The Prayer of Jawshan - A Study of Its Sources - : Abdullah Aydınlı

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THE PRAYER OF JAWSHAN

– A Study of Its Sources –

Abdullah Aydınlı
Sakarya University, Sakarya-Turkey

Abstract
This essay attempts to question the authenticity of the so called Jaw-
shan by analyzing the canonical sources of ḥadīth literature to deter-
mine whether it can be traced back to the Prophet of Islam. After sub-
jecting the Jawshan to a careful analysis of chain (sanad) and text
(matn), the essay concludes that there is neither a reliable source nor
a valid set of academic criteria that would prove that the text con-
cerned is attributable to the Prophet of Islam. The results of our
source analysis, the literature survey, and certain other historical data
lead us to believe that this prayer, Jawshan, may have first appeared
within the “Shīʿī world” in the prayer books by Ibrāhīm al-Kafʿamī,
and only later was introduced to the “Sunnī world” through Majmūʿat
al-aḥzāb, the collection of prayers by al-Gumushkhānawī, and
gained wide circulation among certain groups.

Key Words: Jawshan prayer, Shīʿa, al-Gumushkhānawī, Majmūʿat al-


aḥzāb, Bediuzzaman

Ilahiyat Studies Copyright © Bursa İlahiyat Foundation


Volume 2 Number 1 Winter/Spring 2011 p-ISSN: 1309-1786 e-ISSN: 1309-1719
48
Abdullah Aydınlı

Introduction
The word jawshan means “chest,” “the front part of the chest,”
“battle armor,” “the head of something” or “a part of something.”1 The
word is stated to enter Arabic from the Persian language. This word
does not appear in the famous work by Ibn Fāris, Muʿjam, in which
he identifies the root meaning for a number of words.
Many believe that the prayer of jawshan protects the person who
reads it or carries it on his person, like a shield.2 This prayer has two
versions: al-jawshan al-kabīr (the great jawshan) and al-jawshan al-
ṣaghīr (the lesser jawshan). Many people believe that the great jaw-
shan prayer was sent to the Prophet Muḥammad by Allah via the
Archangel Gabriel. According to the Shīʿa, the lesser jawshan is a
prayer that was invoked by Abū l-Ḥasan Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim (d.
183/799), seventh of the twelve imāms.3
The importance and value given to the great jawshan certainly
stem from its attribution to the Prophet himself.

1
See Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Khalīl ibn Aḥmad al-Farāhīdī, Kitāb al-ʿayn (ed. ʿAbd
al-Ḥamīd Hindāwī; Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2003), I, 243 (j-sh-n); Abū l-
Faḍl Muḥammad ibn Mukarram ibn ʿAlī Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab (eds. Amīn
Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Wahhāb and Muḥammad al-Ṣādiq al-ʿUbaydī; Beirut: Dār
Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1999), II, 291 (j-sh-n); Abū l-Fayḍ Murtaḍā Muḥammad
ibn Muḥammad al-Zabīdī, Tāj al-ʿarūs min jawāhir al-Qāmūs (Cairo: al-Maṭbaʿa
al-Khayriyya, 1306 H.), IX, 161 (j-sh-n). There was a companion of the Prophet
called Dhū l-jawshan. It is said that he was given this nickname because he was
the first Arab to wear a jawshan or because he had a barrel-chest, or perhaps that
the Kisra had given him a jawshan as a present. See Abū l-Faḍl Ibn Ḥajar Shihāb
al-Dīn al-ʿAsqalānī, al-Iṣāba fī tamyīz al-ṣaḥāba (ed. ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Bījāwī;
Cairo: Dār Nahḍat Miṣr, 1972), II, 411.
2
Bediuzzaman Saʿīd Nūrsī says that he “overcame the danger of a poison” that was
extremely potent, and that “he had maybe overcome death twenty times with the
merits” of this prayer; see Emirdağ Lâhikası (Istanbul: Nesil Matbaacılık, 2004),
186, 195.
3
See Muḥammad Bāqir al-Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār al-jāmiʿa li-durar akhbār al-
aʾimma al-aṭhār (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Wafāʾ, 1984); LXXVIII, 331; Mīrzā Ḥusayn
al-Nūrī al-Ṭabarsī, Mustadrak al-wasāʾil wa-mustanbaṭ al-masāʾil (Qum:
Muʾassasat Āl al-Bayt li-Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth, 1987-1988), II, 234; cf. al-Sayyid ʿAlī ibn
Ṭāwūs al-Ḥillī, Muhaj al-daʿawāt (Qum: Dār al-Dhakhāʾir, 1990), 220.
49
The Prayer of Jawshan

1. The Sources of the Prayer and Its Sanad


The lesser jawshan first appeared in written literature in Muhaj al-
daʿawāt of al-Sayyid ʿAlī ibn Ṭāwūs al-Ḥillī (d. 664/1265), a Shīʿī au-
thor. According to a report narrated with a sanad (chain of narrators)
that dates to al-Imām Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar (d. 183/799), he learned that the
ʿAbbāsī caliph of the time, Mūsā al-Hādī ibn Muḥammad al-Mahdī (d.
170/786), was planning to have the Imām killed. The Imām assem-
bled his followers to discuss the situation. When his followers told
him to go and hide, the Imām smiled and narrated the following
story: After he completed his prayers in his usual prayer area, his eyes
became heavy with sleep, and he saw the Prophet in his dream. He
complained to the Prophet about the Caliph, told him what the Ca-
liph had done to ahl al-bayt (people from the Prophet’s lineage) and
also told the Prophet that he feared the Caliph. The Prophet told the
Imām not to worry because Allah would protect him from the Caliph
for Allah destroys his enemies. The Prophet ordered Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar
to show appropriate gratitude. After he told this story, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar
turned towards the qibla and recited a long prayer. This prayer,
which starts with “ِAllāhumma, kam min ʿaduwwin intaḍā ʿalayya
sayfu ʿadāwatihī ... (O Lord, there are many enemies that have
swords of enmity drawn out against me ... which I have eliminated
with your help. For this ... I am thankful to you)” is known as “the
jawshan prayer from the prayers of Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim.”4 After
narrating the prayer, Abū Ṭālib ibn Rajab, the copyist of Muhaj al-
daʿawāt, stated that he found the jawshan prayer and the story
above as it preceded the prayer with a different narration in one of
the books belonging to his grandfather, Taqī al-Dīn al-Ḥasan (ibn
ʿAlī) ibn Dāwūd (alive in the second half of the 7th/13th century),5 and
added another story that refers to the Prophet as the source of the
prayer. The story which the first part of its sanad is missing begins as
follows:

