Mulla Sadra's Life, Works, and PhilosophyProf. S. M. Khamenei
A. Philosophical and Gnostic Works 1. al-Asfar al-arba'ah. Mulla Sadra himself calls it al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fil-asfar al-arba'ah, and it is known in seminaries as al-Asfar. He divides the different parts and chapters of this book so that they conform to man's four spiritual and rational journeys towards perfection. It has been lithographed in nine volumes and is considered to be the greatest and most comprehensive of all of his books. 2. Iksir al-'arifin. He apparently wrote this book in the second part of his life. In spite of the various philosophical topics it deals with, its style of writing is similar to that of Muslim gnostics and sufists. It is principally an educational book. 3. Ta'liqat 'ala sharh hikmat al-ishraq. This work contains a series of glosses on Suhrawardi's Sharh hikmat al-ishraq. 4. Ta'liqat 'ala al-shifa. This book contains some masterly glosses on Ibn Sina's Ilahiyyat al-shifa. Mulla Sadra presented the results of his latest philosophical studies in this work and the work above. 5. Ta'liqat 'ala qabasat. This work also contains glosses on Mir Damad's al-Qabasat. However, so far we have not been able to access its text.[1] 6. Risalah fi al-hashr. This is a small book on the issue of resurrection, i.e. the coming together of human beings and other existents on the Day of Resurrection. 7. Huduth al-'alam. He wrote this book in order to demonstrate the temporal genesis of the world based on his own principles. 8. al-Hikmat al-'arshiyyah. This book is one of Mulla Sadra's latest works in which a series of philosophical issues have been discussed from the viewpoint of the Transcendent Philosophy and gnosis. However, it is not a detailed work based on reasoning. Professor Maurice has translated this book into English and written an introduction to it. 9. al-Shawahid al-rububiyyah. This is an extensive philosophical book based on Mulla Sadra's school of philosophy and latest ideas. 10. Sharh al-hidayat al-athiriyyah. This work is a commentary on Athir al-Din Abhari's Hidayat. Since its style of writing is similar to that of early and traditional philosophers, one can rarely see any of the principles of Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Philosophy there. 11. al-Mabda' wa'l-ma'ad. This might be the first work revealing Mulla Sadra's shift from traditional philosophy to his own school of thought, the Transcendent Philosophy. This is because he has presented the principles underlying his argument between the lines of the philosophical discussions of this extensive work. 12. al-Mazahir al-ilahiyyah. This work is apparently a summary of al-Mabda' wa'l-ma'ad. It is a relatively non-inferential book on the Transcendent Philosophy written in simple language. 13. al-Masha'ir. This is a book on ontology based on Mulla Sadra's specific philosophy. While being a short book, it is similar in content to the first volume of al-Asfar. Professor Henry Corbin has translated it into French and written an eloquent introduction to it. Recently, it has also been translated into English. 14. I'qaz al-na'imin. This is a small book in the field of practical and theoretical gnosis on the Source, resurrection, and knowledge of oneness. 15. Asrar al-ayat. Mulla Sadra wrote this book following the method of Shi'i gnostics and sufis about the Source and resurrection. He also tried to pose and solve a series of philosophical and theological problems based on the Qur'anic logic in this work. 16. Mafatih al-qayb. This is a more comprehensive and extensive version of Asrar al-ayat. One can consider these two books as introductions to an interpretation of the Qur'an or an innovative book about Qur'anic philosophy. 17. al-Masa'il al-qudsiyyah. In this book, Mulla Sadra has mainly tried to demonstrate the principiality of mental existence. It is the result of his spiritual intuitions and observations. 18. al-Waridat al-qalbiyyah. This work is about some important philosophical issues that seem to be a collection of the divine inspirations and illuminations which he received by his heart and discovered in ways other than reasoning and discussion. Treatises 1. Ittihad al-aqil wa'l-m'aqul. This treatise includes an exposition of the unity of the intellect and the intelligible following Mulla Sadra's new and specific method. He has, however, discussed this issue thoroughly in al-Asfar. 2. Ittisaf al-mahiyyah bi'l-wujud. This is a small treatise on being, its principiality, and its relation with the quiddity of objects. It was also written in order to clarify the well-known ambiguity concerning infinite regression in being. 3. Ajwibat al-masa'il. Here, Mulla Sadra has dealt with the inquiries of contemporary philosophers and tried to answer their philosophical questions and solve the related problems. 