Histoire de la Philosophie Islamique (review)

166 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY wishes to pursue the problem further. In addition, though he is addressing a Catholic audience, his language is not marked by peculiarly scholastic terminology which might hinder the non-scholastic reader from appreciating his arguments. For a philosopher or neophyte not familiar with medieval philosophy and this debate, Pegis' volume provides a sound and insightful presentation which will justify the reader's thoughtful attention. EDWAaDW. WAaREN San Diego S~ate College Histoire de la Philosophis Islamique. Par Henri Corbin, avec la collaboration de Seyyed Hossein Nasr et Osman Yahya. Vol. I :Des origines jusqu'~ la mort d'Averro~s (1198). (Paris: Gallimard, Collection Idles, 1964. Pp. 383.) The present volume is the first of a series of three, on Islamic philosophy, designed for the professional Islamist as well as for the philosopher (p. 9). The term "philosophy" here refers to thought as it has developed in Islam in the various branches which we would distinguish as Aristotelian and Neoplatonic philosophy, as theology, mysticism, and gnosis. It contains, consequently,much more than what has traditionally been understood by "Arabic" philosophy as the heritage which the Arabs took over from the Greek philosophical tradition, which they developed in a certain adaptation to Islam, and which they later passed on to the Latin West. Instead of taking this classical view, Professor Corbin's aim is to show how much original "philosophical" thought has been elaborated in the Islamic world besides what is traditionally indicated by the term "philosophy." "Islamic" philosophy conveys better than "Arabic" philosophy the world of thought pertaining to "l'oecum~nicit~ spirituelle du concept Islam" (p. 6). Volume I covers the period 595-1198 A.D. We find here first the rational theology of Sunn~ Kaldm (Chap. III), as represented by the Mu~ al-Ash~ (873-935), and the later Ashoarites. Second we find the rational philosophy of the Fal~sifa (Chap. V), the Hellenizingphilosophers: al-Kind! (796-873), al-F~r~bi (872-950), al-~aniri (d. 991), Ibn Sin~, (Avicenna, c. 980-1037) and Avicennism, Abf~Hfimid Muhammad al-Ghaz~li (1059-1111) and some others. The Andalusian philosophers are put together separately (Chap. VIII): Ibn Masarra (883-931), Ibn Hazm (994-1063), Ibn B~jja (Avempace, d. 1138), Ibn al Sid (1052-1127), Ibn Tufayl (Abubaeer, d. 1185), Ibn Rushd (Averroes , 1126-1198) and Averroism. Third, Philosophy and Sciences of Nature are presented in Chapter V. This deals, on the one hand, with selected topics like Hermetism, Alchemy (esp. J~bir ibn Hayy~n, d. 804), the Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity (10th c.), and Philosophy of Language (Schools of Basra and K~fa in the 9th c., jafr as the science of letters). On the other hand, some major intellectual figures are treated, such as Muhammad ibn ZakarIya al l~zi (864-932), al-Birfini (9731030 ), Ibn al-Haytham (d. 1038), and some others. Fourthly, S~fism finds its place in Chapter VI, treating al-Bast~mi (9th c.), Junayd (d. 909), al-Tirmidhi (9th c.), al-Hall~j (857-922), Ahmad al-Ghaz~li (d. 1126), and some other mystics of put amour. All these branches of thought have been known in their main outlines, and of importance is that the chapters summarize the present state of our knowledge; in the case of Nature and Sfifi Philosophy, concrete relationships with Shi~ thought are indicated. It is, then, that part of the book dealing with Prophetic Philosophy, which constitutes the invaluable contribution of Corbin's own research to our knowledge of gnosis in Islam. This subject is treated, after a fundamental Introduction (Chap. I), in Chapter II, Le sh~isme el la philosophic proph $tique, which occupies nearly one third of the book. Chapter VII, Sohraward~ et la philosophic de la lumi~re, presents the continuation of this line of thought in Islam. In the Introduction Corbin deals with l'ex$g~se spiriluelle du Qordn. The problem, as it presents itself to the faithful, is how to reach the essential truth, haq~qa,~when he reads and Following Corbin's use, in the transliteration of Arabic terms no diacritical marks have been used. BOOK REVIEWS 167 interprets the Qur~ This...