"...the Imagination (or love, or sympathy, or any other sentiment) induces knowledge, and knowledge of an 'object' which is proper to it..."
Henry Corbin (1903-1978) was a scholar, philosopher and theologian. He was a champion of the transformative power of the Imagination and of the transcendent reality of the individual in a world threatened by totalitarianisms of all kinds. One of the 20th century’s most prolific scholars of Islamic mysticism, Corbin was Professor of Islam & Islamic Philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris and at the University of Teheran. He was a major figure at the Eranos Conferences in Switzerland. He introduced the concept of the mundus imaginalis into contemporary thought. His work has provided a foundation for archetypal psychology as developed by James Hillman and influenced countless poets and artists worldwide. But Corbin’s central project was to provide a framework for understanding the unity of the religions of the Book: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. His great work Alone with the Alone: Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi is a classic initiatory text of visionary spirituality that transcends the tragic divisions among the three great monotheisms. Corbin’s life was devoted to the struggle to free the religious imagination from fundamentalisms of every kind. His work marks a watershed in our understanding of the religions of the West and makes a profound contribution to the study of the place of the imagination in human life.
How Iranian luminary Allameh Tabataba'i inspired French Orientalist Henry Corbin
By Humaira Ahad
Allameh Mohammad Hossein Tabataba'i is widely regarded as one of the modern era's most celebrated and revered Islamic mystics and philosophers, a luminary whose intellectual brilliance has inspired generations.
Many regard him as one of the greatest Muslim figures to emerge from Iran in the last century, a true embodiment of wisdom and spiritual depth.
Allameh Tabataba'i was born in 1903 in Tabriz, a city in western Iran, into a family of sayyids — descendants of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The family had already produced over 14 generations of notable theologians and thinkers.
Allameh Tabataba'i authored more than 40 books, all masterpieces of intellectual thought. However, his crowning achievement is “Tafsir al-Mizan”, a twenty-volume commentary of the Holy Quran written in Arabic. The commentary has been described by many as a divinely inspired work.
“Allameh Tabataba'i was one of the exceptional wonders of our seminaries in the last century. A combination of qualities such as knowledge, piety, morality, literary talent and artistry, and sincerity and friendship was what formed the personality of this great man,” Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei said at the International Congress in Honor of Allameh Tabataba'i in 2023.
Ayatollah Khamenei highlighted the wide scope of Allameh Tabataba'i's profound knowledge and spiritual wisdom, which put him in a different league.
“He was an expert in the principles of jurisprudence. He was a philosopher. And he had a deep understanding of theoretical mysticism. He was a scholar in astronomy and mathematics. He was an outstanding scholar in the interpretation of the Quran and the Quranic sciences. He was a skilled poet. He was also skilled and active in the science of genealogy.”
The celebrated Iranian polymath’s work was unavailable to Western readers till French metaphysical philosopher and Iranologist Henry Corbin introduced Allameh Tabataba'i to Western audiences through his work on Shia spiritual teachings.
Allameh Tabataba'i’s meetings with Henry Corbin
Corbin, a luminary in his own right, was deeply influenced by Allameh Tabataba'i’s works and made no secret of it. He even met Allameh to discuss the spiritual aspects of Islam and Shiism.
“Allameh Mohammad Hossein Tabataba'i, the great professor of traditional philosophy of theology and mysticism from Qom, was the central figure of our meetings,” writes Corbin in his magnum opus “En Islam Iranien” (Islam in Iran), published in 1971.
Tabataba'i led a bi-weekly study circle in Tehran, in which Corbin, who was then a professor of Islam and Islamic Philosophy at the Sorbonne University in Paris and also at the University of Tehran, participated alongside a group of Iranian intellectuals.
Other notable figures who participated in these meetings included Ayatollah Murtaza Motahhari, Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, Sayed Hadi Khosrowshahi, and Sayed Hussain Nasr, among others.
Those in attendance recall Corbin sitting next to Allameh Tabataba'i in complete humility and respect.
“He was like a polite student, asking his questions to Allameh Tabataba'i,” Sayed Hadi Khusrowshahi, an Islamic scholar and former Iranian ambassador to the Vatican, wrote in his book on Allameh Tabatabai.
Corbin would be in Iran every autumn, eager to meet Allameh Tabataba'i. The meetings mainly revolved around philosophical, theological, and mystical issues.
