27 Facts About Nasir Khusraw

Nasir Khusraw was an Isma'ili poet, philosopher, traveler, and missionary for the Isma'ili Fatimid Caliphate.

Nasir Khusraw was a key figure in the spread of Isma'ilism in Central Asia.

Nasir Khusraw is with great reverence called "Pir" or "Shah Sayyid Nasir" by the Isma'ili community of Badakhshan and their branches in northern Pakistan, who all consider him to be their founder.

Nasir Khusraw is the subject of many tales, including a fake autobiography that bears his name and has been passed around between Isma'ilis and non-Isma'ilis for many centuries.

The writings of Nasir Khusraw that are still in existence offer insightful information about his life and philosophy.

Nasir Khusraw was born in 1004 in Qubadiyan, a neighborhood of the city of Balkh, which was part of the Marw province in the Khurasan region.

Nasir Khusraw supposedly started his career as a scribe before moving to the city of Marw to work as a financial administrator.

Nasir Khusraw was allowed entry to the court at Balkh until in 1040, when Khurasan was conquered by the Seljuks.

Nasir Khusraw retained his office under the Seljuks, whose co-founder Chaghri Beg ruled Khurasan.

Around the age of 41, Nasir Khusraw underwent a tremendous and sudden change in his spirituality, which drastically altered the direction of his life.

Nasir Khusraw subsequently resigned from his office and converted to Isma'ilism.

Nasir Khusraw then descended to Syria, Palestine, and then Arabia, where he performed his pilgrimage.

At Cairo, Nasir Khusraw was taught Isma'ili teachings, law, and administration by prominent scholars.

Nasir Khusraw met al-Mu'ayyad fi'l-Din al-Shirazi, an Isma'ili scholar from Shiraz in southwestern Iran, who had recently arrived to Cairo.

Nasir Khusraw became Nasir's teacher, instructing him in enigmatic Isma'ili concepts and philosophy.

Nasir Khusraw was raised to the position of da'i "missionary" and appointed as the Hujjat-i Khorasan, though the hostility he encountered in the propagation of these new religious ideas after his return to Greater Khorasan in 1052 AD and Sunnite fanaticism compelled him at last to flee.

Nasir-i Khusraw explained that through revelation, intellectual matters were transformed into a state that could be understood by humankind.

Nasir Khusraw said that one must not be satisfied with the exoteric form but look for the person who can explain the original esoteric meaning to them.

Nasir Khusraw was buried in a small mausoleum on a small hill in the present-day village of Hadrat-i Sayyid, on the eastern side of the Koksha Valley in present-day Afghanistan.

Nasir Khusraw visited dozens of cities in about seven years and wrote comprehensively about them, including details about colleges, caravanserais, mosques, scientists, kings, the public, the population, the area of the cities, and, of course, his interesting memories.

Nasir Khusraw, explains the spiritual interpretation of the tradition of a six day creation of the physical universe.

Nasir Khusraw writes about how the story of creation is a symbolic explanation of what happened when God created the universe.

Nasir Khusraw wrote a book on mathematics which has now been lost.

Nasir Khusraw was a key figure in the spread of Isma'ilism in Central Asia.

Nasir Khusraw is with great reverence called "Pir" or "Shah Sayyid Nasir" by the Isma'ili community of Badakhshan and their branches in northern Pakistan, who all consider him to be their founder.

Devotees that visit Nasir Khusraw's mausoleum refer him by other names than "Nasir Khusraw", such as shah, shah-i buzurgvar, mawla, shid-i Yumgan, and uqab-i Yumgan.

The latter refers to one of Nasir Khusraw's poems, written to offer moral advice; The narrative, which is based on an ancient fable, describes an eagle circling in the sky "full of selfish pride" before being brought to the ground by an arrow with eagle feathers sewn into its fletch.