ligence and esoteric orientation, antagonized the orthodox
jurists at Malik Z:a ̄hir’s court, who declared Suhraward ̄ı to
be a heretic. They asked Malik Z:a ̄hir to put Suhraward ̄ı to
death, and when he refused they signed a petition and sent
it to S:ala ̄h: al-D ̄ın Ayyu ̄b ̄ı, who ordered his son to have
Suhraward ̄ı killed. Malik Z:a ̄hir reluctantly carried out his fa-
ther’s order and Suhraward ̄ı was killed in 1208. For this rea-
son he has received the title al-Maqtu ̄l (the Martyr).
Not much is known about Suhraward ̄ı. It is said that
he lived somewhat of a monastic life and shied away from
people. One day he would dress in court style and the very
next day as a wandering dervish. Suhraward ̄ı lived at a time
when the influence and power of the rationalist theologians
(MuEtazilites) had been substantially curtailed by the more
faith-based AshEarites. While the debate among the advocates
of intellectual sciences continued, philosophical and theolog-
ical schools were also challenged by the mystics of Islam, the
S:u ̄f ̄ıs. At the center of these controversies stood Avicenna
(Ibn S ̄ına ̄) with his powerful philosophical paradigm. Avi-
cenna’s philosophy by Suhraward ̄ı’s time had lent itself to
different interpretations, and this brought about a number
of schools that were essentially Avicennian, though each em-
phasized different aspects of his ideas.
First, there was the purely Aristotelian aspect of Avicen-
na’s philosophy. Next, there were exponents of theology
(kala ̄m) who found Avicenna’s logic and metaphysics to be
a useful means of analysis and therefore adopted them. Final-
ly, there was the mystical aspect of Avicenna, which received
less attention than his rationalistic writings. In these types
of writings, such as H:ay ibn Yaqz:a ̄n and the final chapter of
the Isha ̄ra ̄t, the mystical and Neoplatonic aspects of Avicen-
na’s philosophy are most apparent. Suhraward ̄ı was well
aware of such writings. For example, in his al-Ghurba al-
gharbiyah (The occidental exile) he continues Avicenna’s
story using some of the same metaphors.
Suhraward ̄ı’s project was to bring about a rapproche-
ment between rationalism, mysticism, and intellectual intu-
ition within one single philosophical paradigm and to bridge
the deep division between different schools in the Islamic in-
tellectual tradition. He called his school of thought
al-h:ikmah al-ilahiyyah (transcendental philosophy) or
H:ikmat al-ishra ̄q (philosophy of illumination), and it is for
this reason he has been called “Shaykh al-ishra ̄q” (Master of
Illumination). Suhraward ̄ı argued that the application of rea-
son as a means of discovering the truth is limited, and that
one has to rely on an experiential wisdom to comprehend the
truth completely. In a mystical state, Suhraward ̄ı compared
his findings through logic and discursive reasoning to his
mystical vision; he accepted those that corresponded with
one another, and others he rejected. For Suhraward ̄ı, reason,
mystical experience, and intellectual intuition are ultimately
reconcilable.
Suhraward ̄ı’s writings are diverse (i.e., Peripatetic, mys-
tical, and illuminationist [ishra ̄q ̄ı]). They include his four
large treatises that are of doctrinal nature: al-Talwih:a ̄t (The
book of intimation), al-Muqawama ̄t (The book of oppo-
sites), al-Mut:a ̄rah:a ̄t (The book of conversations), and finally
H:ikmat al-ishra ̄q (The philosophy of illumination), which is
his magnum opus. The first three of these works are written
in the tradition of the Peripatetics, with commentaries and
criticism of certain Aristotelian concepts, such as the episte-
mic function of definition.
There are shorter works, some of them written in Arabic
and some in Persian. These works are also of a doctrinal na-
ture and should be regarded as further explanations of the
larger doctrinal treatises. They are: Haya ̄kil al-nu ̄r (Lumi-
nous bodies), Alwa ̄h: Eima ̄diyah (Tablets of EIma ̄d al-D ̄ın),
Partaw na ̄mah (Treatise on illumination), IEtiqa ̄d f ̄ı
-al-h:ukama ̄D (On the faith of the hakims), al-Lamah:a ̄t (The
flashes of light), Yazda ̄n shina ̄kht (Knowledge of the divine),
and Busta ̄n al-qulu ̄b (The garden of the heart).
Suhraward ̄ı wrote a number of treatises of an esoteric
nature in Persian. These initiatory narratives contain highly
symbolic language and incorporate Zoroastrian and Hermet-
ic symbols, as well as Islamic ones. These treatises include:
EAql-i surkh (Red intellect), A ̄wa ̄z-i par-i Jibra ̄il (Chant of the
wing of Gabriel), Qis:s:at al-ghurba al-gharbiyah (Story of the
occidental exile), Lughat-i mura ̄n (Language of the termites),
Risa ̄lah f ̄ı h:ala ̄t al-t:ufu ̄liyyah (Treatise on the state of child-
hood), Ru ̄z ̄ı ba ̄ jama ̄Eat-i S:ufiya ̄n (A Day among the S:u ̄f ̄ıs),
S:afir-i simu ̄rg (The Sound of the griffin), Risa ̄lah fi -al-miEra ̄j
(Treatise on the nocturnal ascent), and Partaw na ̄mah (Trea-
tise on illumination). These treatises are intended to demon-
strate the journey of the soul toward unity with God and the
inherent yearning of humans toward gnosis (maErifah).
There are also a number of treatises of a philosophic and
initiatic nature. These include his translation of Risa ̄lat
al-t:a ̄ır (Treatise of the birds) of Avicenna and the commen-
tary in Persian on Avicenna’s Isha ̄ra ̄t wa-al-tanbiha ̄t. There
is also his treatise Risa ̄lah f ̄ı h:aq ̄ıqat al-Eishq (Treatise on the
reality of love), which is based on Avicenna’s Risa ̄lah fi-
al-Eishq (Treatise on love) and his commentaries on verses
of the QurDa ̄n and the h:ad ̄ıth. Also, it is said that Suhraward ̄ı
may have written a commentary upon the Fus:u ̄s: of al-Fa ̄ra ̄bi,
which has been lost. Finally, there is the category of his litur-
gical writings, al-Warida ̄t wa-al-taqdisa ̄t (Invocations and
prayers), which consists of prayers, invocations, and litanies.BIBLIOGRAPHY
For more information concerning Suhraward ̄ı’s life, see Ibn Ab ̄ı
EUs:aybiEa ̄h, EUyu ̄n al-anba ̄E f ̄ı t:abaqa ̄t al-at:ibba ̄E, edited by
August Muller (Konigsberg, Germany, 1884); Ibn
Khallika ̄n, Wafaya ̄t al-a Eya ̄n, edited by I. EAbba ̄s (Beirut,
1965); Shams al-D ̄ın Shahrazu ̄r ̄ı, Nuzhat al-arwa ̄h: wa
Rawd:at al-afra ̄h: f ̄ı taDr ̄ıkh al-h:ukama ̄ wa-al-fala ̄sifah, edited
by Khursh ̄ıd Ah:mad, vol. 2 (Hyderabad, India, 1976); and
Mehdi Amin Razavi, Suhrawardi and the School of Illumina-
tion (London, 1993).
For the major texts of Suhraward ̄ı’s writing, see Opera Metaphysica
et Mystica, vols. 1 and 2, edited with an introduction by
Henry Corbin (Istanbul, 1945 and 1954). Opera Metaphysi-SUHRAWARD ̄I, SHIHA ̄B AL-D ̄IN YAH:YA ̄ 8827