Sohrevardi and Iranshahri's Political Thought

According to Iranshahri’s political thought, king is the shadow of God on Earth (a symbolic concept) and existence of a just and charismatic king on top of government system guarantees prosperity of the country and the people’s felicity and welfare. Firdausi in his Shah-Nama (Epic of Kings) tried to reconstruct the doctrine of Ideal King and give an epic tone to it based on the demands of his time. Yet, Sohrevardi in the 6th century offered a reading of the same thought system which is referred here as “Gnostic-Illuminationist” reading of Iranshahri’s political thought. In this system “the world of imagination”, introduced by Sohrevardi, is a core concept; mythical aspect of the ideal kings in ancient narratives, such as Fereydun and Kay Khusraw, finds mystical reading, and terms like, Simorq (phoenix), Jam-e-Jahan-Bin (world-displaying cup), Mount Qaf, and so on get new interpretations. The present articles deals with Sohrevardi’s innovations in the area of Iranshahri’s political thought.