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Ajwabat al-masail & Qutb wal mantiqah (Treatise on the Poles and the Zodiac) Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and annotated by: Hassan Hassanzadeh Amoli & Dr. Abdulla Shakiba Language: Arabic Subject: ISBN: 964-92244-2-4/ 275 pages Price: hardcover € 24 Publication date: Spring 1999 Al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fi'l asfar al-'aqliyyat al-arba'ah (vol 1) Transcendent Philosophy Concerning the Four Intellectual Journeys Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and annotated by: Dr. Gholamreza A’wani Supervised by Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472-54-4 / 678 pages Price: Hardcover € 65 Publication date: winter 2004 Al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fi'l asfar al-'aqliyyat al-arba'ah (vol 2) Transcendent Philosophy Concerning the Four Intellectual Journeys Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and annotated by: Dr. Maqsud Mohammadi Supervised by Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472-09-9/ 664 pages Price: Hardcover € 56 Publication date: Winter 2001 Al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fi'l asfar al-'aqliyyat al-arba'ah (vol 3) Transcendent Philosophy Concerning the Four Intellectual Journeys Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and annotated by: Dr. Maqsud Mohammadi Supervised by Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN:964-7472-44-7 / 749 pages Price: hardcover / € 68 Publication date: spring 2004. Al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fi'l asfar al-'aqliyyat al-arba'ah (vol 4) Transcendent Philosophy Concerning the Four Intellectual Journeys Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and Annotated by: Dr. Reza Muhammadzadeh Supervised by: Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472-49-8/ 494 pages Price: hardcover / € 52 Publication date: Summer 2004 Al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fi'l asfar al-'aqliyyat al-arba'ah (vol 5) Transcendent Philosophy Concerning the Four Intellectual Journeys Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and Annotated by: Dr. Reza Muhammadzadeh Supervised by: Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472-14-5/ 642 pages Price: hardcover € 63 Publication date: Summer 2002 Al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fi'l asfar al-'aqliyyat al- arba'ah (vol 6) Transcendent Philosophy Concerning the Four Intellectual Journeys Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and annotated by: Dr. Maqsud Mohammadi Supervised by: Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472-21-8/ 666 pages Type: hardcover Price: € 59 Publication date: Winter 2002 Al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fi'l asfar al-'aqliyyat al-arba'ah (vol 7) Transcendent Philosophy Concerning the Four Intellectual Journeys Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and Annotated by: Dr. Maqsud Mohammadi Supervised by Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472-07-2/ 591 pages Price: hardcover € 51 Publication date: Winter 2001. Al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fi'l asfar al-'aqliyyat al-arba'ah (vol 8) Transcendent Philosophy Concerning the Four Intellectual Journeys Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and Annotated by: Ali Akbar Reshad Supervised by Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472-45-5 / 631 pages Price: hardcover € 65 Publication date: Spring 2004 Al-Hikmat al-muta'aliyyah fi'l asfar al- 'aqliyyat al-arba'ah (vol 9) Transcendent Philosophy Concerning the Four Intellectual Journeys Author : Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and Annotated by : Dr. Reza Akbarian Supervised by Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472- 24-2/ 778 pages Price: hardcover € 75 Publication date: Winter 2002 Al-Mabda wa'l- ma'ad fi'l-hikmat al-muta'aliyyah (The Origin & Return) Vol 1 Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and Annotated by: Dr. Muhammad Zabihi & Dr. Ja'far Shah Nazari Supervised by: Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472-19-6/ 364 pages Type: hardcover Price: € 38 Publication date: Winter 2002 Al-Mabda wa'l- ma'ad fi'l-hikmat al-muta'aliyyah (The Beginning & the End on Transcendent Philosophy) Vol 2 Author: Sadr al- Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and Annotated by: Dr. Muhammed Zabihi & Dr. Ja'far Shah Nazari Supervised by: Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472-20-x/ 