Suhrawardi’s Illuminationism and Carlyle’s Philosophy of Clothes

Carlyle in Sartor Resartus writes “Nay, if you consider it, what is Man himself, and his whole terrestrial Life, but an Emblem; a Clothing or visible Garment for that divine ME of his, cast hither, like a light-particle, down from Heaven? Thus is he said also to be clothed with a Body.” Suhrawardi presents a philosophy of Illumination where light from God is a metaphysical state that contrasts with the tri-modal status of beings: necessity, possibility and impossibility. Things in material world belong to state of possibility with similarity to the property of existence. Similarly, beliefs giving by humans impart of change and assumption of opinions belong to modality of necessity and possibility. State of Illumination with the grace of God is a state without false self-belief. Carlyle also presents a greater sense of being with the Grace of God. The justification of Greatness and state of changeability in accordance of Clothes is a quality of soul improvement in the circumstances of existence for Carlyle. In this presentation, we would like to examine the philosophy of Illumination of Suhrawardi and philosophy of clothes of Carlyle and look at the continuity of their thought. The position of metaphor of Cloth functions as a denominator of language “stretching-to” with power of division and union. The Clothing is related to bodies as light is related to its awareness, since cloth on body is not necessarily distinct from its epistemic role in Carlyle’s philosophy. Carlyle’s Mystic Platonism confers a central use of metaphor of bodies in movement such as a snake shedding the skin while underlying new skin is ready and the Phoenix regenerating its form from wholly skin or material form. Further, Carlyle’s metaphor of clothes provides an interesting mode of comparison for the modern individual accustomed to a traditional perspective and following a social mould which is different from Suhrawardi’s intellectual tradition and social milieu.