In the initial meetings, they discussed the ideological foundations and teachings of Shiism. The conversations were later published in Allameh Tabataba'i's book, “A Shi’ite Anthology.”
“Allameh was a great man. In the field of philosophy and Qur'anic interpretation, he was a leading authority. His expertise could be found in the discussions between him and Corbin," Dr. Nasr, professor of Islamic studies at George Washington University, writes about these meetings.
"In September, Corbin would come to Iran. He would discuss the current philosophical and theological issues of that time. The issues were raised in the form of questions to Allameh Tabataba'i, and he provided answers.”
Dr. Gholam Hossein Ebrahim Dinani, professor emeritus at Tehran University and one of Allameh Tabataba'i’s students who would accompany him from Qom to Tehran, says these meetings provided a platform to Corbin for the exchange of opinions about the spiritual possibilities of man.
“The decision to meet Allameh Tabataba'i was Corbin’s personal choice. He believed that the materialistic philosophies of the Western religion and the harsh Western tendencies have made life difficult for man and separated him from his spiritual roots," Dr Karim Mojtahedi, an Iranian philosopher was quoted as saying in an interview.
"Corbin was exploring a way into the East. His search finished after meeting Allameh Tabataba'i, as the Iranian cleric represented an original spiritual figure."
Corbin’s association with Allameh Tabataba'i reinforced his belief that “Islamic Iran has been the country par excellence of the greatest philosophers and mystics of Islam.”
“The French scholar’s meetings with Allameh Tabataba'i showed that not only did Iranian Islamic philosophies not end after Ibn Rushd, but spiritually and mystically Islam has an extraordinary flourishing culture and Iran is a clear example of it,” Mojtahedi added.
Allameh Tabataba'i and his position, according to Corbin, were inseparable from the entire tradition of Iranian spiritual culture. Corbin regarded him as a living example of the spirituality of the East.
For Corbin, the spirituality propagated by Allameh Tabataba'i was the essence of the soul of man, and regardless of the East and the West, it held the power to bring real spiritual joy.
Through his conversations with Corbin, Dr. Mojtahedi found that the Western philosopher was in search of man’s destiny. He was looking for a philosophy that would help man gradually become more and more familiar with the possibilities of his perfection, ensuring the development of his spirituality.
Corbin’s quest ended after his encounter with the great Iranian scholar and philosopher.
Following his meetings with Allameh Tabataba'i, the French professor’s writings provided an opportunity for the West to delve into the "Iranian-Islamic" intellectual traditions.
According to Corbin’s “Islam in the Land of Iran, Philosophical and Mystical Perspectives", the spread of Shiism based on the wisdom of the prophets, generation after generation caused the emergence of very original and brilliant thinkers who were experts in various fields.
Allameh Tabataba'i (L) and Henry Corbin (R)
Islam and Iran – Allameh Tabataba'i’s Influence on Corbin
After a lifetime of research and exploration of the philosophy and mysticism of Shia Islam, Corbin believed that “the Persian world was clothed in symbolic meaning.”
“Persia was the country of Zoroaster, Sohravardi, Ruzbehan, and Ḥafeẓ, a world both intermediate and mediating . . . not merely a nation or even an empire, but an entire spiritual universe, an arena for the history of religions,” he wrote.
Dr. Dinani says Corbin saw the world on the slope of material degradation and bereft of spirituality. He was worried and therefore started his journey to find the light of spirituality.
“Iran has been the country par excellence of the greatest philosophers and mystics of Islam,” Corbin wrote in his “En Islam Iranien”.
Guided by his conversations with Allameh Tabataba'i, Corbin became the first orientalist to deal seriously with the tradition of Shiʿite gnosis.
He believed “finally, in eschatological terms, Persia was a land of expectation, where during the great occultation (gaybat-e kobra) the hidden Imam prepares for the hour of his reappearance.”
Recalling an incident, Seyyed Abdul Baqi Tabataba'i, Allameh's Tabataba'i’s son, noted, “One day father turned to us and said with a special cheerfulness, this professor (Henry Corbin) has become a believer in Islam but the circumstances do not permit him to express it officially and publicly.”
Numerous Islamic studies experts are of the view that Corbin’s conversations with Allameh Tabataba'i made him aware of the teachings and spirituality of Islam, creating a transformation in his soul.