1008 pages Price: hardcover € 51 Publication date: Winter 2002. Al-Shawahid ul-rububiyyah (The Divine Witnesses) Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and Annotated by Dr. Maqsud Muhammadi under the direction of Prof. Seyyed Muhammed Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: ISBN: 964-7472-32-3/ 580 pages Price: hardcover € 57 Publication date: Fall 2003. Manner of the Creation of Actions Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Translated by: Dr. Touba Kermani Language: English, Arabic, and Persian Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472-50-1/ 62 pages Price: € 6.20 Publication date: Autumn 2004. Kasr al-asnam al-jahiliyyah (Demolition of the Idols of Ignorance) Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited by: Prof. Mohsen Jahangiri Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-7472-15-3/ 224 pages Price: hardcover € 42 Publication date: Winter 2002 Illahiyat al-Shifa (Vol 1&2) Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Editing and research by: Najafgoli Habibi Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: Vol. 1: 964-7472-28-5 Vol. 2: 964-7472-29-3 Pages: 1240 Price: hardcover € 96 Publication date: Summer 2003. Al-Mazahir al-ilahiyyah fi asrar al-ulum al-kamaliyyah ( of Divine Manifestation Concerning the Secrets of the Sciences that lead to Perfection) Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and annotated with an introduction in Persian by: Prof. Seyyed Mohammad Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-92244-08/ 188 pages Price: hardcover € 36 Publication date: Spring 1999 Huduth al-alam (Treatise on the Temporal Origination of the World) Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited, research and introduction in Persian by: Seyyed Hossein Musavian Supervised by: Prof. Seyyed Muhammad Khamenei Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-92244-4-0/ 336 pages Price: hardcover € 31 Publication date: Spring 1999 Al-Tanqih fi'l mantiq (Illuminationist Gleamings in the Art of Logic) Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited and research by: Golamreza Yasipour Introduction in Persian by: Faramarz Qaramaleki Language: Arabic Subject: ISBN: 964- 92244-1-6/ 138 pages Price: glossy cover € 12 Publication date: Winter 1999 Sih Asl (Treatise on Three Principles) Author: Sadr al-Mute'allihin Shirazi Edited, research and introduction by: Language: Arabic Subject: ISBN: 964-7472-16-1/ 227 pages Price: hardcover € 24 Publication date: Fall 2002. Al-Ghadbat ul-falasafah al-ghadbat ul-muta'aliyyah (Anger of Philosophers or Amined Anger) Author: Seyyed Muhammad Saleh Youzbeigi Language: Arabic Subject: philosophy ISBN: 964-92244-3-2/ 592 pages Price: glossy cover € 22 Publication date: 1999. Tag: Transcendent Theosophy. Mulla Sadra was a prolific writer. He did not write at all during his time of seclusion and asceticism and, after that, he was continually involved in teaching and training philosophy students who attended his classes from all over Iran; however, at all times, when traveling or at home, he seized all possible chances to write books and long or short treatises in philosophy. As a result, he created a varied, useful, and inferential philosophical collection of writings in different forms and with different purposes. Some of his books are textbooks and quite useful for gaining a preliminary or complementary acquaintance with philosophy and gnosis on the basis of his specific school of thought, Transcendent Philosophy. Some of his other books are on the explanation and demonstration of his own theories, and some others can be considered as being on human ethics and manners. He has devoted an important part of his works to the interpretation of the Qu’ran, and although he died before he could write a philosophical and gnostic commentary on the whole Qu’ran, his writings on this subject have certain features which have made them unique among similar interpretations. Mulla Sadra, who was a Muhaddith (an expert in hadith and traditions quoted from the Prophet (p.b.u.h) and his descendants), also wrote an important work on hadith . This is a commentary on a famous book of hadiths , called Usul al-kafi , by Kulayni Razi, and Mulla Sadra commented on the chapter about ‘Usul’; however, perhaps because he died, it was never finished. He also wrote two books on logic, called Tanquih al- Mantiq and Risalah fil Tasawwur wa Tasdiq . Those of his well-known books which have been published so far include the following: 1. al-Hikmat