A reading list of Seyyed Hossein Nasr and other Perennialist thinkers

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Saiyad Nizamuddin Ahmad received his MA and Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from Princeton University. He also holds an MA in Arabic from Indiana University and a BSc in Pure Mathematics from Purdue University. He has taught at the University of Texas at Austin, the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilisation in Kuala Lumpur, the American University of Sharjah, and the American University in Cairo. Saiyad Nizamuddin Ahmad has also been Reader in Shīʿah Studies at The Shīʿah Institute, London.
His most recent scholarly works include:
1. Philosophy and the Intellectual Life in Shīʿah Islam, edited with Sajjad H. Rizvi (London: The Shīʿah Institute Press, 2017).
2. Universal Science: An Introduction to Islamic Metaphysics, Modern Shīʿah Library Series vol. 2, by Mahdī Ḥāʾirī Yazdī (d. 1420/1999), Trans. John Cooper (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2017), edited and introduced by Saiyad Nizamuddin Ahmad (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2017).
3. Miʿrāj al-ʿUqūl Sharḥ Duʿāʾ al-Mashlūl (The Ascension of the Intellects Commentary on the Supplication of the Lame) by Sayyid Murtaḍā Nawnahrawī Ghāzīpūrī (d. 1336/1917), edited and introduced in Arabic English, and Urdu by Saiyad Nizamuddin Ahmad (London: The Shīʿah Institute, 2016).
4. Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam by Muḥyī al-Dīn b. al-ʿArabī (d. 638/1240): A Critical Edition with Introduction and Notes (Cairo: Maktabat Miṣr, 2015) based on the unique Konya MS 1933 (dated 630 H) dictated by the author to his disciple Ṣadr al-Dīn Qunawī (d. 672/1274), Cairo: Maktabat Miṣr, 2015).
5. Fatwās of Condemnation: Islam and the Limits of Dissent. Kuala Lumpur: International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 2006.

[@catholicpog7183]

Good to see you back! These reading lists changed my life. Thank you for introducing these concepts to the next generation.

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Al-ḥamdulillāh (All praise is due to Allah). Thank you for watching.

[@tahaabdollahi2567]

I am from Iran and I have read Shahbazi's book several years ago. It's far from being a fair scholarly inquiry of the problem. The primary objective of the book was disgracing prof. Nasr by disgracing Schuon. As you certainly know, Iran's state opposes to Nasr. Shahbazi has a close relation with Iran's regime.

[@JB000001]

Charles Upton wrote a Foreword to Lee Penn's book "False Dawn" which he says gives documented support for his own findings in "The System of Antichrist".

[@Christianity_and_Perennialism]

Nasr has been a great influence on me. I don't exaggerate when I say there isn't a day that goes by that I don't recall something he said, including my favorite: "Only the Absolute is absolute".

[@tahaabdollahi2567]

And many thanks for your wonderful channel. I have been watching you for years and always learn from you. Hoping to see much more new videos from you.

[@thecuriousnerd6801]

اهلا بعودتكم سيدنا الفاضل العزيز. حفظكم الله وزادكم الله علما. شكرا على الفيديو القيم والمفيد

[@arsalanAli-ld1ke]

Assalamualaikum waiting for the logic reading list eagerly , i am a student of medicine making my way through basics of logic...surely your recommendations will be of great value

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

I already made a logic reading list some time ago.

[@arsalanAli-ld1ke]

@@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad yes i found it alhamdulilah ....i really appriciate you replying thou.....prof. there is a query i am stuck with i have seen your series on the incident between umar and fatima ...but some scholars amongst sunnis have refuted this incident along side standard shitte scholars saying that its fabricated and the whole book in which it is mentioned is fabricated.... i will share some refrences... dr tahirul qadri kzbin.info/www/bejne/morPoIGEm9mHd8Usi=L4pkVl5eIuKukK6F

[@EXRampage]

Salam ‘Alaykum Shaykhna. Thank you for making this video. I requested for this readling list in the previous video’s comment section, and just received this notification, which was a pleasant surprise

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Wa ʿalaykum as-salām. My pleasure. Thank you for watching.

