The Mysticism Of Hamzah Fansuri Pdf Merge Mac

His doctoral thesis (1962) was a two-volume work on the mysticism of Hamzah Fansuri. Al-Attas returned to Malaysia and became Head of the Division of Literature in the Department of Malay Studies at the University of Malay, Kuala Lumpur. He was Dean of the Faculty of Arts from 1968-70.

Hamzah Fansuri (Jawi: حمزه فنسوري ; also spelled Hamzah Pansuri, d. c. 1590 ?) was a 16th-century SumatranSufi writer, and the first writer known to pen mysticalpanentheistic ideas in the Malay language. He also wrote poetry in addition to his prose, and he is considered to be the first known poet of the Malay world.

Life[edit]

Information on Hamzah's life comes largely from the (pen-name stanza) that ends his poetry (syair), as well as from the work of his disciple Hasan Fansuri and commentaries on Hamzah's poems. However, many of his biographical details are uncertain.^[1] His name indicates that he may be from Barus (also known as Fansur to the Arabs), or have spent a large part of his life there.^[2][3] A link to the Siamese Ayutthaya (Shahr-i-Naw) has also been proposed, although it may be that he travelled to Ayutthaya rather than that being his birthplace.^[4] He was known as a Sufi spiritual master and it is thought that he may have worked at the court of the Aceh Sultanate.

Hamzah travelled widely, and was known to have visited the Malay Peninsula, Mughal India, Mecca and Medina, and Baghdad.^[3] He was one of the first Southeast Asians to complete the hajj.^[5] The date of his death is generally assumed to be around 1590 or earlier,^[4] although a later date during the reign of Sultan Iskandar Muda has also been proposed.^[1] However, an inscription on a gravestone found in Mecca for a Shaykh Hamza b. Abd Allah al-Fansuri recorded a date of April 11, 1527.^[6] Such an early date, if confirmed, may suggest that Hamzah did not live or work in Aceh, rather he was in Barus before leaving for Mecca where he died.^[2]

Panentheism[edit]

Hamzah Fansuri's panentheism was derived from the writings of the medievalIslamicscholars. He was influenced by Ibn Arabi's doctrine of Waḥdat al-Wujūd popular in Persia and Mughal India during the 16th century.^[3] He perceived God as immanent within all things, including the individual, and sought to unite one's self with the indwelling spirit of God. He employed the doctrine of seven stages of emanation (martabat) in which God manifests Himself in this world, ending in the Perfect Man, a doctrine widespread in Indonesia at the time. His teachings were promoted by Aceh theologian Shamsuddin al-Sumatrani.

However, his views were later deemed heretical by Nuruddin ar-Raniri for not conforming to the Islamic belief that God remained unchanged by His creation.^[7] Nuruddin travelled to Aceh and under his influence, the Sultana Taj ul-Alam attempted to eradicate Hamzah's works and name, and his writings were burnt.^[3]

Works[edit]

The poetry, syair or ruba'i, of Hamzah Fansuri are usually not more than 13-15 stanzas, but some may be up to 21.^[8] 32 of his poems have survived, and Hamzah included in each poem his name and information about himself in the last stanza (takhallus bait). Scholars have commented on his technical skill and mastery in his rhymes, the effective blending Arabic words into Malay poetic structure. They also noted a fondness for pun in his works that displays his humour and poetical virtuosity.^[4][9] He also wrote prose, and his three surviving works in prose are:

• Sharab al-'ashiqin ('The Lovers' Beverage')
• Asrar al-'arifin ('The Secrets of the Gnostics')
• Kitab al-Muntahi ('The Adept') – a collection of Arabic and Persian quotations with discussions in Malay.

