Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the ...

192 Part 3: Islamic Philosophy in History
it is here that the mashshå˘¥ philosophy of Ibn S¥nå, so acutely criticized
in Khurasan by al-Ghazzål¥ and later al-Shahrastån¥ and Fakhr
al-D¥n al-Råz¥, received a new lease on life and began a second cycle
of existence that continues to this day. Not only the epochal commentary
of apple¨s¥ upon Råz¥’s criticism of the Ishåråt of Ibn S¥nå and some
of his other works revived Avicennan philosophy, but also other
important mashshå˘¥ works such as the Hidåyah of Ath¥r al-D¥n Abhar¥
and ¡ikmat al-‘ayn of Dabirån-i Kåtib¥ (d. 675/1276), a student of Abhar¥,
were composed by members of this school, works that served as texts
for the teaching of mashshå˘¥ philosophy for centuries in Persia, India,
and the Ottoman world.
Second, it was in Azarbaijan that the philosophy of ishråq was
propagated after its founder Suhraward¥ was put to death in Aleppo.
Both Qu†b al-D¥n Sh¥råz¥ and Shams al-D¥n Shahraz¨r¥, the two main
commentators upon ¡ikmat al-ishråq, were connected in one way or
another with the School of Azarbaijan. Third, perhaps partly due to
the influence of ishråq¥ doctrines but also for independent reasons,
many of the philosophers of this school were associated with Sufism,
while at the same time much attention was paid in this region to the
more metaphysical and philosophical dimensions of Sufism as one
sees in the works of Shabistar¥, especially his Gulshan-i råz. Finally, it
is of interest to note that there was a notable rise of the use of the
Persian language for philosophical discourse in the School of Azarbaijan
in comparison with the School of Khurasan and also the later School
of Isfahan. Suhraward¥, who should be seen as the first major figure
of this school, although he lived somewhat earlier than the period of
its full flowering, wrote many philosophical treatises that are among
the masterpieces of Persian prose. T¨s¥ is known for a number of
Persian philosophical works especially the Akhlåq-i na„ir¥ also a classic
of Persian literature. His supposed relative, although from Kashan,
Af∂al al-D¥n Kåshån¥, wrote almost exclusively in a Persian of exceptional
beauty and depth. apple¨s¥’s colleague in Maraghah, Qu†b al-D¥n
Sh¥råz¥ is the author of a vast Persian encyclopedia of philosophy, the
Durrat al-tåj (The Jewel in the Crown) and Rash¥d al-D¥n Fa∂l Allåh, the
grand vizier of the Ál-Khånids who was both philosopher and historian
wrote his universal history, the first of its kind in human history, in
Persian in which he also wrote many of his philosophical and theological
discourses. This greater use of Persian, without however neglecting
Arabic as the major language of Islamic intellectual discourse, is to be
found in Persia and eastern Anatolia in many fields following the Mongol
invasion. Persian philosophical treatises of this period, as well as those
of the School of Shiraz, became also widely disseminated in India where