4
Al-Ḥillī, Muhaj al-daʿawāt, 217-227. Muḥsin Muʿīnī refers to this prayer as jaw-
shan-i ṣaghīr and says that Mūsā al-Kāẓim narrated it from the Prophet himself;
see his “Jawshan-i kabīr,” Dānishnāma-i Jihān-i Islām, XI, 368.
5
This person is sometimes mentioned in connection to the grandfather, al-Ḥasan
ibn Dāwūd.
50
Abdullah Aydınlı

It is narrated from our friend and teacher, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar (may Allah
be pleased with him), he from his father Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, he from his fa-
ther, he from his grandfather and he from his father, amīr al-
muʾminīn, al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with them all),
he (al-Ḥusayn) said: “My father, amīr al-muʾminīn (may Allah be
pleased with him) said: ‘My child! Shall I teach you something from
the secrets of Allah. The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) taught this to me
and it is a secret that no one knows.’ I said, ‘Yes, please teach me fa-
ther.’ He said: ‘Al-rūḥ al-amīn Jabrāʾīl came to the Prophet (pbuh) on
the day of Battle of Uḥud. It was a terribly hot day. The Prophet was
wearing armor (jawshan), which he had difficulty carrying due to the
heat of the day and the heat of the armor. The Prophet (pbuh) said: ‘I
turned my face to the heavens and prayed to Lord Almighty. I saw the
doors of the heaven open. Jabrāʾīl, who was surrounded with light,
came down next to me and said: Peace be unto you, O the Messenger
of Allah! … The Exalted sends his salām (greetings) to you. He tells
you to take off your armor and read this prayer …’
Following this statement, the virtue of the prayer was explained,
but the prayer itself was not recorded.6 Thus, this prayer must be that
of Mūsā al-Kāẓim, which came to be known as al-jawshan al-ṣaghīr
afterwards, and whose first part was given above.7 However, the
great jawshan is significantly not included in this book. When Ibrā-
hīm al-Kafʿamī (d. 905/1499) reported the prayer referenced above,
calling it ‘the jawshan prayer narrated by Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq,’8 he also
recorded the famous great jawshan prayer,9 under the title “the
prayer of al-jawshan al-kabīr narrated from Prophet Muḥammad
(pbuh).” Al-Kafʿamī recorded the sanad of the great jawshan as a
notation on the margin of his work Junnat al-amān, as follows:

6
See al-Ḥillī, Muhaj al-daʿawāt, 227-232; the discussion of the merits of this prayer
will be given below, in the section concerned with al-Gumushkhānawī. Cf. al-
Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, LXXVIII, 331-332; XCI, 397.
7
Al-Majlisī noted that this section, which was added by the copyist and which is
concerned with the merits of the jawshan could have been for both prayers of
jawshan, but that it seems the copyist confused them; Biḥār al-anwār, XCI, 327.
8
Al-Kafʿamī, Taqī al-Dīn Ibrāhīm ibn ʿAlī, al-Balad al-amīn wa-l-dirʿ al-ḥaṣīn
(Tehran: Muʾassasa-i Taḥqīqāt wa-Nashr-i Maʿārif-i Ahl al-Bayt, 1963), 326.
9
Ibid., 401; id., al-Miṣbāḥ (Miṣbāḥ al-Kafʿamī) (2nd ed., Qum: Intishārāt-i Raḍī,
1405), 336.
51
The Prayer of Jawshan

“From al-Sajjād (i.e., Zayn al-ʿābidīn), he from his father, he from


his grandfather,10 and he from the Prophet (pbuh) himself.”11
The jawshan prayer attributed to Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq has been referred
to as the lesser jawshan from this point forward.12
The prayer of great jawshan first appeared in the Sunnī Muslim
world in Majmūʿat al-aḥzāb, the compilation of prayers by Aḥmad
Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn al-Gumushkhānawī (d. 1311/1893). In this book, the text
of the prayer is identified in the text as “the prayer of al-jawshan al-
kabīr narrated by Zayn al-ʿābidīn (may Allah be pleased with him),”
whereas the sanad and information related to its virtue are given on
the margin of the page under the title “the isnād of the jawshan
prayer.” This section could be translated as follows:
1. My father narrated from Umāma, he from Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad al-
Ṣādiq, he from his father, and he from his grandfather, al-Ḥusayn ibn
ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib – karrama llāhu wajhahū – that he said: “Son! Shall
I teach you a secret from the secrets of Lord Almighty, who is the only
god and whose blessings are for everyone and whose glory is su-
preme? The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) taught this to me.” I replied,
“Yes! Please do!” He continued: “The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:
‘Once I was walking towards Uḥud. It was a very hot day in addition

10
Al-Majlisī says this grandfather was ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib; see Biḥār al-anwār, XCI,
382.
11
Al-Kafʿamī, Junnat al-amān al-wāqiya wa-jannat al-aymān al-bāqiya (n.p.,
n.d.), 246 etc. In this narration, which mentions the merits and contains similar
narrations to those found in al-Gumushkhānawī, which is mentioned below, the
name of the battle is not stated and the phrase “in one of the battles” is used. We
should note that Junna and al-Miṣbāḥ are the same books. The difference be-
tween them is the notes on the margins of the pages in Junna; cf. Al-Majlisī,
Biḥār al-anwār, LXXVIII, 331; XCI, 382; al-Ṭabarsī, Mustadrak al-wasāʾil, II, 232
etc.
12
Mehmet Toprak says that ʿAlī ibn Mūsā ibn Ṭāwūs refers to this prayer as al-
jawshan al-ṣaghīr on the margin of a page of his Muhaj al-daʿawāt, and pre-
sumes that the distinction between ṣaghīr and kabīr started with Ibn Ṭāwūs
(Mehmet Toprak, “Cevşen [Jawshan],” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi
(DİA) [Turkish Religious Foundation Encyclopedia of Islam], VII, 464). But there
is no such record in the mentioned work. Also, two jawshan prayers cannot be
found in the aforementioned book. Furthermore, considering his bibliography,
Mehmet Toprak does not seem to use this book.
52
Abdullah Aydınlı

