UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN COLORADO

THE WRITINGS AND TRAVELS OF

NASIR-I KHUSRAW THROUGH THE HOLY LAND

A TERM PAPER SUBMITTED TO

DR. BEA SPADE FOR HIST. 493

BY

REGIE MARQUEZ

PUEBLO, COLORADO

OCTOBER 18, 1999.

Introduction

Nāsir-i Khusraw⁽¹⁾ was an eleventh-century Persian poet and writer on religious subjects who also wrote an account of his seven years of travel to Palestine, Arabia, and Egypt. His poems and religious writings have remained influential, especially for adherents of Ismaili Islam in Central Asia and Iran. However, Khusraw's account of his travels, the Safarnama, was not translated into English in its entirety until 1986. The book provided little unique information, but it offered a coherent, first-hand picture of the sights of Jerusalem, Mecca, and Cairo, as well as interesting, if limited, insights into an eleventh-century personality.

Recently, however, scholars have begun to connect the circumstances of Khusraw's long journey and his unusual itinerary with the facts of his perhaps well-established conversion to Ismaili beliefs. Since Khusraw's permanent contribution was to the furthering of Ismailism, studying the Safarnama as evidence of the author's growing commitment to Islamic beliefs, (including his adoption of a vow to serve the Islamic Imam of Cairo and the Dawa of the Ismailiyya) the significance of where he went, what he reported on, and the manner in which he represented what he saw take on even greater interest. A brief review of Nāsir-i Khusraw's life, including his role in Ismailism, and the history of the Safarnama will be followed by analyses of portions of the text of his travel book.

Biography

Nāsir-i Khusraw whose full name was Abu Muin Nasir b. Khusraw b. Harith al-Kubadhiyani, was born in 1004, by the Western calendar, in Kubadhiyan, in the region of Marw, to a family of landowners and officials. The little that is known about his early life derives from his own writings, primarily the Safarnama and the poems in the Diwan. Such details, rather than constituting any strictly ordered autobiography, however, reflect "Nasir's own retrospective arrangement of his life to reflect what he regards as phases in his moral and spiritual evolution."⁽²⁾

Legendary accounts of Khusraw's life, including a counterfeit autobiography, "absurdly inflated" his background, describing him as "the most learned man; who occupied a very high position in the state."⁽³⁾

However, Nasir was not an extremely wealthy man and he notes in his travel book that he was employed by the sultan's revenue service and later mentions that his brother Abul-Fath Abd al-Jalil was in the entourage of the vizier of the prince of Khorasan. It is likely, therefore, that they were members of the permanent bureaucratic class and Khusraw probably entered the state's service at a fairly early age after receiving the basic education appropriate to his level of work. His "early interest in philosophy, science, mathematics, and poetry" would have been "pursued while maintaining an active social life in court circles."⁽⁴⁾ He was not, however, "rigorously trained in the religious and theological 'Arabic' sciences of a systematic Islamic education" and this "is evident in his philosophical works."⁽⁵⁾

Evidence of Khusraw's rather wild social life comes from the content of the dream that begins the Safarnama and occurred after he stayed in Juzjanan "nearly a month and was constantly drunk on wine."⁽⁶⁾ The call to reformation and conversion, which is probably allegorical in character, is presented in the context of a demand by the unidentified speaker in the dream and, having been called on to change, Khusraw states that he made the decision to go to Marw, surrender his position, and make the pilgrimage to Mecca. The account of his seven-year absence (1046-1052) is the bulk of Khusraw's directly autobiographical writing and the return to Khorasan marked "the beginning of the most obscure phase of his life."⁽⁷⁾

In this phase he undertook the teaching of the Ismaili faith and was subjected to "severe Sunni Persecutions," according to a contemporary, which eventually forced him into exile in the valley of Yumgan in Badakhshan.⁽⁸⁾ He is last known to have been in Yumgan in 1061 but the date of his death is uncertain and "fell sometime between 1072 and 1078."⁽⁹⁾

