Illuminationism (
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
حكمت اشراق ''hekmat-e eshrāq'',
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: حكمة الإشراق ''ḥikmat al-ishrāq'', both meaning "Wisdom of the Rising Light"), also known as ''Ishrāqiyyun'' or simply ''Ishrāqi'' (
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
اشراق,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: الإشراق, lit. "Rising", as in "Shining of the Rising Sun") is a philosophical and mystical school of thought introduced by
Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi
"Shihāb ad-Dīn" Yahya ibn Habash Suhrawardī ( fa, شهابالدین سهروردی, also known as Sohrevardi) (1154–1191) was a PersianEdward Craig, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "al-Suhrawardi, Shihab al-Din Yahya (1154-91)" Rou ...
(
honorific
An honorific is a title that conveys esteem, courtesy, or respect for position or rank when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term "honorific" is used in a more specific sense to refer to an honorary academic title. It ...
: ''Shaikh al-ʿIshraq'' or ''Shaikh-i-Ishraq'', both meaning "Master of Illumination") in the twelfth century, established with his ''Kitab Hikmat al-Ishraq'' (lit: "Book of the Wisdom of Illumination"), a fundamental text finished in 1186. Written with influence from
Avicennism
Avicennism is a school of Persian philosophy which was established by Avicenna. He developed his philosophy throughout the course of his life after being deeply moved and concerned by the ''Metaphysics (Aristotle), Metaphysics'' of Aristotle and s ...
,
Peripateticism
The Peripatetic school was a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece. Its teachings derived from its founder, Aristotle (384–322 BC), and ''peripatetic'' is an adjective ascribed to his followers.
The school dates from around 335 BC when Aristo ...
, and
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonism, Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and Hellenistic religion, religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of ...
, the philosophy is nevertheless distinct as a novel and
holistic
Holism () is the idea that various systems (e.g. physical, biological, social) should be viewed as wholes, not merely as a collection of parts. The term "holism" was coined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book ''Holism and Evolution''."holism, n." OED Onl ...
addition to the history of
Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa (literally: "philosophy"), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, ...
.
History
![Bagdad1258](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Bagdad1258.jpg)
While the
Ilkhanate
The Ilkhanate, also spelled Il-khanate ( fa, ایل خانان, ''Ilxānān''), known to the Mongols as ''Hülegü Ulus'' (, ''Qulug-un Ulus''), was a khanate established from the southwestern sector of the Mongol Empire. The Ilkhanid realm, ...
-
Mongol
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal member of ...
Siege of Baghdad and the destruction of the
House of Wisdom
The House of Wisdom ( ar, بيت الحكمة, Bayt al-Ḥikmah), also known as the Grand Library of Baghdad, refers to either a major Abbasid public academy and intellectual center in Baghdad or to a large private library belonging to the Abba ...
(
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: بيت الحكمة, romanized: Bayt al-Ḥikmah) effectively ended the
Islamic Golden Age
The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural, economic, and scientific flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 14th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign ...
in 1258, it also paved the way for novel philosophical invention. Such an example is the work of philosopher
Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī
Abu'l-Barakāt Hibat Allah ibn Malkā al-Baghdādī ( ar, أبو البركات هبة الله بن ملكا البغدادي; c. 1080 – 1164 or 1165 CE) was an Islamic philosopher, physician and physicist of Jewish descent from Baghdad, Iraq. ...
, specifically his ''Kitāb al-Muʿtabar'' ("The Book of What Has Been Established by Personal Reflection"); the book's challenges to the
Aristotelian norm in Islamic philosophy along with al-Baghdādī's emphasis on “evident self-reflection” and his revival of the
Plato
Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...
nic use of light as a metaphor for phenomena like inspiration all influenced the philosophy of Suhrawardi.
The philosopher and logician
Zayn al-Din Omar Savaji Zayn al-Din Omar Savaji ( fa, زین الدین عمر ساوجی) was a Persian philosopher and logician.HOSSEIN ZIAI, "EBN SAHLĀN SĀVAJĪ, Qāżī ZAYN-AL-DĪN ʿOMAR " in Encyclopaedia Iranic/ref>
Life
He was born in Saveh (modern Arak provin ...
further inspired Suhrawardi with his foundational works on mathematics and his creativity in reconstructing the ''
Organon
The ''Organon'' ( grc, Ὄργανον, meaning "instrument, tool, organ") is the standard collection of Aristotle's six works on logical analysis and dialectic. The name ''Organon'' was given by Aristotle's followers, the Peripatetics.
The si ...
;'' Savaji's two-part logic based on "expository propositions" ''(al-aqwāl al-šāreḥa)'' and "proof theory" ''(ḥojaj)'' served as the precursory model for Suhrawardi's own "Rules of Thought" ''(al-Żawābeṭ al-fekr).'' Among the three Islamic philosophers mentioned in Suhrawardi's work, al-Baghdādī and Savaji are two of them.
