kheradnameh8-9

There is no evidence as regards when exactly young Sadra got acquainted with Sheikh Baha'i and Mirdamad and likewise when their relations ceased to continue.

One clue to the problem is to consider the mid 1010s i.e., when he might have left Isfahan for Qom or Shiraz, as the point at which Sadra's connection with the two men broke.

This article's focus is on how the relationship between Sadra and Mirdamad began and developed into a lasting friendship.

Mir Mohammad Baqir known as Mirdamad is one of the most credited scientists throughout the Safavid era and his scholarly endeavors make him deserve to be compared with Avicenna.

His father, Shams-al-din Seyyed Mohammad Astarabadi, was a famous jurist who married the daughter of Sheikh Ali Karaki known as the Second Researcher (Muhaqqiq thani) and for this he was referred to by people as Damad meaning "groom" in Farsi.

Being a grandson of the Second Researcher is to be regarded a blessing for Mirdamad who grew up in a highly-educated family. A contemporary of Mirdamad, Seyyed Ali Hosseini, who happened to meet him during a stop-over in Kashan writes a few lines about Mirdamad in his book, Kholasat-al-Shoara: "He stopped in Kashan in August of the year 988 on his pilgrimage from the capital Qazwin to Mashhad. Despite his young age, Mirdamad was so qualified that he wrote articles and commentaries on advanced subjects of wisdom and mathematics."

Spending his childhood and teenage life in Mashad, Mirdamad acquised the traditional sciences such as Arab literature, jurisprudence, logic, philosophy, etc. Handling complicated philosophical books such as Avicenna's Isharat and Shifa, he put pen to paper and wrote related commentaries and books.

Mashad could not be the ultimate place of his learning and the energetic researcher set out for Qazwin, the paradise of students.

There, his luck led him to attend classes by Sammaki who was the most distinguished philosopher in Qazwin. The royal court which was the meeting place of nearly all the country's scientists soon spotted Mirdamad and put him in touch with the latest scholarly and scientific developments.

He needed only a few years to become one of the most reputable jurists in Iran laying the foundation of a very fruitful scientific circle from which emerged many students who ranked as high-ranking judges, Friday prayer leaders and state prosecutors. In case of difficulty, they would ask for Mirdamad's opinion holding it as the final say.

Coincident with taking lessons from his foremost teacher, Fakhr-ul-din Sammaki, Mirdamad taught philosophy and it did not take him long to surprise his contemporaries by his versatility in wisdom, rational sciences and any kind of philosophical bewilderment thus easily outdistancing other philosophers and jurists.

Although Mirdamad had a hand in nearly all the sciences of the time ranging from theology and literature to mathematics, astronomy and medicine, he is best known for his mastery of philosophy.¹

Mirdamad's settlement in Isfahan which had just become the new capital further spread his fame attracting students from all over the country.

Not much is known about his relation with other scholars of his time except for Sheikh Bahaii who despite being older had established a sincere friendship with him. In fact, the two had numerous commonalities to share; both were highly respected at the royal court and considered unrivalled teachers with their unique styles. Interestingly, they both accompanied Shah Abbas to the new capital and, therefore, must have been quite acquainted with each other. Yet their friendship should not be solely attributed to their jobs. A spiritual kind of relationship seemed to have connected the two alter-egos together. This connection might be traceable to the two philosophers' educational backgrounds. Mirdamad had been the student of Sheikh Baha'i's father and his own grandfather, the Second Researcher, was in turn the teacher of Sheikh Baha'i's father.

1-1, here, would like to infer the supremacy of rational sciences over other sciences since an ambidextrous scientist like Mirdamad is primarily

known to be a philosopher and not for example a physician.

