Shahrzouri...

Shahrzouri, a commentator of Sohravardi’s Illuminative Wisdom, says that science is of two kinds: knowledge by spiritual taste ( dhouqi ) and discursive knowledge ( bahthy ). Knowledge by taste is the direct vision of immaterial realities, not through thinking, argument and definition, but through illuminative lights and God’s grace following purification; and this was the way of the sages before Aristotle.

This wisdom weakened and disappeared with the post-Aristotelian philosophers, since Aristotle engaged them with discussions and quarrels. In addition, other factors, particularly the desire for superiority, prevented them from paying attention to this kind of wisdom (2/5). Real wisdom is seeing and reaching the Upper World through ascending and connecting to archetypes of humanity through the archangel Gabriel.

This wisdom comes from the world of holiness for those who are deserving and enter this world. The illumination of holy lights envelops the wayfarer sage and makes him unaware of himself. This is the eternal holy wisdom which is the foundation of all of mankind’s genuine traditions of wisdom. Sohravardi claims that in a revelatory rapture he witnessed the world of light and luminous essences which was the very world that Plato, Zoroaster and Keykhosrov had witnessed.

Only through works of devotion, casting off of worldly attachments, and living a mystical and religious life can one achieve this wisdom. This disengagement from worldly charms must be cultivated to such an extent that one not only liberates himself from low appetites but also is easily able to escape from the bonds of his/her corporeal frame.

Sohravardi believed that Plato had this ability and maintained that the one who is not capable of escaping his/her body whenever he/she wishes does not deserve to be called a sage (1/113, 503). One must become similar to the world of lights and spirits in order to be able to witness them. The material world is the realm of darkness, and real knowledge is not found there. Therefore, in order to seek knowledge one must leave this world and migrate to the world of lights.

These realities can be known only by inner senses, and these senses are only enlivened when one turns away from this world. When one does this, one witnesses the Divine lights and embarks on a journey which has no end. Sohravardi gives five practical suggestions for the wayfarer on this journey: (1. fasting and experiencing hunger, for all calamity is from overeating; (2.