Philosophy (Ḥikmat, Filsafa) is defined by the Muslims as “a knowledge of the true essence of things, as they really Divisions of Philosophy. are, so far as is possible to human capacity.” It is divided into two branches, the theoretical (naẓarí), and the practical ('amalí). The former comprises Mathematics (Riyáḍiyyát), Natural Science ('Ilmu'ṭ-Ṭabí'at), and Metaphysics (Má wará'ba'd or fawq aṭ-Ṭabí'at); the latter Ethics (Tahdhíbu'l-Akhláq), Economics (Tadbíru'l-Manzil), and Politics (Siyasatu'l-Mudun). The three best-known Persian treatises on Practical Philosophy, namely the Akhláq-i-Náṣirí, Akhláq-i-Jalálí, and Akhláq-i-Muḥsiní, * all belong to the period preceding that which we are now discussing, and I do not recollect any important Persian work on the subject which has appeared since. We may therefore confine our attention here to the first, or theoretical, branch of Philosophy, and in this section to Metaphysics, which on the one hand borders on Theology, and on the other on Science. It is generally Shí'a and Mu'tazila. admitted that a very close connection existed between the Shí'a and the Mu'tazila * in early 'Abbásid times, and it is well known that the latter were the most enlightened and philosophic of the theological schools of Islám, and that in particular they were the champions of Free Will against the rigid Determinism which subsequently triumphed, to the great detriment of the intellectual development of the Muhammadan world. Those sections of Shí'ite theological works which treat of the Nature and Attributes of God are, therefore, of a more philosophical character than is commonly the case in Sunní books of a similar type.
Muslim Philosophy, like Muslim Science, admittedly and
avowedly owes almost everything to the Greeks. Its develop-
Debt of Muslim
philosophers to
the Greeks.
ment from the middle of the eighth century
of the Christian era, when under the early
'Abbásid Caliphs the work of translating into
Arabic the works of the most eminent and celebrated Greek
thinkers began, down to the deadly blow inflicted on Islamic
civilization by the Mongol Invasion and the destruction of
Baghdád and the 'Abbásid Caliphate in the middle of the
thirteenth century, has been repeatedly traced by European
scholars. For a broad general view, characterizing the
chief exponents of the different schools of Islamic thought,
Dr T J de Boer's History of Philosophy in Islam, translated
into English by E. R. Jones, may be recommended to the
general reader. It will be observed that only one of the
thinkers mentioned in that book, Ibn Khaldún (b. A.D. 1332
at Tunis, d. A.D. 1406 at Cairo), flourished after the fall of
the 'Abbásid Caliphate, and he was a unique and isolated
phenomenon, “without forerunners and without successors.”
*
The question we have to answer here is, has Persia, which
Difficulty of
determining the
value of later
Persian philosophical systems.
in earlier times produced so large a proportion
of the so-called “Arabian Philosophers,”
*
produced
any metaphysician of note since the
beginning of the sixteenth century? To answer
this question one would need to combine with a competent
knowledge of Arabic and Persian a grasp of the history and
subject-matter not only of “Arabian” but of Greek Philosophy
(and, indeed, of Philosophy in general) to which I
cannot lay claim. This, indeed, constitutes the difficulty of
judging the value of the scientific literature of Islám. How
many of those who admire the Persian quatrains of 'Umar
Khayyám can follow M. Woepcke in the appreciation of his
Arabic algebraical treatises? A knowledge of Arabic does
not suffice to enable us to decide whether ar-Rází or Ibn
Síná (Avicenna) was the greater physician. Much valuable
work of this technical character has been done in Germany,
by Dr E. Wiedemann of Erlangen (Optics, Physics, etc.),
Dr Julius Hirschberg of Berlin (Ophthalmology), Dr Max
Simon (Anatomy), and others, but very much remains to
be done, and few scholars are competent to undertake it.
As regards Philosophy in Persia during the last three or
Six modern
Persian philosophers of repute.
four centuries, all one can say is that half a
dozen thinkers have established a great reputation
amongst their countrymen, but how far
this reputation is deserved is a question which has not
yet received a satisfactory answer. These thinkers are, in
chronological order, as follows: (1) Shaykh Bahá'u'd-Dín
al-'Ámilí (d. 1031/1622); (2) Mír Dámád (d. 1041/1631-2);
(3) Mullá Ṣadrá (d. 1050/1640-1); (4) Mullá Muḥsin-i-Fayḍ
(d. after 1091/1680); (5) Mullá 'Abdu'r-Razzáq al-Láhijí;
and, in quite modern times, (6) Ḥájji Mullá Hádí of Sab-
Now Muslim philosophers are of two sorts, those whose
philosophy is conditioned by and subordinated to revealed
Ḥikmat and
Kalám.
Religion, and those whose speculations are not
so limited. The former are the Mutakallimún or
Ahl-i-Kalám, the Schoolmen or Dialecticians;
*
the latter the Ḥukamá (pl. of Ḥakím) or Falásifa (pl. of
Faylasúf), the Philosophers proper. Of the six persons
mentioned above, Mullá Ṣadrá certainly and Ḥájji Mullá
Hádí possibly belong to the second class, but the four others
to the first. These four, however, if less important from the
point of view of Philosophy, were in other ways notable
men of letters. Biographies of all of them except Mullá
Hádí, who is too modern, are given in the Rawḍátu'l-
The first five were more or less contemporary, and are,
to a certain extent, interrelated. Shaykh Bahá'u'd-Dín and
Mír Dámád both enjoyed considerable influence and stood
in high favour at the court of Sháh 'Abbás the Great, yet
there was no jealousy between them, if we may believe the
pleasing anecdote about them and the Sháh related by Sir
John Malcolm.
*
Mullá Ṣadrá was the pupil of both of
them,
*
while Mullá Muḥsin-i-Fayḍ and Mullá 'Abdu'r-
Shaykh Bahá'u'd-Dín Muḥammad ibn Ḥusayn ibn 'Ab-
Shaykh-i-Bahá'í was born at Ba'labakk in Syria on Mu-