[@adibahmed2653]

Salaam Alaikum, Thank you dearly for another beneficial video. One, hopefully, small request. Could you cite the book where Sh. Alawi critically examines Christianity? I’ve been having a hard time finding a complete list of his works to deduce the title of such work. Thanks in advance!

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Wa ʿalaykum as-salām. You are most welcome.

[@THE_SACRED_SCARAB]

Pleased to see you Back! Please consider redoing/doing a starter guide reading list about Ibn Arabi metaphysics

[@hashimal-kattan1202]

Another great reading list video! Can not wait to spend the year getting a traditionalist re-education

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

I wish you every success.

[@saleemandrewmcgroarty]

Please do a video on "Shi'ism & Sufism, there relationship in essence and in history", that would be brilliant! They seem to be at odds with each other, some clarification would be excellent.

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

After completing the Reign of Quantity series, I will do it in shāʾ Allah.

[@saleemandrewmcgroarty]

​@@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmadFantastic! Thank you, i look forward to it. I have just discovered your channel, I'm really enjoying the content. May Allah bless you.

[@Malik-nr7fm]

Good to see you back! Whenever you get the time, please make a metaphysics reading list that could take a student from the beginning to the "end."

[@screensafety8015]

Mysticism also perhaps given this hard to penetrate subject.

[@deebs12]

Excellent video. It’s great to see you back. 😊

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Al-ḥamdulillāh. Good to be back.

[@LitOwl93]

Welcome back Saiyad ❤️❤️

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Thanks.

[@arma.7798]

Salam Saiyad Since you are a writer about Ibn Arabi, why don't make a reading list on Ibn Arabi. We would be delighted to see you on that subject and see your books

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Salam. I have. It has been edited and will be uploaded on Monday August 19, 2024 in shāʾ Allāh.

[@arma.7798]

@@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad it is an honor that you upload regularly. Hope that continues for a veryyyy looooooooong time, Insha Allah

[@arma.7798]

there are a good amount of sayyad hossein nasr books in Iran and since I live here, I will purchase the Persian versions and I will read them in Persian. that was a really good video for a couple of reason, the most important is that after a long time, we saw you again Saiyad. thanks

[@arma.7798]

nowadays in Iran, Sayyad Hossein Nasr in known for his Contemporary Tafseer Of Quran and the books are all coming regularly and it is a bit tooooooo expensive to buy.

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

@@arma.7798 I did not know he has written a tafsīr. Given his undying support for "the Shāh" and the so-called "Shāh Bānū", I am a little surprised at his SHN "reahbilitation", so to speak, in the IRI.

[@Prandopa]

Finally a S. H. Nasr reading list! Thank you. BTW I speak Persian✋🏻

[@omermushtaq2006]

Welcome back Professor! So glad to see you back!!!❤❤❤

[@tele2159]

Welcome back sir, glad to have you back.

[@ClearLight369]

Thank you for this delightful survey. It's like a trip down memory lane for me. Guenon etc. were my first taste of esoteric spirituality when I was in my twenties. But can you please explain to me why you think Guenon and Coomaraswamy would not have supported the idea of the transcendental unity of religions, if that is in fact what you think? It seems to me Schuon got the idea from them. Btw, I'll never forget the day I heard Yegane Shayegan and Nasr conversing in the Middle East Section offices of Widener Library. Yegane had never had anything good to say about Nasr previously, but there she was making nice with him with dozens of Ghorbane shoma! And yes, I can read Persian.