Upon finishing his ''Kitab Hikmat al-Ishraq'' (lit: "Book of the Wisdom of Illumination"), the
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
n philosopher Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi founded Illuminationism in 1186. The Persian and Islamic school draws on ancient
Iranian philosophical disciplines, Avicennism (
Ibn Sina
Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic G ...
’s
early Islamic philosophy
Early Islamic philosophy or classical Islamic philosophy is a period of intense philosophical development beginning in the 2nd century AH of the Islamic calendar (early 9th century CE) and lasting until the 6th century AH (late 12th century CE) ...
),
Neoplatonic
Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some ide ...
thought (modified by Ibn Sina), and the original ideas of Suhrawardi.
Key concepts
In his ''Philosophy of Illumination'', Suhrawardi argued that light operates at all levels and hierarchies of reality (PI, 97.7–98.11). Light produces immaterial and substantial lights, including immaterial intellects (
angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
s), human and animal souls, and even 'dusky substances', such as bodies.
Suhrawardi's metaphysics is based on two principles. The first is a form of the
principle of sufficient reason
The principle of sufficient reason states that everything must have a reason or a cause. The principle was articulated and made prominent by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, with many antecedents, and was further used and developed by Arthur Schopenhau ...
. The second principle is Aristotle's principle that an
actual infinity
In the philosophy of mathematics, the abstraction of actual infinity involves the acceptance (if the axiom of infinity is included) of infinite entities as given, actual and completed objects. These might include the set of natural numbers, extend ...
is impossible.
''Ishraq''
The essential meaning of ''ishrāq'' (
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
اشراق,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: الإشراق) is "rising", specifically referring to the
sunrise
Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects.
Terminology
Al ...
, though "illumination" is the more common translation. It has used both Arabic and Persian philosophical texts as means to signify the relation between the “
apprehending subject” ''(al-mawżuʿ al-modrek)'' and the “
apprehensible object” ''(al-modrak);'' beyond philosophical discourse, it is a term used in common discussion. Suhrawardi utilized the ordinariness of the word in order to encompass the all that is mystical along with an array of different kinds of knowledge, including ''elhām'', meaning personal inspiration.
Legacy
None of Suhrawardi's works was translated into Latin, so he remained unknown in the
Latin West
Greek East and Latin West are terms used to distinguish between the two parts of the Greco-Roman world and of Medieval Christendom, specifically the eastern regions where Greek was the '' lingua franca'' (Greece, Anatolia, the southern Balkans, t ...
, although his work continued to be studied in the Islamic East.
According to
Hosein Nasr
Seyyed Hossein Nasr (; fa, سید حسین نصر, born April 7, 1933) is an Iranian philosopher and University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University.
Born in Tehran, Nasr completed his education in Iran and the United St ...
, Suhrawardi was unknown to the west until he was translated to western languages by contemporary thinkers such as
Henry Corbin
Henry Corbin (14 April 1903 – 7 October 1978)Shayegan, DaryushHenry Corbin in Encyclopaedia Iranica. was a French philosopher, theologian, and Iranologist, professor of Islamic studies at the École pratique des hautes études. He was influe ...
, and he remains largely unknown even in countries within the Islamic world.
Suhrawardi tried to present a new perspective on questions like those of existence. He not only caused peripatetic philosophers to confront such new questions, but also gave new life to the body of philosophy after Avicenna. According to John Walbridge, Suhrawardi's critiques of
Peripatetic philosophy
The Peripatetic school was a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece. Its teachings derived from its founder, Aristotle (384–322 BC), and ''peripatetic'' is an adjective ascribed to his followers.
The school dates from around 335 BC when Aristo ...
could be counted as an important turning point for his successors. Although Suhravardi was first a pioneer of Peripatetic philosophy, he later became a Platonist following a mystical experience. He is also counted as one who revived the ancient wisdom in Persia by his philosophy of illumination. His followers, such as Shahrzouri and
Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi
Qotb al-Din Mahmoud b. Zia al-Din Mas'ud b. Mosleh Shirazi (1236–1311) ( fa, قطبالدین محمود بن ضیاالدین مسعود بن مصلح شیرازی) was a 13th-century Persian polymath and poet who made contributions to as ...
tried to continue the way of their teacher. Suhrewardi makes a distinction between two approaches in the philosophy of illumination: one approach is discursive and another is intuitive.
Illuminationist thinkers in the
School of Isfahan
The Isfahan School () is a school of Islamic philosophy. It was founded by Mir Damad and reached its fullest development in the work of Mulla Sadra. The name was coined by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Henry Corbin.
