Journal of Islamic Philosophy 7 (2011): 35–52.© 2011 by the Journal of Islamic Philosophy, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1536-4569

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T heosophy in medieval Iran could be considered a synthesis of Islamic philosophy (peripatetic, illuminative, and transcendental philosophy), Islamic theology (Mu!tazil",

Ash!ar"), and Islamic mysticism (Su#sm in all its aspects).1 To provide this profound and outstanding integration, several great ambitious scholars have perused Islamic principles and the underlying doctrines. Some of these manipulations rely heavily on the crucial concepts of light and color.

$e phenomenon of color, emanating from light, as in the physical realm, already impressed a number of prominent intel-lectuals. $e inspiration is best observed in the commentaries of some in%uential scholars, such as Najm al-D"n Kubr& ('()–*+, -.), Najm al-D"n R&z" ('/)–*'( -.), !Al& l-Dula Simn&n" (*'0–/1* -.) and Mu2ammad Kar"m Kh&n Kirm&n" (+33'–+3,, -.). $e present article aims to excavate and compare the doctrines of these sages to decipher the implications of color in Islamic theosophy. As the eminent Ab4 5&mid al-Ghaz&l"2 attests, the key source of this inspiration is the Light Verse (Q 3(:1'):

God is the light of the heavens and the earth; the likeness of His light is as a niche within which is a lamp, the lamp is in a glass, the glass as it were a glittering star kindled from a blessed tree, an olive [tree] that is neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil well-nigh would shine,

+ For further reading on this integration refer to HIP, Corbin.3 Refer to chapter + of Ab4 5&mid Mu2ammad al-Ghaz&l", !e Niche of Light,

trans. David Buchman (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, +00,).

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even if no "re touched it; light upon light; God guides to His light whom He will. And God strikes similitudes for people, and God has knowledge of everything.

$e stated hierarchy of light in this verse, the interpretation of light upon light, and the theme of the light and darkness3 resulted in several hypotheses about the hierarchy of being.

$e concept of the hierarchy of being originates in Greek philosophy. In the Republic and Phaedo, Plato argues that the world is divided into lower (chaotic material) and higher (forms) realities and that the higher is the genuine source of truth and beauty. Dur-ing the Roman era, Neoplatonists expanded Plato’s dualism into a sophisticated chain of being, according to which God is the most real and out of Him all other things emanate. Material reality is most distant from the plenitude of God and, in a sense, the least real. As a composite of di=erent levels of reality, human beings, standing at the middle, are both material and spiritual.

Both Platonic and Neoplatonic doctrines and their Christian counterparts (particularly in St. Augustine) are dualistic. $e Muslim theosophists initiated the concept of an intermediary world to dissolve the banal dualism between spirit and %esh. $e idea of the body is progressively sublimated until it comes to denote a body belonging to a superior universe: “there are the subtle bodies of the intermediary mundus imaginalis, perceived not by the senses but by the active imagination.”4

Mundus ImaginalisSophists envisage two extreme worlds for the universe: purely intellectual (!aqliyya l-ma#$iyya) and purely sensual (#issiyya l-ma#$iyya), between which exists a world of formalized but mat-terless embodiments. $is is truly a medium realm, measurability 1 He has established darkness and light (Q *:+).( Henry Corbin, “$e Realism and Symbolism of Color in Shiite Cosmology,”

in Color Symbolism, the Eranos Lectures, ed. Klaus Ottmann (Putnam, CT: Spring Publications, 3))'), '1.

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brings it in conformity with the material world and nevertheless abstractness makes it commensurate with intellectuals. Besides, all beings in the spectrum of these two extremes have a self-contained insignia in this bridging realm. $is includes even states, motions, situations, tastes, smells, and other qualities. In other words, through a descending motion, an abstract being from an upper realm takes on measure and shape, whereas an inhabitant of a sensual world ascends to mundus imaginalis, withdrawing the matter and some of its requisites.5 Brie%y, the mundus imaginalis (%lam al-mith%l) is where “spirit embodies and body spiritualizes.”6

While the represented discourse corresponds to macrocosm (%lam al-%f%q), medieval Islamic theosophists proposed a similar agenda for microcosm (%lam al-anfus). $e former resembles the outer universe, whereas the latter is associated with the inner realm of human rational soul (al-nafs al-n%&iqa). In accordance with the a?nity between these cognate realms, every phenomenon in one realm has an imprint in the other. Moreover, given the hierarchy of worlds in macrocosm, a similar classi#cation applies to the micro-cosm. Here the rational soul possesses a variety of faculties,7 among which imagination power (animus imaginalis) is a medium between subject (inside) and object (outside). In this context, inside refers to the man–self relationship, whereas outside is an interpretation of the man–other correspondence. Hence the animus imaginalis in %lam al-anfus is analogous to mundus imaginalis in %lam al-%f%q. To manifest these cosmological accounts, a visual scheme is a=ordable:

' Bah&" L&h"j", Ris%l%t al-n'riyya ( %lam al-mith%l, ed. S. J. Asht"&n" (Tehran: Hozeye Honari, +0/1), 1).