“He had developed a personal and very deep attachment to the twelfth Imam and other Shiite imams in such a way that his love for the Shiite imams was incredible. It seemed he was a very pious Shiite,” Prof. Nasr writes about Corbin.
“Allameh Tabataba'i's hosting of Corbin and creating a two-way dialogue between the two philosophers proved once again that the inner potentials of Shiism can have a comprehensive and complete plan for the modern man covering the path of natural evolution of life,” Sayed Murtaza Hafizi, a researcher at the Middle East Center for Scientific Research and Strategic Studies notes about these meetings.
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Iranian documentary "Orientalist" in historical-philosophical genre goes to Japan / knowing Iranian-Shia wisdom
The film, "Orientalist" with the English title of "The Seeker of Orient", is the story of life and times of the famous French thinker and philosopher of the 20th century, Henry Corbin. According to Pars Today, this documentary, made by Masood Taheri is going to have its first screening abroad on June 29 at Meiji Institute of Philosophy in Tokyo. Ehsan Shariati and Bahman Zakipoor are two Iranian professors in Japan who will attend the ceremony at Izomi Campus of Meiji University.
AhlulBayt News Agency: The Iranian documentary, "Orientalist" by "Masood Taheri" will be screened in Tokyo.
The film, "Orientalist" with the English title of "The Seeker of Orient", is the story of life and times of the famous French thinker and philosopher of the 20th century, Henry Corbin. According to Pars Today, this documentary, made by Masood Taheri is going to have its first screening abroad on June 29 at Meiji Institute of Philosophy in Tokyo. Ehsan Shariati and Bahman Zakipoor are two Iranian professors in Japan who will attend the ceremony at Izomi Campus of Meiji University.
The 110-minute documentary film, "Orientalist" was made in 2009 and was unveiled in February the same year. But, a few days after unveiling, it faced with the Corona virus epidemic which caused all cinemas and theaters to close. Now, after 5 years, a scientific ceremony will be held at Meiji Institute of Philosophy under the title, "Islam, Corbin and Heidegger". Ehsan Shariati, who had attended the first screening of the film in Iran's National Library, is going to deliver a speech in the ceremony.
Orientalist has been filmed in Iran, France, the US, Turkey and Switzerland.
Professors such as Herman Lindau, Christian Jambet, Pierre Lorie, Mohammad Ali Amir Moezzi, Ian Richard, Karim Mojtahedi, Gholamhossein Ebrahimi Dinani, Enshallah Rahmati, Bahman Zakipoor, Hassan Seyyed Arab and Alireza Saati will attend this ceremony.
Who was Henry Corbin?
Henry Corbin was a French philosopher, Iranolog and experts of Shia school of thought. He has been called the most outstanding Western philosopher specialized in Iranian spiritual wisdom and philosophy of Shia.
Corbin had a great impact in the West in introducing Shia school of Islam and he was the one who drew the attention of orientalist studies from Sunni Islam to Shia Islam. His book, "Iranian Islam" has been known as his most important and detailed book. The book is about the development of philosophical and spiritual thoughts in Iran with a focus on clarification of the special role of Iranians in presenting a Shia and inward commentary of Islam.
Henry Corbin started his studies with European and Christian philosophies. But, upon acquaintance with Illuminist philosophy was interested in the Islamic philosophy, particularly Shia philosophy in Iran. Corbin taught in Tehran University for 20 years, part of which he even lived in Iran to broaden his studies on the field. During the period, he became familiar with Muslim thinkers, especially the great exegete of the noble Qur'an, Allameh Mohammad Hossein Tabatabaei.
Corbin conducted several interviews with Allameh Tabatabaei in 1959-1960 on the ideology, teachings and history of Shia school of thought. He believed that thinkers and orientalists used to attain information on Islam mainly through Sunni scholars and sources; hence, the reality of Shiism had not been introduced to the West as it deserved.
This French thinker said, "Contrary to what the orientalists maintain, in my opinion, true and genuine Shiism stands upright and has the specifications of a true school of thought, unlike what has been introduced to the West. What I have achieved after scientific research, is that one should look at the spiritual realities of Islam through Shia window which deal with this religion realistically. Thus, I have tried to introduce this sect to the West as its reality deserves."
Allameh Tabatabaei in his second meeting with Corbin wrote, "In this meeting, Corbin stated that Shia sect is the only sect which has preserved the relation of divine guidance between God and people forever and constantly keeps Wilayah alive and lasting."
