The Legacy of Henry Corbin: Charles J. Adams 1924-2011

"...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.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Charles J. Adams 1924-2011

Charles Adams, Emeritus Professor of Islamic Studies at McGill and for nearly 20 years the Director of the Institute of Islamic Studies there, died March 23 in Mesa, Arizona. A brief obituary can be found here. For further information regarding Professor Adams' career at McGill, an article from the May 29, 1997 McGill Reporter is available here. A biography by B. Todd Lawson can be found in Islamic Studies Presented to Charles J. Adams, ed. Wael B. Hallaq and Donald P. Little, (E.J. Brill, 1991).

Thanks to Hadi Fakhoury for passing on this news. Dr. Adams read the manuscript of my first book on Corbin. We had a brief correspondence, and I have have never forgotten his kindness, enthusiasm and encouragement.