Mulla Sadra's Life, works, and Philosophy

Prof.S.M, Khamenei

At the close of the book of Mulla Sadra's life, the first book of his biography conies to an end, and now it is time to review his spiritual life.

To consider the few decades of bodily life as real life originates from shortsightedness and the defects of unscientific cosmology which is also given the names of sensantionalism, empiricism, and positivism.

Worldly life is only a trivial part of man's life. According to the Holy Quran, the real life starts after death and at the so-called stage of the Hereafter (akhirat), "Lo! the home ot hereafter - that is life..." (the Holy Quran; 29: 64).

Our rich mystical literature introduces death as rebirth and real life. There is a sentence stating: "I will turn to that which cannot be imagined." It is also said that the character of highly elevated wen who are alive in the light of their love for God will be better known after their death. Therefore, we should consider this book and what comes after it, not what was written and told before, as representing the main life story of Mulla Sadra, since his real life passed and still goes on in people's hearts and memories. In this regard, Hafiz says:

"Never dies one whose heart is alive because of love;

"Our eternity is recorded in the book of the world."

After the apparent and corporeal death of Mulla Sadra in Basra, thousands of Mulla Sadra's have been bom in people's hearts. Superficeal observers assume that death throws a veil on people and prevents their presence in this world; while it is in fact the superficial existence of well-known people which is a barrier between their real selves and people's understanding.

One needs sharp eyes and a high level of intelligence to be able to know the people of God during their life and to see their real faces beyond the dust of their own pride, selfishness, and suspicions. That is why those men who, in spite of their apparant presene, are not seen and are hidden from the eyes of strangers should be given the name of "invisible men".

People's regrets and sorrows after the apparant death of great men indicate the fallacy of their assumptions during their life time, and also the reality of the above - mentioned points after their death.

Our wise sage, Sadr al-Muta'allihin wa'l Mutikamilin, lived and died in this way, too, since his living was like death and his death was like living. As the saying goes:

"The time he was drudging was considered as his life."

That is why the humble writer of this book decided to write the biography of this great sage. However, this is the story of a life which has not come to an end even after about 600 years and will continue for ever to the Ressurection day.

In order to compose the story of Mulla Sadra's eternal life, it is first necessary to review the short history of his corporeal life once more in brief. A chronicle of his life is also presented below for more convenience (as mentioned in the first volume of this book and according to Mulla Sadra's writings, his birth date was between 979 to 980 A.H., 1572 AD, and his death was, according a widespread belief, in 1050 A.H., 1632 AD).

Neither is Man a material being to perish with the annihilation of his matter or body nor are his real and spiritual interests so that his death causes his absolute separation from the world.

One's children and Family guarantee the continuity of his generation, and his good name and good works and deeds determine the presence of his name and identity in the society and history. The ways one has served the society and also his connections with prominent social institutions provide a link between his real being and the society. The character of such a person will become a part of the history of every nation, and the ancient history of the world will devote one page of its memorandum to his life and his name will be recorded there for ever.

 

 

A good child or student is like a sweet fruit that is the product of the life tree of a father or teacher, having fallen into people's hands. Or it is like a leafy and green branch whose shadow is a shelter for the homeless and brings about a good name and blessing for that father or teacher. On the contrary, a bad child is like a bitter fruit which bothers taste and brings about every one's curse.

There are sayings in hadith such as "it is the child who keeps the good name of the family" which represent the adherence of Islam to this social and natural principle. The child has been called "the secret of father" since after his apparent death the father can be found in his child. However, none of Mulla Sadra's children or students could ever mirror him with all his perfections, or represent his knowledge, mystical spirit, scientific venture, or spiritual status. One can rightly say that "you are great and can not be reflected by a tiny mirror."

A student is the heir to the knowledge and, sometimes, to the character of his teacher, and a child in the continuity of his father's existence is like a young branch which is connected to the tree of his ancestors through his father. If he can represent the spiritual, intellectual, social, and scientific characteristics of his father, he has successfully kept his father's secret and inherited his belongings. Otherwise, he would be a part of his father's flesh which, according to the law of nature, looks like his father in appearance and is the heir to his material wealth according to the law of shar'; however, he is in fact miles away from his father and an absolute stranger to him.