The great majority of Khusraw's writings, which constitute a major contribution to Persian literature of this period, date from the period following his return to Khorasan in 1052. All his writing is related to the expression of his faith. The poetry consists of either "homiletic sermons in verse exhorting to self-purification and the pursuit of spiritual rather than material riches" or sometimes bitter reflections on "the falsity of this world" and the poet's misery while in his exile in Badakhshan.⁽¹⁰⁾ The prose writings vary considerably and include such works as the Wadjh-i din, an exposition of the major Islamic principles and practices that explicates the use of the tawil, the specific method of Ismaili thought; the Zad al-musafirin, which surveys ancient philosophers, such as Plato and Aristotle, and argues against views held by early Muslim philosophers; and the Shish fasl, a brief summary of the "Ismaili interpretation of Islamic tenets."⁽¹¹⁾

Historical Environment

Earlier scholars who neglected the importance of Ismailism in the context of Khusraw's journey ignored one of the principal elements that made "the age in which Nasir lived . . . one of commotion and turmoil."⁽¹²⁾ All the lands of Islam were wrecked by battles among various dynastic factions and, as is common in theocratic Islam, all such conflicts had important religious connotations. The principal conflict was between the Abbasid Caliphs who ruled at Baghdad and the Fatimids who ruled a vast domain in Egypt. In Khusraw's native Khorasan the struggle was between two rival Turkish tribes, the Ghaznavids and the Seljuks--both of whom expressed allegiance to the Abbasid Caliph.

However, the overall struggle throughout Islam had also reached into Khorasan. The Fatimids who rose to power in the tenth-century under Ubaydallah al-Mahdi who claimed to be descended from the Prophet through his daughter Fatima, the first Shi ite imams, and the son of the sixth Imam Jafar al-Sadiq who was called Ismail--after whom Ismailism is named. The "Seveners," as the Ismailis were sometimes called, because they differed "over the seventh imam," believed that the line of imam had legitimately carried on, whereas for the Twelver Shi ites the line of imams only "continued down to the Twelfth."⁽¹³⁾

The Ismaili sect has thus "branched off from the Imamiyya" and was bitterly opposed not only by Sunnis, but by Twelver Shi ites as well.⁽¹⁴⁾ It has often been assumed that Khusraw was born a Sunni Muslim. However, his references to Sunnism "are noticeably hostile" while he "passes over the imams and the doctrines of duodecimal Shi ism without comment" which may be due, historian Henry Corbin speculates, to a conversion from the one form of Shi ism to the other, which would be far more likely to avoid that kind of convert's " 'resentment' which could not be contained in silence" since it represented "acceding to an esoteric understanding" that had much in common with Twelver Shi ism rather that the type of "change in confessional denomination" implied by conversion from Sunnism.⁽¹⁵⁾

Whatever Khusraw's original religious affiliation however, his adherence to Ismailism would have placed his directly under the orders of the Ismaili dawa as propagated from Cairo.

The reign of Caliph al-Mustansir (1036-1094) at Cairo was a golden age for the Fatimids who "boasted a highly efficient and well-organized administration and sent missionaries into the remotest regions of the Islamic world."⁽¹⁶⁾ However, the Fatimid influence in the eastern regions was largely hidden and they never gained much land there. despite numerous converts to Ismailism. One of the regions in which "their propaganda was particularly effective" was Khorasan and Khusraw, whose conversion prior to his trip to the west is sometimes questioned, was all but certainly a primary exponent of Ismailism following his return from Egypt.⁽¹⁷⁾

The dynastic battles and religious struggles have also been identified as probably contributing directly to Khusraw's decision to leave Khorasan for the west. When Khusraw was 35 years old the Ghaznavids, in whose service he had been, were finally driven out of Khorasan by the Seljuks who were "adamant Sunnis . . . actively opposed to all forms of Shi ism."⁽¹⁸⁾ Although Khusraw's service, and that of his brother, continued under the new rulers the Seljuks were even more devoted to the "relentless persecution" of the Ismaili sect than their predecessors had been.⁽¹⁹⁾

Therefore, it is not improbable that Khusraw, who had probably already decided to become an Ismaili missionary, would be eager to remove himself from Seljuk territory and thus set out on the travels recounted in the Safarnama.