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

I am sorry if I gave you that impression, but my understanding is that Guenon and Evola did support some version of the transcendent unity of religions (henceforth TUR). What I meant to say is that I do not support that doctrine and I made this statement in connection with the book authored by Frithjof Schuon bearing TUR in its title.However, I consider Guenon and Evola to be different in this regard from Schuon. Guenon, despite any commitment to a TUR doctrine, nevertheless completely entered Islam and remained faithful to it and entered a proper sufi order in Cairo where he took up residence, married an Egyptian woman, had children died and was buried there in full accordance with Islamic law. Schuon, on the other hand, who ostensibly entered Islam, was never explicitly designated as a Shaykh by Ahmad al-ʿAlawī and thus had no legitimate authority to pass on the initiatic teachings of Sh. Ahmad . Moreover, it is a known fact that Schuon practiced a ritual derived from the sacred Sun dance of some of the American Plains Indians tribes which he and his disciples performed in the nude. Not to mention all sorts of other nonsense (such as the nude icons he painted of the Blessed Virgin Mary [!]) none of which has nothing to do with Islam in any way. Nasr is (as was Lings) well aware of these strange goings on. In the case of Evola, going by his own writings, he did not "endorse" any particular religion but set out his unique approach in his book to spiritual filiation in the kali yuga for aristocrats of the soul in his book "Riding the Tiger". It has been claimed by one Frank Gelli in his book "Evola the Sufi of Rome" that Evola was a sufi Muslim. However, I cannot corroborate this report from any other source. The information above regarding Guenon is well-known and during my years spent in Cairo was able to verify these matters from his son as well.

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Were you a student in NELC at Harvard at some point?

[@ClearLight369]

@@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad Well, obviously, I guess!

[@arctos333]

I'm glad you're back. These videos are always a pleasure to watch.

[@menelvegor]

Your videos are always a pleasure to watch!

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Thank you for watching.

[@mikewahl6693]

Where does Aldous Huxley, author of ‘The Perennial Philosophy’ fit into this group of thinkers? This is a fine video, but leaves me with all kinds of questions. I found another book of Nasr’s, ‘In Search of the Sacred’. which is biographical and very interesting.

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

He is not in this group. The title of his book just happens to use the phrase perennial philosophy, but he does not share their metaphysical perspective.

[@ramallahi]

Hail Saiyad, great to see you back. You are one of the few islamic scholars i even respect. So I have a question: Whats your opinion on Code 19 and other ideas posed by Rashad Khalifa?

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

There are numerical secrets in the Qurʾān. However, Rashād Khalīfa was misled and proclaimed himself a prophet. Obviously, this is something which no Muslim will accept. Such a claim is clear apostasy.

[@arxiadelam204]

I was just waiting for you to return so I could request this, thank you very much

[@andrewbiggins9404]

Very happy to see you back. Your videos continue to provide me with much intellectual and spiritual nourishment. Thank you.

[@sidrasaadat8155]

❤❤❤

[@jacob-de4zi]

please finish ur reign of quantity commentary episodes

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

I am working on it.

[@arma.7798]

Assalamu Alaikum Welcome back saiyad🎉🎉❤❤

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Wa ʿalaykum as-salām. It is good to be back, al-ḥamdulillāh.

[@trosenthal3711]

Great to see you back! Is there any chance you could make a detailed video on the concept of the "solidification of the world" in Guenon? It has fascinated me for a long time and is, so I think, a very interesting part of his works. All the best to you!

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Thank you for watching. It is good to be back, al-ḥamdulillāh. I think I will deal with this in the chapter of that name once I get to it in the "Reign of Quantity" series which I am resuming. Filming is in progress…

[@Canuck21530]

Just found your channel couple of days back and saw you were MIA for sometime . Welcome back .

[@tele2159]

Hello Professor, I was wondering if there is anywhere where I can buy a copy of your translation of the Fusus Al Hikam. Thank you very much

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

It is not a translation. It is a critical edition of the Arabic text only.

[@scarfaceyam145]

Al-Salam, I am rather very much delighted to have tou back dear and esteemed Professor Ahmad.

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Wa ʿalaykum as-salām. It is good to be back, al-ḥamdulillāh.

