Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Doctoral student in Wisdom of Religious Arts at the University of Religions and Denominations of Qom.
2
Associate Professor at the University of Religions and Denominations of Qom.
Abstract
Symbol and allegory in Suhrawardī's view differ from that of modern thinkers who regard symbol as a conventional and arbitrary matter. In the view of the Illuminationists (Ishrāqīs), symbolic language expresses truth. Symbols are subtle reflections of the realities of the celestial world, opening a bridge and a window toward the higher realms. Symbols vary in intensity and weakness in expressing these truths—in other words, they admit of gradation (tashkīk). In addition to his narrative works containing various symbols, Suhrawardī also composed philosophical treatises, the most important of which is The Philosophy of Illumination (Ḥikmat al-Ishrāq). This book, as its title suggests, is not merely a philosophical work but rather a book of sapiential (taste-based) wisdom, expressed largely in the language of light and darkness. It is replete with symbols that Suhrawardī has deposited therein for the initiated to apprehend. For instance, the Illuminationist sage speaks of light and darkness, talismans, idols, mirrors, the imaginal world (ʿālam al-mithāl), and others, each carrying a specific conceptual burden. Our aim in this research is to present some of Suhrawardī's symbols in this book and to decipher them.
Symbol and allegory in Suhrawardī's view differ from that of modern thinkers who regard symbol as a conventional and arbitrary matter. In the view of the Illuminationists (Ishrāqīs), symbolic language expresses truth. Symbols are subtle reflections of the realities of the celestial world, opening a bridge and a window toward the higher realms. Symbols vary in intensity and weakness in expressing these truths—in other words, they admit of gradation (tashkīk). In addition to his narrative works containing various symbols, Suhrawardī also composed philosophical treatises, the most important of which is The Philosophy of Illumination (Ḥikmat al-Ishrāq). This book, as its title suggests, is not merely a philosophical work but rather a book of sapiential (taste-based) wisdom, expressed largely in the language of light and darkness. It is replete with symbols that Suhrawardī has deposited therein for the initiated to apprehend. For instance, the Illuminationist sage speaks of light and darkness, talismans, idols, mirrors, the imaginal world (ʿālam al-mithāl), and others, each carrying a specific conceptual burden. Our aim in this research is to present some of Suhrawardī's symbols in this book and to decipher them.
Keywords
Theology of Art