Abstract

The word "industry" has a specific meaning for the people of wisdom and gnosis which has nothing to do with modern technology. Mir Findiriski's Risalah-i sana'iyyah is one of the best and most comprehensive works that has ever been written exclusively on the topic of industry by one of the most distinguished Muslim philosophers, gnostics, and scholars. The meaning of industry as intended by the people of wisdom and gnosis has been illustrated in the best way possible in this treatise. This work was written at the same time with the rise of modern knowledge and technology in the West. The reading of this treatise reveals some of the philosophical crises of the Safawid Era which led to some serious defects in civil life, working, and industry. One of the most important questions posed here pertains to the relation between industry as intended by Mir Findiriski and that in its new technological sense.