Studies in Islamic Philosophy

In the Name of God
STUDIES IN
ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY
Translated By
Dr. Fazel Asadi Amjad & Dr. Mehdi Dasht Bozorgi
Center for Cultural-International Studies

Islamic Cultural Relations Organization
ALHODA
International, Cultural, Artistic & Publishing Institution
2011
Studies in Islamic Philosophy/ translated by Fazel Asadi Amjad

Mehdi
Dasht Bozorgi.
Tehran: Alhoda International Cultural, Artistic Publishing Institution, 2011=
1390.
Dasht Bozorgi, Mehdi

Asadi Amjad, Fazel
BBR
COPYRIGHT, 2011 by
ALHODA
International, Cultural, Artistic & Publishing Institution
All rights reserved.

No Part of this book may be
reproduced in any form or by
any means, except brief quotation
for a review, without permission
in writing from the Publisher.
STUDIES IN ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY

Translated By: Dr. Fazel Asadi Amjad & Dr. Mehdi Dasht Bozorgi
Produced in: Center for Cultural-International Studies
Islamic Culture & Relations Organization
Number of Copies: 1000
First Edition: 2011
ISBN: 978-964-439-477-5
Distributed by:
ALHODA International, Cultural, Artistic & Publishing Institution
No.1924 Vali-e-Asr Ave.Tehran, I.R. of IRAN
Tel: +98-21-88897661 - 88895003
Fax: +98-2188895654
www.alhoda.ir
Email: info@alhoda.ir
Contents
Preface ............................................................................................................. 1
The Graduation of Existence in Islamic Philosophy / Ahmad Abedi .............. 3
The Knowledge of the Creator from the Points of View of Three
Philosophical Schools / Muhammad Entezam .............................................. 15
The Definition of Knowledge from the Point of View of Muslim
Theologians and Philosophers / Muhammad Taghi Fa ali ........................... 49
The Arguments of the Sincere / Husayn Oshagi ........................................... 69
Personal Identity / Amir Divani..................................................................... 81
The Basic Principle in Ibn Sina s (Avicenna) Ontology / Dr.Reza
Akbarian ...................................................................................................... 121
The Analysis of the Relationship of Generation / Rasul Abudyat .............. 141
The Argument from Necessity and Contingency in Islamic Philosophy and
Theology / Mohsen Javadi .......................................................................... 151
The Theory of the Oneness of Existence and its Demonstrability from the
Points of View of Ibn Arabi and Mulla Sadra / Ghassem Kakaie ............... 183
Preface
Man has always been curious about the most essential life subjects within
the context of cultural, social, political, and religious issues, and this
curiosity has brought about important and obvious achievements. Without
denying the role of other factors in this process, we cannot ignore the impact
of religious principles on generating different but impressive and decisive
approaches. A brief look at the history and culture of nations where religion
played a prominent role will demonstrate this principle. Islamic tenets have
also paved the way for the emergence of new elements. Muslim philosophers
played an important role in administering and interpreting the principles of
ancient Greek philosophy advocated by Plato and Aristotle.
The impact of this trend today is that sound understanding acquired by
various philosophical tracts and theological schools plays an important role
in the development and spread of these ideas, equally influencing prevailing
ideas within these schools. Clearly, the interpretation of philosophical and
theological subjects by major philosophical schools in the Muslim world
(Peripatetic, Illuminationist and Transcendental philosophy) is important for
all those eager to learn more about such issues.
The selected articles in this collection stem from research efforts at
Iranian seminaries and universities, hopefully, they will be helpful in
opening the doors of dialogue between Muslim and non-Muslim
philosophers, assisting in the constructive criticism of different ideas.
We thank Mr. Muhammad Reza Bayat for his great effort in collecting and
editing these articles.
The Graduation of Existence in Islamic Philosophy

Ahmad Abedi
The problem of the graduation of existence is one of the common challenges
of theology and philosophy, and even Muslim mystics have given serious
thought to the subject and discussed the issue at length in their works. The
importance of this discussion is such that we can confidently assert it is next
in importance only to the problem of fundamentality of existence, in
transcendental theosophy. The solution to most arguments and problems of
transcendental theosophy depends upon it.
Discussions of graduation are the advancement of Muslim thinkers;
nothing regarding this subject can be traced in the sphere of Greek
philosophers. This problem and the fundamentality of existence are the
twin ideas nurtured by Islamic Philosophers, rooted in mystic Muslim
theorems. They emerged from the encounters between philosophers and
theologians. In this article, the historical background of the problem is
reviewed briefly; as well arguments and results of the study are discussed.
The Historical Background

Abu-Ali Cina (Avicenna) (370-428 AH) is the first philosopher to discuss
the question of the graduation of existence. At the end of the third chapter
and fifth article of the theology of Shifa, he states: Existence has no
strength or weakness, and does not become less or more defective, and
differs only on three percepts, viz, priority and posteriori, independence and
dependence, necessity and contingency. He adds: This is why when
priority and posteriori are considered, first existence is attributed to the cause
and then to the effect. The cause is also independent from the effect, but the
effect is dependent on it. The cause is also necessary in its existence, but the
effect is essentially contingent in its existence. 1
Following Abu-Ali Cina (Avicenna), Taftazani, Bahmanyar, Fakhr e1. Avicenna, al Shifa, Illahiyyat , Bidar Publication, p.444.
Studies in Islamic Philosophy
Razi, Abu al-Barakat -e- Baghdadi and some other philosophers accepted the
view. Khawjah Nassir al-Din e-Tussi says in his works, There is no
increase or augmentation in existence. At other times he states: There is
strength and weakness in existence. 2
What Khawjah Nassir intends is that there is existence in popular
graduation but no particular graduation. The concept does not apply to the
cause and effect in the same way; however, in the concept of existence, there
is movement from weakness to strength. Quschci, one of the most important
commentators on the thoughts of Khawjah Nassir, offered comment3 in his
work. Allameh Hilli also followed the approach of Khawjah Nassir,4 but for
the first time, Sheikh Eshraq suggested graduation in perfection and
deficiency. In Hikmat al-Eshraq, he says: The different degrees of light are
due to perfection or deficiency, and the difference between two immaterial
sources of light is not due to the whole essence, nor part of the essence, nor
because of the accidents, for the quiddity cannot be the cause of difference.
He added: Because those lights are simple, a part of the essence cannot be
the cause of this distinction: On the other hand, material accidents are not
there; therefore their perfection and deficiency in existence should be the
cause of their distinction and difference.
Analysts of his work have explained Suhravardi s view in the following
way: The existence of the Necessary and the existence of the contingent
have no common nature: On the other hand, the existence of the Necessary is
more intense and stronger than the existence of the contingent: For it is clear
that the qualities and the characteristics that exist in the existence of the
Necessary do not exist in the contingent beings. We also see that when two
lines are compared with each other, albeit that one of them is longer than the
other, and although their difference is clear, they do not differ in their
quantitative nature. Therefore, their difference should be related to existence:
The long line includes the short line, plus some addition. Sometimes, we also
see that their is motion in a color, and we know that there is no motion in
quiddity; therefore, motion should be related to existence.
The intention of the peripatetic philosophers is that in general existence
there are two kinds of multiplicity:
1. Accidental multiplicity, such as man, plant, animal, etc;
2. Existence that is anterior and posterior, strong, or weak, etc. They
2. Tajrid al Aghaid, p. 35; Naghd al-Mohassal, p. 518; Shawarigh al-Ilham, p. 52.
3. Sharh-e- Tajrid al- Aghaid, pp. 14, 24.
4. Anwar al- Malakout fii Sharh al- Yaghout, p. 47; al-Jawhar al-Nathiid, p. 20.
hold that multiplicity is the effect of the following three things:

A. The difference is in the whole such as the difference of the higher
genera from each other.
B. The difference is in a part of the essence, such as the difference
between two species of one genus.
C. The difference is in the accidents, such as the difference between
two individuals of one species.
But the Illuminationist philosophers argued that there is also a fourth kind
of difference, that is, perfection and deficiency in existence: There is no
graduation in concepts, but the graduation is related to the truth of existence.
Sheikh Eshraq, Sadr al-Mutahillin accepted this theory making it the
foundation of his philosophy, even proving the fundamentality of existence
by means of graduation. An explanation of the discourse of Mulla Sadra and
his evidence for graduation and the effects and results of this problem will be
discussed later.
Nearly two centuries after Sadr al-Mutahillin even his closest students did
not consider his theories. As Agha Hussain Khansari writes, The particular
graduation of existence is something that we do not understand, and it seems
that even the theoretician himself did not notice it. But in the fourteenth
century (A.H.) the theory of this particular graduation of existence was
strongly supported by the great commentators of Mulla Sadra s philosophy.
The Popular Graduation

What is important in Mulla Sadra s philosophy is particular graduation. A
brief explanation of popular graduation, and then a discussion of particular
graduation follow.
Before Sheikh Eshraq, all Peripatetic philosophers in the Muslim world
and all theologians believed in popular graduation. Popular graduation holds
that one universal concept cannot be true of all its extensions in the same
way, but applies to its individual parts in different ways. All these extensions
have the meaning of that name in common, but at the same time the
application of that meaning to the extensions is not similar; for example, the
word heat applies to different degrees of hotness. In this kind of
graduation, the matter of difference is different from that which is shared
commonly, for example, cotton, snow, and an elephant tusk share the
element of whiteness, but are different in other ways. The differences cause
some of them to be whiter than others.
In fact, the difference is in issues that are added to the essence of these
things. Therefore, this kind of graduation returns to agreement, but
unsophisticated persons think that graduation is this state. This is why this
kind of graduation is called popular.5 This kind of graduation is indeed a
logical issue and is of little importance in philosophical discussions, for it is
closer to verbal discussion than ontology.
Particular Graduation
With the exception of the Sophists, everyone accepts certain realities, and,
according to the fundamentality of existence, existence is the only reality.
Existents that have real existence have real differences with each other, and
because it is only existence that has reality these difference return to
existence itself. In one sense, though they have differences, all these
existents do exist and existence applies to all of them equally and with the
same meaning. For example, some of these existents are anterior and are
stronger and more perfect than others; for instance the existence of the cause
is stronger and prior to the existence of the effect; also the existence of each
of the vertical intellects is prior to the next intellect; and also the application
of the substance to the substance is prior and more appropriate to its
application to the accident.6
In this kind of graduation, the distinguishing factor of the existents is
identical with their common factor, that is, their difference is due to their
rank rather than to matters added to their essence. In other words, on the
basis of the fundamentality of existence, there is nothing other than
existence. The distinction of these external realities, therefore, should be of
the kind of their common factor.
Also, since existence has different degrees and stages, all have existence
in common, and their difference is due to the strength and weakness of
existence and its effects. At the top of this hierarchy is the existence of the
Exalted God whose light of existence is dependent on His essence; He
accepts no condition or fetter, and the application of existence to Him is an
eternal necessary proposition, and He has no causal or restricting aspect: All
other levels of existence belong to and are dependent on the Exalted God.
Therefore, God s existence is the origin of the truth of existence all other
levels of existence are a ray of His light.
This kind of graduation is called particular graduation, and also the
consensual graduation [ambiguity of agreement], for the common factor is
5. See al-Asfar al-Arba a, vol. 1, p. 65; Usoul Falsafe va Ravesh-e-Realism, vol. 3,
p. 385.
6. Ibid.
the very distinguishing factor.7

Different examples have been given of particular graduation. Before
discussing these examples, however, we should be aware that sometimes an
example might bring greater understanding of the point; but it is might not
necessarily be true, or correspond to the claim in all aspects of the argument.
A. Light is a unique reality that has different and various degrees.
Whatever the definition of light, it applies equally to weak, strong, and
average light, all lights are equal in their being light, though there are
differences between these different degrees of light. Clearly weak
light is not made of unfamiliar matter other than light nor is strong
light composed of any other compound other than light. Therefore, all
sources of light have light in common, but differ in the degree and
intensity of lightness.
B. When increments of time are compared with each other, some of them
will be anterior and some others are posterior with the common
principle of these parts and pieces being time. Their difference is due
to their priority and posteriori; the priority and posteriori are also of
the genus of time. Therefore, they are common in that thing which is
the cause of their difference.
C. When we compare two movements, one fast and the other slow, these
two movements will have the principle of motion in common, but they
differ in rapidity or slowness of motion. Rapidity and sluggishness
themselves are kinds of motion and they are nothing other than
motion. Fast movement is not made of motion and something else, but
only motion, slow movement is not made of motion and some other
thing, but only motion. Therefore, the two movements have motion in
common while at the same time motion is the cause of their
difference.
D. When considering two things, we will see that they are common in the
principle of existence, and also have certain differences. Because we
have nothing other than existence, existence then should be the cause
of their difference. Therefore, they are common in the principle of
existence, and their difference is due to the level and degree of their
existence.
A Survey of the Existing Theories

Throughout history, philosophical thought has sought to find unity in the
7. Avicenna, al Shifa, Illahiyyat , Bidar Publication, p.444.
diversity mystics have claimed to achieve in their mystical experience. In

mystical intuition, diversity is considered to be an error, and though one can
see the state of the many, diversity is indeed nothing other than an illusion
and a mirage. It is no exaggeration to say that when the first philosopher
Thales states that everything takes its origin from water, he is seeking to find
unity in diversity. Today, this idea is reflected in the theory of the graduation
in a more perfect way. Philosophers and mystics have suggested different
theories on this subject, which are referred to briefly here.
1. Multiplicity of existence and Multiplicity of existents is the view of
the Peripatetic philosophers. Most people have accepted this view,
and concerning the subject of monotheism, monotheism is of this
nature. The followers of this theory believe in the popular graduation.
2. The unity of existence and the unity of existents is the belief of Sufis
divided into two kinds:
A. Those who argue that there is only one existence that is real that
has different aspects and kinds. In heaven, it shows itself in the form
of heaven, and on earth, in the form of earth. These multiplicities are
subjective and do not harm the unity of existence.
B. Those who state that existence is a truth free from all these
stages; it is the existence of the Exalted Necessary being and is
unconditioned; all the stages of existence are His forms and aspects
and are dependent on Him, and this dependence and need is not
incompatible with Necessity. So, on the basis of this belief, there is
only one level of existence, and the rest are His forms and aspects.
This is the belief of mystics, including Mulla Sadra. The reality of
the particular graduation of existence of the elite refers to this
theory.
C. Existence has one necessary stage, and because it is
unconditioned, it has no manifestation, forms, or aspects; there are
some other stages of existence that are poor and dependent, but their
existence is also not alien or separate and independent from the
existence of the Necessary being. This is the view of the Iranian
philosophers in the ancient Pahlavi era that supported particular
graduation.
3. The unity of existence and the multiplicity of existents; according to
this belief, only one Necessary being exists, and all of the existents
are things that are only related to existence and have no existence
their own. This is the view of Muahqqiq Dawani.
4. The unity of existents and the multiplicity of existence; evidently no
one has accepted this view.

5. The unity of existence and existents and at the same time the
multiplicity of existence and existents: For example, a person who is
standing in front of several mirrors, despite his unity, has
multiplicity. Mulla Sadra also accepted this view attributing it to
some of the mystics. Accepting the particular graduation of existence
can also justify this belief. This theory supports the particular
graduation of the elite.
The [First] Explanation Proving the Particular Graduation of

Existence
Because Mulla Sadra understands existence to be a unique reality on the one
hand, and on the other holds that this unique reality has various levels and
degrees, he should offer strong evidence for this claim, which is the grounds
and foundation of all his philosophy. But unfortunately, because he believed
that this was evident and obvious, he offered little supporting corroboration.
Various arguments can be established for supporting the graduation but first
we must briefly explain the reason that the Peripatetic philosophers offered
for denying and rejecting the particular graduation.
The Peripatetic philosophers ask whether existents are different from
each other.
If they are different from each other, then they have no unity in quiddity
and they will have no basis for unity and agreement. However, if they do not
differ from each other, there will be no graduation, for there will be no cause
for disagreement.
Mulla Sadra holds that this demonstration is incomplete, for in his view,
these existents, first of all, have one aspect of sharing and unity with each
other. The concept of existence is extracted from them, and it applies to all
of them. So it becomes clear that there is a sort of unity among them. On the
other hand, the difference of the effects of these existents proves that there is
a kind of difference among them. So, there is a difference, and there is unity
because we believe in the fundamentality of existence and the subjectivity of
quiddity, both the unity and the difference are related to existence.
Therefore, the common factor is the very distinguishing factor, and thus the
graduation of existence is proven.
The Second Explanation Proving the Particular Graduation of

Existence
Agha Ali Mudarres says: Once the fundamentality of existence is proved,
10
all the differences of existents will be due to existence. For example, the
difference among individuals in respect of accidents, or the species in
respect of differentia, or genera regarding the special accidents will always
be due to difference in existence. Because we cannot predicate one concept
of two things unless there is an aspect of unity, these existents should have
an aspect of unity, otherwise, there must be one meaning for separate
existents, and multiplicity should be equal to unity.
So there should not be an aspect of unity. When we compare a man with
a horse, we see that there is an aspect of unity in existence and an aspect of
difference in existence. The difference among existents does not exclude
them of their unity. Then the unity of every existence with another existence
is identical with differences. Therefore, the subject in common is identical
with the distinguishing factor, and thus the particular graduation of existence
is proved. 8
The Third Explanation Proving the Particular Graduation of

Existence
By strength and weakness in the graduation we mean the plenitude and
scarcity of the effects, and the argument for the graduation is that we divide
existence on the basis of its individuals to strong and weak and anterior and
posterior, and without a doubt the existence of the Necessary is superior,
prior and stronger than the existence of the contingent beings. In addition,
the existence of immaterial beings is stronger than material things. These
strengths and weaknesses are related to existence.
Therefore, first, the difference between dependence and independence in
existence and strength and weakness is undeniable. Second, there should be
a shared aspect among these existents, otherwise, the two things which have
nothing in common cannot be less or more perfect than the other. Third,
belief in separate realities cannot be true, and its fallacy has been discussed
in its appropriate place. Fourth, the graduation in quiddity is not correct.
Recognizing these four premises, it is clear that the graduation is related and
is exclusive to existence.
The Fourth Explanation Proving the Particular Graduation of

Existence
Existence is in contradiction with non-existence, and non-existence is not a
8. Agha Ali Modarres, Risale Hamliye, p. 39.
11
multiple but is only one. Therefore, existence, which is contradictory, should

also be one, otherwise the law of excluded middle will be applicable. Then
we say that the difference among existents is clear. For example, an animal
has all the characteristics and effects of inanimate bodies and plants in
addition to sensation and perception. Man has all the effects and
characteristics of inanimate bodies, plants and animals, in addition to a
universal perception. We believe that existence is simple and is not
compound. Therefore, these existents should have something in common and
some cause for difference, both exist because of existence itself.
These demonstrations prove the principle of the graduation of the stages
of existence. Of course, it is clear that against the Peripatetic philosophers
who hold that existents are separate realities these demonstrations are sound
and perfect. However, against the discourse of the mystics who consider
existence to be one truth with various appearances and manifestations
rather than stages and degrees
these demonstrations meet with no
resistance. Thus, Mulla Sadra himself sometimes accepts the views of the
Illuminist philosophers and the Pahlavis and sometimes the viewpoint of the
mystics.
From the perspective of transcendental theosophy, existence is a truth
with different stages, and multiplicity is related to existence itself. They call
the highest level of existence and its most perfect degree the Necessary
being. Other levels are different in their weakness; the farther away they are
from God, the weaker they are. So, from the philosopher s point of view,
God is the pure existence that exists in the highest level; however, other
levels do exist, too, and they cannot be denied.
From the mystics point of view, however, existence is a single truth that
cannot be diversified, and all multiplicities are the result of its different
manifestations. Existence is one single truth that manifests itself in a new
form and a new aspect at each moment. Multiplicity does not belong to
existence; rather, it is its signs and signals, whose multiplicity is not real but
is relative. Therefore, existence is a single truth and accompanies no existent
either vertically or horizontally.
Vertical and Horizontal Graduation