* Henri Corbin, Terre Celeste et Corps de Resurrection de l’Iran Mazdeen a l’Iran Schiite, trans. Z. Dehshiri (Tehran: Tahuri, +00'), 30'.

/ For more about these faculties, see A. Lah"j", Gohar-i Morad, ed. S. Movahed (Tehran: Golshan, +0,').

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In this two-dimensional model, the adjacent bold sides of the square indicate macro and micro cosmos, otherwise ostensibly irreconcil-able. $ese two realms are divided by their substantial bisectors to two relevant subsets of exoteric–esoteric, and outside–inside, respectively.

$e model has the potentiality of schematizing diverse #elds. $us depending on the context, each of the cells A to D promotes a relevant stage. Here, A deals with the objective concrete which has sensual and tangible manifestations, whereas D involves the subjec-tive abstract in its intellectual and virtual sense. Likewise, B and C are deemed accordingly. Note should be taken that subject–object is not invariably in conformity with esoteric–exoteric, neither is sensual–intellectual with actual–virtual. $ere could even be other conventional pairs to be employed, like manifested–concealed, outward–inward, ghayb–shah%da, and signi#cant–signi#er. $is is to say that the underlying context is to determine the corresponding terminology.

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Likewise, the horizontal and vertical sides could indicate other domains or realms. In particular, each layer of the macrocosmic spectrum or each faculty of the microcosmic gamut could give rise to a new model. In this way, the model is capable of analyzing diverse yet related issues such as selected themes in the QurB&n, the artist versus artwork, and light versus color.

Another critical issue is the inde#niteness of the cell’s boundar-ies and dynamism of the bisectors. For instance, an esoteric aspect in one domain could happen to be exoteric in another, or more speci#cally for the subject of the present debate, a color which appears to be decorative in one instance could well be symbolic somewhere else. $is in turn endows the intermediary lines of mundus imaginalis and imagination power with a dual e?cacy. To appreciate this dynamism, one could note that from a static point of view, mundus imaginalis merely detaches the sensible world of physical bodies from the realm of subtle souls, whereas the dyna-mism of its transmittal mode allows a qualitative body from inferior realms to progressively sublimate until it comes to denote a body inhabiting the superior spheres. Conversely, a supra-sensible body intensi#es and elevates through this transitional phase to manifest a corporal entity. A similar dynamism applies to the faculties of the rational soul. Although a robust line may suggest virtual separation of the inside and outside extents, by a ubiquitous human principle, man’s interaction with external objects and situations deeply alters his inner states and vice versa. $e interactive con%uence of these zones is to be accomplished through an intermediary, which is the very same realm of animus imaginalis. So far the versatility of the proposed model consents to schematizing a wide spectrum of entities, from the theosophical theorems to hierarchical concepts, like color.

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C&'&# () I*'!+(, T"-&*&."/ Ab4 5&mid al-Ghaz&l" wrote his book Mishk%t al-anw%r (!e Niche of Light)8 as an intellectual support for Muslims who want to practice their religion with greater honesty. $e short monograph has three parts. In the #rst and longest part, Ghaz&l" explains the metaphysics of light, as declared in the Light Verse (Q 3(:1'), based on the teach-ing that real light is God and the whole of creation is nothing but the manifestation of this light. One important aspect of Ghaz&l"’s approach is his clear denial of the claims of some philosophers that color receives its existence from light; he reassures his readers that only the manifestation of color relies on light. Some recent commentators on the Mishk%t al-anw%r suggest that later illumi-nist philosophers such as Shih&b al-D"n Suhraward" were partly in%uenced by this book.

