Hermetism, Sufism and Islamic Cosmology

by Öner Döşer

Particular sciences such as ‘philosophy of Nature’ and cosmology made an enduring impact on the wisdom that was predominant between 10^th-12^nd centuries in the Islamic world. Ikhwan al-Safa, al-Biruni, Ibn Sina could be counted amongst the prevailing authors of Islamic art and sciences. These authors would give us a good idea about the school of Hermeticists and Neo-Pythagoreans, mathematicians, historians, and scholars, the Peripatetic and, indirectly, the Ishraqi and Sufi conception of Nature. Their doctrines, when examined carefully, provide the basic understanding behind the Islamic cosmological doctrines.

The 13^th century witnessed the infiltration of Sufi mysticism into the general life of the Islamic communities. In the writings of the masters of that school, such as Ibn Arabi and Suhrawardi, we can observe that the gnostic philosophy of Islam was systematized.¹ Coming to the 14^th century, the work by Abdul Karim Jili ‘İnsan-al-Kamil’ left its mark on the history of Islamic philosophy.

Astrology was treasured during the medieval period, especially in Islamic circles, and prophecy was only a natural consequence of science, being rather an inferior aspect of original knowledge. What was considered as significant was the cosmological perspective it provided, which attempted to prove the dominance of the ‘heavens’ on earth. This notion states that creation began as a unique principle and the created earthly beings were destined to be passive and vulnerable before the angels or divine agents, who were symbolized by nothing but the planets themselves. The discipline of studying the angelic aspects of the cosmic reality that was used to designate the course of earthly events and the astrological symbolism which was based on the marriage of heaven and earth have constituted the organic facet of Islamic metaphysics and cosmology. It was revealed through the works that were produced by these authors.

We will examine the Islamic cosmological view and astrology through the writings of the masters of that time.

aIkhwan as-aSafa (980)

The Ikhwan were an Ismaili tendency philosophical-religious group that included different writers from Basra and Iraq. They had an encyclopedia called the Rasaʾil aIkhwan al-aṢafaʾ (The Epistles of the Brethren of Purity) which revealed the essence of their philosophy.

Referring to the Pseudo-Aristotelian Talismanic Hermetica, The aIkhwan has attributed a notable role to Hermes. Brethren of Purity expresses that Hermes could bear the cycles of the outermost planet and by doing so, he could receive knowledge of the heavenly spheres. Hermes Triplicate in Wisdom, who was no one but Idris the prophet - peace be upon him - would ascend to the sphere of Saturn and attune to its rotation for thirty years. After witnessing and learning all the states of the planet, he came back to earth and shared his knowledge of astrology. God said, ‘We raised him to a high place.”² (Ikhwan as-Safa, I.92)

It is observed that they integrated the Quranic reference to iIdris with the idea that Hermes was the same person as iIdris and Enoch and the claim that Hermes discovered astrology. Ikhwan as-Safa believed that the knowledge of Idris, of which astrology was a major part, originated from the revelations received from the celestial spheres and the angels.

The discipline of studying the heavens was highly respected in the Rasa'il. Since any sublunary occurrence was directly affected by the heavens, this discipline was related to all the branches of natural science. Astronomy-astrology was not a system created in the hands of men but rather a science that Prophet Idris or Hermes Trismegistus received as a revelation through his journey to Saturn.

Islamic sciences did not draw a clear line between what astronomy and astrology signified. ‘Nujum’ was the word which could have indicated both. Ikhwan also believed that the two disciplines were very much related. They thought heavenly bodies were actually the abodes of the attributes of the Universal Soul, rather than being physical objects whose motions and periods could be examined. The phenomena of creation and decay were all based on the faculties of the Universal Soul. Astrology could only be comprehended by integrating this science with the metaphysical principles expressed by the cosmological cognition of the lkhwan.

They examined ‘nucum’ in three parts:

The first one was about the spheres, stars, their dimensions, movements etc. (ilm al-hai'ah), the second was the science of astronomical tables (zij) and the third was Judicial astrology (ilm al-ahkam). This partition may rationalize the distinction we made between astronomy and astrology, while what is actually called general astrology is also included in the first category.

