Criticizing the Illuminators’ Genealogy

Abstract

Shaykh al-Ishraq in his work  “Al-Mashari' wa Al-Motarihat”,  considers himself in the possession of the spiritual heritage and the ancient command that have originated from  the sacred-eternal nature (primordial) and have continued to exist in the form of Oriental (Persian)  branch centered on intuition and contemplation and western (Greek) branch centered on discussion and demonstration and ultimately manifested in the mixed wisdom of Oriental sages and then came down to Suhrawardī. Earlier, some scholars on Suhrawardī studies proposed their understandings and interpretations of this allegorical and historical lineage in a way which in some aspects are not true. This article is seeking to present the critiques on the various readings of this lineage regarding the arrangement of its proper nouns and its mythological and historical figures such as Hermes, Qaṣṣāb Āmulī and Oriental sages of Persia.