A two-day conference was held in Qazvin province on July 28-9 to commemorate Sohrevardi, the founder of the “Oriental Theosophy” which is among the important schools of Islamic mysticism IRNA reported.

A pre-congress to World Philosophy Day, the event was attended by Sohrevardi researchers, including Iran+s Wisdom and Philosophy Institute Gholamreza A+vani and Gholamhossein Ebrahmi-Dinani.

Over 100 scholars from around the globe are expected to gather in Tehran for Iran the international congress of World Philosophy Day 2010 in mid-November, said A+vani.

“The significant event is an opportunity for the country to showcase the prosperity and glory of the philosophy and thought,” he said.

Sohrevardi was an Iranian philosopher, the founder of “Oriental Theosophy”, an important school in Islamic mysticism that drew upon Zoroastrian and Platonic ideas, A+vani noted.

“The “Orient” of his “Oriental Theosophy” symbolizes spiritual light and knowledge. He is sometimes given the title Sheikh Al-Ishraq or “Master of Illumination” and sometimes is called Sheikh Al-Maqtul, the “Murdered Sheikh”, referring to his execution for heresy.”

Sohrevard or Sohrabard was a Kurdish village located between the present-day towns of Zanjan and Bijar where he was born in 1155.

He learned wisdom and jurisprudence in Maragheh, East Azarbaijan province.

He then went to Iraq and Syria for several years and developed his knowledge there.

His life spanned a period of less than forty years during which he produced a series of highly assured works that established him as the founder of a new school of philosophy, sometimes called “Illuminism” (Hikmat Al-Ishraq).

In 1186, at the age of thirty-two, he completed his magnum opus “The Philosophy of Illumination.”

He was executed in 1191 in Aleppo on charges of heresy.