World as (Arabic) Text: Mīr Dāmād and the Neopythagoreanization of Philosophy in Safavid Iran
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Abstract
The heavily Neoplatonic and antiquarian-perennialist tenor of Safavid philosophy is now widely recognized by specialists; but few have acknowledged its equally notable Neopythagorean turn. Likewise, that the primary mode of applied Neoplatonic-Neopythagorean philosophy as a Safavid imperial way of life was occult science has been ignored altogether, making impossible a history of its practice. The case of the Twelver Shiʿi sage-mage Mīr Dāmād – famed down to the present as an occult scientist – is here especially illustrative: for he was largely responsible for this Neopythagoreanization of Safavid philosophy, which saw the remarkable transmogrification of Ibn Sīnā himself into a Neopythagorean-occultist, by his espousal of a peculiarly Mamluk-Timurid-Aqquyunlu brand of philosophical lettrism (ʿilm al-ḥurūf) in at least three of his many works. The example of this imperial Neopythagoreanizing lettrist is thus crucial for understanding the intellectual and religiopolitical continuity of Safavid Shiʿi culture with Sunni precedent, as well as contemporary Persianate and Latinate parallels. Within Western history of science more broadly, Mīr Dāmād and the host of his fellow Muslim kabbalists must now be restored to the master mathesis narrative whereby scientific modernity is but the upshot of early modern Western philosophers’ penchant for reading the world as a mathematical text.
Résumé
Les ténors néoplatoniciens et pérennialistes antiquaires de la philosophie safavide sont aujourd’hui largement reconnu par les spécialistes ; mais peu ont admis son tournant néopythagoricien tout aussi remarquable. De même que le mode principal de la philosophie néoplatonicienne-néopythagoricienne, en tant que mode de vie impérial safavide, soit la science occulte a été complètement ignoré, rendant impossible une histoire de sa pratique. Le cas du sage-mage shiʿite duodécimain Mīr Dāmād – connu jusqu’à présent comme un scientifique occulte – est ici particulièrement illustratif, car il est en grande partie responsable de cette néopythagorisation de la philosophie safavide – qui est allée jusqu’à la transmogrification d’Ibn Sīnā lui-même en occultiste néopythagoricien – par son adhésion à une marque particulière de lettrisme philosophique mamelouk-timouride-aqquyunlu (ʿilm al-ḥurūf) dans au moins trois de ses nombreuses œuvres. L’exemple de ce lettriste néopythagoricien impérial est donc crucial pour comprendre la continuité intellectuelle et religio-politique de la culture shiʿite safavide avec un précédent sunnite, ainsi que les parallèles persans et latins contemporains. De façon plus générale, Mīr Dāmād et le noyau de ses confrères kabbalistes musulmans doivent maintenant être restitués au récit de la mathesis qui a fait que la modernité scientifique n’est rien d’autre que le résultat du penchant des premiers philosophes occidentaux modernes à lire le monde comme un texte mathématique.
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World as (Arabic) Text: Mīr Dāmād and the Neopythagoreanization of Philosophy in Safavid Iran
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Abstract
The heavily Neoplatonic and antiquarian-perennialist tenor of Safavid philosophy is now widely recognized by specialists; but few have acknowledged its equally notable Neopythagorean turn. Likewise, that the primary mode of applied Neoplatonic-Neopythagorean philosophy as a Safavid imperial way of life was occult science has been ignored altogether, making impossible a history of its practice. The case of the Twelver Shiʿi sage-mage Mīr Dāmād – famed down to the present as an occult scientist – is here especially illustrative: for he was largely responsible for this Neopythagoreanization of Safavid philosophy, which saw the remarkable transmogrification of Ibn Sīnā himself into a Neopythagorean-occultist, by his espousal of a peculiarly Mamluk-Timurid-Aqquyunlu brand of philosophical lettrism (ʿilm al-ḥurūf) in at least three of his many works. The example of this imperial Neopythagoreanizing lettrist is thus crucial for understanding the intellectual and religiopolitical continuity of Safavid Shiʿi culture with Sunni precedent, as well as contemporary Persianate and Latinate parallels. Within Western history of science more broadly, Mīr Dāmād and the host of his fellow Muslim kabbalists must now be restored to the master mathesis narrative whereby scientific modernity is but the upshot of early modern Western philosophers’ penchant for reading the world as a mathematical text.
Résumé
Les ténors néoplatoniciens et pérennialistes antiquaires de la philosophie safavide sont aujourd’hui largement reconnu par les spécialistes ; mais peu ont admis son tournant néopythagoricien tout aussi remarquable. De même que le mode principal de la philosophie néoplatonicienne-néopythagoricienne, en tant que mode de vie impérial safavide, soit la science occulte a été complètement ignoré, rendant impossible une histoire de sa pratique. Le cas du sage-mage shiʿite duodécimain Mīr Dāmād – connu jusqu’à présent comme un scientifique occulte – est ici particulièrement illustratif, car il est en grande partie responsable de cette néopythagorisation de la philosophie safavide – qui est allée jusqu’à la transmogrification d’Ibn Sīnā lui-même en occultiste néopythagoricien – par son adhésion à une marque particulière de lettrisme philosophique mamelouk-timouride-aqquyunlu (ʿilm al-ḥurūf) dans au moins trois de ses nombreuses œuvres. L’exemple de ce lettriste néopythagoricien impérial est donc crucial pour comprendre la continuité intellectuelle et religio-politique de la culture shiʿite safavide avec un précédent sunnite, ainsi que les parallèles persans et latins contemporains. De façon plus générale, Mīr Dāmād et le noyau de ses confrères kabbalistes musulmans doivent maintenant être restitués au récit de la mathesis qui a fait que la modernité scientifique n’est rien d’autre que le résultat du penchant des premiers philosophes occidentaux modernes à lire le monde comme un texte mathématique.
