Seyyed Hossein Nasr
Encyclopedia
Seyyed Hossein Nasr (born April 7, 1933 in Tehran
) is an Iran
ian University Professor of Islamic studies
at George Washington University
, and a prominent Islamic philosopher
. He is the author of many scholarly books and articles.
Nasr is a Muslim Persian philosopher
and renowned scholar of comparative religion
, a lifelong student and follower of Frithjof Schuon
, and writes in the fields of Islamic esoterism, Sufism
, philosophy of science, and metaphysics
.
Nasr was the first Muslim to deliver the prestigious Gifford Lectures
, and in year 2000, a volume was devoted to him in the Library of Living Philosophers
.
Professor Nasr speaks and writes based on the doctrine and the viewpoints of the perennial philosophy
on subjects such as philosophy, religion, spirituality, music, art, architecture, science, literature, civilizational dialogues, and the natural environment. He also wrote two books of poetry (namely Poems of the Way and The Pilgrimage of Life and the Wisdom of Rumi), and has been even described as a 'polymath
'.
Nasr speaks Persian
, English
, French
, German
, Spanish
and Arabic
fluently.
to Seyyed Valiallah, who was physician to the Persian royal family, and one of the founders of modern education in Iran. His parents were originally from Kashan
.
He is a descendant of Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri from his mother's side, and is the cousin of Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo
, and the father of American academic Vali Nasr
, a leading expert on political Islam.
in Hightstown, New Jersey
, graduating in 1950 as the valedictorian
of his class and also winner of the Wyclifte Award, which was the school's highest honor given to the most outstanding all-round student.
A scholarship offered by MIT in physics
made him the first Iranian undergraduate to attend that university. There, he also began studying under Giorgio de Santillana
and others in various other branches such as metaphysics
and philosophy
. During his studies there he became acquainted with the works of the prominent perennialist authority Frithjof Schuon
. This school of thought has shaped Professor Nasr's life and thinking ever since. Professor Nasr has been a disciple of Frithjof Schuon
for over fifty years and his works are based on the doctrine and the viewpoints of the perennial philosophy
.
Upon his graduation from MIT, Nasr obtained a master's degree in geology
and geophysics
in 1956, and went on to pursue his Ph.D. degree in the history of science and learning at Harvard University
. He planned to write his dissertation under the supervision of George Sarton
, but Sarton died before he could begin his dissertation work and so he wrote his dissertation under the direction of I. Bernard Cohen
, Hamilton Gibb, and Harry Wolfson.
At the age of twenty-five, Nasr graduated with his Ph.D. from Harvard completing his first book, Science and Civilization in Islam. His doctoral dissertation entitled "Conceptions of Nature in Islamic Thought" was published in 1964 by Harvard University Press
as An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines.
. He became a full professor by the age of 30.
After Harvard, Nasr returned to Iran
as a professor at Tehran University, and then at Arya Mehr University (Sharif University) where he was appointed president in 1972. Before that, he served as Dean of The Faculty of Letters, and Academic Vice-Chancellor of Tehran University from 1968 to 1972.
Professor Nasr also learned Islamic philosophy
from the prominent Muslim philosophers Allameh Tabatabaei
, Sayyid Abul-Hasan Qazwini and Sayyid Muhammad Kazim Assar during that period leading up to the revolution.
In the 1970s, Farah Pahlavi of Iran appointed professor Nasr as head of the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy
, the first academic institution to be conducted in accordance with the intellectual principles of the Traditionalist School
. During that time, Nasr, Tabatabaei, William Chittick
, Kenneth Morgan, Sachiko Murata
, Toshihiko Izutsu
, and Henry Corbin
would meet and hold various philosophical discourses. The famous book Shi'a Islam
was one product of this period.
Upon his return to the west, Nasr took up positions at University of Edinburgh
, Temple University
, and since 1984 has been at The George Washington University where he is now a full time University Professor of Islamic Studies.
Nasr helped with the planning and expansion of Islamic and Iranian studies academic programs in several universities such as Princeton
, the University of Utah
, and the University of Southern California
.
He was an advisor for the award-winning, PBS-broadcast documentary Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet
(2002), produced by Unity Productions Foundation.