He was the first writer to write about Sufi doctrines in the Malay language, or indeed any other languages of the Malay archipelago.^[10]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abVladimir I. Braginsky (1999). 'Towards the Biography of Hamzah Fansuri. When Did Hamzah Live ? Data From His Poems and Early European Accounts'. Archipel. 57 (2): 135–175.
2. ^ ^abR Michael Feener; Patrick Daly; Anthony Reed, eds. (January 1, 2011). Mapping the Acehnese Past. Brill. pp. 31–33. ISBN978-9067183659.
3. ^ ^abcdKeat Gin Ooi, ed. (13 October 2004). Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor, Band 1. ABC-CLIO. p. 561. ISBN978-1576077702.
4. ^ ^abcG.W.J. Drewes and L.F. Brakel (eds. and tr.). The poems of Hamzah Fansuri. Dordrecht and Cinnaminson: Foris Publications, 1986. ISBN90-6765-080-3, pp-3–18
5. ^Mary Somers Heidhues. Southeast Asia: A Concise History. London: Thames and Hudson, 2000. p. 81
6. ^Vladimir I. Braginsky (2001). 'On the Copy of Hamzah Fansuri's Epitaph Published by C. Guillot & L. Kalus'. Archipel. 62 (1): 21–33.
7. ^M.C. Ricklefs. A History of Modern Indonesia Since c. 1300, 2nd ed. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1994. p. 51
8. ^Stefan Sperl; Christopher Shackle, eds. (1996). Classical Traditions and Modern Meanings. Brill Academic Publishing. p. 383. ISBN978-9004102958.
9. ^L.F. Brakel (1979). 'HAMZA PANSURI: Notes on: Yoga Practies, Lahir dan Zahir, the 'Taxallos', Punning, a Difficult Passage in the Kitāb al-Muntahī, Hamza's likely Place of Birth, and Hamza's Imagery'. Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. 52 (1:235): 73–98. JSTOR41492842.
10. ^Syed Muhammad Naguib Al-Attas (1970). The Mysticism of Hamzah Fansuri. University of Malaya Press.

Further reading[edit]

• Muhammad Naguib al-Attas. The mysticism of Hamzah Fansuri. Kuala Lumpur: University of Malaya Press, 1970.
• G.W.J. Drewes and L.F. Brakel (eds. and tr.). The poems of Hamzah Fansuri. Dordrecht and Cinnaminson: Foris Publications, 1986. ISBN90-6765-080-3

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Al-Attas, Syed Muhammad Naguib(1966)The mysticism of Hamzah Fansuri.PhD thesis. SOAS University of London.

Abstract

This thesis is presented in two Parts; Part I forms the full exposition of the mysticism of Hamzah Fansuri, a Malay Sufi of the 16th century who lived in Barus in North Sumatra; Part II contains his three extant prose works edited in romanised Malay and translated into English; both the edition and the translation are annotated, A general picture of the spiritual climate of the period in which Hamzah lived, together with a brief biographical sketch attempting to establish his place of birth and the span of the period in which he lived - both of them problematic questions - is presented in the first chapter. Then in the second chapter allegations concerning the 'heresy' in his ideas levelled against him by Nuru'1-Din al-Rahiri of Gujerat, who was in Acheh in North Sumatra in 1637. are critically examined. A conclusion that the allegations were unfounded is submitted. Chapter three deals with Hamzah's mystical doctrines in the domains of ontology, cosmology and psychology. Similarities with the doctrines of Ibnu'l-'Arabi and 'Abdu'l-Karim al-Jili are noted. Chapters four and five introduce methodological concepts in a modern semantic analysis which is employed to ascertain the meanings of important concepts in Hamzah's mystical system. These concepts - the Divine Will, Being, Existence, the Self - are couched in Malay, and comparison with Arabia, Greek, Persian and Sanskrit terms with a view to establishing equivalents is attempted. In the conclusion Hamzah's contributions in Malay classical literature, both in the field of poetry as well as that of rational inquiry is stated. It is further suggested that gamzah was the first man to set down in Malay the Sufi doctrines; that he was the first man to produce systematic speculative writing in Malay, A theory on the islamization process in the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago, in which it is suggested Hamzah played an important and hitherto undiscovered role, is also presented. The Appendices contain material already given in the table of contents. The most important material there is the Index of the Semantic Vocabulary of Hamzah's mystical system, which supports everything that has been said with reference to the concepts in Hamzah's teachings - in particular with concepts explained in Chapters four and five.

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