The twelfth-century Persian philosopher Suhrawardi was the key figure in the transition of Islamic philosophy from the neo-Aristotelianism of Avicenna to the mystically oriented Islamic philosophy of later centuries. Suhrawardi's "Illuminationist" philosophy was a vigorous reassertion of Neoplatonism at a time when Sufism was becoming a major presence in Islamic thought and society. This book traces the intellectual background of Suhrawardi's thought and of the Greek roots of non-Aristotelian philosophy in the Islamic world. Suhrawardi placed himself in an intellectual tradition that sprang from the "Ancients," the philosophical and mystical tradition of Hermes Trismegistus and his successors in both Greece and the Orient. The author argues that Suhrawardi typifies an approach to philosophy characteristic of Neoplatonism, in which Pythagoras is the key pre-Socratic, Plato is the central figure in the history of philosophy, Aristotle is respected but corrected by reference to Pythagoras and Plato, and philosophy is ultimately an eclectic revelation known symbolically by different nations. Mystical intuition is a key philosophical tool and symbolism is of particular importance. The Leaven of the Ancients provides a translation of Suhrawardi's famous dream, in which Aristotle reveals the epistemological foundations of Suhrawardi's Illuminationist system. The book also analyzes the role played by Suhrawardi and his approach to philosophy in turning Islamic civilization away from physical science toward a subtle mystical psychology, thus offering a new explanation for the decline of science in Islam.

Table of Contents:
Abbreviations Preface Note on Terminology References and Translations Acknowledgments Part 1 Suhrawardi as a Non-Peripatetic Chapter 1 The Problem of Suhrawardi and Illuminationism The Commentators Chapter 2 Suhrawardi's Life and Works From Maragha to Aleppo Suhrawardi's works Chapter 3 A Summary of the Illuminationist Philosophy The Style of Suhrawardi's Philosophizing Logic First Philosophy: Beings of Reason Physics: The Constituents of Body Knowledge by Presence Metaphysics and Rational Theology The Mystical: Imaginal World, Afterlife, Cycles, Reincarnation Chapter 4 Suhrawardi on the History of the Ancient Philosophy The "Ishraqi" School The Philosophical Genealogy The Greek Line in Suhrawardi's Philosophical Isnad Part 2 The Divine Philosophers Chapter 5 Empedocles: The Philosopher as Mystic and Magus The Empedocles of History Shahrazuri's Account of Empedocles The Empedoclean Tradition in Islam Empedocles in Suhrawardi's Works Love and Strife Suhrawardi as Mystic and Magus Chapter 6 Pythagoras: The Brotherhood of the Lovers of wisdom The Pythagoras of History and Legend The Commentaries on the Golden Verses and the Akousmata Other Information on Pythagoreanism: Lore, Numbers, and Symbols The Pythagoreanizing Neoplatonists and the Illuminationists What the Illuminationists Learned from Pythagoras Conclusion Chapter 7 The Divine Plato The Biography of Plato in Arabic Platonic Materials in Arabic Dialogue, Myth, and Allegory Islamic Writers on Platonism Why Did Suhrawardi Become a Platonist? Chapter 8 Aristotle and the Peripatetics The Historical Aristotle in the Islamic Tradition The Problem of Suhrawardi's "Old Aristotle" Suhrawardi's Critique of the Peripatetics Chapter 9 Plato versus Aristotle (i): The Critique of Peripatetic Logic Division and the Rejection of Essentialist Definition The Simplification of the Syllogism Propositional Logic Chapter 10 Plato versus Aristotle (ii): Platonic Epistemology The Problem of Vision Alexander of Aphrodisius on Vision Knowledge by Presence Epistemology and the Seventh Epistle of Plato Intuition as a Basis of Philosophy Suhrawardi's Platonism in Review Chapter 11 The Stoics: The Heirs of Plato's Esoteric Teachings The Problem: Mulla Sadra's Identification of Suhrawardi as a Stoic The Transmission of Stoic Ideas Illuminationism as Stoicism Suhrawardi's System and the History of Philosophy: Recapitulation Part 3 Aftermath Chapter 12 Politics, Plato's Seventh Epistle, and the Failure of Suhrawardi's Political Ambitions Chapter 13 The Philosophical Heritage of Suhrawardi The Transmission of his Books and Ideas Maragha to the School of Isfahan Mysticism and the Decline of Science in Islam The Problem of Consciousness and the Recurrence of Metaphysics Appendix I Henry Corbin and Suhrawardi Studies Appendix II Suhrawardi's Dream of Aristotle Notes Bibliography Index