A Luminous Intellect—a nod to the expression al-ʿaql al-munawwar, used by the Persian poet Jāmī—is a tribute to the vast scholarly output of one of the pioneers of Islamic studies, Hamid Algar. In an era of rapid cultural, intellectual, and political change, Algar’s scholarship brought fresh perspectives to the study of Shiʿism, Sufism, and Islamic intellectual history, bridging worlds of language, thought, and spirituality and combining acute analyses of contemporary events with a respect for tradition.
This festschrift features essays by leading scholars who engage with the themes of Algar’s intellectual legacy. From Shiʿi theology and Qur’anic exegesis, to the poetics of Ḥāfiẓ and the metaphysics of Ibn ʿArabī; from the untold stories of Naqshbandī shaykhs and the evolution of Islamic knowledge in Qom, to the early history of Islam and Arabic literature in the Americas, these chapters offer both tribute and fresh scholarship. At once a celebration and a scholarly contribution in its own right, A Luminous Intellect is a unique volume featuring original, innovative pieces for anyone interested in the living legacy of Islamic thought.