Life
Shihāb al-Dīn Yaḥyā Suhrawardī (1154–1191) founded Ishraqi (Illuminationist) philosophy, combining Peripatetic method with a metaphysics of light indebted to Platonic and ancient Persian imagery. His Ḥikmat al-Ishrāq and shorter treatises were cut short by his early death in Aleppo. ORDL files him under Ishraq, distinct from but neighbouring Sufism.
The system
- Light as the structure of reality (Ishraq).
- Critique and reuse of Avicennan Peripatetic tools.
- Ancient “oriental” wisdom imagery—read historically, not as race myth.
Key works
- Ḥikmat al-Ishrāq (Philosophy of Illumination) Amazon
- Hayākil al-Nūr and other short treatises
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Where to start
- English Philosophy of Illumination (critical edition/translation)
- SEP entry on Illuminationism / Suhrawardi
Ask Orin
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What is “illumination” (ishraq) in Suhrawardi’s sense, and how does light structure knowledge?Ask Orin this question