to the heaviness13 of the armor (jawshan). I gazed at the sky and


prayed to Allah Almighty. Whereupon I saw the gates of heaven
open. Surrounded with light, Jibrīl came down next to me, and said:
‘The Exalted Lord Almighty has sent you his greetings and blessings
and said, ‘Take off this armor and read this prayer. When you read
this and carry it on you, it will provide greater protection for you.”
2. I said: “O Jibrīl, my brother, is this only for me or is it for my entire
community?” He replied: “This prayer is a gift to you and to your
community from Lord Almighty. Only He knows its reward. There is
no servant of Allah who carries this prayer on him and reads it in the
morning before he leaves his house or in the evening when he comes
home, whom Allah will not direct to the best of deeds!
3. It is as if this person has read Tawrāt, Injīl, Zabūr and Furqān. For
each letter, Lord Almighty will give him two houris, will build a home
for him in Paradise, He will give him the thawāb (reward) in amount
of the letters of Tawrāt, Injīl, Zabūr, Furqān, and the books of Abra-
ham, Moses, as well as the same thawāb of Abraham the Loyal Friend,
Moses the Interlocutor, Jesus the Spirit of God, and Muḥammad
(pbuh) the Last Prophet. He will leave an al-arḍ al-bayḍāʾ (the white
blessed land) in the West. Here, there are people who worship Allah
Almighty and who do not rebel against Him. The flesh of their faces is
torn from crying due to the fear of Allah’s wrath. They do not eat or
drink. Allah will give the thawāb of these pious servants to the person
who reads this prayer.
4. There is a house that is called al-bayt al-maʿmūr in the fourth
heaven. Everyday, seventy thousand angels enter and exit from here,
and they will not return until the Day of Judgment. Lord Almighty will
give the person who reads this prayer the same thawāb given to these
angels.
5. For whoever reads this prayer at home, no thief will ever enter that
place nor will fire burn it down. Allah will give health to the ill person
if he writes this prayer down in a clean bowl, then washes it with the
water of rain and saffron, and drink it on an empty stomach. If this

13
Here, the word thiql/thiqal (heaviness) was written as naql due to an error in
copying.
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The Prayer of Jawshan

prayer is read in a night, Allah will turn towards that person with His
kindness and give him whatever he wishes.”
6. Then, I said, “O brother Jibrīl, tell me more!” to which he replied: “I
swear on Allah who has sent you as a prophet that I asked Archangel
Isrāfīl, and he said: ‘The Mighty and Exalted Allah has said that I
swear on My glory, might, generosity, kindness and the highness of
My place, whoever believes in Me, and O Muḥammad, whoever at-
tests to your prophethood, will attest to this prayer. And I will provide
that person with plenty of possessions. I am the One Who will not
decrease His treasures by giving thus.
7. O Muḥammad, if one of my servants reads this prayer with good in-
tentions and a sincere heart in front of everyone seventy times, he will
find a cure from albinism, leprosy and lunacy. If he writes this prayer
in a bowl with camphor and musk, then washes it and sprays it onto
the shroud of a person who has just died, a hundred thousand lights
will descend onto that person’s grave and Allah will remove the fear
of the angels who will come to question him, thus relieving the per-
son from the torments of the grave. Allah will send seventy thousand
angels to the grave. Each angel will be carrying a cover made of light.
They will spread these on the person and give him the good news of
his entrance to Paradise.
8. I heard the Exalted and Mighty Creator say that: ‘This prayer was
written on the wall of the highest heaven five thousand years before I
created the world. Whichever of my servants makes an undoubting
and sincere supplication to Me with this prayer at the beginning of
Ramaḍān, or at the end, or each Friday night or day, Allah Almighty
will show him the night of al-qadr.
9. Allah Almighty created the night of al-qadr while there were sev-
enty thousand angels within, seventy thousand angels in each
heaven, seventy thousand angels in Mecca, seventy thousand angels
in Medina, seventy thousand angels in the East and seventy thousand
angels in the West. Each angel has twenty thousand heads, each head
has twenty thousand mouths and each mouth has twenty thousand
tongues. These praise Allah in various languages and give the thawāb
to the person who makes a supplication with the prayer.
10. There is no (longer) a curtain between Allah and the person who
makes the prayer. Allah gives him everything he wants. Whoever
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Abdullah Aydınlı

makes this prayer three times, even at once, Allah keeps his body
away from the hellfire and makes his entrance to Paradise obligatory.
Allah appoints for this person two angels who protect him from sins.
They praise Allah for him, and save him from all ills, and open the
doors of paradise for him.
11. This prayer is a treasure among treasures of Allah. It is known by a
thousand and one names. Allah has made it a shelter and security for
those who pray with it against all ills and calamities of this world.
Also, Allah gives that person a share from the benefits and happiness
of this world.”
12. The Prophet (pbuh) continued his speech and said: “O ʿAlī! Jibrīl
has informed me the following about the merits of this prayer. ‘And
Allah created the air. He also created an overflowing sea. He created
the air above the sea. He created the angels that he made agents for
each raindrop.
13. He made these angels agents for the raindrops. Now, neither a
raindrop can overtake rain, nor can angels can overtake a raindrop.
Both of these are different creatures.
14. The names of the angels that are the agents of the raindrops are:
Mīkāʾil, Saʿdāʾil, Damkhāyīl, Kafkāʾīl and Zamzayīl. When the keeper
of the raindrop and mercy – one of these angels – wishes to help the
person who has made this prayer, comes down from the pulpit of
glory, takes off his crown, prostrates before Allah, helps the person in
all their deeds, protecting him against all ills and calamities, from in
front and behind.
15. (Allah) has created a thousand angels on an angel. These are
keepers of the gates of heavens. The names of the angels that are the
keepers of the first heaven are Hawqīl and Hamqīl. The names of the
angels that are the keepers of the second heaven are Kazqīl, Kaʿīl,
Kahīl, Dābiḥ, Saʿīdīl, Baryīl, Samīl, Maʿīl, Bawsil, Baʿīl, Arqaṭaqīl,
Aṣrāfīl, Hāhīl, Awqīl, Baryanānīl and Ismaʿīl. Their highest is Karqīl.
Those who are the keepers of the third heaven are called Miqyāʾīl,
Suṭūnyāyīl, ʿArāfīl and Maʿbūsāʾil. The names of the keepers of the
fourth heaven are Ḥarqīl, Qabāyil, Ṭarqayāsil and Aḥyāyāsil. The
names of the keepers of the fifth level are Ṭawṭīl, Ṭarfīl, Arqīl, Sāḥīl,
Māsil and Samhīl. The names of the keepers of the sixth heaven are
55
The Prayer of Jawshan