Corbin said, "When I was in Europe, I presented a lecture in Geneva on Imam Mahdi, the 12th Imam of Shias. This issue was quite novel for the European thinkers who had attended the session!"
He added, "I believe that all religions pursue a reality, but Shiism is the only sect which has perpetuated this reality and made it continuous while maintaining that this feature remains among the human world."
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Henry Corbin on the right, Allameh Tabatabaei on the left
Phenomenology and Historicism in the Study of Islamic Philosophy: The Significance of Corbin’s Approach
Zane Leach
Bachelor Global & Comparative Philosophy
Abstract:This essay concerns the significance of Henry Corbin’s methodology for the ‘Western’ study of Islamic philosophy and its relevance for the revival of traditional metaphysics in postmodernity. This methodology established itself as an alternative to the traditional scholastic and modern colonial approaches to the study of Islamic philosophy. Under the influence of Heidegger, Corbin developed a methodology wherein the inadequacies of modern historicism could be consummated into a reassessment of traditional metaphysics. The aim of this essay is to articulate the foundations and demonstrate the justifiability of Corbin’s approach. This is done for the purpose of elucidating how the metaphysics of Corbin and the Islamic Platonism from which he draws can contribute to the revitalization of contemporary Western philosophy. This essay thus constitutes an exploration of the problem of returning to traditional metaphysics through phenomenological hermeneutics and a corresponding mysticism.
Psychedelic painter Jarvis Brookfield likes to delve deep into our psyches with his groundbreaking work; his latest exhibition is no exception. As he highlighted in our exclusive interview a while back, Jarvis's art is a celebration of the boundless nature of the imagination.
His new collection draws inspiration from Henry Corbin's essay The Mundus Imaginalis and delves into the concept of a "place of images in suspense," which exists between spiritual realms and the sensory world: a 'place' that's as ontologically real as the world we perceive.
As some of you may have noticed, I no longer post here with any regularity. My focus now is offering online classes. Sometimes I remember to post classes on my website tomcheetham.com, but your best way of seeing what is going on in my writing and teaching worlds is to subscribe to my email Newsletter. To get on the mailing list, please just email me, or go to my website and sign up there.
TEHRAN – Iranian director Masud Taheri’s documentary “The Orientalist” about French philosopher, theologian and orientalist Henry Corbin, will premiere at Eyvan Shams Hall in Tehran on Monday.
Produced by the Documentary and Experimental Film Center, the film is a sequel to Taheri’s 2017 documentary “The Eastern” about Japanese expert on Islam Toshihiko Izutsu.
Moreover, “The Orientalist” will be reviewed during a session at the National Library and Archives of Iran on Tuesday.
Scholars Enshallah Rahmati, Ehsan Shariati and Reza Kuhkan are scheduled to deliver speeches during the session.
Corbin (1903-1978) was a philosopher, theologian, Iranologist and professor of Islamic Studies at the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. He was the author of “En Islam Iranien” (Islam in Iran).
Photo: A poster for Iranian director Masud Taheri’s documentary “The Orientalist” about French scholar Henry Corbin.
This Splinters of a Careless Alphabet A staged reading of a new play by Roxanne Varzi
Sunday, November 10 2:00pm Winifred Smith Hall University of California, Irvine
On the eve of a major protest what can French philosophy possibly have to do with the Iranian Revolution?
The setting is a chance encounter on a snowy Tehran night between an Iranian student and a French philosopher. Ali, a newlywed graduate student at Tehran University goes to return a book at the University and ends up in the office of French philosopher Henri Corbin. Unable to pass up on the opportunity to speak with Corbin, Ali spends the evening discussing Mystical Islam while his new wife, Leili is out protesting. He hears gunshots and runs out into the crowd to look for her.
We regard the 1979 Iranian Revolution as an Islamic movement, few know that a French philosopher may have had an influence on the Revolution. Splinters of a Careless Alphabet brings philosophy, history and religion to life through three students and a prominent Western philosopher on the eve of the Iranian Revolution when they are forced to come to terms with the choices they made that night and the resulting effects on their faith, relationships and ultimately the future of the country.