4. al-Tashakhkhus. This is a relatively short treatise on individuation. Here, Mulla Sadra argues that the differences among the individuals of a species lie in their essence of being rather than other factors that philosophers have referred to. 5. Sarayan nur wujud al-haqq fi'l-mawjudat. In this book, Mulla Sadra discusses the quality of the descent or permeation of being from its true and main source and its reflection on existents. 6. Limmiyyah ikhtisas al-mintaqah bi-mawdi' mu'ayyan fi'l-falak. Here, the writer has provided a response to the well-known philosophical problem of earlier philosophers concerning the sphere. According to them, the sphere is a simple mass consisting of similar parts and is located in a determined position. 7. al-Masa'il al-qudsiyyah. This is a selection of the ontological discussions that have been presented in detail in his other books. 8. Khalq al-'amal (or Determination and Free Will or Af'al al-ibad). This treatise deals with the issue of determination and free will from the viewpoint of the common philosophy of the time. Here, Mulla Sadra does not deal with his own specific ideas. 9. al-Qada' wa'l-qadar. This treatise explains the meaning of divine decree and destiny based on Mulla Sadra's view, which has been extensively discussed in al-Asfar and some of his other books. 10. Zad al-musafir. This work has also been referred to as Zad al-salik. It is a concise treatise consisting of a series of arguments intended to demonstrate corporeal resurrection through reasoning in the language of philosophy. 11. Shawahid al-rububiyyah. This treatise, which is different from the book of al-Shawahid al-rububiyyah, includes more than 150 philosophical issues. Mulla Sadra introduces himself as the innovator of all these issues. This work is, in fact, an inventory of his philosophical and gnostic principles. 12. al-Mizaj. This is a short treatise on the reality of temperament. This issue has also been discussed in his al-Asfar and other philosophical books. 13. Mutashabihat al-Qur'an. Mulla Sadra wrote this treatise on the metaphorical verses in the Qur'an and what he had learned about them through his mystical intuitions. He also presented the same issues in Mafatih al-qayb (second miftah, fourth fatiha) 14. al-Alfaz al-mufradah (Ma'ani al-alfaz al-mufradah min al-Qur'an). This treatise is, in fact, a dictionary-like work for complicated words in the Qur'an. 15. Isalat j'al al-wujud. This is a short treatise on the issue of making and the essential madeness of being. 16. al-Hashriyyah. This treatise talks about the Day of Resurrection, the stages of death, reward, punishment, Heaven, and Hell. It was most probably written by Mulla Sadra. 17. Rad shubahat Iblis. Mulla Sadra has quoted and answered Iblis's seven-fold theological paradoxes in this work. Apparently, these paradoxes were sometimes posed in theological centers. B. Books of Interpretation Mulla Sadra's works of interpretation works initially consisted of some treatises on the interpretation of al-Nur verse and Ayat al-Kursi or some small verses of the Qur'an. It took him about 20 years to think of writing an interpretation of the Qur'an. At first, he interpreted al-Tariq, al-Yas (Ya-sin), al-Sajdah, al-Hadid, al-Jumu'ah, al-Waqi'ah, al-A'la, al-Zalzala, and al-Tawhid and made them accessible to their enthusiasts. He might have also taught some of them; nevertheless, when he was about 60 years old, by writing the interpretation of al-Fatihah and al-Baqarah chapters, he started the plan of a comprehensive interpretation of the Qur'an. Unfortunately, his work remained unfinished because of his demise. His interpretive treatises have been collected in seven volumes. Although they are incomplete, they reveal Mulla Sadra's high status among the interpreters of the Qur'an, particularly, those who were gnostics and philosophers, and his mastery of Qur'anic concepts and meanings. C. Books of Hadith Mulla Sadra in one of the greatest muhaddiths and experts in the field of hadiths. Towards the end of his life, he intended to write a comprehensive commentary on Usul kafi, written by the well-known muhaddith, Kulayni Razi. However, after writing about three volumes (in four sections and almost half of Usul kafi), he passed away and so could not finish it. The issues that he dealt with consist of the following: 1. First volume: A commentary on the hadiths related to wisdom and ignorance 2. Second volume: A commentary on the hadiths related to the virtue of knowledge 3. Third volume: On hujjat (proof) and the Infallible Imam (as) Moreover, he has also left some scattered articles commenting on some hadiths. However, their authenticity is questionable. D. Ethics and Training Mulla Sadra did not write any books on the science of ethics in the real sense of the word. However, some of his philosophical and gnostic books, such as I'qaz al-na'imin, Iksir al-'arifin, and even al-Waridat al-qalbiyyah can be considered as related to the training of the soul and ethics. He also wrote two other books in this regard, as follows: 1. Si asl. In this book, he referred to three general principles of ethics and discussed them in detail. It is in Persian and consists of some advice to scholars. 