It is because of the "child's being the father's secret" that some literary men have referred to the child as the rose water (which is what remains from roses and rose gardens). According to a well-known poem:

"When the rose withers and the garden is in ruins,

"From whom would you ask about the rose smell?

"From the rose water."

This is the reason that researchers and biographers, after the death of great men, explore the lives of their offsprings and seek the unknown aspects of their life in their family. In order to complete this biography, and in line with other historiographers, the author has also devoted a chapter to the life of Mulla Sadra's family, children, and students:

 

Abstracts

 

The Features of Effusion Existential Activity in Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Theosophy

Dr. Saeed Rahimiyan

One of the very basic foundations of a philosophical system is a theory which is capable of explaining the relationship between the transcendent origin and what is other than God. In this regard, we can refer to the theory of creation in religions, the theologians' theory of ex create nihilo, the theories of union and indwelling in some religions and branches of Sufism, the theory of evolution advocated by materialists, and some western philosophers' theory of manifestation (in its three Peripatetic, llluminationist, and transcendent versions). In the history of Islamic philosophy, the theory of effusion has undergone a specific process of development. It entered the philosophical culture of Muslems along with a translation, resembling an interpretation of Plotinus's Ennead entitled Ethologia (by attributing it to the first teacher, Aristotle). Later, by drawing on the ideas of a number of thinkers, ranging from Kindi to Mulla Sadra, enjoying the deep insight of Islamic philosophers, being inspired by profound Islamic teachings, and relying on the mystic intuition and unveiling, a lot of changes and developments came to fruition in this theory. The most comprehensive definition for this theory has been provided by the Transcendent Theosophy on the basis of the principiality of existence and the unity of being.

The present article undertakes to present the features of this theory in Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Theosophy in the following dimensions:

1. The relationship between unity and multiplicity

2. The relationship between the immaterial and the matter

3. The relationship between the eternal and contingency

4. The relationship between the constant and the changing

5. The relationship between the knower and the known

6. The relationship between the willing agent and the desired object (effect)

7. The relationship between the pure good and evil

This article first provides a general discussion on the specifications of the originated activity in its emanated form. Next, the issue is expounded in detail in eight sections by resorting to Mulla Sadra's works and pointing to the impacts of the penetration of the conceptual bases of the principiality of existence and its related principles on this theory.

 

Mulla Sadra's Systemic Netwok of Ontology and its Imapacts on Modern Physics

Dr. Mahdi Dehbashi

In the 20 century the systemic network emphasizes the mutual relations and correlations among phenomena in different sciences in general and in physics in particular. What is worthy of attention in this approach is the go togetherness of a series of things rather than their manifestations in independent and discrete forms. In a systemic network, every being possesses an organism so that, in spite of being clearly a composite of different components, it represents its universality as a unified and dynamic system. Every system is a composite of interrelated and interdependent components that comprise a whole.

The connection of component parts in the systemic approach is considered to be of an interactive, productive, developmental, structural, and behavioral nature. Such a correlation among the phenomena has been discussed in short under the title of "the relative existence of the contingent world" in Mulla Sadra's philosophical language.

Finally, the philosophical results of both fields (the systemic network of Mulla Sadra's ontology and its relationship to the Quantum physics) are presented in a comparative form:

1. In the systemic network of phenomena, it is not possible to prove the existence of monotony or consistency in nature. In Mulla Sadra's view, the unity, principiality, and gradation of the levels of existence can provide a strong support for the existence of consistency in nature; however, in the Quantum physics, the correlation among the phenomena will be ruptured with respect to the source and the objective and would be lacking in a firm theoretical basis for its principles.

2. Our scientific knowledge of natural phenomena in each field is probabilistic, refutable, and unreliable.

3. The natural processes cannot be adequately described in the frameworks of time and space.

4. The opposition between the intellect and the intelligible with which the philosophers and scientists of classical physics agreed does not make sense here.