al-muta‘aliyah fi’l-asfar al-arba‘ah. The discussions in this book start with the issues of being and quiddity and continue with the issues of motion, time, perception, substance, and accident. A part is devoted to proving the existence of God and His attributes, and it ends with a discussion of man’s soul and the subjects of death and resurrection. The novelty of this interesting and important book is its classification of its themes in the mould of 4 stages of gnostics’ spiritual and mystic journeys, with each stage considered as one journey. Therefore, this book begins with existents and continues with the Hereafter, God, and the mustered people, because a gnostic’s journey in the first stage is from his self and people towards God; in the second and third stages from God to God (from His Essence to His Attributes and Acts); and in the fourth stage from God to people. The original book is in 4 big volumes which have been published in nine small volumes several times. [1] In fact, this book is, a philosophical encyclopedia and a collection of important issues discussed in Islamic philosophy, enriched by the ideas of preceding philosophers, from Pythagoras to Mulla Sadra’s contemporaries, and containing related responses on the basis of new and strong arguments. All these features have made it the book of choice for teaching at higher levels of philosophical education in scientific and religious centers. The composition of this book gradually started from about 1015 A.H (1605 A.D), and its completion took almost 25 years, till some time after 1040 A.H (1630 A.D). 2. al-Tafsir (A Commentary upon the Qur’an) During his life, Mulla Sadra interpreted some of the chapters ( Surahs ) of the Qur’an. In the last decade of his life, he started his work from the beginning of this Holy Book in order to compile all his interpretations into a complete work, but death did not allow him to finish this task. The names of the chapters he interpreted in an approximate chronological order are follows: 1. chapter 57: al-Hadid , 2. Commentary on Ayat al-kursi (chapter 2: al-Baqarah ), 3. chapter 32: Sajdah , 4. chapter 99: al-Zilzal , 5. verses al-Nur, al-Yasin, al-Tariq , 6. chapter 87: al-A‘la , 7. chapter 56: al-Waqi‘ah , 8. chapter 1: al-Fatihah , 9. chapter 62: al-Jumu‘ah , and 10. chapter 2: al-Baqarah . In the bibliography of Mulla Sadra’s book, each of the above has appeared as an independent work, but we have cited them here all under the single title of Commentary upon the Qur’an. He has also two other books on the Qur’an, called Mafatih al-qayb and Asrar al-ayat , which are considered as introductions to the interpretation of the Qur’an, and represent the philosophy behind this task. 3. Sharh al-hidayah. This work is a commentary on a book called Hidayah which was written on the basis of Peripatetic philosophy, and was previously used for giving a preliminary familiarity with philosophy to students. However, it is rarely used today. 4. al-Mabda’ wa’l-ma‘ad. Also called al-Hikmat al-muta‘aliyyah , this book is a summary of the second half of Asfar . It does not include any of the discussions that Mulla Sadra viewed as useless and unnecessary. He called this book the Beginning and the End due to the fact that he believed that philosophy means the knowledge of the Origin and the Return. This book is mainly on issues related to theology and eschatology, and is considered one of Mulla Sadra’s important books. 5. al-Mazahir. This book is similar to al-Mabda’ wa’l-ma‘ad , but is shorter. It is, in fact, a handbook to familiarize readers with Mulla Sadra’s philosophy. 6. Huduth al-‘alam. For many philosophers the issue of the origination of the world is both a complicated and debatable problem. In this book, in addition to quoting the theories of pre- and post-Socratic philosophers as well as those of some Muslim philosophers, Mulla Sadra has proved his solid theory through the theory of the trans-substantial motion. 7. Iksir al-‘arifin. As the name suggests, this is a gnostic and educational book. 8. al-Hashr. The central theme of this book is the quality of existents’ resurrection in the Hereafter. Here, Mulla Sadra has expressed the theory of the resurrection of objects and animals in the Hereafter. 9. al-Masha‘ir. This is a short but profound and rich book on existence and its related subjects. Professor Henry Corbin has translated it into French and written an introduction to it. It has also been recently translated into English. 