Among the Mohammedans Súfíism, or Persian mysticism, is known as
_tasawwuf_. The word Sidi is derived from _súf_, meaning "wool." When
a little Persian sect at the end of the eighth century A.D. broke away
from the orthodox Muslim religion, and struck out on an independent
path, they ignored costly robes and worldly ostentation, and clad
themselves in a white wool garment. Hence they were known as "wool
wearers," or Súfís.
Prof. Edward G. Browne[1] gives four theories in regard to the origin
of Súfíism, viz.: (1) _Esoteric Doctrine of the Prophet_.(2) _Reaction
of the Aryan mind against a Semitic religion_. (3) _Neo-Platonist
influence_.(4) _Independent origin_. Neither of the four theories
altogether satisfies the learned professor, and very certain it is
that the last-mentioned theory is of very little account. Prof. Browne
seems in favour of a "spontaneous growth" existing in various forms,
under various names throughout the civilised world; but after all
this is not very tangible evidence. Moreover, we must bear in mind
that the Neo-Platonist philosophers paid a visit to the Persian court
in the sixth century A.D., and founded a school there in the reign
of Núshír-wan. It is highly probable, therefore, that these seven
philosophers, forced to leave their homes through the tyranny of
Justinian, who forbade the teaching of philosophy at Athens, should
have had considerable influence upon a few of the more thoughtful
Persians. We shall now find that this theory is borne out by internal
evidence.
Let us briefly study the tenets of Neo-Platonism. The Neo-Platonists
believed in the Supreme Good as the Source of all things.
Self-existent, it generated from itself. Creation was the reflection of
its own Being. Nature, therefore, was permeated with God. Matter was
essentially non-existent, a temporary and ever-moving shadow for the
embodiment of the Divine. The Neo-Platonists believed that by ecstasy
and contemplation of the All-Good, man would rise to that Source from
whence he came. These points bear directly upon the Súfí teaching.
They form a broad outline of the tenets of Súfíism. The Súfís, from
temperamental and other causes, elaborated these ideas, gave them a
rich and beautiful setting, and, what is all-important, built about
them one of the most interesting phases of mystical poetry the world
has ever known, and this particular phase may be said to date from the
twelfth century A.D.
Thus, I think, it will be readily admitted that the Súfís certainly
owed something to the Neo-Platonists. The cry for the Beloved was in
their hearts before the Greek philosophers came; but Neo-Platonism
appealed to their Oriental minds. It was a stepping-stone across
the river of their particular spiritual tendencies, and they trod
thereon, and proceeded to lay down other stones across the stream. I
have pointed out the similarities between this particular Greek and
Persian belief. There was, however, one very important difference.
The Neo-Platonist's conception of God was purely abstract, the Súfí's
essentially personal, as far as the early Súfís were concerned. We
shall consider other influences which were brought to bear upon Súfíism
a little later on. There is a very great difference between the early
Súfíism and the elaborate additions that followed as an evolutionary
matter of course.
In brief, then, Neo-Platonism was the doctrine of Ecstasy. A quotation
from the letter of Plotinus to Flaccus on Ecstasy will still further
show the similarities between this Greek and Persian teaching:
"The wise man recognises the idea of the Good within him. This he
develops by withdrawal into the Holy Place of his own soul. He who does
not understand how the soul contains the Beautiful within itself, seeks
to realise beauty without, by laborious production. His aim should
rather be to concentrate and simplify, and so to expand his being;
instead of going out into the Manifold, to forsake it for the One, and
so to float upwards towards the Divine Fount of Being whose stream
flows within him."
This is Súfíism in prose. The Súfí turned the same conception into
_poetry_.