An Annotated Bibliography of the Works of Sadr Al-din Al-shirazi (mulla Sadra) With a Brief Account of His Life

Notes


[^1] For the place of this classification in Islamic thought, see Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Three Muslim Sages (New York: Caravan Books, 1997), pp. 63-[^4]:

[^2] Kit a b hikmat al-ishr a q in Oeuvres Philosophiques et Mystiques, ed. by Henry Corbin (Tehran: 1977), Tome II, p. [^12]: See also the English translation by John Walbridge and Hossein Ziai The Philosophy of Illumination (Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 1999), p. 3.

[^3] Suhrawardi lists eight classes of the seekers of truth with variations in between, which can be summarized under the following three groups: The first are the godly philosophers described above; second, those who are plunged only in the purely rational and discursive thinking, which is a reference to the Peripatetics; and third, the anti-philosophical mystics who lack in rigorous thinking and logical analysis. See Suhrawardi, Hikmat al-ishr a q, op. cit., pp. 11-2; English translation, p. [^3]: The word muta'allih must be related to the Platonic philosopher-king who combines in himself the power of philosophical analysis and Divine light. Echoing Suhrawardi’s discussion, S adr a proposes the following classification: 1] those who know God (‘ a lim bi’Llah) but not his commands; 2] those who know God’s commands (‘ a lim bi-amr Allah) but not Him; and 3] those who know both. See his Muqaddimah to Sharh u su l al-k a fi (Kit a b al-‘aql wa’l-jahl), ed. by Muhammad Khw a jawi (Tehran: 1366 A. H. Lunar)), p. 173.

[^4] For a comprehensive overview of the intellectual life during the Safavid period, to which S adr a belongs, see S. H. Nasr, ‘Spiritual Movements, Philosophy and Theology in the Safavid Period’ in The Cambridge History of Iran, ed. by Peter Jackson and Laurence Lockhart, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), Vol. VI, pp. 656-[^97]:

[^5] The roots of the Safavid dynasty go back to Shaykh S afi al-Din of Ardabil (1253-1334), a powerful Sufi master of the Safawiyyah order, who himself was a Sunni. The word Safavid is the adjectival form of ‘ s afi’, referring to Shaykh S afi al-Din himself. The group of people, whom the Ottomans called the ‘qizilb a sh’, read-heads, were Shaykh S afi al-Din’s staunch followers, and when Sh a h Ism a ’il, himself of Turkish origin, declared his independence against the Ottomans, he was also considered to be the protector of the ‘qizilb a sh’.

[^6] For the religious character of this period, see B. S. Amoretti, ‘Religion in the Timurid and Safavid Periods’, in The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. VI, pp. 610-[^655]:

[^7] Said Amir Arjomand, The Shadow of God and the Hidden Imam: Religion, Political Order, and Societal Change in Shi’ite Iran from the Beginning to 1890 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1984), pp. 112-[^9]:

[^8] E. G. Browne has put this question to Mirz a Muhammad Kh a n of Qazwin, whose response, which was sent to Browne in 1911, reveals an interesting perspective on the Safavid period by a Persian man of letters. Mirz a Muhammad identifies the root of the problem as the propagation of the exoterist Shi’ism by the Safavid rulers who ‘by reason of their political aims and strong antagonism to the Ottoman Empire, devoted the greater part of their energies to the propagation of the Shi’a [sic] doctrine and the encouragement of divines learned in its principles and laws… Now the close connection between poetry and Belles Lettres on the one hand, and Sufiism [sic] and Mysticism on the other, at any rate in Persia, is obvious, so that the extinction of one necessarily involves the extinction and destruction of the other. Hence it was that under this dynasty learning, culture, poetry and mysticism completely deserted Persia, and the cloisters, monasteries, retreats and rest-houses [of the darwishes] were so utterly destroyed that there is now throughout the whole of Persia no name or sign of such charitable foundations, though formerly, as, for instance, in the time of Ibn Battutah, such institutions were to be found in every town, hamlet and village…there exists now not a single monastery throughout the whole of Persia, while in those parts of Turkey, such as Mesopotamia, Kurdistan and Sulaymaniyya, which did not remain under the Safawi dominion, there are many such buildings just as there were in Ibn Battuta’s days.’ The letter appears in E. G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1953), Vol. IV, pp. 26-[^7]:

[^9] Fazlur Rahman, for instance, calls Findiriski a Peripatetic philosopher, which, given his preponderance for Sufi practices, is a questionable qualification. See his The Philosophy of Mull a S adr a , (New York: State University of New York Press, 1976), p. [^1]:

[^10] Fathullaj Mujtabai, Hindu Muslim Cultural Relations (New Delhi, 1978), p. 82; Edward G. Browne, A Literary History of Persia Vol. IV, pp. 257-[^8]:

[^11] For Mir D a m a d and his intellectual milieu, see Hamid Dabashi, ‘Mir D a m a d and the Founding of the “School of I s fah a n”’ in A History of Islamic Philosophy, ed. by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman (London: Routledge, 1996), Vol. 1, pp. 597-[^634]:

