Analyzing the View of Nasir Khusrow on the Nature of Human Prosperity

Nasir Khusraw sets forth the concept of prosperity under a variety of religious and philosophical concepts such as reward and punishment, hell and paradise, Imitation of creator, becoming an angle and gaining reasonable pleasures. But the concept on which he mostly insists and through which he interprets other concepts and is therefore the essence of all concepts on prosperity, is the concept of “knowledge”. In the words of Nasir Khusraw a great deal of clear document denotes the sameness of prosperity and knowledge contrary to the sameness of wretchedness and ignorance. In the present research, the quality of interpreting concepts such as reward and punishment, hell and heaven, pain and pleasure, imitation of God, angle-likeness and becoming an angle through the concept of knowledge and ignorance is explained in detail. Yet, the most comprehensive concept which takes hold of the whole Nasir Khusraw’s view on the nature of “prosperity” is the concept of “return” because it uncovers why in Nasir Khusraw’s system of thought, knowledge and prosperity are considered the same and more importantly “return” is more compatible with other philosophical and religious key concepts such as Imam, Divine law, the relation of material world to divine world and learning. In Nasir Khusraw’s system of thought and in his philosophical-theological literature, prosperity is interpreted as returning to Man’s original residence and wretchedness is interpreted as distance from residence.