A Hermeneutical Re-reading of the Structure of Luminous Ascent in Iranian Light Traditions from Ancient Mithraism to Suhrawardī's Philosophy of Illumination: Based on Gadamer's Dialogical Hermeneutics

Al Agha, Hengameh; Zamani, Seyed Sadegh; Mousavimoghadam, Seyed Rahmatollah

doi:10.22059/jop.2026.398673.1006921

A Hermeneutical Re-reading of the Structure of Luminous Ascent in Iranian Light Traditions from Ancient Mithraism to Suhrawardī's Philosophy of Illumination: Based on Gadamer's Dialogical Hermeneutics

Document Type : Scientific-research

Authors

Hengameh Al Agha ¹

Seyed Sadegh Zamani ²

Seyed Rahmatollah Mousavimoghadam ³

¹ Ph.D. Candidate in Philosophy of Art, Department of Philosophy of Art, Sa.C., Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy of Art, Sa. C., Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran.

³ Associate Professor of Philosophy, Department of Islamic Studies, Faculty of Medicine, University of Medical Sciences, Ilam,

10.22059/jop.2026.398673.1006921

Abstract

Light in Iranian intellectual traditions appears as a multilayered ontological principle that shapes truth, inner transformation, and the emergence of meaning. Using Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics, this study examines the structure of luminous ascent in Mithraism, Suhrawardī’s Illuminationism, and Khosrowanian wisdom, focusing on how light structures the seeker’s movement toward understanding. The methodology draws on interpretive analysis of philosophical and mystical texts, study of pre-Islamic light-centered traditions, and examination of luminous symbolism in Iranian–Islamic visual culture. The findings indicate a shared pattern of inner transformation across the three traditions: planetary initiation in Mithraism, ascent to the Eighth Climate and the encounter with the Crimson Archangel in Illuminationist thought, and the manifestation of Farr-e Izadi as a sacred radiance that marks existential readiness in Khosrowanian wisdom. Farr-e Izadi emerges not as a mythic motif but as an interpretive event revealing the seeker’s capacity for truth. Through the lens of Gadamer’s concept of horizon, light becomes the condition for meaning to unfold-an experiential field where understanding appears rather than something constructed by the subject. Thus, the Iranian luminous tradition can be understood as an interpretive system in which meaning arises through participation in the luminous order of being and remains open to contemporary hermeneutic reflection.

Keywords

Luminous Ascent

Farr-e Izadi

Khosrowanian Philosophy

Philosophy of Illumination

Mithraic Tradition

Subjects