The Metaphysics of Sabzavārī on Theology
AN ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHICAL INQUIRY AND A COMMENTARY ON A DIDACTIC POEM

An explication and translation of Hādī Sabzavārī’s Sharḥ Ghurar al-Farāʾid or Sharḥ al-Manẓūmah by Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi

Since its composition in 1845, Hādī Sabzavārī’s Sharḥ al-Manẓūmah – a commentary on his famous didactic poem entitled Ghurar al-Farāʾid (The Brilliance of the Pearls) – has been profoundly influential on Islamic intellectual history. This work by the greatest scholar of Qajar Persia revitalised the discipline of transcendental wisdom (al-ḥikmah al-mutaʿāliyah), combining rational analysis, spiritual wayfaring, and mysticism to examine fundamental philosophical issues including metaphysics, ontology, and ethics. It remains to this day a standard textbook for those pursuing a traditional philosophical and spiritual education. In The Metaphysics of Sabzavārī on Theology, the Dean of The Shīʿah Institute, Dr Sayyid Amjad H. Shah Naqavi masterfully unfolds the mystical beauty and philosophical complexity of Part III of Sharḥ al-Manẓūmah on the Special Idea of Theology (ilāhīyāt bi- maʿnī akhaṣṣ). Dr Shah Naqavi’s translation and explication will serve as an essential and invaluable source for scholars and students at seminaries, universities and beyond.