Bridge As-Sirat as a way to the Truth: Nasir Khusraw’s interpretation

Abstract

The article is dedicated to the interpretation of the concept of “Bridge As-Sirat” by the Persian philosopher of the 11th century Nasir Khusraw. We can identify two positions in Islam regarding the ways of interpreting the verses of the Qur'an: one group insisted on a direct, literal interpretation of the Quran, while others claimed the need for an esoteric interpretation of the text. Nasir Khusraw applies the method of interpreting “ta’vil” to the text of Revelation and Hadith, which allows him to interpret religious concepts in a philosophical way and fill them with new meanings. According to the Ismaili philosopher the Bridge As-Sirat is an image of man's spiritual path. At the end of this path, a person's soul falls either to heaven or to hell. Nasir Khusraw said that paradise is the return of the individual soul to its source (the Universal Soul) and hell is not a place where the punishment will be committed, but it is a state of the soul that can not return to its source, and therefore suffers, trapped within the boundaries of the material world. The article is accompanied by the translation of a passage from the philosophical treatise Nasir Khusraw “Gushayish va rakhayish” (“Knowledge and Liberation”), devoted to the explanation of the concept of “Bridge As-Sirat”.