Khusraw's Writings

The principal English translation of the Safarnama are those by Guy Le Strange⁽²⁰⁾ (1893), who translated only the portions pertaining to Khusraw's travels in Syria and Palestine, and W.M. Thackston⁽²¹⁾ (1986) who translated the entire account. Le Strange mentions that the description of Jerusalem had been translated by Fuller⁽²²⁾ in 1873, but notes that "for archaeological purposes . . . this translation is almost useless."⁽²³⁾ Le Strange's purpose in translating Khusraw's account was archaeological and the Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society focused on the region known as the Holy Land. Thus Le Strange's notes concentrate on the accuracy of description of sites in Jerusalem. Thackston, on the other hand, provides a full translation with explanatory notes useful for historians, archaeologists, philologists and others.

Le Strange discussed the texts he employed for his translation--principally the British Museums 1691 manuscript and its later, weaker, copy, that supplemented the first mention of some points. He also relied on the 1881 Persian text edited by Charles Schefer⁽²⁴⁾ "for the emendation of that afforded" by the British Museum copies.⁽²⁵⁾

Le Strange provides no further information on texts and the majority of the critical editions were published after his translation was completed. Neither Le Strange nor Thackston offers any other information on texts, their reliability, or provenance. Thackston does, however, mention the six other critical editions published since Schefer's and his translation is, the reader must presume, based on some or all of these editions.

There is little discernible difference between comparable passages from the two English translations. Both writers adapt the Persian to the vernacular of their times and this accounts for their major differences in approach. A comparison of a single passage suffices to demonstrate the difference between them.

Now, it was my intention to have left the Holy City, and gone by sea to Egypt--before returning from thence to Mekkah--but the wind was so contrary as to make a sea-voyage impossible. I set out, therefore, by the land-road [and came to Askalan] and I saw here an arch, which they told me was ancient, and had been part of a mosque. The arch was built of such mighty stones that, should any desire to throw it down, he would spend much money before he could accomplish it.⁽²⁶⁾

After Jerusalem I decided to voyage to Egypt by sea and thence again to Mecca. As there was such an adverse wind that the ship could not set out to sea, I therefore proceeded by land [and came to Ascalon where] I saw an old arch said to have been at one time part of a mosque. It was of stone so huge that it would have cost a great deal to pull it down.⁽²⁷⁾

Translation into colloquial prose generally seems to be the aim of the translations, but where Thackston resists the urge to adapt what is either the more convoluted syntax of the original to English or, as may be the case, to adopt an 'antique' tone or sound, Le Strange is less reliable. Choices between "they told me" and "said to have been" were made on the basis of what might sound best to the contemporary ear. However, the phrase "should any desire to throw it down" seem unnecessarily obscure given the fact that Thackston communicates the same idea without creating a sentence that might cause the reader to hesitate. However, largely because it is such a lucidity written text, no obvious disagreements about content or meaning emerge when the two translations are compared.

The lucidity of the Safarnama certainly ensures that, at the very least, there is no debate about Khusraw's itinerary. He is quite precise in supplying dates, place names, and lengths of stay throughout the book and mentions, in greater or lesser detail, visits to at least 125 locales. In addition the book begins with a brief account of his administrative travel, prior to his pilgrimage, which includes the time in which, he says, he underwent the religious experience that prompted his desire to make the pilgrimage. In early March 1046 Khusraw, one of his two brothers, and a "Hindu slave-boy" set out for Nishapur on the seven-year journey.⁽²⁸⁾

Khusraw's route is of particular importance in regard to the question of whether he was an Ismaili convert prior to his departure from Khorasan. As Corbin notes, the "question which dominates his whole spiritual biography . . . is to know at what stage Nasir-i Khusrau was converted to Ismailism and was received into the esoteric brotherhood."(29) However, scholars have begun to believe that both the manner and the direction of his travels make it likely that Khusraw had been converted prior to his departure, was engaged in a quest for further enlightenment, and was intent on training in Ismaili doctrine.

