An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, Volume 1

529 Pages·2010·2.6 MB·English

An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia

An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia
volume i
From Zoroaster to ʿUmar Khayyām
seyyed hossein nasr with mehdi aminrazavi
with the assistance of
m. r. jozi
I.B.Tauris Publishers
london • new york
in association with
The Institute of Ismaili Studies
london
Published in 2008 by I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd
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175 Fifth Avenue, New York ny 10010
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www.iis.ac.uk

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First published in 1999 by Oxford University Press
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isbn 978 1 84511 541 8
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v
vi An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia
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(cid:350)
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Although my heart made much haste in this desert,
Although my heart made much haste in this desert,
It did not know a single hair, but took to hair-splitting.
It did not know a single hair, but took to hair-splitting.
In my heart shone a thousand suns,
InY emt ity n ehveera dristc osvheroedn ceo map tlehteolyu thsea nnadtu rse uofn as s,ingle atom
Yet it never discovered completely the nature of a single atom.
Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna)
Ibn Sīnā (Avicenna)

Contents
Preface M. Aminrazavi xiii
List of Reprinted Works xvii
Note on Transliteration xix
List of Contributors xxi
Prolegomenon S. H. Nasr 1
part i. early persian philosophy: zoroastrian thought
Introduction M. Aminrazavi 13
1. The Original Creation (from Bundahišn) 16
2. Greater Bundahišn 27
3. The Answers of Manūskihar (from Dādistān-i Dīnīk) 35
4. Opinions of the Spirit of Wisdom (from Dīnā-i Maīnog-i Khirad) 44
5. Selected Readings 53
6. Exegesis of the Good Religion (from Dēnkard VI) 88
part ii. early persian philosophy: manichaeism
Introduction M. Aminrazavi 105
7. Central Principles (from the Kephalaia) 108
part iii. early islamic philosophy: the peripatetics
Introduction S. H. Nasr 127
8. Abu’l-ʿAbbās Muḥammad Īrānshahrī 130
Introduction M. Aminrazavi 130