While Ikhwan regarded the cosmos as finite in its most conventional sense, and believed that there was "neither void nor plenum’’ beyond, they identified the fixed stars with the kursi, or Pedestal, (Quran II, 255) and the ninth heaven with the 'arsh, or Throne (Quran IX, 129; LXIX, 17) so that they could follow the cosmological view given by Qur’an.

The Sun had the major role in the way Ikhwan described the cosmos.

God has placed the Sun at the center of the Universe just as the capital of a country is placed at its center and the ruler's palace at the center of the city.

We see Venus, Mercury, the Moon, the sphere of air and the earth below it and the spheres of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the fixed stars and the Muhit above it. Being "the heart of the Universe" and "the sign of God in the heavens and earth", the light of the Sun was simply the outpouring of ‘Being’ "with the permission of Allah". The Intellect had brought the Sun and Moon into being, which gave birth to the principles of masculinity and femininity. The Intellect had given life to everything through the two principles. As the two wedded, creation began. This was the same process of the spirit (ruh) as it vitalized and kindled the heart (qalb) of man. The motion of the Sun was the life-giving force (ruh al-Hayat) of the heavens which provided vitality for all that was above and below. For the Ikhwan, the relation between light and the Sun could be compared to the link between the world and God. Nablusi believed that the wheel of fortune of the Sun corresponded to the spirit of man.³ Kayseri says “The spirit that belonged to the sphere of the Sun is the heart of the realm resided by the excluded spirits.’ ⁴

Ikhwan believed that the processes of creation and destruction and all the phenomena of the world were greatly influenced by the motions of the planets. The generation of plants, animals, and the human fetus were especially affected by the movements of the planets. The planets’ effect on creation resulted from the fact that they act as the agents of God, connected with everything else in the Universe. As they travel through the sections of the Zodiac, they mediate the generation of certain things through their God-given power. The planets radiate spiritual emanations that reach every single part of the Universe.

According to the tradition of Ikhwan, planets were also associated with certain prophets as well as certain phases of history. This view was appreciated by some Sufis as well, such as Abd al-Karim al-Jili who claimed it in his work al-Insan al-kamil. History consisted of eras conforming to the revelation of the prophetic messages of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad-upon all of whom be peace. The last era shall end as the planets collect together on the Day of Judgment, after which God will initiate a new life. Isma’ilis were going to adopt that opinion as well.

Al Biruni (973-1048)

Astronomy and astrology, which had been considered as one single science from the Islamic perspective, were the sciences that al-Biruni was most treasured for in the Muslim world. He was particularly honored for his expertise in astrology and astronomy after his death, although modern scholars tend to devalue his studies. Al-Biruni embraced the understanding that approved the divine forces related to astronomy and the attribution of the origin of science to the prophet Idris or Hermes.

Al-Biruni also said that Hermes might be identified with Idris, but some writers have claimed that Budasaf is Hermes.⁵

Ibn Nadim and al-Biruni equated Idris with Mercury and the Buddha.

Yet the spirituality attached to astrology was not clearly stated in Al-Biruni’s writings. There are different views regarding the extent of his awareness of the symbolic language of astrology (as a branch of Hermeticism) which lbn Arabi and other Sufis had mastered. Biruni rejected alchemy and held some branches of science to be real while thinking the others were false. He did not believe in the assumptions of other astrologers.

The acceptance of astrology by al-Biruni and, more generally, its integration into the Muslim perspective is due to the unified perspective of this very ancient form of wisdom. This perspective is based on the idea of the polarization of the Pure Being into the qualities of the signs of the Zodiac, which are the archetypes serving the cosmic phenomena.

Astrology is uncovering the endless possibilities that are innately found in the unique Principle that exists above all that has manifested. This is called the cycle of manifestation both in spatial and earthly terms. Islamic astrology underscores the principle of diversity that is deemed to have manifested from Divine Unity itself.