10. al-Waridat al-qalbiyyah. In this book, Mulla Sadra presented a brief account of important philosophical problems. It seems to be an inventory of the Divine inspirations and illuminations he had received all through his life. 11. Iqad al-na’imin. This book is about theoretical and actual gnosis, and on the science of monotheism. It presents some guidelines and instructional points to wake up the sleeping. 12. al-Masa’il al-qudsiyyah. This booklet deals mainly with issues such as existence in mind and epistemology. Here, Mulla Sadra has combined epistemology and ontology. 13. ‘ Arshiyyah. Also called al-Hikmat al-‘arshiyyah , this is another reference book about Mull Sadra’s philosophy. Like in al-Mazahir , he has tried to demonstrate the Beginning and the End concisely but Precisely. This book has been translated by Professor James Winston Maurice has translated this book into English and written an informative introduction to it. 14. al-Shawadhid al-rububiyyah. This philosophical book has been mainly written in the Illuminationist style, and represents Mulla Sadra’s ideas during the early periods of his philosophical thoughts. 15. Sharh-i shifa. Mulla Sadra has written this book as a commentary upon some of the issues discussed in the part on theology ( Ilahiyyat ) in Ibn Sina’s al-Shifa . Sharh-i shifa has also been published in the form of glosses clearly expressing Mulla Sadra’s ideas in this regard. 16. Sharh-i hikmat al-ishraq. This work is a useful and profound commentary or collection of glosses on Suhrawardi’s Hikmat al-ishraq and Qutb al-Din Shirazi’s commentary upon it. 17. Ittihad al-‘aqil wa’l-ma‘qul. This is a monographic treatise on the demonstration of a complicated philosophical theory, the Union of the Intellect and the Intelligible, which no one could prove and rationalize prior to Mulla Sadra. 18. Ajwabah al-masa’il. This book consists of at least three treatises in which Mulla Sadra responds to the philosophical questions posed by contemporary philosophers. 19. Ittisaf al-mahiyyah bi’l wujud. This monographic treatise deals with the problem of existence and its relation to quiddities. 20. al-Tashakhkhus. In this book, Mulla Sadra explained the problem of individuation and clarified its relation to existence and its principiality, which is one of the most fundamental principles he has propounded. 21. Sarayan nur wujud. This treatise deals with the quality of the descent or diffusion of existence from the True Source to existents (quiddities). 22. Limmiyyah ikhtisas al-mintaqah. A treatise on logic, this work focuses on the cause of the specific form of the sphere. 23. Khalq al-a‘mal. This treatise is about man’s determinism and free will. 24. al-Qada’ wa’l-qadar. This treatise is about the problem of Divine Decree and Destiny. 25. Zad al-musafir. In this book (which is probably the same as Zad al-salik ), Mulla Sadra has tried to demonstrate resurrection and the Hereafter using a philosophical approach. 26. al-Shawahid al-rububiyyah. This treatise is not related to Mulla Sadra’s book of al-Shawahid al-rububiyyah . It is an inventory of his particular theories and opinions which he has been able to express in philosophical terms. 27. al-Mizaj. Mulla Sadra wrote this treatise on the reality of man’s temperament and its relation to the body and soul. 28. Mutashabihat al-Qur’an. This treatise consists of Mulla Sadra’s interpretations of those Qura’nic verses which have secret and complicated meanings. It is considered to be one of the chapters of Mafatih al-qayb . 29. Isalat-i ja‘l-i wujud. This book is on existence and its principiality as opposed to quiddities. 30. al-Hashriyyah. A treatise on resurrection and people’s presence in the Hereafter, it deals with man’s being rewarded in Paradise and punished in Hell. 31. al-alfad al-mufradah. This book is used as an abridged dictionary for interpreting words in the Qur’an. 32. Radd-i shubahat-i Iblis. Here, Mulla Sadra has explained Satan’s seven paradoxes and provided appropriate answers. 33. Sih Asl. This is Mulla Sadra’s only book in Persian. Here, by resorting to the main three moral principles, he deals with moral and educational subjects related to scientists, and advises contemporary philosophers. 34. Kasr al-asnam al-jahiliyyah. The title of this book means ‘demolishing the idols of the periods of barbarism and man’s ignorance’. His intention here is to condemn and disgrace impious sophists. 35. al-Tanqih. In this book, Mulla Sadra deals concisely with formal logic. It is a good book to use for instruction. 