Ibn Sina’s Mystical Anthropology in The Risalat al-Tayr (A Treatise on Birds)

Orvati Movaffagh, Akbar; Asadi, Abu Al-Ghasem

doi:10.48308/jipt.2023.232424.1439

Ibn Sina’s Mystical Anthropology in The Risalat al-Tayr (A Treatise on Birds)

Document Type : Scientific-research

Authors

¹ Associate Professor, Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Humanities, Boali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran (corresponding author)

² Department of Theology, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

10.48308/jipt.2023.232424.1439

Abstract

The Risālat al-Ṭayr (A Treatise on Birds) is one of Ibn Sina’s three symbolic and allegorical treatises, which with Ḥayy ibn Yaqḍān and Salāmān va Absāl, states an intellectual and spiritual wayfaring by a symbolic language. In this treatise, Ibn Sina depicts the descent of the soul from the world of spirits to the terrestrial world and the ascent of human rational soul from the degree of corporeal attachments and being caught in the trap of worldly dependencies to the highest degree of spiritual perfection and the degree of Vision of God. In this paper, which has been written by a descriptive and analytical method, Ibn Sina’s view of human being and his spiritual capacities and capabilities has been studied according to The Risālat al-Ṭayr. In this treatise, from an anthropological perspective, Ibn Sina has stated the situation of the Wayfarer in a way that is very close to the temper of illuminative philosophers and the mystics. Thus, this treatise can be considered as one of the sources of the thoughts and views of the illuminative philosophers.

Keywords

References

Agha Bozorg Tehrani, Muhammad Muhsin. (1987). Al-Dhariʿa ila Taṣanif al-Shiʿa. Qom: Ismaʿiliyan and Islamic Library.

Al-Beyhaqi, Abu al-Hasan. (1972). Tatimmah Siwan Al-Hikma. Lahure: Punjab University.

Amin, Sayyid Muhsin. (1982). A‘yan al-Shi‘ah. Hassan Amin (ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Taʿaruf for publications.

Anawati, Georges C. (1950). Ibn Sina's Works. Cairo: Dar al-Maarif.

Ansari, Khwajih Abdullah. (1996). Manazil al-Saerin. Qom: Dar ’Ilm.

Arberi, A. J. (1979). Reason and Revelation in Islam. Hassan Javadi (trans.), Tehran, Amir Kabir. (In Persian)

Attar Neishaburri. (1994). Mantiq al-Tayr. Mohammad Javad Mashkoor (ed.). Tehran: Ilham.

Attar Neyshabouri. (2015). Mantiq al-Tayr. Mohammad Reza Shafiei Kadkani (ed.). Tehran: Sokhan.

Carra de Vaux, Bernard. (2004). Ibn Sina. Mahdi Muhaqqiq (trans.). Hamedan: Bu-Ali Sina University.

Corbin, Henry. (1990). Avicenna and the Visionary Recital. Willard R. Trask (trans.). Princeton: N.J.

Heydari Chenari, Yusuf. (2019). "Unique Anthropology in Ibn Sina's Philosophy and Mysticism". Theological Belief Researches, 3: 53-75, (In Persian)

Ibn Abi Usaibia. n.d. Uyun ul-Anbaʾ fi Ṭabaqat al-Aṭibba. Nizar Reza (ed.). Beirut: Dar Maktibat al-Hayat.

Ibn Faris. Mu‘jam Maqaʾis Al-Lugha. Qom: Maktab al-Tabligh al-Islami.

Ibn Khallikan. (1900). Wafiyat al-Aʿyan wa Anbaʾ Abnaʾ al-Zaman. Ihsan Abbas (ed.) Beirut: Dar Sader.

Ibn Sina. (1985). Al-Mantiq al-Mashreqiyin. Qom: Ayatollah Marashi Najafi Public Library .

Ibn Sina. (1991). Risalat Al-Tayr. Mohammad Hossein Akbari (ed.). Tehran, Al-Zahra.

Ibn Sina. (1996). Al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat. Qom: Nashr al-Balagha.

Ibn Sina. (1996). Al-Nafs min Kitab al-Shifa. Hassanzadeh Amoli (ed.). Qom: al-Islami Center.

