Javanmardi

Following a theoretical framework that relies on the concept of the construction of collective identities through heroes, this paper demonstrates that the concept of javanmardi is a focal point in creating a hegemonic modern Iranian identity. In the official discourse of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the national hero Tayyeb Hajj Rezaʾi (1912–1963) is presented as the first martyr who sacrificed his life for Ayatollah Khomeini and additionally as a javanmard-e bozorg (a grand javanmard). Thus, his example is used to mediate the ideal virtues of javanmardi to the public. Accordingly, this paper is dedicated to a study of the motives present behind the public depiction of the hero Tayyeb Hajj Rezaʾi.

ʿAli Akbar Khatāyi's Khatāynāmeh (Book of China), a detailed description of state and society in Ming China written in 922/1516, includes citations from the Kanz al-Haqāyeq (attributed to Mahmud Shabestari) and ʿAttār's Elāhināmeh. By citing these two texts at key points in his description of the Chinese government, Khatāyi articulates a radical political vision in which the civil officials, rather than the emperor, are the true rulers. Furthermore, by using the Kanz al-Haqāyeq as a portal text, and through frequent citations of other gnostic poetry, he crafts his own authorial presence by identifying his own text with fotovvat and gnosticism, and invokes a conceptual framework based on the thought of Ibn ʿArabi epitomized in his intertexts.

"The Sufis carry the ancient legacy of Iran’s mystical past. But an extraordinary event occurs in the early Middle Ages that changed the face of Sufism and Islam: the Sufis adopt the chivalric ideal. The Sufis not only integrated chivalry into their spiritual pedagogy, but also presented their spiritual message through the symbolism of chivalry. This was the beginning of ‘spiritual chivalry,’ commonly referred to as javanmardi in Persian. Even today, the Persians have a special understanding of chivalry as something more than just representing by the code of honour and virtue.

The basic tenet of this work is that spirituality and chivalry are commonly misunderstood as two distinct and separate aspects. Instead, both of these are argued to have been a uniquely integrated philosophy that was practiced and taught by the ancient Iranians. And so it is, that once again the synthesis of spirituality and chivalry is emphasized and re-iterated by the Sufis of Iran and promulgated through their unique and effective mystical message."