Bāsil, Bāhīl, Farqīl, Rajʿīl and Farsīl. The names of the keepers of the
seventh heaven are Ismaʿīl, Awyāsīl, Alratbāʾīl and Aṣfaṭriyāʾīl.
16. When each of these angels looks at the person who makes the
prayer, they come down from their seat, prostrate to Allah Almighty,
help the person in all their important deeds and all their needs. They
help him to continue his prayer, maintain his health and fulfill his
needs. They say: ‘O, the One Who opens doors! Open the doors of
Your blessings to this servant of Yours, protect him with Your eye that
never becomes weary, remove all problems, discomforts and illness
from him. O, the Most Merciful of the merciful, remove all kinds of ca-
lamities that this person has faced in this world and in the hereafter.
Save this person who carries this prayer on him from all calamities
and from treacherous Satan. Bestow him with Your secret blessings;
protect him with Your powerful protection. Because You are the most
forgiving and most beneficent.’
17. The names of the angels that are mentioned in the muḥkam
verses of the holy book: Allah has said: ‘And we are verily ranged in
ranks (for service). And we are verily those who declare (Allah’s)
glory.’14 They are twelve tribes. Each tribe has a billion soldiers, a mil-
lion brigades, and each brigade has a thousand ranks of angels. When
these angels look at the person who makes this prayer they come
down from their seat of honor, take off their crowns, prostrate to their
Lord and become intercessors for him. They say: ‘You are the light of
the heaven and earth. We glorify You. You are the most powerful
(jabbār) of the powerful, the ruler of the ruler. Protect the person
who makes this prayer from all kinds of calamity, disaster and pov-
erty. This is very easy for You. You are the owner of everything, the
One Who ruins the rulers, feeds the babies with His mercy, O the
most merciful of the merciful.’
18. The names of the angels that are the keepers of the curtain of sub-
limity are Sarāṭīl and Saqāṭīl. These are the chiefs of every angel.
These have a chieftain and every chieftain has one million eight hun-
dred ranks of angels; each one has a brigade, each brigade has sev-
enty thousand wings and each wing has one million seven hundred
thousand angels. These do not rebel against Allah, not even for a sec-

14
Q 37:165-166.
56
Abdullah Aydınlı

ond, and they do what they are ordered. These also yield when they
look at the person who is making this prayer, take off their crowns
and prostrate to their Lord. While prostrating they say: ‘O Lord, we
glorify you and we praise you. All praise is unto you. There is no Lord
but you, and you are al-Ḥannān (the most Merciful), al-Mannān (the
Bestower), Badīʿ al-samāwāt wa-l-arḍ (the Creator of the heavens
and the earth). O Dhū l-jalāl wa-l-ikrām (the Lord of majesty and
bounty); protect your servant, protect him from all kinds of worry,
sorrow and difficulty. Take him under Your protection with your
mercy, O the most merciful! Treat him with Your kindness and be-
neficence, O the most beneficent!
19. This prayer has firm bases and there is much more to be said for it.
It is the prayer that is known as jawshan.15
In the contemporary Sunnī Muslim world, the jawshan prayer is
only well-known in Turkey.16 Bediuzzaman Saʿīd Nūrsī (d. 1960)
made this prayer famous17 in Turkey, particularly in his own circles.

15
Aḥmad Ḍiyāʾ al-Dīn al-Gumushkhānawī, Majmūʿat al-aḥzāb (n.p., n.d.), I, 231-
240 (in the margins of the page; the numbers of paragraphs was put by us). There
are omissions of the narrators in the suspended (muʿallaq) chain of the report
here; these probably occurred during copying. The report should be a musnad
ḥadīth from ʿAlī, and ʿAlī Zayn al-ʿābidīn should be mentioned after al-Ḥusayn in
the sanad. For similar but more detailed narrations, see al-Ḥillī, Muhaj al-
daʿawāt, 227-232; al-Kafʿamī, Junnat al-amān, 246-248 (in the margins); al-
Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, XCI, 382-384, 397-402 (quoted from Muhaj al-daʿawāt).
16
It is seen that this prayer has begun to become popular in other Sunnī countries
among whom are in contact with the members of the Risāla-i nūr community
through the schools they opened there.
17
The following reports are mentioned alongside the sound recordings and written
publications (books, articles, internet sites, etc.), which have almost become a
trade sector in themselves, displaying the popularity of this prayer: “The sūra of
Yāsīn, jawshan and other prayers were recited at the grave of Ahmet Feyzi Kul, a
student of Bediuzzaman” (Zaman [a Turkish daily newspaper], 26.10.2007); “The
Muftī of Reyhanlı, Ali Yazıcı, provided advice about reciting the Qurʾān and jaw-
shan, making extra prayers on the night of barāʾa (Zaman, 26.10.2007); “It is re-
ported that the previous Istanbul envoy of the Vatican, George Marovich, who is
staying in a room decorated by the Gazeteciler ve Yazarlar Vakfı [The Journalists
and Writers Foundation] at the Italian Poorhouse, can’t put jawshan down and he
said that “I read a section from the jawshan every day and will continue to do so.
I’m in love with jawshan.” (Zaman Cumartesi, 16.05.2009, 15; reported by Bün-
57
The Prayer of Jawshan