Suhraward", best known for his pioneering work in illuminative philosophy, alludes, at the end of his )*kmat al-ishr%q,9 to gnostic light experiences, but does not deal speci#cally with color and its symbols. $e phenomenon of color is well elaborated in the teachings of some later Su#s and notably in some discourses of the Kubr&wiyya order.10

Najm al-D"n Kubr& (from his name the title of the order is extracted) based his interpretation of the spiritual journey of the wayfarer (s%lik) toward perfection on a symbolism of color. He assigned seven colors to the seven stages of this journey: white (surrender, isl%m), yellow (belief, *m%n), gray (bene#cence, i#s%n), blue (certitude, i&m*n%n), green (certainty, yaq*n), red (gnosis, irf%n),

, al-Ghaz&l", Niche of Light.0 Suhrawardi, !e Philosophy of Illumination, trans. John Walbridge and Hossein

Ziai (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 3)))).+) Preliminary theories of color in Islamic philosophy are well established by

early intellectuals such as al-F&r&b", Ibn S"n&, Ibn Haytham, Ibn B&jja, and so on. However, “there is still a basic divergence, possibly an abyss, between the statements of these philosophers and those of theosophists” like the four sages of the present article. See Corbin, “Realism and Symbolism.”

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and #nally black (wonder, #ayrat).11 According to Kubr&, as long as the wayfarer is striving with internal states (a#w%l), he is in the stage of coloring (talawwun), and he could rest in the status (maq%m) of dwelling (tamk*n) only when he went beyond all colors to the rank of colorlessness.12

As for the physical senses that give us access to comprehension of natural color, Najm al-D"n Kubr& provides an analysis of the anatomy of subtle organs capable of comprehending supernatural colors. He mentions the soul (nafs), intellect (+aql), heart (qalb), and two more organs in the subtle body which are centers of ultra-consciousness, responsible for grasping the colors of the unseen world (ghayb). $is transcendental epistemology of color is based on a meta-principle13 which states that each entity could only be comprehended by one of its own genus.14

Najm al-D"n R&z" (D&ye) was a pupil of Kubr&, whose Mir,%d al-+ib%d is quite famous and well read in Su# circles. He taught about the colors of the attributes of beauty (jam%l) and grandeur (jal%l) of God, who gives existence to all things. Due to the veil (#ij%b) of the human attributes (,if%t al-ins%niyya), these colors are grasped only through the imagination (kh*y%l). For those who have torn the veil of their attributes, the light of Truth is perceived in a colorless and boundless manifestation without quality, similitude or opposite. At this stage the wayfarer (s%lik) would be in the status of dwelling (tamk*n) and prosperity (tamakun).15

For D&ye the unseen light could emanate from di=erent sources, ranging from the spirituality of the wayfarer, the authority of the

++ Henry Corbin, Man of Light in Iranian Su"sm, trans. F. Javaheri Nia (Tehran: Golban, 3)))), 0'–+1'.

+3 Fritz Meier, Die Faw%-i# al-!am%l va Faw%ti# al-!al%l des Na"m ad-D*n al-Kubr% (Wiesbaden: Steiner, +0'/), /.

+1 Di=erent variants of this intellectual rule could be traced in the West from Meister Eckhart to Goethe.

+( Meier, Die Faw%-i#, +13.+' Najm al-D"n R&z", Mir,%d al-+ib%d, ed. M. A. Riahi (Tehran: !Ilmi Farhang",

+0,*), 1)/–1)0.

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sage, and the prophethood of the nab*, to the reminder (dhikr), worship (+ib%da), and obedience (i&%-a); and each source has a par-ticular color.16 As the wayfarer struggles with the nafs al-laww%ma, he sees the gray color, which is a result of the mixture of the light of reminder (dhikr) and the darkness of the self (nafs). If the light surpasses the darkness, the color turns into red, and as the light of the soul overrides the darkness of the self through the reminder, yellow appears, which turns to white as the darkness of the self vanishes. Later, as the light of the soul mixes with the heart of purity (,af%-) the wayfarer sees a green color. Finally, when the heart is fully pure, a light as that of the sun arises.17 $e interplay between light and darkness as treated by D&ye is based on the #ad*th of the veil,18 which was alluded to by Ghaz&l" in the Mishk%t al-anw%r.

