Kirmānī’s Discourse on the Imamate and its Influence

Abstract

This chapter focuses on Ḥamīd al-Dīn Kirmānī’s discussion of the imamate in relation to his theory of the soul and of knowledge formation. In this respect the author makes three arguments. First, Kirmānī constructs a conceptual scheme that accommodates a rational formulation of the imamate based on Aristotelian psychology and Plotinus’ doctrine of emanation. Second, the synthetic discourse that he employs in this respect culminates in an existential narrative of the evolution of the soul through inspirational knowledge. Third, this synthetic discourse and the existential narrative reappear and resonate in the Ismaʿili texts of Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī, one of the major influences on the philosophy of Mullā Ṣadrā.