Ayn al-Qudât al-Hamadânî, who is known in the literature primarily for
his identity as a Sufi, should also be evaluated as a philosopher in light
of both historical data and the content provided by his own works. His
systematically presented views on epistemology, conceptions regarding
existence, the eternity of the universe, the theory of emanation (sudûr),
causality, the dialectic of light and darkness, and the unity of existence
(wahdat al-wujud), along with the unique conceptual world he established
in these matters, have placed him at a point that particularly
synthesizes the traditions of Sufism and philosophy. Since this synthesis
in Ayn al-Qudât occurred with an innate harmony in the depths of his
mind, it is not a contrived endeavor but a direct and natural reflection
of his quest for truth. The fact that Ayn al-Qudât was a contemporary of
Ebû Hâmid al-Ghazâlî (d. 505/1111) and felt very close to the person of
Ibn Sînâ (d. 428/1037) as well as his concept of al-Hikmat al-Mashriqiyya
prevents confining al-Hamadânî to the influence of “post-Ghazalian
shifts in Sufism.” In this context, as a thinker in the mold of Suhrawardî
al-Maqtûl and Mullâ Sadrâ, or as a “theosophical sage/philosopher”
(muta’allîh hakîm), Ayn al-Qudât has made both the demonstrative
(burhânî) reasoning method of the intellect and the “stage beyond the
intellect” the foundational pillars of his philosophy. Perceiving a profound
difference between knowing and perceiving (idrâk), Ayn al-Qudât
considers that matters related to metaphysics can be known by the
intellect but cannot be the subject of idrâk. Indeed, idrâk represents
a quality that can only emerge in a stage beyond the intellect. As he
frequently discusses in his works Zubdat al-Haqâ’iq, Tamhîdât, and
Maktûbât/Nâmehâ, Ayn al-Qudât re-processes the issues of knowledge
and existence which philosophers explained through rational stages by
centering them on the concept of “light” (nûr) and relates it to the stage
beyond the intellect. In this respect, beyond being a precursor to Suhrawardî,
by elevating light to one of the main concepts of wahdat al-wujud
and positing it as a theory in its own right, he both carried the understanding
of wahdat al-wujud represented by Sufis such as Bâyezîd
al-Bistâmî (d. 234/848) and Hallâj al-Mansûr (d. 309/922) onto a more
systematic plane and, in this sense, became a harbinger of Ibn ‘Arabî (d.
638/1240). His acceptance within his own conceptual framework of the
notions that the knowledge of all possibilities exists eternally as fixed
realities (a’yân al-thâbita) in God, who is transcendent of time, and that
existence, insofar as it is existence, is in the position of God’s manifestations/
appearances (tajallî/zuhûr), signifies his integration of the main
points that transform wahdat al-wujud into a theory within his philosophy.
In this vein, Divine light is the cause of the existence of all possibilities,
while the First Existence/Intellect/Light of Muhammad (Nûr-u
Muhammadî) is the condition necessary for their aptitude (isti’dâd).
The primary purpose of this study is to reveal the place of philosophy
in the thought world of Ayn al-Qudat al-Hamadhani, thereby highlighting
his identity as a “theosophical philosopher” (muta’allih hakim) in
the history of Islamic thought. In this study, the author’s works titled
Zubdat al-Haqa’iq, Tamhidat, Maktubat/Nameha, and Shakwa al-Gharib
were taken as primary sources, and the literature review method
was employed. The research concludes that Ayn al-Qudat adopted the
concepts of emanation (sudur) and the First Intellect based on mystical
contemplation (mushahada), transformed the unity of existence
(wahdat al-wujud) into a systematic theory by centering it around the
concept of “light” (nur), and was one of the formative figures of this
understanding in the pre-Ibn ‘Arabi period.
Keywords: Ayn al-Qudât al-Hamadânî; Emanation; The Philosophy of
Illumination; First Intellect; Wahdat al-Wujud