D&ye, like Kubr&, associates a color to each stage of sul'k from isl%m to #ikma (wisdom), and he distinguishes the seventh stage of ecstasy (wajd) with black light.19 $eosophists open a special account for the black light, which they correspond to God’s color (,ibghat All%h), as described in the QurB&n.20 At this stage, the absolute light is so intense that eyes lose sight, and the color becomes black. $is is the light of pure essence, which is unique in its independent, covered, and destructive essence, and can only be comprehended by one who has reached the stage of perfect deprivation (faqr) and annihilation in Truth (fan%- ( l-)aqq). One who is showered by the black light would cease his being in itself, to be capable of subsistence in God (baq%- bi-Ll%h). $is stage is saved for those who are #rmly rooted in the spring of certainty (+ayn al-yaq*n), are not agitated by the

+* R&z", Mir,%d al-+ib%d, 1)).+/ Ibid., 1)*–1),.+, God has seventy veils of light and darkness; were He to liG them, the august

glories of His face would burn up everyone whose eyesight perceived Him.+0 Corbin, Man of Light, +'/–+',.3) [We take our] coloring from God and whose coloring is better than God’s (Q.

3:+1,).

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appearance of worldly authorities, and have gone beyond change, deceit, and treachery.

$e idea of black light has emerged in other mystic treatises such as the Golshan-i r%z (!e Garden of Secret) of Shaykh Ma2m4d Shabistar",21 as best elaborated in the commentary of Shams al-D"n Lah"j".22 He describes it so realistically that one wonders if he has touched it through a personal illuminating experience. In a meta-phorical allegory, Shabistar" talks about black as the light of essence, an inspiring imagery, he notes, as the water of eternal life (%b-i #ay%t, in Persian) is hidden in the darkness. He reminds his reader that here is no place of seeing, as the pure night of sel%essness is chaste from all colors as it is sheltered in seven thousand veils of light. He highlights the paradoxical state of the situation by alluding to the imagery of a bright night hidden in a dark day!

$e imagery of the black light is designated as the colorless light by Ibn al-!Arab", who urges us to ponder the principle that the epiphany of Truth in existing forms is according to their potenti-ality.23 $is leads him to the similitude that the Light is the Truth and the Essence, and the world is a crystal that perceives light and proliferates it into colors, namely, the various forms of beings. $us, he concludes, the Essence is beyond color, as the Truth is far from any characteristic or relation, and only shows such attributes when it is seen through the beings.

$is is the reason R4m" urges us to become accustomed to seeing light without glass (i.e., the self), in order not to be blind as we strive to break the glass and go beyond our selves.24 For R4m", the glass is also a similitude of the intellect, which con#nes perception

3+ Shaykh Ma2m4d Shabistar", Gulshan-i R%z, ed. S. Movahed (Tehran: Tahuri, 3))/), ,,.

33 M. Lah"j", Maf%t*# al-i+j%z ( shar# Gulshan-i R%z (Tehran: Ma2m4d", +0',).31 Abolala A##, Shar# Fus's al-#ikam of Ibn +Arab*, trans. A. A. Hekmat (Tehran:

Ilham, 3))+), +*1.3( R4m", !e Mathnawi, ed. R. A. Nicholson (Tehran: Hermes, 3))'), /*(.

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to its capacity. It colors the beings with its %ush and detains the colorlessness in its taut cubicle.

With regard to the theosophical interpretations, !Al& l-Dula Simn&n" relates the seven layers of the QurB&nic inner or esoteric (b%&in*) meanings to seven spiritual faculties of man, called the subtle (la&*f) substances, each of which corresponds to one of the prophets in the QurB&n.25 $is could be best understood in the light of the connection between the worlds of horizons (%f%q) and souls (anfus) in the QurB&nic verse (+:'1. $is correspondence becomes more signi#cant when the stories of prophets (qi,a, al-anb*y%-) are applied as lessons for one’s spiritual struggle toward perfection.

In order to appreciate the lucidity of the overall picture pre-sented by Simn&n", his reciprocal discourse between the worlds of horizons and souls needs to be examined in more detail. Scheme + provides a framework to put the ghayb and shah%da side-by-side. Scheme 3(a) summarizes the detailed analysis presented in his teachings.26 $e echelon of observation and perception is schema-tized in scheme 3(b). For Simn&n", this is not merely an abstract

3' A. Simn&n", Mu,annaf%t-i F%rs*, ed. Naj"b M. Hirav" (Tehran: !Ilm" Farhang", +00)), 1)3–1)1.

3* Ibid.

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classi#cation, as he deems the utility of proper observation as an indispensable prerequisite for the wayfarer.

