Suhrawardi
The 'shaykh of illumination' who rebuilt philosophy around light and intuitive knowledge — and was executed at 37 for the trouble.
Core ideas
- Reality is graded light; darkness is mere absence
- Knowledge by presence (direct intuition) outranks definition
- Persian and Greek wisdom are one tradition, reunited
Historical context
Wrote in Aleppo under Saladin's circle; the jurists' charge of heterodox philosophy ended a career that redefined Persian philosophy.
Key works
The Philosophy of Illumination
Questions they speak to
Minds in conversation
- Ibn Sina (Avicenna)Bukhara → Isfahan
- Al-GhazaliTus, Persia
- RumiBalkh → Konya
Sources
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Suhrawardi