As stated by an author, “this unparalleled prayer, which comes im-


mediately after the Qurʾān as it too is a revelation, was made known
in this century by Bediuzzaman Saʿīd Nūrsī.”18 Bediuzzaman men-
tioned the importance of this prayer in many of his works,19 and he
claimed that the prayer’s attribution to Prophet Muḥammad was
sound and even mutawātir.20 Although he staunchly believed that the
prayer was valid and significant, he provided no information on its
source. Bediuzzaman explained his personal history with the prayer:
The special tutor of the “new” Saʿīd, al-Imām al-Rabbānī, al-Ghawth
al-aʿẓam, al-Imām al-Ghazzālī and Zayn al-ʿābidīn (may Allah be
pleased with them), I studied especially the prayer of the great jaw-
shan from these two imāms. During the thirty years of my spiritual
lessons from al-Ḥusayn (may Allah be pleased with him) and ʿAlī –
karrama llāhu wajhahū –, particularly during my spiritual connection
with them concerning the great jawshan, I learned the truth about the
past and the spirit which has come to us from Risāla-i Nūr.21
The two imāms mentioned here are likely the same two men-
tioned at the end, al-Imām al-Ghazzālī and Zayn al-ʿābidīn. The name
Zayn al-ʿābidīn appears in some of the suspended (muʿallaq) chains
of narration. We do not have any information that compellingly con-
nects Zayn al-ʿābidīn with this prayer, although tradition holds that he

yamin Köseli). Also, two professors have shown great interest in the jawshan;
this has led them to the publication of the following books: Davut Aydüz, Hizbu
Envâri’l-Hakâiki’n-Nûriyye: Büyük Cevşen ve Meali [Ḥizb anwār al-ḥaqāʾiq al-
nūriyya: The Great Jawshan and Its Turkish Translation] (Istanbul: Define
Yayınları, 2010), 468 pp.; Abdülaziz Hatip, Kur’an ve Hikmet Işığında Cevşen
Şerhi [The Commentary of Jawshan in the Light of the Qurʾān and Ḥikma] (Istan-
bul: Nesil Yayınları, 2009), 584 pp.
18
Ümit Şimşek, Risâle-i Nûr Işığında Cevşen Meâli [The Translation of Jawshan in
the Light of Risāla-i Nūr] (Istanbul: Zafer Yayınları, 1994), XII.
19
See Bediuzzaman Saʿīd Nūrsī, Şuâlar [The Rays] (Istanbul: Çeltüt Matbaası, 1960),
87, 108, 525; id., Sözler [The Words] (Istanbul: Sinan Matbaası, 1958), 322, 445; id.,
Mesnevî-i Nûriye (Türkçe Çeviri) [Mathnawī-i Nūriyya (Turkish Translation)]
(trans. Abdülmecid Nursi; Istanbul: Osman Yalçın Matbaası, 1958), 161.
20
See Abdülkadir Badıllı, Risale-i Nûr’un Kudsî Kaynakları [The Divine Sources of
Risāla-i Nūr] (Istanbul: Envar Neşriyat, 1992), 341.
21
Bediuzzaman Saʿīd Nūrsī, Emirdağ Lâhikası, 271.
58
Abdullah Aydınlı

read this prayer, and he even wrote a commentary on it.22 However,


no sources confirm this report. Thus, Bediuzzaman’s statement that
he took lessons from “these two imāms” must be examined. In addi-
tion, we can reasonably assume that Bediuzzaman took this prayer
from the work of al-Gumushkhānawī.23
Thus, Bediuzzaman considered the narration about the merits of
the jawshan prayer to be sound,24 but he did not approve of writing it
down or duplicating it. In his reply to a letter from Naẓīf Chalabī of
İnebolu, in which the latter asks for Bediuzzaman’s opinion on in-
cluding the report about the merits of the great jawshan in the intro-
ductory section of it while duplicating,25 Nūrsī said:
Making duplications of the jawshan is a great deed. I congratulate
you with deepest affection. But do not write down the part you have
translated about the merits of the prayer, because the reports about
such merits are ambiguous. Their actual nature is not known. Un-
godly people or philosophers who will object to it will have doubts
about it, taking it as exaggeration or superstition – we seek refuge in
Allah from this ... For this reason the section I have marked26 should
not be recorded. This is so that no harm will come to the great prayer

22
“Fasıldan Fasıla - Cevşen,” Zaman, 20.04.1994, 7. The information on the page,
which seems to belong to Fethullah Gülen, has been later given in the same
newspaper and Gülen’s books many times.
23
On the page 9 of the photocopy of a handwritten document of Bediuzzaman in
the research file of “Cevşen [Jawshan]” (in the Library of Turkish Religious Foun-
dation Centre for Islamic Studies [İSAM] in Istanbul) prepared as a source for the
entry on “Cevşen [Jawshan]” in Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA)
[Turkish Religious Foundation Encyclopedia of Islam], we found the phrase “a
part of the translation concerning the special place and merits of the great jaw-
shan on the margins of Majmūʿat al-aḥzāb.”
24
See Bediuzzaman Saʿīd Nūrsī, Emirdağ Lâhikası, 212-214.
25
A partial translation of the lenghty narration about the merits of the jawshan
prayer has been placed in the beginning of a mimeograph edition of al-Jawshan
al-kabīr published in İnebolu. See Muhsin Demirel, Evrâd-ı Nuriye (Istanbul: İn-
şirah İslamî Araştırmalar Merkezi, 1997), 9.
26
In the photocopy of the handwritten translation of the lengthy narration about
the merits of the prayer in the later parts of Bediuzzaman’s letter, the paragraphs
numbered above as 3, 4, 9, 13, 15, 16, 17 and 18 are omitted. This might be a re-
sult of omitting the “parts marked out” by Bediuzzaman.
59
The Prayer of Jawshan

and no criticism will come to the conservative issues of the Nurcus,


which are strong as iron.27
He mentioned this subject in another letter as well:
In order to do a good service Naẓīf has mimeographed the jawshan
prayer, which is very important for Nurcus. He wrote to me about
adding the part about the merits of this great prayer that was derived
from wonderful but ambiguous ḥadīths in its margins. I said “Al-
though I have read jawshan every day for the last thirty-five years, I
have not read that section more than three or four times. Thus, it is
not suitable to duplicate it exactly. This is so that unbelievers and the
like should not accuse us of anything.28
Although it is stated that Abū l-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-
Shādhilī also “confirmed” the jawshan prayer,29 there is no document
to prove that. Through the conversations we had with some of the
sheikhs from the order of Shādhiliyya in Damascus, such as
Muḥammad Abū l-Hudā al-Yaʿqūbī, we learned that this prayer is not
included in their prayers. Also, the jawshan prayer is not mentioned
in recent works on the Shādhilī prayers.30 Moreover, although some

