Suhrawardi

Suhrawardi

Shihāb al-Dīn Suhrawardi (27 January 1154 – 26 September 1191) was an Iranian Islamic philosopher and the founder of the intellectual current known as Illuminationism (Ishrāq).

His life

His given name was Yaḥyā ibn Ḥabash ibn Amīrak. Because of his knowledge in many fields, he was called Shahāb al-Dīn or Shihāb al-Dīn, inspired by the star Shihāb (meteor), and because he was born in Suhraward he was known as Suhrawardi. Because he was executed by hanging, the epithet Maqtūl ("the Slain") was later added to his name after Suhrawardi. His being called Abū al-Futūḥ was on account of the depth of his spiritual life and his work in this field. Another important figure who was his contemporary and relative is Shihāb al-Dīn ʿUmar Suhrawardi; to enable these two persons to be distinguished, care is taken to refer to him with the epithet Maqtūl.

In the early years of his education Suhrawardi felt an affinity for the Peripatetic school, developed himself in this area and wrote some works. He later noted this early inclination in the works he wrote on his own philosophy, Illuminationism. After completing his education he traveled to many regions and exchanged ideas with some important figures of the period. He stated that around this time he had various experiences that would form the foundation of his philosophy. Also around this time his name became known, he grew close to court circles, and he gave lessons to many important statesmen.

The success of Suhrawardi, whose star was beginning to rise in Anatolia, led various persons to oppose him, and as a result many people arose who argued that he should be killed. In the end, by the decision of the jurists of Aleppo, Suhrawardi was executed in 1191.

His thought

Although different views exist about the sources that influenced Illuminationism, in its essentials it is based on Neoplatonism. In terms of method, the greatest feature that distinguishes Illuminationism from Peripateticism and other philosophical currents based on the Aristotelian tradition is the idea that truth cannot be reached by the way of reason, and that the only way to reach a truth otherwise unattainable is a kind of spiritual intuition. According to Illuminationism, truth can be attained only through the heart and through illumination (ishrāq). Illuminationism may be said to stand, on the intellectual plane, somewhere between the Peripatetic tradition and the Sufi tradition. Unlike the Sufi tradition, Illuminationism does not accept ecstatic rapture (jadhb) and spiritual intoxication (sukr).

Ishrāq both forms the cornerstone of this philosophy and gives the philosophy its name. The Arabic word ishrāq carries the meanings "East, related to brightness, related to light."

Suhrawardi explains the cosmos on a vertical plane; in his system of directions, the East is the abode of pure light and angels, wholly stripped of materiality, while the West is the world of materiality. At the exact midpoint of these two directions is the point where light and darkness meet. This idea of a sacred direction — a sacred order — was largely influenced by ancient Persian sources.

Suhrawardi defined light (nūr) as the substance of truth. According to him, apprehension occurs through light forming a clarity of consciousness, and it is light that enables us to apprehend things. But knowledge produced directly by light, because it comes from the presence of God, is superhuman. Thus, if someone can attain that knowledge, they can perform wonders and intervene in beings and events; for that person the veil of concealment has been lifted. In these respects Illuminationism approaches the Sufi tradition. In Illuminationism, non-rational intuition — spiritual intuition — has been used in different places with different meanings.

The nature of man

Suhrawardi believes in the traditional distinction between body and soul. For him the body represents darkness and the soul represents light; if the soul is strengthened with spiritual virtues and the body is weakened through fasting and resistance to sleep, the soul attains its freedom and makes contact with the spiritual world.

His works

Contrary to his short and turbulent life, Suhrawardi's works are very numerous. Some of these have been lost, a few have been printed, and the rest are found in the form of manuscripts in libraries in Iran, India and Turkey. Unlike Avicenna and al-Ghazali, who preceded him, none of his works were translated into Latin, so he was not known in the Western world.

About fifty of Suhrawardi's works have reached us in various history and biography books. These may be divided into five classes as follows:

1. Four great doctrinal treatises: the first three concern Aristotelian (Peripatetic) philosophy with certain modifications, and the last concerns Illuminationist wisdom. All in Arabic, these works are the Talwīḥāt, the Muqāwamāt, the Muṭāraḥāt and the Ḥikmat al-Ishrāq.

