Asrar al-Ayat wa Anwar al-Bayyinat, Risalah Mutashabihat al-Quran

 One of the most valuable works of Mulla Sadra is Asrar al-Ayat wa Anwar al-Bayyinat. On the one hand, it is a Qur'anic book and, on the other, a philosophical and gnostic one. This book consists of an Introduction and three chapters each consisting of several mashhads (parts). The first chapter is one the divine knowledge; the second is on God's acts; and the third is on the knowledge of resurrection.

In the Introduction of this book, Mulla Sadra had discussed some principles, the last of which is related to the intentions of the divine book. From among these intentions we can refer to the quality of the journey towards God in order to perceive meeting Him and being in company with those who are close the Him.

The book Asrar al-ayat is called so because the depth of the Qur'an cannot be attained merely by knowing Arabic words and structure. Rather, it has some secrets that are hidden among its verses and demands a secret keeper to illuminate the way.

One of the characteristics of this book is explaining some universal philosophical realities that cannot be contained in non-Qur'anic Philosophies. In fact, it is only the Transcendent Philosophy that can extract the realities and secrets of the depth of the Qur'an so accurately and meticulously.