[@Mel-bu5fz]

Very glad to see you back, two requests 1. Please give recommendations on an English translation of the Holy Quran with a Shia Twelver angle 2. Please give books that teach Arabic morphology to learn basic words in the Quran to understand how close the English translations are to the original meanings of the Arabic words 3. Please give an analysis of Quran Commentaries in any language eg Al Mizan compared to other commentaries from a Shia Twelver angle 4. Please give a talk on the works of Moezzi at the Sorbonne and his books including 'The Spirituality of Shii Islam' Lastly thank you for advising that The Study Quran has a Transcendental angle. As a total beginner I wouldn't have realised this. I rarely make comments online but your teachings are so valuable. Much gratitude and my dua's for your health and your long life

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Thank you for watching and your kind suggestions. Currently, my whole focus is on completing the Reign of Quantity series.

[@viktorg8346]

Assalamu Aleykym Sheikh, I have a question regarding the video. I will start that I am not very well-read in Rene Guenon and other traditionalist authors and I actually use your videos as a guide. But what surprised me is that very sharp distinction between Traditionalism by Rene Guenon and Schuon. From my understanding Schuon'ian Traditionalism indeed had certain amount of eclecticism but from that angle Guenon'ian wasn't fully inline with mainstream orthodox islam neither. Guenon did acknowledge at least some level validity of other traditions. From the book "East & West" we can even indicate that islamic exclusivism is just an accommodation of inherent western proselytic mentality. He did acknowledge islam as being the most compatible for the western mind in current times but I am not sure if he ever went further than that(to the point of abrogation of different traditions). So my question is if you could elaborate on that sharp distinction between the two? I am aware of some differences and very heterodox ideas of Schuon but I am not sure if Rene Guenon wouldn't be questioned from the point of view of islamic mainstream orthodoxy.

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

In short, Guenon become a proper Muslim and adhered to its practices and rituals as well as joining a proper sufi tariqa and was steadfast in his practice until he died. Schuon, however, engaged in all sorts of ḥarām activity as well as espousing completely wrong teachings to hsi followers.

[@aneespk5931]

Glad to see you back

[@imgguru1277]

Do you happen to remember where you purchased the books in Karachi? If it was Urdu bazar? Thanks

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

That was a long time ago… It was bookstore called Sasi Books in Sadar Bazar, Karachi. I do not know if it still exists. I have not been to Pakistan in many years.

[@Mosawi7]

Welcome back Saiyad

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

It is good to be back, al-ḥamdulillāh.

[@dungeonsanddragons2049]

Aye welcome back these types of videos are my favourite and i was wondering will you do a reading list for Mircea Eliade?

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

That is a good idea.

[@alibazzin]

Show me one Aya or one Hadith where it talks about or mentions that Islam, in the narrow sense of tge term, abrogates the other religions as a whole.in fact there is no such thing as abrogation or cancelation in the Quran except for some minor issues which have nothing to do with Aqida, because the outstanding message of Islam as the only religion given by God for humanity is:There is no God but one God. The only thing that differs throught centuries and nations was الشرعة والَمنهاج،and it is there explicit in the Quran. Is it not mentioned in the Quran that Abraham, Moises Jesus and many other prophets are Muslims? What does this mean? It means that Islam is one Religion and is meant for all humans since Adam till the last prophet, Mohammed(SUAS).

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

He is not. I am sorry I gave that impression.

[@alibazzin]

@@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad thank you for your response .i really appreciate It.

[@KhurramNizami-gf1mx]

Salaam Saiyid. I respect that you made a reading list for an individual/ group you disagree with and outlined where the disagreement is as well as the good of the work. I have found that many Sunni thinkers would discourage us from reading works that are seen as outside of their beliefs. Although I grew up Sunni, I have become disenfranchised by Sunni Islam due to this type of intellectual policing.

