Darb-Kūshkī Eṣfahānī, Mullā Esmā‛īl

Darb-Kūshkī Eṣfahānī, Mullā Esmā‛īl, known as Vāḥed al-‛Ayn. He was a sage and teacher of Islamic philosophy and theology in the 18^th/13^th century.¹ His birth date is unknown, and few details about his life and circumstances are recorded in biographical sources. Because he was blind in one eye, he was given the title Vāḥed al-‛Ayn (“The One-Eyed”).² Ḥājj-Mullā Hādī Sabzevārī (d. 1872/1289) referred to him as Dhū al-‛Uyūn³ or Dhū al-‛Aynayn metaphorically, believing that Mullā Esmā‛īl possessed keen insight in both rational and transmitted sciences.⁴

Mullā Esmā‛īl was a student of Mullā Ali Nūrī* (d. 1830/1246) in philosophy. Even after becoming a recognized master of philosophy, he continued to attend Mullā Ali Nūrī’s classes with his own students.⁵ He was also a contemporary of Sheikh Aḥmad Aḥsāʾī*. According to Tunekābunī, Mullā Esmā‛īl once attended a gathering with Aḥsāʾī and prevailed over him in a debate.⁶ He was a teacher to many philosophers and scholars of his time, including Mullā Hādī Sabzevārī, Mīrzā Rafī‛ā Qazvīnī (the grandfather of Sayyed Abū al-Ḥasan Qazvīnī), Sayyed Ali Ḥakīm, and Hedāyatullāh Basṭāmī*.⁷ Mullā Esmā‛īl’s students preferred his philosophy classes over those of Mullā Ali Nūrī because of his clarity of speech and eloquence in teaching. To facilitate understanding and persuade his students, he often used poetry and aligned his teachings with Quranic verses and narrations. In contrast, Mullā Ali Nūrī, particularly in his later years, exercised caution in teaching philosophy and avoided openly expressing his views.⁸

It is worth noting that among the disciples of Mullā Esmā‛īl Vāḥed al-‛Ayn*, there was an individual named Esmā‛īl Darb-Kūshkī Eṣfahānī*. Due to the similarity of his name to that of his teacher, these two figures have sometimes been mistakenly regarded as the same person.⁹ However, the disciple, Esmā‛īl Darb-Kūshkī, was the son of Muhammad Ja‛far, while the teacher, Mullā Esmā‛īl, was the son of Muhammad Samī‛.¹⁰ Furthermore, historical records indicate that the disciple died in 1887/1304,¹¹ whereas the teacher passed away in 1826/1242.¹² The disciple Mullā Esmā‛īl was the teacher of Sayyed Abū al-Qāsem Dehkurdī* and Jahāngīr Khān Qashqāʾī*.¹³ Considering that Dehkurdī was born in 1856/1272, it would have been chronologically impossible for Mullā Esmā‛īl Vāḥed al-‛Ayn to have been his teacher.¹⁴

There are numerous reports concerning the date of Mullā Esmā‛īl Darb-Kūshkī’s death. Some sources suggest that he died after the passing of Mullā Ali Nūrī, citing the years 1855/1271, 1861/1277, or 1861/1281.¹⁵ However, these accounts are speculative and lack definitive evidence.¹⁶ Sayyed Jalāl Āshtiyānī, seemingly based on the account of Sabzevārī’s son-in-law and testimonies from his own teachers, who reported seeing Mullā Esmā‛īl in Tehran during the lifetime of Mullā ‛Abdullāh Zunūzī (d. 1841/1257), believes that Mullā Esmā‛īl was certainly alive until 1851/1267.¹⁷ Nevertheless, Jalāl al-Dīn Humāʾī*, through his research, argues that Mullā Esmā‛īl died in 1827/1243.¹⁸ His evidence is derived from the statement of Mullā Hādī Sabzevārī, who, in his biography, mentions studying philosophy with Mullā Ali Nūrī for about three years following Mullā Esmā‛īl’s death.¹⁹ On the last page of manuscript no. 1245 in the Iranian Parliament (Majles) Library, the date of Mullā Esmā‛īl Vāḥed al-‛Ayn’s death is recorded as Muḥarram al-Ḥarām 1826/1242.²⁰ Considering all the above evidence and circumstances, it appears accurate to conclude that the year of Mullā Esmā‛īl Vāḥed al-‛Ayn’s death was 1826/1242.²¹

Mullā Esmā‛īl authored commentaries on several significant philosophical and theological works. Among his writings are glosses on al-Asfār al-Arba‛a,²² al-Mashā‛er,²³ and Shawāreq al-Elhām.²⁴ There are also commentaries attributed to Mullā Esmā‛īl Eṣfahānī* on Jamāl al-Dīn Kh^wānsārī’s glosses on Khafrī’s marginalia.²⁵ Mullā Esmā‛īl Vāḥed al-‛Ayn also wrote a commentary on Mullā Ṣadrā’s al-Ḥekmat al-‛Arshīye, which was published both within the lithograph edition of Mullā Ṣadrā’s Asrār al-Āyāt²⁶ and independently alongside Mullā Ali Nūrī’s glosses on al-Ḥekmat al-‛Arshīya.²⁷ In this commentary, he responded to the objections raised by Aḥsā’ī, attributing most of his criticisms to misunderstandings of the intended meanings. Vāḥed al-‛Ayn explained the author’s intent using rational and traditional evidence in this work.

