The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism [Paperback]

This brilliant book is only for esoterica aficionados. Corbin, the foremost French (and, in all probability, world) authority on Sufism and Shiite esotericism, discusses in his familiar baroque and stream-of-consciousness erudite style three Iranian sages-mystics: Suhrawardi (the martyred founder of Ishraqi/Illuminative school of Islamic esotericism ), Kubra (the founder of an influential Sufi order) and Simnani (an orthodox Sufi master who left behind a voluminous corpus of esoteric writings). What do these men have in common ?

Well- at least, two things:

1. they all developed variants of highly imaginative multilayered metaphysics (especially Suhrawardi) and set up "theoretical" framework which was later used to interpret spectacular (one might blasphemically say "Cecildemillean" or LSD-like) visionary experiences.

2.another common "trademark" is the Man of Light (hence the title of the book), equated with (Arch)Angel Gabriel, or Supreme Spirit (Ar-Ruh al-Qudsi), or perfect nature: in short, everyone's "True" or Higher Self.

One might add that the three mystics have been dualists (therefore, alien to Ibn Arabi's monist Wahdat-al-Wujud doctrine), and that the latter duo ( in sharp contrast to extravagant and highly original visionary genius of mutilated Suhrawardi ) remained impeccably orthodox. Their originality lies in development of Islamic version of esoteric physiology: latifa, the supposed organs/subtle centers of suprasensory perception, are essentially Kubra's and Simnani's spiritual legacy.

Ironically, the central image of the entire opus comes not form Iran, or Sufism of any variety- but from the heterodox Gnostic writings of 3rd century C.E. Greek- Egyptian alchemist Zosimos & a few other Gnostic scriptures, including Mary the Prophetess' sayings; a parable on two brothers: Prometheus Phos, the Light and Knowledge radiating Neoplatonized Prometheus from Hesiod and Plato- just transformed from Titanic personality to a Titanic principle, and his twin brother Epimetheus, the latter succumbing to the pleasures of this world which envelop and hypnotize him into stupor, sexuality and dream. Brothers are presented as polar forces or quasi- beings of diverging energies inhabiting the nuclear spiritual self, passing through the Odyssey of physical incarnation. Prometheus Phos is, in his battle for individual entity's spiritual destiny, aided by the Nous, the true Self whose radiance or "ray" it is. In Arabic Hermetic texts from 10th and 11th centuries C.E., this "Higher Self" (modern, New Age parlance) is called al-tiba' al-tamm; in other traditions related to the Gnostic and Hermetic worldviews - Nous, Pneuma (Pagan Greek), Christ, the Son (Neoplatonic Christianity), Ar-Ruh Al- Qudsi, Nur-i- Muhammadi (variants of Islamic Sufism), Adam Kadmon (Lurianic Kabbalah in Judaism) or the triple principle Yechida-Chaya- Nephesh. Other portions of the book include Green Light, Heavenly witness, supra-sensory organs of perception, Goethean science on "physiological colors" (dated and wacky) etc. Corbin's presentation is replete with examples from Zoroastrian mythology and mythic psychology, Gnostic Christian and Hermetic traditions.

On balance, Corbin's "The Man of Light" is an intellectual and spiritual joyride and I highly recommend it.

A great book for anyone who wants to gain an in depth understanding of Islamic mysticism. There are many books out there on Sufism, but Corbin's books are most" scholarly". It is obvious that the author spent a life time researching this topic and learning it from those who know sufism well. Same can not be said about many other so called scholars who seem to write books on a daily basis and their research scope is no more than a few trips to the local library. No wonder there are so many books being published and yet so few of them are really worth reading. Many of them leave their reader feeling cheated. I am afraid that Scholars like Corbin should be classified under endangered species.