Neither of the two friends ever failed to elevate the other whenever the time was ripe. Once they were accompanying the king on a round-the-town horse ride; Sheikh Baha'i's horse raced off restlessly ahead of the king and his entourage while Mirdamad's paced slowly alongside Shah Abbas' horse. Taking the opportunity to test the two men's fidelity to each other, the king tells Mirdamad that a respected man like Sheikh Baha'i should not ride his horse playfully; Mirdamad answers back that it is the horse which sensing the position of its rider cannot hide its excitement. The king then finds time to ride by the Sheikh's horse and complain to him about Mirdamad's inability to keep pace with the others. Amazing the king by his response, Sheikh says it is the heavy weight of Mirdamad's knowledge which has forced the horse to move slowlv.

Whether true or not, this story is indicative of the two person's unlimited respect for each other.

One of the most adroit commentators of Sadr-ul-Mutaallehin's views and transcendent wisdom, Aqa Ali has rendered new accounts of Mulla Sadra's philosophical principles. Unlike the majority of the transcendent wisdom advocates who merely and unconditionally approve Mulla Sadra's ideas,Aqa Ali has found fresh points in them and even makes critical comments on several phisophical questions raised by Sadr-ul-Mutaallehin.

Aqa Ali is viewed as the initiator of comparative Islamic philosophy; he,for the first time,in his Badaye - ul -Heikam (novelties of wisdoms) which is the most credited book on transcendent wisdom in Farsi,writes about how Muslim philosophers met post -renaissance philosophy.

Among his other contributions. Aqa Ali's glosses on Asfar Arba'ah (the Four Journeys) are best known. These glosses are themselves divided into three parts; part one is a separate treatise; part two which is not a seperate treatise is mainly concerned with the third and fourth journeys; and part three contains his interpretation of Mulla Hadi Sabzewari's commentaries on Asfar.

Aqa Ali's Risalah fi-1-Tawhid (the treatise on unity) is an epistle on the first part of the glosses and is now available to wisdom enthusiasts in the form of an independent treatise. This treatise itsetf comprises thirteen chapters in which Aqa Ali has done his best to create a clear and comprehensible picture of unity on the basis of the Quran. Like the book of Transcendent Wisdom, this treatise also begins with intellectual proofs and concludes mystically, implying that the Quran, gnosis and reasoning are what leads a philosopher to unity.

How an abstract immaterial being is connected to a physical thing has been viewed variously by western philosophers who considered the issue prior to their Muslim counterparts.Muslim theologians and philosophers, however, developed the related discussions which became heated following the translation of logical books and essays throughout the Translation Era.

The focus of this article, besides clarifying the ideas raised by Muslim philosophers in this regard,is to shed light on Mulla Sadra's opinion and its influence on the later philosophers, Abd-ul-Razzaq Lahiji in particular.

To explain his opinion,Mulla Sadra primarily brings a proof to establish the unity of the soul,and to prove this,he has refuted the reasons used by the opposing philosophers through negation and affirmation.

Using negation,he comments on why there can't be a unity of soul, and then refers to his opponent's inability to distinguish between specific unity and generic unity considering the latter equal to vegetable,animal and human spirits.

Soul and body,Mulla Sadra reiterates,are attached to each other in two ways; in one way,soul is attached to body and yet it is contingent on itself and not on the person's being; in the other way,soul is attached to body while the person's potentialities are actualized; this second type of attachment relates to obtaining existential virtues.It must be noted that Mulla Sadra's belief in these two types of attachment results from his belief in the trans-substantial motion in which soul is also involved.

Mulla Sadra works out a solution to the question of relation between soul and body and their effects on one another by proposing the mediation of a veiled spirit, since the soul which belongs to a world of pure light does not involve itself directly in the affairs of the dark body. The veiled spirit is as subtle as the non-material soul and as corporeal as it needs in connection
with body.

This view has been argued by Allameh Tabatabii who thinks corporeal qualities and ontological status must be kept separated and not be mixed.

Lahiji,on the other hand, seems to have accepted Mulla Sadra's idea looking at it as a philosophical question,not a medical case. He,like Mulla Sadra, while considering unity for soul, thinks of it as having properties such as sensation imagination estimation intellection. According to Lahiji,the unity of soul and body is like the unity of matter and form(this conforms to Arestotelian beliefs); however,unlike natural forms,it does not subsist in matter and interestingly,this notion resembles Neo-Platonist views.