Ibn Sina, aka Avicenna (980-1037)

Ibn Sina regarded natural philosophy as the science that tackled anything that moved and changed in creation. Natural philosophy consisted of all the sciences that existed within the scope of the sublunary and specified as the following:

1. tibb-medicine
2. nujum-astrology
3. firasah-physiognomy
4. ta'bir-oneiromancy
5. talismat-natural magic (drawing celestial forces upon terrestrial ones)
6. nairanjiyat-theurgy (employing terrestrial forces to produce effects which appear as supernatural)
7. kmiya'-alchemy

Ibn Sina classified the cosmos simply as separate Intelligences (angels), celestial Souls, celestial bodies, and sublunary bodies.⁶ Ibn Sina indicated the role of the angels in his symbolic works on which he has written commentaries. In his Peripatetic writings, he regarded the angels as the movers of the heavens who were moved by God. The world was greatly affected by the will of angels or their actions depending on the nature and force of their bodies as well as their means of communion (shirkah) with terrestrial beings.

While there is a work that explains and supports the science of astrology which is attributed to him, there are also works that are known to be written by him that deem it as magic and an occult science that deserved depreciation. He thought prophecy belonged to prophets and saints who were gifted by God himself.

He also attacked astrology in many of his writings, claiming that the four elements did not constitute an adequate domain to discover the heavens. He believed that spheres were formed by ether and they could not be examined in the four sections that the signs were examined under. He further suggested that the heavenly bodies in the Milky Way were outside of our scope of study even though they might have influences as well. He degraded judicial astrology, deeming it as ‘the practice of quack doctors and charlatans’, and compared the astronomy of the Almagest to anatomy in medicine and the science of astronomical tables to that of remedies.

What Ibn Sina opposed was basically the art of prophecy, not the cosmological essence behind the science of astrology. Therefore, he subscribed to the idea that there is a relationship between the forces of the heavens and the sublunary occurrences as suggested by the science of astrology.

Sufism, cosmology and astrology

The root of the word ‘Sufism’ is safa, which denotes ‘purity’ in Arabic. Suf could also be shown as the origin of the word that means ‘wool’. In this context, wool makes a reference to the cloaks that Sufi ascetics wore. Therefore, Sufis were initiates who wore wool ‘on their purity’. Sufi philosophy advises people to refrain from immoral deeds, evil thoughts and lust for life. A Sufi was the person who sacrificed his ego and devoted himself to understanding the mysteries of human nature. He was committed to not performing anything that Sufism commanded him to refrain from, leading a moral and pure life based on simplicity and love for God. They dedicated their lives to service performed with love and wisdom. They have faith that the human being is the most venerated being of all the created. Sufis believe that man is the center that the cosmos revolves around. Humans constitute the foundation of the universe; he is the soul that gives it life.

The cosmology of the Sufis includes angelology just as the world of spirit includes the physical world. Angelology examines the angelic archetypes that are believed to represent the divine aspects of God. Moreover, each level of spirituality corresponds to a certain planet in a system where there are seven heavens. Each of these heavens is represented by a particular prophet.

The 13th century has witnessed a decreasing enthusiasm for the natural and mathematical sciences and the integration of Sufi mysticism with traditional Muslim life in its religious context. The gnostic aspect of Islam has only been expressed through the works of Ibn Arabi, such as Sahrawardi, Abd-al-Karim al-Jili and other masters of that school.

As-Suhrawardi (1154-1191)

Suhrawardi has used the philosophy of Hermes, examining it in the writings of those who came before him, like Jabir ibn Hayyan and the lkhwan, and in the cosmological views of Ibn Sina, particularly his ‘esoteric’ writings. He established the Ishraqi school, which dominated the intellectual life in the eastern region of the Islamic world, especially Persia after the 6th/12th century.

The Hermetic of the man of light articulated by Zosimos and found in the opening of the Corpus Hermeticum appears in the Islamic Illuminatonist (Ushraqi) writings of Suhrawardi.