[^12] Toshihiko Izutsu, Mahdi Mohaghegh and Fazlur Rahman have published a number of studies on Mir D a m a d. We are, however, still far from having a comprehensive analysis of his ideas. For some of the current literature, see Hamid Dabashi, op. cit.; F. Rahman, ‘Mir D a m a d’s Concept of Huduth Dahri: A Contribution to the Study of God-World Relationship Theories in Safavid Iran’ Near Eastern Studies 39 (1980), 139-151; and Izutsu’s English Introduction to Kit a b al-Qabas a t, ed. with an introduction by Mehdi Mohaghegh, Toshihiko Izutsu, ‘Ali Musawi Bihbah a ni and Ibr a him Dib a ji (Tehran, 1977). See also S. H. Nasr, ‘The School of Isfahan’ in A History of Muslim Philosophy, ed. by M. M. Sharif, Vol. 2 (Wiesbaden: O. Harrasowitz, 1966), pp. 904-932, reprinted in The Islamic Intellectual Tradition in Persia, ed. by Mehdi Amin Razavi (Curzon Press, 1996), pp. 239-[^270]:

[^13] For Bah a ’ al-Din A mili, see Nasr, ‘The School of Isfahan’, and Dabashi, op. cit.

[^14] Browne draws attention to the same fact when he compares S adr a with the ‘qishri’ (exoterist) ‘ulam a ’ of his time, to which most of the akhb a ris belong. Browne, op. cit., p. [^376]:

[^15] Asf a r, I, 1, p. [^4]:

[^16] Ibid., p. [^6]:

[^17] It is in more than one place that S adr a refers to his spiritual experiences as a way of attaining the ultimate meaning of philosophical truth that he has learnt from books. In some cases, he even mentions dreams and divine illuminations as the only solution of the problem he deliberates upon. In the Asf a r, 7, p. 255, for instance, he speaks of his own personal experience in solving the problem of the soul, referring to the illumination of his soul by the Divine light, and comparing his experience to Suhrawardi’s celebrated dream of Aristotle, in which the First Teacher instructs Suhrawardi on the primacy of self-knowledge. For Suhrawardi’s dream, see his Kit a b al-Talwi ha t, Oeuvres Philosophiques et Mystiques, ed. by Henry Corbin, (Tehran-Paris, 1976), Tome I, pp. 70-[^74]: S adr a quotes Suhrawardi’s dream in the Asf a r, Vol. III, p. 376.

[^18] Asf a r, pp. 7-[^8]:

[^19] Quoted in S. J. A shtiy a ni, Sharh-i ha l wa a r a -yi falsafi-yi Mull a S adr a , p. [^243]:

[^20] The Development of Metaphysics in Persia, (London: Luzac, 1908) p. 175 where Iqbal says that ‘philosophy of S adr a is the source of the metaphysics of early Babiism’ without presenting any concrete evidence.

[^21] A Literary History of Perisa, Vol. IV, p. [^430]: Browne remains content with only quoting Iqbal on the issue.

[^22] Geshichte der Arabischen Litteratur (GAL), (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1938), II. Supplement, p. 588 where Brockelmann says that ‘... an seine [i.e., S adr a ’s] Metaphysik knupfte der Grunder der Saihisekte, Saih A. Ahs a’i , seine Lehre an, und auf dieser fusste wieder die Theosophie des Bab’.

[^23] Corbin, Le Livre des pénétrations métaphysiques (Teheran: Institut Francais d’Iranologie de Téhéran, 1982), p. [^20]:

[^24] See, Nasr, ‘The Qur’anic Commentaries of Mull a S adr a ’ in Being and Consciousness: Studies in Memory of Toshihiko Izutsu, ed. by S. J. Ashtiy a ni, H. Matsubara, T. Iwami, A. Matsumoto (Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten Publishers, 1998) reprinted in the revised edition of S adr al-Din Shir a zi and His Transcendent Theosophy (Tehran: Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, 1997), Chapter 7, pp. 123-135; L. Peerwani, “Quranic Hermeneutics: The Views of S adr al-Din Shir a zi” British Society for Middle East Studies Proceedings, 1991, pp. 468-477; Muhammad Hossein Khamanei, Principles of Interpretation and Quranic Hermeneutics According to Mull a S adr a (London: Islamic Studies Press, 1999). Muhsin Salih has completed a Ph.D. Thesis entitled The Verse of Light: A Study of Mull a S adr a ’s Philosophical Qur’an Exegesis, Temple University, [^1993]: In Arabic, the work of Muhammad Khw a jawi, who has edited and published all of S adr a ’s Qur’anic commentaries in 7 vols., is the most important source. His edition is titled Tafsir al-qur’ a n al-karim (Qum: Bidar Press, 1366-1369/1987-1990). See also his Law a mi’ al- a rifin fi ahw a l S adr al-muta’allihin (Tehran: A riy a n Press, 1366/1987).