For instance, W. Ivanow noted that an official at Khusraw's level would "certainly have traveled with the annual hajj caravan, in relative safety and greater comfort, by shorter routes" and goes so far as to suggest that he departed secretly, avoiding witnesses.⁽³⁰⁾ Most scholars currently agree with Ivanow's original notion that Khusraw's departure seemed to be abrupt, that his choice of mode of travel was highly unusual, and that the pilgrimage was, although Khusraw fully intended to go to Mecca eventually, "mentioned as a pretext, allowing Nasir to receive the required training as a dai at the headquarters of the Fatimid dawa in Egypt."⁽³¹⁾

Those who disagree, such as Gholam Aavani, argue that the bare outlines of Ivanow's proposition constitute only guesses and claim, incorrectly, that such scholars "take the story of the dream [in the Safarnama] to represent an actual conversion to Ismailism."⁽³²⁾ The belief that the dream represented a sudden, actual event was held by older generations of scholars such as Le Strange. However, Le Strange also neglected any mention of a connection between Khusraw and Ismailism and avoided any discussion of "whether or not the erotic and pantheistic poetry" attributed to him was written by the same Nasir Khusraw--perhaps avoiding any implication that the author of the Safarnama was, in any way, a less than reliable witness for Le Strange's archaeological purposes.⁽³³⁾

However, since scholars have firmly established that the author of the Diwan, the Safarnama, and the religious writings is the same Ismaili advocate, such acceptance of Khusraw's dream at face value has not been common. Most scholars since Ivanow, as Azim Nanji notes, hold that Khusraw was a convert prior to his departure and "that his description of his conversion should be understood as an allegorical account of his inner quest and transformation."⁽³⁴⁾ Aavani's argument further turns on the interpretation of Khusraw's "Confessional Ode;" one of the poems in his Diwan, in which the conversion seems, according to this interpretation, to take place once Khusraw reaches an enchanted city who's Guardian of the Gates is, Aavani argues, the Ismaili divine popularly called Muayyad Shirazi. Khusraw's poems always "have a close relationship to points and details of his personal life," but others find this reading of the ode far too literal.⁽³⁵⁾

Corbin's interpretation, which accepts Muayyad as the Guardian, argues that this "is not the material city of Cairo [but] the albalad al-amin, it is the 'virtual paradise' which is the dawa typifying on earth the light of heaven."⁽³⁶⁾ This not only makes Aavani appear to be the party of guilty of literalism, but convincingly establishes the necessary parallels between the story of Khusraw's conversion as told in the Safarnama and in the "Confessional Ode."

Khosraw's Travels

However, the very unusual shape of Khusraw's route is equally intriguing and is, perhaps, the best confirmation of the theory that Khusraw set out for Egypt to train as an Ismaili missionary. Rather than even approximating a direct route to Mecca, Khusraw's small party took a northern route. They passed through Gavan and Damzan in the province of Qumes, through the Daylam and Taram regions, to Tabriz and then Khoy in Azerbaijan, and to Van and Akhlat in Armenia. From that point the travelers began their descent toward Syria, passing through Aleppo and Beirut on their way to Jerusalem. From that city Khusraw made his first hajj, returning from Mecca to Jerusalem. His next principal goal was Cairo where he stayed for six years, during which time he embarked on the Hajj three more times. He returned to Cairo in the intervals, but after the fourth pilgrimage he traveled through the desert, across the Arabian Peninsula, stopping at regular caravan sites such as Taef. Falaj and Lahsa. Khusraw ascended to Basra in Iraq but then took a northeasterly route that nearly mirrored his original northern path. The principal cities he visited were Isfahan, Tabas and Qaen. On reentering Khorasan, Khusraw moved through various cities, including Marw Rud, and ended his journey in Balkh in October of 1052.

This route effectively avoided the Sunni and Abbasid center of the Islamic world, making a broad loop around as Khusraw also "made in effect a tour of every important center of Ismailism west of Transoxiana."⁽³⁷⁾

Ivanow had noted that it was unlikely that a man in circumstances such as Khusraw's seems to have been, could have made such an extensive journey without donations from "the Ismaili 'cells' at which he, provided with necessary certificates, could 'refuel' on his journey."⁽³⁸⁾ Thus it may have been necessity, as well as the desire to meet with other Ismailis that dictated Khusraw's circuitous route. In further support of this thesis Ivanow, Thackston, and others have noted that Khusraw's most strenuous praise is for his, presumably Ismaili, benefactors and that his fulsome admiration of various sites (other than Jerusalem and Mecca) is coordinated with Ismaili domination of certain locales.