Having explained the popular and particular graduation, we refer briefly to
the vertical and horizontal graduation.
According to the vertical graduation, existence is a unique truth that
extends from The Necessary being, the strongest level of existence,
accepting no restriction to the primordial substance, which is the most
12
deficient and the lowest level of existence. Thus, on the one side, it has the
strongest level of existence, and on the other side, the weakest level of
existence. Between these two poles, there are also other intermediary levels.
So, in the vertical graduation a comparison is made between two stages of
existence, one more perfect than the other with a causal relationship with
each other.
In the horizontal graduation, a few specimens of existents are compared
with each other at one level. For example, consider one level of light that is
beaming on different bodies. When the light of the sun shines on a stone, the
earth, or a tree, the multiplicity of light is in existents, which have horizontal
graduation. These few effects are not related to each other by a causal
relationship, though all of them crosswise are the effects of one cause.
Despite their multiplicity, these few effects have also a sort of true unity.
The Results of the Problem of the Graduation of Existence

Mulla Sadra accepts the theory of the particular graduation of the levels of
existence and makes it the foundation of his philosophy. In his study of the
graduation of existence, he reached some certain effects and results as
follows:
1. Returning all multiplicities to a sort of unity
2. The problem of corporeal resurrection
3. The problem of the corporeality of the soul
4. Substantial movement and solving the question of the subsistence of
the subject
5. Explaining God s knowledge on the ground that the collective
knowledge is simultaneous with the revelation of the details
6. The unity of the intelligent and the intelligible
7. A new account of the proof of the Sincere on proving the existence of
God
8. Another explication of the relationship between cause and effect
9. Accepting the homogeneity of the Necessary being and the contingent
things and rejecting their total separation
10. Accepting a sort of mystical unity of existence
11. Denying the separate realities accepted by the Peripatetic
philosophers
12. Accepting the true unity of existence and simultaneously its the true
diversity.
The consequences of denying the particular graduation of existence are as
follows:
13
1. The impotence of the intellect in proving God s attributes of

perfection
2. Our knowledge of God is not intuitive, but it is acquired
3. The impossibility of justifying the unity of God s command: Our
command is only one.
4. Denying the evolutionary movement of man
5. Accepting the possibility of preponderance without there being a
preponderant
6. Denying the principle The one produce nothing other than the one
7. Accepting [the possibility of] combination in the First emanated
being.
An explanation of how these findings arise from the problem of the
graduation is out of the range of this article, as each needs independent
study. Some verses in the Holy Koran and Prophetic traditions also include
issues that can be analysed and explained only by accepting the graduation;
but this topic is not examined because the discussion could not remain
purely philosophical.
14
Knowledge of the Creator from the Points of View of

Three Philosophical Schools
Muhammad Entezam
Abstract
In religious texts and the current understanding by people, it is a truism that
God knows everything. However, in philosophical analysis and subtle
intellectual studies, God s knowledge of all particular and universal things
constitutes one of the most difficult theological-philosophical problems. In
this article, the writer refers to the attempts of philosophers like Avicenna,
Sheikh Eshraq, and Mulla Sadra to explain God s knowledge of things and
all phenomena before and after their creation.
Avicenna, Sheikh Eshraq, and Mulla Sadra are three renowned Muslim
Iranian philosophers, who had a great influence on the development and
eminence of philosophical debate in the Muslim world. Each of these three
great philosophers was affiliated to an important philosophical trend.
Although Avicenna is mainly known as the commentator and interpreter of
Aristotelian thought, and his approach closely follows that of the Peripatetic
philosophers, his innovations in philosophical issues, and especially in
theology are undeniable.
Sheikh Eshraq is the founder and originator of the philosophy of
Illumination in the Muslim world. Mulla Sadra is the founder of the
transcendental theosophy, which indeed is the combination of the pure and
original essence of the whole ideas and intellectual and intuitive sciences in
the history of Islam with his personal innovations, presented in a
comprehensive and systematic plan. A comparative study and survey of the
thoughts and ideas of these three philosophers, besides showing the
fundamental differences and the weaknesses and the merits of each of these
three schools, will show the trend of development in philosophical thinking
in the Muslim world. Consequently, it will clarify the development of the
Muslim philosophers perception and understanding of the three main
principles of the philosophical cosmology, namely God, existence, and man.
16
In this research, we have discussed the knowledge of God, which is one

of the important issues of Islamic philosophy from the point of view of these
prominent philosophers, so that the reader, first, becomes familiar with the
historical development of this issue, and, second, understands the degree of
influence, which these intellectual and philosophical principles had on
explaining important theological issues. Because all these three philosophers
are Muslims, the impact of religious and Koranic teachings on them is
undeniable. The Holy Koran introduces God as a perfect and simple reality,
infinite in all His aspects that was and is and will be aware of everything,
and this knowledge will never cause a difference in His essence. Moreover,
the philosophical principles of these three philosophers necessitate the
existence of an essentially Necessary Being who is purely simple, perfect
and infinite, and on the level of essence. He should, therefore, possess all
perfections and be free from any defect.1 We recognize that all three
philosophers indeed sought to prove God s infinite and comprehensive
knowledge. This in turn, calls for the removal of any deficiency or passivity
from His essence.
The aim of all these three philosophers is to prove God s element of
knowledge, so far as it is considered by the intellect as perfection. However,
this attempt to reach that single aim is approached through different means
and is based on different principles. Based on the approaches taken in
theosophy and philosophy, and on the grounds of the principles, which he
has proved, each philosopher tries to prove the existence of God and His
perfect attributes. Therefore, what they aim to prove at the beginning might
be different from what they attain at the end of their journey. For example,
God s knowledge, which Avicenna tries to prove by his particular
philosophical principles, is not exactly one with His essence, and requires
the multiplicity of the essence or an essence bare of knowledge;
unquestionably this will not be the same as he, under the influence of the
1. Ibn Sina, al-Shifa, Ayatollah Mar ashi Library, Qom, 1404 AH; p. 343 and 355.
Al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat, with the commentary of Khawjah Nassir al-Din-e-Tussi,
vol. 3, Daftar Nashr Ketab, Tehran, 1403 AH.p. 54. Ibn Sina, Al-Mabda wa alMa ad, Institute of Islamic Studies, Tehran, 1984, pp. 6,10, 19. Al-Nijat, alMaktabah al-Mortazawiyyah, second edition, 1364 AH. pp. 227, 228. Shahab al-Din
Suhravardi, Hikmat al-Ishragh, in Majmou ah Musannafat-e- Sheikh Ishragh, vol. 2,
ed. Henry Corbin, Cultural studies and Research Institute, Tehran, 1372, p. 121. AlTalwihat in Majmou ah Musannafat-e-Sheikh Ishragh, vol. 1, p. 91. A-Mashari wa
al- Mutarihat, in Majmou a Musannafat, vol. 1,pp.35,39,399. Mulla Sadra, al-Asfar,
vol.1, Dar Ihya e al-Torath, Beirut, 1981. p. 122, vol. 6, p. 110.
Knowledge of the Creator from the Points of View of Three
17
Koranic teachings, and even on the basis of his philosophical principles, set
out to prove at the beginning of his study.
Accordingly, a comparative study gives us an opportunity to find out the
weaknesses and the merits of these three significant philosophical trends in
proving the aims and objectives of their exponents.
1. Knowing that God s knowledge can be discussed at three stages, by
separating these stages from each other, we can understand the views and
thoughts of these philosophers at each of these stages. These stages are a)
God s knowledge of His essence; b) God s knowledge of His creatures
before creating them, and c. God s knowledge of His creatures after creating
them. At each of these stages, and according to their historical order, initially
the view of Avicenna, and then that of Sheikh Eshraq, and finally the view
of Mulla Sadra will be discussed.
God s Knowledge of His Essence from the Point of View of

Avicenna2
Avicenna holds that God is aware of His essence, and His knowledge of His
essence is not an acquired knowledge but it is presentational knowledge
(knowledge by presence); consequentially, God s essence is known to His
essence, that is, in knowing His essence, God is the knowledge, the knower,
and the known object.
A known object is called the intelligible if it is free from all the qualities
and accidents of matter, whether it has this immateriality in essence, or in its
dependence on the immateriality of another thing. On the other hand, that
which understands and perceives the intelligible is named the intelligent.
This is why Avicenna calls the knowledge of God the intellect and His being
known, intelligibility, and argues that He is the intellect, the intelligent and
the intelligible. Avicenna s argument on God s knowledge of His essence is
founded on two premises.
1. God is immaterial and is self-subsistent or self-dependent.
2. Every self-subsistent immaterial being knows its essence, and is
intelligent and intelligible in essence.
The first premise is proved in the following way: God is an essentially
Necessary Being, and essential necessity requires that the Necessary being
should be perfect and independent in all aspects. Neither potentiality and
2. Al-Shifa, (Ilahiyyat), p. 3564; al-Nijat, p. 243; al-Mabda wa al-Ma ad, p.6; alIsharat wa al-Tanbihat, vol.3, p. 65; al-Ta lighat, ed. Abdol Rahman Badavi, Daftar
Tablighat Islami, 1404 AH. pp. 60, 78, 159.
18
predisposition nor a combination can have a place in His existence for

potentiality and predisposition denote deficiency, and combination also
denotes need and dependence in the Necessary being. Therefore, a being that
has no predisposition, potentiality or combination thereof cannot be material
or physical, for material and physical things are mixed with potentiality,
predisposition and are affected with different types of combination.3
The second premise can also be proved by a careful analysis of human
knowledge and perception and its different stages. For at the stages of
perception, from sensation up to reasoning, we have to deal with some kind
of immateriality. Although in sensory perception, the perceptual form is not
free from the qualities of matter, and though this kind of perception is
conditioned by the presence of matter, it is nonetheless free from matter
itself. In imaginative perception also, though the perceptual form is not
independent from the qualities and accidents of matter, it is free from matter
itself and is not dependent on the presence of matter. But the necessary
condition for perception to be transferred from these stages to that of
reasoning is its total independence from matter and material qualities.4 For
insofar as the intellectual form is mixed with the qualities of matter, it
remains either at the stage of imagination or the that of sensation. The only
obstacle of existents for being intelligible, then, is matter and their mixing
with material interests and qualities. Therefore, if we seek to reason a
material existent, we have no other way than separating it from matter and
material qualities; so, a material being prior to its abstraction from matter is
potentially, rather than actually, an intelligible.
But if there is an existent that is essentially free from matter and its
qualities, then of course the criterion of its intelligibility will be inherent in
its existents, and because this existent is actually immaterial, it will be
intelligible, too. Moreover, because it is intelligible in essence, so it will be
intelligent in essence, too, and consequently, such an existent will be the
intellect, the intelligent and the intelligible. In other words, because every
intelligible is immaterial, and every immaterial being is intelligible, and
every intelligent should also be immaterial, reasoning will be the realization
and the presence of a form that is free from matter and material qualities for
an immaterial reality.
If the immaterial [being] is not self-subsistent and is dependent on others,
it will be realized and will be present for others; as a result, it will be known
3. Al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat, vol. 3, p. 54.
4. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 322.
19
and intelligible for others. However, if it is self- subsistent, it will be present

and realized for itself and it would know itself.5 God, Who is absolutely
immaterial and is self-subsistent, and Whose essence does meet the criterion
of reasoning, the presence and realization of an immaterial for its immaterial
essence, knows His essence. His essence is the intellect, the intelligent, and
the intelligible. He is the intelligible, for His immaterial essence is present
and is realized for an immaterial being and that immaterial being is His
very essence , and He is the intelligent, because an immaterial thing and
that immaterial thing is also His very essence is realized and is present for
His immaterial essence.
Nevertheless, knowing that the intelligent and the intelligible are two
correlatives, and relation necessitates plurality and diversity, that is, it
necessitates the existence of two sides, how is it possible that a thing could
be both the intelligent and the intelligible?
Avicenna answers that additionally, conceptual and respective plurality is
enough, and there is no reason for the necessity of having external plurality.
If in certain cases external plurality becomes necessary, conceptual plurality
and the correlation of two concepts by themselves do not necessitate that
kind of plurality. Certain arguments and reasoning are required to prove this.
The requirement for being intelligent is the existence of an intelligible,
whether this intelligible is the essence of the intelligent or something else, as
the requirement for being a mover is the existence of that which is moving,
whether this moving thing is the mover itself or another thing.6
The clear argument for the possibility of the external unity of the
intellect, the intelligent, and the intelligible is that we intuitively know that
there is a faculty within us that understands things, and this knowledge is
realized either by this faculty or by another faculty. The second option is
false, for it would necessitate the existence of a faculty that would
understand this second faculty that would understand this second faculty,
and understanding the third faculty would need fourth faculty, ad infinitum.
In the first option the intellect, the intelligent, and the intelligible will be
one. This itself is an argument that the diversity in the concepts of the
intelligent and the intelligible does not necessitate their diversity in the
external. In consequence, in its absolute simplicity and unity, the essence of
God can be both the intelligent and the intelligible.7
5. Al-Nijat, p. 174.
6. Al-Shifa (Ilahiyyat), p. 357.
7. Ibid, p. 358; al-Nijat, p. 244.
20
God s knowledge of His Essence from Point of View of Sheikh

Eshraq8
Like Avicenna, Sheikh Eshraq (Suhravardi) holds that God has knowledge
of His essence, and the knowledge of one s essence is of the kind of
presentational knowledge rather than acquired knowledge. However, he does
not accept the argument of Avicenna or other Peripatetic philosophers,
establishing God s knowledge of His essence in another way.
For Sheikh Eshraq, the Necessary Being is a luminous reality, and
because it exists in absolute simplicity, it is pure light, and because it is selfsubsistent, it is light for itself. The reality of light is nothing other than selfmanifestation. If the existence of light depends on other than itself, its
manifestation will also be due to others, provided that the manifestation of
that other should be due to itself. If its existence is dependent on itself, its
manifestation will be due to itself. Therefore, God, Who is the very light
itself, and light in itself, is the very independent self-manifestation, and
knowledge and perception are nothing other than self-manifestation and selfrevelation. Sheikh Eshraq makes a great effort to prove that knowledge of a
self-subsistent luminous reality is essentially presentational knowledge
rather than acquired knowledge.
As an example, he uses the human soul s knowledge of itself as his
grounds by demonstrating the presentational nature of the soul s knowledge
of itself he proves that every self-subsistent luminous reality has
presentational knowledge of its essence. Sheikh Eshraq argues that in
knowing one s essence, the perceiver perceives himself, and he calls what he
perceives I , whereas if this knowledge were realized through the form of
the essence, he would call that it . Moreover, if this knowledge were of the
kind of acquired knowledge, this would necessitate the realization of form
and an additional attribute, other than those of the essence, for the essence.
Because the perceiver is aware of the realization of this attribute for his own
essence, then in all cases he should have perceived his essence by
presentational knowledge.
For Sheikh Eshraq, the inadequacy of Avicenna s argument of and those
of other Peripatetic philosophers concerning God s knowledge of His
essence lies in that the Peripatetic philosophers hold that the criterion of
being intelligent or intelligible is the separation from matter and material
interests. They proved His Knowledge of His essence by proving God s
separation from matter and material interests. Elsewhere, light is the
8. Hikmat al-Ishragh, in Majmou a Musannafat, vol. 2, pp. 110-116.
21
criterion of being a knower and a known object.9 If something in its essence

is light and is self-subsistent, it will have knowledge of its essence, but if it is
dependent on another being, and that other is self-subsistent light, it will be
the subject of its knowledge.
However, if the criterion of being a knower and a known object, or to be
more precise, if the criterion of being intelligent and intelligible is separation
from matter and material interests, it can be bridged. Since first, for instance,
there could be a taste devoid of matter and material interests, based on the
argument of the Peripatetic philosophers; it should know its essence,
whereas pure taste is a taste in itself and not an intelligible to itself. In other
words, a pure taste is nothing other than being a taste; matter and material
interests have nothing to do with it. Nevertheless, its separation from matter
and material interest is not enough to make it intelligible to its essence;
rather, in order to know its essence, it should be a light in itself and by itself
(The Wisdom of Illumination, p. 14).
Second, though the primordial substance (Hayula-ye-ula) is immaterial
and its essence is present for its essence, it has no knowledge of its essence,
and the Peripatetic philosophers even admit this point. If the criterion of
being intelligent and intelligible is separation from matter, the primordial
substance then should know its essence and even the species forms. The
argument for the immateriality of the primordial substance is that if the
primordial substance is also made of matter and primordial substance, that
matter and primordial substance would need another matter and primordial
substance, ad infinitum (The Wisdom of Illumination, p. 115).
God s Knowledge of His Essence From the Point View of Mulla

Sadra10
Mulla Sadra also believes that God has presentational knowledge of His
9. Suhravardi has founded most of his philosophical issues on the reality of light and
its characteristics. Except the material existents whose substance he termed the
dark substance and the accidents and their forms which he termed the dark form ,
Suhravardi regards other realities of souls and intellects as light; he names God the
Light of the lights according to that he considers all immaterial and self-subsistent
existents as manifesting in themselves. Because they are lights in themselves; and
because knowledge is nothing other than manifestation he considers every existent,
which is manifesting in itself as a knower of itself. (Hikmat al-Ishragh in Majmou a
Musannafat, vol. 2, pp. 107, 110.)
10. Al-Asfar, vol. 6, p. 174.
22
essence. Based on the two fundamental and basic principles of

transcendental theosophy - the fundamentality of existence and its graduated
unity - he argues that the criterion of intelligibility and non-intelligibility is
the intensity or weakness of existence. The more intense existence is, the
stronger its unity and presence; the weaker and more limited it is, the more
would be its disunity, hidden ness, and darkness.
Since the existence of physical and material existents is weak and mixed
with non-existence, they are not present for themselves. They can neither be
identified by themselves nor are they present for others to be known by
them. The more we distance ourselves from the domain of matter its
presence will also be more manifest. Since existence becomes more intense,
God Who is at the highest level of existence and free from any limitation and
deficiency, and the quintessence of absolute perfection and simplicity, far
removed from any kind of combination with non-existence, is absolutely
present for Him. The reality of knowledge is also nothing other than the
presence of the thing for itself or for others.11
For the Peripatetic philosophers, the condition of intelligibility is
separation from matter, distinct accidents and comparisons. Although Mulla
Sadra also holds that the intelligible and the intelligent are immaterial and
non-physical, for matter and corporeality denote the weakness of
existence , he does not think separation from distinct accidents and
comparisons are the condition of intelligibility. He professes that, first, in the
same way that man and animal and other similar things are conceived, their
distinct accidents, such as position, quantity, and shape can also be
conceived. Knowing that, how can these qualities prevent us from
conceiving another thing?
Secondly, if the intelligible or conceived man were stripped of all
qualities such as position, shape, hands, feet, eyes and other things, how
could it then be understood as the quiddity of man? If we take away these
qualities from man, there will remain nothing to call it the quiddity of man.
Therefore, the criterion of intelligibility of an object was the intensity of
its existence rather than any thing else.12 This criterion is compatible with
the criterion of Sheikh Eshraq for the intelligible and the intelligent. He
considers light as the criterion. Light is knowledge, the knower and the
known object only when it is light in itself and by itself. This includes the
human soul, horizontal and vertical intellects, and God. Since Sheikh
11. Ibid., vol. 3, p. 297.
12. Ibid., pp. 152-154.
23
Eshraq assumes that the soul and what is above the soul are pure existents,
light which can perceive itself will be nothing other than very existence
itself: Because of its intensity, existence is pure light. This is why, for
Sheikh Eshraq, the existent that is present for itself is at one with that which
perceives its essence.13
Consequently, we can say that Mulla Sadra and Sheikh Eshraq shared the
same view on the criterion of knowledge, the knower, and the known object.
Yet Sheikh Eshraq s detailed emphasis on the fundamentality of essence and
the validity of existence makes his statements on this issue and other issues
based on the fundamentality of existence problematic.
After establishing that the intensity of existence is the criterion of
knowledge, the knower and the known object, referring to the graduated
unity of existence, Mulla Sadra emphasizes that as existence has graduated
levels, knowledge of one s essence also has different levels. The more
intense and perfect existence, knowledge will correspondingly be more
intense and more perfect. Consequently, the difference between God s
knowledge of His essence and to the pure intellects and the human soul is
commensurate to the level of God s existence to their existence. Similarly,
the difference between every other existential perfection of God and that of
other creatures is commensurate to the difference between their existential
status and levels.14
Mulla Sadra s second argument regarding God s knowledge of His
essence is that which is considered by the intellect as a perfection for an
existent qua existent, and the existence of that perfection for the existent
requires no potentiality, predisposition, change, combination, or
corporeality. This perfection can be realized for an existent, its realization
will be possible for God on the grounds of the general possibility. Besides,
that which is possible for God on the ground of the general possibility, its
existence in Him becomes necessary. Since, intellectually, knowledge of
one s essence is considered to be a perfection for the existent qua existent,
and this perfection for some existents, such as the human soul, is possible,
and its existence for the Necessary being requires no change, predisposition,
or corporeality, we can infer that this perfection necessarily exists in God.
This argument is based on two philosophical principles: 1) Everything
that is considered by the intellect as perfection for an existent qua existent
regardless of its corporeality, combination, or change, is possible for the
13. Al-Mughawimat, in Majmou a Musannafat Sheikh Ishragh, vol. 1, p. 190.
14. Al-Asfar, vol. 6, p. 155.
24
Exalted Necessary Being based on the general possibility, and 2) Everything

