Holy Face, Holy Book

The present article focuses on the employment of three important names of the Qur’ān – Qur’ān, Muṣḥaf, and Lawḥ Maḥfūẓ – in the depiction of the face in Classical Azeri poetry, a unique tradition represented by poets such as ‘Imāduddīn Nesīmī (d.820/1417–18), Jahān Shāh Ḥaqīqī (d. 871/1467), Ni‘matullāh Kishwarī (15th–16th centuries), Shāh Ismā‘īl Khaṭā’ī (d. 930/1524), Ḥabībī (15th century), and Muḥammad Fuḍūlī (d. 963/1556). The theme of “Holy face, Holy book” primarily refers to the poetry of Nesīmī, the martyred Ḥurūfī poet. The face is the most important subject of speculation in heterodox Ṣūfī-Ḥurūfī thought as an exemplification of God’s countenance. Although all three names of the Qur’ān designate the same book, slight differences in their essential and functional meaning can clearly be seen in the metaphorical glorification of Beauty’s face. The paper advances the hypothesis that when using these names, Azeri poets usually adhere to the “whole-for-whole, part-for-part” principle; while the Qur’ān and its attributes/names denote the face as a whole, as an embodiment of God’s countenance exemplifying waḥdat (unity, oneness), the names of the sūrahs (the chaptersof the Qur’ān), the āyahs (the verses of the Qur’ān), short quotes from the sacred text, and personages or episodes from the stories of the Qur’ān stand for the parts of the face – curls, eyes, eyebrows, lips, teeth, dimples, or moles – symbolizing kathrat (multiplicity). To compensate for the shortage of Qur’ānic imagery for the face, the poetry draws on supplementary elements related to the functions of the holy book in Muslimsociety, its practical usage in everyday life, and its connection to pre-Islamic traditions

Depiction · Exemplification · Face (sociological concept) · Meaning (existential) · Poetry · Theme (computing) · Families in Therapy and Culture · Islamic Studies and History · Islamic Thought and Society Studies