Analyses of Khusraw's Works

The most pertinent question may have been raised indirectly by Thackston who notes that "there is little in [Khusraw's] narrative that would characterize him as a professional traveler or a particularly interested observer of the people he met or the places he observed" and, Thackston continues, the writer's "observations on the places he visited give us an interesting, if superficial, view into the eleventh century Islamic world."⁽³⁹⁾

The question that this raises is, why did Khusraw compose this account of his travels? Although the question is not addressed in the literature, it is noteworthy that all of Khusraw's poetry and prose is directly connected to religious subjects. He did not compose works, other than the Safarnama, whose content was so largely, distinctively, objective rather than subjectively meditative or speculative. Although the account of his conversion and his pilgrimage to the holy sites of Palestine and Arabia makes this essentially a religious work it lacks an especially religious tone, does not contain theological speculation, and "does not touch upon theological or sectarian debates," while making "scant mention of the political turmoil of the time."⁽⁴⁰⁾ The answer may be that for readers of his manuscript the full religious message was clearly understood. It may be excessive to claim that, like Ismaili poetry, in which "one has to know in advance the gist of its contents in order to understand the implications of is allegories and metaphors," the Safarnama is coded for Khusraw's readers.⁽⁴¹⁾ However, the true purpose of his journey, his missionary training, is not openly discussed in the account of his travels and there is, therefore, a strong possibility that his readers would have understood that the pilgrimage was not just to Mecca and Jerusalem (sites common to all Islamic sects) but to Cairo, the Fatimid capital, as well. This makes it possible to speculate that the text of the Safarnama will reveal some of Khusraw's reasons for composing it. In this regard Farhad Daftary makes the important observation that, in what is the most interesting section of the book, "Nasir describes in vivid detail the splendor of the Fatimid capital, with its royal palaces, gates, gardens and shops, as well as the wealth of Egypt, even though the country was going through difficult times."⁽⁴²⁾

However, Daftary's description of the chapters on Egypt also leaves out some important details. Not only does Khusraw inventory the wonders of the Fatimid lands, he also specifically discusses the behavior of the Caliph and his effect on those he rules. The section dealing with Egypt, in short, paints an ideal picture of life under the Ismaili Caliph. The description assembled by Khusraw may, in fact, be part of his missionary work. Certainly, in an era when "the Abbasids, not without reason, looked on the [Ismaili] missionaries as political agents" and sectarian persecution was the norm, the lavish praise of the Fatimid Caliph and his realm would have been regarded as rebellious in nature.⁽⁴³⁾ No mention of the probable distribution of Khusraw's travel writing is made in the literature though, in view of its survival in at least a few copies, it must have been fairly wide, at least among Ismailis.

It is also important to note that the structure of Khusraw's account has certain features that tend to elevate the religious significance of Cairo, as the home of the Fatimid rulers. The sections Jerusalem, Cairo, and Mecca (which are roughly equivalent in length) occur in that order, even though Khusraw visited Mecca for the first time prior to his sojourn in Cairo. The structure may be read in different ways--which are not necessarily mutually exclusive. On the one hand, by arranging the narration of his visits Khusraw may have implied an ascending order of sacredness, placing Cairo above Jerusalem on the scale that reaches its natural conclusion in Mecca. On the other hand the structure may emphasize the centrality of Cairo for Khusraw's purposes. The northern travels and the visit to Jerusalem are complemented by the descriptions of Mecca and the travels through Arabia, Iraq and so on as he returns to Khorasan. At the center of this design is Cairo. It should also be noted that there are parallels to be discovered in the manner of presentation and the matter discussed in each section. In the Jerusalem section Khusraw offers a brief description of the city and an extended, detailed account of the Dome of the Rock and its precincts. Similarly, the discussion of Mecca begins with a summary description of the city and consists largely of a precisely detailed discussion of the Kaba. Cairo, which possesses no Islamic monument comparable in importance to the Dome of the Rock or the Kaba, is introduced with a description of the provinces and then proceeds to a discussion of Cairo proper, the Caliphs banquets, and the Caliph's conduct. The discussion of the city is heavily imbued with the Caliph's presence. Even the rising of the Nile, watched as it had been for several millennia, is an occasion for citing the order of the realm, where "measuring devices have been constructed [and] an agent . . . receives a salary of one thousand dinars to watch and see how much the level rises," and citing the benevolence of the Caliph, who does not levy a tax on the peasants "unless the level goes above eighteen cubits."⁽⁴⁴⁾ The entire tone of Khusraw's narrative changes with his entry into Egypt. The disinterested observations and reports of hearsay, such as surround the immense stones at Ascalon mentioned above, are abandoned in an almost excited reach for superlatives once he reaches Egypt.