5. The principle of causality will lose its independent strength in the phenomena of existence.

6. The Quantum physics, like the other branches of science, must consider the principle of causality in its studies as a predestined element beyond all phenomena which has been determined for the world of existence, not as an element which is a pure reflection of the world of reality.

7. In Mulla Sadra's philosophy, the principle of causality is considered not only as a presupposition but also as something whose objective and existential origin is God.

8. The contingent world purely consists of potentialites and predispositions and is empowered by the Origin of existence in its developmental process. Since the opposition between the Truth and Creature is the same as the

opposition of existence and nonexistence, we can observe interruption on the side of nonexistence and the continuity of effusion on the side of existence. However, we cannot perceive the continuity of effusion since it goes on forever and is novel at each moment. There are other results that are recounted up to 12 items in the article.

The Value of Sense Perception

Mohamad taghi Faali

In Islamic sources, we can find the ideas of a number of philosophers who have dealt with the issue of sense perception following different approaches. All these viewpoints are interdependent, and since each of them is related to a specific dimension or aspect of the issue, the combination of all of them represents the numerous and various angles of the epistemological geometry of senses.

The writer of this article briefly recounts the scattered ideas and problems in relation to sense perception as follows:

1. The issue of egology, which is one of the most important topics in philosophy, deals with the disussion of perceptions;

2. The issue of immediate perceptions which are of two types, namely, primary and secondary immediate perceptions, are classifed into five groups one of which is sense perceptions;

3. The value of knowledge in general and the value of sense perceptions in particular;

4. The means of knowledge, one of them by which man is equipped is the faculty of sense;

5. The stages of knowledge, the first of which is sensation;

6. The sources of knowledge, one of the most important of which is sense perception;

7. Proving the existence of the external world which is one of the most important dilemmas of epistemology and is strongly united with the issue of sense perception;

The Theory of Correspondence

Abdolhossein khosropanah

The discussion of the value of knowledge started from the time man discovered the existence of errors in some of his thoughts and observed some epistemological contradictions among thinkers. However, the issue of the value of knowledge is one of the most basic dicussions in epistemology which divides the people of the truth and knowledge into different groups after passing over the border lines of sophism and acknowledging the principle of reality.

One of the problems of the value of knowledge is the criterion for knowledge or defining the concepts of right and wrong, which has been discussed in the first chapter. The issue of the "essence of right and wrong" has been under extensive scrutiny during the last two centuries (since the second half of the nineteenth century).

Some epistemologists agree with the traditional definition, that is, the theory of correspondence, and some others have questioned its foundations and posed other theories such as the theories of harmony, pragmatism, semantics, relativity, and reductionism.

The second chapter is devoted to the description, explanation, and criticism of the theory of correspondence, which is the most important of all theories of truth.

In the third chapter, some of the defects of the theory of correspondence are disussed and a number of objections which are raised against this theory by some philosophers are presented. In the same chapter, reference has been made to the numerous responses provided by Allameh Tabatabai and the one suggested by Mulla Sadra on the difference between the primary predication and the common predication.

Finally, the responses provided by some philosophers such as the one by Mirdamad in Talighat and the one by Ibn Sina in Sharh-e Esharat are pointed out.

Suhrawardi's Innovations Concerning the Theory of "Emanation"

Dr, S. Mahdi Imami Juma

There are a number of people in Islamic communities, including ours, who have a superficial judgment of current philosophical discussions in the world of Islam and consider them as having been originated from Greek philosophy. One of these discussions is related to the issue of emanation or effusion with which Farabi and Ibn Sina agreed. Unfortunately, in spite of all the innovations brought about by these two philosophers concerning the above issue, a great number of teachers of philosophy agree with a Greek origin for the theory of emanation rather than an Islamic one.

In this article, the writer firstly deals with the criticisms directed toward the Ibn Sinan theory of emanation, which the llluminationist school of philosophy considers as being justified from the two perspectives of religion and intellect. Secondly, he explores Suhrawardi's theory of emanation and the plan he presents for the spiritual world on the basis of this theory.

