Abstract

Bayazid Bastami, Abu al-Hasan Kharaqāni and ‘Alā al-Dowlah Semnāni are three distinguished Iranian mystics who lived in Ghomess Province. They have significant places in Islamic mysticism. A dominant concept in their works is the concept of Light, which is even observable in the titles of their works. Bayazid and Kharaqani named their works al-Noor and Noor al-Oloom respectively. Relying on the verse “God is the light of the skies and earth,” Islamic mystics paid special attention to the conception of light.  In their works, reaching to light, as a great goal, is considered a special place. This thought is close to the Khosravani doctrine presented under the title of Illuminationism, which is one of the most important Islamic philosophy doctrines.

Hakim Sohrevardi, as the founder of this doctrine, named Bayazid Bastami and Abu al-Hasan Kharaqani as the followers of Khosravani doctrine in his works. In fact, Illuminationism is the confluence point for mysticism and philosophy, so the role these mystics played in shaping of this doctrine should not be ignored. These great mystics are the link between Khosravani doctorine, as a pre-Islamic Iranian culture aspect, and Islamic era. These thoughts culminate in Illuminationism.  Considering the role of mysticism in the maintenance and expansion of Iranian thoughts, this article attempts to study the role of these three prominent mystics and to compare their thoughts with Khosravani doctorine in order to illustrate one of the influential aspects of these mystics’ lives in the development of Illuminationism.

Keywords

• Khosravāni Doctrine
• Illuminationism
• Shahāb al-Din Sohrevardī
• Bāyazīd Bastāmī
• Abu al-Hasan Kharaqani
• Alā al-dowlah Semnāni