Janis Esots, an 鸟大大影院 scholar, presented a paper on 鈥淗enry Corbin and the Shi鈥榠 Legend about the Green Island鈥 at the 8th聽European Conference of Iranian Studies, which took place at the State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg (Russia), on 15-19 September. 聽Dr Esots paper dealt with the final period of Henry Corbin鈥檚 work (approximately 1970-1978) and his attempts to build new (and rediscover old) bridges between European and Oriental esoteric spiritual traditions.
The French scholar Henry Corbin (1903 – 1978) was a philosopher, theologian and professor of Islamic Studies at the 脡cole pratique des hautes 茅tudes in Paris, France.聽 Corbin is said to be responsible for redirecting the study of Islamic philosophy as a whole. In his聽Histoire de la Philosophie Islamique聽(1964), he argued against the common view that philosophy among the Muslims came to an end after Ibn Rushd.
Dr Esots鈥 paper focused on one of Professor Corbin鈥檚 works that explores the legend of the Green Island. The earliest known version of the Shi鈥榠 legend of the Green Island goes back to the end of the 7迟丑听AH / 13迟丑听CE century and testifies to the legal and spiritual state of the Shi鈥榠 community of that time. The community of the faithful, insofar as it perceives itself as an integral spiritual entity, is compared with the mysterious Green Island (earlier mentioned in the accounts of Alexander the Great鈥檚 travels). During the period of occultation (ghayba) and dissimulation聽(taqiyyaPrecautionary dissimulation of one’s religious beliefs, especially in time of persecution or danger, a practice especially adopted by the Shi’i Muslims.), this community, together with its ruler, is hidden from the eyes of the non-believers.
In his discussion of the legend (En Islam Iranien, t. 4, pp. 346鈥367 and 390鈥410), Henry Corbin compares the Shi鈥榠 Green Island with a mystical fraternity in the 14th聽century Strasbourg, which bore the same name. Established by Rulman Merswin (ca. 1307鈥1382), it followed the teachings of the Rhineland mystics Meister Eckhart (ca. 1260鈥揷a. 1328) and Johannes Tauler (ca. 1300鈥1361). Corbin draws several broader parallels between the mediaeval Shi鈥榠聽鈥榠谤蹿腻苍聽and Rhineland mysticism that were discussed in Dr Esots鈥 paper. The most important of them perhaps is that of聽futuwwa聽or spiritual chivalry.
In the early 1970s, Corbin gathered around himself a narrow circle of his close friends and disciples, together with whom in 1974 he founded the聽Centre International de Recherche Spirituelle Compar茅别, better known as the聽Universit茅聽de Saint-Jean de J茅rusalem聽(USJJ, active until 1988). In his paper, Dr Esots argued that he viewed this circle, based on the principles of spiritual chivalry, as a modern analogue of the legendary Green Island.
Henry Corbin, along with Vladimir Ivanow, was one of the most important Western scholars in the field of Ismaili (and, more general, Shi鈥榠) studies in the 20th聽century. Therefore, Dr Esots stated, 鈥渋t is important for us to know how his studies in the field were interrelated with his own spiritual biography.鈥
Dr Esots鈥 paper was presented as part of a panel entitled 鈥淧re-modern and Modern History of Iranian Studies鈥. Other speakers on it were Yuka Kadol (University of Edinburgh), who spoke about Arthur Upham Pope; Oksana Vasylyuk (A. Krymsky Institute of Oriental Studies of the NAS of Ukraine), who discussed Agathangel Krymsky鈥檚 contribution to Iranian studies; and Majid Bahrevar (Yasouj University), who spoke about Jan Rypka鈥檚 Comparative Poetics in Literary History.
Dr Esots also chaired a panel on classical Middle Ages. The panel had four presenters, who dealt with such topics as the sources of Abu Hamid Ghazali鈥檚 鈥Kimiya-yi sa鈥榓dat鈥 (Salman Saket, Mashhad), the hermeneutic project of 鈥楢yn al-Qudat Hamadani (Omid Hamedani, Mashhad), early Zagrosian聽Sufism聽(Fateh Saeidi, Goettingen), and religious tolerance in Nishapur (Abbas Boroumand, Isfahan). Salimeh Maghsoudlou (EPHE, Paris) reflected on accusations of 鈥楢yn al-Qud膩t Hamad膩n墨鈥檚 adherence to Ismailism.
Dr Alessandro Cancian also presented a paper at the conference entitled 鈥楽hi士i Tafsir Reconsidered: Imami Sufi Exegesis in Iran, 18th and 19th Centuries鈥, in which he looked at the role Shi士i Sufi exegesis played in the wider field of early modern and modern Shi士i Qur鈥檃nic exegesis. In his presentation, he showed how some works that have been largely overlooked by historians of Shi士i Qur鈥檃nic exegesis, such as the nineteenth-century mystical聽迟补蹿蝉墨谤s by Sul峁乶 士Al墨 Sh膩h and 峁f墨 士Al墨 Sh膩h, played a crucial role in the revival of exegesis in early modern Iran.The European Conference of Iranian Studies provides a major panorama of the developments in the field of Iranian Studies.聽 During the four-day conference, around 300 papers were presented.
The conference was organised by the聽聽聽that unites Iranologists, working in European universities and research institutes. This was the 8th聽conference of the Society (the previous one took place in Cracow in 2011). More information can be found at the conference website:聽.