) on topics such as traditional metaphysics, Islamic science, religion and the environment, Sufism, and Islamic philosophy. Listed below are most of Dr. Nasr's works in English (in no particular order), including translations, edited volumes, and festschrift
en in his honor:
Other religious and traditional scholars
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
) is an Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
ian University Professor of Islamic studies
Islamic studies
In a Muslim context, Islamic studies can be an umbrella term for all virtually all of academia, both originally researched and as defined by the Islamization of knowledge...
at George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, and a prominent Islamic philosopher
Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is a branch of Islamic studies. It is the continuous search for Hekma in the light of Islamic view of life, universe, ethics, society, and so on...
. He is the author of many scholarly books and articles.
Nasr is a Muslim Persian philosopher
Iranian philosophy
Iranian philosophy or Persian philosophy can be traced back as far as to Old Iranian philosophical traditions and thoughts which originated in ancient Indo-Iranian roots and were considerably influenced by Zarathustra's teachings...
and renowned scholar of comparative religion
Comparative religion
Comparative religion is a field of religious studies that analyzes the similarities and differences of themes, myths, rituals and concepts among the world's religions...
, a lifelong student and follower of Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon, was a native of Switzerland born to German parents in Basel, Switzerland. He is known as a philosopher, metaphysician and author of numerous books on religion and spirituality....
, and writes in the fields of Islamic esoterism, Sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
, philosophy of science, and metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
.
Nasr was the first Muslim to deliver the prestigious Gifford Lectures
Gifford Lectures
The Gifford Lectures were established by the will of Adam Lord Gifford . They were established to "promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term — in other words, the knowledge of God." The term natural theology as used by Gifford means theology supported...
, and in year 2000, a volume was devoted to him in the Library of Living Philosophers
Library of Living Philosophers
The Library of Living Philosophers is a series of books conceived of and started by Paul Arthur Schilpp in 1939; Schilpp remained editor until 1981. The series was edited by Lewis Edwin Hahn from 1981 until 2001, and is currently edited by Randall Auxier...
.
Professor Nasr speaks and writes based on the doctrine and the viewpoints of the perennial philosophy
Perennial philosophy
Perennial philosophy is the notion of the universal recurrence of philosophical insight independent of epoch or culture, including universal truths on the nature of reality, humanity or consciousness .-History:The idea of a perennial philosophy has great...
on subjects such as philosophy, religion, spirituality, music, art, architecture, science, literature, civilizational dialogues, and the natural environment. He also wrote two books of poetry (namely Poems of the Way and The Pilgrimage of Life and the Wisdom of Rumi), and has been even described as a 'polymath
Polymath
A polymath is a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas. In less formal terms, a polymath may simply be someone who is very knowledgeable...
'.
Nasr speaks Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
, English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
, German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
fluently.
Origins
Nasr was born in 1933 in south-central TehranTehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
to Seyyed Valiallah, who was physician to the Persian royal family, and one of the founders of modern education in Iran. His parents were originally from Kashan
Kashan
Kashan is a city in and the capital of Kashan County, in the province of Isfahan, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 248,789, in 67,464 families....
.
He is a descendant of Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri from his mother's side, and is the cousin of Iranian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo
Ramin Jahanbegloo
Ramin Jahanbegloo is an Iranian philosopher and academic who is currently based in Canada. He teaches at the University of Toronto as a professor of political science.-Biography:...
, and the father of American academic Vali Nasr
Vali Nasr
Vali Nasr is a leading expert on Middle East and Islamic world, a best-selling author, influential commentator and Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University, Senior Fellow in Foreign Policy at Brookings Institution, and a columnist for...
, a leading expert on political Islam.
Education
Nasr went to Firuz Bahram High School in Tehran before being sent to the United States for education at thirteen. In the US, Nasr first attended Peddie SchoolPeddie School
The Peddie School is a college preparatory school in Hightstown, New Jersey, United States. It is a nondenominational, coeducational boarding school located on a 280‑acre campus, and serves students in the ninth through twelfth grades, plus a small post-graduate class...
in Hightstown, New Jersey
Hightstown, New Jersey
Hightstown is a Borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 5,494.Hightstown was incorporated as a borough by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 5, 1853, within portions of East Windsor Township. The borough became...
