Book Discussion: Political Thought in Iran
by Dr Seyyed Javad Tabatabai

Part One — Examining the Book’s Introduction (1)

A Short Reflection on the Idea of Divine Glory, or Kayanid Khvarenah,
in the History of Iranian Political Thought

Aydin Areta

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In recent years, Seyyed Javad Tabatabai’s account of Iranshahri political thought has attracted increasing attention among those interested in the history of thought in the Iranian lands. In both sessions my brief comments, while recognising the depth and breadth of Dr Tabatabai’s scholarship, focused mainly on parts of this book where, in my view, his assessment of the underlying substance of Iranian thought invites further reflection and questioning.

Tabatabai’s overall view of Iranian mysticism is negative. The principal reason is that he looks at the long history of this tradition from a political perspective and regards it as one of the roots of many forms of historical stagnation in Iran. I hold a different view. I believe Iranian mysticism and the political thought of the Iranian lands belong to a shared historical continuum, both grounded in the importance of freedom and developed human individuality and both deeply rooted in Mazdayasnian thought and the Khosravani wisdom of Iran.

In this context, Seyyed Javad Tabatabai regards Khwaja Nizam al-Mulk as an important carrier of Iranshahri thought in the post-Islamic world, while treating al-Farabi as a transitory figure influenced by Greek thought in the history of political philosophy. I have serious questions about the accuracy of this assessment, and I examine the issue in the second session of this series.

These meetings are held with several respected and knowledgeable friends, each of whom examines the subject from a different perspective. The time and structure of the meetings therefore allow only limited discussion of matters that require fuller explanation. Yet, like any brief opportunity for dialogue, they also have the advantage of encouraging more direct and focused speech.

In the first session, which addresses the introduction, I reflect on the idea of divine glory and why this concept can be placed at the heart of Iranian political thought, as well as the perspective from which the historical mysticism of Iran can also be understood within the same broader field of thought.