that is possible for the Necessary Being based on the general possibility, its
existence will be necessary for Him. Although Sheikh Eshraq introduced
these principles much earlier than Mulla Sadra15 proving all kinds of
perfection for the Necessary Being using them, he does not rely on these
principles concerning the knowledge of the Necessary Being of His essence.
In fact, he did not see any need to repeat them. On the other hand, since
Mulla Sadra employed these principles as an independent argument on
God s knowledge of His essence, they are discussed in our explanation of
Mulla Sadra s attitude to God s knowledge of His essence.
Concerning the first principle, Mulla Sadra explained that if the intellect
considers a certain thing as the perfection of an existent qua existent, that
perfection, in fact, would be related to existence qua existence. In addition,
because God is pure existence consequently He should have that perfection.
Of course, we can think of the perfection of an existent as an argument on
the existence of that perfection in God only when its existence requires no
corporeality, combination or change since corporeality, combination and
change are not compatible with the necessity of God s existence and the
absolute perfection and pure simplicity of His existence.
The argument established by the second principle is that if the existence
of that which is established for the Necessary Being on the grounds of the
general contingency were not necessary for the Necessary Being, its
existence would be possible for God on the grounds of the special
contingency. On the other hand, the kind of perfection possible for the
Necessary Being based the special contingency has to occur to the essence of
the Necessary Being and this means that the essence should be devoid of that
perfection; consequently it should have a place for potentiality and
predisposition. These issues, however, can never be attributed to the
Necessary Being; in fact, this matter refers to the principle the Necessary
Being in essence is the Necessary Being in all aspects .16
Mulla Sadra s third argument for God s knowledge of His essence is that
there are certain existents among other creatures that have knowledge of
their essence. Since the primary source of this perfection and any other
perfection is God, and since it is impossible that an existent which does not
have a certain perfection could give that perfection to another existent, we
15. Al-Mushari wa al-Mutarihat in Majmou a Musannafat Sheikh Ishragh, vol. 1,
p. 401; al-Talwihat in Majmou a Musannafat Sheikh Ishragh, vol. 1, p. 41.
16. Mulla Sadra, al-Mabda wa al.Ma ad, ed. Jalal al-Din Ashtiyani, p. 89.
25
conclude that it is God Who gives some existents such as the souls and the
pure intellects the knowledge of the essence, He should also have
knowledge of His essence.17
This argument is also based on the principle He who gives a thing to
others cannot be destitute of it, 18 by which Sheikh Eshraq, in a general way
proves that God possesses all kinds of perfection that existents possess.19
Besides proving God s knowledge of His essence, by proving the unity of
knowledge, the knower, and the known object at all its levels20, Mulla Sadra
proves that not only it is reasonable and logical for one thing to be the
intellect, the intelligent and the intelligible, but the unity of these three is the
very requirement of the judgment of the intellect and is supported by
evidence. This, indeed, manifests the illusion of those who by denying the
possibility of the unity of the intellect, the intelligent, and the intelligible
have denied God s knowledge of His essence.
His response to Fakhr-e- Razi s criticism and doubts about Avicenna s
theory of God s knowledge of His essence is an effective step in enforcing
this theory.
In his book, al Mabaheth al-Mashreqiyya (The Oriental Discussions),
Fakhr-e- Razi criticizes and discusses Avicenna s theory, believing that he is
showing the invalidity of this theory from different perspectives.
Mulla Sadra discusses these doubts and answers them in the third volume
of his Asfar. Fakhr-e- Razi s two central questions and Mulla Sadra s
answers are as follows:
1. As was seen, concerning God s knowledge of His essence, Avicenna
holds that the essence of God is the intellect, the intelligent, and the
intelligible. Further, intelligence, intelligibility and intellection are one and
the same. Fakhr-e- Razi states that though in knowing one s essence, the
same thing is qualified with intelligence and intelligibility, the attributes of
17. Ibid, al-Asfar, vol. 6, p. 176.
18. The content of this principle is that if an existent grants an existence or an
existential perfection to another being, he must have that perfection himself;
otherwise, granting perfection to the other will be impossible. Islamic philosophers
believe that this principle need not be proved, so, Mulla Sadra states: It is
impossible for the perfection-giver to be devoid of that perfection, because in that
case the perfection-taker would be superior to the Necessary, and the taker would be
better than the giver. It is not acceptable according to the primordial nature.
19. Al-Talwihat in Majmou a Musannafat Sheik Ishragh, vol. 1, p. 41. AlMughawimat in Majmou a Musannafat Sheikh Ishragh, vol. 1, p. 118.
20. Al-Asfar, vol. 3, p. 321.
26
intelligence and intelligibility are not identical. For if these two attributes
were identical, then one thing, in case it is the intelligent, has to be the
intelligible, too; while we sometimes know something as the intelligent
without attributing it with intelligibility, and sometimes we assume the
intelligibility of one thing without characterizing it with intelligence.
Therefore, the attributes of intelligence and intelligibility are two
different attributes with distinct natures, and once their difference in essence,
even in one particular instance, is demonstrated, these two attributes will be
different, even where the intelligent and the intelligible are one thing.
Consequently, concerning the knowledge of one s essence, though one thing
is both the intelligent and the intelligible, the attributes of intelligence and
intelligibility are not identical.21
Mulla Sadra holds that this problem stems from mixing the concept and
the extension, and contends that there is no question about the conceptual
difference between the intelligent and the intelligible, but their conceptual
difference is not a reason for their difference in extension or existence.
On the other hand, if conceptual plurality were reason for plurality in
existence, then, in respect of God s positive attributes of the essence, God s
essence would be divided into as many parts as there are attributes, whereas
the Muslim philosophers are agreed that the essence of the Real can never
are subjected to diversity or plurality. Moreover, if conceptual distinction
denoted distinction in existence, what would be the difference between the
intelligent and the intelligible? Alternatively, the mover and the moving
object, or other similar things; why do philosophers believe that one object
cannot be both the mover and the moving object, whereas they allow for an
object to be both the intelligent and the intelligible?22
2. About God s knowledge or intelligibility of His essence, Avicenna
argues that intelligibility is nothing other than the acquisition of an
immaterial thing by an immaterial object. If an object other than itself
realizes an immaterial object that other should also be immaterial it
will be intelligible for others. Yet if he realizes it, and it is independent in its
existence, it will be intelligible for him.
Fakhr-e-Razi says: The presence of one object for another or its
realization by another is a relational issue, and relationship necessitates the
existence of two things. Having said that, how could the presence of one
21. Fakhr al-Din Razi, al-Mabahith al-Mashrighiyya Bidar Maktaba, Qom: 1411
A.H. second edition, vol. 1, p. 339.
22. Al-Asfar, vol. 3, p. 344-350.
27
object for another include the presence of an independent immaterial thing

for itself ? In other words, the object and its self are not two things, so that
they could exist for each other or could be related to each other in a one way
or another. Therefore, whether knowledge and perception is the very
relationship between the knower and the known object, or the presence of
the form of the perceived object for the perceiver, or the presence of an
immaterial thing for another thing, in all cases, it demonstrates the
distinction between the knower and the known object.23
Mulla Sadra contends: Although relationship necessitates the distinction
between the two sides of the relation, this distinction is realized in the
context of the existence of relationship. If a relationship, such as the
relationship between a father and a son, is external, the distinction between
the two sides of the relation will also be external. However, if it exists in the
analytical frame of the intellect, such as the relationship of the occurrence
of the existence upon quiddity, the two sides of the relationship will also be
different in that frame. If the relationship is metaphorical, the distinction of
the two sides of the relationship will also be metaphorical.
In respect of the positive attributes of God, the intellect considers the
attribute, the described thing and the relationship between these two. For
example, it considers knowledge as the attribute, the essence of God as the
described thing, and characterization of essence with knowledge as the
relationship between these two. This consideration results from comparing
God to his creatures; in other words, because the attributes of the creatures
are realized by occurrence and the occurrence of the attribute upon a creature
is the cause of its characterization with this attribute. The intellect also
initially considers this relationship between the attribute and the described
thing in respect of God. However, after arguably proving that existence and
its perfections are identical with God s essence, the intellect decrees that
God and His knowledge, Power, and His other perfections are dependent on
His essence and are equal with His essence: There is no attribute outside His
essence. In consequence, by giving attributes to the essence, the literal
meaning is not intended. When we say that God s existence, knowledge and
power are dependent on His essence, we indeed refer to the freedom of
God s essence from combination and multiplicity, rather than supposing
there is a kind of relationship between God s essence and His attributes.
Moreover, by relating God s attributes to His essence we intend the
metaphorical meaning, namely, lack of combination and multiplicity. This is
23. Al-Mabahith Al-Mashrighiyya, vol.1, p. 341.
28
a metaphorical relationship; the two sides of the relationship will be

metaphorical, too. The relationship between the intelligent and the
intelligible in God s knowledge of His essence is of a similar nature. That is,
concerning God s knowledge of His essence though the intellect on the basis
of comparing it with the knowledge of others establishes a kind of
relationship between the knower and the known object, ultimately and on the
basis of arguments, there is no such relationship, and it will not intend the
real existence of this relationship. In consequence, this relationship has a
metaphorical existence and it does not exist in the external context or that of
intellectual analysis, and such a relationship does not necessitate multiplicity
or diversity.24
Avicenna s View on God s Knowledge of Things before Creating

Them
Avicenna speaks of God s knowledge in the following terms:
1. God s knowledge does not derive from things: For if it were taken
from things, God s essence would be dependent on the intellectual forms
obtained from things, or they would be accidents of God s essence. Both of
these assumptions, besides many other barriers, would necessitate God s
dependence on things: For if God s essence were dependent on these
intellectual forms, He would be in need of others in His essence, and if they
are accidents of His essence, God would need others in the perfection of His
existence. Need and dependence, however, are not compatible with His
being a necessary existent.25
2. The knowledge of God is active rather than passive:
This feature is a prerequisite for the last feature. To illustrate this further,
if knowledge is taken from external objects, it is passive, and if it is the
cause of the two elements of existence and the creation of external objects, it
is active. For example, the form of a building created in the mind of the
observer, is passive knowledge; but the form the builder has in his mind is
active knowledge, which is instrumental in the creation of that building.26
Because God s knowledge of His creatures has existed before their
creation, and has been the cause of their emergence in the external, it is an
active knowledge. There is this difference in that the active knowledge of
man, for example, and the knowledge of the builder of the building, cannot
24. Al-Asfar, vol. 3, pp. 354-356.
25. Ilahiyyat Shifa, p. 358. Al-Ta lighat pp. 116,192.
26. Ilahiyyat Shifa, p. 364. Al-Ta lighat, p. 191.
29
be the complete cause of the existence of the object in the external. Different
external causes, such as instruments and tools, and internal factors, such as
the desire, intention, determination, moving the muscles, etc., should be
employed to create this object in the external. However, God s active
knowledge is the complete cause of the existence of His known objects in
the external.
3. God s knowledge of things is acquired through the intellectual forms
of things:
Knowledge is one of the relational attributes of the essence, and unless
there is a knower and a known object, there will not be knowledge. Based on
the last two premises, God knows the things prior to their creation; therefore,
things in their external existence do not exist at the stage of God s
knowledge. But since a relationship with non-existence is impossible, at the
level of God s knowledge things should have another existence, and the
existence of things at the level of God s knowledge prior to their external
existence cannot be other than their intellectual existence, which is their
intellectual or intellectual forms.27
4. The intellectual forms are the effects of God s knowledge of His
essence:
Because God is the complete cause of the existents, and because knowing
the cause necessitates knowing the effect, His knowledge of His essence
leads to His knowledge of things. Therefore, the intellectual forms of things
are created through the knowledge of the Necessary Being of His essence,
and the intellectual forms of things are identical to God s knowledge of
things; in consequence, these intellectual forms are the effect of God s
knowledge of His essence.28
5. Because God s knowledge of His essence is equal to His very essence
and is pre-eternal, the effect of knowing the essence, which is the intellectual
forms of things, will also be pre-eternal, and the priority of the essence is
priority in degree rather than in time.29
6. Because the intellectual forms are the effect of knowing the essence,
they do not count as perfection for God s essence; rather, the perfection of
God s essence is the cause of their existence.
7. The intellectual forms of things are the concomitants of God s essence;
that is, they are not independent from His essence or any other essence, nor
27. Ilahiyyat Shifa, p. 358.
28. Ilahiyyat Shifa, p. 364. Al-Ta lighat, p. 191.
29. Ilahiyyat Shifa, p. 364. Al-lighat, p. 158.
30
can they exist in any essence other than God s essence.30

Since admitting their independent existence from any essence would
necessitate the acceptance of Platonic ideas, which were severely criticized
and denied by Avicenna, their existence in another essence, such as the
Intellect or the Soul also raises some problems. For example, according to
Avicenna, unless God knows things, they cannot exist. Indeed, perceiving
things and knowing them is the cause of their existence. If the intellectual
forms existed, for instance, in the first Intellect, because God is the cause of
the existence of the first Intellect, and the cause of the existence of the
intellectual forms in the first Intellect, it would present two problems. It
implies that He should have had knowledge of them before the creation of
the first Intellect, and before the creation of the intellectual forms that exist
in it.
Conversely, the intellectual form of the first Intellect by which God
knows the first Intellect, and the intellectual forms that exist in the first
Intellect, cannot be impressed in the first Intellect, and this would be
incompatible with the supposition that they should be impressed in the first
Intellect.
Equally, if the creation of the intellectual forms that exist in the first
Intellect were dependent on God s knowledge of those forms, that would
necessitate an infinite regress. Based on this assumption, the forms of these
forms should also be impressed in another existent, and their creation would
depend on God s knowledge of them, and so on. Therefore, the only
reasonable assumption is that the intellectual forms of things are the
concomitants of God s essence and are dependent on Him.
8. Because the intellectual forms are the effect of knowing the essence,
their dependence on the essence is an effusive dependence rather than an
immanent (Holuli) dependence. Consequently, these intellectual forms are
not accidents of the essence to introduce change in the essence of God.31
9. The existence of the intellectual forms of things at the level of God s
knowledge is identical to their intelligibility to God s essence, and there is
no need for other intellectual forms to be intelligible to God. This is because
both the existence of these forms is equal to their intelligibility, and that
these forms are concomitants of God s essence and not separate from it. The
existence of these forms would have been dependent on other intellectual
forms if their existence were not equal to their intelligibility or could have
30. Ilahiyyat Shifa, p. 364.
31. Al-Ta lighat, pp. 180-181.
31
existed independently of God s essence.32

10. The external system that governs the existence of things and the kind
of priority, subsequent order they display, derives from the system that
governs their intellectual forms at the level of God s knowledge. Indeed this
external system is a manifestation of that intellectual system. As the first
effect has an ordinal priority over the second effect, the first intellectual form
of the first effect has an ordinal priority over the intellectual form of the
second effect. Since God s essence, by means of the first effect, is the cause
of the existence of the second effect, God s knowledge of His essence
through the intellectual form of the first effect will also be the cause of the
intellectual form of the second effect.33
This is a complete and comprehensive account of Avicenna s view on
God s knowledge of things before their creation.
Because this account covers all the subtle points discussed by Avicenna,
it automatically answers many of the questions put forth by scholars after
Avicenna about this theory. Here we must explain Avicenna s view on
God s knowledge of the temporal changing details in respect to his general
theory of God s knowledge of things before their creation because Avicenna
took great effort in explaining and elucidating this kind of knowledge, and
his exponents and opponents have widely debated his theory of God s
knowledge of details. Some of his opponents accused him of heresy because
of this theory. Exponents, in turn, charge those opponents with
misinterpretation and a lack of familiarity with his philosophical principles.
In the context of his theory, Avicenna made great efforts to explain God s
knowledge of the temporal changing details in a way that proves God s
knowledge of the particulars. Simultaneously, he asserted that His
knowledge of the temporal changing details necessitates no change,
transformation, deficiency, or limitation in His essence.34
Because God s knowledge is not passive, or derived from external things,
and because it is an active knowledge and is the cause of the existence of the
known object in the external, His knowledge of the details is also not taken
from the temporal particular and changing events. Avicenna asserts that
besides necessitating change and transformation in knowledge itself, and
consequently, in the knower, such knowledge requires sensory actual
32. Al-Ta lighat, pp. 48, 154, 155, 191.
33. Al-Ta lighat, pp. 120, 152. Ilahiyyat Shifa, p. 363.
34 . Al-Ta lighat, pp. 13, 14, 15, 24, 25, 28, 29, 66, 81, 119,120, 122. Al-Nijat, p.
247. Ilahiyyat Shifa, pp. 358-362.
32
knowledge, and imaginative instruments and devices from which God is far
removed. Therefore, God s knowledge of the temporal changing details is
not of the kind of sensory knowledge that begins with the existence of the
known object, changing when it changes, and perishing when the object is
destroyed.
Rather, God s knowledge of the details is an intelligent process.
Conversely, because thinking about material and sensory issues is possible
only with this supposition that the object of knowledge is the universal
natures of material things, the object of God s knowledge of the details will
also be their universal natures. Such knowledge can only be acquired by
knowing the causes and reasons of the particular and changing things.
Because God is the origin and the cause of all external things, and there is
also a causal relationship between external things, by knowing His essence,
He will know His immediate effect, and by knowing that, He will know the
effect of the effect, and thus He will know the whole material and immaterial
existence.
Furthermore, because the effusion of the effect from the cause is
necessary and inevitable, the knowledge of the cause of its effect will be
definite and certain. Such knowledge will be the same before and after the
emergence of the effect. In his illustration of this issue, Avicenna gives an
example, showing how knowledge of the particular qua particular is
changing, but knowledge of the particular from the perspective of its cause
and reason is fixed and unchangeable. He says: The knowledge of the
eclipse in a particular time is gained in two ways. One is the knowledge of
the individuals who witness the definite eclipse in a specific time because in
such knowledge the known object has a beginning and an end, and in each
moment it is different from the preceding moment, knowledge will also have
a beginning and an end. When the known object changes it will also change,
and when it perishes it will also perish.
The other is the understanding of the astronomer, who through his
knowledge of the spherical movements and the conjunctions and distance of
heavenly bodies knows this definite and certain eclipse before its occurrence.
This kind of knowledge, first, is universal; when the astronomer through his
knowledge of the causes states that an eclipse will occur at a certain time.
The object of his knowledge is universal nature, tied to many restraints, and
though these restraints are numerous, they are not incompatible with the
universality of knowledge. The affirmative knowledge is universal because
concepts are universal, for an affirmation cannot be universal unless its
conceptual components are universal.
33
Second, in respect to the restraints that are added to it, this universal
knowledge has only one individual (instance) and has only one extension,
but it can also be applied to many individuals. Thus, although this kind of
knowledge is universal, it reveals the particular perfectly. Indeed, this kind
of knowledge is the knowledge of the particular in a universal way, as
knowledge in the first assumption is the knowledge of the particular in an
exacting way.
Third, this knowledge is acquired by knowing the principles and causes
of a particular thing, and because the relationship between one thing and its
cause is one of necessity; this knowledge is definite, absolute and certain,
not allowing for doubt or question.
Fourth, because this knowledge is the knowledge of the principles and
universal knowledge, it is permanent. It will remain unchanged prior to and
after the creation of particular things.
The conclusion of Avicenna s discourse regarding God s knowledge of
the temporal and changing particulars is that God s knowledge, besides
revealing them completely and having existed in God before and after their
creation, should be free from any deficiency, limitation, potentiality,
passivity, change or transformation. Such knowledge cannot be other than
the knowledge of the particular in a universal way, showing the particular
absolutely and without any deficiency.
Sheikh Eshraq s View on the Knowledge of the Necessary Being of

