Late Antique Intellectualism in Medieval Islam: The Shiraz Circle and the Revival of Ancient and Islamic Knowledge

Abstract

This article seeks to offer a new reading of how we frame medieval Islamic intellectual traditions in relation to the question of Late Antiquity. It introduces a group of medieval Muslim thinkers, known as the Shiraz Circle, who remain largely unknown to modern scholarship. The main argument is that for these thinkers knowledge of the pre-Islamic past and their Islamic present was mediated by the same lens. The article also examines the main themes in the study of Late Antiquity, such as intellectualism, religion, and philosophy, and the relevance of such themes in medieval Islam.