, graduating in 1950 as the valedictorian
Valedictorian
Valedictorian is an academic title conferred upon the student who delivers the closing or farewell statement at a graduation ceremony. Usually, the valedictorian is the highest ranked student among those graduating from an educational institution...
of his class and also winner of the Wyclifte Award, which was the school's highest honor given to the most outstanding all-round student.
A scholarship offered by MIT in physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
made him the first Iranian undergraduate to attend that university. There, he also began studying under Giorgio de Santillana
Giorgio de Santillana
Giorgio Diaz de Santillana was an Italian-American philosopher of science and historian of science, and professor at MIT....
and others in various other branches such as metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
and philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
. During his studies there he became acquainted with the works of the prominent perennialist authority Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon, was a native of Switzerland born to German parents in Basel, Switzerland. He is known as a philosopher, metaphysician and author of numerous books on religion and spirituality....
. This school of thought has shaped Professor Nasr's life and thinking ever since. Professor Nasr has been a disciple of Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon
Frithjof Schuon, was a native of Switzerland born to German parents in Basel, Switzerland. He is known as a philosopher, metaphysician and author of numerous books on religion and spirituality....
for over fifty years and his works are based on the doctrine and the viewpoints of the perennial philosophy
Perennial philosophy
Perennial philosophy is the notion of the universal recurrence of philosophical insight independent of epoch or culture, including universal truths on the nature of reality, humanity or consciousness .-History:The idea of a perennial philosophy has great...
.
Upon his graduation from MIT, Nasr obtained a master's degree in geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and geophysics
Geophysics
Geophysics is the physics of the Earth and its environment in space; also the study of the Earth using quantitative physical methods. The term geophysics sometimes refers only to the geological applications: Earth's shape; its gravitational and magnetic fields; its internal structure and...
in 1956, and went on to pursue his Ph.D. degree in the history of science and learning at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He planned to write his dissertation under the supervision of George Sarton
George Sarton
George Sarton was a Belgian chemist and historian who is considered the founder of the discipline of history of science. He left Belgium because of the First World War and settled in the United States where he spent the rest of his life researching and writing about the history of science...
, but Sarton died before he could begin his dissertation work and so he wrote his dissertation under the direction of I. Bernard Cohen
I. Bernard Cohen
I. Bernard Cohen was the Victor S. Thomas Professor of the history of science at Harvard University and the author of many books on the history of science and, in particular, Isaac Newton....
, Hamilton Gibb, and Harry Wolfson.
At the age of twenty-five, Nasr graduated with his Ph.D. from Harvard completing his first book, Science and Civilization in Islam. His doctoral dissertation entitled "Conceptions of Nature in Islamic Thought" was published in 1964 by Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. In 2005, it published 220 new titles. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. Its current director is William P...
as An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines.
Back to Iran
Seyyed Hossein Nasr began his teaching career in 1955 when he was still a young doctoral student at Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He became a full professor by the age of 30.
After Harvard, Nasr returned to Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
as a professor at Tehran University, and then at Arya Mehr University (Sharif University) where he was appointed president in 1972. Before that, he served as Dean of The Faculty of Letters, and Academic Vice-Chancellor of Tehran University from 1968 to 1972.
Professor Nasr also learned Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy
Islamic philosophy is a branch of Islamic studies. It is the continuous search for Hekma in the light of Islamic view of life, universe, ethics, society, and so on...
from the prominent Muslim philosophers Allameh Tabatabaei
Allameh Tabatabaei
Allameh Seyyed Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei was one of the most prominent thinkers of philosophy and contemporary Shia Islam...
, Sayyid Abul-Hasan Qazwini and Sayyid Muhammad Kazim Assar during that period leading up to the revolution.
In the 1970s, Farah Pahlavi of Iran appointed professor Nasr as head of the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy
Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy
Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy was founded in Iran during the Pahlavi era by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a Professor of History of Science and Philosophy at the University of Tehran who also served for several years as President of Aryamehr University of Technology in Iran...