2. Kasr al-asnam al-jahiliyyah. This book discloses some facts about those who claim to know mysticism and advises those who claim to be sufis and scholars. It is rather similar to a book on ethics or practical wisdom. E. Logic Between the lines of his philosophical books, Mulla Sadra has referred to some important issues in logic and the philosophy of logic. However, he has left us with only two short books on logic: 1. al-Tanqih. In this book, following a method which is very close to that of the Mashriqiyyin (Illuminationists), he explains logical issues very clearly and profoundly. It seems that he wrote it for his students and perhaps children. 2. al-Tasawwur wa'l-tasdiq. This book is mainly on the issues related to concept and judgment and solving related problems. F. Literature Mulla Sadra did not write a book on literature in the sense of literary sciences. However, he has a Diwan of poems and some gnostic scientific mathnawis. He has also a collection of scientific and literary notes, including: 1. Diwan of poems: We have access to a gnosic mathnawi from Mulla Sadra. Some quatrains are also attributed to him. However, no lyric or ballad by him has ever been published. 2. Jung-i Mulla Sadra: This is a relatively big collection of his scattered noted about the books he had read. Apparently, he wrote it in his youth. These notes are to some extent immature. 3. We have also access to some short notes of his apparently written during middle age. They are mature, and in some of them reference has been made to his own books. 4. Letters. Only a few letters which are addressed to Mir Damad are left. We talked about them in the first volume of this book. 5. A short introduction that he wrote on his master's book, 'Arsh al-taqdis, can also be considered as one of his works. Some other treatises and essays have also been attributed to him. They are on the meaning of al-Amanat verse and some hadiths. They have appeared among his notes in the collection of Mutifarriqat or al-Fawa'id. The following treatises are also attributed to him; however, they were not probably written by him: Risalat al-Imamat, al-Qudsiyyah fi asrar al-nuqtat al-hissiyyah, Ithbat al-bari, and al-Qawa'id al-malakutiyyah. So far, we have referred to 40 books and treatises by Mulla Sadra. If we consider his interpretations of small Qur'anic chapters as independent works, their total number will amount to 51. There is, however, some confusion in this regard. For example, we do not know whether his Tarh al-kawnayn is the same as Risalat sarayan al-wujud, al-Masa'il al-qudsiyyah, or al-Hashr, or whether it was an independent book and was lost later. Furthermore, his treatise of Zad al-safar has sometimes been called Ma'ad jismani, Zad al-musafir, and Zad al-salik. Likewise, al-Masa'il al-qudsiyyah is sometimes called al-Qawa'id al-malakutiyyah, and al-Hikmat al-qudsiyyah, and his treatise Limmiyyah ikhtisas al-falak wa'l-qutb has also been called Hall al-ishkalat al-falakiyyah and Risalah al-qutb wa'l-mintaqah. As two other examples here, we can refer to his famous book, al-Mabda' wa'l-ma'ad, which he himself has at times referred to as al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah, and, as we know, the later is also called al-Asfar al-arba'ah. Some of Mulla Sadra's books refer, directly or indirectly, to their dates of writing. For example, at the end of his treatises of Tafsir ayat al-kursi, Mafatih al-qayb, and the book of al-Masha'ir he has recorded the time of their writing. In some other cases, such as in al-Mabda' w'al Ma'ad he has referred to his own age (40 years old) at the time of writing this book, which, considering his birth date, will be 1019 AH. Moreover, in his marginal notes on al-Masha'ir, he has directly referred to both the year of writing the treatise, i.e. 1037 AH, and to his age, i.e. 58. Nevertheless, in most of his books, he has not referred to this point, and, in order to gain some information in this respect, we have to resort to other resources. One way of doing this is to compare his styles of writing his earlier or later works with each other. The other is to search in his other books and use the references he has made to the date of writing a specific book. It is also necessary to mention that Mulla Sadra went through three