List of Figures
Preface and Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
- Introduction
The Faces of God
Alexandria
Gondeshapur
Harran
The Qur'anic Creator Paradigm and the Structure of Islamic Thought
- Al-Kindi: The Watcher at the Gate
The Four Faces of al-Kindi
The Qur'anic Kindi and God
The Aristotelian Kindi and God
The Mu'tazilite Kindi and God
The Neoplatonic Kindi and God
Al-Kindi's Proof for the Existence of God
The Universe of Kindian Theology: Structure and Semiotics
- Al-Farabi: The Search for Order
The Road to Ascalon: The Man and his Search
Al-Farabi and the Attributes of God
Essence and Existence
Emanation
Al-Farabi's Proof for the Existence of God
The Universe of Alfarabism: The Emanation of Structure and the Structure of Emanation
Ibn Sina's Necessary and Beloved Deity
Preliminary Assessments and Definitions
Necessity and Unity
Other Attributes of the Avicennan Deity
Emanation: The Cosmology and Angelology of Ibn Sina
Ibn Sina's Proofs for the Existence of God
The Mystical Dimension of the Avicennan Deity
The Structure of Avicennan Theology: The Allegory as Mirror
- The God of Medieval Isma'ilism: Cosmological Variations on a Neoplatonic Theme
Early Doctrine
Al-Nasafi and the Infiltration of Neoplatonism
Al-Sijistani and the Flowering of Isma'ili Neoplatonism
Al-Kirmani and the Multiplication of Hypostases
Al-Hamidi and the Apotheosis of the Neoplatonic Myth
The Structure of Isma'ili Myth and Theology
- Ishraq and Wahda: The Mystical Cosmos of Al-Suhrawardi and Ibn al-'Arabi
Al-Suhrawardi and the Grammar of Ishraq
The God of Light
Suhrawardian Emanation, Angelology and Cosmology
The Longitudinal Order of Angelic Lights (Tabaqat al-Tul)
The Latitudinal Order of Angelic Lights (Tabaqat al'Ard)
The Regent Lights (Al-Anwar al-Mudabbira)
The Paradox of Ibn al-'Arabi
Ibn al-'Arabi's View of God
Emanation and Ibn al-'Arabi
Sufism, "Union" with God and Ibn al-'Arabi
Suhrawardian Semiosis and the Structure of Reality According to Ibn al-'Arabi
- Conclusion: The Vocabulary of Transcendence: Towards a Theory of Semiotics for Islamic Theology
Bibliography
Index