Things before Their Creation
Sheikh Eshraq s theory of God s knowledge is connected to the third stage
of this discussion, God s knowledge of things after their creation. However,
his view on God s knowledge of things before their creation is not clear.
Mulla Sadra holds that at the stage of the essence, Sheikh Eshraq accepts
neither the detailed knowledge nor the collective knowledge. However,
Sabzawari believes that this view cannot be attributed to Sheikh Eshraq, and
holds that all philosophers unanimously accept that the detailed knowledge
of the cause of its essence necessitates its collective knowledge of the
concomitants of the essence (Asfar, vol. 6, p. 260-61).
In his book Al-Mashari a wa al-Mutarihat35 after discussing the theory of
the collective knowledge and the views presented by the founders of this
35. Al- Mushari wa al-Mutarihat, in Majmou a Musannafat Sheikh Ishragh, vol. 1,

p. 478.
34
theory36 Sheikh Eshraq states that in general, this theory is true although the
details added by the theory s founders have made it rather confusing.
However, he does not fully explain which parts of the theory he accepts or
which part he rejects.
In his critique of this theory, Sheikh Eshraq questions the criterion of
God s collective knowledge of things at the level of the essence as was
suggested by the founders, accepting only that part of the theory which states
that the Necessary Being s knowledge of His essence requires His
knowledge of the concomitants of His essence. However, by the
concomitants of the Necessary Being s essence, he understands the things
and the external effects; he rejects the view that the concomitants of the
essence are hidden within the essence, as suggested by the founders of
theory of the collective knowledge, and held to be the criterion of God s
collective knowledge at the level of the essence. He does not suggest another
criterion for God s collective knowledge at the level of the essence;
therefore, the claim that Sheikh Eshraq believed in God s collective
knowledge of things at the level of essence is not well founded.
36. In explaining the theory of God s collective knowledge of things before
generating them, Sheikh Eshraq says that believers in this theory think that since
God has knowledge of His essence, He also has knowledge of His concomitants of
the essence. And that the knowledge of concomitants of the essence is implied in the
knowledge of the essence in the same way that the knowledge of human
concomitants is implied in the Knowledge of human. al-Mushari wa alMutarihat, p. 478. Accordingly, since things are the effects and concomitants of
God s essence, He also has the knowledge of things by the knowledge of His Own
essence; since in the level of the essence, these concomitants are impressed in the
essence and since God s essence is simple and has no plurality, this knowledge is
termed as collective knowledge. The collectiveness does not mean ambiguity or
knowledge combined with ignorance and doubt; rather it is collectiveness in
comparison with detail that is the existence of the known as a collective and simple
existence. Mulla Sadra believes that God s knowledge of things being implied in His
Own essence and the objectivity of his knowledge to his essence with his collective
knowledge of things are true but the theory of collective knowledge is incomplete in
two respects: first, God s knowledge of things in the level of essence remains in the
stage of collectiveness (vs. detail) while in transcendental theosophy the theory of
collective knowledge is revealed in detail. According to the principle of simple
reality, the opposition of collectiveness and detail is vanished. Second, the theory of
collective knowledge and the impression of God s concomitants of the essence in
His essence cannot be proved except by the principles and foundations of the
transcendental theosophy. Asfar, vol. 6, pp. 238-244.
35
Sheikh Eshraq also severely criticizes Avicenna s theory and holds that it
has many problems37 as follows:
1. If the intellectual forms were impressed in God s essence, His essence
would be affected by the intellectual forms. Even if we admit that accepting
the effect of the occurrence of accidents is one of the features of the gradual
corporeal and material things, we cannot hold that accepting an accident by
an object is limited to corporeal things since an object cannot be the place of
an accident unless it is characterized by it, and it is impossible for an object
to be characterized by an accident while being incapable of accepting that
accident.
If the essence of God were both the cause of the intellectual forms and
capable of receiving them, His essence should be both active and passive,
whereas the Necessary Being is simple and cannot admit synthesis.
2. Avicenna, on one hand, holds that God s knowledge of things is the
cause and the external existence of things, and, on the other hand, he
believes that His knowledge is the essence.
These two beliefs are not compatible. If knowing the essence were the
cause of knowing the concomitants of the essence then before knowing the
concomitants of the essence, the concomitants of the essence should have
existed so that they could be the objects of knowledge. The concomitants of
God s essence are the things and His effects, and if things had existed before
their becoming the object of God s knowledge, the notion that God s
knowledge of things is the cause of the external existence of things would be
absurd.
3. If God s knowledge of things were the cause of their external
existence, and the knowledge of things were also acquired through the
intellectual forms which are associated with God s essence and are outside
His essence, the conclusion of this theory would be that God s essence is not
the origin of the external existence of things: The essence along with the
forms which are associated and added to it are the origin and the cause of
existence.
4. The first form which is impressed in God s essence, the form of the
first effect , necessitates His essence to be both active and passive, and
God s essence is nothing other than His pure essence, and its purity is
nothing other than removing any trace of materiality from it. Because God is
the receiver of this form, then its efficient cause should be its freedom from
materiality. A corollary would be that the cause of this purity should be
37. Al-Mushari wa al-Mutarihat, p. 480.
36
superior to God s essence, and it is clear that superiority of the cause of

purity to God s essence is impossible.
5. On the basis of Avicenna s theory, God s essence and the intellectual
form of the first effect would be both the cause of the external existence of
the first effect and the cause of the existence of the intellectual form of the
second effect. In fact, considering the single intellectual form, that is, the
form of the first effect , God s essence would perform two different acts,
namely: Give existence to both the first effect in the external, and the
intellectual form of the second effect, even though Avicenna himself admits
that from one single aspect, one single thing can never produce two effects.38
6. On the basis of this theory, as the cause of the next intellectual form,
each one of the intellectual forms would be supplementary to God s essence
since on the one hand, these intellectual forms do not have an actual
existence in the essence and on the other hand, their existence in the essence
would cause the imperfection of the essence. Compared to them the essence
would be [potential] latent, and a thing whose existence removes deficiency
would cause perfection; each form being the cause of the existence of the
next form, each one of these intellectual forms supplementary to God s
essence, and because each supplement is superior and higher than the
completed object, these intellectual forms would have to be superior and
higher than God s essence. Avicenna definitely was not committed to this
conclusion.
7. If the intellectual forms are the cause of perfection of the essence, and
God does not possess these perfections at the phase of the essence, the
essence would not be the cause of these perfections. Consequently, there
should be a more perfect existent than the essence to produce these
perfections in the essence.
38. This subject refers to the principle, the one is not produced by other than the
one which is accepted by the majority of Muslim philosophers. Farabi believes that
this principle is innovated by Aristotle, while Averroes attributes it to Plato and
Themistius. This principle has been discussed in Othologia written by Plotinus,
which is wrongly attributed to Aristotle. (Ghava id Kuli Falsafi dar Falsafe Islami,
Ibrahimi Dinani, Tehran: 1385, vol. 2, p. 267). The content of this principle is that
two things are produced by truly one thing which has no plurality; for, if two things
are produced on the basis of the homogeneity of cause and effect according to which
no effect is produced by any cause, there must be two characteristics in the cause so
that from one respect it produces the effect A and from another the effect B. In this
case what has been supposed to be one is not one. (Asfar, vol. 7, p.204; al-Isharast
wa al-Tanbihat, vol. 3, p.122).
37
Mulla Sadra s View on God s Knowledge of Things before Their

Creation
Mulla Sadra initially defends Avicenna arguing that Sheikh Eshraq s
objections stem from his not looking carefully into Avicenna s explanation.
Mulla Sadra was convinced that the answers to each of these objections
could be found in the subtleties expressed in Avicenna s theory. On this
basis, Mulla Sadra also answers the criticism of other scholars such as Abu
al-Barakat-e-Baghdadi and Khawjah Nassir al-Din-e-Tussi. After
demonstrating the fallacies of the Avicenna and Sheikh Eshraq theories
Mulla Sadra proposed and advanced a new theory believing it to be one of
the most important conclusions of the elements and principles of
transcendent theosophy.
Thusly, Mulla Sadra s answers to Sheikh Eshraq s objections to
Avicenna s theory will be examined followed by a discussion critiquing the
Avicennian and Sheikh Eshraq theories, ending with an explanation of Mulla
Sadra s pioneering theory.
I. Mulla Sadra s Response to Sheikh Eshraq s Objections39
Response to the First Objection:
Action and acceptance can be the cause of diversity in a thing when
acceptance necessitates recurrent passivity, which occurs when an attribute
or accident is added to the existence of a thing that did not have that attribute
or accident before. But that attribute or accident whose efficient cause is the
thing itself, necessitates no passivity. Sheikh Eshraq accepted this truth
concerning the concomitants of quiddity: For the concomitants of quiddity
are both the effect of quiddity and dependent upon it. This effusion and
dependence do not necessitate diversity in quiddity.
The intellectual forms of things, according to Avicenna, also emanate
from God s essence. Since their existence is accidental, that is, their
existence for themselves is equal to their existence for others the way they
are emanated from the essence will be equal to the way they occurred to the
essence.
The Answer to the Second Objection:
By saying that one s knowledge of the essence is the cause of knowing the
concomitants of the essence, Avicenna does not mean that one s knowledge
of the essence is the cause of knowing the concomitants of the essence in the
39. Asfar, vol. 6, 199.
38
external: rather he means that one s knowledge of the essence is the cause of
that thing which is indeed a concomitant of the essence, though it is not yet
realized. This is why Avicenna has called this knowledge active knowledge,
that is, knowledge that existed before the external existence of the known
object and is the cause of its existence. Therefore, Avicenna regards that
one s knowledge of the essence is the cause of knowing what are indeed the
concomitants of the essence, though they do not yet exist. In fact, the
existence of the concomitants of the essence is the effect of knowing it, and
it is clear there is no contradiction between these two discourses.
Response to the Third Objection:
Mulla Sadra draws his conclusion from this objection and responds, although
it has not been specified in the discourse of Sheikh Eshraq. The conclusion is
that if God s essence along with the intellectual forms of things is the cause
of the existence of things, proving the existence of the First Intellect, which
is believed by Avicenna and other Peripatetic philosopher to exist, would be
impossible. For only based on the principle that the one is not produced by
other than the one that the First Intellect can be proved. This principle can
be true only in relation to God s simple and unique essence, and not the
essence accompanied by the intellectual forms.
He answers this question by arguing that, first, it is possible to prove the
existence of the First Intellect in other ways, and second, the cause of the
external creation of the existents is not God s essence along with any other
intellectual forms: Rather, the cause of the existence of the First Intellect is
God s essence, and the intellectual form of the First Intellect, and the cause
of the existence of the Second Intellect is God s essence and the form of the
Second Intellect, and so on.
It is clear from God s essence and the intellectual form of the First
Intellect that only the First Intellect can be emanated. Third, the intellectual
system in God s essence and the objective and external system are identical.
External things are created according to the system that exists in God s
knowledge, and because the intellectual form of the First Intellect is placed
in the level next to that of the essence in the intellectual system, the external
existence of the First Intellect will be in the level next to that of the essence
as well.
However, Sheikh Eshraq s objection also concerns the aspect of viz: If
the essence along with the intellectual forms are related and complimentary
to essence and the cause of things, the conviction of all godly theosophists
that God is the origin of all existents would be contradicted because
39
following this line of reasoning God s essence along with things outside the
essence would be the origin of the existence of things.
Khawja Nasir al-Din Tusi raises the same objection to Avicenna s theory,
and in explaining the objection of Khawjah Nassir al-Din-e-Tussi, Mulla
Sadra answers this objection, adding: Since the intellectual forms are the
effects of God s essence, it will not be incompatible with God s essence as
the origin and ultimate cause of existents if God employs them in giving
external existence to things. Similarly, as the mediation of some external
existents in creating some other existents in the vertical chain of being, is not
incompatible with God as the ultimate cause of things.40
Response to the Fourth Objection:
As stated, the dependence of the intellectual forms of things on God s
essence is an effusive dependence rather than an immanent one, and
dependence in creation does not necessitate diversity in the aspects of action
and acceptance in the essence; as these intellectual forms emanate from
God s essence, their existence will be dependent on the essence, too.
Response to the Fifth Objection:
Because the intellectual form of the first effect is the effect of God s essence,
it cannot be a true unit, consequently in this intellectual form, there is an
aspect of perfection and another one of deficiency, and there is an effect to
each of these two aspects. From its aspect of perfection, the First Intellect is
created in the external, and from its defective and limited aspect, the
intellectual form of the Second Intellect is produced in God s essence.
Response to the Sixth Objection:
Because Avicenna holds that the intellectual forms emanated from the
essence and are dependent on it, and their dependence on the essence is of
the kind of the effusive dependence rather than the immanent dependence,
not only they are not, according to Avicenna, the cause of the essence s
perfection, but it is the perfection of the essence that gives existence to them.
Therefore, the relation of the intellectual forms to the essence is not one of
potentiality or possibility, but that of necessity and inevitability, as the
relation of the existence of every effect to its cause is also that of necessity
and inevitability.
40. Ibid, p. 220.
40
Response to the Seventh Objection:

The answer to this objection is the same given to the sixth objection.
II. Mulla Sadra s Objections to Avicenna s Theory41
After admirably defending Avicenna s theory, Mulla Sadra states that certain
objections can be made to this theory. Unlike the previous objections, these
objections do not stem from misunderstanding of this theory, but stem rather
from a problem, which exists within the theory. These problems are, first,
that this theory emphasizes the accidental nature of the intellectual forms of
things, and, second, it holds the intellectual forms of things to be equal to
their mental existence.
Were it not for these two aspects, Avicenna s theory of the intellectual
forms would have been convertible to Plato s theory on intellectual ideas.
Although God s knowledge at the level of the essence cannot be proved by
this conversion, a theory would have been presented for proving God s
knowledge at the level of creation compatible with a wisdom drawn from
Hadiths.
Mulla Sadra s objections to Avicenna s theory are as follows:
1. Avicenna holds that the intellectual forms are the concomitants of
God s essence; on the other hand, he emphasizes that these forms are
accidental. However, if they were concomitants of the essence, proving their
accidental nature would be difficult; for the concomitants of things are either
the concomitants of the quiddity or the concomitants of existence.
The concomitants of existence are also either the concomitants of mental
existence or the concomitants of external existence: Since God s quiddity is
equal to His existence the concomitants of God s quiddity are equal to the
concomitants of His existence. On the other hand, because the supposition
that these concomitants are the concomitants of God s mental existence is a
false supposition this is not Avicenna s intention. The only true supposition
will be that the intellectual forms are the concomitants of God s external
existence, and the concomitants of the external existence of things
themselves have an external existence.
In the external existence, some of the concomitants are substances and
some others are accidents, and supposing an accidental existence for that
which is substantial is absurd. For, according to the views of the Peripatetic
philosophers, it is only in the mental existence that all things have accidental
existence, whether externally they are substances or accidents: But in the
41. Ibid, p.228.
41
external existence, substance is substance and accident is accident.

Therefore, if we assume that the intellectual forms are the concomitants of
God s essence, we cannot claim that these forms are accidents.
2. Avicenna explains his theory based on the philosophical rule, which
claims that knowing the cause necessitates one s knowledge of the effect.
Although this rule is cited to prove the presentational and the intuitive
knowledge of things, Avicenna claimed to prove acquired knowledge. To
illustrate: When we say knowing the cause necessitates knowing the effect,
by cause and effect we mean that aspect and quality that makes the thing a
cause or an effect, and the aspect which makes the thing a cause or an effect
is either the quiddity or the existence of the thing. If because of its existence,
the thing is a cause or is an effect, based on this rule, knowing the cause will
necessitate knowing the existence of the effect. Since things in their
existence are the effects of God s essence, the knowledge of God of His own
essence will necessitate His knowledge of the things. Knowing the existence
of a thing is also intuitive knowledge, and knowledge by presence.
Knowledge obtained from the intellectual forms, which is called acquired
knowledge, is confined to quiddities. God s knowledge of things, therefore,
is an intuitive and presentational knowledge.
3. On the basis of the rule of the superior possibility, the essence of one
thing that in its existence has priority over other existents and should be
superior to other essences and its existence should be stronger and more
intensive than the existence of other beings. Because based on Avicenna s
view, the intellectual forms of things have existential priority over the things
themselves the existence of these intellectual forms should be superior to and
stronger than the existence of the things themselves, whereas Avicenna holds
that the intellectual forms are accidents. Because an accident, no matter of
what kind, cannot be superior to or stronger than substance, how can we
accept that the existence of the beings of the divine realm to be weaker than
the external things which in themselves are the effects of those existents?
III. Mulla Sadra s Pioneering Theory of God s Knowledge of Things
before Their Creation42
After rejecting Avicenna s theory and claiming that at the level of God s
essence, Sheikh Eshraq admits neither detailed knowledge nor collective
knowledge, Mulla Sadra presented his pioneering theory. The summary of
this theory is as follows:
42. Ibid, pp. 263-280.
42
1. God is the simple Reality, that is, there is no synthesis, whether