, the first academic institution to be conducted in accordance with the intellectual principles of the Traditionalist School
Traditionalist School
The term Traditionalist School is used by Mark Sedgwick and other authors to denote a school of thought, also known as Integral Traditionalism or Perennialism to denote an esoteric movement developed by authors such as French metaphysician René Guénon, German-Swiss...
. During that time, Nasr, Tabatabaei, William Chittick
William Chittick
William C. Chittick is a leading translator and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively on the school of Ibn 'Arabi, Islamic philosophy, Shi'ism, and Islamic...
, Kenneth Morgan, Sachiko Murata
Sachiko Murata
Sachiko Murata is a professor of religion and Asian studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She is a 2011 Guggenheim Fellow.-Life:...
, Toshihiko Izutsu
Toshihiko Izutsu
was a university professor and author of many books on Islam and other religions. He taught at the Institute of Cultural and Linguistic studies at Keio University in Tokyo, the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy in Tehran, and McGill University in Montreal....
, and Henry Corbin
Henry Corbin
Henry Corbin was a philosopher, theologian and professor of Islamic Studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.Corbin was born in Paris in April 1903. As a boy he revealed the profound sensitivity to music so evident in his work...
would meet and hold various philosophical discourses. The famous book Shi'a Islam
Shi'a Islam (book)
Shi'ite Islam is an important text on the history and thought of Shi'a Islam.Written by Muhammed H. Al-Tabataba'i, with the translation, editing, and introduction by Dr...
was one product of this period.
Return to the US
Upon his return to the west, Nasr took up positions at University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
, and since 1984 has been at The George Washington University where he is now a full time University Professor of Islamic Studies.
Nasr helped with the planning and expansion of Islamic and Iranian studies academic programs in several universities such as Princeton
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
, and the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
.
He was an advisor for the award-winning, PBS-broadcast documentary Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet
Muhammad: Legacy of a Prophet
Muhammad: Legacy of the Prophet is a PBS documentary film about the life of Islamic prophet Muhammad based on historical records and on the stories of living American Muslims who call Muhammad the Messenger of God...
(2002), produced by Unity Productions Foundation.
Awards and honors
- In year 2000, a volume was devoted to him in the Library of Living PhilosophersLibrary of Living PhilosophersThe Library of Living Philosophers is a series of books conceived of and started by Paul Arthur Schilpp in 1939; Schilpp remained editor until 1981. The series was edited by Lewis Edwin Hahn from 1981 until 2001, and is currently edited by Randall Auxier...
. - Templeton Religion and Science Award (1999)
- First Muslim and first non-Western scholar to deliver the prestigious Gifford LecturesGifford LecturesThe Gifford Lectures were established by the will of Adam Lord Gifford . They were established to "promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term — in other words, the knowledge of God." The term natural theology as used by Gifford means theology supported...
- Honorary Doctor of Uppsala UniversityUppsala UniversityUppsala University is a research university in Uppsala, Sweden, and is the oldest university in Scandinavia, founded in 1477. It consistently ranks among the best universities in Northern Europe in international rankings and is generally considered one of the most prestigious institutions of...
, Sweden (1977) - He was nominated and won King Faisal Foundation award, but his prize was withdrawn upon the prize knowledge of him being a Shia. He was notified of winning the prize in 1979 but later the prize was withdrawn with no explanation. Extracts from ( http://www.arabiaradio.org/ )
Works
Nasr is the author of over fifty books and five hundred articles (a number of which can be found in the journal, Studies in Comparative ReligionStudies in Comparative Religion
Studies in Comparative Religion was a quarterly academic journal published from 1963–1987 that contained essays on the spiritual practices and religious symbolism of the world's religions. The journal was notable for the number of prominent Perennialists who contributed to it...