36. al-Tasawwur wa’l-tasdiq. This treatise deals with issues of the philosophy of logic and enquires into concept and judgment. 37. Diwan shi‘r (Collection of Poems) Mulla Sadra wrote a number of scholarly and mystic poems in Persian which have been compiled in this book. 38. A Collection of Scientific-Literary Notes. In his youth, Mulla Sadra studied many philosophical and gnostic books; moreover, due to his poetic taste, he had access to the poetry books written by different poets and was interested in them. Therefore, some short notes of his own poetry, the statements of philosophers and gnostics, and scientific issues remain from his youth, and comprise a precious collection of juvenalia. It is said that this book can familiarize the readers with subtleties of Mulla Sadra’s nature. These notes have been compiled in two different collections, and it is likely that the smaller collection was compiled on one of his journeys. 39. Letters. Except for a few letters exchanged between Mulla Sadra and his master, Mir Damad, nothing else from their correspondence is extant. These letters have been presented at the beginning of the 3-volume book of Mulla Sadra’s Life, Character and School, which have been written in Persian. This book has also been translated into English. If we consider the above 39 books along with his 12-volume books of interpretation, which we referred to as Tafasir (number 2), as well as with his Mafatih al-qayb and Asrar al-ayat , we have cited more than 50 of his works so far. Some other books have also been attributed to him. However, we will not refer to their names, since they have either been discussed in other more comprehensive books, or Mulla Sadra’s authorship has been denied. One of the problems which has raised a lot of arguments concerning Mulla Sadra’s books is the place and time of their composition. Most of his books carry no date of composition, and, in order to know about this, one must refer to certain documents and other evidence. For example, the composition dates of some of his books are implied in his al-Mabda’ wa’l-ma‘ad , al-Hashr and interpretations of some of the Surahs (chapters) of the Qur’an. For instance, al-Mabda’ wa’l-ma‘ad was written in 1019 A.H (1609 A.D), Interpretation of Ayat al-kursi in about 1023 A.H (1613 A.D); Kasr al-asnam in 1027 A.H (1617 A.D); Iksir al-‘arifin in 1031 A.H (1621 A.D); the treatise of al-Hashr in 1032 A.H (1622 A.D); the treatise of Ittihad al-‘aqil wa’l-ma‘qul in about 1037 A.H (1627 A.D); and Mafatih al-qayb in 1029 A.H (1619 A.D). The dates of his other books can only be reckoned approximately. In order to know about their place of composition, we must take into consideration that Mulla Sadra went to Qum and its suburbs from Shiraz or some where else before 1015 A.H (1605 A.D), and then moved from Qum to Shiraz in about 1040 A.H (1630 A.D). Therefore, the books which he wrote before 1040 A.H must have been written in Qum or some where in its vicinity, unless he wrote some of these books and treatises on his long journeys. [1] .The last and most complete edition of this book, along with some critical corrections, has been published by Mulla Sadra Publications Foundation, Tehran, Iran. Breaking The Idols Of Ignorance: Admonition of the Soi-Distant Sufi - Sadr al-Din Shirazi (Mulla Sadra) Are false mystics and impious sophists a modern phenomenon? Not according to Mulla Sadra Shirazi, the famous 17th century mystical philosopher who rebukes the pretentious by instructing the faithful on what. Are false mystics and impious sophists a modern phenomenon? Not according to Mulla Sadra Shirazi, the famous 17th century mystical philosopher who rebukes the pretentious by instructing the faithful on what it truly means to be pious. A brilliant synthesis of the Islamic philosophical, mystical, and theological traditions, this work stresses sincere virtues and spiritual exercises. One of the greatest philosophers in Islamic history, Mulla Sadra (1571-1636) founded the transcendental school of philosophy (also known as al- hikmah al-muta‘aliyah ). Born in Shiraz, Iran, he taught philosophy for many years under the auspices of the Safavid government before retiring to the village of Kahak for a fifteen-year retreat. During this time, he formulated his signature approach to philosophy, theology, hadith, and Qur’anic exegesis – an approach which remains influential to the present day. Mullā Ṣadrā. