EXISTENTIAL-PHILOSOPHICAL SYMBOLS AND MEANINGS IN THE SUFISTIC ROMAN “GHURBAH AL-GHARBIYAH” SUHRAWARDĪ
Kanz Philosophia: A Journal for Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism December 8, 2023 Lukman Hakim Rohim
This article interprets Suhrawardī's Sufistic romance Ghurbah al-Gharbiyah through Ricoeur's hermeneutics and Corbin's epistemology of Sufistic imagination. The authors argue that the novel, part of the Ḥay bin Yaqẓān trilogy, uses symbols—the city of Qairawan (imprisonment), the Hudhud bird (enlightenment), and Mount Sinai (liberation and meeting with the 'Light of all Lights')—to depict human alienation in the world. Three phases of Sufistic consciousness are identified: alienation, enlightenment, and liberation. The work is presented as a representation of Suhrawardī's creative imagination inspired by prophetic experiences including Muhammad's Ascension, Solomon's Hudhud bird, and Moses' Mount Sinai.