Transition from the Heroic Epic to the Mystical Epic: Some Considerations on the Political Aspects of Illuminationist Philosophy

Subject Areas : Political Developments in Iran

Ahmad Bostani ¹

1 - Assistant Professor of Political Science at Kharazmi University

Received: 2022-09-16 Accepted : 2022-11-11 Published : 2022-09-23

Keywords: Iranshahri Thought, Ferdowsi, Suhravardi, epic. Hikmat Eshraq,

Abstract :

This article examines Suhrawardi's understanding of Ferdowsi's Shahnameh. In Iranian intellectual history, Shahnameh has always reflected Persian identity and its historical continuity in the Islamic period. Various interpretations of this Persian epic's stories and characters have been presented in Persian literature, philosophy, and mysticism. One of these interpretive schools is the Illuminationist Doctrine (Hikmat Al-Ishraq) of Suhrawardi, which is presented explicitly in his Persian treatises. This article focuses on Suhrawardi's understanding of Shahnameh and its themes, trying to emphasize aspects of it that are related to the topics of political philosophy. Among contemporary scholars, Henry Corbin was the most important thinker who paid attention to the Illuminationist philosophy and its connection with Shahnameh. In this article, using some of Corbin's reflections on what he called "the transition from the heroic epic to the mystical epic," we try to examine the political aspects of this transition in the works of Suhrawardi and, more broadly, in the history of Islamic thought in Iran.