Henry Corbin and His Method in Studying the History of Islamic Philosophy

Corbin’s book, History of Islamic Philosophy, is a valuable work. Western and Eastern thinkers, including Seyed Musa Sadr, maintain that this book could acquaintedthe Westerners with the oriental thought. The significance of this work lies in its comprehensibility, for through a precise method it follows the history of Islamic philosophy.In the introduction of his book, Corbin reiterates that the history of Islam has not been subject to the intellectual imposition of the Church and hence freedom of thought hasbeen the pivot of intellectual trends in the Islamic world. Corbin classifies the history of philosophy into three stages: first, from the advent of Islam to the death of Averroes (IbnRushd) in the sixth century; second, thre centuries prior to the rise of Safavids; and third, sixteenth century AD.