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

Notes to Chapter 4 295
period in several introductions to their works, especially those of Sabziwår¥
and the two Zun¨z¥s. See, for example, Mullå ‘Abd Allåh Zun¨z¥, Lama‘åt-i
ilåhiyyah (Divine Splendors) (Tehran: Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy,
1976), Persian prolegomena of ≈shtiyån¥ and English and Persian introductions
of S. H. Nasr. See also the long Persian introduction of ≈shtiyån¥ to
his edition of Mullå S • adrå’s Shawåhid.
13. See, for example, his Fay„alat wa÷dat al-wuj¶d wa wa÷dat al-shuh¶d
(Delhi, n.d.); and his Lama֌t, in Sufism and the Islamic Tradition, trans. G. N.
Jalbani and ed. D. B. Fry (London: Octagon, 1980). We shall discuss more fully
some of these figures in chapter 13 of this work.
14. Such works as ‘Allåmah Sayyid Mu±ammad ¡usayn appleabå†abå˘¥’s
U„¶l-i falsafah wa rawish-i ri’ålism, with commentary by Murta∂å Mu†ahhar¥, 5
vols. (Qum: Dår al-‘Ilm, 1332 [A. H. solar]/1953); Sayyid Muhammad Kåπim
‘A∑∑år, Wa÷dat-i wuj¶d wa badå˘ in Sayyid Jalål al-D¥n Āshtiyån¥ (ed.), Mujm¶‘ayi
åthår-i A„„år (Tehran: Am¥r Kab¥r, 1376 [A.H. solar]), pp. 5–30; Sayyid Jalål
al-D¥n ≈shtiyån¥, Hast¥ az naz • ar-i falsafah wa ‘irfån (Mashhad: Khurasan, 1379
[A. H. lunar]/1960); Mahd¥ ¡å˘ir¥ Yazd¥, Hiram-i hast¥ (Tehran: Cultural Studies
and Research Institue, 1363 [A. H. solar]/1984); and M. R. S. åli±¥ Kirmån¥,
Wuj¶d az naz • ar-i falsafa-yi islåm (Qum, n.d.), bear witness to the living character
of traditional Islamic metaphysics in general and the study of wuj¶d or
hast¥ (in Persian) in particular.
15. Metaphysics or the science of Ultimate Reality is called “ma‘rifah” or
“‘irfån” in the Islamic esoteric tradition or Sufism. In the philosophical tradition,
it is called “al-÷ikmat al-ilåhiyyah” in Arabic or “÷ikmat-i ilåh¥” in Persian.
See the previous chapter.
16. See S. H. Nasr, Islamic Life and Thought, chapter 17, “The Polarization
of Being,” pp. 182–87.
17. T. Izutsu quite justifiably translated ‘måhiyyah’ in the first sense as
“quiddity” and in the second as “essence.” See his “Fundamental Structure,”
p. 73.
18. It is remarkable how the three terms wuj¶d, wijdån, and wajd resemble
so closely the famous sat, chit, and ånanda in Hinduism, where their
combination satchitananda is considered a Name of God and the metaphysical
characterization of Reality. See S. H. Nasr, Knowledge and the Sacred, p. 1.
19. In his introduction to Mullå S • adrå’s Kitåb al-mashå‘ir, H. Corbin,
who was the first person to translate Martin Heidegger into French, has made
a profound comparison between the Islamic philosophy of being and
Heidegger’s thought on the subject of existence.
20. These three ways of envisaging quiddity, namely, in itself, in the
mind, and in its actualization in the external world, are called “al-i’tibåråt althalathah.”
See Izutsu, “The Fundamental Structure,” p. 65.