Thematic Analysis of Tarīq-al-Nijāt: a Velayat Nameh in the Cognition of the Ahl al-Bayt (as)

From the perspective of the admirers of Imamate and the Ahl-al-Bayt (as), the sociopolitical incidents of the first centuries of Islam are a reflection of the rulers of the time’s cruelties and catastrophes. As a reaction to these brutalities and tribulations, the protest has taken various forms over the years and has sometimes been instituted in two shapes of camaraderie and revulsion in a dark and suffocating ambiance of the time. Along this premise, Velayat Nameh comprise the ultimate verses of the Shia’ poets who have inscribed valuable literary works in the preservation and transmission of Ahl-al-Bayt’s (as) insights, miracles, wisdom and honour by expressing their devotion to the Prophecy and Imamate dynasty; in a way that their works were the prominent source for the praise singers and the religious narrators among the people of the valleys and marketplaces. This paper introduces the epic poem book of Tarīq-al-Nijāt by Khiali Isfahani with a descriptive-analytical method and runs a thematic analysis by examining this work as one of the best examples of the vilāyat written compositions. With a look at the thematic structure of the book that constitutes praises of Allah, commending the Holy Prophet (pbuh), paying tributes and honouring the Fourteen Saints (as), the poet touches on the noble and impactful attributes of the religious characters throughout the Shia history by referring to religious narrations. With this aim, the most substantial parts of the book are the significant events and extraordinary miracles of the messenger of Allah (pbuh), the spectacular glory of Imam Ali’s (as) eminence, the oppression of the Shia’ Imams (as), the prodigious occurrence of Karbalā, the multidisciplinary knowledge and the humanitarian ethics of the Imams (as), the asset of patience and fortitude under the pressures and misfortunes of life, which all have been described and analyzed in this article starting from the commend for the Prophet (pbuh), to the last saint, Imam Mahdi (as). The poetic magnificence and the exquisite interpretations are an attestation to the perspicuous rhetoric speech of the poet that has made this valuable poetry book, from which the poems have been selected relative to segments of the book, to be pleasant and delightful.