Mir Damad, Muhammad Baqir (d. 1631)

Mir Damad is primarily a gnostic philosopher, arguing that the activity of the mind makes possible the experience of spiritual visions, while visionary experience gives rise to rational thought. He brings together a variety of different traditions in Islamic philosophy, incorporating both the sort of philosophy advocated by Aristotle and its later development by the Neoplatonists, and combining them with the mystical views of Islamic thinkers. The principles of his thought are the backbone of the celebrated ‘School of Isfahan’, which developed this rich mixture of philosophical traditions even further. His approach to the analysis of being was a considerable extension to previous views on this subject, and enabled him to make important contributions to the notion of time. Mir Damad’s philosophical style is characterized by a treatment of abstract concepts behind which lies the living experience of the mystic.  1 Life and philosophy of being Mir Burhan al-Din Muhammad Baqir Damad, whose poetic nom de plume was ‘Ishraq’ and who was also referred to as ‘the Third Master’ (after Aristotle and al-Farabi) was born into a distinguished religious family. Another honorific title by which Mir Damad has been known is Sayyid al-Afadil, ‘Prince of the Most Learned’.

 Mir Damad was born in Astarabad but grew up in Mashhad, the religious capital of Shi‘i Persia. He receive his early education there, and studied Ibn Sina’s texts closely (see Ibn Sina). Prior to coming to Isfahan during the reign of Shah ‘Abbas, he also spent some time in Qazvin and Kashan. In Isfahan, Mir Damad continued his education, paying equal attention to rational and transmitted sciences. He died in AH 1041/AD 1631 when he fell ill on his way to Karbala, in the entourage of Shah Safi. He was buried in Najaf.

As is evident from his contemporary sources, Mir Damad was recognized simultaneously as a jurist, a mystic and a philosopher - a rare but not altogether impossible combination in Muslim intellectual history. His writings reflect his comprehensive and encyclopedic interests. He wrote on philosophy and theology, prophetic and Imami traditions, Shi‘i law, Qur’anic commentary, ethics and mysticism as well as on logic. Mir Damad’s ascetic exercises have been noted particularly by some of his biographers (see the introduction to the 1977 edition of Kitab al-qabasat (Book of Embers), page xxviii). These exercises are combined, if his biographers’ sometimes hyperbolic tone is to be believed, with a precocious attention to philosophy.

Despite his prominent status as both a mystic and a jurist, an uneasy combination made possible by certain specific features of the School of Isfahan, it was principally as a philosopher that Mir Damad recognized, praised and distinguished himself, as in his many self-praising poems, for   I conquered the lands of knowledge, I lent old wisdom to my youth. So that I made the earth with my al-Qabasat The envy of the heavenly abodes (Hadi 1984: 134)  Al-Qabasat is Mir Damad’s most significant philosophical work, containing the essence of his philosophy. Al-Qabasat consist Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Version 1.0, London: Routledge

 List of works

Mir Damad (before 1631) Kitab al-qabasat (Book of Embers), ed. M. Mohaghegh, T. Izutsu, M. Bihbahani and I. Dibaji, Tehran: McGill University, Institute of Islamic Studies, Tehran Branch, 1977. (Important edition of Mir Damad’s work, together with extensive commentaries by some of the main authorities and a valuable introduction by the translators.)  References and further reading  Ashtiyani, S. (1972) Muntakhabati az athar-i hukama-yi ilahi-yi Iran: az ‘asr-i Mir Damad va Mir Findiriski ta zaman-i hadir (Selection from Iranian Metaphysical Thinkers: Mir Damad, Mir Findiriski and Their Contemporaries), Tehran and Paris: Département d’Iranologie de l’Institut Franco-Iranien de Recherche.(Accounts of some of the commentaries on al-Qabasat.) Corbin, H. (1972) En Islam iranien: Aspects Spirituels et Philosophique (Iranian Islam: Spiritual and Philosophical Aspects), Paris: Gallimard, 4 vols.(Detailed acocunt of some of the main Persian thinkers, including Mir Damad.) Dabashi, H. (1996) ‘Mir Damad and the Founding of the School of Isfahan’, in S.H. Nasr and O. Leaman (eds) History of Islamic Philosophy, London: Routledge, ch. 34, 597-634.(An authoritative and detailed discussion of this crucial period of Persian thought.) Fakhry, M. (1983) A History of Islamic Philosophy, New York: Columbia University Press. (A standard work on this subject.) Hadi, A. (1984) Sharh-i hal-i Mir Damad va Mir Findiriski (Commentary on the Thought of Mir Damad and Mir Findiriski), Isfahan: Maytham Tamar Publications.(Many interesting details of Mir Damad’s life and contemporaries.) Leaman, O. (1985) An Introduction to Medieval Islamic Philosophy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.(Account of some of the main philosophical and theological debates.) Mulla Sadra, S. (c.1628) al-Shawahid al-rububiyya (Divine Testimonies), ed. S. Ashtiyani, Mashhad: Mashhad University Press, 1967.(Discussions by Mir Damad’s most famous pupil which show the differences in their views, with annotations and introduction by the editor.) Nasr, S.H. (1966) ‘The School of Isfahan’, in M.M. Sharif (ed.) A History of Muslim Philosophy, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, vol. 2: 904-32.(General account of the intellectual period by the leading expert.) Nasr, S.H. (1978) Sadr al-Din Shirazi and His Transcendent Theosophy, Tehran: Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy.(Clear account of the thought of this period.)

Savory, R. (1980) Iran: Under the Safavids, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.(The historical context of Mir Damad’s life and works.) Tunikabuni, M.M. (1985) Qisas al-‘ulama’ (Stories of the Scholars), Tehran: Intisharat-‘illmiyyah Islamiyyah. (Amusing and intriguing accounts of stories about thinkers including Mir Damad.) Watt, W.M. (1962) Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. (Concise guide to the general set of questions which formed Mir Damad’s intellectual background.)

 Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Version 1.0, London: Routledge