those specks, made the covenant with them and then returned the specks to Adam's back. This is known as the theory of extraction (Majlisi, 1982).
2- This covenant is real. God has offered two proofs or reasons to guide man. The outward proofs are the divine prophets and the inward proof is the human intellect. These two proofs are in harmony and are presented by God for making a covenant with human beings about their monotheism and his lordship in the language of creation. In fact, the realm of the covenant is the abode of revelation and human intellect, which is related to the world of nature (Javadi, 2005).
3- Based on Allameh's theory, human existence has two aspects and directions: a celestial aspect beyond time and space, and another aspect belonging to the world of nature. These two aspects are not separate from each other, but in terms of rank, the celestial aspect has priority over the worldly aspect. The covenant is related to the celestial aspect of man (Tabatabai, 1999).
4- Hafiz has mentioned this covenant using the words “the Covenant of Alast”, “the eternal rule”, etc., and in mystical texts too, this covenant has been mentioned in these terms. According to mystics, the realm of this covenant is related to the world of divinity, the eternal knowledge of the Almighty and the station of eternal hexeity. Hafiz, who belongs to this group, considers the realm of the covenant to be the abode of eternal hexeity in his sonnets) (Ibn Arabi, no date and Ferghani, 2000). The compatibility of these opinions with the narrations of the Infallibles shows that Hafez's view overlaps with the hadiths about the realm of the Covenant of Alast.
According to the above evidences, the logical-rational argument for Hafiz Shirazi's theory on the realm of the Covenant of Alast is as follows:
1- At the beginning of this section, it became clear that the terms “the Covenant of Alast”, “the Eternal Covenant”, “the compass of fait”, etc., which are mentioned in Hafiz's sonnets, have one thing in common, and that is the certainty of human destiny in divine knowledge.
1-      Mystics argue that human destiny in determined by the divine essential knowledge and the station of eternal hexeity, and interpret it in terms “the word of Alast”,” the covenant of Alast”, “the compass of fate”, and so on. Therefore, by the origin of the covenant of Alastand the other terms Hafiz means the world of pre-existence, the rank of the essential knowledge of God and the station of eternal hexeity, whose realm is the world of divinity.
 
Conclusion
Allameh Tabatabai considers the abode of the covenant to be the celestial aspect of human, which has priority over his material and worldly existence. It is true that this priority has no temporal aspect, but it is related to the world of creation and is outside the Divine Essence. According to Hafiz, the realm of the covenant of Alast is the eternal hexeity and the station of the essential knowledge. Since this abode is neither temporal nor spatial, these two theories interact in two ways.
1- Both theories consider the realm of the Covenant to be outside the world of nature and outside the limits of place and time, and deny the existence of a similar world before this world.
2- Both believe that the taking of the covenant is not an allegory but an expression of reality, and the testimony and the acceptance of the testimony is a real issue, not a metaphor, but disagree on the abode of the covenant.
A- According to Hafiz, the abode of the covenant is the abode of the Essential Divine knowledge and the station of eternal hexeity, which is related to the time before the creation of beings.
B- According to Allameh's ideas, human beings have two aspects or two existential abodes. These two abodes are not separate from each other but are united. They are together but are not the same. One is the abode of the visible realm and the other is the abode of celestial world. The celestial world had priority over the visible realm, but this priority is not temporal. In the celestial world, that is beyond time, human has observed God as the lord and himself as the servant, and truth is clear in that abode.
 This abode is different from the station of eternal hexeity and eternal knowledge, which is related to the essence of the Supreme Being. Therefore, Allameh's theory is different from Hafiz's theory and belongs to the world of creation, while Hafiz's theory belongs to the world of divinity and before the creation of the universe. Hence, Hafiz's view overlaps with the narrations of the Infallibles.
 
 
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