Ibn Sina. (2000). Al-Najat. Mohammad Taqi Danesh Pazhuh (ed.). Tehran: University of Tehran.

Ibn Sina. (2007). Treatise on the Soul and Its Survival and Resurrections. Paris: Dar Biblion.

Ibn-Sahlan Sawi. (1991). Commentary on Risalat Al-Tayr. Mohammad Hossein Akbari (ed.). Tehran: Al-Zahra.

Jahangiri, Muhsin. (2018). Avicenna's Mysticism or Ibn Sina's View on Mysticism. Tehran: Hikmat. (In Persian)

Javadi Amoli, Abdullah. (1998). Principles of Ethics in the Qur'an. Qom: Isra. (In Persian)

Khorasani, Sharaf al-Din. (1998). "Avicenna". Great Islamic Encyclopedia, vol. 4. Tehran: Great Islamic Encyclopedia Foundation.

Mahdavi, Yahya. (1954). List of Copies of Avicenna's Works. Tehran: University of Tehran.

Nasr, Sayyid Hossein. (1980). The Opinion of Islamic Thinkers on Nature. Tehran: Khwarazmi. (In Persian)

Nasr, Sayyid Hossein. (2010). “The Eastern Wisdom of Avicenna”. History of Islamic Philosophy, vol.1. Sayyid Jalaleddin Mojtabaʾi (trans.). Tehran: Hikmat. (In Persian)

Nasr, Sayyid Hossein. (2014). Three Muslim Sages. Ahmad Aram (trans.). Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publications.

Nejati, Muhammad Othman. (2015). Psychology from the Point of View of Muslim Scholars. Saeed Beheshti (trans.). Tehran: Rushd. (In Persian)

Pournamdarian, Taqi. (2011). Code and Secret Stories in Persian Literature. Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publishing. (In Persian)

Pournamdarian, Taqi. (2014). Meeting with Simorgh (Poetry, Mysticism and Thoughts of Attar). Tehran: Research Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies. (In Persian)

Qifti, Ali ibn Yusuf. (1903). Tarikh al-Hukama. Leipzig: Julius Lippert.

Rahimpour, Furugh al-Sadat, & Afsaneh Lachinani. (2012). "The Manifestation of Avicenna's Philosophical Anthropology in His Allegorical-Mystical Treatises (Al-Tayr treatise, Salaman and Absal treatise, Hayy bin Yaqzan treatise)". History of Philosophy, 2: 69-106. (In Persian)

Sabzewari, Mulla Hadi. (2013). Asrar al-Hikam. Qom: Religious Press.

Sadeghi Hassanabadi, Majid, & Hadi Jafari. (2021). "A Reflection on the Virtues of Conduct in Ibn Sina's al-Tayr Treatise". Adyan va Irfan, 54: 153-169. (In Persian)

Sajjadi, Sayyid Jaʿfar. (1996). Description of Sohrawardi's Persian Letters. Tehran: Daftar Tablighat Islami. (In Persian)

Sattari, Jalal. (2017). A Collection of Essays on Myth and Code. Tehran: Tus Publications. (In Persian)

Shafiʿi Kadkani, Mohammad Reza. (2013). A Reflection on Attar’s Mantiq al-Tiyr. Tehran: Sukhan Publication.

Shahrzouri, Shams al-Din Muhammad. (2009). Nozhat al-Arwah wa Rowzat al-Afrah Tarikh al-Hukama. Maqsud Ali Tabrizi (trans.), Mohammad Taqi Daneshpazhuh & Mohammad Sarwar Mowlaʾi (eds.). Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publishing. (In Persian)

Suhrawardi, Shahabeddin. (1996).ʿAwarif al-Maʿarif. Abu Mansour ibn Abd al-Muʾmin Isfahani (trans.). Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publications. (In Persian)

Suhrawardi, Shahabeddin. (2001). Sheikh Ishraq's Collection of Works, vol. 3. Tehran: Research Institute of Humanities and Cultural Studies.

Taqi, Shokufeh. (2008). The Two Wings of Wisdom, Mysticism and Philosophy in Ibn Sina's Risalah Al-Tayr Treatise. Tehran: Publishing Center. (In Persian)

Zarrinkub, Abd al-Hossein. (2019). The Value of Sufiyya’s Heritage. Tehran: Amir Kabir. (In Persian)