An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, Vol. 5 From the School of Shiraz to the Twentieth Century
I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies
Persia is home to one of the few civilizations in the world that has had a continuous tradition of philosophical thought lasting more than two and a half millennia. From the time Zoroaster brought the Gathas, the sacred scripture of Zoroastrianism, until today, it has had a philosophical tradition comprising diverse schools and various languages including Avestan and Pahlavi as well as Arabic and Persian. The West has seen surveys of Persian art and anthologies of Persian literature, but this work is the first to present a millennial tradition of philosophy in Persia in the form of translated selections and introductory sections for each period and figure. Existing translations have been used where possible but most of the selections have been newly translated for this work which, with the help of the explanatory introductions, makes possible an intellectual journey into a philosophical continent much of which has been uncharted for Westerners until now. The fifth and final volume of An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia deals with some seven centuries of Islamic thought stretching from the era following the Mongol invasion to the end of the Qajar period. Organized around the cities which became the main centres of philosophical activity during this long period, the volume is divided into three parts: ‘The School of Shiraz’, whose importance not only for Persia but also for Ottoman Turkey and Muslim India is only now being recognized; ‘The School of Isfahan’, which marks the integration of some eight centuries of Islamic thought and culminates with Mulla Sadra; and finally ‘The School of Tehran’, where traditional philosophy first encountered modern thought in Persia, bringing this series into present times.
List of Reprinted Works
Note on Transliteration
List of Contributors
General Introduction, S. H. Nasr
Prolegomenon, M. Aminrazavi
Part I : The School of Shiraz
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
1. Jalāl al-Dīn Dawānī
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
The Treatise of Baghdad (from Risālat al-zawrāʾ)
2. Ṣadr al-Dīn Dashtakī
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
Treatise on the Problem of the Liar’s Paradox (from Risālah fī shubhat jadhr al-aṣamm)
3. Ghiyāth al-Dīn Manṣūr Dashtakī
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
Manṣūrian Ethics (from Akhlāq-i Manṣūrī)
Stations of the Gnostics (from Maqāmāt al-ʿārifīn)
4. Shams al-Dīn Khafrī
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
Treatise on Prime Matter (from Risālah fi’l-hayūlā)
Treatise on the Bewilderment of the Learned: The Liar’s Paradox (from Risālat ʿibrat al-fuḍalāʾ: Jadhr al-aṣamm)
Part II : The School of Isfahan
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
1. Mīr Dāmād
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
Sparks of Fire (from al-Qabasāt)
2. Mīr Findiriskī
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
Treatise on the Arts (from Risālah-yi ṣināʿiyyah)
3. Mullā Ṣadrā
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
The Four Intellectual Journeys (from al-Asfār al-ʿaqliyyah al-arbaʿah)
Metaphysical Penetrations (from Kitābal-Mashāʿir)
The Unification of the Intellector and the Intellected (from Ittiḥād al-ʿāqil wa’l-maʿqūl)
4. The Two Lāhījīs
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
The Pearl of Desire (from Gawhar-i murād)
Lights of Inspiration (from Shawāriq al-ilhām)
Persian Treatises (from Rasāʾil-i fārsī)
5. Sayyid Aḥmad ʿAlawī
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
Commentary on ‘The Book of Healing’ (from Sharḥ al-shifāʾ)
6. Mullā Rajab ʿAlī Tabrīzī
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
On the Necessary Being (from Ithbāt-i wājib)
The Fundamental Principle (from al-Aṣl al-aṣīl)
7. Mullā Muḥsin Fayḍ Kāshānī
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
Hidden Words (from Kalimāt maknūnah)
Divine Sciences (from al-Maʿārif al-ilāhiyyah)
8. Qāḍī Saʿīd Qummī
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
Mysteries of Worship (from Asrār al-ʿibādāt)
Commentary on the Enneads (from Taʿlīqāt bar uthūlūjiyā)
9. Muḥammad Ṣādiq Ardistānī
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
Ṣādiqian Wisdom (from al-Ḥikmah al-Ṣādiqiyyah)
Part III: The Qajar Period and the School of Tehran
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
1. Quṭb al-Dīn Nayrīzī
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
The Measure of Good in the Elucidation of the Subject of Rhetoric (from Mīzān al-ṣawāb dar sharḥ-i faṣl al-khiṭāb)
2. Mullā Ismāʿīl Khājūʾī
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
On the Refutation of Illusory Time (from Ibṭāl al-zamān al-mawhūm)
3. Mullā ʿAlī Nūrī
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
Glosses upon ‘The Secrets of Verses’ (from Sharḥ asrār al-āyāt)
4. Ḥājjī Mullā Hādī Sabzawārī
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
Commentary on a Philosophical Poem (from Sharḥ al-manẓūmah)
5. Mullā ʿAbd Allāh Zunūzī
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
Divine Flashes of Light (from Lamaʿāt-i ilāhiyyah)
6. Āqā ʿAlī Mudarris Ṭihrānī (Zunūzī)
Introduction, S. H. Nasr
Marvels of Wisdom (from Badāyiʿ al-ḥikam)
7. Āqā Muḥammad Riḍā Qumshaʾī
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
On the Oneness of Existence, or Rather, the Existent (from Risālah fī waḥdat al-wujūd bal al-mawjūd)
Addendum to the Ringstone on Seth from ‘The Ringstones of Wisdom’ on the Topics of Friendship (from Dhayl-i faṣṣ-i shīthī-yi fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam: dar mabāḥith-i walāyat)
8. Mīrzā Abu’l-Ḥasan Ṭabāṭabāʾī (Jilwah)
Introduction, M. Aminrazavi
Philosophical Epistles (from Rasāʾil falsafiyyah)
Select Bibliography
Index
Seyyed Hossein Nasr received his early education in Iran and completed his formal studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. He is the author of over five hundred articles and fifty books. He has taught at a number of universities both in the Middle East, including Tehran University, and in the United States and has lectured widely. Since 1984 he has been University Professor of Islamic Studies at The George Washington University.
Mehdi Aminrazavi received his early education in Iran and completed his master's degree in Philosophy at the University of Washington and his doctorate in Philosophy of Religion at Temple University. He is the author and editor of numerous articles and books, and is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Mary Washington, where he is also co-Director of the Leidecker Center for Asian Studies.