Risalah fi Ittihad al-'Aghil wal-M'aghul
The feeling of transcendence and perfection due to the awareness and growth of the soul, which is created through increasing one's knowledge and perception, on the one hand, and the sense of unity and oneness with one's perceptions and learned knowledge, on the other, can be developed when people refer to their own innermost. Not only does man intuitively observes such issues in the depth of his soul, but he also values people in his interactions with them in terms of their knowledge. As we read in the Qur'an, "Say: "Are those equal, those who know and those who do not know?" (az-Zumar chapter: 9). The unity of the intellect and intelligible (ittihad al-'aghil wal-m'aghul) is the title of an important theory in Islamic philosophy and, of course, the title of an old theory in philosophy. A historical tracing of this theory reveals that it is rooted in Greek philosophical schools, i.e. those of Plato, Aristotle, and Neo-Platonists, particularly, Plotinus.
In the history of Islamic philosophy, the first philosopher who propounded this theory was al-Kindi, and, following him, many philosophers and gnostics dealt with it. However, it was in Mulla Sadra's philosophy that this theory achieved great importance. Perhaps, the most important reason here was the conformity between the theory of the unity of the intellect and intelligible and the overall philosophical system of Mulla Sadra.
The treatise of The Unity of the Intellect and Intelligible, written by Mulla Sadra, consists of two articles. The first includes 6 chapters and comprises the longer part of this work. The title of this article is the same as that of the treatise, and almost all of its discussions are limited to the theory of the unity of the intellect and intelligible.
The second article is an interpretation of an old theory in philosophy which, like the above theory, has been opposed by Ibn Sina. This theory is called "the unity of the soul with the active intellect". In this article, Mulla Sadra first presents an interpretation of this theory which is in conformity with that of the theory of "the unity of the intellect and intelligible". Then he inquires into and criticizes Ibn Sina's arguments in this regard in the best way possible. This article consists of three chapters.