scientific and research periods: The first was his period of learning and thirsting for doing this. During this time, he had not yet developed his own specific ideas, and, as he himself said, he even defended the principiality of quiddity during a period of his life and rejected the principiality of quiddity. The second was the period of his officially becoming a philosopher. During this time, he followed Ibn Sina's philosophy and Peripatetic philosophy and paid a lot of attention to reasoning. The third was a period during which he reached the summit of research and developed his own theories and ideas. At this time, he combined reasoning, illumination, and intuition with each other. He spent the first period in Qazwin and Isfahan and brought it to an end when he returned to Shiraz. The second period includes the time he spent in Shiraz during his first journey, and the last covers his period of seclusion, his leaving seclusion and returning the Qum, and then his residence in Shiraz. Apparently, he did not write any work, such as books, essays, glosses, commentaries, and treatises in his first period of life and was mainly involved in taking notes from philosophical, gnostic, literary, jurisprudential, hadith, and interpretation books. An example of his works in this regard is the collection of his notes in which various things can be found and is known as Jung-i Mulla Sadra. In the second period, he was involved in writing glosses and recording other's ideas and theories. Some people believe that his first book was al-Mabda' wa'l-ma'ad, which he wrote at the age of 40, i.e. in about 1019 AH.[2] If this is the case, we must conclude that until the age of 40, that is, for more than half of his life, he spent his time studying, doing research, and teaching and did not write any books. This is somewhat strange. Abstracts
Man and the Possible World
The issue of man is a difficult one existing in most scientific and philosophical fields. If we do not say that it is the most important philosophical issue, we should admit that it is one of the most important ones and deserves to be studied and discussed meticulously. The importance of this issue is due to the key role the knowledge of man plays in gaining knowledge of God, the world, and the ways of life. Its difficulty is also due to man's having various dimensions. The complexities of the human soul or spirit, the multiplicity and amazing nature of his inner and mental faculties, and even the astonishing phenomena associated with his body have turned him into an unknown existent. Following the Almighty Necessary, we should say about human beings, "we have not learned about you as we should". In addition to human beings' inner complexities, every one has his own specific situation concerning his relations with God, nature, and the macrocosmos. This by itself adds to the intricacy of man's essence and act. Such specificities and uniqueness of each human individual's interior and situation makes them so different from each other that even no two human beings can be considered similar to each other. Key words:human being piece of guidance possible worlds faculty of imagination arc of ascent
The Soul and its Becoming in the Transcendent Philosophy Hossein Kalbasi Ashtari The reality of the soul, its levels and acts, and its relation to the body have always been such important philosophical issues that the related proof and evidence can be found even in the earliest philosophical deliberations of the Greeks and other nations. There have also been some extensive efforts in the world of Islamic philosophy to present a philosophical psychology in conformity with the spirit of Islamic philosophical teachings. However, the philosophical psychology presented in the Transcendent Philosophy both justifies the concrete realm of the "disengaged-matter relation" and explains the infinite domain of the "development and entelechy of the soul". Moreover, it reveals its complete conformity and consistency with not only the components but also the overall structure of the Transcendent Philosophy. In fact, based on the theories of "the principiality of existence", "motion in substance", and "the corporeal createdness and the spiritual subsistence of the soul", Mulla Sadra presents an image of the human soul and its status which is free from the common difficulties and conflicts of philosophical traditions in this regard. Moreover, it opens the window to a new horizon of human existence on the basis of the Book and Sunna which views man's ontological dimensions in harmony with the whole world. In doing so, Mulla Sadra has greatly benefited from Peripatetic and Ishraqi traditions; however, his innovations in this regard are unprecedented and unique and can hardly be matched in terms of perfection.