27
Badıllı, Bediüzzaman Said-i Nursî Tarihçe-i Hayatı [Bediuzzaman Saʿīd Nūrsī:
His Biography] (Istanbul: Timaş Yayınları, 1990), III, 1640. Here, the letter is given
under the title, “The reply of al-Ustādh to our question exactly as it was written.”
In this version of the letter there are small variations from the version in the
abovementioned research file (see note 23). There is no record, however, in the
latter version about the person to whom the letter was addressed.
28
Bediuzzaman Saʿīd Nūrsī, Emirdağ Lâhikası, 406. Some contemporary scholars
who believe in the authenticity of the prayer invalidate the narrations about the
merits of it, stating that they “belong to Shīʿī sources” and are not acceptable “ac-
cording to Sunnī principles.” See Ahmet Kurucan, “Dua İkliminde Cevşen III
[Jawshan in the Climate of Prayer III],” Zaman, 04.08.1996, 2; Davut Aydüz,
“Cevşen Üzerine [On the Jawshan],” Yeni Ümit 13/51 (Jan.-Feb.-March 2001), 33.
Nevertheless, these authors followed Bediuzzaman who interpreted reports
about the merits of the prayer by stating that these are ambiguous.
29
“Ebced ve Cevşen [Abjad and Jawshan],” Zaman, 01.09.1992, 10.
30
See, for example, Maʾmūn Gharīb, Abū l-Ḥasan al-Shādhilī: Ḥayātuhū,
taṣawwufuhū, talāmīdhuhū wa-awrāduhū (Cairo: Dār Gharīb, 2000), 119 et al.
60
Abdullah Aydınlı

claim that al-Ghazzālī wrote a commentary for this prayer,31 no


document confirming this has been found to date.
The most interesting claim on this subject is that this prayer was
included in the main Shīʿī ḥadīth books, al-Kutub al-arbaʿa.32 The
more astonishing point here is that, the encyclopedia entry referred to
by who maintains this claim as the source for his claim states the op-
posite: no such prayer can be found in these books!33
A similar claim was made earlier in an attempt to associate the
prayer with Abū Jaʿfar al-Ṭūsī (d. 460/1067). Two printed works,
Duʿāʾ al-jawshan al-kabīr (Lucknow, 1288 H., with a Persian inter-
linear translation) and Duʿāʾ al-jawshan al-ṣaghīr (Lucknow, 1288
H., with an Urdu translation), were attributed to this author, who is
one of the authors of al-Kutub al-arbaʿa.34 However, the list of his
works provided by himself in his al-Fihrist includes no mention of
any book that could be related to the jawshan prayer.35 Furthermore,
none of the detailed researches on the life and works of al-Ṭūsī refer
to these works.36 Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi notes that attribution of
these works to al-Ṭūsī is incorrect and they were most likely derived
from the work of al-Kafʿamī.37

31
See M. Fethullah Gülen, Prizma I [Prism I] (Istanbul: Nil Yayınları, 1997), 151.
32
See Aydüz, “Cevşen Üzerine,” 33. The author later reprinted this article in the
beginning of his translation of the great jawshan. See Aydüz, Hizbu Envâri’l-
Hakâiki’n-Nûriyye. For this claim see p. i.
33
See Toprak, “Cevşen,” VII, 463.
34
See M. Hidāyat Ḥusayn, “al-Ṭūsī Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī Abū Jaʿfar,”
Urdū Dāʾira-i Maʿārif-i Islāmiyya, XII, 573-574.
35
See Abū Jaʿfar Shaykh al-ṭāʾifa Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī, Fihrist kutub al-
Shīʿa (eds. Mawlawī ʿAbd al-Ḥaqq et al.; Calcutta: n.p., 1853), 285-288.
36
See, for example, S. Waheed Akhtar, Early Shīʿite Imāmiyyah Thinkers (New
Delhi: Ashish Publishing House, 1988). In the section “Shaykh al-Ṭāʾifah al-Ṭūsī:
Life and Works,” fifty works of al-Ṭūsī are introduced. There is no work related to
the jawshan prayer.
37
Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, “al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan Abū
Djaʿfar,” The Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition, X, 746. Although Āghā Bu-
zurg al-Ṭahrānī attributed a work called al-Jawshan al-kabīr to al-Kafʿamī (Āghā
Buzurg al-Ṭahrānī, al-Dharīʿa ilā taṣānīf al-Shīʿa [Beirut: n.p., n.d.], V, 25), he
does not mention such a work for al-Ṭūsī.
61
The Prayer of Jawshan

In addition, the claim that this prayer “was received from the
Prophet by a saintly man through spiritual insight (kashf) in later cen-
turies”38 has some vague points such as when and to whom this kashf
occurred, and what the source of information about the occurrence of
this kashf is, a second kashf or a written document, etc., aside from
the problem of the authenticity of a ḥadīth acquired through kashf.39

2. Criticism of the Narration of the Great Jawshan Prayer


a. The Sanad
As our research indicates, the jawshan prayer was first recorded in
the prayer book, Muhaj al-daʿawāt, of the Shīʿī author ʿAlī ibn Ṭāwūs
al-Ḥillī, who died in 664/1265. However, this is not identical with the
famous prayer of the great jawshan, although the reason of occur-
rence for both is the same according to another report. The great jaw-
shan can be first seen in a prayer book by another Shīʿī author, al-
Kafʿamī, who died in 905/1499. Later, the prayer appears in a Sunnī
scholar’s, al-Gumushkhānawī’s, book. Thus, we can say that the great
jawshan appeared after al-Ḥillī.
The sanad of the prayer mentioned in the books by al-Kafʿamī
and al-Gumushkhānawī ends near the beginning or middle of the
second/eighth century. This indicates a time gap of almost seven cen-

