Editing Seyyed Hossein Nasr (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===
Seyyed Hossein Nasr was born on April 7, 1933 in [[Tehran]], [[Pahlavi Iran|Imperial State of Iran]], to Seyyed Valiollah Nasr, who was a [[physician]] to the [[Pahlavi dynasty|Iranian royal family]], philosopher, and ''homme de lettres'', and one of the founders of [[Education in Iran#Modern education|modern education in Iran]].{{efn|He wrote many essays which still remain in manuscript form, some of which have been assembled by Nasr into a book called ''Danish wa Akhlaq'' (''Knowledge and Ethics'').{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=4}}}} He is a descendant of [[Sheikh Fazlollah Nouri]] from his mother's side, is the cousin of Iranian philosopher [[Ramin Jahanbegloo]], as well as the father of American academic [[Vali Nasr]].{{sfn|Chittick|2007 |p=ix}}{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=1-2, 8, 135}}{{sfn|Riffi|2020|p=47}} The surname "Nasr", which means "victory", was given to his grandfather by [[Reza Shah]].{{sfn|Riffi|2020|p=46}} The honorific title "[[Sayyid|Seyyed]]" indicates a descendant of the Islamic prophet [[Muhammad]].{{sfn|Chittick|2007 |p=ix}}

===Education===
Nasr completed his primary education in Tehran.{{sfn|Riffi|2020|p=47}}{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=4}} His education was supplemented by religious and philosophical discussions with his father and an entourage of theologians, ministers, scholars, and mystics.{{sfn|Riffi|2020|p=47}} He immersed himself in [[Quranic studies]], [[Persian literature]], [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[French language|French]] languages at an early age.{{sfn|Riffi|2020|p=47}} While he was completing his first year of secondary school at [[Firooz Bahram High School]],{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|1965|p=229}} his father was hurt in a serious accident, so his mother sent him to continue his education in the United States so that he would not be present at the time of his father's imminent death.{{sfnm|1a1=Riffi|1y=2020 |1p=47|2a1=Jahanbegloo|2y=2010 |2p=7}} He would later say that there are three things that his father left him: "first of all, love of knowledge for our own [[Culture of Iran|Persian culture]], our [[Religion in Iran|religious]], [[Persian literature|literary]], [[Persian philosophy|philosophical tradition]]; secondly, an avid interest in what was going on in the West in the realm of science and philosophy, literature and everything else; thirdly, a sense of serenity that he had within himself."{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=7}}

In the United States, Nasr first attended [[Peddie School]] in [[Hightstown, New Jersey]], graduating in 1950 as the [[valedictorian]] of his class.{{sfn|Chittick|2007 |p=x}} He then applied to the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] in [[Boston]] to study [[physics]] and was accepted with a scholarship.{{sfn|Chittick|2007 |p=x}} When he realized, after an encounter with the philosopher [[Bertrand Russell]], that the study of physics would not bring answers to his questions, he enrolled in additional courses on [[metaphysics]] and [[philosophy]] with [[Giorgio de Santillana]]{{sfn|Chittick|2007|p=x}} who introduced him to the works of [[René Guénon]]. From there, Nasr discovered the works of other Perennialist metaphysicians, notably [[Frithjof Schuon]], [[Ananda Coomaraswamy]], [[Titus Burckhardt]], [[Martin Lings]], and [[Marco Pallis]].{{sfn|Chittick|2007 |p=x}} This school of thought has shaped Nasr's life and thinking ever since. The widow of Commaraswamy gave him access to the library of her late husband, and Nasr spent much of his time there and worked to catalogue the library. He visited Schuon and Burckhardt in [[Switzerland]] while still a student, and was initiated into the [[Ahmad al-Alawi|Alawite branch]] of the [[Shadhili]] [[Tariqa|Sufi order]].{{sfn|Chittick|2007 |p=x}} He considered the works of Schuon, with central importance given to the practice of a spiritual discipline in addition to doctrinal knowledge, especially instrumental in determining his intellectual and spiritual life.{{sfn|Riffi|2020|p=46}}