Key words: psyche external faculties pneuma internal faculties rational soul corporeal createdness spiritual subsistence
Superior Language: A Theory in the Methodology of the Transcendent Philosophy Jinan Izadi and Ahad Faramarz Qaramaleki
There are various opinions concerning the epistemological entity and methodology of the Transcendent Philosophy. Recently, a group of thinkers, while trying to acquit Mulla Sadra's works from the charges of contradiction and incoherence, have aimed at studying and clarifying his philosophical methodology. Ha'iri Yazdi believes that the Transcendent Philosophy employs the superior language of the principiality or existence, which inquires into the topical languages of previous philosophical systems. He claims that if we assume that the Transcendent Philosophy is ultra-language, we can acquit it from the charges of eclecticism and infirmity and explain its innovative aspects. Ultra-language and topical language, which are among the key concepts in Tarski's semantics, have also been employed concerning formalized languages. In the particular sense of the word, ultra-language cannot be matched with the Transcendent Philosophy, however, the existence of ultra-language in the sense of a kind of proceeding beyond something is acceptable in certain parts of the Transcendent Philosophy. However, this theory does not seem enough in clarifying the nature and methodology of the Transcendent Philosophy, and, in order to fill the existing blanks in this regard, we require more complete theories.
Key words: ultra-language the Transcendent Philosophy topical language Ha'iri Yazdi methodology
A Critical Study of the Concepts of Existence, Light, and Quiddity in Illuminationist Philosophy from Mulla Sadra's Point of View
Sa'id Rahimian What has so far been posited in scientific debates or centers concerning the Transcendent Philosophy's critique of ontological issues in Illuminationist Philosophy has mainly consisted of judgmental discussions and criticisms of Suhrawardi's arguments from the viewpoint of Mulla Sadra and his followers. In fact, not much has been said concerning the conceptual aspects of this issue. Nevertheless, one can expect Suhrawardi, who is considered to be one of the first semantic analysts of Islamic philosophy, to have dealt greatly with a conceptual analysis of existence and quiddity and the relation between them. However, Mulla Sadra has a different view in this regard, and in his critiques of this issue, even before entering judgmental and demonstrative discussions, he maintains that there are some scientific defects in the accurate understanding of the concepts of existence, light, and quiddity. Points of conflict between Peripatetic philosophy, that is, those who believe in the objectivity of existence, on the one hand, and the principiality of quiddity in Illuminationist Philosophy, on the other, have arisen as a result. He believes that such defects led Suhrawardi towards the principiality of quiddity. The present paper, while comparing the concepts of quiddity, existence, and light in Illuminationist Philosophy and the Transcendent Philosophy, explains the differences between the principiality of quiddity, principiality of light, and the principiality of existence. Finally, it provides a critique of the ideas of the advocates of Suhrawardi's principiality of light and Mulla Sadra's principiality of existence, as well as an analysis of some of Suhrawardi's words which have created some ambiguity concerning the above issue.
Key words: existence quiddity light principiality Transcendent Philosophy Illuminationst Philosophy
The Otherness of Existence from Quiddity as the Context for the Theory of the Principiality of Existence Seyyed Mas'ud Sayf The otherness of existence from quiddity is one of the important issues that has been posed for the first time in Islamic philosophy and was unprecedented in Greek philosophy. It owes its importance to the fact that it finally led to the theory of the principiality of existence, which can be considered to represent the culmination of Islamic Philosophy. The main purpose of this paper is to study this issue and its impact upon the development of the theory of the principiality of existence.
Key words: existence principiality of existence quiddity principiality of quiddity occurrence
Hegel and the History of Philosophy Ali Muradkhani The present paper deals with the idea that paying attention to the history of philosophy comes second to the appearance of historical thought in the modern period. In the light of the questions pertaining to the essence of nature in this period and the expansion of its laws and principles in the domain of human life, some questions were also posed regarding the nature of history. Therefore, history turned into one of the sources of knowledge. By inquiring into the nature of the history of philosophy, Hegel considered it to be the essence of the history of the world. In his Lectures on the History of Philosophy, he first talks about the nature of the history of philosophy and then, in line with the principles of his own historical thought, refers to the periods of the history of philosophy in its geographical development from the East to the West. The writer of this paper has treated this issue on the basis of Hegel's Lectures on the History of Philosophy.
