Traces of the Creation Story of Adam/Human Being in Persian Mystical Works (up to 9th c. A.H)

جستارهای نوین ادبی

Article 8, Volume 46, Issue 2 - Serial Number 181, September 2013, Pages 169-193   

Document Type: Research Article

DOI: 10.22067/jls.v46i2.27624

Authors

Mohamad javad Mahdavi^* ; Mohammad Javid Sabbaghian; Javad Mizban

Abstract

The creation of Adam/human being is one of the most important and ubiquitous subjects in different religious and non-religious works. Among the questions which can repeatedly be found in such works are: How was Adam/human being created? Why was he created? Why was he placed on the earth? What is his status among the other creatures? Old rituals, religions, literary and mythical works have tried to answer these questions in their own ways. In Persian mystical works the prevailing point of view is that the first human being is Adam who was directly created from the soil. In these works we may read a lot about the way the soil was gathered and prepared for creating Adam’s body. Different interpretations have been offered in different works. The present research discusses these points of view. In the final analysis, it is revealed that Persian mystical literature has been influenced by the Quran and the Judaic accounts of the creation stories.

Keywords

: Adam’s creation; the Quran; Torah; Persian mystical works