In Simn&n"’s physiology of the subtle body, each substance or center has a color.27 $ese colors help the wayfarer to realize his status in the path of sul'k. $e subtle substances and their corresponding statutes are summarized in table +. In each case, the corresponding prophet (which is at the same time the QurB&nic prophet in %f%q and the inner prophet of the wayfarer in anfus) and the indicating color is given.

Subtle substance Statute Prophet Colorbody (q%libiyya) man (ins%n*) Adam graysoul (nafsiyya) citizen (madan*) Noah blueheart (qalbiyya) submitter (muslim) Abraham redsecret (sirriyya) believer (mu-min) Moses whitespirit (r'#iyya) friend (wal*) David yellowmystery (kha"yya) prophet (nab*) Jesus blackreality (#aqqiyya) seal (kh%tam) Mu2ammad green

Table 1. Seven subtle substances, according to Simn&n"

$e outcomes of prophetology in Simn&n" are best understood via the cosmological model (scheme 1). Note that the Prophet Mu2ammad embraces the entirety of all the ranks.

A comparison between schemes 3(b) and 1 provides interesting correspondences between the characteristics of the prophets and the observations of the wayfarer in di=erent steps of the sul'k, as summarized in table 3.

3/ Corbin, Man of Light, +/'–+,3.

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Shaykh Kar"m Kh&n Kirm&n" is a pupil of the Shaykhiyya master, A2mad I2I&B". Kirm&n", who received the honori#c title of the Iranian Goethe by Henry Corbin, composed a short treatise called al-Y%q't al-#amr%- on the esoteric hermeneutics of the color red.28 He gives a phenomenological interpretation of the presence of color in various realms of existence. He based his analysis on the QurB&n,29 in which God declares that all treasures (khaz%-in) are with Him. For Kirm&n", these treasures are archetypes (muthul al-a+l%) in the upper world of which every being of the lower world has a trace (%th%r). $e support of this trace is the subtle component, whose strength is measured by the luminance of the being.

Kirm&n" consciously clari#es his discussion by pinpointing the principles of his light-color phenomenology. He starts by distinguish-ing between the existence and the manifestation of color. Color exists in all beings in sensual and supra-sensual levels (#rst principle)30 but its manifestation rests on light and the subtle component of

3, Corbin, “Realism and Symbolism,” (/–+),.30 Especially Q +':3+. 1) Corbin, “Realism and Symbolism,” '+.

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the being. Color gets closer to light and its presence (not existence) becomes more manifest as the trace of the archetype and delicacy of the subtle component ampli#es.

Light is the subtle façade of color (the guardian angel of color) and color is the opaque face of light (second principle).31 $is is best understood in the light of the duality between exoteric (.%hir) and esoteric (b%&in) that explains why color without light could exist, but as body (jism) without soul (r'#), is inactive and dormant.

ProphetProphet’s

characteristic

(scheme 4)

Wayfarer’s observation

(scheme 3(b))Correspondence

Adam living in Paradise physical lights direct perception of

reality (+ilm al-asm%-)

Noah surviving %ood attributes of nafs al-+amm%ra

trespassing animus(naj%t)

Abraham meeting angelsbodies of angels and jinn

supernatural dialogue (+ilm al-yaq*n)

Moses

observing God’s epiphany in mountain and tree

attributes of nafs al-barzakhiyya

direct observation of truth (+ayn al-yaq*n)

David

conquering metals, mountains, and birds

spirits of objects

prevailing objects (ghalaba)

Jesus resurrecting dead souls life (r'# al-qudus)

Mu2ammad entirety light Truth (#aqq al-yaq*n)

Table 2. Prophetology of Simn&n"

1+ Ibid., *3.

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To epitomize the mechanism in which the archetype signs its trace on the lower world (third principle),32 Kirm&n" employs the metaphysics of the four elementary qualities: #re, air, water, and soil, which parallel the four temperaments of the body. $e #rst movement of the archetype signi#es the closest trace, which is #re (hot and dry) and emanates the red color; as we proceed, air (hot and humid, yellow); water (cold and humid, white); and soil (cold and dry, black) appear. Kirm&n" alludes to a verse (Q (:1') to symbolize water as the anima face of #re and air as the animus face of soil.33

A comparison between quadruple modality in Kirm&n" and the prophets of self in Simn&n" is edifying. $is is elucidated through the cosmological model, as illustrated in scheme (. It is instructive to note that Adam was tested by taste (forbidden fruit) and sent down to earth; Noah experienced the passage from soil to water and back (the %ood); Abraham’s #rst trial was by #re (by Nimrod); Moses, Kal"m All&h, was trapped between #re and water (escaping from Pharaoh); David had a miraculous heavenly voice (intoxicating birds); and the #ery breath of the spirit (r'# al-qudus) was bestowed upon Jesus.