Splinters of a Careless Alphabet has been read at the American Anthropological Association’s Visual Anthropology Festival in San Jose in 2018, at University of California Irvine’s graduate student Anthropology in Transit and at The Hopscotch Reading Room in Berlin, Germany. This is the first staged reading and will follow a workshop of the play by professional actors under the direction of Elina Dos Santos, Co-Artistic Director of the Rogue Machine Theatre, and Resident Director of the Pacific Resident Theatre, both in Los Angeles, CA. Roxanne Varzi is a writer, artist, filmmaker and professor of Anthropology at University of California, Irvine. She was born in Iran to an American mother and Iranian father and migrated to the U.S shortly after the Iranian Revolution in 1979.
Daniel Gastambide, président de l'AAHSC Marc Gastambide, trésorier Pierre Lory, secrétaire général
- 9h30-10h30 André VAUCHEZ (Académie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres),«La militia Christi dans la spiritualité de l’Occident médiéval (XIIe-XIIIe siècles)» -10h30-11h30 Christian JAMBET (EPHE), « Le Jihâd majeur selon Mullâ Sadrâ »
-11h30-12h30 Martin AURELL (Universitéde Poitiers), « Contester la croisade au nom de l’Évangile aux XIIeet XIIIe siècles »
14h15-15h00 Daniel PROULX « Recherches historiques autour de la notion de combat chez Henry Corbin »
15h00-16h00 Sepideh PARSAPAJOUH (CNRS), « La passion des martyrs de guerre en Iran chiite contemporain - Un regard anthropologique »
16h00-17h00 Kabira NAÏT RAÏSS (UC Louvain) : « Frontière militaire et eschatologie chez les premiers ascètes combattants de l’islam » Samedi 30 novembre 2019de 9h30 à 17h30 à l’amphithéâtre de l’INHA, 2 rue Vivienne, 75002 Paris
by Wouter Hanegraaff (Editor), Peter Forshaw (Editor), Marco Pasi (Editor)
Few fields of academic research are surrounded by so many misunderstandings and misconceptions as the study of Western esotericism. For twenty years now, the Centre for History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents (University of Amsterdam) has been at the forefront of international scholarship in this domain. This anniversary volume seeks to make the modern study of Western esotericism more widely known beyond specialist circles, while addressing a range of misconceptions, biases, and prejudices that still tend to surround it. Thirty-one major scholars in the field respond to questions about a wide range of unfamiliar ideas, traditions, practices, problems, and personalities that are central to the field. By challenging many taken-for-granted assumptions about religion, science, philosophy, and the arts, this volume demonstrates why the modern study of esotericism leads us to reconsider much that we thought we knew about the story of Western culture.
De los cinco libros que Tom Cheetham ha consagrado a la obra del gran islamólogo francés Henry Corbin (1903-1978), es este volumen el que dedica mayor extensión y profundidad a descifrar el término árabe ta?wil, que conforma en sí mismo el concepto más importante de todo el corpus corbiniano. Ta?wil es la interpretación espiritual del sentido interior del Corán, que debe distinguirse de su lectura literal para convertirse en la tarea esencial de cualquier búsqueda espiritual. Tras ofrecer una visión general de la vida y obra de Corbin, que tanto amplió el contexto hermenéutico de las religiones, la espiritualidad contemporánea y la teoría y práctica del arte, especialmente de la poesía, Cheetham nos va desvelando el concepto ismailí de la gnosis del tiempo cíclico y ciertos relatos visionarios de Avicena, para explicar el sentido interior e integral de la Palabra en los textos sagrados e introducirnos en la hermenéutica del retorno al sentido original. Pero la idea central de este ensayo es la Imaginación, con mayúsculas, como potencia espiritual. El autor intenta clarificar las diferencias entre las perspectivas de Corbin, Jung y Hillman sobre su naturaleza. Algo que «no es un ejercicio meramente erudito», dice Cheetham, «desde el momento en que constatamos el papel esencial que juega en el gran esquema de las cosas, cómo influye decisivamente en lo que cada cual imagina y cómo uno responde a las demandas que crea la propia Imaginación». Tom Cheetham, además de sus cinco libros sobre las implicaciones de la obra de Henry Corbin en el mundo contemporáneo, ha escrito un volumen de poemas. Es miembro de la Academia Temenos ?fundada por Kathleen Raine y dedicada al fomento de las artes de la Imaginación? y profesor adjunto de la Universidad del Atlántico en Bar Harbor, Maine.
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