Because of the attention of Shah ...
played a significant role in revitalizing academic life in the
Safavid
Safavid Iran or Safavid Persia (), also referred to as the Safavid Empire, '. was one of the greatest Iranian empires after the 7th-century Muslim conquest of Persia, which was ruled from 1501 to 1736 by the Safavid dynasty. It is often conside ...
Empire under Shah
Abbas I. (1588-1629) Avicennan thought continued to inform philosophy during the reign of the Safavid Empire. Illuminationism was taught in Safavid
Madrasa
Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...
s (Place of Study) established by pious shahs.
Mulla Sadra
Mulla Sadra
Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī, more commonly known as Mullā Ṣadrā ( fa, ملا صدرا; ar, صدر المتألهین) (c. 1571/2 – c. 1635/40 CE / 980 – 1050 AH), was a Persian Twelver Shi'i Islamic mystic, philosopher, the ...
(Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī) was a 17th-century Iranian philosopher who was considered a master of illuminationism. He wrote a book titled al-Asfar meaning "The Yellow" or "The Light." The word Asfar also denotes a journey of the soul back to Allah. He developed his book into an entire School of Thought, he did not refer to al-Asfar as a philosophy but a
"wisdom."Sadra taught how one could be illuminated or given wisdom until becoming a sage. Al-Asfar was one piece of illuminationism which is still an active part of
Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is philosophy that emerges from the Islamic tradition. Two terms traditionally used in the Islamic world are sometimes translated as philosophy—falsafa (literally: "philosophy"), which refers to philosophy as well as logic, ...
today. Al-Asfar was representative of Mulla Sadra's entire philosophical worldview. Like many important Arabian works it is difficult for the western world to understand because it has not been translated into English. Mulla Sadra eventually became the most significant teacher at the religious school known as Madrasa-
(Royal School.)His philosophies are still taught throughout the Islamic East and South Asia.
Al-Asfar is
Mulla Sadra's book explaining his view of illuminationism. He views problems starting with a
Peripatetic sketch. This Aristotelian style of teaching is reminiscent of
Islamic Golden Age
The Islamic Golden Age was a period of cultural, economic, and scientific flourishing in the history of Islam, traditionally dated from the 8th century to the 14th century. This period is traditionally understood to have begun during the reign ...
Philosopher
Avicenna
Ibn Sina ( fa, ابن سینا; 980 – June 1037 CE), commonly known in the West as Avicenna (), was a Persian polymath who is regarded as one of the most significant physicians, astronomers, philosophers, and writers of the Islamic G ...
. Mulla Sadra often refers to the Qur'an when dealing with philosophical problems. He even quotes Qur'anic verses while explaining philosophy. He wrote
exegeses
Exegesis ( ; from the Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Biblical works. In modern usage, exegesis can involve critical interpretations ...
of the Qur'an such as his explanation o
Al-Kursi.
Asfar means journey. In al-Asfar you are gaining on a journey to gain wisdom. Mulla Sadra used philosophy as a set spiritual exercises to become more wise. Eventually this as you go through life you continue to gain more knowledge until you become a sage, hence godlike.
In Mulla Sadra's book ''
'' he describes the four journeys of
# A journey from creation to the Truth or
Creator
# A journey from the Truth to the Truth
# A journey that stands in relation to the first journey because it is from the Truth to creation with the Truth
# A journey that stands in relation to the second journey because it is from the Truth to the creation.
See also
*
Light (theology)
In theology, divine light (also called divine radiance or divine refulgence) is an aspect of divine presence perceived as light during a theophany or vision, or represented as such in allegory or metaphor.
The term "light" has been widely used in ...
*
Mulla Sadra
Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī, more commonly known as Mullā Ṣadrā ( fa, ملا صدرا; ar, صدر المتألهین) (c. 1571/2 – c. 1635/40 CE / 980 – 1050 AH), was a Persian Twelver Shi'i Islamic mystic, philosopher, the ...
*
Enlightenment (spiritual)
Used in a religious sense, enlightenment translates several Glossary of Buddhism, Buddhist terms and concepts, most notably ''bodhi'', ''kensho,'' and ''satori''. Related terms from Asian religions are ''kaivalya'' and ''moksha'' (liberation) in ...
Notes
Further reading
* ''Suhrawardi and the School of Illumination'' by Mehdi Amin Razavi
* ''Islamic Intellectual Tradition in Persia'' by
Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Seyyed Hossein Nasr (; fa, سید حسین نصر, born April 7, 1933) is an Iranian philosopher and University Professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University.
Born in Tehran, Nasr completed his education in Iran and the United St ...
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Persian philosophy
History of logic
Theories of deduction
Iranian philosophy
fr:Philosophie illuminative