2. Shorter doctrinal treatises such as Hayākil al-Nūr, al-Alwāḥ al-ʿImādiyya, Partaw-Nāma, Iʿtiqād al-Ḥukamāʾ, al-Lamaḥāt, Yazdān Shinākht and Bustān al-Qulūb. Partly in Arabic and partly in Persian, these works explain particular subjects of the more extensive treatises.

3. Tales of spiritual journeying (sayr u sulūk) written in symbolic language and depicting the travelers' journeys toward gnosis and illumination. Written entirely in Persian, these short works consist of ʿAql-i Surkh, Āwāz-i Par-i Jibrāʾīl, al-Ghurbat al-Gharbiyya (also in Arabic), Lughat-i Mūrān, Risāla fī al-Miʿrāj, Risāla fī Ḥālat al-Ṭufūliyya, Rūzī bā Jamāʿat-i Ṣūfiyān and Ṣafīr-i Sīmurgh.

4. Initiatic texts of the works of philosophers and commentaries and transcriptions of sacred texts, such as the Persian translation of Avicenna's Risālat al-Ṭayr and the Persian commentary on Avicenna's al-Ishārāt wa al-Tanbīhāt. Also included in this group is the work titled Risāla fī Ḥaqīqat al-ʿIshq, based on Avicenna's work Risālat al-ʿIshq and on commentaries on the Quran and hadith.

Illuminationism in Turkish

Nur Heykelleri, translated by Saffet Yetkin, MEB Translations from World Literature, Classics of the East and Islam, 1949.

Kıssatü-l Gurbeti'l-Garbiyye: translation by İsmail Yakıt, "Ruhun Yolculuğu" (The Journey of the Soul), in Felsefe Arkivi, Istanbul University Faculty of Letters, 1987, no. 26.

Risâle Fi İ'tikâdi'l-Hukemâ: Turkish translation by İsmail Yakıt, "Filozofların İnançları" (The Beliefs of the Philosophers), in Felsefe Arkivi, Istanbul University Faculty of Letters, 1987, no. 26.

Yusuf Ziya Yörükhan, Şihabeddin Sühreverdi ve Nur Heykelleri, İnsan Yayınları, 1998.

Sühreverdi Maktul ve İşrakiliğin Dili, Rıfat Okudan, Fakülte Kitabevi, 2006.

İşrak Felsefesi, Hikmetü'l-İşrâk, translated by Tahir Uluç, İz Yayıncılık, 2009.

Sühreverdi ve İşrak Felsefesi, Nesim Doru–Yunus Kaplan, Otto Yayınları, 2014.

Sühreverdi ve İşrak Felsefesi, collective work, Divan Kitap, 2015.

Illuminationism in English

al-Suhrawardi [Sohravardi, Shihaboddin Yahya] (1154–91) Hayakil al-nur (The Temples of Light), ed. M. A. Abu Rayyan, Cairo: al-Maktaba al-Tijariyyah al-Kubra, 1957. (This is the only work of Suhrawardi translated into Turkish, under the title Nur Heykelleri.)

(1183–91) Oeuvres philosophiques et mystiques, vols I and II, ed. H. Corbin, Tehran and Paris: Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1976; vol. III, ed. S. H. Nasr, Tehran and Paris: Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1977. (A vitally important collection of the basic principles of illuminationism. An English translation of some of the works in Volume 3 can be found in The Mystical and Visionary Treatises of Shihabuddin Yahya Suhrawardi, trans. W. Thackston, London: Octagon Press, 1982.)

[Sohravardi, Shihaboddin Yahya] (1186–91) Kitab hikmat al-ishraq (The Philosophy of Illumination), trans. H. Corbin, ed. and intro. C. Jambet, Le livre de la sagesse orientale: Kitab Hikmat al-Ishraq, Lagrasse: Verdier, 1986.

The Philosophy of Illumination, trans. John Walbridge, Hossein Ziai, Brigham Young University (April 1, 2000).

Sources

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