An Investigation into the Aesthetic Components of Hurufi Thought in the Texts of Fazl Allāh Astarābādī

Abstract

Hurufism, founded by Fazl Allāh Astarābādī in the late fourteenth century CE, is one of the most significant intellectual and mystical movements in Islamic thought. By offering a distinctive interpretation of the relationship between letters, the human being (al-insān), and the cosmos, it developed an intellectual and doctrinal system grounded in the esoteric hermeneutics of letters (taʾwīl al-ḥurūf). Within Hurufi thought, letters are understood not merely as linguistic elements but as loci of divine manifestation (maẓāhir al-ẓuhūr).

Although Hurufism has been extensively studied from historical, social, and doctrinal perspectives, the aesthetic components of Hurufi thought have not been the subject of an independent study. This study investigates the aesthetic components of Hurufi thought in the texts of Fazl Allāh Astarābādī using a qualitative descriptive-analytical method based on textual analysis within the framework of Islamic aesthetics. The findings identify three principal aesthetic components of Hurufi thought in the examined texts: the 28- and 32-letter numerical system, the human being (al-insān), and the equinoctial line (khaṭṭ-i istivā). Examining these components through key concepts of Islamic aesthetics-including manifestation (tajallī), divine beauty (jamāl), goodness/excellence (ḥusn), love (ʿishq), the Perfect Human (al-insān al-kāmil), similitude and incomparability (tashbīh and tanzīh), and the relationship between form and meaning (ṣūrah and maʿnā)-reveals the underlying aesthetic structure of Hurufi thought..