Suhrawardi also constructed a hermetic lineage (the hakim al-‘atiga, “ancient wisdom”), including Hermes, Pythagoras, Plato, Empedocles, and the Sufi’s Duh’l Nun al-Misri (769-859), Sahl al-Tustari (818-896), Husayn b. Mansur al-Hallaj (858-922). Suhrawardi’s disciple Shahrazuri proposed that Idris found the pre-Islamic monotheistic religion of the Hanifs. Suhrawardi’s model was reiterated by Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499) as prisca teologia (original theology).

aiŠihabaddin aYaḥya as iSuhrawardi, who wrote both in Arabic and Persian, could be regarded as the first Arabic philosopher that exalted Hermes as a crucial forerunner.⁷

It might be questioned if As-iSuhrawardi had insistently described Hermes as his spiritual forebear to assert a more mystical and authentic figure than Aristotle so that he could criticize the Peripatetics that he called the followers of Ibn Sina. Just like the Ikhwan as-Safa two hundred years before, he also embraced the idea that holy people had physically ascended to the higher dimensions, the first of whom was no one but Hermes.

Suhrawardi and several other authors of the medieval period believed Idris or Hermes was the only prophet who had received the knowledge of wisdom and theosophy through God’s revelations. Throughout the Medieval period, Hermes has been respected as the founder of philosophy and the sciences in the East as well as in certain schools in the West.⁸

Muhyiddin Arabi (1165-1240)

Ibn Arabî (AD 1165-1240), who is still revered as one of the most influential mystical Sufi authors of Islam, had integrated the gnostic Islam with the Alexandrian cosmology suggested by the Ikhwani, the pseudo-Empedoclean cosmology of Ibn Masarrah, particular works of al-Biruni that related to astrology and the elevated Hermetic doctrines that could be studied in the Rasa’il.

Relating the planets and orbs to the Divine names in his cherished work al-Futûhât al-Makkiyya, Fusûs al-Hikam, al-Isfar, al-Tenezzalat, Ibn Arabi was moved by the cosmological assumptions and regarded that the planets and orbs were created in God’s image. He stated that the stars were not fixed bodies, seven hundred years before it came to be known by science. He predicted the average velocities of the motion of stars as 100 years per arc degree. He had recognized the retrograde movements with respect to certain planets and written about the creation of planets in the solar system, which very much resembles what is accepted as the scientific truth today. His most striking assumption was the heliocentric essence of the world.⁹ According to Ibn Arabi, the Sun was found at the very center of the seven heavens and thus more substantial compared to other planets that are below or above it. The orbs of the fixed stars had 28 constellations or houses (mansions, manazils) and the Moon appeared to pass through these houses.

His comprehension of ‘time’ was original as well. He studied the concept in two parts; natural time and para-natural time. The cosmic week was specifically revered by Arabi. He thought none of the days of the cosmic week were similar and that each represented one of the six directions of space (in six Days, from Sunday to Friday), which was finalized by the creation itself that corresponded to Saturday (the Day of eternity).

In addition to the planets, constellations and zodiacal signs mentioned by Ibn Arabi, we also find that the Islamic books that include the study of cosmology have diagrams and tables in them that relate each day to a particular letter in the alphabet as well as certain divine Names of God. In his work Futuhat (II. 390-478) he writes about creation and God’s holy names, associating each name with a letter in the Arabic alphabet, a mansion from the 28 lunar mansions (constellations), a day of the seven days of a week and one of the seven circulating heavenly bodies (five planets, Sun and Moon). Yet he clearly states that this association should not come to mean that he regarded the planets as ‘Gods’.

In his Futuhat, Ibn Arabi says: “So, because Allah created the world according to His own image (II.395.25),… the Days had to be seven due to these (seven) Attributes and their rules, so the world appeared living, knowing, able, willing, hearing, seeing and speaking. (II.438.19). Arabi states that each of the seven days of the divine week has to be based on these seven divine Attributes.

There are also seven fundamental creative movements that cause events on Earth. Each of them is ruled by one of the seven Attributes and identified with astronomical and astrological positions and figures that are involved in the cosmological manifestations of those divine influences.

