"Philosophy of Islamic World" Series

Primary Sources

Volume 1

Al-Hakim al-Jishami. Interpretation of the "Sources of Questions and Answers". Book four: Speeches on subtle [matters] (Arabic) / translated by F.O.Nofal; Introduction, commentary and indexes by F.O. Nofal; edited by A.V. Smirnov. Moscow: OOO Sadra, 2021. 776 p. ISBN 978-5-907041-77-6

The interpretation of “The Sources of Questions and Answers” is the most important monument of medieval Arab Muslim thought and the largest encyclopedia of classical kalam written by al-Hakim al-Jishami (d. 494/1101). This fourth part of the work, which has now been published in the original language for the first time, contains a detailed description of the natural philosophy, epistemology, and anthropology of mutakallims of Basra and Baghdad. It also contains an introductory study and the publisher’s commentary and will be of great interest for experts in Arab studies and philosophy, as well as those interested in the intellectual history of the East.

Table of contents 

Translations

Volume 4

Shabistari, Mahmud. The Secret Rose Garden (Persian text, translation, commentary) / А. А. Lukashev; edited by N.Yu. Chalisova. Мoscow: ООО Sadra, 2021. 360 p. ISBN 978-5-907041-54-7

The medieval thinker Mahmud Shabistari's poem, “The Secret Rose Garden”, is one of the classic Sufi works. It was an important source of knowledge for Islamic mystics for many centuries and contributed to the development of philosophy during the Safavid era. The work still retains its relevance: Muhammad Iqbal, the great thinker and reformer of Islam, wrote a poetic response to this text, while the religious leaders of the post-revolutionary Iran referred to it in their works and delivered lectures on the Shabistari’s masterpiece. 

This book includes the Persian text of the poem edited by Kazim Dizfuliyan, a translation of this text, and a detailed commentary explaining all the terms, complicated places, characters and discrepancies in different editions.

Title pages and introduction

Nasr S. H. Three Muslim Sages: Avicenna-Suhrawardi-Ibn Arabi / Transl. from English, introduction and comments byby R.Pskhu, ed. I.R.Nasyrov. Moscow: Languages of Slavonic Culture: Sadra, 2014. — 152 p. ISBN 978-5-9551-0673-1, ISBN 978-5-906016-14-0 

This book of the famous Muslim philosopher S.H. Nasr is devoted to three major figures in the history of Islamic thought — Ibn Sina (Avicenna), as-Suhrawardi and Ibn Arabi. The author turns to the works of these prominent thinkers to explain the main principles of falsafa, ishrakism and Sufism — powerful dimensions of Arab Muslim philosophy of the classical Islam era. The book is meant for general readers interested in the intellectual history of Islamic world.

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Volume 2

Ibn Arabi. Selected works. Vol. 2 / Translation from the Arabic, commentaries and introductory article by Andrey Smirnov. Moscow: Languages of Slavonic Culture: Sadra, 2014. 400 p. ISBN 978-5-9551-0667-0, 978-5-906016-16-4

The second volume of Selected works of Ibn Arabi contains three selections from al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya: "Theses", "Questions and Answers", "Murid's sermons" . "Theses" is a section of the book's "Introduction" where Ibn Arabi exposes his teachings in consize form of masa'il. "Questions and Answers" contains answers of Ibn Arabi to questions posed by al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi. And "Murid's sermons" is a section of the last chapter of Futuhat where Ibn Arabi addresses those who wish to reach knowledge of the Truth. The introductory article exposes process-based logic and its laws and compares it to substance-based Aristotelian logic. The commentary to the translation demonstrates the importance of process-based logic to understand the meaning of Ibn Arabi's texts.

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  Volume 1

Ibn Arabi. Selected works. Vol. 1 / Translation from the Arabic, commentaries and introductory article by Ilshat Nasyrov, edited by Andrey Smirnov. Moscow: Languages of Slavonic Culture: Sadra, 2013. — 216 p. ISBN 978-5-9551-0658-8, ISBN 978-5-906016-13-3

The volume contains full translation of Kitab insha' al-dawa'ir and selected places from al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya and Fusus al-Hikam. The book is suppled by index of names, index of categories and a glossary of Arabic terms.

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Research

Volume 16

Fedorova Yu.E. The Knowledge Journey: Experience of Philosophical Reading of Farid al-Din Attar's Poem "The Language of the Birds" / Edited by A.V. Smirnov, L.G. Lahuti. Moscow: OOO Sadra, 2023. 288 p.; Illustrations: 8 p. ISBN 978-5-907552-40-1.

