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    • List of Articles Hasan  Bolkhari Qehi

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        1 - Transition from Intellectual Philosophy to Esoteric Wisdom in the Ideas of Ikhwan al-Safa (An Analysis of Early Encounters of Muslim Thinkers with Philosophy)
        Hasan  Bolkhari Qehi
        The present paper initially discusses and explores the early applications of philosophical terms and their meanings in Islamic culture. Then it clarifies the dominant approach followed by those Muslim thinkers who try to reconcile Shari‘ah with philosophy through using More
        The present paper initially discusses and explores the early applications of philosophical terms and their meanings in Islamic culture. Then it clarifies the dominant approach followed by those Muslim thinkers who try to reconcile Shari‘ah with philosophy through using an acceptable concept in religion by resorting to the term hikmah (which is a purely Qur’anic term). This is an approach which managed to result in a kind of esoteric wisdom between the second and fourth centuries (AH) through employing such concepts as t’awil (interpretation) in the Qur’an and promoting the interest in piety and gnosis. Ikhwan al-Safa, who exercised a huge influence on the development of wisdom and philosophy in Islamic culture, are among the pioneers of the above approach. By composing a corpus of 54 Epistles, called Rasa’il, they took a great stride towards reconciling Shari‘ah with philosophy and explaining the concept of wisdom and, particularly, Batini wisdom. Here, following an analytic-historical approach, the writer performs a conceptual analysis of the two terms of philosophy and wisdom during the first period of the rise of philosophical thought in Islamic civilization. Besides, he deliberates on the efforts of Ikhwan al-Safa in order to reach a kind of esoteric wisdom, which is a synthesis of a completely philosophical and, at the same time, Qur’anic (and narrative) approach. This was an approach which inevitably advocated the unity of religion and philosophy in order to demonstrate such a synthesis. Manuscript profile
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        2 - The Concept and Place of Bahman in Avestan and Pahlavi Texts as the “First Emanated” in Illuminationist Philosophy
        Hasan  Bolkhari Qehi
        The statement, “Reason was the first thing that God created”, which has been mentioned in several Islamic texts and has been quoted and emphasized by some great philosophers such as Suhrawardī and Mullā Ṣadrā (in Sharḥ-i uṣūl al-kāfī), is a well-known narration in Islam More
        The statement, “Reason was the first thing that God created”, which has been mentioned in several Islamic texts and has been quoted and emphasized by some great philosophers such as Suhrawardī and Mullā Ṣadrā (in Sharḥ-i uṣūl al-kāfī), is a well-known narration in Islamic ḥadīths. A similar statement with a clearer meaning is: “The Glorious God created the intellect, which was the first heavenly created”. Such statements gain more significance when we compare them with similar statements regarding the place of the intellect, which is equal to being, in Greek philosophy. As the master of all Iluminationist philosophers, Suhrawardī, as he has emphasized in his treatise of Fī ḥaqīqat al-‘ishq (On the Truth of Love) (p. 268), was well-aware of this famous narration. Given Suhrawardī’s explicit reference to this statement and his clear indication in Ḥikmat al-ishrāq, in which he calls himself the reviver of ancient Iranian philosophy (or at least introduces the wisdom of ancient Iranian philosophers (fahlavīūn) as one of the main sources of his own philosophy), this study aims to provide an answer to the question of how we can trace the effects of ancient Iranian wisdom in Suhrawardī’s philosophy. One of the most important factors linking his philosophy to ancient Iranian philosophy is his reference to the place of such Amesha Spenta as Bahman or Urdībihišt in Avestan and Pahlavi texts and considering them as the pillars of the nūrī (illuminative) and ontological system in his philosophy. Here, based on the principle of “Nothing is emanated from the one but one”, he calls the first-emanated from the light of lights (al-nūr al-anwār) the closest light (al-nūr al-aqrab) and, based on ancient Iranian philosophy, he calls it Bahman. However, one might inquire about the relationship between Bahman and the first-emanated, particularly if the first-emanated in Islamic philosophy is the intellect. Following a historical and analytic approach, this paper investigates the philosophy of choosing Bahman as the first-emanated in Suhrawardī’s philosophy and examines his particular choice of Bahman as the god of wisdom and knowledge as tantamount to the intellect in Islamic ḥadīths, which demonstrates Suhrawardī’s profound knowledge of ancient Iranian wisdom. Manuscript profile
      • Open Access Article

        3 - Avestan Sīmurgh, Ishraqi Sīmurgh (A Historical Etymology of Sīmurgh in Islamic-Iranian Philosophy)
        Hasan  Bolkhari Qehi
        Undoubtedly, Sīmurgh is one of the most important and attractive Ishraqi (Illuminationist) and gnostic symbols in the Islamic-Iranian civilization. The traces of this mythical bird can also be found in Avestan and Pahlavi texts as a near-stationed and heaven-residing bi More
        Undoubtedly, Sīmurgh is one of the most important and attractive Ishraqi (Illuminationist) and gnostic symbols in the Islamic-Iranian civilization. The traces of this mythical bird can also be found in Avestan and Pahlavi texts as a near-stationed and heaven-residing bird as well as the name of a prominent philosopher in Zoroastrian philosophy. The correct pronunciation of the world Sīmurgh is mərəyō saēnō in Avesta, sēnmurw and saeno muruk in Pahlavi language, and siræng in some Persian texts. Orientalists have translated this word into eagle and royal falcon in English. Perhaps the translation of Sīmurgh into eagle is rooted in translations’ focus on the word syena in Sanskrit, which means eagle in this language. Admittedly, this Sanskrit word is quite similar to the Avestan saena. Suhrawardī has talked about sīmurgh in different parts of his works such as in the treatises of Ṣafīr-i Sīmurgh, ‘Aql-i surkh, and Fī ḥālat al-ṭufullīyah. In ‘Aql-i surkh, following an innovative approach and method of interpretation, he discusses sīmurgh’s support of Rostam in his war with Esfandiar; in Ṣafīr-i sīmurgh he explains the virtues of sīmurgh in the Introduction to the treatise, and in the last treatise he elaborates on sīmurgh’s living in heaven. Suhrawardī’s method of discussion in these works reveals the place and holiness of this bird in his mind and language and, most importantly, the depth of his knowledge of ancient Iranian philosophy. In this paper, the author discusses the place of sīmurgh in Avestan and Pahlavi texts and Illuminationist philosophy. Manuscript profile