external, illusory or intellectual, in God s essence: For every synthesis
necessitates dependence and need, and God s essence is all-sufficient, and
free from any need or dependence.
2. The simple Reality is all things and no existence or existential
perfection is outside Him. For if one existence of the existences were outside
of the simple Reality, the simple Reality would be a synthesis of gain and
loss. Synthesis is incompatible with the supposition of being the simple
Reality. Similarly, being the simple Reality necessitates that it should
include all things in a single collective existence. The simple Reality,
indeed, is the station of multiplicity in unity, for if the many existed in their
multiplicity in the simple Reality, it would not be the simple Reality any
longer.
This introduction is an elaboration on the meaning of the eminent theory,
the simple Reality is all things and He is not one of them ; Mulla Sadra
claimed credit for explaining and proving his pioneering principle.43
III. God Knows His Essence
This introduction has already been proved.
Conclusion
Because God is the simple Reality and all things exist in His essence in a
single collective existence, His knowledge of His essence is equal to His
knowledge of all things. In addition, because all things exist in His essence
in a single collective and simple existence, this knowledge is called the
general or collective knowledge. However, this knowledge shows things in
detail, and as no existent is independent of God s simple essence, no existent
is outside the compass of God s essential knowledge.
In other words, as the station of the simple Reality is the station of
43. The content of this principle is that the overall simple reality contains all
existential perfections, and no being is outside it by its existential perfection. The
existence of things exists in the simple reality by their collective unique existence.
So, although it is said that the simple reality is all things it is also emphasized that
It is not each of them which means to remove the deficiencies and limitations of
things from the simple reality. The corollary of these affirmation and negation is that
the existential perfections of things exist in the simple reality by their simple unique
existence (Asfar, vol. 2, p. 368; vol. 6, p. 110; Masha ir, chapter 1, the sixth
Mash ar).
43
multiplicity in unity, the knowledge of the simple Reality of His essence will
be general or collective in its unity and simplicity, and will be detailed in its
multiplicity. Since the multiplicity of the simple Reality is the very unity, the
collection (ijmal) would be identical with the detailed. This is why Mulla
Sadra calls God s knowledge of things at the level of the essence and before
their creation the collective knowledge, that is, equal to the detailed
knowledge.
The View of Avicenna
Avicenna holds that God s knowledge of things before and after their
creation is one and the same. That is, God s active knowledge that is
acquired from the intellectual forms of things before their creation, and is the
cause of the creation of things in the external, is the same knowledge that
reveals things after their creation. Because things are created based on this
knowledge, they will be, as it shows them, the same in their manifestation
before and after their creation.
Accordingly, Avicenna does not accept that concerning God there are two
kinds of knowledge: God s knowledge of things before their creation and
His knowledge of things after their creation. Knowledge after or at the time
of the creation of things is either acquired knowledge or intuitive knowledge
or knowledge by presence. Except for the knowledge of the immaterial of its
essence, Avicenna denies the knowledge by presence or intuitive knowledge.
If the acquired knowledge derives also from things and is obtained after their
creation, it will be passive knowledge. However, as was seen before,
Avicenna strongly denies that God s knowledge could be passive
knowledge, for passivity necessitates the existence of potentiality, possibility
and change in God s essence; all of these are incompatible with the essential
sufficiency and absolute perfection of God.
The View of Sheikh Eshraq
Concerning God s knowledge of things at the stage of creation, Sheikh
Eshraq has a completely different view from that of Avicenna and even
Mulla Sadra, a view considered one of the veritable masterpieces of the
Illuminationist theosophy.
As previously noted, God s knowledge of things before their creation is
an important issue that had not been discussed in Illuminationist theosophy.
According to Mulla Sadra, Sheikh Eshraq even denied the collective
knowledge of things at the level of essence. Hence, all his brilliant and
captivating commentaries revolved around God s knowledge of things at the
44
stage of creation.
Concerning this subject, he begins with self-knowledge, proving the
human soul s presentational knowledge of itself and its faculties establishing
God s presentational knowledge of His self and His acts.
He attributes his greatest discovery to a revelation that he received during
a trance, and relates all the particulars of the event in his book al-Talwihat,
under the caption A Tale and a Vision .
In this vision, Suhravardi perceives Aristotle in an astonishing shape with
an indescribable awe and grandeur. He speaks to him about the difficulties of
the problem of knowledge an issue which preoccupied Suhravardi at the
time and ascetic practices, deep meditations and so many studies of the
works of others which failed to yield a solution to his problems.
By directing Suhravardi s attention to self-knowledge and meditation on
the way the soul knows itself and its faculties, Aristotle shows how God s
presentational knowledge grasps His acts.
Aristotle says that when the human soul manipulates the body or employs
its faculties, such as the imagination or fancy, it must know them. If this
knowledge were acquired through their intellectual forms, it would be
universal knowledge and would be applicable to many instances; whereas
the soul knows its body and faculties as particular and specific issues. Such
knowledge cannot be an acquired knowledge, for acquired knowledge is
universal and can be applied to many instances.
Therefore, the soul s knowledge of its body and its faculties is knowledge
by presence, as evidenced by the power of the soul over its body and
faculties; for if the soul had the same power over external things, its
knowledge of them would be knowledge by presence.
If in its power over its body and faculties the soul has presentational
knowledge of them, God in His everlasting power over existents, and His
causal and illuminative relationship with them, will, all the more, have
presentational knowledge of things. On the other hand, any perfection that is
proved for an existent qua existent on the grounds of the general possibility
will be possible for God as well. Alternatively, that which is possible for
God on the grounds of general possibility will necessarily exist for Him
because the soul s presentational knowledge of its acts is certain, and insofar
as its existence is concerned, knowledge by presence is the soul s perfection,
God s presentational knowledge of His acts will be possible on the grounds
of the general possibility. Consequently, such knowledge will necessarily be
45
certain for God.44

In his analysis of the reality of seeing, which is one of the controversial
issues in philosophy and natural sciences, Suhravardi comes to a new and
unprecedented theory by which he proves God s presentational knowledge
of things. Concerning seeing, there were two important theories before
Suhravardi, known as the theory of impression and that of emanation of ray.
On the basis of the theory of impression, at the time of seeing, the visible
thing is imprinted in the moisture of the retina and seeing is thus made
possible. According to the theory of the emanation of ray, at the time of
seeing, a cone-shaped light is emanated from the eye. The head of this cone
is the eye where its basis takes place on the surface of the visible thing and
thus seeing becomes possible.
After criticising both theories,45 Suhravardi presents his own theory on
seeing and says: Seeing is nothing other than the encounter of the luminous
thing and the healthy eye. This encounter occurs when there is no barrier
between the observer and the observed object. Besides the absence of
barriers, there should exist a relationship between the observer and the
observed thing. Because the real observer is the human rational soul, this
relationship should be between the soul and the visible thing; when this
relationship is present and there is no barrier between the observer and the
observed object, the soul s knowledge of the thing will be knowledge by
presence.46
Because God is the cause of the creation of all existents, and they come
into existence by His illuminative relation to them, there is no veil or barrier
between Him and His creatures. In God s knowledge of His creatures,
therefore, the absence of the barrier is never an issue. In consequence, all
existents in their external existence are present to God and are known to Him
by knowledge by presence. This is why Suhravardi, unlike other
philosophers who base God s seeing on His knowledge, attributes God s
knowledge to His seeing.47
As previously noted, Suhravardi proves God s presentational knowledge
of the external things, either material or immaterial, in two ways:
1. Proving the soul s presentational knowledge of itself and its faculties, and
generalizing it to include the knowledge of the Necessary Being by, a)
44. Majmou a Musannafat Sheikh Ishragh, vol.1, pp. 41,70-73.
45. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 99.
46. Ibid, vol. 2, pp. 134, 150-153, 213.
47. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 150.
46
correcting the criteria and b) The two philosophical principles, viz:

Everything that is considered by the intellect as a perfection for an existent
qua existent, regardless of its corporeality, combination or change, is
possible for the Exalted Necessary Being on the grounds of the general
possibility, and: Everything that is possible for the Necessary Being on the
grounds of the general possibility, its existence will be necessary for Him.
2. Explaining the reality of seeing reducing it to the soul s presentational
knowledge of the observed object and proving the existence of the criterion
of seeing in God s knowledge of the external things.
The View of Mulla Sadra
In some of his works, Mulla Sadra prefers Sheikh Eshraq s view to others,
and this is why he tries to amend and complete this theory and attempts to
remove its ambiguities and dispel objections made to it. He does not himself
offer a new theory on God s knowledge of things before or after their
creation48 but he strongly criticises his theory in his Asfar, and argues that it
is defective in different aspects.49
He cites the two major problems and faults of Sheikh Eshraq s theory:
the theory does not prove God s detailed knowledge of things at the level of
the essence; and thus, fails to note God s foreknowledge and will. Secondly,
according to Sheikh Eshraq, all things material or immaterial, because of
God s illuminative relationship with them, and His eternal and existential
encompass over them, are essentially known to Him. However, the existence
of the material existents, because of the weakness of their existence and their
disunity and change and combination with potentiality and loss, is not of a
intellectual existence for knowledge is the presence of the known object to
the knower, and in corporeal existents, each a component is absent from
another component. Yet, particularly based on the substantial motion,
corporeal existents are the very process of renewal and continual creation,
and in the renewed things, the existence of each supposed constituent
necessitates the absence of the other constituent.
Therefore, for the constituents of a changing thing, conglomeration in
existence is not possible, and a thing whose existence is changing
enduringly, cannot be present to itself or to others. In addition, a thing that is
not present to itself or to others, is not known to itself or others.
So, in the transcendent theosophy, God s knowledge at the stage of
48. Al Mabda wa al-Ma ad.
49. Asfar, vol. 6, p. 256.
47
creation, which is called active knowledge in philosophy, is denied existence

in the realm of material and corporeal existents. It is only accepted in the
domain of intellectual and immaterial existents whose existence is collective
and intellectual.
However, material existents can only be identified through their
intellectual forms and by acquired knowledge. Yet, since acquired
knowledge necessitates passivity and change, and requires material and
corporeal devices in respect of material and corporeal existents, this is
inconceivable in the case of God. Accordingly, in their collective and perfect
existence in transcendent principles, and especially in respect of their
existence in the essence of the Necessary Being, God knows the material
existents by knowledge, by presence.
However, understanding the final view of the transcendent theosophy on
God s knowledge of the corporeal and material existents and their creation is
difficult. That is not because Mulla Sadra s explication is defective, but
because his explanations in this regard appear inconsistent. He excludes, on
one hand, the material and corporeal existent from the realm of knowledge
and perception, and declares that this sort of existents are neither known to
themselves nor are they known to others in essence or by knowledge by
presence. On the other hand, based on the fundamentality of existence, and
the belief in the objectivity of all kinds of perfection with the reality of
existence, he holds that knowledge and perception are present at all the
stages of existence, and believes that, like existence, knowledge and
perception have graduated levels.
Concerning the material existents and massive forms, he says: Although
we hold that the massive form is one of the stages of knowledge and
perception, by knowledge we understand only an immaterial form which is
free from combination with non-existents and darkness that necessitate
diversity and ignorance. 50
Perhaps it is for this reason that we see in Al-Shawahid al-Rububiyyah,
written at the peak of the author s intellectual acumen, that Mulla Sadra
contends that the existence of the material and the corporeal existents at the
stage of creation and active knowledge, is identical with God s knowledge;
he differentiates between the detailed knowledge before the creation of
things and the detailed knowledge after their creation, and says, His
knowledge of the material details is similar to His activity, for, as has been
demonstrated, the aspects of creation of things and knowing them are one for
50. Ibid, p. 340.
48
Him. For the Exalted God, then, the existence of things is equal to His
knowledge of them. This is related to that knowledge which is accompanied
by creation; His knowledge of things before their creation has been
explained already. 51
In conclusion we can say that although Mulla Sadra maintains that in
proving the stage of the essential and detailed knowledge before the creation
of things, Sheikh Eshraq s theory is inadequate: He accepts this theory at the
level of the active detailed knowledge accompanied with the creation of
things, and argues that we can prove this level of knowledge by presence and
detailed knowledge only with the assistance of the principles and rules of
transcendent theosophy.
51. Al-Shawahid al-Rububiyyah, ed. Seyyed Jalal Ashtiyani, Mashhad University

Press, p.41.
The Definition of Knowledge from the Point of View

of Muslim Theologians and Philosophers
Muhammad Taghi Fa ali
Abstract
Research on the nature of knowledge in Islamic philosophy has been
followed irregularly in different disciplines of Islamic studies. Avicenna was
the leading philosopher in this respect. Besides giving a definition of
knowledge, the writer of this article will refer to each of the situations in
which the nature of knowledge has been discussed, and will show that the
role and contribution of the presentational knowledge has been immense. In
this article, the definition of knowledge from the perspective of three
different schools of philosophy and some of the Muslim theologians has
been discussed.
Before discussing the nature of knowledge, we should refer to a few
useful points:
1. The issues related to knowledge in Islamic sciences - philosophy,
theology, logic and even the science of the Principles of Islamic
Jurisprudence - have been discussed intermittently. There are several
chapters and instances in Islamic sources, which have discussed the issue
from their own particular point of view. None of these is independent of the
others because each has discussed one aspect of knowledge, so naturally
they collectively constitute the varied positions of the geometry of
knowledge , and in the end they provide a comprehensive view of
knowledge in Islamic sciences. These issues are as follows:
I. The issue of categories is a section of philosophy, and quality is one
of these categories. Muslim philosophers have considered knowledge as one
of the mental qualities, speaking on the nature of knowledge.
II. Psychology is one of the most important sections of Islamic
philosophy discussing the question of knowledge; in this respect, the
renowned philosopher Avicenna has contributed most extensively. He
contended that universal souls are divided into the heavenly and the earthly.
50
Earthly souls include the vegetative, the animal, and the rational. Each of
these souls has certain faculties, and because one of the faculties of the
animal and the rational souls is the knowing faculty, knowledge has been
one of the subjects treated in classical psychology. Issues such as degrees of
knowledge, types of knowledge, and the relationship among the perceptive
faculties, on the one hand, and on the other, different faculties and the soul,
and also the soul s knowledge of itself, have been discussed.
III. The question of Intelligence, the intelligent and the intelligible is
one of the issues of philosophy. Discussed by philosophers ever since Imam
Fakhr-e-Razi it consequently brought to light certain issues such as the types
of intellection, the emanatory source of intellectual forms, and the unity of
the intelligent and the intelligible.
IV. Mental existence is one of the philosophical subjects, suggested [by
philosophers] after Avicenna. By considering this question, philosophers
sought to show the value of knowledge and the imitation of the mind from
the objective state of things.
V. The secondary intelligibles is another philosophical issue, which is
related to the question of knowledge.
VI. The criteria of truth of propositions is another issue discussed in
intellectual sciences and is related to the question of knowledge.
VII. Quiddity and its precepts is an issue that has found its way into
philosophy. The points discussed here, such as the regard of quiddity and the
problem of the universal and the particular, are a form of science that
investigates the mind shedding some light on its many faceted components.
VIII. In logic we deal with questions such as concept and affirmation, the
self-evident and the theoretical, the question of intellection, the issue of
reasoning and the types of self-evident knowledge, which, in fact, present an
explanation of, and elaboration on the question of knowledge. Essentially the
science of logic is the analysis of the human mind.
IX. Theology in the general sense, or the issues related to God, is a part
of Islamic philosophy. In this section, after proving the existence of God and
analysing and studying all the divine names and attributes, the individual
attributes of the real are discussed. One of the attributes of the Necessary
Being is His knowledge. During analysis of the nature of the divine
knowledge, man s knowledge will be referred to on certain occasions, and a
comparison will be made between the two.
X. In the science of the Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence, we deal with
issues such as the universal and the particular, the absolute and restricted, the
conceived and the articulated, and other similar issues. In general, some of
The Definition of Knowledge from the Point of View of
51
the issues related to words are a meticulous and subtle analysis of the world
of the mind, and give man an idea of the recesses and complexities of the
mind.
Concerning these 10 points, Muslim scholars have discussed and
developed varied opinions about the different dimensions of knowledge.
2. Looking carefully at these issues and questions, we will discover that
Muslim philosophers have treated the question of perception and knowledge
from two perspectives. One of these is the autonomous perspective and the
other is a mirror-like and representational dimension. In their discussion of
knowledge sometimes, they speak of the immateriality of perception,
degrees of perception, the accidental nature of knowledge, and perceptive
faculties. Central to this perspective is the existence of knowledge ,
consequently, one faction regarding the issues of knowledge, will be that of
the ontology of knowledge . However, issues such as the classification of
knowledge into the acquired and the presentational, and then into concept
and affirmation, and also into the self-evident and the theoretical, intellectual
considerations, secondary intelligibles, etc. constitutes a conceptual rather
than an ontological view of knowledge. These issues are of the kind of
concept logy of knowledge . Accepting the independent view of knowledge
and taking its existence and being into consideration, we will encounter
problems in the first group. However if we admit an organic view of
knowledge and consider its conceptual and representational aspect, then we
will come across different problems and questions in the second group.
Issues included in the second group view knowledge organically and
conceptually that are related to the following: a. the way knowledge is
established, b. the limits of knowledge, c. types of knowledge, and d. the
value of knowledge. Each of these in turn has its subdivisions.
3. The general structure of knowledge is such that initially it is divided
into two sections: presentational knowledge and acquired knowledge. These
two types of knowledge have their own divisions respectively.
Definition and Reality of Knowledge

In the world of Islam and among the Muslim scholars, four groups
deliberated the question of knowledge seriously: the theologians, the
Peripatetic philosophers, the Illuminationist philosophers, and the
transcendental theosophists. Therefore, it is appropriate here to discuss and
study the reality of knowledge from these four points of view.
52
The First Group: The Theological Point of View

Theological books usually started with a discussion on knowledge, raising
many questions, one of these being the definition of knowledge.
Ghazzali (450 505 AH) in his definition of knowledge writes, the
acquisition of a form of an object by the intellect .1 This definition was also
emphasised by other theologians such as Abhari2 and because this definition
is a widespread view held among contemporary Muslim scholars, it needs
further explanation.
I. This definition does not include presentational knowledge. The
important question needing to be answered is, what is the fundamental
distinction between presentational knowledge and acquired knowledge, and
what is the difference between the two? There are certain views in this
regard:
1. Distinction by Medium
Medium is the fundamental distinction between presentational and acquired
knowledge. If the knower is presented with the known object with no need
of medium, that knowledge will be presentational knowledge; if the knower,
however, can gain knowledge of the thing only through the medium of form,
that knowledge would be acquired knowledge. An object known through a
medium is an acquired known object, and that which is known without a
medium is a presentational known object.3
2. Distinction by Form
Form is the fundamental distinction between presentational knowledge and
acquired knowledge.4 If the knower comes to knowledge of an object
1. Ghazzali, Mohammad, al- Ghistas, Cairo: Dar al- Ma arif, 1961, p. 4: Shirazi,
Sadr al-Din, Ghotb-e-Razi, Risalatan fi al-Tassawor wa al-Tasdiigh, Qom:
Mo assese Isma ilian, 1416, p. 30.
2. Abhari, Asir al-Din, Tanziil al- Afkar, p. 139; Risalatan fi al- Tassawor wa alTasdiigh, p. 28.
3. Sabzevari, Haj Mulla Hadi, Sharh al-Manzoume, Hikmat , Tehran: Entesharat
Ilmiye Islamiye, 1367, p. 137.
4. This criterion can be found in the following sources: Sharh-e- al- Manzoume,
Hikmat , p.76; Suhravardi, Sheikh Shahab al-Din, Sharh-e- Hikmat al-Ishragh.
Qom: Bidar Publications, p.38; Shirazi, Sadr al- Din Mohammad, al- Asfar alArba a, Qom: Maktabat al- Mostafavi, 1383, p. 263; Shirazi, Sadr al- Din
Mohammad, Mafatih al- Ghayb, p.108; Allame Tabataba i, Seyyed Mohammad
Hossein, Nahayat al- Hikma, Qom: Mo assese al- Nashr al- Islami, p. 236; Mesbah,
53
through the form, then the knowledge will be acquired knowledge. If there is
no form and the object becomes present for the knower without a form, such
knowledge will be presentational. In other words, acquired knowledge is
possible through form, but presentational knowledge is the knowledge of the
thing itself. In presentational knowledge, the object is present, but in
acquired knowledge, it is gained.
The second view may complete and interpret the first view, for form and
medium are one and the same. Thus, in acquired knowledge, form mediates
between the knower and the known object accidentally, but in presentational
knowledge the knower without need of any medium finds his way to the
known object and uncovers it. Whenever there is a medium between the
knower and the known object, this medium is nothing other than form, and if
knowledge is gained through form, then there occurs a medium between the
knower and the known object.
3. Distinction by Special Faculty
There is another distinction between presentational knowledge and acquired
knowledge; namely acquired knowledge needs a special faculty, but
presentational knowledge does not.5
On this basis, generally the difference between presentational and
acquired knowledge has two causes: because of knowledge or the known
object, or because of the knower. The first and the second distinctions (the
medium and form) are related to the first cause, that is, knowledge or the
known object. But these two kinds of knowledge also differ because of the
knower. In presentational knowledge the essence of the knower is present
and directly meets the known object, but in acquired knowledge the knower
himself is not present, and only through a special faculty or device such as
the sensory or imaginative faculties finds the known object. Thus, we see
that acquired knowledge is related to one of the devices of the soul, but in
presentational knowledge, there is no faculty, or device, but rather the whole
essence of the knower is in direct contact with the known object.
Mohammad Taghi, Amouzesh-e-Falsafe; Tehran: Sazman Tablighat-e- Islami, 1364,
vol. 1, p. 153; Javadi Amoli, Abdoulah, Shenakht Shenasi dar Quoran, Tehran:
Markaz Nashr-e- Farhangi Raja, p. 67; Sobhani, Ja far, Nazariya al-Ma,refa, Qom:
Manshourat al-Markaz al- Alami le al-Dirasat al-Islamiya, 1411, p. 48.
5. Tabataba i, Allame Seyyed Mohammad Hossein, Usul-e-Falsafe va Ravesh-e
Realism, Mortaza Motahhari s Footnote, Qom: Mo assese Matbou at dar al-Islam,
vol. 3, pp. 28-29.
54
The definition of Ghazzali cited above the acquisition of the form of

