In the year 1045 CE, a middle-aged Ismaili scholar and poet named Nasir Khusraw stood at a precipice. He was the chief revenue minister of the Seljuk Empire in Balkh (modern-day Afghanistan), a man of status, comfort, and worldly knowledge. Yet, a profound spiritual crisis had left him restless—his material success felt like a "curtain over the eye of the soul."
Then, a dream changed everything. A voice commanded him: "How long will you drink wine that clouds the mind? Awaken! The caravan of truth is leaving."
For a full modern English PDF, you may need to purchase Thackston’s translation or check academic databases (JSTOR, Project MUSE) via a library login. In Damascus, Khusraw sees a huge chandelier in the Umayyad Mosque. He counts 1,200 lamps, then climbs a ladder to find that the glass oil reservoirs are not uniform—they are shaped like pears, almonds, and eggs . He writes: “Each is different, yet together they make one perfect light. So too are the faithful: different in form, but one in the light of truth.” That is the Safarnama —a journey through a broken world to find that which makes light whole again.
In the year 1045 CE, a middle-aged Ismaili scholar and poet named Nasir Khusraw stood at a precipice. He was the chief revenue minister of the Seljuk Empire in Balkh (modern-day Afghanistan), a man of status, comfort, and worldly knowledge. Yet, a profound spiritual crisis had left him restless—his material success felt like a "curtain over the eye of the soul."
Then, a dream changed everything. A voice commanded him: "How long will you drink wine that clouds the mind? Awaken! The caravan of truth is leaving."
For a full modern English PDF, you may need to purchase Thackston’s translation or check academic databases (JSTOR, Project MUSE) via a library login. In Damascus, Khusraw sees a huge chandelier in the Umayyad Mosque. He counts 1,200 lamps, then climbs a ladder to find that the glass oil reservoirs are not uniform—they are shaped like pears, almonds, and eggs . He writes: “Each is different, yet together they make one perfect light. So too are the faithful: different in form, but one in the light of truth.” That is the Safarnama —a journey through a broken world to find that which makes light whole again.
EN 
FR 
RO 
ES 
BG 