Abraham, red water, touch

Jesus, black #re, color

Noah, blueAdam, gray

soil, tasteDavid, yellow

air, sound

Moses, white

Scheme 4. Correspondences between modalities according to Kirm&n"and the prophetology of Simn&n"

13 Ibid., */.11 $is is rather an odd interpretation of the content of the verse, which primarily

talks about family quarrels.

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$e colors of the qualitative modalities show the level of presence of the archetype, as in soil whose opaqueness (black color) is due to its extreme detachment from the archetype. $e ultimate sources of these colors are the colors of the four poles of God’s throne (+arsh All%h). $is allusion leads Kirm&n" to ponder Ibn al-!Arab"’s notion of the interplay between the divine lord (rabb) and his earthly knight (marb'b):34 in the absence of light, color remains in an inert state, whereas without color, light would not be manifest, in the same way that a vassal (knight) is maintained in being by his lord, yet the latter would remain imperceptible without his vassal.

$e imagery of the lord-knight relationship explains why pure light cannot be comprehended unless it becomes opaque through its manifestation as color. Kirm&n" employs this imagery to embark on the exegesis of the divine words: “I was a hidden treasure (kanzan makh(yan) willing to be known, so I created.” Kirm&n" concludes that the six days of creation are the six traits of the created: position, time, space, rank, quality, and quantity. He goes on to tell us that taste is the trait of soil, whereas touch, sound, and sight (color) are traits of water, air, and #re. Kirm&n" grants #re an indispensable role in his phenomenology, as it is the #ery nature of things that furnishes them with light and color. $is color, however, is not comprehensible by our senses, when things appear to us in their subtle bodies, as the subtle bodies are equipped with subtle colors (fourth principle).35

Kirm&n" presents us with a hierarchy of eight levels of uni-verse, adding the world of the hidden deity at the summit to the seven worlds of mystical theosophy, a world that transcends all the theophanic universes concentrated in the Temple of Mercy (+arsh al-Ra#m%n). To emphasize the distances separating these worlds, we are reminded that every superior world is of a light seventy times more intense than that of the inferior world. Table 1 summarizes the hierarchy of worlds in Kirm&n"’s cosmology. Each world has its 1( For details about this relation, see HIP, Corbin, 0*. 1' Corbin, “Realism and Symbolism,” *0.

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intrinsic color, and utilizes a certain quality to di=erentiate between the colors of its inhabitants. In table 1 the worlds are organized according to their level of subtlety.

World Di!erentiation of Colors Color

Light of God (n'r All%h) no plurality none

Cherubic intelligences (al-+uq'l) inner plurality white

Subtle Forms (,uwar al-barzakh*yya)

inner and exterior plurality yellow

Souls (malak't) exterior plurality green

Nature (jismiyya) nature and genus red

Clouds (hib%) form ashen

Mundus Imaginalis (mith%l) individual di=erences dark green

Matters (m%ddiyya) observable di=erences black

Table 3. Con#guration of worlds according to Kirm&n"

From here, Kirm&n" undertakes the consummation of a full-%edged theosophy which pivots on the phenomenology of the sacred book. $e starting point is a narration of the Prophet proclaiming the seven esoteric meanings of the QurB&n. Kirm&n" then #xes his vocabulary by carefully de#ning the key terms, such as ta-w*l (literally, bringing back to the origin), .%hir (exoteric dimension), and b%&in (esoteric dimension). For ta-w*l, he reassures the reader that the act of referring is indeed returning an object to its archetype. $e route one has to traverse to bring back the outermost appearance of an object to its innermost meaning could be recapitulated in scheme '.36

1* Corbin, “Realism and Symbolism,” 0).

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$e journey from the surface (.%hir al-.%hir) to b%&in al-.%hir, b%&in al-ta-w*l, and #nally to the innermost kernel of truth (b%&in al-b%&in) is achievable by transition through the hermeneutics of ta-w*l. $e cosmological model illustrates this transition in scheme *(a)–(b).

Interpretation of the natural, though mysterious, phenomenon of color has provoked in depth debates among scholars of diverse traditions. $e elaboration of extant resources and comparative, analytic study of their doctrines provide a deeper comprehension of the concealed enigma of the concept and elucidate the path for future research.