At Tennis, for example, Khusraw goes into raptures over the colored linen that is woven in the royal workshops and "is not sold to anyone."⁽⁴⁵⁾ Indeed other kings, such as the poor king of Fars may have sent "twenty thousand dinars to Tennis to buy one suit of clothing of their special material" and his agents may have "stay[ed] there for several years but [they] were unsuccessful in obtaining any."⁽⁴⁶⁾ The turban woven for the Caliph, however, was seen by Khusraw and was reported to be worth four thousand dinars.

In other portions of the description of Egypt Khusraw more specifically connects the moral order and the happy state of civil affairs with the influence of the Caliph, as is only fitting in a theocratic state. He claims, for example, that "the security and welfare of the people of Egypt have reached a point that the drapers, moneylenders and jewelers do not even lock their shops--they only lower a net across the front and no one tampers with anything."⁽⁴⁷⁾ This tone which is unremitting throughout the description of Egypt, indicates the centrality of the Fatimid Caliph and his capital in the scheme of Khusraw's travelogue. He has, essentially written about the Caliph and his city as if they were monuments equivalent to those of Jerusalem and Mecca. The descendant of Fatima and Ismail embodies Ismailism and becomes, in Khusraw's rapturous account, a sort of living monument. Visiting Cairo is, it becomes clear, an essential part of Khusraw's spiritual pilgrimage--even if he does not overtly refer to the specific sectarian mission on which he had embarked. The implications of Khusraw's text have, it seems, only begun to be examined by scholars and the curious flatness that Thackston seems to find in the work may disguise greater depths than have been seen before.

Conclusion

While it was not necessarily Khusraw's intention to do so, his writings illustrate an interesting perspective of the regions he traveled, during a period of complex, political turmoil and sectional religious conflict. The inspiration of Khusraw's works seems to have been religious in nature, but it does provide some very stimulating insight into the political, and religious oriented environment of the regions he traveled from an Ismaili point of view. It can, perhaps, be said that the most important contribution that Khusraw's works have made have been in the domain of grasping the complicated state of affairs in the Islamic world at the time of his writing, and of how the religious and political sphere's of the region intertwined to influence its development.

¹Of the eleven variations of the writer's name, the one chosen here is that of the editors of The Encyclopedia of Islam. C.E. Bosworth, E van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs, and C. Pellat, eds., The Encyclopedia of Islam, new edition (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1992).

²C.E. Bosworth, E van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs, and C. Pellat, eds., The Encyclopedia of Islam, new edition (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1992) s.v. "Nāsir-i Khusraw," by Azim Nanji.

³W. Ivanow, Nāsir-i Khusraw and Ismailism, the Ismaili Text Society, series B, no.5 (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1948), 8.

⁴C.E. Bosworth, et al., s.v. "Nāsir-i Khusraw," by Azim Nanji.

⁵W.M. Thackston, introduction to Naser-e Khosraw's Book of Travels (Safarnama), trans. and with an introduction by W.M. Thackston (New York: Persian Heritage Association, Bibliotheca Persica, 1986), 1.

⁶Naser-e Khosraw, Naser-e Khosraw's Book of Travels (Safarnama), trans. and with an introduction by W.M. Thackston (New York: Persian Heritage Association, Bibliotheca Persica, 1986), 1.

