Fazlallah Astarabadi (Naimi) - Sojourn in Isfahan

Sojourn in Isfahan

Fażlullāh made himself at home in a mosque in the suburb of Tuqchi where he attracted two kinds of visitors: firstly, religious seekers seeking a guide and secondly those who wanted him to interpret dreams for more worldly reasons. Fażlullāh would accept no money for his interpretations and led an ascetic life, going without sleep spending the night in prayer and weeping continually to control his carnal desires. The Sufi Mu'in al-Din Shahrastani visited him and asked him about his understanding of a true man of God. He replied quoting Junayd Baghdadi that it is someone who is silent on the outside so that his inner reality can speak through him. Shahrastani became one of his prominent followers alongside men like Nasrallah Nafaji whose Khwab-namah "Book of Dreams" became one of the main biographical sources about Fażlullāh's life. These followers formed a tight-nit community around him sharing a hermit like life style and a deep brotherly love that led them to think of themselves as sharing the same soul. These sincere followers claimed the received Karamat, spirtitual gifts like special knowledge about sacred texts like the Bible and the Qur'an, an understanding of hidden matters and clear interpretations of the sayings and deeds of Muhammad and his immediate entourage. meanwhile a steady stream of the social elite, such as scholars, ministers military and administrative officers as well as all kinds of wealthy people would ask his advice. Giving advice to such people as Mawlana Zayn ad-Dīn Rajayī and the Amir Farrukh Gunbadi Fażlullāh's reputation spread throughout the provinces of Khurasan, Azerbaijan and Shirvan. Eventually he decided to move to Tabriz.