the wider community of their devotees. One of the
most prominent Sufi visionaries who claimed to
have such revelations was ibn al-arabi (d. 1240),
one of whose most important works is entitled
The Meccan Revelations (al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya).
At the beginning of this book he wrote,
The essence of what is included in this work
comes from what God inspired in me while
I was fulfilling circumambulations of [God’s]
house (the kaaba), or while I was contem-
plating it while seated in its holy precincts
(adapted from Ibn al-Arabi 8).Ibn al-Arabi also claimed that a vision of
Muhammad inspired him to write another of his
major works, The Bezels of Wisdom. Visions and
dreams of Muhammad are widely attested in Sufi
literature, as well as popular lore. Among the most
desired goals of Sufis, moreover, was to obtain a
vision and intimate experience of God through
their spiritual discipline and God’s grace-acts,
much as Muhammad had been able to do. In addi-
tion to inspiration (ilham), they also spoke of rev-
elation in terms of “unveiling” or “illumination”
(kashf), but, in doing so, they sometimes also
posited equivalence between prophets and saints.
The Persian mystic rUzbihan baqli (d. 1209),
a contemporary of Ibn al-Arabi, spoke of mes-
sengers, prophets, angels, and saints as all being
God’s lovers to whom God unveiled himself and
revealed not only secret knowledge and wisdom,
but even his essence and divine attributes. Claims
to have such divine knowledge sparked negative
reactions from conservative religious authorities,
who had the authority to level charges of innova-
tion (bidaa), blasphemy, or even apostasy against
the visionaries and their proponents.
See also angel; aya; fiqh; holy books; prophets
and prophecy; sUFism.
Further reading: Ruzbihan Baqli, The Unveiling of
Secrets: Diary of a Sufi Master. Translated by Carl W.
Ernst (Chapel Hill, N.C.: Parvardigar Press, 1997);
William A. Graham, Divine Word and Prophetic Word in
Early Islam (The Hague: Mouton, 1977); Ibn al-Arabi,
The Meccan Revelations. Vol. 1. Edited by Michel Chod-
kiewicz and translated by William C. Chittick and James
W. Morris (New York: Pir Press, 2002); Moojan Momen,
An Introduction to Shii Islam (New Haven, Conn.: Yale
University Press, 1985), 148–160; F. E. Peters, Muham-
mad and the Origins of Islam (Albany: State University of
New York Press, 1994); Fazlur Rahman, Major Themes
of the Quran (Minneapolis: Bibliotheca Islamica, 1994).Reza Shah Pahlavi (also known as Reza
Khan and Reza Shah) (1878–1944) founder of
the Iranian Pahlavi dynasty, he reigned as shah from
1925 to 1941
By the beginning of the 20th century the tide of
popular discontent and nationalist aspirations in
iran began to focus on the weak and corrupt rule
of the qaJ ar dynasty, which had forfeited most of
its power and influence over the state to Russia
and Britain. The deteriorating situation ultimately
led to a coup d’état that abolished Qajar rule and
ultimately led to the crowning of Reza Khan in
1925 as the first shah (Persian: king) of the Pahlavi
dynasty.
Reza Shah Pahlavi was a strong-willed and
impatient man. Born in poverty, he received no
formal education. Like so many poor Iranians of
his time he had no choice but to seek his fortunes
in the military. Joining the Cossack Brigade as
a teenager, he quickly rose through its ranks to
become a deeply feared and respected commander
of what was in truth little more than the Qajar
shah’s personal bodyguards. He was, therefore,
in an opportune position to seize control of the
throne after the fall of the Qajars, first as minister
of war in the transitional government that ruled
from 1921 to 1925, and then as shah from 1925
to 1941.
Heavily influenced by the European-inspired
reforms of Turkey’s mUs taFa kemal atatUrk (d.
1938), Reza Shah instituted a series of sweeping
changes in Iran. He adopted Western-based legalReza Shah Pahlavi 591 J