Table of Contents

Foreword by H. A. R. Gibb Preface to the Second Edition Introduction List of Transliterations Prologue--Islam and the Study of Nature Cosmological Sciences and the Islamic Revelation The Study of the Cosmological Sciences in Islamic History The Intellectual Dimensions in Islam and the Class of Seekers of Knowledge PART I. THE IKHWAN AL-SAFA 1. The Rasa'il of the Ikhwan al-Safa--Their Identity and Content The Ikhwan and Philosophy Identity and Significance of the Ikhwan The Sources of the Rasa'il The Organization of the Rasa'il 2. The Principles of the Study of the Cosmos and the Hierarchy of the Universe The Pythagorean Notion of Arithmetic and Geometry The Hierarchy of Being The Relation between God and the Universe The Universal Intellect and Soul Matter Nature The Spheres and the Elements Time, Space, and Motion The Analogy of Microcosm and Macrocosm and the Great Chain of Being 3. The Individual Cosmological Sciences Astronomy and Astrology The World of Generation and Corruption Meteorology Geology and Geography The Three Kingdoms 4. The Microcosm and Its Relation to the Universe PART II. AL-BIRUNI 5. The Life, Works, and Significance of al-Biruni 6. The Creation of the World and Its Subsequent History 7. The Role of Nature and the Methods of Its Study On Nature and Its Function The Methods Used to Study Nature 8. The Universe and Its Parts The Heavens The Sublunary Region Man and the World 9. The Wedding of Heaven and Earth in Astrology Principles of Astrology Al-Biruni and His Attitude Toward Astrology 10. The Attitude of al-Biruni Toward Philosophy and Learning The Role of Learning in Islam PART III. IBN SINA 11. The Life and Works of Ibn Sina and His Significance Ibn sina and the Islamic Religion 12. The Anatomy of Being Being and its Polarizations The Generation of the Universe The Relation between God and the Universe 13. Principles of Natural Philosophy Form and Matter Motion On Causes Ibn Sina and the Study of Nature 14. The Universe, Man, and Their Relation The Heavens The World of Generation and Corruption The Constitution of the Microcosm Sympathy between Man and the Universe 15. Nature and the Visionary Recitals Background and Setting of the Narrative Cycle Conclusion Appendix: Astrological Symbols A Selected Bibliography Supplementary Bibliography Index

About the Author

Seyyed Hossein Nasr is University of Islamic Studies Professor at George Washington University. He is the author of the forthcoming The Need for a Sacred Science, and has written Islamic Art and Spirituality, Islamic Life and Thought, Knowledge and the Sacred, Sufi Essays, and co-authored Expectations of the Millenium: Shi'ism in History and Shi'ism: Doctrines, Thought, and Spirituality, all published by SUNY Press.

Reviews

"...the amount of academic literature devoted to the way in which Muslims in classical and medieval Islam envisioned the cosmos is negligible. There are, however, some noteworthy exceptions. An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines is one of them." - Parabola