La Quietude de l'intellect: Neoplatonisme et gnose ismaelienne dans l'oeuvre de Hamid ad-Din al-Kirmani (Xe/XIe s.).

• Author: Walker, Paul E.

Caught up in the research for a book of my own on the great Ismaili philosopher-da i, Hamid al-Din al-Kirmani, but bemoaning the lack of modern investigation and writing about him, I suddenly find on my desk this impressive new study by Daniel de Smet which, with one highly accomplished stroke of profound scholarship, changes the situation completely. Al-Kirmani was, after Abu Ya qub al-Sijistani, the most important of the early Ismaili theoreticians. A contemporary of Ibn Sina, he was, like him, a representative of those Islamic thinkers who betray the influence of al-Farabi despite some critical differences. Philosophically, therefore, al-Kirmani must be compared and contrasted with both. Among the Ismailis also, he was a proponent of new doctrines that are explainable, in part, by his attachment to concepts that he shared with these two philosophers in opposition to, for example, al-Sijistani. Seldom easy to read and understand, al-Kirmani's writings, many of which survive, were, therefore, a major achievement both in Ismailism and in Islamic philosophy but surprisingly, until now, they have commanded relatively little attention. De Smet, we learn belatedly, however, has for some time been actively pursuing his research on al-Kirmani and the Ismailis. He has already published several articles and short studies which, though most appeared in well-respected venues, fell slightly outside the normal purview of Islamic studies per se.

La Quietude de l'Intellect, a title taken from al-Kirmani's greatest work Rahat al- aql ("The Comfort of Mind"), is, however, despite its substantial size, not primarily a study of Ismaili doctrines. Rather, de Smet is interested in the philosophy of, or more accurately in, al-Kirmani's thought. Although he does not ignore its Ismaili context, he concentrates his analysis for the most part on those aspects of what al-Kirmani said that have philosophical interest and value. Most impressive - perhaps the outstanding contribution of this book as a whole - is the range and depth of comparative material de Smet draws upon to elucidate these problems in al-Kirmani. They include a complete array of ancient Greek sources and of any and all the traces of them in Arabic, such as the Liber de causis and the Theologia, and of any other possible precursor for al-Kirmani in a variety of contexts including Jewish texts, such as the Sefer Yasira. Likewise, he does not fail to investigate the parallels (or lack thereof) in the...