Abstract

The imaginal world was initially introduced to Islamic philosophy by Shaykh al-Ishraq Suhrawardi. This is an intermediate world between the world of matter and immaterial worlds. Therefore, it plays the role of a connecting link enjoying the characteristics of the worlds above and below, and that is why it is the world of wonders. This world has various functions in Suhrawardi's philosophy, such as justifying the Judgment Day and resurrection, clarifying the issue of revelation, and explaining the miracles of the favorites of God. Concerning the quality of the interaction between the imaginal world and the material world, we should say that, based on Suhrawardi's words, we can consider the forms of the material world as the manifestation of the imaginal forms existing in the imaginal world. It is at this point that we encounter the concept of "imaginalization", explaining of which seems to be easy with the help of the imaginal world. Another point which is discussed in this paper is the kind of the relation between the microcosmic and macroscomic worlds of imagination. This is a mutual relation whereby man's imagination is affected by the macroscomic world of imagination and affects it in return.