Symbols and the Foundations of Aesthetics in Shahrazūrī.

The book Al-Rumūz wa al-Amthāl al-Lāhūtiyya by Shams al-Dīn Muḥammad Shahrazūrī, which has not been previously edited, is Shahrazūrī's only philosophical-theosophical (dhawqī) work and contains the foundations of his aesthetic epistemology (dhawq-shenākhtī). This treatise includes diverse subjects such as the theology of light (nūr al-anwār and light-science), theosophical wisdom (ḥikmat dhawqī), and issues concerning the soul and spirit, in most of which Shahrazūrī remains faithful to Suhrawardī's views. However, in the present article, the focus is on those parts of Shahrazūrī's views in Al-Rumūz that are useful for formulating the foundations of dhawq-based aesthetics.
In the present study, the book Al-Rumūz wa al-Amthāl al-Lāhūtiyya has been critically edited selectively based on four manuscripts transcribed in the 7th/13th century, and their attribution to Shahrazūrī has been substantiated. In addition to these arguments, the illuminative (ishrāqī) style and content of Al-Rumūz wa al-Amthāl al-Lāhūtiyya fī al-Anwār al-Mujarrada al-Malakūtiyya also reinforce this attribution. Shahrazūrī's light-science, theosophical wisdom, and his psychology all constitute the pillars of his dhawq-based aesthetics.