⁷Farhad, Daftary, The Ismailis: Their History and Doctrines (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 216.

⁸Daftary, The Ismailis, 217.

⁹C.E. Bosworth, et al., s.v. "Nāsir-i Khusraw," by Azim Nanji.

¹⁰Julie Scott Meisami, "Symbolic Structure in a Poem by Nasir-i Khusrau," Iran 31 (1993) : 103.

¹¹C.E. Bosworth, et al., s.v. "Nāsir-i Khusraw," by Azim Nanji.

¹²Gholam Reza Aavani, introduction to Forty Poems from the "Divan" by Nāsir-i Khusraw, translated by Peter Lamborn Wilson and Gholam Reza Aavani (Tehran: Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy, 1977), 1.

¹³Thackston, Naser-e Khosraw's Book of Travels, xi.

¹⁴E. van Donzel, B. Lewis, C. Pellat, and C.E. Bosworth, eds., The Encyclopaedia of Islam, new edition (Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1978), s.v. "Ismailiyya," by W. Madelung.

¹⁵Henry Corbin, "Nasir-i Khusrau and Iranian Ismailism," in The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. R.N. Frye, vol. 4, The period from the Arab Invasion to the Saljuqs. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975), 532.

¹⁶Aavani, Forty Poems from the "Divan", 2.

¹⁷Ibid. , 2.

18. Thackston, Naser-e Khosraw's Book of Travels. xii.

19. ¹⁹ Ibid., 2.

²⁰Nasir-i Khusrau, Diary of a Journey Through Syria and Palestine, trans. and with a preface by Guy Le Strange (London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1893).

²¹ Naser-e Khosraw, Naser-e Khosraw's Book of Travels (Safarnama).

²²Nasir ibn Khusru, "An Account of Jerusalem Translated from the Persian Text of Nasir ibn Khusru's Safar-namah," trans. by A.R. Fuller. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society n.s. 6, 1873.

²³ Guy Le Strange, preface to Diary of a Journey Through Syria and Palestine, trans. by Guy Le Strange (London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1893), viii.

²⁴ Nassiri Khosrau, Sefer nameh; relation du voyage de Nassiri Khosrau, ed. and with translation by Charles Schefer (Paris: Ernest Leroux, 1881).

²⁵Le Strange, Diary of a Journey Through Syria and Palestine. viii.

²⁶ Nasir-i Khusrau, Diary of a Journey Through Syria and Palestine, 61. trans. by Guy Le Strange (London: Palestine Pilgrims' Text Society, 1893), viii.

²⁷Naser-e Khosraw's Book of Travels, 38.

²⁸ Naser-e Khosraw, Naser-e Khosraw's Book of Travels, 3.

²⁹ Corbin, "Nasir-i Khusrau and Iranian Ismailism.", 532.

³⁰Ivanow, Nāsir-i Khusraw and Ismailism, 16.

³¹Dafatary, The Ismailis, 216.

³²Aavani, Fifty Poems from the "Divan", 4.

³³Le Strange, Diary of a Journey Through Syria and Palestine, viii.

³⁴C.E. Bosworth, et al., s.v. "Nāsir-i Khusraw," by Azim Nanji.

³⁵Meisami, "Symbolic Structure in a Poem by Nasir-i Khusrau", 103.

³⁶Corbin, "Nasir-i Khusrau and Iranian Ismailism", 535.

³⁷Thackston, Naser-e Khosraw's Book of Travels, xi.

³⁸Ivanow, Nāsir-i Khusraw and Ismailism, 16

³⁹ Thackston, Naser-e Khosraw's Book of Travels, xi, xii.

⁴⁰. Ibid., xii.

⁴¹Ivanow, Nāsir-i Khusraw and Ismailism, 17.

⁴² Daftary, The Ismailis, 216.

⁴³ Aavani, Forty Poems from the "Divan", 2.

⁴⁴ Naser-e Khosraw, Naser-e Khosraw's Book of Travels (Safarnama), 41.

⁴⁵Ibid., 39

⁴⁶Ibid., 39.

⁴⁷Ibid., 57.