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Mullā Ṣadrā , also called Ṣadr Ad-dīn Ash-shīrāzī , (born c. 1571, Shīrāz, Iran—died 1640, Basra, Iraq), philosopher, who led the Iranian cultural renaissance in the 17th century. The foremost representative of the illuminationist, or Ishrāqī, school of philosopher-mystics, he is commonly regarded by Iranians as the greatest philosopher their country has produced. A scion of a notable Shīrāzī family, Mullā Ṣadrā completed his education at Eṣfahān, then the leading cultural and intellectual centre of Iran. After his studies with scholars there, he produced several works, the most famous of which was his Asfār (“Journeys”). Asfār contains the bulk of his philosophy, which was influenced by a personal mysticism bordering on the ascetic that he experienced during a 15-year retreat at Kahak, a village near Qom, Iran. Expounding his theory of nature, Mullā Ṣadrā argued that the entire universe—except God and his Knowledge—was originated both eternally as well as temporally. Nature, he asserted, is the substance of all things and is the cause for all movement. Thus, nature is permanent and furnishes the continuing link between the eternal and the originated. Toward the end of his life, Mullā Ṣadrā returned to Shīrāz to teach. His teachings, however, were considered heretical by the orthodox Shīʿite theologians, who persecuted him, though his powerful family connections permitted him to continue to write. He died on a pilgrimage to Arabia. Mulla Sadra. Mulla Sadra (also spelt Molla Sadra or Mollasadra, also called Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi or sadrol mota allehin ) (c. 1571–1640) was a Persian Islamic philosopher, theologian and ‘Ālim who led the Iranian cultural renaissance in the 17th century. Mulla Sadra is thought by some to be the single most important and influential philosopher in the Muslim world in the last four hundred years. [1] [2] The foremost representative of the Illuminationist, or Ishraghi school of philosopher-mystics, he is commonly regarded by Iranians as the greatest philosopher their country has ever produced. His school of philosophy is called Transcendent Theosophy or al-hikmah al-muta’liyah . Mulla Sadra's philosophy and ontology is considered to be just as important to Islamic philosophy as Martin Heidegger's philosophy later was to Western philosophy in the 20th century. Mulla Sadra bought "a new philosophical insight in dealing with the nature of reality" and created "a major transition from essentialism to existentialism" in Islamic philosophy, several centuries before this occurred in Western philosophy. [3] Mulla Sadra's original philosophy blended and transformed Avicennism, Suhrawardi's Illuminationist philosophy, 's Sufi metaphysics, and the theology of the Ash'ari school and Twelvers in an ambitious and resourceful way than many former Islamic philosophers. [4] Contents. Biography [ edit | edit source ] Born in Shiraz, Iran, the son of a notable Shirazi family, Mulla Sadra completed his education at Isfahan, which was the leading cultural and intellectual center of his day. He was trained under the supervision of Mir Damad. After his studies with scholars there, he produced several works, the most famous of which was his Asfar ( Journeys ). Asfar contains the bulk of his philosophy ,which was influenced by a personal mysticism bordering on the ascetic, that he experienced during a fifteen-year retreat at Kahak, a village near Qom, Iran. Expounding his theory of nature, Mulla Sadra argued that the entire universe – except God and his knowledge – was originated both eternally and temporally. Nature, he asserted, is the substance of all things and is the cause for all movement. Thus, nature is permanent and furnishes the continuing link between the eternal and the originated. Much of his philosophy was also existentialist in nature. Toward the end of his life, Mulla Sadra returned to Shiraz to teach. His teachings however, were considered heretical by orthodox Shiite theologians such as Allamah al-Majlisi, who persecuted him, though his powerful family connections permitted him to continue to write. He died in Basra, on a pilgrimage to Mecca, and was buried in present day Iraq. Philosophical theories [ edit | edit source ] Sadra is said to have been a "true heir" of Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi's School of Illumination, whose ideas he said to have "revised and presented in a rigorous scholastic fashion." [5] Existentialism [ edit | edit source ] Existentialism (Arabic: Isalat al-Wujud ) is a concept that lies at the heart of Mulla Sadra's philosophy, particularly the theory of "existence precedes essence". This was also the opposite of the idea of "essence precedes existence" previously supported by and his school of Avicennism as well as Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi and his school of Illuminationism. Sayyid Jalal Ashtiyani later summarizes Mulla Sadra's concept as follows: [6] For Mulla Sadra, "existence precedes the essense and is thus principle since something has to exist first and then have an essence." This is primarily the argument that lies at the heart of Mulla Sadra's philosophy. [7] In Islamic philosophy, whereas previous methods of philosophical thought held that "essence precedes existence", a concept which dates back to Avicenna [8] and Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi, [9] Mulla Sadra substituted a metaphysics of existence for the traditional metaphysics of essences, and giving priority ab initio to existence over quiddity. [10] Mulla Sadra effected an entire revolution in the metaphysics of being by his thesis that there are no immutable essences, but that each essence is determined and variable according to the degree of intensity of its act of existence. [11] In his view reality is existence, differentiated in a variety of ways, and these different ways look to us like essences. What first affect us are things that exist and we forms ideas of essences afterwards, so existence precedes essence. This position referred to as primacy of existence (Arabic: Isalat al-Wujud ). [12] According to Mulla Sadra, "existence precedes the essence and is thus principal since something has to exist first and then have an essence." It is notable that for Mulla Sadra this was a question that specifically applied to God and God's position in the universe, especially in the context of reconciling God's position in the Qur'an verses cosmological philosophies of 's Golden Era. [13] Mulla Sadra metaphysics gave priority "Ab initio" to existence, over quiddity. That is to say, essences are determined and variable according to existential "intensity", (to use Henry Corbin's definition), and as such essences are not immutable. [14] The advantage to this schema is that it is acceptable to the fundamental statements of the Qur'an, even as it does not necessarily debilitate any previous Islamic philosopher's Aristotelian or Platonic foundations. Indeed, Mulla Sadra provides immutability only to God, while intrinsically linking essence and existence to each other, and God's power over existence. In so doing, Mulla Sadra simultaneously provided for God's authority over all things, while also solving the problem of God's knowledge of particulars, including those that are evil, without being inherently responsible for them — even as God's authority over the existence of existences that provide the framework for evil to exist. This clever solution provides for Freedom of Will, God's Supremacy, the Infiniteness of God's Knowledge, the existence of Evil, and a definition of existence and essence which leaves two inextricably linked insofar as Man is concerned, but fundamentally separate insofar as God is concerned. [15] Perhaps most importantly, the Primacy of Existence solution provides the capacity for God's Judgement without God being directly, or indirectly, affected by the evil being judged. God does not need to possess Sin to know Sin: God is able to judge the intensity of Sin as God perceives Existence. [16] One result of this Existentialism is "The unity of the intellect and the intelligible" (Arabic: Ittihad al-Aaqil wa l-Maqul . As Henry Corbin describes: Substantial motion [ edit | edit source ] Another central concept of Mulla Sadra's philosophy is the theory of "substantial motion" (Arabic: al-harakat al-jawhariyyah ), which is "based on the premise that everything in the order of nature, including celestial spheres, undergoes substantial change and transformation as a result of the self-flow ( fayd ) and penetration of being ( sarayan al-wujud ) which gives every concrete individual entity its share of being. In contrast to Aristotle and Ibn Sina who had accepted change only in four categories, i.e., quantity ( kamm ), quality ( kayf ), position ( wad’ ) and place ( ‘ayn ), Sadra defines change as an all-pervasive reality running through the entire cosmos including the category of substance ( jawhar )." [18] Gottfried Leibniz later described a similar concept a century later. [19] Unity of the intelligizing subject and intelligized [ edit | edit source ] Unity of intellect and intelligible ( Arabic: