"...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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Thursday, January 19, 2017

Traversing The Imaginal Knowledge


“The Possibility of Traversing The Imaginal Knowledge- Remarks of Muhammad B. Abd Al-Jabbār Al-Niffarī on Vision (Ru’yah) and Absence (Ghaybah)” 

Koltaş, Nurullah,
Journal of Faculty of Theology of Bozok University, 
10, 10 (2016/10) pp. 165-183.

Abstract 

Among the various aspects those make the Sūfī world view unique, the lore or the knowledge attained through the purification of the self plays a vital role. For, it has its roots in Revelation. Despite the diversity in methods (usūl), many representatives of Sūfī thought are in agreement concerning the nature of this profound knowledge. The ways differ in accordance with the capacity of the ones who demand it. However, the authenticity of it enables seekers to lead a life akin to that of the Perfect Man. In order to gain this sort of inward knowledge, the sufīs appeal to the opinions of the masters of theoretical Sufism (irfān-i nazarī) who define the ways to understand the truth that lies behind the veils. One of these masters is Muhammad b. Abd al-Jabbār al-Niffarī, the writer of al-Mawaqif wa al-Mukhatabat. Niffarī’s work consists of mawqifs those written in an almost abstruse language. Niffarī explains many sufi terms including the staying, veil, gnosis, vision, etc. skilfully. In this article, we will try to explain the nature of veils and unveiling in the context of vision as a suprarational means of attaining the truth. Then we will try to find out the role of vision through imagination. Finally, we will try to explain the relation of vision with the absence. 

Keywords: Staying, vision, absence, gnosis, veil


Posted by Tom Cheetham at 8:57 AM

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