[^25] For the manuscript references, see Kit a b shin a si-yi j a mi’-yi Mull a S adr a , N a hid B a qiri Khurram-dashti with F at imah ‘Asghari (Tehran: Buny a d-i Hikmat-i Isl a mi-yi S adr a , 1378/1999), pp. 29-[^34]:

[^26] Ibid., pp. 39-[^43]:

[^27] Ibid., pp. 43-[^47]:

[^28] Ibid., p. [^74]:

[^29] Ibid., pp. 77-[^81]:

[^30] Ibid., 76-[^77]:

[^31] Henry Corbin, Le Livre des pénétrations métaphysiques, p. [^38]:

[^32] Mirz a Abu’l-Hasan Jilwah is of this opinion. See Khurram-dashti, op. cit., p. [^87]:

[^33] Khurram-dashti, op. cit., pp. 89-[^96]:

[^34] Ibid., pp. 38-[^39]:

[^35] Ibid., pp. 35-[^37]:

[^36] Ibid., 53-[^56]:

[^37] Ibid., pp. 57-[^59]:

[^38] Ibid., pp. 51-[^53]:

[^39] Ibid., pp. 64-[^66]:

[^40] Ibid., p. [^72]:

[^41] Ibid., pp. 60-[^62]:

[^42] Ibid., pp. 69-[^71]:

[^43] Ibid., pp. 48-[^51]:

[^44] Ibid., p. [^99]: See also pp. 96-98 for references to other short hadith commentaries.

[^45] I s fah a ni, op. cit., p. [^22]: Both S adr a and Ghil a ni must have been Mir D a m a d’s students around the same time. In any case, there appears to be a close relationship between the two as S adr a has dedicated his Huduth al-‘ a lam to Mull a Shams a -yi Ghil a ni who had asked the foregoing five questions after a close examination of the Asf a r.

[^46] Khurram-dashti, op. cit., pp. 117-8; Nasr, op. cit., p. [^40]:

[^47] Nasr, op. cit., p. [^40]:

[^48] Khurram-dashti, op. cit., p. 134; Nasr, op. cit., p. [^49]:

[^49] Ibid., pp. 237-[^9]:

[^50] Isfahani, op. cit., p. [^30]:

[^51] Khurram-dashti, op. cit., pp. 253-[^7]:

[^52] Ibid., pp. 241-245; Nasr, op. cit., p. [^41]:

[^53] For a more detailed discussion of the contents of the Asf a r, see Nasr, op. cit., pp. 55-[^68]:

[^54] Corbin, op. cit., pp. 31-[^2]:

[^55] Khurram-dashti, op. cit., pp. 142-[^166]: See also pp. 166-176 for the manuscript information on the commentaries and glosses written upon the Asf a r.

[^56] Ibid., pp. 136-9; Nasr, op. cit., pp. 41-[^2]:

[^57] Ibid., pp. 124-[^7]:

[^58] Ibid., pp. 111-[^3]:

[^59] Ibid., pp. 114-6; Nasr, op. cit., p. [^42]:

[^60] Ibid., pp. 106-7; Nasr, op. cit., [^42]:

[^61] Ibid., p. [^301]:

[^62] I s fah a ni, op. cit, p. [^41]:

[^63] Khurram-dashti, op. cit., pp. 198-[^9]:

[^64] Ibid., pp.278-[^286]:

[^65] Nasr, op. cit., p. [^44]:

[^66] Khurram-dashti, op. cit., pp. 200-[^1]:

[^67] For Ahmad Ahs a’i and other commentators, see Henry Corbin, op. cit., pp. 47-[^52]:

[^68] Corbin’s edition and translation also contains a detailed survey on S adr a , the Mash a ’ir and its philosophical significance. See Corbin, op. cit., pp. 1-[^86]:

[^69] Khurram-dashti, op. cit., pp. 202-[^217]:

[^70] Ibid., pp. 291-[^2]:

[^71] Ibid., pp. 274-[^7]:

[^72] Ibid., pp. 177-[^8]:

[^73] For the glosses written upon S adr a ’s Sharh, see ibid., pp. 191-[^198]:

[^74] Ibid., pp. 180-[^191]:

[^75] Ibid., pp. 258-[^270]:

[^76] Ibid., pp. 104-[^5]:

[^77] Ibid., pp. 130-[^133]:

[^78] Ibid., pp. 298-[^9]:

[^79] Ibid., pp. 128-[^9]:

[^80] Ibid., pp. 229-[^232]:

[^81] Ibid., pp. 292-[^3]:

[^82] Sih a s l, ed. by S. H. Nasr, (Tehran: 1340 (A. H. Lunar); third edition, 1377 (A. H. Lunar)), pp. 117-[^134]:

[^83] Brockelmann, op. cit., p. [^589]:

[^84] Nasr, S adr al-Din Shir a zi and His Transcendent Theosophy., p. [^50]:

[^85] Nasr, op. cit., p. [^46]:

[^86] Brockelmann, op. cit., p. [^589]:

[^87] A shtiyani, Sharh-i ha l wa a r a -yi falsafi-yi Mull a S adr a , p. [^267]: For some other minor works attributed to S adr a , see Khurram-dashti, op. cit., pp. 319-331.

[^88] Brockelmann, op. cit., p. [^589]: