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

202 Part 3: Islamic Philosophy in History
inward dimension. He seeks to unite Shar¥‘ah, T • ar¥qah, and ¡aq¥qah in
a context that is both philosophical and gnostic. He himself mentions
that this work was written in an ‘irfån¥ language complementing his
Riyå¿ al-ri¿wån (Garden of Paradise), which was written in a Peripatetic
language. 36 He also speaks specifically of Shi‘ite gnosis (‘irfån-i
sh¥‘¥). In this context there is also a profound discussion of the ‘irfån¥
and ishråq¥ dimensions of prophecy. This section of the work is especially
interesting in revealing how in later Islamic philosophy the philosophers
dealt with the question of prophecy and how philosophy in
the sense conceived by Pythagoras and Parmenides blossomed fully
again in a space dominated by prophecy in its Abrahamic form as it
had done earlier in ancient Greece where it was wed to prophetic
experience as prophecy was understood by the founders of Greek
philosophy in the context of the Greek religious universe.
The Maqåmåt al-‘årif¥n of Ghiyåth al-D¥n Man∑¨r is indicative of
the rapprochement that was taking place in the School of Shiraz between
mashshå˘¥ philosophy, ishråq¥ philosophy or theosophy, ‘irfån,
and kalåm. It is this rapprochement that prepared the ground for the
grand synthesis of Mullå |adrå in the eleventh/seventeenth century.
In reading this treatise one becomes aware of how much the School of
Isfahan owed to the School of Shiraz and more specifically how indebted
Mullå |adrå was to Ghiyåth al-D¥n Man∑¨r, whom he cites
with such respect in his works, especially the Asfår.
Ghiyåth al-D¥n Man∑¨r had a number of outstanding students
who continued his teachings well into the Safavid period. Among
them was his son Am¥r |adr al-D¥n Mu±ammad Thån¥, who taught at
the Man∑¨riyyah madrasah until at least 961/1554 when he composed
a work entitled al-Dhikrå (Remembrance) dealing with juridical, theological,
philosophical, and gnostic themes. Due to politically adverse
conditions, he is said to have fled from Shiraz to Gilan, where he spent
the rest of his life in an unknown condition and where he died. Ghiyåth
al-D¥n’s other famous students include Fakhr al-D¥n Sammåk¥ and Jamål
al-D¥n Ma±m¨d Sh¥råz¥, 37 one of whose students may have been the
first teacher of Mullå |adrå while he was studying as a young man in
Shiraz. In any case, Ghiyåth al-D¥n Man∑¨r’s influence was to continue
for a long time in both Shiraz and Isfahan, as well as in India, and he
left a deep imprint on later Islamic philosophy.
Shams al-D¥n Khafr¥
After Ghiyåth al-D¥n Man∑¨r, the most important student of |adr al-
D¥n Dashtak¥ was Mullå Shams al-D¥n Mu±ammad ibn A±mad Khafr¥,