Mushtaq Ali Shah

Dome of Mushtaqieh, Kerman, Iran, where Mushtaq Ali Shah is buried.

Mirza Mohammad Torbati (Persian: میرزا محمد تربتی), better known as Mushtaq Ali Shah (مشتاق علی شاه), his Sufi sobriquet, was an Iranian Ni'matullāhī mystic and musician who was executed in 1792 for playing his instrument, the setar, a previously three stringed lute whose fourth string was reportedly added by him and called Mushtaq in his honor.[1][2][3][4][5]

Biography

Shah was a member of the Nimatullahi Order of Sufis, and a majdhoub, who attracted Ismailis and others when he sang and played his setar.[2]

Majdhoubs were described as “spiritual men whose mental faculties are, as it were, overwhelmed or disoriented by the force of divine attraction,” and were believed to enter a state of “divine intoxication” during their actions or rituals.[6][2]

Shah disregarded the social conventions of his day. He was accused of "singing and playing the call to prayer at the Jum'ah Masjid on 27th Ramadan (19 May) 1792, and was stoned to death.[2]

In another account, he was accused of "reciting the Qur'an with the sound of a setar" by Mullah Mohammad Taqi (ملا محمد تقی), a mujtahid."[1]

Music

In addition to his historical role as a martyr, Mushtaq Ali Shah is remembered for his association with the setar.[1] The setar had three strings until the 19th century when it became customary to add a fourth string.[7] Shah is credited with having added a fourth string to his instrument before his death in 1791.[1]

Memorial

He is buried in the Mushtaqieh Square of Kerman, known as the Mushtaqieh Dome (The Dome of Desire) or the Three Domes.[8]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "یادداشتی درباره ی مشتاق علیشاه [translation: A note about Mushtaq Alisha...generally associated with the name setar because he added a string to the setar strings, which he called "the Mushtaq string". is named]". Vista News Hub. Islamic Republic of Iran. Mushtaq Alishah, whose real name is Mirza Mohammad Torbati
  2. 1 2 3 4 John Eberly (2005). Al-Kimia: The Mystical Islamic Essence of the Sacred Art of Alchemy. Sophia Perennis. p. 40. ISBN 9781597310109.
  3. ↑ "Islamic Hijri Calendar For May - 1792". habibur.com. 19-May-1792 Saturday 27-Ramadan-1206
  4. ↑ Jean During; Alastair Dick (1984). "Setār". In Stanley Sadie (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. London: MacMillan Press Limited. pp. 353–354. ISBN 0-943818-05-2.
  5. ↑ Ṣadrī, Aḥmad (2006). Āzmāyeš, Sayyid Muṣṭafā (ed.). "ʿErfān va mūsīqī-ye maʿnavī dar dowre-ye Qājār: Moshtāq va naqš-e vey dar taḥavvol-e sāḵtār-e ṣedādehī-ye setār" عرفان و موسیقی معنوی در دورهٔ قاجار: مشتاق و نقش وی در تحول ساختار صدادهی سه‌تار [Gnosis and spiritual music in the Qajar period: Moshtaq and his role in the transformation of the sound-structure of the setar] (PDF). ʿErfān-i Īrān (in Persian) (29–30). Tehran: Ḥaqīqat: 162–173.
  6. ↑ "majdhub (majdhūb)". Introduction to Sufi Doctrine (by Titus Burckhardt)
  7. ↑ Jean During; Alastair Dick (1984). "Setār". In Stanley Sadie (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments. London: MacMillan Press Limited. pp. 353–354. ISBN 0-943818-05-2.
  8. ↑ "Tourism in Kerman". safarme.ir (travel agency). Mirza Mohammad Torbati, known as Mushtaq Alishah...His body was buried near the tomb of Mirza Hussain Khan. Today, this tomb, known as the Mushtaqieh Dome, is located in Mushtaqieh Square in Kerman and has become a shrine of mystics and wisdom.