an object by the intellect - faces a problem in that it does not include
presentational knowledge, for in this kind of knowledge there is no form.
Seeking to explain the reality of knowledge, we should provide a definition
that includes all types of knowledge. Of course - according to one analysis [the existence of] presentational knowledge might be denied, but we should
not let the definition be affected by one singular approach. The reasonable
approach is that we should, first, explain what we intend exactly by the terms
and key expressions, and, second, by giving strong evidence, make our
position demonstrable. A definition affected by certain attitudes, which is
heavily loaded with theories, cannot be a true definition and its truth is
already questionable.
II. Not only does Ghazzali s definition not include presentational
knowledge, it also does not cover the secondary intelligibles. To explain this
further we should acknowledge, that from one perspective concepts are
divided into the particular and the universal. The universal concepts or the
intelligible are of two kinds: the primary intelligible and the secondary
intelligible,6 the first group includes those concepts that the mind, in its
communication with the external, extracts from the extensions. After
experiencing one or more sensory perceptions of an object, the mind will
automatically have a universal concept suited to its extensions, such as the
concept of man, whiteness or fear. Such concepts, which are either
substantive or accidental and are extracted from the senses or presentational
knowledge, are indeed the reflection of the external in the mind. The primary
intelligibles are the quiddities, and their extensions are realised in the
external.
The view expressed by the philosophers in their discussion on mental
existence is related to these circumstances,7 for this theory explains that
quiddities exist in two positions and have two kinds of existence: sometimes
in the external and so have an external existence, and other times in the mind
and have a mental existence. Accordingly, the quiddities act as the
6. For more details refer to: al-Asfar al-Arba a, vol. 3, p. 443; Motahhari, Mortaza,
Majmou e Asar, Tehran: Sadra Publications, vol. l0, PP. 307- 363 and vol .9, pp.
381- 410; Shenakht Shenasi dar Quoran, pp. 92-104; Amouzesh -e falsafe, vol. l, pp.
176-180; Sharh-e al- Manzoume, Hikmat , pp. 35-36.
7. See al-Asfar al-Arba a vol. l, pp. 263- 327; Sharh-e al-Manzoume, Hikmat ; pp.
22-32; Razi, Fakhr, al-Mabahith al- Mashrighiya, Beirut: Dar al-Kotob al- Arabi,
1410, vol. l, pp. 130-132.
55
connecting bridge between the mind and objects in the external objective,
standing between these two. Because the effects are related to existence, and
the existence of the quiddities in the mind is different from their existence in
the external, the effects of the quiddities existing in the mind would be
different from the effects of the quiddities existing in the external. In fact,
with this theory the philosophers sought to prove the validity of perceptions.
The validity of man s knowledge can only be justified through the essential
unity of the subject and the object.
The conclusion drawn here is that one group of the intelligibles are the
quiddities which are the truth, the form, the mirror and the reflection of the
external existents. The extensions of this group of the intelligible are realised
in the external, and the occurrence of these concepts on the extensions in
also achieved in the external. Evidently, this group of man s knowledge and
perceptions, we can say, is the form of the external objects that have been
realised in the mind. In other words, concerning this group of perceptions,
the aforementioned definition of Ghazzali is correct.
In the second group of the secondary intelligibles their occurrence, in
general, ( arud) is mental. However, concerning their characterization
(ittisaf), they are of two kinds: mental, and external. Accordingly, we have
two kinds of secondary intelligibles: secondary logical intelligibles and
secondary philosophical intelligibles. The characterization of logical
concepts such as universality, particularity, validity, species, genus,
proposition and, in general, the characterization of all the key terms of logic
is mental, in the sense that their reference or extension is in the mind. The
universal, the genus, and the extensions of the species are all subjective or
mental issues. The concept of man that exists in the mind is the universal
[man] and not the external human being. The concept of animal that is in the
mind is characterized by genus.
The occurrence of these kind of concepts take place in the mind, as well;
that is, abstracting these kind of concepts from the extensions needs mental
exploration and intellectual operations. If the mind approaches the concept
of man from a particular angle and with a special attitude, it would be able to
abstract the concept of universality from it - man considered as applicable to
many extensions would be a universal man. Therefore, this group of
concepts is reflective, but their abstraction or extraction requires some
mental process and intellectual endeavour.8
The characterization of the secondary philosophical intelligibles is
8. In this field, refer to Motahhari, Mortaza, Majmou e Asar, vol.10, pp. 263-308.
56
external; for example, an external being is characterized as a cause or an

effect, or a substance or an accident, or is either potential or actual. At the
same time, the qualities of cause and effect, the qualities of substance and
accident do not exist in the external. In the external we have a cause (the
extension of a cause), but no causality; that is, other than the essence of the
cause and alongside it, we do not have any additional thing named causality.
Therefore, the occurrence of this group of concepts is mental; that is,
extracting the philosophical concepts needs the exploration of the mind and
the endeavour of the intellect. The conclusion to draw from this is that the
secondary intelligibles, logical or philosophical, contrary to the primary
intelligibles, are not extracted directly from the external and do not reflect
the external world. Secondly, the secondary intelligibles are preceded by
other concepts through which they can communicate with the external, but
the essential concepts (those belonging to quiddities are directly reflected
from the external in the mind. In other words, the primary intelligibles are
preceded by one of the senses, whereas the senses do not directly accompany
the secondary intelligibles. To establish the essential concept in the mind,
initially its sensory form and then its imaginative form and finally its
intellectual form should be considered. However, the secondary intelligibles
do not need to progress through these stages. Lastly, the secondary
intelligibles are not specific or restricted to any group but the primary
intelligibles, are specific to special groups: one group to substance, another
to quality, another to quantity, and so on.
The ten categories are quiddities, and because these categories are of the
highest genera, they do not overlap each other, that is, no quiddity enters into
more than one category otherwise it would not be a quiddity. The secondary
intelligibles do not fit into the categories thus they are above the categories
and overrule the highest genera.
In short, if we define knowledge as the acquisition of the form of an
object by the intellect, this account would include only the essential
concepts (those belonging to quiddities), and would correspond with the
theory of the mental existence, for form is the same as quiddity. As
witnessed, the domain of knowledge is much wider than that. The secondary
intelligibles constitute a large section of human perception, and it is this very
group of concepts that provide mankind with philosophy, logic, and all other
sciences whose concepts are of the kind of the secondary intelligibles - such
as mathematics, law, and ethics.
57
In al- Mawaqif (Positions)9 one of the most authoritative books on

Islamic theology, the author Qadi Edhd al-Deen Eedji gives an elaborate
account of the reality of knowledge, initially introducing three points of
view:
1. Fakhr - e -Razi (543 606 AH) holds that knowledge has no need for
definition, and believes that its concept is self-evident. Then he provides two
arguments to support this claim.
2. The concept of knowledge is neither self-evident nor necessary, and it
can have a definition. In other words, the concept of knowledge is theoretical
and is acquired, though its definition is hard and difficult. Imam al-Haramein
abu al-Maali Juweini (419 478 AH) holds this view believing that in a
definition we should have both genus and differentia; in respect of obvious
issues such as sensory things this would be done with difficulty, but finding
a genus and a differentia for invisible issues would be much more difficult
and time consuming. 10
3. The concept of knowledge is theoretical and needs a definition,
providing a definition of knowledge would not be difficult.
Eedji continues giving six definitions of knowledge:
1. From the point of view of the Mutazilites, knowledge is the
understanding of the object, as it exists in the context of reality. In other
words, if we understand things as they are, we have gained some knowledge.
This is a realistic definition, in the sense that belief and the mind would be
compatible with and adaptable to reality, so that it can be termed knowledge.
Besides, according to the view of Abu al-Hashim Jobbaee (d. 321 AH), the
soul should arrive at peace and rest by that belief.11
2. Qadi Abu Bakr Baqillani (d. 403 AH) says, Knowledge is
understanding the known object as it is . This definition is similar to that of
the Mutazilites. Therefore, according to Baqillani s view, knowledge is
man s understanding of things as they are. If man understands an object not
as it is, then this understanding, in fact, would not be knowledge . In this
definition Baqillani uses the two terms knowledge and known object ,
making the definition circular since if the explanandum (the defined object)
is expressed in the definition, the definition will be circular, and such a
definition cannot explain the reality of the explanandum (the defined object).
9. Ijee, Azod al- Din, Sharh al- Mawaghif, Qom: Sharif Razi Publications, 1370,
vol.1, pp. 62- 86.
10. See Ghazzali, Mohammad, al- Mostasfa, vol. l, p. 25.
11. Baghdadi, Abd al-Ghahir, Usul al-Din, p. 5.
58
It is assumed that prior to the definition we have no knowledge of the

explanandum, and through the definition we just want to clarify it.
Now if the explanandum is unknown and the definition is clarifying, the
explanandum should not be stated in the definition, otherwise, the definition
would also be unknown and therefore would not be clarifying.
3. Abu al-Hasan al-Ashaari (260
324 AH) in his definition of
knowledge writes, Knowledge is understanding the known thing as it is or
knowledge is that which necessarily makes its holder a knower. The first
definition is similar to the previous two definitions. The second definition
understands knowledge as a thing that makes its owner a knower. This
definition does not discuss the reality of knowledge, as it is also tainted with
the problem of circularity.
4. In his second view, Imam Fakhr-e-Razi has defined knowledge in the
following terms: Knowledge is a dogmatic conviction which corresponds
with its cause. What is understood by this definition is that there are two
conditions for knowledge: first, it should be dogmatic, and second it should
correspond with reality. In consequence, matters of speculation are not
knowledge; likewise, if mental forms do not correspond with reality, they
would not deserve to be called knowledge.
A Study and an Analysis

The last four definitions have the belief in common that knowledge should
reflect the reality of things. If the mental form does not show the known
thing as it is, the result would not be knowledge. In this respect, two points
should be mentioned:
First, this definition of knowledge is realistic. For when we say that
knowledge should correspond with reality, then that which does not do so
would not only be false knowledge, but it would not be knowledge at all, and
it would be nothing other than ignorance. It is on the basis of this assumption
that we can say the theologians are definitely realistic, and that, for them, the
validity of knowledge is self-evident, contrary to many of the Western
philosophers who fell into scepticism.12 It is clear that man has the
potentiality for uncovering reality and that the external reality is accessible
to man.
Secondly, knowledge that corresponds with reality, knowledge that
belongs to things as they are, is an affirmation and not a concept. Therefore,
12. Fa ali, Mohammad Taghi, Daramadi bar Ma refat Shenasi Dini va Mo aser,
Qom: Nahad-e Namayandegi, 1377, pp. 113-138.
59
concepts have no place in these definitions furthermore concepts and

affirmations are defined as such in Islamic sciences. In definition Avicenna
says, A concept is that which is present with no need of judgment, but an
affirmation is that which is present along with a judgment. 13 In this account,
concept and affirmation are defined in their being free from or accompanied
by judgment, respectively. Therefore, the main difference between the two is
the existence or non-existence of judgment.
The writer of al-Mawaqif (Positions) gives a definition similar to that of
Avicenna writing: If knowledge is free from judgment, then it is a concept;
otherwise it is an affirmation. 14 In this explanation, the criterion of the
distinction between a concept and an affirmation is also considered to be
judgment. Sabzevari also holds that the fundamental distinction between a
concept and an affirmation is judgment.15
In this relation, there are different discussions, but it suffices to underline
one point closely connected to our discussion, namely: Knowledge, whether
conceptual or affirmative, reflects the external.16 Representation has always
been the essential and inseparable quality of knowledge; therefore, if
knowledge does not represent the external reality, it would not be
knowledge, but only ignorance. Because concepts reflect what is outside
them, they always lead the knower to what is exterior to him; so it is with the
affirmations. In other words, concepts as well as affirmations, and in
general, knowledge, does not occupy the knowers with themselves, but
directs their attention to what is outside them.
Therefore, knowledge always looks for something to uncover or
represent, and that knowledge which does not do so, indeed, is not
knowledge at all. Of course, there is an important point to consider here,
that is, representation is different from truthfulness . Here, representation
means reflecting the external, but truthfulness means correspondence with
reality. Some thing may show the external and reveal what is beyond itself,
but it may not correspond with the external reality. Representative
knowledge needs a thing to reflect, but the represented thing may not
correspond with the extension. Consequently, knowledge that is
representative may not be true. Therefore, knowledge that always reflects
13. Avicenna, Abdollah, al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat, Tehran: Daftar-e Nashr-e Ketab,
1403, vol. l, p. 12.
14. Sharh al-Mawaghif, vol. L, p 86.
15. Sharh-e al- Manzoume, Mantegh ; p. 7.
16. Usul-e Falsafe va Ravesh-e Realism, vol. l, p. 130.
60
the external could be either true or false. Representation is the prelude to

truthfulness, and truthfulness is that last scale of a ladder, which can be
reached only after stepping up the scales of showing the external and
representation. Of course, the problem of falsehood has a special
justification.17
Now returning to the second point, it was said that the last four
definitions correspond with affirmations and not concepts, and, considering
this, the reason is clear. When we say knowledge is that which shows the
known thing as it is and corresponds with the known object, such a
definition of knowledge includes only affirmative knowledge. For knowing
an object as it is should be accompanied with judgment, and knowledge
accompanied with judgment is just an affirmation; therefore, concepts
cannot be placed in this group of definitions.
We said that Eedji gives six definitions of knowledge. The two
definitions that remain are the following:
1. In his definition of knowledge, Ibn Forak al-Ashaari (d. 406 AH)
states: Knowledge is that by which the knower can do a job skilfully. In
this account, knowledge is defined by its effect, for he says that knowledge
is that which gives rise to actions, which are accompanied with skilfulness.
Therefore, a knower is that person whose deeds are accompanied with
skilfulness.
2. Eedji continues citing a definition by some philosophers, Knowledge
is the acquisition of the form of the object in the intellect. It is obvious that
this definition is very similar to that of Ghazzali.
After explaining these views and theories, Eedji offers his obscure and
complicated definition of knowledge: It is a quality which causes its owner
to distinguish between meanings in a way that bears no controversy. From
this definition, we understand that knowledge has two characteristics, first,
knowledge is that which enables us to distinguish between things, and,
second, once knowledge is realised, it will be decisive and will not tolerate
any controversy. Therefore, whenever we know an object, we, first, make a
distinction between that object and other objects, and, second, we know it
decisively and definitely, otherwise we will not have knowledge of it and we
do not deserve to be called a knower.
The Second Group: The Peripatetic View

Among the Peripatetic philosophers, I explain only the view of Avicenna.
17. Ibid, Artic 4.
61
Avicenna defines knowledge in different ways:

It is similar to any perception, that is, it is grasping the form of the
perceived object. 18
It is similar to any perception, namely it is grasping the form of the
perceived object in one way or another. 19
Perception is the acquisition of the form of the perceived object in the
essence of the perceiver. 20
Knowledge is that which is acquired from the forms of existents. 21
The most precise definition of Avicenna is that which is given in alIsharat wal al-Tanbihat (Remarks and Admonitions): The perception of an
object means that its reality should be embodied for the perceiver, and he,
that perceives, should see it. 22
In the first few definitions, Avicenna holds that knowledge is the
acquisition of forms in the mind, and in his last definition he shows that by
form , he understands the embodied reality . In his commentary on the
second definition, Khawjah Nassir al-Din e-Tussi says that a perceived
object is either in the essence of the perceiver or not,23 if the object of
perception is not outside the perceiver, then it must be united or one with
him. In this case, the embodied reality is the objective reality of the
perceived thing, which is present for the perceiver. This knowledge is indeed
presentational knowledge, and the existence of the perceived object is
present for the perceiver with no need of a medium.
Nevertheless, if the known object is different from the perceiver and is
outside his essence, then the perceiver will not encounter the form of the
perceived object nor its very existence; his knowledge of it will be acquired
through this very form. In this case, there will be an impressionistic
perception and an acquired knowledge. In this last type, the embodied reality
will be the form of the known object. In short, perception is the acquisition
of the embodied reality of the known object for the knower; this embodied
18. Avicenna, Abdollah, al- Nijat men al- Ghargh fi Bahr al- Dilalat, Tehran:
Tehran University Press, 1362, p. 344.
19. Avicenna, Abdollah, al- Shifa, Kitab al-Nafs, Qom: Ayatolah Mar ashi Najafi
Library Publications, 1404, p. 50.
20. Avicenna, Abdollah, al- Ta lighat, Qom: Maktaba al- Alam al- Islami
Publications, 1404, pp. 69, 82.
21. Al- Shifa, al- Ilahiyat, p. 361.
22. Al- Isharat wa al- Tanbihat, vol. 2, p. 308.
23. Ibid, pp. 312 313.
62
reality can be either the known object itself or its form.

