Philosophising the Occult : : Avicennan Psychology and 'The Hidden Secret' of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī / / Michael-Sebastian Noble.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Ebook Package English 2021
• VerfasserIn: Noble, Michael-Sebastian,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter, , [2020]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2020
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in the History and Culture of the Middle East , 35
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (X, 299 p.)

Was it mere encyclopedism that motivated Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d.1210), one of the most influential Islamic theologians of the twelfth century, to theorize on astral magic – or was there a deeper purpose? One of his earliest works was The Hidden Secret (‘al-Sirr al-Maktūm’), a magisterial study of the ‘craft’ which harnessed spiritual discipline and natural philosophy to establish noetic connection with the celestial souls to work wonders here on earth. The initiate’s preceptor is a personal celestial spirit, ‘the perfect nature’ which represents the ontological origin of his soul. This volume will be the first study of The Hidden Secret and its theory of astral magic, which synthesized the naturalistic account of prophethood constructed by Avicenna (d.1037), with the perfect nature doctrine as conceived by Abū’l-Barakāt (d.1165). Shedding light on one of the most complex thinkers of the post-Avicennan period, it will show how al-Rāzī’s early theorizing on the craft contributed to his formulation of prophethood with which his career culminated. Representing the nexus between philosophy, theology and magic, it will be of interest to all those interested in Islamic intellectual history and occultism.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- Chapter 1. al-Sirr al-maktūm -- Chapter 2. Sabians -- Chapter 3. Eight Sabian Doctrines -- Chapter 4. The General Physics of Talismans -- Chapter 5. Making Talismans -- Chapter 6. Sabian Spiritual Discipline and Avicennan Cognition Theory -- Chapter 7. Sabian Perfected Man and the Avicennan Theory of Prophethood -- Chapter 8. Occult Epistemology -- Chapter 9. An Alternative Account of Astral Visions -- Chapter 10. A Clarification -- Chapter 11. al-Maṭālib 8 and the New Islamic Soteriology -- Chapter 12. Concluding Remarks -- Appendix -- Select Bibliography -- Index of Names -- Index of Subjects