The Development of Metaphysics in Persia

Submitted as Iqbal's doctoral dissertation to Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, in 1907 and published by Luzac & Co., London in 1908. It traces the development of metaphysical speculation in Persia from the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian and dualist traditions through the early Islamic theologians, the Neoplatonists of Baghdad, the Ismaili and Sufi orders, down to the philosophical syntheses of Mulla Sadra and the later schools of Isfahan. Iqbal's first major prose work in English, written before his philosophical turn — but already arguing for the unique vitality of Persian thought within the broader Muslim tradition.