Several mystical and philosophical treatises in Persian, titled Waḥdat al-Wujūd, Jabal Qāf, and Nawm al-Malāʾika, are also attributed to Mullā Esmā‛īl.²⁸

/Tayyebe Karami/

Bibliography

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1. This article was previously published in the Encyclopaedia of the World of Islam, vol. 17, pp. 473-474, and was republished with slight revisions in the Encyclopaedia Isfahanica.[↩]
2. Ṣadūqī-Suhā, p. 148.[↩]
3. See: Ṭābande, p. 25[↩]
4. See: Reḍānejād, vol. 1, p. 16.[↩]
5. See: Sabzevārī, 1991/1370., introduction by Āshtīyānī, p. 117.[↩]
6. Tunekābunī, p. 20.[↩]
7. Āqā Buzurg Ṭehrānī, 1984/1404, vol. 1, p. 140; Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī, 1981/1360 Sh., introduction by Āshtīyānī, p. 116 and fn. 2, p. one hundred twenty-five.[↩]
8. Humāʾī, p. 132; Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī, 1981/1360 Sh., same introduction, p. one hundred fifteen[↩]
9. See: Sabzevārī, 1996-2001/1416-1422, vol. 2, introduction by Mas‛ūd Ṭālebī, p. 4.[↩]
10. Ṣadūqī-Suhā, p. 149; Mahdavī, pp. 135, 138.[↩]
11. Mahdavī, p. 135.[↩]
12. Refer to the continuation of this article for a discussion on the death date of Darb-Kūshkī, the teacher.[↩]
13. Dehkurdī, vol. 1, p. 21.[↩]
14. See: Ṣadūqī-Suhā, p. 150.[↩]
15. See: Āqā Buzurg Ṭehrānī, 1983/1403, vol. 6, pp. 20, 200; Mahdavī, p. 138; Mudarres Tabrīzī, vol. 6, p. 285; Sabzevārī, 1991/1370., same introduction, p. 116; Sabzevārī, 1996-2001/1416-1422, ibid.; Athar-Āfarīnān, vol. 1, p. 257.[↩]
16. Mu‛allem Ḥabīb Ābādī, vol. 6, p. 2153, footnote.[↩]
17. See: Sabzevārī, 1991/1370., same introduction, pp. 117-118 and footnote; Izutsu, introduction, p. twenty-five.[↩]
18. Humāʾī, p. 132.[↩]
19. Humāʾī, p. 127; See: Izutsu, introduction, p. twenty-two.[↩]
20. Kh^wājuʾī, fol. 209. It is worth noting that this document is, in fact, a copy of Meftāḥ al-Falāḥ va Meṣbāḥ al-Najāḥ fī Sharḥ Du‛āʾ al-Ṣabāḥ by Mullā Esmā‛īl Kh^wājuʾī (d. 1759/1173). The scribe of this manuscript recorded the author’s name as “Mullā Esmā‛īl Vāḥed al-‛Ayn Kh^wājuʾī Eṣfahānī.” Given the definitive attribution of Sharḥ Du‛āʾ al-Ṣabāḥ to Mullā Esmā‛īl Kh^wājuʾī and his death in 1759/1173, it can be asserted that the scribe mistakenly confused Mullā Esmā‛īl Vāḥed al-‛Ayn with Mullā Esmāʿīl Kh^wājuʾī. Therefore, the date mentioned at the end of this manuscript likely refers to the death of Mullā Esmā‛īl Vāḥed al-‛Ayn.[↩]
21. See: Vāḥed al-‛Ayn, introduction by Khudāverdī, pp. thirty to thirty-two.[↩]
22. For example, see: Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī, 1990/1410, Safar 2, vol. 1, pp. 20, 32; Safar 2, vol. 2, pp. 112-113.[↩]
23. For example, see: Muhammad Jaʿfar Lāhījī, pp. 12, 15, 17.[↩]
24. For example, see: ‛Abd al-Razzāq Lāhījī, vol. 1, pp. 3, 9, 12-13.[↩]
25. Humāʾī, p. 132.[↩]
26. Ṣadr al-Dīn Shīrāzī, 1901/1319, pp. 30-64, 93-120.[↩]
27. Vāḥed al-‛Ayn, 2012/1391.[↩]
28. Ḥuseynī-Eshkvarī, vol. 1, p. 162.[↩]