One of the most central issues in Illuminationist philosophy (Ḥikmat al-Ishrāq) is the formulation, demonstration, and elaboration of the ramifications of the Mundus Imaginalis ('Ālam al-Mithāl). In other words, in addition to the material realm, the realm of souls, and the realm of pure intellects, Suhrawardi posits a fourth ontological domain, designated as the realm of "suspended forms" (al-muthul al-mu'allaqa), encompassing both dark (imaginal-dark) and luminous (imaginal-light) suspended forms.

The central research question of this inquiry is: How can Suhrawardi's Imaginal World be systematically re-read and re-interpreted through the lens of Jean-Luc Marion's phenomenology, specifically with an emphasis on his theory of the saturated phenomenon?

The findings of this research are threefold:

First, Suhrawardi not only establishes the ontological reality of the Imaginal World but also mobilizes its conceptual capacity to elucidate various religious and theological doctrines.

Second, by introducing the paradigm of the saturated (and doubly saturated) phenomenon, Marion demonstrates that certain given phenomena are so exceedingly rich, overflowing, and excessive that no pre-existing conceptual network and no intentional structure can fully encompass or circumscribe them. The saturated phenomenon thus transcends the transcendental categories and principles of understanding.

Third, Suhrawardi's Imaginal World can be convincingly re-read based on the core characteristics of Marion's saturated phenomenon—namely, its multi-perspectival givenness, its excess over every concept, and its demand for a witness rather than a constituting subject. From one perspective (and with certain qualifications), the Imaginal World is comparable to Marion's paradigm of the "doubly saturated phenomenon" (i.e., Revelation). From other angles, however, it reveals structural analogies with Marion's other paradigmatic saturated phenomena, including the Event (l'événement), the Painting (l'œuvre d'art), the Flesh (la chair), and the Face (le visage) of the Other