) on topics such as traditional metaphysics, Islamic science, religion and the environment, Sufism, and Islamic philosophy. Listed below are most of Dr. Nasr's works in English (in no particular order), including translations, edited volumes, and festschrift
Festschrift
In academia, a Festschrift , is a book honoring a respected person, especially an academic, and presented during his or her lifetime. The term, borrowed from German, could be translated as celebration publication or celebratory writing...
en in his honor:
- The HarperCollins Study Qur'an
- In Search of the Sacred
- Islam in the Modern World
- Islam and the Plight of Modern Man
- Ideals and Realities of Islam
- An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines
- Knowledge and the Sacred online
- Islamic Life and Thought
- Islamic Art and Spirituality
- Sufi Essays
- Sadr al-Din Shirazi and His Transcendent Theosophy, 2nd edition
- A Young Muslim's Guide to the Modern World
- The Need for a Sacred Science
- Traditional Islam in the Modern World
- Man and Nature: The Spiritual Crisis in Modern Man
- The Islamic Intellectual Tradition in Persia, edited by Mehdi Aminrazavi
- The Garden of Truth: The Vision and Promise of Sufism, Islam's Mystical Tradition
- Three Muslim Sages
- Science and Civilization in Islam
- Islamic Science: An Illustrated Study
- Religion and the Order of Nature
- Muhammad: Man of God
- Islamic Studies: Essays on Law and Society, the Sciences, and Philosophy and Sufism
- The Heart of Islam: Enduring Values for Humanity
- Islamic Philosophy from its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy
- Poems of the Way
- The Pilgrimage of Life and the Wisdom of Rumi
- Islam: Religion, History, and Civilization
- Islam, Science, Muslims, and Technology: Seyyed Hossein Nasr in Conversation with Muzaffar Iqbal
- The Essential Seyyed Hossein Nasr, edited by William ChittickWilliam ChittickWilliam C. Chittick is a leading translator and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively on the school of Ibn 'Arabi, Islamic philosophy, Shi'ism, and Islamic...
- The Essential Frithjof Schuon
- Religion of the Heart: Essays Presented to Frithjof Schuon on his Eightieth Birthday, edited with William Stoddart
- The Philosophy of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, edited by L.E. Hahn, R. Auxier, and L.W. Stone
- History of Islamic Philosophy, edited with Oliver Leaman
- The Essential Sophia, edited with Katherine O'Brien
- An Anthology of Philosophy in Persia, edited with Mehdi Aminrazavi (5 vols.)
- Islamic Spirituality, edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr (Vol. 1: Foundations; Vol. 2: Manifestations)
- In Quest of the Sacred: The Modern World in the Light of Tradition, edited with Katherine O'Brien
- An Annotated Bibliography of Islamic Science, edited with William ChittickWilliam ChittickWilliam C. Chittick is a leading translator and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively on the school of Ibn 'Arabi, Islamic philosophy, Shi'ism, and Islamic...
and Peter Zirnis (3 vols.) - Isma'ili Contributions to Islamic Culture, edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
- Mecca the Blessed, Madina the Radiant, photographs by Ali Kazuyo Nomachi; essay by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
- The Works of Seyyed Hossein Nasr Through His Fortieth Birthday, edited by William ChittickWilliam ChittickWilliam C. Chittick is a leading translator and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively on the school of Ibn 'Arabi, Islamic philosophy, Shi'ism, and Islamic...
- Knowledge is Light: Essays in Honor of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, edited by Zailan Moris
- Beacon of Knowledge - Essays in Honor of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, edited by Mohammad Faghfoory
- Shi'ite Islam by Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i, translated by Seyyed Hossein Nasr
See also
- Sufi studiesSufi studiesSufi studies: a particular branch of comparative studies that uses a.o.the technical lexicon of the Islamic mystics, the Sufis, to exemplify the nature of its ideas; hence the frequent reference to Sufi Orders...
- Higher Education in IranHigher education in IranIran has a large network of private, public, and state affiliated universities offering degrees in higher education. State-run universities of Iran are under the direct supervision of Iran's Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and Ministry of Health and Medical Education .-Pre-Islamic...
- Iranian traditional humanism
Other religious and traditional scholars
- Frithjof SchuonFrithjof SchuonFrithjof Schuon, was a native of Switzerland born to German parents in Basel, Switzerland. He is known as a philosopher, metaphysician and author of numerous books on religion and spirituality....
- Titus BurckhardtTitus BurckhardtTitus Burckhardt , a German Swiss, was born in Florence, Italy in 1908 and died in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1984. He devoted all his life to the study and exposition of the different aspects of Wisdom and Tradition.He was an eminent member of the "traditionalist school" of twentieth-century authors...