After receiving a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in [[physics]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] in 1954, Nasr enrolled in the graduate program in [[geology]] and [[geophysics]] at [[Harvard University]], where he received a [[Master of Science]] degree in both fields in 1956, and went on to pursue his [[Doctor of Philosophy|doctorate]] in the [[history of science]] and learning at the same university.{{sfn|The Gifford Lectures on Natural Theology |1980 |p=1}} He planned to write his dissertation under the supervision of [[George Sarton]], but Sarton died before he could begin his dissertation work and so he wrote it under the direction of [[I. Bernard Cohen]], [[Hamilton Gibb]], and [[Harry Wolfson]].{{sfn | Dastagir | 2018 | p=619}}

At the age of twenty-five, Nasr graduated with a Ph.D. from Harvard University and completed his first book, ''Science and Civilization in Islam'', the title being a direct tribute to ''[[Science and Civilization in China]]'', the work by [[Joseph Needham]] which had for task to present to Westerners the complex developments of the [[history of science and technology in China]], a mission Nasr was himself following for the [[Muslim world|Islamic civilization]].{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=53}} His doctoral dissertation entitled "Conceptions of Nature in Islamic Thought" was published in 1964 by [[Harvard University Press]] as ''An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines''.{{sfn | Dastagir | 2018 | p=620}}

Apart from mastering the Arabic and French he was initially taught in his childhood, during his student years Nasr also learned Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish and German.{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=47}}

===Back to Iran===
After receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard in 1958, Nasr was offered the position of associate professor at MIT, as well as a three-year research position as a junior fellow followed by a formal teaching position at Harvard, but he decided to return to Iran. That same year, [[Tehran University]] hired him as associate professor of philosophy and the history of science.{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=61-62}} He continued his study of Islamic sciences with traditional Iranian masters and philosophers ([[Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i]], [[Allameh Sayyed Abul Hasan Rafiee Qazvini]] and [[Sayyed Muhammad Kazim ‘Assar|Sayyid Muhammad Kazim Assar]]), completing his dual education, academic and traditional.{{sfn|Riffi|2020|p=47}}

He had married and started a family at this point.{{sfn|Chittick|2007 |p=xi}} His son, Vali Nasr, would go on to become an academic and specialist on the Islamic world.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sais-jhu.edu/news-and-events/for-the-press/press-releases/vali-nasr-named-dean-johns-hopkins-sais |title=Vali Nasr Named Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS {{!}} Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies – SAIS |website=www.sais-jhu.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206205332/http://www.sais-jhu.edu/news-and-events/for-the-press/press-releases/vali-nasr-named-dean-johns-hopkins-sais |archive-date=2015-02-06}}</ref>

At thirty, Nasr was the youngest person to become a full professor at Tehran University.{{sfnm|1a1=Chittick|1y=2007 |1p=ix|2a1=The Gifford Lectures on Natural Theology|2y=1980 |2p=1}} He was quickly recognized as an authority in Islamic philosophy, Islamic science and [[Sufism]].{{sfn|Oldmeadow|2004|p=}} For fifteen years he conducted a doctoral seminar in comparative philosophy and Islamic philosophy with [[Henry Corbin]] who was at that time the director of the French Institute for Iranian Studies in Tehran.{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=67, 91, 93}} Five years later he would be made the dean of the faculty of letters and then vice-chancellor of the university.{{sfn|Karic|2001|p=782}}

In 1972, the [[Mohammad Reza Pahlavi|Shah]] chose him to become the president of Aryamehr University (now [[Sharif University of Technology]]).{{sfnm|1a1=Chittick|1y=2007 |1p=xi|2a1=The Gifford Lectures on Natural Theology|2y=1980 |2p=1}} There, Nasr created a faculty for the [[humanities]] in order to encourage the students not to focus exclusively on scientific matters. He also designed courses that focused on the assessment of modern technology and its impact on human society and the environment.{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=117}} During this time, he was also involved in the creation of the Islamic and Iranian studies departments at Harvard, [[Princeton]], the [[University of Utah]], and the [[University of Southern California]].{{sfn|Moore|2010 |p=xxv}}

