Cognition, knowledge, gnosis. In one strand of modern Islamic discourse, the term is used for an amalgamated category which includes the mystical experience, sufism, esoteric doctrine and monist philosophy and is related to Shi’ism . It is related to the thought of al-Kirmānī (d. 1021) and the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity on the one hand and al-Fārābī (d. 950), al-ʿĀmirī (d. 992) and Ibn Sina (d. 1037) on the other hand. Major exponents are al-Suhrawardī (d. 1191), Ibn ʿArabī (d. 1240) and Ḥaydar Āmulī (d. 1305). The tradition is presented as reaching its climax in Safavid times with Mīr Dāmād (d. 1630) and Mullā Ṣadrā (d. 1640). Later authors included are Sabzavārī (d. 1873) and Khomeyni before his involvement in politics in 1963. See ʿārif.
