"...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.

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Sunday, February 14, 2010

Corbin on Mulla Sadra (in French)

"La Place de Mollâ Sadrâ Shîrâzî (OB. 1050/1640) dans la philosophie iranienne," by Henry Corbin. Studia Islamica, No. 18 (1963), pp. 81-113. (On Mulla Sadra see The Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute and the entry in the Stanford Encyclopedia.)

Photo: Nasir-al-Molk Mosque, Shiraz. Brian McMorrow 
"La Place de Mulla Sadra" - Henry Corbin (1963)

1 comment:

  1. Il est très important de noter dans ce texte qu'il y a un extrait de la biographie spirituelle de Corbin et tous les corbinistes savent à quel point ces extraits sont rares. Corbin dit « et c'est pourquoi j'ai gardé l'impression que Sohrawardî m'avait pour ainsi dire conduit par la main, là où j'avais à trouver ma “demeure spirituelle” » p.82.

    Un jour, pour faire une biographie spirituelle de Corbin, il y aurait à relever tous ces passages. Comme celui de la p.98-99 de l'Iran et la philosophie, Fayard, 1990 où Corbin raconte comment s’est opérer la transmission du manuscrit de Sohravardî qu'il reçu de Massignon.
    -----------------------------------------
    It is very importent to note that in this text there is an extract of the spiritual biography of Corbin and all the « corbinistes » know are these citations are rares. Corbin said : « et c'est pourquoi j'ai gardé l'impression de Sohrawardî m'avait pour ainsi dire conduit par la main, là où j'avais à trouver ma “demeure spirituelle” » p.82.

    One day, to write the spiritual biography of Corbin, there would have to collect all these passages. Like when Corbin telling how he receive de manuscript of Sohravardî from Massignon in l’Iran et la philosophie, Fayard, 1990 p.98-99

    Daniel Proulx, Montréal, Canada.
    daniel.proulx2@gmail.com

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