Abd al-Salam Shah
ʿAbd al-Salām Shāh was the 33rd imam of the Qasim-Shahi branch of the Nizari Isma'ili community.
Life
Originally named Mahmud, he reportedly received the honorific name 'Abd al-Salam' from his father, al-Mustansir Billah II, on account of the wisdom he displayed. An epistle of a contemporary poet mentions that he was also known as 'Salam Allah'.He succeeded his father upon the latter's death, at Anjudan. According to oral Nizari tradition, he died in 1493/4 and was succeeded by his son, Gharib Mirza. Like his father, he tried to persuade the Nizari communities of the rival Muhammad-Shahi branch in Badakhshan and Afghanistan to recognize his leadership.
Works
A number of writings are attributed to him:- Most famously, an oft-repeated ode addressed to the 'seekers of union', i.e. those seeking after the divine gnosis of God. According to Abd al-Salam Shah, this is achievable only through complete submission to the will and guidance of the Imam, who alone is privy to the hidden, esoteric truths of the Quran.
- , a brief essay on the moral and ritual obligations of the faithful.
- , written in 1490 and addressed, according to Vladimir Ivanov, to the Muhammad-Shahi followers in Badakhshan and Kabul. According to Shafique Virani, this is the "only known Qasimshahi source explicitly testifying to a rivalry between the two lines" of Nizari imams, but its current whereabouts are unknown.
- , which may be the same as the ode to the 'seekers of union'.