Entries by simar

The Garden of Fragrance (Bustan) of Sadi

The Garden of Fragrance The Bustan is a book of poetry by the the great Persian poet Sa’adi Shirazi.  Written in the mathnawi style it was completed in 1257.

Islamic Art and Spirituality

Islamic Art and Spirituality By Seyyed Hossein Nasr   Islamic Art has been the subject of study by Western scholars since the nineteenth century and by Western-trained Muslim savants for several decades. It has, moreover, come to receive special attention during the past two or three decades by the larger public as a distinct category […]

Response to Stephen Hawking’s Physics-as-Philosophy

Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies, Volume 16, No 2, 2011, pp. 5-48. The Grand Design,1 to be sure, is not simply another “Physics for the Millions” production, nor is Stephen Hawking, its primary author, just another scientist addressing the public at large. What stands at issue is rather to be seen as the crossing of […]

An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines

An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines CONCEPTIONS OF NATURE AND METHODS USED FOR ITS STUDY BY THE IKHW AN AL-~AFA’, AL-BIRUNI, AND IBN SINA   This study opens up a relatively unexplored, hence unfamiliar, aspect of Islam. The ~ajority of mo?ern Muslim ration~lists will no doubt join in chorus with the formalist orthodox theologians to […]

The Male and Female in the Islamic Perspective

The Male and Female in the Islamic Perspective by Seyyed Hossein Nasr “O Mankind! Lo! We have created you male and female… The noblest among you, in the sight of Allah, is the best in conduct.” (Quran 49:13) The Male and Female in the Islamic Perspective     

Islam and the Environment

The Qur’an addresses not only human beings, but also the cosmos. All creatures participate in Islam. It is much easier to be able to develop an environmental philosophy which will not be incongruent or artificial as if you would add an artificial tail to a donkey. It is part and parcel of the Islamic world […]