From this explanation, we understand that there are two kinds of
knowledge: presentational and acquired. In the former, the existence of the
known object itself is present for the knower with no need of a medium,
while in the latter it would be present through a medium. Because the
discussion is about acquired knowledge, and according to Khawjah s
explanation, the reality embodied in acquired knowledge is the idea or the
form of the thing , and for him the form is the very quiddity of the thing ,
acquired knowledge then would be the essential knowledge (knowledge
belonging to quiddities). In Avicenna s account, quiddity is the very
consistence of knowledge. Therefore, the definition of knowledge by the
author of Isharat is the same definition given by other philosophers, and
ultimately leads us to the theory of mental existence; if there is any
difference, it will only be by matter of expression. It is on this basis that we
can say Avicenna before Khawjah had suggested the theory of mental
existence, but the title mental existence does belong to Khawjah Nassir, or
to Fakhr-e Razi before him.24 In his commentary on Avicenna s words He
that perceives sees it
Khawjah says that this is a general expression.
Instead of using the term perceiver , Avicenna has used the expression he
that perceives.
The reason for this is that perception from the viewpoint of Avicenna
includes perception by the means of a device, and perception without the
means of a device. For Avicenna perception without a device can be
illustrated in two ways: knowing one s self25 and intellection.26 Besides these
two perceptions such as sensory perception and imaginative perception,
perception is acquired by means of devices and faculties. Of course,
ascribing this to Avicenna is still a matter of some doubt.27
Concerning Avicenna s definition of knowledge, we can say that this
definition is more compatible with the fundamentality of quiddity rather than
the fundamentality of existence. It should be noted that one of the most
important Islamic philosophical questions that has been suggested since the
time of Mulla Sadra, considered as his first philosophical question, is that
24. Tussi, Mohammad Ibn al-Hassan (the author), Allameh -e Helli (the
commentator), Kashf al- Morad fi Sharh-e Tajrid al- Itighad, Qom: Mostafavi
publications., p. 10.
25. Al- Mabahith al- Mashrighya, vol. l, p.130.
26. Al- Isharat wa al- Tanbihat, vol. 2, p. 294.
27. Al- Asfar al- Arba a, vol. l, p 38.
63
whether existence or quiddity is fundamental.28

If we put forth a proposition and say, Man exists, we will clearly see
that in this proposition the subject and the predicate are different, that is,
man is different from existence and existence is different from man. The
difference between these two is mental, and in the external world there is
only one thing, and that is man who exists or human existence.
Now the question is, if we have two concepts in the mind, one is man,
who is a quiddity, and the other is existence, and knowing that in the
external context we have only one thing, which one of these mental things
represent that one external reality; and this external reality is the original and
true extension of which of those two mental concepts?
Of course, this one external reality cannot be the essential and original
extension of both of them, for knowing that man and existence are two
separate things, one external reality cannot be an extension to both of them
otherwise one thing should combine in itself two things.
So, the requirement of this supposition is that one thing can be two
things, which would be impossible. Therefore, only two reasonable and
justified suppositions are left, one is that the external reality is the essential
extension to quiddity-in this case quiddity would be fundamental and
original-and the other is that the external reality is the essential extension to
existence-in this case existence would be fundamental and original. On this
basis, Mulla Sadra classifies the philosophers, holding that Sheikh Eshraq
(Suhravardi) had accepted the fundamentality of quiddity, whereas the
Peripatetic philosophers believed in the fundamentality of existence.
Accordingly, Avicenna would be a believer in the fundamentality of
existence, but we saw already that his definition of knowledge was more
compatible with the fundamentality of quiddity. The reason for this is that
prior to Mulla Sadra there was no such question as the fundamentality of
existence or quiddity in the Islamic philosophy. Studying the discourse and
the principles of the philosophers, Mulla Sadra understood from them one of
the two principles of the fundamentality of existence or quiddity, and
attributed to them certain views. The result is that because central to
Avicenna s definition of knowledge is form or idea , both quiddities, his
definitions of knowledge are more compatible with the fundamentality of
quiddities.
28. Hikmat al- Ishragh, pp. 39-40.
64
The Third Group: The Illuminationist View

According to Suhravardi, if man learns even one scientific point, he will
definitely increase in knowledge. If man opens his eyes and sees something,
or hears a sound through his ears, or touches something by his hands, or
imagines a certain concept, in all these cases he will certainly lose nothing.
Man s state of mind, before and after knowledge, would be different. So, at
the time of gaining knowledge, something is added to man s mind. If the
thing, which at the time of acquiring knowledge is realised by the mind, is
knowledge, it should correspond with reality, otherwise it would not be
knowledge, but only ignorance.29 In other words, if we think of false
cognition and understanding as knowledge, then we would not have
differentiated between knowledge and ignorance.
If there is a difference between knowledge and ignorance, which certainly
there is, and if we accept that knowledge is different from ignorance, then
we should accept that, knowledge is that which corresponds with reality. In
the end, Sheikh Eshraq refers to the views of philosophers concerning
knowledge: The reality of knowledge is that the idea of things should be
realised in the mind. We clearly understand from this statement that if
perception corresponds with reality, it is true and it is knowledge. Thus, if
perception does not correspond with reality, we would not have knowledge
at all. Therefore, the condition required by both knowledge and truth is
correspondence with reality. That perception or cognition will be knowledge
that is true, and the one condition of knowledge is its truthfulness.
Suhravardi here has added [the requirement of] correspondence to the
definition of knowledge. Correspondence, however, is true only of
propositions and affirmation. Therefore, concepts will not be included in this
definition. Moreover, this definition holds a place for only acquired
knowledge and ignores presentational knowledge.
The Fourth Group: The View of the Transcendental Theosophy

Regarding the definition of knowledge, Sadr al-Mutallehin assumed that
knowledge has no need for definition,30 for him knowledge is self-evident.
Proposing some arguments on this claim, his first contention is that, in
general, definition contains at least two parts whereas knowledge is simple,
having no parts. His second argument is that a definition should be clearer
and more obvious than explanadum (the defined thing), but there is nothing
29. Al- Asfar al- Arba a, vol. 3, p. 278.
30. Ibid, p. 292.
65
clearer to man than knowledge. If man suggests a definition for knowledge,

he should know it, and we recognize that we cannot know knowing, by
knowing. Before knowing what knowing is, we knew knowing.
Therefore, knowledge is self-evident and has no definition, as the
existence and realisation of knowledge are also self-evident because all
humankind understand intuitively that they know certain things; therefore,
knowledge does exist. The result is that concerning knowledge we can say
both its definition and realisation are self-evident.
Mulla Sadra continues by citing the definitions given by earlier
philosophers and by studying and criticising them. He argues that even if we
seek to give a semi-definition of knowledge, it is better to say, The best
approach [for defining knowledge] would be that knowledge is existence
free from positive matter. 31 For Mulla Sadra knowledge is immaterial
[abstract] rather than material. One of the central reasons supporting this
claim32 is that one of the characteristics and qualities of matter is its
divisibility, that is, every material thing could be divided. Of course, in
certain cases we may not have the scientific instruments for doing this.
However, the point is that matter as matter can be divided, though we
cannot do it right at the present time. Knowledge, however, is not like that. If
we know something, we cannot halve or divide this knowledge while it is
true that sometimes the known object, that is, the object of our knowledge is
such that it can be divided, the knowledge itself cannot be divided, and
because knowledge does not have the inseparable characteristic of matter,
that is, divisibility, it cannot be material and it is immaterial. No doubt, the
preliminaries of acquiring knowledge could be material, but these material
preliminaries only furnish the background for the acquisition of knowledge,
but knowledge itself remains immaterial.
On the other hand, for Mulla Sadra knowledge is of the origin of the
existence. This comes in contrast to some earlier definitions that hold that
knowledge is of the category of form and quiddity. Therefore, Mulla Sadra
in this instance remains faithful to the principle of the fundamentality of
existence, demonstrating quite adeptly its effect on the question of
knowledge.
It seems that in this definition Mulla Sadra is mainly concerned with the
existence of knowledge and is seeking to prove the immateriality of
knowledge, whereas the distinctive and important feature of knowledge is
31. Ibid, pp. 289- 297; Nahayat al- Hikma, pp. 237-234.
32. Al-Asfar al-Arba a, vol. 3, p. 244.
66
unveiling , for whenever man acquires knowledge, something is revealed to

him, and through gaining knowledge he unveils certain truth. Mulla Sadra
points to this essential characteristic of knowledge, namely unveiling, in the
subsequent issue arguing that all degrees of knowledge, whether sensory,
imaginary, illusory, or intellectual, are accompanied by presence, though he
gives them an immaterial existence. The result is, for Mulla Sadra,
knowledge is the presence of an immaterial being , and because an
immaterial being can be realised by only an immaterial existent rather than a
material one, the knower should also be immaterial. Accordingly, the human
soul, which is the knower, will be immaterial, and this is one of the
arguments for proving the immateriality of the soul. Finally, we can define
knowledge as the presence of the immaterial for the immaterial.
One of the important effects of this definition is that the known should be
immaterial; therefore, a material thing can never be the object of man s
knowledge except through a medium. In other words, man can never have
presentational knowledge of the material world. The only knowledge that we
can have of the material world is acquired knowledge. We know that
acquired knowledge is that knowledge in which form acts as a medium. If
we look carefully into acquired knowledge, we will find there are two kinds
of knowledge and two kinds of known objects: knowledge of form which is
the medium, and knowledge of the external world through the medium of
form, as sometimes the external world is known but through a medium this
is why it is called the known by accident and sometimes the form itself is
the object of our knowledge, and that is knowledge without a medium, the
known by essence .
Summing Up
So far, different definitions have been given of knowledge, which can be
classified. Some define knowledge as the acquisition of the form of an
object by intellect or mind. Ghazzali, Abhari, Avicenna, Sheikh Eshraq and
some other philosophers have accepted this view. Some theologians, such as
Baqillani, Ashaari, and Fakhr-e-Razi - in one perspective - have defined
knowledge as Perceiving the thing as it is. Ibn Forak and Eedji have also
suggested two other views, which were explained and analysed. Finally we
have Mulla Sadra s definition from the eleventh century AH and his
understanding of knowledge being the presence of the immaterial for the
immaterial.
We have two options to deal with this problem. We could suppose that
knowledge has no need for a definition arguing for this view based on the
67
two quoted arguments presented by Mulla Sadra; A is self-evident, and

accepting that this judgment that A is self-evident is a theoretical one.
Obviously that which is theoretical is capable of being demonstrated, and we
can present some evidence to substantiate this. So, the first option is that we
leave the issue of knowledge on the grounds of its self-evidence, saying that
it does not need a definition.
The second option is that we decide to provide a semi-definition ; in this
case, among the five definitions given, Mulla Sadra s is the best because
contrary to all other definitions, this definition includes presentational
knowledge as well as acquired knowledge. Secondly, secondary intelligibles,
philosophical or logical, like primary intelligibles, are included in this
definition and thirdly, regarding concepts and affirmations, it is a
comprehensive definition, unlike the definitions given by the Mutazilites,
which includes only affirmations.
We can add one more point here, that is, in contemporary epistemology;
the current understanding is that knowledge is a true justified belief. This
definition is true only of statements, propositions, and affirmative
knowledge, and it does not include concepts; Mulla Sadra s definition,
however, has no such deficiency, for it also includes concepts. Finally, this
definition does not fall into a vicious circle referring to the essential quality
of knowledge, namely presence . This definition is also compatible with the
principle of the fundamentality of existence.
68
The Arguments of the Sincere

Hussain Oshagi
Abstract
In theological discussions, arguments established on the grounds of concrete
realities for God s existence are called the arguments of the Sincere. Besides
discussing the arguments of the Sincere given so far by Avicenna and Mulla
Sadra, the writer of this article will present a new analysis of those
arguments.
In Islamic philosophy, the term the Argument of the Sincere refers to
the argument that proves God s existence on the basis of those realities that
are His very existence, instead of referring to the principle of existence. In
other words, it proves the existence of the Exalted God by means of the
absolute existence without considering the qualities of possibility,
origination, motion, or any other qualities.
The importance of these arguments stems from the fact that proving
God s existence by realities that are different from and other than God is not
without logical problems. For an existent different from the existence of God
is not out of these three possibilities: either it is the cause of the existence of
God, or it is the effect of God, or it is neither God s cause nor its effect.
The first possibility is invalid, for in that case God should be the effect
and the creature of another being, whereas nobody and nothing create God.
The third possibility is also invalid, for in that case there would be no
existential relationship between God and that employed to prove His
existence, so that on its evidence we can understand the existence of God.
The second possibility also has the problem that if the existence of the
cause is questionable, the existence of the effect will be questionable, and a
questionable existence cannot be the means of proving the definite existence
of another thing. Accordingly, the arguments established for God s existence
on the grounds of a different existence could be assuring only if the
demonstrator can first be sure of the existence of the effect by something
70
other than the cause; however, such assurance is rare.

Because of this problem, the Muslim philosophers have sought to prove
God s existence on the basis of realities that are identical to His existence.
Avicenna was one of the first philosophers, inspired by the Koranic verse
(Fussilat /53), to grasp this kind of argument and tried to establish an
argument with such qualities. Starting his argument with this presupposition
that because sophism is invalid, the existence of at least one existent is
definite and certain. This existent is either a necessary being or a contingent
being. If the former is true, the desired conclusion is already proved; if the
latter case is true, however, there should be a cause for its existence. If that
cause is a necessary being, then once again the desired conclusion is
reached, but if it is a contingent being then it should have a cause. Thus,
there would be a chain of causes and effects. Based on the impossibility of a
circle and an infinite regress he concluded that this chain should end with a
cause that has no cause.1
In this argument, Avicenna was successful in proving the existence of
God, but insofar as meeting the condition of the argument of the sincere is
concerned; he has not been successful. For in a part of his argument, he
depends on the existence of the contingent being, which is different from the
existence of the Necessary Being, and because of this, objections have been
raised against his argument.
This problem was discussed for the first time in the words of Ibn Arabi
and Qaysari, the commentator on Ibn Arabi s book, Fusus al-Hikam, and
then in the discourse of other scholars.2
Therefore, though Avicenna can be considered the originator of the
argument of the sincere, he could not offer an assertion to meet the merits of
these arguments. Nevertheless, after him, his accomplishment produced the
advances of other thinkers whose endeavours finally became fruitful. First in
the words of the mystics and then in the discourse of the philosophers
definite arguments were offered with the quality of the Argument of the
sincere. The number of these Arguments now exceeds forty.
The General Forms of the Argument of the Sincere

The arguments of the sincere are divided into three main groups. In one
1. Al- Isharat wa al-Tanbihat with the commentary of Tussi and Ghotb al- Din Razi,
vol. 3, p.18, (1379 AH), Daftar Nashr al-ketab.
2. Matla Khusus al-Kalim Fi Ma ani Fusus al- Hikam, vol. L, p. 364, Anwar alHoda Publications, 1316 AH.
71
group the reality of existence is the way to reach the existence of God, in
the second group the reality of the existent is the path for reaching Him,
and in the third group the reality of the Necessary Being takes the wayfarer
to the ultimate goal. In all of these three groups, at the end of the argument it
is clear that the reality discussed is nothing other than the existence of God.
Therefore, in these arguments the path and the goal are one, and, therefore,
in its method the argument is that of the sincere.
The First Group

In this group of the Argument, the very reality of existence becomes the
basis of our discussion for concluding the existence of God. However, what
is the reality of existence ? On the basis of the, principle of noncontradiction it can be defined as that reality that by itself rejects nonexistence and is essentially incompatible with non-being. It follows then that
based on the evident principle of non-contradiction, the combination of
existence and non-existence is impossible.
Therefore, once existence is established, without requiring anything else,
non-existence will be expelled. So, existence is the reality that by itself
rejects non-existence and negates non-being, and this is the same reality,
which, first, the mystics and, then, the philosophers made the subject of their
study. On this basis they concluded the existence of God. Abu Hamid
Muhammad Isfahani, an eighth century AH mystic and philosopher,
suggested a sample of these arguments,3 which was abridged and edited later
by the thirteenth century AH philosopher, Sabzevari.4
Non-existence can never apply to the reality of existence ; for nonexistence is in contradiction with existence and one thing cannot accept its
contradiction as it would necessitate the conjunction of the two contraries. It
is on this basis that existence does not accept non-existence, and, therefore, it
must necessarily and definitely exist.
On the other hand, existence does not reject non-existence because of a
reality outside its essence it does so by itself. For existence itself rather than
any other reality is in contradiction with non-existence; consequently,
existence by itself rather than by depending on a reality beyond its essence
rejects non-existence and negates non-being.
Therefore, because it rejects non-existence and repels non-being, the
3. Ali ibn Muhammad Turkah, Tamhid al-Qawa id, The Islamic Iranian Academy of
Philosophy, 1360 (1982).
4. Sabzevari, Asrar al- Hikam, p. 46, Mowla Publications, 1361.
72
reality of existence necessarily exists, and because in itself it does not

accept non-existence rather than by depending on others, it has this
necessary existence in essence. Therefore, the reality of existence is the
essentially Necessary Being, and thus we come to our desired conclusion.
To further illustrate in another way:
On the basis of the evident principle of non-contradiction, the
conjunction of existence and non-existence is impossible. Therefore, as was
seen before, once existence is established, without the need for supposing
anything else, non-existence will be repelled. Thus, for repelling nonexistence nothing other than existence is needed. On the other hand, it is
clear that existence is the criterion of repelling and negating non-existence,
for if one thing does not exist, it will continue to be non-existent, and nonexistence will be neither repelled nor rejected.
Accordingly, because without the need of anything else existence does
repel non-existence by itself, then it must have the criterion of repelling nonexistence in itself and in its own essence without the need for anything else,
for without the criterion of repelling non-existence in its essence, existence
itself would be not sufficient for repelling non-existence; rather it would be
in need of something, first, to establish the criterion of repelling nonexistence, and, then, to repel non-existence on its basis, whereas we have
said that existence without anything else does repel non-existence.
Therefore, we should accept that the reality of existence exists and for its
existence, it does not need any attribute additional to its essence. In other
words, existence is equal to being existent, reality, and externality; and this
is exactly what is called the fundamentality of existence in Islamic
philosophy.
Once we have established that the reality of existence exists without the
need for an attribute additional to its essence, we may say that the existence
of existence itself does not depend on any cause, for if the existence of
existence had a cause, once the cause is lost, existence would not exist. Such
a conclusion is impossible and absurd, since foremost, when the existence of
existence is not an additional attribute to the essence of existence, but rather
is the very reality of existence, it will not be the result of the reality of
existence; depriving the essence of the thing of itself is impossible.
Secondly, if existence did not exist, it would also not repel non-existence
and would be compatible with non-being, for existing is the criterion of
repelling non-existence, which, supposedly, existence could not possess in
this instance. Therefore, in this supposition existence would not repel nonexistence, which is its contrary; rather, it would be compatible with it and
73
could be added to it. Consequently, in the mentioned supposition, the

conjunction of existence and non-existence is possible; but this cannot be
accepted, for the principle of non-contradiction is an evident and
unquestionable principle . Therefore, we must allow that the reality of
existence, first, does exist, and, second, in its existence it is not dependent on
any cause so we can conclude that it is the Necessary Being in essence.
The Argument of Mulla Sadra

Another argument founded on the reality of existence is the argument put
forth by eleventh century AH philosopher Mulla Sadra with its two
premises. The first premise, the fundamentality of existence, was discussed
to some extent and proven valid in the last argument. Therefore, here the
main goal is proving the second premise of that argument. This premise is
the uniqueness of the reality of existence .
In the universe, we have various existents: Mountains, trees, human
beings, planets, etc. All of these do exist, but are these existents the faces of
one existence and the manifestations of one reality, or are each of these
different and separate from the others? Most of the Peripatetic philosophers
have accepted the second theory, but Mulla Sadra favoured the first theory.
Before discussing the argument for this premise, an example is required
to illustrate Mulla Sadra s theory. If you drop an object from the top of a
high building, as soon as this object is released it starts moving downward,
but it increases its speed at every moment; initially, its speed is almost nil,
but each passing moment its movement becomes faster and faster. Here we
encounter a single existent, which, at the same time, is multiplied because
motion, like a line or a surface has extension, with the difference being that
both line and surface have spatial extension but motion has temporal
extension.
The criterion for the unity and oneness of existents that possess extension
is junction and connectedness. We can consider a one-metre line as one line
only because the hypothetical parts of this line in its one-metre length are
joined to each other. However, if we divide this very line into two halves
using an instrument, we will no longer have one line but two. Therefore, in
extended existents, connectedness is the criterion of unity and oneness. On
this basis, concerning the motion of the falling object we could say that from
the start until the end it is one existent, but the speed of this single existent in
each moment is different from its speed in the preceding and the following
moment. Therefore, in each moment this existent shows itself in a particular
aspect. These various aspects and manifestations oblige us to accept that this
74
existent, despite its unity, possesses a kind of diversity and multiplicity. This
is why we say that every motion, despite the unity of its reality, is a diverse
and multiple existent each of its diverse aspects is one of the states of that
single reality.
Mulla Sadra suggests that this is the condition regarding all existence
arguing that the world of being, despite its multiplicity and diversity, returns
to one reality and is one and united, so that we can say there is no more than
one reality in the universe, though this reality has different modes, levels and
aspects.
Having said that, now we discuss two of the reasons established for
proving this premise.
A. The Way of the Law of Purity
This law tells us that a thing in its state of purity is only one, that is, if we
purify the reality of every thing of matters which are of foreign and different
nature, such a reality cannot be diverse or multiple because the condition of
multiplicity is the presence of a distinguishing feature in each individual to
distinguish it from other individuals. In this case, the supposed reality will
lose its purity and will be touched by impurity. Therefore, unless the feature
characteristic to this individual is present for this individual, it will not be
different from other individuals, and there will be no multiplicity.
Nevertheless, as soon as we imagine this individual beyond its special
distinguishing feature, it will be a compound of the original reality and some
additional matter, and thus it will fall from purity. Therefore, for a reality to
remain pure it should not be diverse or multiple, but it must be one and
single.
The reality of existence is pure existence, for beyond existence is nonexistence, and non-existence has no portion of reality so that it could be
added to the reality of existence. Therefore, the reality of existence is pure
existence and pure reality. On the basis of the above premise this reality can
only be one.
B. The Way of the Law of Homonymity
This law tells us that a thing shared commonly between a few things cannot
be multiple; it must be only one, for if the shared thing is diverse then each
of its individuals should have a distinctive feature by which it is
differentiated from other individuals. However, when it finds its own special
characteristic, others will not share this characteristic, and it will be specific
to that individual but this contradicts our supposition. Therefore, in order
75
that a reality can be shared it should not be diverse or multiple.