Ald-al karim al-Jili (1366-1428)

The book Insan al-Kamil written by Ald-al karim al-Jili explains how he regards man as the manifested God and the manifested universe, claiming that human beings are bridges that act as mediums between God and the universe. Dwelling on cosmology and the planetary spheres, he takes the seven heavens as a geocentric system, assigning a prophet to each of the planets. He started with Adam, whom he attributed to the Moon.

It is seen that most of the Arabic philosophers from al-Kindi onward knew that once purified, the soul could ascend to the heavens psychically or mentally. Al-Kindi further explains that the soul gets purified as it goes through the phases of each planetary sphere, which begins with that of Mercury. ‘Each wheel of fortune has a science and spirit of its own. The wheel of fortune of the Moon is the genius of thought; it regulates the process of birth and death. The wheel of fortune that belongs to Utarid (Mercury) is the genius of nobility; it guides those souls who have passed their test and separated themselves from their flesh in the first stage. Zuhrah (Venus) is the genius of love; it holds the mirror of love in its hands and those who have forgotten one another find each other in this mirror. The Sun is the genius of beauty, it disseminates its light throughout the universe and the triumphant souls pass through such beauty so that they can soar to immortality. Mirrih (Mars) is the genius of justice; it has the sword of justice in its hand. Mushtari (Jupiter) is the genius of knowledge; it has the great scepter of might in its hand. The seventh and the last phase, the wheel of fortune of the Zuhal (Saturn), is where one reaches immortality; this heaven possesses the great brightness and the mysteries of the collective mind.¹⁰

This hierarchy reveals the journey of individual souls as they ascend to the Infinite!

Notes and References:
1 Seyyid Hossein Nasr, An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines, Thames and Hudson Ltd, 1978, p 13
2 Ikhwan as-Safa, I.92
3 Nablusi, I, p 124
4 Davud-I Kayseri, Matla’u hususi’l-kilem fi meani Fususi’l-Hikem, Tahran, Daru’l İtisam, 1416/1996
5 206.8-9, inaccurate trans. By Sachau 188.24-25
6 Nasr, page 236
7 As-Suhrawardi, Mağmu’a 1.113.1-6, Kitab at-Talwihat 76
8 Seyyid Hossein Nasr, Three Muslim Sages, Caravan Books, Delmark, NY, p 61
9 Mohammed Haj Yousef, Ibn Arabi-Time and Cosmology, Routeledge Taylor and Finans Group, 2009, p 8
10 Mahmud Erol Kılıç, Hermesler Hermesi, Arkeoloji ve Sanat Yayınları, 2010, p 127

Image sources:
Ikhwan al-Safa, Arabic manuscript illumination from the 12th century CE showing the Brethren of Purity. Iraki painter, 1287, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Al Biruni, USSR stamp, Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, 6 copecks, 1973., The original uploader was Romanm at Slovenian Wikipedia., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Mosque, A sunset view of the tomb of Abdul Qadir Jilani, Baghdad, VrMUSLIM at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
Al-Kindi, An imaginary drawing of al-Kindi, derived from an Egyptian postage, Michel Bakni, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Published at: ivcconference.com/constellation-news/, 2021.

Author:
Öner Döşer is an astrology consultant, instructor, researcher and author. So far he has written 35 books, 14 of them translated into English and other languages. His articles have been published in reputable, international astrology journals and websites. Öner is the founder of AstroArt School of Astrology, School of Astrology Publications and Astrology Television. Since 2012, he has been organizing annual events in Turkey, International Astrology Days, with the participation of world-renowned astrologers. He was a speaker at major international astrology organizations. So far, he has trained more than 2000 students, many of whom became teachers and writers in the astrological community. As of 2016, AstroArt School of Astrology has been on the list of approved schools of APAI and ISAR, having Turkish and English certificate and diploma programs for students from all over the world. Öner is on the list of instructors at Kepler College based in Seattle, USA, and teaches online courses at this educational institution. He received Robert Zoller’s Medieval Astrology Diploma, ISAR (International Society of Astrological Research Society) and OPA (Organization for Professional Astrology) certificates, he is OPA Turkey Satellite and a member of APAI (Association of Professional Astrologers International) and ISAR.

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