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

200 Part 3: Islamic Philosophy in History
and logic, theology and philosophy, jurisprudence and Quranic commentary,
astronomy and mathematics, medicine and pharmacology,
as well as ethics and ‘irfån. 33 Like apple¨s¥ before him, he was given the
title of the “eleventh intellect” (in reference to the ten intellects in Ibn
S¥nå’s philosophy), and like M¥r Dåmåd after him, he was called by
some the “Third Teacher,” following Aristotle, the “First Teacher,”
and Fåråb¥, the “Second Teacher.” 34 Not only did he teach philosophy
and theology in the Man∑¨riyyah madrasah, but in 927/1521 he was
called to Maraghah to repair the observatory constructed by Na∑¥r al-
D¥n apple¨s¥ and to complete the Ál-Khånid Z¥j (astronomical tables). As
for medicine, his books such as al-Shåfiyah (The Healer) and Ma‘ålim
al-shifå˘ (Milestones of Healing) were taught for a long time to medical
students. When the Safavids conquered Persia, Ghiyåth al-D¥n was
chosen to the high religious office of „adr and served in this important
function for many years until in 938/1531–32 when he withdrew from
politics completely and distanced himself from the Safavid court, retiring
to Shiraz, where he died in 948/1542. The political climate which
turned against him caused many of his students and learned descendents
to leave Shiraz for India or the Hejaz with the result that the
School of Shiraz became much weakened after him but also much
better known in other regions, especially in the Indian Subcontinent.
Because of political opposition to Ghiyåth al-D¥n Man∑¨r and his
followers in Shiraz, there are not many extant manuscripts of his
writings, and few of his works have appeared in printed form. Works
attributed to him include al-Mu÷åkamåt (Trials), in which he compares
the glosses of his father and Dawån¥ upon Shar÷ al-tajr¥d and criticizes
Dawån¥ severely; his commentary upon the Hayåkil al-n¶r of Suhraward¥,
which is much longer than that of Dawån¥ and again critical of the
latter; Shifå˘ al-qul¶b (Healing of Hearts) which seeks to clarify the
difficulties of Ibn S¥nå’s Kitåb al-shifå˘ (The Book of Healing); al-¡ikmat
al-man„¶riyyah (Man∑¨rean Philosophy), written from an ishråq¥ point
of view and considered by the author as his most important work; al-
Ishåråt wa’l-talw¥÷åt (Directives and Intimations) since it combines the
teachings of Ibn S¥nå and Suhraward¥; Maqåmåt al-‘årif¥n (Stations of
the Gnostics), to which we shall turn shortly; a number of treatises on
the various sciences such as mathematics and medicine; and Akhlåq-i
man„¶r¥ (Man∑¨rean Ethics), written within the tradition of philosophical
ethics before him but never matching the popularity of either Akhlåq-i
nå„ir¥ or Akhlåq-i jalål¥.
Of special interest among the works of Ghiyåth al-D¥n from the
point of view of the relation between philosophy and revelation is his
commentary on chapter 76 of the Quran, “S¶rat al-insån,” entitled Tu÷fat
al-fatå. Because of the questions that arose about the Makkan or