Iblis as the Perfect Lover and the Doctrine of Borrowed Attributes in Haft Awrang
In this section of Jami's Haft Awrang, the prophet Moses (Kalim) confronts Iblis in the regions of Mount Sinai and asks why he refused to prostrate before Adam. Iblis answers as the archetypal Sufi lover: one whose vision is complete (عاشق کامل سیر) bows to none but the Beloved and will not offer prostration to an other (غیر). When Moses replies that a true servant bows at the Friend's command, Iblis reframes that command as a test of the lover rather than a genuine call to worship. Pressed on why he then wears the collar of curse, Iblis argues that both royal favor and satanic curse are borrowed attributes (عاریت) — accidents that rest on the surface without touching the essence. The passage distills the sympathetic, antinomian image of Iblis as a jealous monotheist lover, offering a distinct reading of the refusal-to-prostrate motif that parallels but differs from Attar's treatments.
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Humanities
Literature
Persian Literature Prerequisite Course