Abstract

This research investigates a model of nature mysticism applied to Islamic philosophical texts with a special focus on the meta-mysticism of Ibn Sina . I divide this dissertation into two parts: an introduction and the translation. ;The Introduction of the text includes the following topics: ;A delineation of a philosophical approach to mysticism as a meta-mysticism by contrasting it with a psychology of mystical states, a history of mystical traditions, a study of mysticism within a religious tradition, an ethical evaluation of mysticism as a way of conduct, and a specific method of practicing mysticism. A philosophical approach proffers a linguistic model, which clearly depicts the ontology, epistemology, and philosophy of the language of mysticism. ;A clarification of R. C. Zaehner's distinction between a theistic/religious mysticism . ;Finally, a model for nature mysticism with special references to the Islamic domain is proposed with the following parameters: The doctrine of the unity of being , according to which all entities are ultimately interdependent. This thesis is derived from the Islamic principle of unity . The doctrine of the mystical way , which depicts a mystic's quest as a series of stages such as alienation, love and union, through annihilation of the self-soul and an integration with the world-God-nature . The doctrine of the mediator figure in which a person like the mystic's master, Christ or a perspective such as love, relates the finite self to the ultimate infinite. ;The second part of the dissertation is the translation of the Commentary of Khajah Nas&dotbelow;ir al-Din T&dotbelow;usi on Ibn Sina's mystical work, known as Sharh&dotbelow; al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat. In this work, Nas&dotbelow;ir al-Din T&dotbelow;usi thought is similar to Ibn Sina's, especially the notion of mystical stages of the Mystics