In this Book
- Avicenna and the Visionary Recital: (Mythos Series)
- Book
- 2014
- Published by: Princeton University Press
- Series: Bollingen Series (General)
In this work a distinguished scholar of Islamic religion examines the mysticism and psychological thought of the great eleventh-century Persian philosopher and physician Avicenna (Ibn Sina), author of over a hundred works on theology, logic, medicine, and mathematics. Henry Corbin's discovery in an Istanbul library of the manuscript of a Persian translation of and commentary on Avicenna's Hayy ibn Yaqzan, written in Arabic, led him to an analysis of three of Avicenna's mystical "recitals." These form an initiatory cycle leading the adept along the path of spiritual progress. In Part I Corbin summarizes the great themes that show the philosophical situation of Avicennan man in the cosmos and presents translations of these three great Avicennan recitals. Part II is a complete translation, with notes, of the Persian commentary.
Originally published in 1960.
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Table of Contents
- Part I The Cycle of Avicennan Recitals
- II. Avicennism and Angelology
- pp. 46-122
- III. The Recital of Ḥayy Ibn Yaqẓān
- pp. 123-164
- IV. The Recital of the Bird
- pp. 165-203
- V. The Recital of Salāmān and Absāl
- pp. 204-241
- Epilogue; or, Avicennan Perspectives
- pp. 242-270
- 1. Prologue
- p. 282
- 2. The Encounter with the Angel
- pp. 283-288
- 3. The Salutation
- pp. 289-291
- 5. Physiognomy
- pp. 295-296
- 6. The Two Ways for the Soul
- pp. 297-298
- 7. The Soul's Three Evil Companions
- pp. 299-304
- 8. How to Treat the Three Companions
- pp. 305-307
- 9. The Conditions of the Journey
- pp. 308-318
- 10. The Orient and Occident of the Universe
- pp. 319-320
- 11. The Spring of Life
- pp. 321-323
- 12. The Darkness About the Pole
- pp. 324-326
- 13. The Occident of the World
- pp. 327-330
- 14. The Clime of Terrestrial Matter
- pp. 331-332
- 15. The Clime of Celestial Matter
- pp. 333-335
- 16. The Celestial Spheres
- pp. 336-342
- 18. The Kingdom of the Soul
- pp. 346-352
- 19. The Demons of the Soul
- pp. 353-354
- 20. The Genii of the Soul
- pp. 355-356
- 21. The Terrestrial Angels
- pp. 357-361
- 24. Those Who Emigrate Toward the Kingdom
- pp. 374-378
- 25. "If Thou Wilt, Follow Me"
- pp. 379-382
- List of Works Cited
- pp. 383-394