Etude 98
Stage play
The Trial of Hallaj (based on the life of Hossein Mansour Hallaj)
In successive scenes, we witness short excerpts from Hallaj’s journeys throughout his life, and then his conviction and then his death.
The model of this play will generally be in accordance with the play “The Trial of Spinoza” by David Ives (translated by Ali Ferdowsi; Payan Publishing).
In the play The Trial of Spinoza, which is considered a masterpiece of a well-made play, the characters in the next scene come earlier, and this is a device that evokes the concept of unity and oneness in events and, implicitly, the presence of man in an earlier time; as Spinoza’s philosophy is also based on the same basis.
Here, too, we have such a device. And considering that Hallaj, like Spinoza, believes in such a unity in time and existence, we benefit from this device. And besides, sometimes these times will be performed in parallel in one scene. Of course, for the end of the play.
In the trial of Spinoza, the character of Spinoza is pointed and attractive; here the character of Hallaj appears more like a reprimanding, scolding Rand.
In the trial of Spinoza, that character was “Moretta”, the Chief Rabbi of Amsterdam, who had taught Baruch Spinoza from his early years and at the end, with a conversation he had with Spinoza on the day of the trial, he began to doubt his beliefs; although in the end, he was forced to excommunicate Spinoza. Here, however, this influence of Hallaj occurs only among his followers. Followers who were previously in his circle. From the Indians and Transoxiana, etc. And probably among them, there are one or more poets.
Of course, we know that Hallaj is more than anything a desirable figure for poets and poetics. Therefore, we will try to defend him in the field of literature and his influence on the poetry of poets. And not to emphasize the correctness of his beliefs. In fact, our goal is more enlightenment; just as David Ives’ goal in the case of Spinoza was most likely the same enlightenment.
And as for the unwritten story of this play:
It is the third century AH. The family of Hussein bin Mansur is a convert to Islam and a Sunni.
Hallaj is a Quran reciter. As a teenager, he goes to Tostar (Shushtar) to serve Sahl bin Abdullah Tostar. After two years, he wears a khirqa.
He is eighteen years old. He comes to Baghdad. And then he goes to Basra. He lives with Amr bin Uthman for eighteen months and his mistreatment begins. Amr bin Uthman suffers from his mistreatment.
Hallaj returns to Baghdad. He is in the class of Junaid (Baghdadi). Junaid calls him to silence and solitude.
Then he goes on a pilgrimage to the Kaaba. He is near the shrine for a year. And during the whole period, he has a bite of bread and a little water every three days.
He returns to the circle of Junaid Baghdadi’s companions. And then he begins to claim “I am the truth”.
He is expelled from Junaid’s circle. The Sufis have expelled him.
He has gone on Hajj for the third time. Then both his father-in-law (Abu Yaqub) and his teacher Amr ibn Uthman disowned him. Junaid had said: “You have penetrated Islam and have made a breach that a head severed from your body can close.”
Hallaj’s travels to India, Khorasan, Transoxiana, Turkestan, and China; until: Magic, magic, and sorcery are his claims:
This deviation was narrated by the daughter of Abul-Hasan Samari, one of Hallaj’s students. This woman is the wife of Hallaj’s son, Hamad, who narrates four stories to support her point, one of which is that Hallaj had told her: “I have married you to my son. Misunderstandings may arise between husband and wife. You may be unaware of some of your husband’s actions and want to gain information about his work; in such cases, fast that day and when night falls, go to the roof and take ashes from there and season your food with ashes and salt, then remove your veil and tell me everything you want to know about your husband, because I can hear your voice.”
Then the unity of God
Then the belief in the emancipation and unity
Then the issue of divine love is raised.
Next, we will have the context of Hallaj’s trial. And then the day of the trial.
Here we will omit his death and go with a time jump to a mysticism classroom in one of the seminaries. Perhaps the classroom that Allama Tabataba’i is in. Perhaps. On the topic of the sanctification of Iblis, they are very good at justifying and interpreting such nonsense. Perhaps it is this Allama who will answer this way. The discussions are about Iblis having said: “I am good” and Hallaj is saying: “I am the truth”. And this no longer leaves any distance from the divine essence. And this is unacceptable in any way.
And there is a wide table. And the seminarians are apparently busy eating. But in reality they are busy studying poems and studying Hallaj’s works and his biography. They are afraid that a stranger will enter their room and notice that they are reading Hallaj. And the discussion ends with one of his poems. And it is in this scene that the spirit of Hallaj will come on stage and at the same time, from off-stage, from time to time, poems will be read by Attar, Hafez, Sana’i, Rumi, Iraqi, Abu Sa’id Abi al-Khair, Sheikh Mahmoud Shabestari, Iqbal Lahori, and Shah Nematullah Wali. These poems are accompanied by music.
While Hallaj is busy listening; these seminarians are also busy studying the same poems. They do not see Hallaj. We see him. who is busy listening. And the discussion of the unity of existence remains inconclusive and unfinished. And everyone leaves except for one student. And they remain with him and Hallaj, when suddenly Hallaj stops listening. He looks around. He is in amazement. Now it is time for him to sit down and complete the rest of the poems; which means that his own soul was at work and those voices from outside are all intermediaries from the minds of that student and Hallaj. And in the end, Hallaj writes a poem that is read by someone else off-stage. Now we hear the student’s voice talking to himself, interpreting the poem. He does not believe much in the content of this poem. But he is thinking about it out loud. The scene slowly darkens. And the light focuses on Hallaj. And that student seemed to be staring at Hallaj in the dark. And that was it.
In this study, we tried to say that it is possible to look at a fact of the history of mysticism and Sufism, and even a Sufi figure, through the lens of scientific investigation and with a research approach and mutual understanding. An understanding that requires openness in the scholar’s worldview.
If we had finished the end of this play without a research perspective, it would mean an unqualified defense of Hallaj’s mysticism.