Suhrawardi tried to present a new perspective on questions like those of existence. He not only caused peripatetic philosophers to confront such new questions, but also gave new life to the body of philosophy after Avicenna. According to
John Walbridge, Suhrawardi's critiques of
Peripatetic philosophy could be counted as an important turning point for his successors. Although Suhravardi was first a pioneer of Peripatetic philosophy, he later became a Platonist following a mystical experience. He is also counted as one who revived the ancient wisdom in Persia by his philosophy of illumination. His followers, such as Shahrzouri and
Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi tried to continue the way of their teacher. Suhrewardi makes a distinction between two approaches in the philosophy of illumination: one approach is discursive and another is intuitive.
Safavid Iran Illuminationist thinkers in the
School of Isfahan played a significant role in revitalizing academic life in the
Safavid Empire under Shah
Abbas I (1588–1629). Avicennan thought continued to inform philosophy during the reign of the Safavid Empire.
Mulla Sadra Mulla Sadra (Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī) was a 17th-century Iranian philosopher who was considered a master of illuminationism. He wrote a book titled
al-Asfār al-Arbaʻah meaning 'the four journeys', referring to the soul's journey back to Allah. He developed his book into an entire school of thought; he did not refer to
al-Asfār as a philosophy but as "wisdom." Sadra taught how one could be illuminated or given wisdom until becoming a sage.
Al-Asfar was one piece of illuminationism which is still an active part of
Islamic philosophy today. It was representative of Mulla Sadra's entire philosophical worldview. Like many important Arabic works it is difficult for the western world to understand because it has not been translated into English. Mulla Sadra eventually became the most significant teacher at the religious school known as Madrasa-yi Khan. This Aristotelian style of teaching is reminiscent of
Islamic Golden Age Philosopher
Avicenna. Mulla Sadra often refers to the Qur'an when dealing with philosophical problems. He quotes Qur'anic verses while explaining philosophy. He wrote exegeses of the Qur'an such as his explanation of
Āyat al-Kursī. Asfār means journeys. In
al-Asfar is a journey to gain wisdom. Mulla Sadra used philosophy as a set of spiritual exercises to become more wise. In Mulla Sadra's book
The Transcendent Philosophy of the Four Journeys of the Intellect he describes the four journeys of • A journey from creation to the Truth or
Creator • A journey from the Truth to the Truth • A journey that stands in relation to the first journey because it is from the Truth to creation with the Truth • A journey that stands in relation to the second journey because it is from the Truth to the creation. One study focuses on debates over human voluntary action in the super-commentary of
Mīr Zāhid (d. 1689) on Suhrawardī's
Hayākil al-nūr, highlighting differing conceptions of the relationship between cognition, desire, and volition. Whereas Suhrawardī and later commentators such as
Jalāl al-Dīn Dawānī (d. 1502) tended to interpret volition as an intensified form of desire dominating the soul, Mīr Zāhid distinguished between desire, understood as oriented toward the goal of an action, and volition, understood as directed toward the performance of the action itself. This line of interpretation situates Mughal engagements with Illuminationist thought within a broader pattern of critical appropriation rather than simple adherence to Suhrawardī's philosophical system.
Western world None of Suhrawardi's works was translated into Latin, so he remained unknown in the
Latin West, although his work continued to be studied in the Islamic East. According to
Hosein Nasr, Suhrawardi was unknown to the west until he was translated into western languages by contemporary thinkers such as
Henry Corbin, and he remains largely unknown even in countries within the Islamic world. ==See also==