The book features a philosophical analysis of the poem "The Language of the Birds" (Mantiq al-tayr) by Farid al-Din Attar Nishapuri (1145/46-1221), one of the major Persian Sufi poets. The study reveals two layers of meanings: the explicit, which refers to the poetic history, and the implicit, which refers to Sufi concepts. The parallel existence of two layers of meanings reflects a fundamental truth of the universe: the "parallelism", the specularity of God and the world. In the classical Arab-Muslim culture, the parallelism between the structure of a poem and its main idea demonstrates the writer's skill and facilitates the correct understanding of the entire poem.

Selected chapters from the poem "The Language of the Birds" have been published as a monograph annex.

The book is intended for a wide range of readers interested in classical Persian poetry and the history of Arab Muslim philosophy.

 Table of contents 

Volume 15

Nofal F.O. Essays on the History of Zaidite Thought in 7th-11th Centuries / Edited by A.V. Smirnov. Moscow: OOO Sadra, 2023. 248 p. + 8 illustrated pages.  ISBN 978-5-907552-22-7

The book is dedicated to the study of the early development of the Zaidite Kalam. A comparative analysis of theological and naturalistic philosophical ideas of early Zaidite thinkers allows the author to contest the stereotype regarding the dependence of Zaidite Kalam on Mu'tazilite philosophy. For the first time in the history of international Oriental studies, the author determines to what extent Classical Kalam and Arabic Neoplatonism influence certain provisions of Zaidite teachings on human, nature and God.

The book is intended for philosophers, orientalists, historians and anyone interested in Arab Muslim thought.

Title pages and table of contents 

Volume 14

Nasyrov I.R. Ibn Khaldun in the Ottoman historiography / I.R. Nasyrov; edited by V.A. Kuznetsov. M.: OOO Sadra, 2021. 248 p. ISBN 978-5-907041-82-0

The book examines the reception of the doctrine of society by the Arab sociologist and historian Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) in Ottoman historical writing. It analyzes the ideas of prominent representatives of this school of Muslim historiography about society and the state. Particular attention is paid to the concepts of the historical development of society proposed by them, which have experienced a noticeable influence from the teachings of Ibn Khaldun.

Title pages and table of contents

Volume 13

Korneyeva T.G. Nasir Khusraw and His Philosophical Views / Korneyeva T.G; edited by A.V. Smirnov, N.Yu. Chalisova. Мoscow: ООО Sadra, 2021. 224 p. ISBN 978-5-907041-72-1

The work presents the philosofical views of Nasir Khusraw (1004 – after 1074), an outstanding Ismaili philosopher of the Fatimid era, in its entirety: the interrelation of various fields of his teaching is analyzed, fundamental categorical oppositions that manifest themselves at various levels of his philosophical “tree” are revealed, the role of the tawil method is demonstrated. The Appendix contains a translation of Nasir Khusraw’s treatise “Knowledge and Liberation” (Gushayish wa rahayish). The reader is also offered a dictionary of the Persian philosophical vocabulary of the Ismaili philosopher.

Title pages and introduction

Volume 12

Revolution and evolution in Islamic thought and history / Executive editor. Yu.E. Fedorova. Мoscow: ООО Sadra, 2020. 416 p. ISBN 987-5-907041-42-4.

“Revolution and evolution in Islamic thought and history” is a collection of academic articles prepared and published on the basis of the similarly-named conference, which was held on October 5–6, 2017 at the Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences with the support of the Ibn Sina Foundation.

The book contains a number of works presenting cognitive models and theoretical mechanisms that are characteristic of Islamic culture and are responsible for revolutionary and evolutionary transformations. The authors examine the logic of understanding the revolution and evolution. The works demonstrate how the discourse emphasizing these concepts determines the development of theoretical models in various fields of Islamic culture (creed, philosophy, law, poetry, history, art). The works reveal the mechanisms of sustainable reproduction and succession of Islamic culture and provide an analysis of its dynamics.

Title pages and introduction

Volume 11

Lukashev А.А. The world of meaning in few words. Mahmud Shabistari’s philosophical views in the context of the times / А. А. Lukashev; edited by A.V. Smirnov. Мoscow: ООО Sadra,  2020. — 320 p. ISBN 978-5-907041-36-3.

The monograph examines the legacy of Mahmoud Shabestari (1288–1321), one of the most renowned classic authors of the medieval Sufism. His most famous work is “The Secret Rose Garden”, which contains a brief description of the major aspects of the Sufi thought. The monograph’s author attempts not only to present the views of the medieval Sufi, but also helps the readers immerse themselves in the world of the medieval Islamic mysticism. This immersion becomes possible due to the fact that Shabestari’s views are explored in the context of his cultural setting, and the book itself draws on the basic principles of the Islamic culture. The book is intended for general audience.

