Semiotics of Love in Suhrawardi’s Allegorical Philosophy

In his allegorical fictions, Shaykh al-Ishraq Suhrawardi conveys multiple mystical issues one most important of which is love. Also included in his theory of love is the concept of rationality. Fairly surprisingly, for Suhrawardi love in the mystical dimension goes to the heart of rationality. The guiding idea is that the hero of Suhrawardi’s allegorical treatises is a wayfarer who loves God, looking for the right way to the Divine. This love is to be some sort of spiritual emotion rather than a passionate love. Our claim would be proved by analyzing Suhrawardi’s fictions, decoding the allegories. On his way to God, the wayfarer may become waylaid by his own perceptions, i.e., five internal and five external senses. The wayfarer, however, must overcome these senses, that is, he should not be overwhelmed by his perceptions. These ten senses are symbolized in “On the Reality of Love” by five chambers and five gates, in “Treatise on Towers” by ten towers, in “A Tale of Occidental Exile” by ten graves, in “The Simurgh’s Shrill Cry” by ten flyers, and in “The Red Intellect” by ten wardens. And finally, the wayfarer conquers all of them.