Gradation of Word as the Philosophy of Language in Suhrawardi's Illuminationist Wisdom

In this paper, the writer has explored the philosophy of language in Suhrawardi in the mould of the “gradation of word” with reference to his books, treatises, and allegorical stories. In so doing, he has initially conducted a meticulous study of Suhrawardi’s books, treatises, and stories, as first-hand sources, as well as some second-hand sources which have commented on Ishraqi or Illuminationist philosophy or in which some words have been written on language and its nature. After collecting and classifying the required data, he has analyzed them thoroughly. The content analysis of the collected points has led to the discovery of a fact called “gradation of language” or, to put it more clearly, “gradation of words”. The results of this study also reveal that, following a reductionist approach, Suhrawardi bases his philosophy of language on “word”, considers three general, ontological, and luminous levels for it, and calls them “major words”, “middle words”, and “minor words”. Major words are at the top of this ontological hierarchy; middle words are in the middle, and minor words are at its lowest level. These words are issued from Almighty Truth through the “supreme word” and are the origins of creation in the world of being or the world of possibility. In the process of creation, the Truth, the Necessary Being, or the Light of Lights initially created the “supreme word”. This word, similar to the Light of Lights, the Necessary Being, or God, is one and immaterial; however, it is lower than God in terms of level and luminosity. This is because there is no light or word beyond God. The supreme word is an equivalent to the “most approximate light” in Suhrawardi’s Illuminationist philosophy and “the first intellect” in the Peripatetic philosophy of Farabi and Ibn Sina. It is noted that from the lights of this word are created some other major words. Based on the written texts on Illuminationist philosophy, the “last major word” is Gabriel, the Active Intellect, or the Tenth Intellect. The word Gabriel or the Holy Spirit has resulted in the making of some lower level words called middle and minor words. In Illuminationist wisdom, middle words are equivalent to the nine-fold heavenly souls and are at a level lower than major words. Minor words, which come into being from the illumination of the word Gabriel or the Active Intellect are equivalent to human rational souls. This paper is intended to examine each of these words in detail.