Title pages and introduction

Volume 10

“Scattered” and “organized”: cognitive methods of the Arab Muslim culture / Executive editor. A.V. Smirnov. Мoscow: ООО Sadra: YASK publishing house, 2017. 736 p. ISBN 978-5-906859-38-9.

Different aspects of the Arab Muslim culture (linguistics, poetry, philosophy, history, music) have been thoroughly analysed in order to demonstrate the most important methods of conceptualization used in the Arab Muslim culture. The book explores the concepts of thing, unity and plurality, whole and part, reveals the nature of mechanisms and procedures that are based on these basic categories and organize the theoretical discourse of the Arab Muslim intellectuals. The book continues the first volume of “The Scattered and the Organized” issued in 2015 and entitled as “a strategy for organizing semantic space in the Arab Muslim culture”.

Title pages and introduction

Volume 9

Nofal F.O. Abu al-Qasim al-Kabi and decline of Bagdad school of mu’tazilism / Ex. ed. A.V. Smirnov. М.: ООО Sadra: YASK publishing house, 2017. 136 p. ISBN 978-5-906859-32-7.

For the first time in the history of Arab studies in Russia (and currently in the entire world) this work offers a reconstruction of the philosophical and religious system of the last prominent figure of the Bagdad school of Mu’tazilism, Abu al-Qasim al-Balhi al-Kabi (d. 319/931). Apart from a comparative analysis of the views of al-Balhi and his predecessors, the book attempts to present, wherever possible, an aggregate picture of discussions of Basra and Bagdad mutakallims on the pivotal questions of ethics, politics, ontology and epistemology. The edition will be useful for experts in Arab studies, philosophers and religious scholars, as well as for all interested in the history of the Middle East and world thought.

Title pages and introduction

Frolova E.A. Contemporary Arabic Philosophic Discourse / Ed. A.Smirnov. Moscow: Sadra; Languages of Slavonic Culture, 2016. 312 p. ISBN 978-5-906016-76-8

The book is similar to an encyclopaedic dictionary in its form. However, the articles were not selected according to a strict system, but rather associate with the tide of the cultural life of Middle Eastern countries, which is a spontaneous process raising one problem after another and providing different solutions. The author tried to rely on this tide, this is why the scope of the issues presented to the reader is dissimilar, and their presence in the modern culture is changeable — topical issues of certain periods are replaced by others, caused by new needs; some of them are steady and dominant, the others are fleeting; yet all of them form the body of the cultural life, hence their importance both for history and today.

Title pages and introduction

Volume 7

“Scattered” and “organized”: sense-making strategies of Islamic culture / Ed. A.Smirnov. Moscow: Sadra; Languages of Slavonic Culture, 2015. 400 p. ISBN 978-5-906016-41-6

The book examines fundamental models that helped form theoretical concepts of the Arab-Muslim culture: asl and far' (the stem and the branch), zahir and batin (the manifest and the hidden) as well as others as exemplified by their role in constructing philosophical, philological, doctrinal, historical knowledge. It exposes the role of substance- and process-oriented logics in the perception of the universal and the particular, the unity and the multiplicity in verbal and non-verbal areas. The book presents a conceptual insight into the dynamics of the Islamic culture and includes new translations and studies of Sufism.

Title pages and introduction

  Volume 6

Nofal F.O. Ibrahim b. Sayyar al-Nazzam / Ed. A.Smirnov. Moscow: Sadra; Languages of Slavonic Culture, 2015. 144 p. ISBN 978-5-906016-58-4 

Title pages and introduction

Volume 5

Shamilli G.B. The philosophy of music. Theory and practice of the maqām art / G.B. Shamilli; eduted by I.K. Kuznetsov. М.: ООО Sadra: YASK publishing house, 2020. 552 p., illustrated. ISBN 978-5-907041-30-1

The four chapters and two appendices of the book describe the stable regularities of the human mind (relationships of the part and the whole, their contraposition and unification) in the theory and practice of the maqam art, which is an oral musical tradition preserved in Hebrew, Persian Arabic and Turkic languages. The annotated translation and research of Fakhr al-Din al-Razi’s (12th-13th centuries) treatise on music, as well as the first edition of the Russian translation of a treatise on music by an anonymous author (“Muhammad Nishapuri”) deal with ontological issues and the methodology of the historical knowledge with due account for the differences in conceptualization procedures in the given traditions. The edition is intended for a wide range of experts and undergraduate students.

Title pages and introduction

  Volume 4

Frolova E.A. Contemporary Arabic Philosophic Discourse. Part 1. Moscow: Languages of Slavonic Culture, 2012. 72 с. ISBN 978-5-9551-0579-6

The author identifies main topics in the modern Arab philosophical discourse, systematizing the arguments of Arab philosophers around pivotal concepts. Some problems are similar to those discussed nowadays in the Russian society. The book will be of great interest for experts in Islamic studies and all those interested in modernization challenges of non-Western societies.

