Illuminative Wisdom in the Philosophical Thought of Avicenna

Avicenna as one of the great commentators and teachers of Aristotelian philosophy is a rationalist philosopher setting the most emphasis on reasoning. In some of his works, however, he showed an inclination toward illuminative philosophy. Some of these works are as follows: Hayy Ibn Yaqdhan, Risalat al-Tayr, Risalat Salaman wa Absal, Qasidah 'Iyniyyeh, and Risalat fi al-'Ishq and most importantly the last three parts of Al-Isharat: speaking of happiness and felicity, the positions of mystics, and the secrets of the charismatic acts of the saints. Avicenna himself alluded to his interest in illuminative philosophy in the introduction of one of his works called, Mantiq Al-Mashriqiyyin, in which he writes of the a different tendency, separating him from peripatetic philosophers.