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Salams. There is a great deal of anti-intellectualism in the Muslim community in general where superficiality and personality cults dominate. The fact is that Islam has a vast and very diverse intellectual tradition which included many divergent views. At the same time, it was not a situation of "anything goes" either. However, I think that over-all there was far more mutual respect among scholars than there is now.

[@mohammadhilmi313]

Your sessions are always inspiring Professor! Thank you! Are you going to do a reading sessions on Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Henry Corbin like you did with Guenon and Evola sir?

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

My immediate plans are to focus on completing the Reign of Quantity series. Thank you for watching.

[@mohammadhilmi313]

@@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad ايدكم الله سيد thank you for the reply!

[@mikkek7555]

I was thinking of sending you an email about the study quran since I was wondering which quran I should get, I happened to already order it, but which quran would you recommend? Arabic alongside english is a bonus since I want to learn the language sometime in my lifetime. Although I agree that ideas like the trinity can in no way be excused I guess it will be interesting to read it, but I'd still need a quran that has orthodox commentary.

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

If you wand a good side-by-side edition, get the translation by Ali Quli Qarai.

[@mikkek7555]

@@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad Thank you for answering, I will get that one, it seems to be what I'm looking for.

[@VanessaSouza_02]

Thank you! 👍📚💯

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

You are most welcome.

[@rock0795]

Out of curiosity are there any Catholic perennialists? Thanks for the video!

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

Yes, Rama Coomaraswamy was one.

[@rock0795]

@@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad thank you!

[@pseudoplotinus]

I don't see how the Traditionalist and Perennialist doctrines aren't just conducive to one another but synonymous. During the rise of Christianity, it was also the 'ultimate' religion of the times, before being superseded by Mohammedanism, using these terms in the sense that 'Muslim' and 'Islam' applies to pre-Mohammedan abrahamic monotheism. It's not by chance that Islam made its way to, say, Indonesia but not to Greenland. If it were so ultimate slash all-encompassing, then it would have made its way everywhere possible. To me Islam-as-a-religion (i.e. as an exoteric, social phenomenon) came into being purely for those peoples it is suited for. The ultimate goal of an otherwise 'Islam-as-a-spiritual-way-forward' to me seems for the wiser and further initiated identical in essence to all other capital-T-Traditions and mysteries, gnosis- or 'enlightenment'-wise. I don't see how it *isn't* another social manifestation of doctrines that should lead one towards that summit of the the mountain, so to speak, or the centre of that circle you spoke of. Any sort of response or refutation would be extremely appreciated. We as philosophers and metaphysicians want to move towards and are obsessed with the truth. I believe this schism concerning the legitimacy (or even meaning) of Perennialism is an interesting point, and ultimately it should be mended. Dismissal is valid under the condition that it's logically supported, and I believe Islam as a faith is a logical game (i.e. every person with developed-enough logical faculties would become a revert via logic alone, it's only dismissed w/o proper thought or deliberation).

[@mikkek7555]

Not sure if Islam has yet made it's way to greenland but it certainly has made it's way to for example here, to northern europe, so in a sense that argument of exclusivity for certain types of people the way you presented it, in my view, does not apply. Although it's for the most part still practiced by folks geographically and ethnically from areas around, and in the near east, it still has spread pretty much all over the world and is available to anyone who'se heart is open to it, and because of the internet it is possible for anyone to know about Islam.

[@pseudoplotinus]

@@mikkek7555 Read the second half of the comment. What you're referring to is a prelude to the main point I was making.

[@saliksayyar9793]

What is modern Persian? It came into being in the Islamicate. A Shia Iranian attempt at cultural appropriation, orientalists also paddle it. Nasr also, an Iranian, loyalist, also locates Rumi as Iranian.

[@fifatrickster51]

we still need the ibn arabi reading list

[@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad]

I will add it to the list.

[@fifatrickster51]

@@SaiyadNizamuddinAhmad Appreciate it! can you also put annotations on the video, for the different books presented for a quick overview?