Abu al-Abbas Iranshahri () was a 9th-century Persian philosopher,

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, natural scientist, historian of religion,

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and author.Daryoush Kargar and EIr, "IRĀNŠAHRI" in Encyclopaedia Iranica. Accessed via online in Nov, 2010 at

/ref> According to traditional sources, he is the first figure in the wider

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to be associated with philosophy after the advent of

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Life

He was born in

Nishapur Nishapur or Neyshabur (, also ) is a city in the Central District (Nishapur County), Central District of Nishapur County, Razavi Khorasan province, Razavi Khorasan province, Iran, serving as capital of both the county and the district. Ni ...

(modern Khorasan in Iran), the city also known as Iranshahr, hence his title Iranshahri. According to Nasir Khusraw, Iranshahri taught Rhazes and Biruni ancient Iranian philosophy.

Religious Beliefs

According to Al-Biruni his rare impartiality was rooted in his lack of dependence on a particular religion. He created a religion and invited others to that.

Works

He authored several books and treatises in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and in Persian. All the books written, some of which are mentioned in passing by Biruni and Nasir Khusraw, have been lost. He wrote three books; ''Jalil'', ''Athir'', and ''Masael u'ttabi'a'', about philosophy and wisdom. Abulma'ali states that Iranshahri brought a new religion with a Persian book and named his miracle ''Hasti'' (existence). According to Biruni, he was knowledgeable about

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism ( ), also called Mazdayasnā () or Beh-dīn (), is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion centred on the Avesta and the teachings of Zoroaster, Zarathushtra Spitama, who is more commonly referred to by the Greek translation, ...

, Manichaeism,

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

, and Shamanism.

Philosophy

According to Abu'l Ma'ali, the author of bayan al-Adyan, Iranshahri considered himself a Prophet and wrote a book in Persian which he claimed have received a divine revelation by the angel called Hasti (Existence). He believed in the unity of all religions and considered existing differences among them the results of special interests (ḡarażμ) of their followers. According to Biruni, Iranshahri had said that God took covenant from light and darkness on the days of

Nowruz Nowruz (, , () , () , () , () , Kurdish language, Kurdish: () , () , () , () , , , , () , , ) is the Iranian or Persian New Year. Historically, it has been observed by Iranian peoples, but is now celebrated by many ...

and Mehragan, which may reflect Zurvanite influence. According to Nasir Khusraw, Iranshahri had expressed philosophical concepts in religious terms in such books as Ketab-e jalil and Ketab-e athir, and had led people to the true religion and the understanding of

monotheism Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

. He maintained that God was always a creator, and there was not a time when he was non-creative (u-rā ṣonʿ nabud) before He turned into being creative. According to him, it is requisite that He always be creator, then it is necessary for that in which His creation appeared to be eternal (qadim). His creation makes its appearance (padid-āyanda ast) in Matter (hayulā), and therefore, Matter, a sign of the apparent power of

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, is eternal; and since Matter, which is eternal, requires the existence of Space (makān), it follows that Space should be eternal too. His ideas on time were that time, world, and duration (zamān dahr wa moddat) are names whose meanings are derived from the same essence (jawhar). He also philosophized that Time, a substance in motion and restless (jawhar-e ravanda wa biqarār), is the sign of God's knowledge, in the same way that Space is the sign of His power; motion is the sign of His action, and the being (jesm) is the sign of His ability, and every one of these signs is infinite and eternal.

Notes

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