{{blockquote|I belonged to a new generation and was able to exercise much influence not only at Tehran University but also in the cultural and educational life of the country as a whole since I was a member of all the important national councils in those fields, [...] So there was a really formidable ''jihād'' on my hands to try to turn things around and to make Iranian society more aware of its own heritage. I tried to create a bridge between the traditional and the modern elements of our society.{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=68}} <small>(interview)</small>}}

Nasr refused to engage in the politics of his country despite a number of offers for ministerial positions and ambassadorship.{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=126, 128}} In 1974, Empress Farah Pahlavi commissioned him to establish and lead the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy (now the [[Institute for Research in Philosophy]]), the first academic institution to be conducted in accordance with the intellectual principles of the [[Traditionalist School]]. During that time, Nasr, Tabataba'i, [[William Chittick]], [[Peter Lamborn Wilson]], Kenneth Morgan, [[Sachiko Murata]], [[Toshihiko Izutsu]], and Henry Corbin held various philosophical discourses. The book ''[[Shi'ite Islam (book)|Shi'ite Islam]]'' and the traditionalist journal ''Sophia Perennis'' were products of this period.{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010 |p=114}} In 1978, he was named director of the Empress's private bureau, while continuing to teach philosophy at Tehran University, and serve as chancellor of Aryamehr University, and president of the Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy.{{sfn|Chittick|2007 |p=xii}}

===Return to the West===
[[File:Nasr.jpg|thumb|upright|Nasr in 2002]]
In January 1979, the [[Iranian Revolution]] brought an end to the Pahlavi dynasty, and Nasr, who was visiting London with his family at the time, was unable to return to Iran. As a result, he lost his possessions, including his manuscripts and library.{{sfn|Chittick|2007|p=12}} His family later settled in Boston.{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010|p=137}} After teaching for a few months at the [[University of Utah]], Nasr was appointed a professor of [[Islamic studies]] at [[Temple University]] in Philadelphia, which had one of the largest Ph.D. programs in religious studies in the United States. [[Ismail al-Faruqi]] was his colleague during his time there.{{sfn|Jahanbegloo|2010|p=71}}

During the 1980 – 1981 academic year, Nasr delivered the [[Gifford lectures]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]], which were later published under the title ''Knowledge and the Sacred''.{{sfnm|1a1=Chittick|1y=2007 |1p=xii|2a1=The Gifford Lectures on Natural Theology|2y=1980 |2p=1}} According to William Chittick, "three out of the four of his first books in English (''An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines'', ''Three Muslim Sages'', and ''Science and Civilization in Islam'') were published by [[Harvard University Press]], and they immediately established him as one of the major and original voices in Islamic studies. His strong endorsement of the writings of Schuon and Burckhardt in these books were in turn instrumental in bringing the Traditionalist school to the notice of official academia".{{sfn|Chittick|2007|p=xiii}}

Nasr left Temple University in 1984 to become a professor of Islamic studies at [[George Washington University]] in Washington, D.C., a position he holds to this day.{{sfn|Kalin|1996|p=}} That same year, he established the Foundation for Traditional Studies which published the journal ''Sophia'' and works on traditional thought.{{sfn|The Seyyed Hossein Nasr Foundation|1999|p=}} He has authored over fifty books and over five hundred articles based on the principles of the ''philosophia perennis''.{{sfn|Chittick|2007|p=xiv}} He is regularly invited to give courses and conferences at various institutions and universities of the five different continents on the major themes for which he has become well known:{{sfn|Oldmeadow|2010|p=40}} Islam, philosophy, metaphysics, cosmology, anthropology, spirituality, religion, science, ecology, literature, art, etc.{{sfn|Chittick|2007|p=xiv}}{{efn|He was visiting scholar (Harvard University) in 1962 and 1965, Aga Khan chair of Islamic studies (American University at Beirut) in 1964–65, Rockefeller Lectures (University of Chicago) in 1966, Kevorkian Lectures (New York University) in 1977, Gifford Lectures (University of Edinburgh) in 1980–81, Wiegand Lecture (University of Toronto) in 1983, Parliament of World Religions (Chicago) in 1993, Cadbury Lectures (University of Birmingham) in 1994, Islam and the West (UNO) in 2003.}} His works have been translated into twenty-eight different languages.{{sfn|Boylston|2014|p=}}