Ittihad al-Aaqil wa al-Maqul ) is one of the Sadra's innovation. As Henry Corbin describes: All the levels of the modes of being and perception are governed by the same law of unity, which at the level of the intelligible world is the unity of intellection, of the intelligizing subject, and of the Form intelligized—the same unity as that of love, lover and beloved. Within this perspective we can perceive what Sadra meant by the unitive union of the human soul, in the supreme awareness of its acts of knowledge, with the active Intelligence which is the Holy Spirit. It is never a question of an arithmetical unity, but of an intelligible unity permitting the reciprocity which allows us to understand that, in the soul which it metamorphoses, the Form—or Idea—intelligized by the active Intelligence is a Form which intelligizes itself, and that as a result the active Intelligence or Holy Spirit intelligizes itself in the soul's act of intellection. Reciprocally, the soul, as a Form intelligizing itself, intelligizes itself as a Form intelligized by the active Intelligence. [20] Existence as reality [ edit | edit source ] Mulla Sadra held the view that Reality is Existence. He believed that an essence was by itself a general notion, and therefore and does not, in reality, exist. [21] To paraphrase Fazlur Rahman on Mulla Sadra's Existential Cosmology: Existence is the one and only reality. Existence and reality are therefore identical. Existence is the all-comprehensive reality and there is nothing outside of it. Essences which are negative require some sort of reality and therefore exist. Existence therefore cannot be denied. Therefore existence cannot be negated. As Existence cannot be negated, it is self-evident that it Existence is God. God should not be searched for in the realm of existence but is the basis of all existence. [22] It should be noted that Reality in Arabic is "Al-Haq", and is stated in the Qur'an as one of the Names of God. To paraphrase Mulla Sadra's Logical Proof for God : [23] There is a being This being is a perfection beyond all perfection God is Perfect and Perfection in existence Existence is a singular and simple reality That singular reality is graded in intensity in a scale of perfection That scale must have a limit point, a point of greatest intensity and of greatest existence Therefore God exists. Causation [ edit | edit source ] Sadra argued that all contingent beings require a cause which puts their balance between existence and non-existence in favor of the former; nothing can come into existence without a cause. Since the world is therefore contingent upon this First Act, not only must God exist, but God must also be responsible for this First Act of creation. Sadra also believed that a causal regress was impossible because the causal chain could only work in the matter that had a beginning, middle, and end: 1) a pure cause at the beginning 2) a pure effect at the end 3) a nexus of cause and effect. The Causal Nexus of Mulla Sadra was a form of Existential Ontology within a Cosmological Framework that Islam supported. For Mulla Sadra the Causal "End" is as pure as its corresponding "Beginning", which instructively places God at both the beginning and the end of the creative act. God's capacity to measure the intensity of Existential Reality by measuring Causal Dynamics' and their Relationship to their Origin, as opposed to knowing their effects, provided the Islamically-acceptable framework for God's Judgement of Reality without being tainted by its Particulars. This was an ingenious solution to a question that had haunted Islamic philosophy for almost one thousand years: How is God able to judge sin without knowing sin? [15] Truth [ edit | edit source ] For Mulla Sadra a true statement is a statement that is true to the concrete facts in existence. He held a metaphysical and not a formal idea of truth, claiming that the world consists of mind-independent objects that are always true and truth is not what is rationally acceptable within a certain theory of description. In Mulla Sadra's view one cannot have access to the reality of being: only linguistic analysis is available. This theory of Truth has two levels: the claim that a proposition is true if it corresponds to things in reality; and that a proposition can be true if it conforms with the actual thing itself. [24] Relativity [ edit | edit source ] Sadra anticipated elements of Albert Einstein's theory of relativity in physics. According to the Sadra Islamic Research Institute: [1]