An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, Volume 1: From Zoroaster to Omar Khayyam

the Tradition Of Philosophy In The Persian-speaking World Is Extraordinarily Rich, Creative And Diverse. This Anthology, Which Is Divided Into Three Volumes, Aims To Communicate Something Of That Richness And Diversity. The Term Philosophy Is Understood To In Its Widest Sense To Include Theological Debate, Philosophical Sufism And Philosophical Hermeneutics (ta'wil). Extending Over A Period Of More Than Two Millennia, And Showcasing Translations By Well-established Scholars, The Anthology Offers Full Bibliographical References Throughout. For Anyone Interested In Exploring, In All Their Varied Manifestations, The Fascinating Philosophical Traditions Of Persia, Such A Wide-ranging And Ambitious Work Will Be An Indispensable Resource. Volume 1 Starts With The Zoroastrian Period And Extends To The Time Of Biruni And Oma Khayyam, Paying Special Attention To The Peripatetic School Associated With Ibn Sina (avicenna). During The Pre-islamic Period Philosophy Was Intertwined With Religion, And It Is Within Persian Religious Texts Such As The Gathas, The Denkard, And The Zoroastrian Texts Of The Bundahisn That Philosophical Discussions Of Subjects Ranging From Metaphysics To Cosmology And Eschatology Are To Be Found. I. B. Tauris Contents 10 Preface M. Aminrazavi 14 List of Reprinted Works 18 Note on Transliteration 20 List of Contributors 22 Prolegomenon S.H. Nasr 24 PART I. EARLY PERSIAN PHILOSOPHY: ZOROASTRIAN THOUGHT 34 Introduction M. Aminrazavi 36 1. The Original Creation (from Bundahišn) 39 2. Greater Bundahišn 50 3. The Answers of Manūskihar From Dādistān-i Dīnīk 58 4. Opinions of the Spirit of Wisdom From Dīnā-i Maīnog-i Khirad 67 5. Selected Readings 76 6. Exegesis of the Good Religion Dēnkard VI 111 PART II. EARLY PHILOSOPHY: MANICHAEISM 126 Introduction M. Aminrazavi 128 7. Central Principles (from the Kephalaia) 131 PART III EARLY ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY: THE PERIPATETICS 148 Introduction S.H. Nasr 150 8. Abu'l-'Abbās Muhammad Irānshahrī 153 Introduction M. Aminrazavi 153 The Ideas of Īrānshahrī 155 9. Abū Nast Fārābī 157 Introduction S.H. Nasr 157 A Pharaphrase of Aristotle's Analytica Posteriora (from Kitāb al-burhān) 160 A Reconciliation of the Opinions of the two Sages, Divine Plato and Aristotle (From al-Kitāb al-jam' bayn ra'yay al-hakīmayn, Aflātūn al-ilāhī wa Aristū 178 The Perfect State (from Mabādi' ārā' ahl al-madīnat al-fādilah) 187 10. Abu'l-Hasan 'Amirī 203 Introduction S.H. Nasr 203 Knowledge and the Religious Sciences (from al-I'lām bi manāqib al'Islām) 205 On the Soul and its Fate (from al-Amad 'ala'l-abad) 230 11. Abū Sulaymān Sijistānī 239 Introduction M. Aminrazavi 239 Philosophical Treatises (Musannafāt) 241 12. Ibn Sīnā 266 Introduction S.H. Nasr 266 Metaphysics (from Dānish-nāmah-yi 'alā'ī) 270 Creation Ex-Nihilo and Immediate Creation (from al-Ishārāt wa'l-tanbīhāt) 292 On Theodicy and Providence I (from al-Shifā') 300 On Theodicy and Providence II (from al-Ishārāt wa'l-tanbīhāt) 312 On Time (from al-Shifā') 315 The Stations of the Knowers (from al-Ishārāt wa'l-tanbīhāt) 326 Living Son of the Awake (from Risālah Hayy ibn Yaqzān) 335 Introduction (from Mantiq al-mashraqiyyīn) 344 13. Abū 'Alī Ahmad ibn Muhammad Miskawayh 346 Introduction S.H. Nasr 346 Perennial Philosophy (Wisdom) (from al-Hikmat al-khālidah or Jāwīdān-khīrad) 349 The Health of the Soul (from Tahdhīb al-akhlāq) 379 14. Bahmanyār Ibn Marzbān 411 Introduction M. Aminrazavi 411 Author's Foreword (from Kitāb al-tahsīl) 413 PART IV. EARLY ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY: THE INDIPENDENT PHILOSOPHERS 430 Introduction S.H. Nasr 432 15. Abū Bakr Muhammad Zakariyyā' Rāzī 434 Introduction M. Aminrazavi 434 On the Excellence and Praise of Reason (from al-Tibb al-rūhānī) 437 The Book of the Philosophic Life (from al-Sīrat al-falsafiyyah) 447 16. Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī 457 Introduction S.H. Nasr 457 The Belief of the Hindus in God (from Tahqīq mā li'l-Hind) 460 Questions and Answers (from al-As'ilah wa'l-ajwibah) 482 17. 