38
“Fasıldan Fasıla - Cevşen,” 7; Gülen, Prizma I, 150.
39
Sufis believe that knowledge gained through kashf is valid. But, sometimes this
knowledge can be contradictory; this alone shows that this means of knowledge
cannot be accurate. However, the following incident of al-Imām al-Rabbānī is
given as an important basis to establish the accuracy of this method: It is said that
al-Imām al-Rabbānī had doubts that muʿawwidhatayn (the sūras of al-Falaq and
al-Nās) were actually part of the Qurʾān and stopped reciting them in his prayers;
he later attained through kashf that they were from the Qurʾān and stopped this
practice. (See “Fasıldan Fasıla - Cevşen,” 7; Gülen, Prizma I, 149). This incident,
while trying to establish kashf, is of a nature that casts a shadow on the Qurʾān’s
being wholly and exactly mutawātir. For this reason, even if there is such an in-
cident, narrating it as a proof is extremely serious. About the value of knowledge
attained by kashf, see Süleyman Uludağ, “Keşf [Kashf],” Türkiye Diyanet Vakfı
İslâm Ansiklopedisi (DİA) [Turkish Religious Foundation Encyclopedia of Islam],
XXV, 315-316; Seyit Avcı, Sûfilerin Hadis Anlayışı – Bursevî Örneği – [Sufis’ Un-
derstanding of Ḥadīth – The Case of al-Būrsawī –] (Istanbul: Ensar Yayıncılık,
2004), 137-171.
62
Abdullah Aydınlı

turies between the last narrator in the chain and its first appearance in
a written document. In this case, this suspended chain of narration
should have no scientific value for both Sunnīs and Shīʿīs. Therefore,
stating that this prayer “has come to us through the Shīʿī imāms”
would be inaccurate40 given this chain of narration.41 In other words,
the problem is not that this prayer came through the Shīʿī imāms but
rather that it did not.42 If the prayer’s coming through the Shīʿī imāms
was definite, then its validity would not be a problem because the
imāms of Ahl al-bayt, in particular those mentioned in the sanad of
this prayer, Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar al-Kāẓim (d. 183/799)43, Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (d.
148/765)44 and ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥusayn Zayn al-ʿābidīn (d. 94/712),45 are

40
See Toprak, “Cevşen,” 463; Gülen, Prizma I, 149; Kurucan, “Dua İkliminde
Cevşen I,” Zaman, 02.08.1996, 2; Aydüz, “Cevşen Üzerine,” 33.
41
Dr. Najafqūlī Ḥabībī, a Shīʿī scholar, says that there is no need to investigate the
sanad of the jawshan because the jawshan consists of some Qurʾānic verses, as
well as reports and prayers whose authenticity was approved; Najafqūlī Ḥabībī,
“Muqaddimat al-Muṣaḥḥīḥ [Editor’s Introduction],” in Mullā Asrār Hādī ibn Mahdī
Sabzawārī, Sharḥ al-asmāʾ (Sharḥ duʿāʾ al-jawshan al-kabīr) (ed. Najafqūlī
Ḥabībī; Tehran: Dānishgāh-i Ṭahrān, 1993), 7.
42
During our research on Shīʿī literature, we found the book, Kasr al-ṣanam of
Āyat Allāh al-Barqaʿī who is a Shīʿī scholar, but has some criticisms against the
Shīʿa and who is known to have caused heated discussions with his books. In this
book, the author criticizes some of the ḥadīths found in one of the most trusted
Shīʿī ḥadīth books, al-Kāfī of al-Kulaynī. One of these criticisms is about the nar-
ration of the jawshan prayer; see Āyat Allāh al-ʿUẓmā Abū l-Faḍl ibn al-Riḍā al-
Barqaʿī, Kasr al-ṣanam (trans. from Persian to Arabic ʿAbd al-Raḥīm Mullāzāda
al-Ballūshī; Beirut: Dār al-Bayāriq, 1998), 113. Furthermore, in some Shīʿī fatwā
books, it is stated in response to questions about the jawshan prayer that it is un-
founded.
43
He is “trustworthy, devout person,” whose ḥadīth reports are included in Sunans
of al-Tirmidhī and Ibn Māja; see Abū l-Faḍl Ibn Ḥajar Shihāb al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn
ʿAlī al-ʿAsqalānī, Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb (eds. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ʿAbd al-Laṭīf et al.; 2nd
ed., Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1975), II, 282.
44
He is “trustworthy, faqīh, imām” whose reports are included in al-Bukhārī’s al-
Adab al-mufrad, Muslim’s Ṣaḥīḥ, and the four Sunans; see Ibn Ḥajar al-
ʿAsqalānī, Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, I, 132.
45
He is “trustworthy, faqīh, respected, famous” person, whose reports are included
in all the six renowned ḥadīth books; see Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Taqrīb al-
Tahdhīb, II, 5.
63
The Prayer of Jawshan

scholars whose narrations are included in the Sunnī books and who
are respected by the Sunnīs.

b. The Text
The text of this narration consists of two sections: the merits of the
prayer and the prayer itself. We have provided the translation of the
initial section above. Overly exaggerated expressions can be seen in
this section. In essence, these reveal the actual nature of the prayer,
which overshadows even the merits of the great holy books, Prophets
and angels.
As for the text of the prayer, it consists of one hundred sections,
each including ten names and attributes of Allah, and so, of the de-
mand to be saved from Hell through the recitation of one thousand
names and attributes. The text is almost identical in both Sunnī and
Shīʿī literature, with only minor variations.
Based on the narration mentioned above, some state that the
prayer is a revelation46 from Allah and not a human invention. Others
claim that it is “full of prophetic statements as a truth that does not
remain hidden to those who are talented in recognizing the words
and statements of the Prophet himself.”47
When the text of the prayer is compared to the verses of the
Qurʾān, especially the ones including prayers, the stark difference
between the two can be detected immediately. The expressions of
the prayers in the Qurʾān are clear, short and without a rhymed style,
whereas the statements in the jawshan are long, complicated and of a
rhymed style. The comparison between their contents also reveals
many differences. While in the jawshan prayer, the only wanted
thing by reciting the names of Allah is to be saved from hellfire, the
prayers in the Qurʾān have also desires regarding this world as well
as hereafter such as paradise of al-naʿīm,48 paradises of ʿadn,49 a
mansion from the paradise,50 bounty,51 being united with the right-