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Volume 3

Islamic Philosophy and Philosophical Islamology: Development and Interaction / Ed. Andrey Smirnov. Moscow: Languages of Slavonic Culture, 2012. 128 p. ISBN 978-5-9551-0567-5

This book contains the reports from the conference “Islamic philosophy and philosophical Islamic studies”. It took place in Moscow at the end of 2011 and coincided with the publication of the 2nd issue of the “Ishrak” yearbook. This book of reports describes different traditions of Islamic studies. We are pleased to familiarize the reader with perception, assessment and examination of Islamic philosophy in modern Iran. The book includes articles on ishrakism philosophy written by two greatest Iranian scholars, experts in Suhrawardi’s works.

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Volume 2

Frolova E.A. Arab Philosophy: Past and Future. Moscow: Languages of Slavonic Cultures, 2010. 464 p. ISBN 978-5-9551-0422-5.

Twelve centuries separate the formation of philosophy in the Arab world and its current state. The world witnessed the heyday of the Arab wisdom that influenced the Medieval Europe, as well as its degradation and stagnation, when the Ottoman Empire reigned in the Middle East. The Arab world has also seen its renaissance with an urge towards restoring its glory and keeping up with developed countries. This book reflects the rich philosophic thought of the past and the quest of thinkers of the 20th and 21st century.

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Volume 1

Nasyrov I.R. Foundations of Islamic Mysticism: Genesis and Evolution / Ed. Andrey Smirnov. Moscow: Languages of Slavonic Cultures, 2009. 552 p. ISBN 9785955103365. Second printing: 2012.

The work is devoted to a research on ontological and epistemological foundations of Sufism, one of the leading movements of classical Arab Muslim philosophy. The author examines the reasons for emergence of a mystical dimension in Islam and its transformation into a philosophical Sufism. On the basis of extensive textological material Sufism is scrutinized in all its historical forms as a whole phenomenon.

The author focuses on presenting Sufi concepts in the light of their establishment and development. The work is complemented with an index of names and subjects and a glossary of Arabic terms and notions.

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Textbooks

A History of Arabic Muslim Philosophy: Textbook & Anthology / ed. A. Smirnov. Moscow: Academic Project, Sadra, 2020. 623 pp. ISBN 978-5-8291-3763-2 (Academic Project); ISBN 978-5-907041-53-0 (Sadra)

This textbook represents a revised and enlarged edition of the two-volume «History of Arab Muslim Philosophy» published in 2013. This is a unique Russian edition that is very popular with those engaged in philosophy an oriental studies.

The textbook covers the whole range of Islamic philosophical thought, starting from the emergence of philosophical reflection to the present day. It covers the major schools of the classical period, such as mu’tazilism, falsafa, enlightenment philosophy, philosophical teachings of Ismailites and Sufis. Ibn Khaldun's concept and philosophy of the Safavid era represent the postclassical stage. The philosophical quest of contemporary Arab Muslim thinkers is also described in detail. The author examines the features of Islamic texts (the Qur’an and Sunnah), the main characteristics of the Islamic faith, law and ethics, which define the mindset of Muslims.

The authors compiled an anthology of Arab Muslim philosophy in accordance with the textbook structure. Many translations in the book were prepared specifically for this publication or were edited and complemented with updated commentary. It is for the first time that we can see the works representing the entire tradition of Arab Muslim philosophy in one book.

The book is intended for those studying philosophy, oriental studies, religious studies, cultural studies and all those interested in Muslim culture.

Table of contents

A History of Arabic Muslim Philosophy: A Textbook  / ed. A. Smirnov. Moscow: Academic Project, 2013. 255 pp. ISBN 978-5-8291-1463-3

Three periods are singled out: classical (8-14 cc.: Mutazilites, Falsafa, Isma‘ili, Ishraqi, and Sufi philosophy), postclassical (14-19 сс.: Ibn Khaldun and the Safavid schools of philosophy), and modern (19-21 cc.). Philosophy is treated, by and large, as a domestic product of Islamic mode of thinking irreducible to Greek heritage though indebted to it.

Table of contents

A History of Arabic Muslim Philosophy: An Anthology / ed. A. Smirnov. Moscow: Academic Project, 2013. 267 pp. ISBN 978-5-8291-1464-0  

The texts were selected and arranged following the structure and contents of the Textbook "A History of Arabic Muslim Philosophy". A number of translations are published for the first time, some others were edited and commented upon especially for this Anthology. For the first time Russian reader will find under one cover texts representing the whole line of Islamic philosophic thought from its emergence till present time.

Table of contents