The Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ on Angels and Spiritual Beings
(2015) Angels and Mankind: Nature, Role and Function of Celestial Beings in — Location: Beirut,Orient‐Institut (2.July.2015)
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- In several places of the Rasā’il Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ is found the mention of angels in combination with the physical description of the cosmos. Each of the seven planets, but also the starry sphere and the all-encompassing sphere – which the Brethren of Purity identify with the Qur’ānic Footstool and the Throne respectively – are there associated with specific angels from the Islamic tradition. These passages are a good example of how the authors of this encyclopaedic corpus made use of Neoplatonism to read the Qur’ān and to interpret it symbolically. My paper will focus on the salient features of these descriptions and, by comparing the Brethren’s angelology with other systems in Arabic literature, seek to trace the possible influence of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ on later representatives of Islamic philosophy and mysticism.
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de Callatay, G. (2015). The Ikhwān al-Ṣafā’ on Angels and Spiritual Beings. Angels and Mankind: Nature, Role and Function of Celestial Beings in, Beirut,Orient‐Institut. https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/186731