History of Islamic Philosophy – Henry Corbin

Shaykh Ahmad Ahsa'i had never even had the intention of founding a school, and did not mean to differ from the 'others' save in his strict adherence to the integral theosophical teachings of the Imams of Twelver Shiism. He had deepened this teaching through a life of personal meditation, and possessed evidence of it in his inner experiences, in which he was privileged to speak in vision to the Imams whom he regarded as his only teachers. This integral Imamism confronted a persistent failure of understanding, the history of which is not particularly edifying. It should nevertheless be said that it had the scope of a metaphysical reformation, possessing quite different aims from those envisaged by the 'reformist' movements which sprang up elsewhere in the Islamic world.

Shaykh Ahmad Ahsa'i was a man of noble spirituality, who manifested all the features of a 'man of God' — something that has never been contested. He was born in 1166/1753 atal-Ahsa', in the territory of Bahrayn. He appears to have been of pure Arab descent, coming originally from the part of Arabia which is on the coast of the Persian Gulf (where the Qarmats in the tenth century had founded a little ideal State, visited by Nasir-i Khusraw). But he spent about fifteen years in Iran, and were it not for the response and the enthusiasm aroused there by his person and teaching, 'Shaykhism' would doubtless not exist. His first steps along the spiritual way are known to us from his autobiography. The Shaykhi tradition has no teacher of whom he might have claimed to be a disciple. It is as though he had no teacher other than the ustadh-i ghaybi — that inner teacher whom other spiritual men have also claimed as their own, but who in his case expressly designates in turn one of the 'Fourteen Immaculate Ones'. Nevertheless, we know the names of a few teachers whose lectures he attended. After an astonishingly full life, in which he inspired fervent devotion in his followers — and also, unfortunately, the all too human jealousy of some of his colleagues — he died a few steps away from Medina in1241 /1826: his intention had been to settle in Mecca with his family.

His work is considerable, and consists of over a hundred and thirty-two titles — many more, in fact, for certain works are collections of several treatises. Almost everything he wrote has been published in lithographic editions

He observed how those who professed the Faith of Islam had shattered its unity, sapped its force, perverted its purpose, and degraded its holy name. His soul was filled with anguish at the sight of the corruption and strife which characterised the Shí'ah sect of Islam.... .. .. .

While it is unclear how much of Nabil's interpretation is consistent with Shaykh Ahmad's true feelings, the underlying motivations for reform become somewhat clearer.

he described a view of the cosmos as made up of hierarchies running from the material to the intellectual, the latter coming closer to God.

The believer's purpose is to move away from gross matter and animal instincts toward divine qualities and insights by means of spiritual and meditative exercises, dreams and trance-states. The metaphor of the wayfarer traversing this metaphysical lattice is common to Shaykh Ahmad and the Sufis.

Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa’i, Sira Dhatiyya (Autobiography).
I was often contemplative during my childhood.  If I was with other children, I played with them just as they played.  But everything was an occasion for contemplation, in which I excelled them.  If none of the children were with me, I would begin to contemplate and reflect….

Like many other Shi`i thinkers, Shaykh Ahmad ….. sees the entire phenomenon of Sufism, whether Sunni or Shi`i, as a Sunni plot against the primacy of the House of the Prophet. I do not intend to dwell on this line of attack, which is after all hardly confined to al-Ahsa'i, and which is the least attractive element in his intellectual system.

 Mulla `Ali Rashti, Shaykh Ahmad's main interlocutor on these matters,  pursued the question of the seeker's need for a guide, which Sufis insist involves an obligation to obey implicitly the pir. Rashti concedes that Sunni pirs may claim too much authority and charisma, trespassing on ground properly occupied by the Imams, but suggests that the Path does require a guide (murshid), and that it is not easy for even the Shi`i seeker to arrive at the goal without one.

In reply, Shaykh Ahmad refuses to concede this point to the Sufi Shi`is, insisting that one must enter a house through its doors, and that the Imams are the doors here. The shortest path to God is that blazed by the Legislator, with all its prayers (individual and prescribed), ritual acts, good traits and deeds, concentration upon the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and preparedness for death. These are enshrined in books possessed by the believers, of law, way and truth (shari`ah, tariqah, haqiqah).

the most a guide can do is remind you of what you already essentially know. The guide is therefore not a superior being bestowing unprecedented knowledge on the seeker; his only advantage is in serial time--he happened to recover some preexistent memories before the seeker did.

He maintained an extremely complex relationship with his immediate intellectual heritage, the philosophical and mystical strands in the School of Isfahan, accepting its implications for gnosis (`irfan) …..His use of symbolic language captured the imagination of tens of thousands in the Arab East, Iran, and India, and the controversial mystical Shaykhi order came to be established in his name, largely after his death.