A Comparative Analogy of Principles of Philosophical Systems of Avicenna and Mulla Sadra.

Saeed Rahimiyan

Dividing beings into creative, inventive and existential types, Avicenna considers emanation and effusion,i.e. first intellect, as belonging to the creative being and yet believes that the universe has a creative nature when compared to the first cause since the universe including the primary matter is not precedent to any matter. This - the creation of the entire universe- is creation in the extensive sense vis-a-vis the particular sense which is typical of incorporeal beings.

After expounding on effusion and its particularities, Avicenna analyses the existential activity believing that effect is separate from subject despite the fact that

both are located in one place: such conjunction, however, is merely an existential conjunction.

Confirming the official position of the Peripatetics on the possibility of the co-existence of the existential activity and effusion, Mulla Sadra

has succeeded in clarifying the connection between the creator and the creatures by shedding light on the illuminative relation. As he considers effusion in depth and relates it to the illuminative relation, Mulla Sadra develops the Peripatetic's ideas in a most efficient way.

Reconstructing Aristotpn'mwm mobile argument and scholastic philosophers' contingency proof, trans-substantial motion proves the existence of incorporeal beings. According to this argument, there is motion in the substance i.e., the substance has a moving nature and any change in it is a result of its constant movement. Therefore, all beings are in dire need of a primum mobile i.e., a first mover. The argument stipulates that motion and mover are inter-related elements and neither of the two can be identified without the existence of the other.

In line with trans-substantial motion, the first mover is in fact the producer and not the cause of movement. In other words, in trans-substantial motion, movement is equal to production and creation.

Movement in this teleological system aims to reach stillness in the end thus approaching an essential perfection. Such an essential perfection is achieved through pursuing an essential goal i.e., the Almighty God.

By saying this Mulla Sadra means that the nature of all beings is fluid and moves towards the first origin. When this movement comes to a final standstill, the ultimate goal has been achieved.

But can this still being have a goal upper than itself? If yes, the same goes for that goal and a vicious circle forms, or the being reaches the foremost goal.

Since a vicious circle is out of the question here, the second possibility becomes certain.

Mulla Sadra As Viewed By Henry Corbin

Karim Mojtahedi

Henry Corbin is a top name among the acknowledged experts on Islamic philosophy. What makes him further distinguished is his encompassing research on Mulla Sadra's ideas.According to Corbin, Mulla Sadra can neither be an eclecticist nor a compiler because the first suffers from shallow conception and the latter can only afford the existing rational procedures to solve a problem and, hence, cannot approach it properly.Corbin considers Mulla Sadra in conncection with eastern, Islamic and Iranian types of philosophy in such a way that neither type can be studied separately.

Comparing Mulla Sadra withThomas Aquinas, Corbin says the comparison would be reasonable, if only Aquinas were a multi-faceted-gnostic as Mulla Sadra was. Corbin does not confine Mulla Sadra's philosophy to a certain area believing that his trans-substantial motion theory has given considerable variety to his philosophical views.

A few western philosophers including Ernest Renan maintain that Ibn Rushd stands at the end of the line of Islamic philosophy giants. Unaware of the post-Ibn Rushd developments in Islamic philosophy, Renan and his advocates portray a feeble picture of any other studv in this connection after Ibn

Rushd.

Theoretical Concepts of Sciences

Massoud Omid

Theoretical concepts such as "super ego" and "intelligent" are prevalent in scientific hypotheses and theories and have been treated differently by philosophers. Those who advocate empiricism believe that such concepts should be defined explicitly or reduced to the senses. Based on this notion, empiricists hold the view that a rule can be empirical only when its entire aspects are observable.

Some others, however, adhere to the belief that these concepts have an essential nature and, therefore, cannot be sensed.

And yet there is a third group who maintain that the theoretical concepts either have actual references i.e., they are self -subsistent notions or have mental references. The latter being the case, the concepts are sensible either potentially or practically.

As for how these concepts have been developed, it should be noted that they are the result of long-lasting deductions and reasoning.

Mansoor Imanpoor