While the inspiration of Neo-Platonism upon Ismāʿīlī philosophy has been much discussed, the archetypes strongly reminiscent of the ancient Gnostic movements have not. One such work of the ḥaqā’iq (“esoteric realities”) genre, to which little research has been devoted, is the 12th century C.E. Ṭayyibī thinker Ibrāhīm al-Ḥāmidī’s work, Kitāb Kanz al-Walad.
Echoes of the Gnostics: ‘Kitāb Kanz al-Walad’ of al-Ḥāmidī and the Incorporation of Mythic Cosmology into Ismāʿīlī Thought by Anderson, Paul
Neo-Platonic philosophy deeply influenced the development of many different genres of Islamic intellectual disciplines – not least of which was the intellectual sciences in Ismāʿīlī Islam. While the inspiration of Neo-Platonism upon Ismāʿīlī philosophy has been much discussed, the archetypes strongly reminiscent of the ancient Gnostic movements have not. One such work of the ḥaqā’iq (“esoteric realities”) genre, to which little research has been devoted, is the 12th century C.E. Ṭayyibī thinker Ibrāhīm al-Ḥāmidī’s (d. 1162 C.E.) work, Kitāb Kanz al-Walad. This text contains many themes which are less specifically representative of Neo-Platonism than they are of the Gnostic movements of early Christianity. The purpose of this paper will be to discuss some of the unusual mythic elements in this work, to reveal the surprising parallels to the Gnostic traditions. In particular, this paper will explore what I term “memory relics,” memetic pieces of a religious mythos which survive beyond the religion’s death and become embedded and “nativized” in a new cosmology. Some particular issues that will be discussed are whether al-Ḥāmidī’s system displays a prototypical Gnostic kind of dualism, the role of the demiurge, and the existence of a mythic “le drame dans le Ciel,” as Henry Corbin termed it, within the Kanz. This work will analyzed as a text exemplifying Islamic gnostic themes, but also as an attempt to apply an allegorical overlay upon Ismāʿīlī Neo-Platonic rationalism, as well as the socio-political developments which may have led al-Ḥāmidī to formulate his cosmology.
Paul Anderson
Field – Histories and Cultures of Muslim Societies – Research: Islamic Studies, Arabic Language and Linguistics. M.A. Thesis: Arabic/Islamic Studies: Martyr or Mischief-Maker? Towards the Construction of a Hagiography of Shihāb al-Dīn al-Suhrawardī al-Maqtūl – http://harvard.academia.edu/PaulAnderson
About MESA:
The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) is a private, non-profit, non-political learned society that brings together scholars, educators and those interested in the study of the region from all over the world. MESA’s 48th annual meeting will be held in Washington, DC at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.
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