- Martin LingsMartin LingsMartin Lings was an English Muslim writer and scholar, a student and follower of Frithjof Schuon, and Shakespearean scholar...
- Tage LindbomTage LindbomTage Leonard Lindbom, who later in his life took the name Sidi Zayd, , PhD in Political science, who was early in his life the party theoretician and director of the archives of the Swedish Social Democratic Party 1938-1965, but later in his life he converted to Islam...
- Kurt AlmqvistKurt AlmqvistKurt Almqvist , PhD in Romance Languages, Swedish poet, intellectual and spiritual figure, representative of the Traditionalist School and the Perennial philosophy. Almqvist was a life-long disciple of the Swiss metaphysician and spiritual guide Frithjof Schuon. He came into close contact with the...
- Ivan AguéliIvan AguéliIvan Aguéli also named Sheikh 'Abd al-Hādī 'Aqīlī upon his acceptance of Islam, was a Swedish wandering Sufi, painter and author. As a devotee of Ibn Arabi, his metaphysics applied to the study of Islamic esoterism and its similarities with other esoteric traditions of the world...
- James CutsingerJames CutsingerJames Sherman Cutsinger is a professor, author, and editor, whose works focus primarily on the subjects of traditionalism and Eastern Orthodoxy.-Traditionalism:...
- Rene GuenonRené GuénonRené Guénon , also known as Shaykh `Abd al-Wahid Yahya was a French author and intellectual who remains an influential figure in the domain of metaphysics, having written on topics ranging from metaphysics, sacred science and traditional studies to symbolism and initiation.In his writings, he...
- Julius EvolaJulius EvolaBarone Giulio Cesare Andrea Evola also known as Julius Evola, was an Italian philosopher and esotericist...
- Ismail Faruqi
- Allameh TabatabaeiAllameh TabatabaeiAllameh Seyyed Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei was one of the most prominent thinkers of philosophy and contemporary Shia Islam...
- Louis MassignonLouis MassignonLouis Massignon was a French scholar of Islam and its history. Although a Catholic himself, he tried to understand Islam from within and thus had a great influence on the way Islam was seen in the West; among other things, he paved the way for a greater openness inside the Catholic Church towards...
- Henry CorbinHenry CorbinHenry Corbin was a philosopher, theologian and professor of Islamic Studies at the Sorbonne in Paris, France.Corbin was born in Paris in April 1903. As a boy he revealed the profound sensitivity to music so evident in his work...
- William ChittickWilliam ChittickWilliam C. Chittick is a leading translator and interpreter of classical Islamic philosophical and mystical texts. He is best known for his groundbreaking work on Rumi and Ibn 'Arabi, and has written extensively on the school of Ibn 'Arabi, Islamic philosophy, Shi'ism, and Islamic...
Articles and biography
- Understanding Seyyed Hossein Nasr
- The Foundation for Traditional Studies
- Sophia: The Journal of Traditional Studies
- The Seyyed Hossein Nasr Foundation
- Nasr's CV
- Biography of Sayyed Hossein Nasr by Ibrahim Kalin
- George Washington University commemorating Seyyed Hossein Nasr
- Islam and ecology - Nasr
Media
- Encounters with Islam and Nature Downloadable interview with Nasr regarding Islam and the environment. June 15, 2007.
- Nasr on PBS
- In The Beginning Was Consciousness. 2003 Dudleian Lecture at Harvard University.
- Development and Muslim Societies. Lecture at the World Bank.
- Unlearning Intolerance. U.N. Conference on Islamophobia. Keynote address given by Seyyed Hossein Nasr.
- PilgrFile: The Heart of Islam. Lecture at the Washington National Cathedral.
- This is America - Show 925. Seyyed Hossein Nasr television interview on Google videoGoogle VideoGoogle Videos is a video search engine, and formerly a free video sharing website, from Google Inc. Before removing user-uploaded content, the service allowed selected videos to be remotely embedded on other websites and provided the necessary HTML code alongside the media, similar to YouTube...
. - Controversy over the Pope's Remarks. Radio interview on The Diane Rehm Show.