Al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fi al-asfar al-arba'ah, vol. 1

al-Asfar al-arba'ah is Mulla Sadra's invaluable and everlasting masterpiece. It clearly manifests his independent and coherent school of philosophy, which he himself called the Transcendent Philosophy.

The school is the product of this prominent philosopher's genius, vast knowledge, and dominance over Ishraqi (Illuminationist) and Peripatetic philosophies, theology (kalam), and gnosis and his being inspired by the Holy Qur'an and the hadiths of the Prophet's House. At the same time, it must be considered the fruit of the noble tree of wisdom which had existed and grown centuries before him in Iran, Islamic countries, and other places in the world.

Mulla Sadra always wished to introduce real wisdom to all and direct the prevalent philosophy and theology (kalam) of his time in its real bed, i.e. true wisdom. Following a monotheistic approach, he intended to remove the absurd conflict between the intellect, intuition, and revelation (or philosophy, gnosis, and shari'ah) by resorting to the multi-level single origin and demonstrate that wisdom is only one, and the origin of receiving the truth is only one, which is manifested at three levels of the intellect, intuition, and revelation, each having its own place.

The present book is the first volume of the nine-volume series of al-Asfar and consists of three parts. Mulla Sadra has discussed the principles of existence and its createdness in this book.

The first volume of al-Asfar, along with the glosses of Haj Mulla Hadi Sabziwari, has been published under the supervision of Professor Seyyed Mohammed Khamenei in 678 pages by the Sadra Islamic Philosophy Institute. Professor Khamenei has also written an extensive Introduction to this book, and Dr. Gholamreza A'wani has conducted the required research and edited it. An index of Qur'anic verses and the related hadiths and poems also accompanies this book.