The innovations of Ibn-Sina were not satisfactory and justified in Suhrawardi's eyes since he believed that the Ibn-Sinan model of emanation could not provide a comprehensive explanation for the world. He also emphasized that Ibn Sina's theory of emanation, in spite of its novelty, led to the spiritual world which possesses ten intellects, each having three intellectual modes. From the view point of Suhrawardi and his followers, the intellectual model designed by Ibn Sina for the spiritual world was not capable of justifying the revealed knowledge. Ibn Sina conjoined his model of the world of intellects in philosophy with the spiritual world in religion and the sacred law (sharia) through conjoining the "intellect" with the "angel". Nevertheless, the llluminationists hold that there is no conformity or agreement between the picture of the world of invisible as presented by religion and the one presented by the simple Ibn-Sinan model which rightly suits his theory of emanation.

Lastly, the writer expounds the llluminationists' theory of emanation, which is discussed at different levels as follows:

1. The vertical emanation of lights

2. Contemplation, bliss, and illumination

3. The combination of accidental lights with directions

4. The spiritual participations and new originations

5. Suhrawardi's innovations concerning the theory of emanation

The Faculties of Internal Perception in Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra

Dr. All Arshad Riyahi

This article firstly provides a definition for faculty and the soul and then explains the different types of faculties and the place of the faculty of internal perception. Secondly, the measure of the multiplicity of faculties that holds a very important position among philosophical issues is discussed. It is argued that the differences in acts do not indicate the existence of multiplicity in faculties, even in cases where there are two completely opposite acts. In this part, reference has been made to the different types of the faculties of internal perception which include the common sense, the imaginal faculty, the faculty of imagination, the faculty of estimation, and the faculty of memory.

With regard to the common sense and the imaginal faculty,it is concluded that there is no reason for approving of the distinction between these two faculties; quite the contrary, both of them represent the same faculty which receives the perceptive forms from external senses and preserves them in itself.

Concerning the faculty of estimation, after referring to Ibn Sina's reasoning for demonstrating this faculty, it becomes evident that Mulla Sadra's objection to this reasoning is not justified; however, the basis for the reasoning is false and; therefore, there is no ground for discussing the faculty of memory since it is introduced as one which preserves the perceptions of the faculty of estimation.

On the basis of all contemplations in this article, it is concluded that we can only prove the existence of one faculty for internal perception for the rational soul which is the perceiver of universals. Such a faculty receives the perceptions of external senses and preserves them in itself.

Some Deliberations on the Issue of Universals in Mulla Sadra

Masud Umid

This article explores the issue of universals from three aspects as follows:

1- The ontological aspects of universals;

2- The epistemological aspects of universals;

3- The psychological aspects or the philosophical psychology of universals.

It is evident from Mulla Sadra's ideas that he completely differentiates between the intelligibles and the universals and believes in the multiplicity of intelligibles. One might infer a three-fold classification of universals and intelligibles on the basis of his works as represented below:

1. Intelligibles:       a. Primary         b. Philosophical secondary   c.Logical secondary

2. Intelligibles:       a. Essential       b. Abstract     c. Logical

3. Intelligibles:       a. Primary         b. Secondar

I.Philosophical

II. Logical In the philosophical psychology of universals, Mulla Sadra refers to three theories with

respect to the acquisition of natural universals for man:

A. The Theory of Transcendence or Ascending: According to this theory, when confronting external objects, man's soul creates an image of them by sense perception, imagination, and intellect. This theory also holds that the universal is not the same as weakened sensual or imaginal forms, as indicated in Hume's theories and those of others. In sum, the gist of the theory is that the particular transforms into the universal through transcendence and ascent.

B. The Theory of the Contemplation of Ideas and Immutable Archetypes: Mulla Sadra has also discussed another viewpoint indicating that the sensual and imaginal perceptions are among the innovations of the soul, and the soul is considered as the agent of emanation in relation to them.

C.  The Theory of the Interference of the .Active Intellect: In some of his other philosophical deliberations, Mulla Sadra tries to prove the existence of the active intellect and refers to the source of emanation for the intelligent and the intelligible forms as the active intellect.