'Umar Khayyām 497 Introduction M. Aminrazavi 497 The Necessity of Contradiction, Free Will and Determinism (Darurat al-tadādd fi'l- 'ālam wa'l-jabr wa'l-baqā) 499 Universals of Existence (Kulliyyāt-i wujūd) 504 Selected Bibliography 508 Index 519 1845115414,9781845115418 "The tradition of philosophy in the Persian-speaking world is extraordinarily rich, creative and diverse. This anthology, which is divided into three volumes, aims to communicate something of that richness and diversity. The term 'philosophy' is understood to in its widest sense to include theological debate, philosophical Sufism and philosophical hermeneutics (ta'wil). Extending over a period of more than two millennia, and showcasing translations by well-established scholars, the anthology offers full bibliographical references throughout. For anyone interested in exploring, in all their varied manifestations, the fascinating philosophical traditions of Persia, such a wide-ranging and ambitious work will be an indispensable resource. Volume 2 covers five centuries of Ismaili philosophy, and includes extracts from outstanding Ismaili works including the "Rasa'il Ikhwan al-Safa" ("Treatises of the Brethren of Purity") and the philosophical odes of Nasir Khusraw. It is of great siginificance that, in the early centuries of Islam, philosophers were influenced by Pythagorean and Hermetic ideas, which are usually associated with Shi'i thought in general and Ismailism in particular. Ismaili philosophy at this time was able to integrate strands of Greco-Alexandrian thought such as Hermeticism and Neo-Pythagoreanism, as well as aspects of Mazdaeism and Manichaeism. It also showed marked interest in Neo-platonism."--Bloomsbury Publishing. "The tradition of philosophy in the Persian-speaking world is extraordinarily rich, creative and diverse. This anthology, which is divided into three volumes, aims to communicate something of that richness and diversity. The term 'philosophy' is understood to in its widest sense to include theological debate, philosophical Sufism and philosophical hermeneutics (ta'wil). Extending over a period of more than two millennia, and showcasing translations by well-established scholars, the anthology offers full bibliographical references throughout. For anyone interested in exploring, in all their varied manifestations, the fascinating philosophical traditions of Persia, such a wide-ranging and ambitious work will be an indispensable resource. Volume 1 starts with the Zoroastrian period and extends to the time of Biruni and Oma Khayyam, paying special attenton to the peripatetic school associated with Ibn Sina (Avicenna). During the pre-Islamic period philosophy was intertwined with religion, and it is within Persian religious texts such as the "Gathas", the "Denkard", and the Zoroastrian texts of the "Bundahisn" that philosophical discussions of subjects ranging from metaphysics to cosmology and eschatology are to be found."--Bloomsbury Publishing. Annotation. The tradition of philosophy in the Persian-speaking world is extraordinarily rich, creative and diverse. This anthology, which is divided into three volumes, aims to communicate something of that richness and diversity. The term "philosophy" is understood to in its widest sense to include theological debate, philosophical Sufism and philosophical hermeneutics (ta'wil). Extending over a period of more than two millennia, and showcasing translations by well-established scholars, the anthologyoffers full bibliographical references throughout. For anyone interested in exploring, in all their varied manifestations, the fascinating philosophical traditions of Persia, such a wide-ranging and ambitious work will be an indispensable resource. Volume 1 starts with the Zoroastrian period and extends to the time of Biruni and Oma Khayyam, paying special attention to the peripatetic school associated with Ibn Sina (Avicenna). During the pre-Islamic period philosophy was intertwined with religion, and it is within Persian religious texts such as the Gathas, the Denkard, and the Zoroastrian texts of the Bundahisn that philosophical discussions of subjects ranging from metaphysics to cosmology and eschatology are to be found The tradition of philosophy in the Persian-speaking world is extraordinarily rich, creative and diverse. This anthology, which is divided into three volumes, aims to communicate something of that richness and diversity.The term'philosophy'is understood to in its widest sense to include theological debate, philosophical Sufism and philosophical hermeneutics (ta'wil). Extending over a period of more than two millennia, and showcasing translations by well-established scholars, the anthology offers complete bibliographical references throughout. For anyone interested in exploring, in all their varied manifestations, the fascinating This is the second volume in a projected five-volume work covering the full expanse of Persian philosophical thought from the Zoroastrianism of the pre-Christian era up to the present day. Volume II is devoted entirely to the work of the Isma'ili and Hermetic-Pythagorean philosophers v. 1. From Zoroaster to ʻUmar Khayyām v. 2. Ismaili thought in the Classical Age.