Suhrawardi, al-

Suhrawardi, al-

 in full Shihab al-Din Yahya ibn Habash ibn Amirak al-Suhrawardi or al-Maqtul

(born c. 1155, Suhraward, Iran—died 1191, Aleppo, Syria) Muslim theologian and philosopher. He studied in Esfahan, a leading centre of Islamic scholarship. His works fell into two categories: doctrinal and philosophical tracts, many of which took account of the ancient Greek philosophers, and shorter treatises intended to guide the mystic toward esoteric knowledge. His best-known work, The Wisdom of Illumination, held that existence is a single continuum that culminates in pure light, representing God. Charged with heresy by rivals in the Muslim clergy, he was executed by the Ayyubid prince Malik al-Zahir—thus earning himself the appellation al-Maqtul (“the Killed”).