46
Şimşek, Risâle-i Nûr Işığında Cevşen Meâli, X.
47
“Fasıldan Fasıla - Cevşen,” 7; Gülen, Prizma I, 148.
48
Q 26:85.
49
Q 40:8.
50
Q 66:11.
64
Abdullah Aydınlı

eous people52 etc. Accordingly, it is hard to explain how reading this


prayer which is only devoted to be saved from hell can equal reading
all four of the holy books?
The same conclusion can be reached when a comparison is made
between this prayer and the prayers of the Prophet in respected
ḥadīth books. The Prophet did not favor florid expressions in his
prayers. In the same context, it is narrated that the Prophet did not
like such these florid rhymed statements, and his companions
avoided them.53 Furthermore, some scholars contend that the “people
who transgress in their prayers”54 described in some ḥadīths are the
ones who strive to make prayers in such a fashion.55
The subject should be also examined from a historical standpoint.
According to the narrations, the prayer is connected to a historical
event and is a gift for all Muslims in the difficult times. If so, the Mus-
lims who have encountered similar occasions in the course of time
should have commonly used this prayer. However during these
events the prayer has never been a topic of discussion, and all Mus-
lims, no matter whether they are Sunnī or Shīʿī, have not been aware
of this prayer.56 Such a situation seems almost impossible to happen.

51
Q 2:201; Q 7:156.
52
Q 12:101; Q 26:83.
53
al-Bukhārī, “Daʿawāt,” 20. During the pre-Islamic period, the Arabs made such
prayers of rhymed style and believed that these would most probably be ac-
cepted (Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Bayhaqī, Dalāʾil al-nubuwwa
(ed. ʿAbd al-Muʿṭī Qalʿajī; Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1985), I, 96-97.
54
Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, I, 172, 183; Abū Dāwūd, “Ṭahāra,” 45, “Witr,” 23; Ibn Māja,
“Duʿāʾ,” 12.
55
Zayn al-Dīn Muḥammad ʿAbd al-Raʾūf ibn Tāj al-ʿārifīn al-Munāwī, Fayḍ al-qadīr
sharḥ al-Jāmiʿ al-ṣaghīr (Cairo: Muṣṭafā Muḥammad, 1938), IV, 130; Abū Ḥāmid
Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Ghazzālī, Ihyāʾ ʿulūm al-dīn (Cairo: n.p., 1957), I,
308. Al-Ghazzālī narrates such an interpretation but adds that it is better to inter-
pret this as one that goes beyond the known prayers.
56
Ümit Şimşek says that: “it is unfortunately not possible to say that the jawshan
has received the attention it deserves by Muslims since the Prophet’s time, de-
spite its great value and importance;” see his Risâle-i Nûr Işığında Cevşen Meâli,
XII. But it would be more accurate to say that this prayer “has not received any at-
tention” rather than saying “it has not received the attention it deserves.”
65
The Prayer of Jawshan

It could be noted here that this prayer includes a sense of human


“composition.” The rich prayer tradition found in the Shīʿī circles has
such many long examples with rhymed style.57

Conclusion
Beyond those who “believe” in the prayer’s authenticity, it could
be said that the prayer has no connection to the Prophet. This prayer
likely appeared first in Shīʿī circles. Over time, it was associated with
the Prophet, and then introduced to the Sunnī world. This prayer
seems to be an attempt for fabrication of ḥadīth (waḍʿ) as the proba-
bly longest example in Islamic history. The great jawshan which ap-
peared for the first time in the book of a 9th/15th century Shīʿī author
in Islam’s lenghty history, has been unknown to thousands of schol-
ars of tafsīr, ḥadīth, fiqh, kalām, as well as Sufis and historians except
for two late scholars, al-Gumushkhānawī and Bediuzzaman who
most likely took it from the former, in the Sunnī world. Therefore,
great caution must be employed when attributing to the Prophet him-
self such a prayer on which a premium has been put in later times.

REFERENCES
Akhtar, S. Waheed, Early Shīʿite Imāmiyyah Thinkers (New Delhi: Ashish
Publishing House, 1988).
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Djaʿfar,” The Encyclopaedia of Islam Second Edition, X, 745-746.
al-ʿAsqalānī, Abū l-Faḍl Ibn Ḥajar Shihāb al-Dīn, al-Iṣāba fī tamyīz al-
ṣaḥāba, 8 vols., (ed. ʿAlī Muḥammad al-Bījāwī; Cairo: Dār Nahḍat
Miṣr, 1972).
______ Taqrīb al-Tahdhīb, 2 vols., (eds. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb ʿAbd al-Laṭīf et al.;
2nd ed., Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1975).
Avcı, Seyit, Sûfilerin Hadis Anlayışı – Bursevî Örneği – [Sufis’ Understand-
ing of Ḥadīth – The Case of al-Būrsawī –] (Istanbul: Ensar Yayıncılık,
2004).
Aydüz, Davut, “Cevşen Üzerine [On the Jawshan],” Yeni Ümit 13/51 (Jan.-
Feb.-March 2001), 32-37.

57
For examples see al-Ḥillī’s Muhaj al-daʿawāt.
66
Abdullah Aydınlı

______ Hizbu Envâri’l-Hakâiki’n-Nûriyye: Büyük Cevşen ve Meali [Ḥizb


anwār al-ḥaqāʾiq al-nūriyya: The Great Jawshan and Its Turkish
Translation] (Istanbul: Define Yayınları, 2010).
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