Key words: Hegel rational form history of philosophy absolute existence spirit thought modern Christianity
Embodiment of Deeds in the Transcendent Philosophy 'Abdul'ali Shukr The term "embodiment of deeds", the content of which, unlike its verbal combination, has a long history, has been accepted by Islamic religious culture. By resorting to religious teachings and the works of some early Greek philosophers, while acknowledging the embodiment of deeds and beliefs in the Hereafter, Mulla Sadra grants a rational and philosophical flavor to this issue. As we can see, the principles of his Transcendent Philosophy also allow him to do so. The corporeal createdness and spiritual subsistence of the soul, along with the trans-substantial motion and the union of the intellect and the intelligible, are among such principles. Accordingly, the acts that human beings perform repeatedly turn into firm habits in the soul's innermost interior and are inseparable from it. They are, in fact, among its essential concomitants. Noble and evil habits create appropriate and various forms for themselves in the afterlife and appear in those forms therein.
Key words: embodiment of deeds reincarnation of deeds the soul the Transcendent Philosophy Mulla Sadra
A Comparative Study of the Renewal of Essences and the Trans-substantial Motion Muhammed Bunyani and Ahmed Abedi According to the renewal of essences and the trans-substantial motion, the world and its existents are continually in evolution and change and are at no moment in rest and motionlessness. Of course, the former pertains to the domain of disengaged entities and material things and the latter is limited to the world of matter. These two principles enjoy certain differences and similarities in their fundamental bases, arguments, etc. It is because of these very differences that gnostics are not capable of accounting for the unity of things at the level of their origination and corruption in themselves, while the unity of a flowing object, which is mobile due to the trans-substantial, is guaranteed in itself. Both the trans-substantial motion propounded in Mulla Sadra's books and the gnostic principle of the renewal of essences in gnostics' works suffer from certain ambiguities in terms of the limits and dimensions of the problems. Apparently, the issue of the trans-substantial motion is under the influence of the gnostic principle of the renewal of essences. That is why this paper deals with the characteristics of these two issues in terms of their definitions, fundamental bases, arguments, and their most important problems.
Key words: the trans-substantial motion renewal of essences transformation entelechy Mulla Sadra undressing and dressing dressing after dressing The Study of Imagination in Muhyaddin Ibn Arabi's Gnostic System Maryam Sani'pur Ibn Arabi believes that man possesses a perceptive faculty other than the intellect whose domain of activity is the realm of "imagination", where the gathering of opposites appears. The reason is that this gathering is impossible in the realms of the sense and the intellect. The world of imagination is the most evident proof of the Truth because He is the First and the Last, and the Exterior and the Interior. Therefore, a real gnostic is one who can bring two opposites together. According to Ibn Arabi, imagination is the abode of the all-embracing friendship between the Truth and creatures and the same form based on which man has been created. This is the most certain knowledge through which the gnostic can perceive the Oneness of the Truth in the multiplicity of creation. He also maintains that imagination merely preserves the things that have sensible forms or consist of sensible parts which are synthesized by the faculty of retention. In this way, it presents a form which does not exist in the sense but is sensible for the viewer. In his gnostic theory, he refers to the world of imagination as the path of the knowledge of God. This paper undertakes to present a systematic view of this world.
Key words: the ontological development of imagination and its arc of descent Ibn Arabi gnostic thought imagination divine knowledge system of being
[1]. It is said that a copy of this book exists in the library of the writer of Rudat al-jinnat; however, his heirs have no knowledge of its whereabouts. [1]. Introduction of Mulla Sadra's Sharh al-hidayat and his letter to Mir Damad in the first volume of Mulla Sadra's Life, Character and School, p. 111.
[2].
al-Mabda' wa'l-ma'ad,
Introduction by Ashtiyani, p. 198.
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