Alternatively, the reality of existence is shared by all realities, for all
realities have existence; therefore, all realities are common in existence.
Accordingly, and on the basis of the above premise, the reality of existence,
which is shared by all realities, is only one.
Having explained the two premises of Mulla Sadra s argument, now we
discuss the argument itself.5 Based on the first premise and according to the
fundamentality of existence , the reality of existence is existent. This
existent is either a necessary being in essence or it is not a necessary being.
In the first case, we have reached our desired conclusion, and in the second
case, it will be a reality dependent on others. Nevertheless, based on the
second premise, the reality is only one that we assumed to be dependent so,
we have to say that a reality, which is only one, is the reality dependent on
others. In consequence, such a reality, because of its dependence, should
have a cause, and because this dependent reality is only one, its cause should
not be dependent on others, otherwise the dependent reality would be
diverse; this, however, is in contradiction with our supposition. Therefore, its
cause will be the Necessary Being Himself. Thus, and in either case, the
existence of the Necessary Being is proved.
The Second Group

The main issue discussed in this group of argument is the reality of
existent . Although based on the fundamentality of existence mentioned
earlier the reality of existent and the reality of existence are united in
their extension, conceptually the difference between the two is similar to the
difference between white and whiteness, where the former is derived from
the latter.
For our purposes we will refer to these arguments in two groupings. First,
discussing the absolute existent proving the existence of God, a tenth
century AH scholar, Muhaqiq Khafri, puts forward such an argument: The
absolute existent does not have a cause, otherwise a thing must be prior to
itself; therefore, the Necessary Being does essentially exist. 6
To explain this argument, first one must understand the intended meaning
of the absolute existent . By absolute existent we mean an existent that is
free from any restricting constraints, even the constraints of being absolute .
Existents that we usually deal with are all restricted existents, that is, each of
5. Al- Asfar al-Arba a vol. 6, p. 14, Mostafavi Publications, 1386.
6. Ibid, p. 40.
76
them is confined to a restricting quiddity. For instance, an existent such as a

man or a tree, being a man or a tree limits its existence, and this restriction
does not let our supposed existent apply to every reality and be true of it. A
human being does not pertain to a stone, and we cannot say a stone is a
human being. Therefore, absolute existent is an existent free from any
limiting constraints; even when we verbally associate with it the constraint
absolute , we do not mean that being absolute is a constraint to it.
The other notable point is that it is necessary to prove is the existence of
the absolute existent ; that an absolute existent exists as do constrained
existents like men, trees, mountains, etc. exist. This premise can be proven in
two ways.
A. The Logical Law of Simple Conversion.
One logical formula tells us that when we have A is B , we can say then
Some Bs are A ; for if none of Bs were A, then this statement along with
the first statement would result in A is not A . For, on one hand, A is B
and on the other we had already supposed that none of Bs are A , then A
which is itself a subset of B, should be equal to B in effect, that is, A should
not be A. Therefore, if some Bs were not A, the result would be that A is
not A ; this is a manifest contradiction, and contradiction is impossible.
Then, we should accept that if Some Bs are A is true, then we should
accept that the reality of an affirmative statement necessitates the reality of
its simple conversion, and this in turn leads to the conclusion that when it is
proved that the simple conversion of a statement is false and invalid, we can
infer that in its original statement itself is also invalid since if the original
statement is true, its simple conversion should also be true.
Having proved this premise, we may say that, The absolute existent does
exist ; for if it were true that The absolute existent does not exist then
Some nonexistents are absolute existents should also be true. But this
converted statement is evidently false; it is clear that it is contradictory,
because the subject of the statement is both a nonexistent and an existent,
even an unconditional unlimited existent. Therefore, this converted
statement is false, and on the basis of the above premise its falsity requires
that the original statement, namely The absolute existent does not exist
should be also false and invalid. Therefore, the statement The absolute
existent does not exist is false, and when this is false, it will be true to say
The absolute existent does exist , and this is what we sought in proving this
premise.
77
B. The Law of the Concomitance between the General and the Particular
Negation
This law tells us that if we have two meanings, one of which is a particular
case of the other, then the negation of the general will entail the negation of
the particular. For example, a right angle triangle is a particular kind of
triangle. Now if we suppose that there are no triangles whatsoever, then we
will also have to say that there is no right angle triangle, for if it exists, then
it will not be correct to say that there are no triangles.
Considering these two premises we may argue that because it is assumed
that the absolute existent is an existence without any restriction, we must
then say each of the various existents of the world in relation to the absolute
existent is a special case of the absolute existent, for each of them is
confined with a restriction, while the absolute existent is free from their
constraints. In consequence and on the basis of the above premise, if the
absolute existent did not exist, then nothing should exist, for, as was said
already, the negation of the general is collateral with the negation of the
particular, so this conclusion is clearly false. Therefore, we must say that the
absolute existent does exist.
The third point to consider is that the realization of the meaning of the
general is prior to the realization of the meaning of the particular (of
course, this priority is not a temporal priority but a causal priority and is of
the kind of priority which an inefficient cause has upon the effect). For
example, the realization of an unbounded triangle is prior to the realization
of a right triangle, which is a special case of the unbounded triangle. For, as
was said in the previous premise, the negation of the general necessitates
the negation of the particular ; therefore, the realization of the meaning of
the particular is dependent on the realization of the meaning of the
general .
Therefore, unless the general meaning does exist, the particular
meaning cannot exist. It is on this basis that we can say the existence of the
absolute existent is prior to the constrained and specific existents.
Turning now to the argument itself, on the basis of the second point, the
absolute existent does exist; now we say that in its existence this existent
does not depend on a cause, for if it had a cause, this cause would be either
that very absolute existent or a bounded existent itself. In the first case the
absolute existent should be prior to itself, for the existence of the cause is
prior to the effect. However, we had supposed that the absolute existent is
the cause of itself, so it becomes necessary that the thing should be prior to
itself, which is absurd. Therefore, the absolute existent cannot be the cause
78
of the absolute existent . In the second case, our treatment is the same; for,
as explained in the third point, the bounded existents are posterior to the
absolute existent . Now if the cause of the absolute existent were one of
the particular existents, because the cause is prior to the effect, we must say
then this particular existent is prior to the absolute existent . But according
to the third point, this particular existent itself is posterior to the absolute
existent , and consequently we should say that with two levels of priority the
absolute existent would be prior to itself:
The absolute existent
the particular existent
the absolute
existent .
In either case if the absolute existence had a cause for its existence, it
would become necessary that it should be prior to itself, and this is absurd.
So, no cause can be imagined for the absolute existent , and, thus, it both
exists and for its existence needs no cause. Such an existent, therefore, is an
essentially a Necessary Being.
The other argument of this group is grounded in the discussion of the
pure existent . The pure existent is that existent whose whole identity is
constituted by existence and includes no element of non-existence or nonperfection; rather it is pure existence.
Here we claim that the pure existent does exist , for if the pure existent
did not exist , the simple conversion of this statement should also be true,
that is, we should have Some of the nonexistents are pure existents, and
evidently this statement is contradictory. For on one hand the subject of the
statement has been assumed to be nonexistent, and, on the other, on the basis
of the predicate of the statement, it is assumed to exist. It should be then both
nonexistent and existent, and this is incongruous. Finally, this converted
statement is false, and, therefore, the original statement itself should also be
false. In other words, we should say that the statement The pure existent is
nonexistent is false and invalid, and when this statement is false then we
have to accept that The pure existent does exist.
Having proved that the pure existent does exists, we may say that it
cannot have a cause, for if it had a cause, then, when the cause is absent the
pure existent would be absent too because a negation of the cause requires
a negation of its effect. In this case, again, we return to the contradiction
explained at the beginning of the argument. So, necessarily we have to
accept that the pure existent has no cause; thus, the pure existent both
exists and in its existence has no cause, and, therefore, it must be the
Necessary Being.
79
The Third Group

In this group, the reality of the Necessary Being is the focus of the
discussion. We will also discuss two argument presented by this group. The
first argument known as Kompany, was established by the contemporary
philosopher Muhaqiq Isfahani.7
As an introduction we need have to point out that regardless of the
external factors the extension of each concept in itself is either of the
following; it either has a necessary existence in itself, or it has no necessary
existence with two possibilities: either it is necessarily nonexistent in itself,
or it is not necessarily nonexistent. If the supposed extension has a
necessarily existence in itself, it would be an essentially Necessary Being; if
it is necessarily nonexistent in itself, it would be an essentially impossible
being; and if it is neither necessarily existent in itself nor nonexistent, it is an
essential being.
The other point is that each nonexistent has only two states, for when it is
supposed to be nonexistent, it will have no necessary existence, and in that
case it will be either necessarily nonexistent in itself or not necessarily
nonexistent in itself. In the first case, it will be an essentially impossible
being, and in the second case, it will be essentially possible being. Therefore,
every nonexistent is either an essentially impossible being or an essentially
possible being in essence.
In light of these points we can explicate the argument itself. We may
argue that the Necessary Being does exist , for if the Necessary Being were
nonexistent, then, He would not be the essentially Necessary Being. For each
nonexistent is either an essentially contingent being or it is an essentially
impossible being; in consequence, if the Necessary Being were nonexistent,
He would not be the Necessary Being any longer and this is in contradiction
with our supposition. Therefore, the essentially Necessary Being must exist.
The Second Argument

The second argument is grounded on the premise that the essentially
Necessary Being cannot be nonexistent, for if the statement The essentially
Necessary being can be nonexistent were true, its converted statement
would be true, too; that is, it would be true to say Some of the nonexistent
are the Necessary being. But this statement is, evidently, contradictory, for
when a thing can be nonexistent; it will have no necessary existence. But, on
the other hand, it is assumed in the predicate of the statement that such a
7. Tohfat al-Hakim, p. 71, Al al-Bait Publications, 1377.
80
thing has a necessary existence; such a subject, because it can be

nonexistent, should not have a necessary existence, and because it is a
necessary being it should be necessary in its existence.
Then it would be a necessary being and would not be a necessary being,
and this is a manifest contradiction. Therefore, the converted statement,
namely Some of the nonexistent are Necessary Being is false, and because
this statement is false the original statement The Necessary Being can be
nonexistent is also false. Therefore, we must say that the Necessary Being
cannot be nonexistent. Having proved this premise we may say that now that
the Necessary Being cannot be nonexistent, He must invariably exist, which
is the very conclusion we wanted to arrive at.
Personal Identity
Amir Divani
Abstract
The question of the immortality of man is grounded on two fundamental and
rather difficult questions: the relationship between the soul and the body
and personal identity . Muslim philosophers and theologians, who all
believe in the immortality of man, have often meditated deeply upon these
two questions, and on the basis of these ideas have not only proved the
immortality of man, but also described its quality. In this article, concerning
the question of immortality and personal identity a report is given on the
endeavours of some theologians, such as Abu Hamid Ghazzali, Qadi Azod
Iji and Khawjah Nassir al Din-e-Tussi, and some distinguished philosopher
of the three philosophical schools, the Peripatetic, Illuminationist, and
Transcendent Theosophy, like Avicenna, Sheikh Eshraq, Mirdamad, Mulla
Sadra, and Modarris Zanuzi.
The subject of this article is the study of the theories presented by
Muslim scholars regarding man s immortality in relation to the question of
personal identity. This article is simply an exposition and a report rather than
a critique of the theories. As the question is structured we invariably have to
begin by discussing two issues:
1. Explaining the question of personal identity
2. The relationship between personal identity with the question of [the
quality of man s immortality
Concerning the first question, personal identity can be explained in
following way: If at two different times we come across (allegedly) one
thing such as A, by what criterion we can say that this thing at t1 would be
the same thing which we met at t2? Concerning the question of personal
identity there is one metaphysical and one epistemological debate. The
metaphysical debate is related to the criterion of identity. By what criterion
can we say today s A is the same as yesterday s A, while we know for
certain that the A has undergone changes during this period? The
82
epistemological debate is related to the ways in which we perceive that

today s A in relation to yesterday s A. Notably, the metaphysical debate is
concerned with the what ness of the criterion of identity, and the
epistemological discussion is concerned with the way that we understand
that this criterion is perceived.
This question can be discussed in respect to every existent, but our
concern here is only man . What is our criterion for saying that person A in
front of us today is the same person who lived 20 years ago, and how can we
understand that the person opposite us is the same person whom we saw
earlier?
Using a hypothetical scenario to understand the origin of this question
often in identifying individuals, we employ criteria that are related to the
body of the concerned individual. However, in certain cases and states these
criteria do not seem sufficient. For example, suppose today we meet a
person; because of the physical similarities that this person has with our
brother, we judge that this person is our brother. Of course, the question of
how much these physical similarities could be so great that we infer the
identity of two things is open to debate, but aside from this issue, we
naturally benefit from these criteria on a daily basis in our lives, and in this
identification we do not err. Now suppose that when we approach that
person calling him, we realize that he does not know us, and this surprises
us.
The more we look at him we become more certain that he is our brother,
but when we speak to him, we realize that he neither knows us, nor is he
aware of any of the issues that have passed between us and our brother. If
the person in front of us is accurate in his claim, will we still judge that this
person is our brother, or will we at least have doubt and hesitation?
Using another example, we are walking in the street, and somebody
approaches us greeting us intimately, calling us by name and referring to
some events from our life. At this point we think that the person opposite us
must be an old friend who, because of the time lapse, was hidden in our
memory and we try to revive his dead memory in our mind. Our mind,
working with astonishing speed suddenly stops upon hearing a more
astonishing claim by this person that he is our brother, a brother whom we
had left this very morning. His face and other physical features, the criteria
for assessing the situation, do not correspond with the physical features of
our brother at all. We absolutely reject this person s claim. However, by
referring to issues that only our brother and we are aware of, he would
continue to persist in his claim. In this situation, will we still judge that this
Personal Identity
83
person is not our brother, or we will at least have some doubt?

So, are the physical criteria (such as the way of walking, the shape of the
face, the quality of the voice, etc.) together with the criterion of memory the
necessary and sufficient conditions for identity, or they are only a necessary
condition, or are they neither of the two? In fiction, we may read for
example that one day a prince wakes up finding himself in the body of a
shoemaker but he does not remember anything of the shoemaker s life.
Conversely, a shoemaker wakes up to find himself in the body of a prince
and also has no idea of the previous princely life of this body. Now if the
shoemaker s body (which in fact carries the soul or the memory of the
prince) approaches the gate of the palace and claims that: I am the prince,
revealing things that are known only by the king and the prince, would the
king judge that this person is his son? Or, would he say that his son was in
the palace, and contend that this shoemaker present in front of him had
somehow discerned certain information known only between the king and
his son?
Alternatively, with no idea of the previous life of the prince, only
conscious of the shoemaker s profession and life, the prince s body would
now bear the soul or the memory of the shoemaker. The king might think
that this person was his son who possibly had been taken ill or had forgotten
his past, or he might think that this person was not his real son but the person
standing outside the palace was.
These questions focus on personal identity and the ways in which it is
recognised, which has a unique place in many of the philosophical realms,
for example, in the realm of ethics, we are concerned with praise and blame,
or reward and punishment. We should be able to claim that the doer of good
or righteous deeds is the same person who has been rewarded or praised, and
the wrongdoer is the one who is blamed and punished, in a way that both the
agent and the observer would admit the assumed identity.
For example, suppose that you have arrested somebody who has been
condemned as a war criminal for committing numerous murders during the
Second World War. However, at the time of committing these crimes, he
was only a youth with the mentality and attitude of an adolescent, but now
he is a pitiable old man. Would it be morally just to condemn such a person?
Should he endure the severe punishment prescribed for such crimes by moral
codes although he regrets his past and confesses to his ignorance and
stupidity at the time?
Among other realms related to the impact of the question of personal
identity is that of the philosophy of the soul, especially in respect to the
84
immortality of man , which is also relevant from religious aspects. For

example, if the body were the criterion for the identity of the present man
and man after death, we would not be able to say that after the disintegration
of the body, he would continue his life and deny that his corpse decomposed.
Nevertheless, if we attribute the criterion of identity to the soul , memory
being one of its characteristics, we can speak of the subsistence of that
individual. For though the body is destroyed, still the memory of having a
body exists, and this memory would fulfil the criterion of identity. In short,
according to the doctrine of the immortality of man, the reality of the human
individual that identifies him should remain preserved after death.
The Views of Muslim Philosophers and Theologians Concerning

Immortality
In general, the theories presented on the immortality or mortality of man
presupposes a certain view on the nature and reality of man . Even if this
presupposition is not discussed in respect to the possibility of life after death,
it plays an essential role in the realisation of this life. Therefore, from a
logical point of view, the question of the nature and reality of man has
priority, and the theories of immortality or mortality are dependent on this
question.
In respect of its direct impact on the question of immortality, differences
over the reality of man can be summarised as follows:
1. The view that consider man existing in this world to be onedimensional being considering the body as the reality of man; in other
words, it is the hardware made of cells, tissues, etc. Of course, among this
group there are those who admit that there is a sort of dualism in the states
and attributes of man. They acknowledge such a dualism due to the
invariable difference that dominates the human states and attributes. To
divide these attributes to physical and psychological , we have to apply
certain criteria in identifying them. For example, people have a direct or
immediate or intuitive knowledge of their psychological attributes, but they
have no such knowledge of their physical attributes. For instance, our
knowledge of our headache is present and direct, and it does not require
further evidence other than this knowledge or awareness. Therefore, no one
would ask us how we knew that we had a headache. However, our
knowledge of the existence of the tumour that may be causing such a
headache is a mediated and an indirect knowledge.
Thus, when somebody asks us how we understood that we had a tumour,
we would think it as a reasonable question and would try to answer it. For
Personal Identity
85
example, we would say, The physician has said so, or it has been verified
by an X-ray. In short, this view holds that human psychological attributes
are dependent on physical attributes and follow them, and the psychological
characteristics are determined by the physical characteristics. A corollary of
this theory is that all of the psychological capacities such as memory will
perish following the destruction of the body, for all man s attributes and
capacities are dependent on his body.
2. The view that considers man exists in this world to be bi-dimensional
holds that reducing the mentioned states and attributes to one dimension
would be impossible. By two dimensions, we mean those dimensions that in
respect of the existential state and attributes are incompatible with each
other. In other words, man has a physical dimension and another dimension
that is beyond and is free of the corporeal body. Thus, besides admitting
dualism in attributes, this group invariably holds that dualism in substance is
necessary as well. By dualism in substance we mean that though these two
dimensions are somehow intermixed and are related to each other, they can
subsist without each other; for example, the existence of the body without
the soul, and the soul without the body is possible and can be realized.
Although the exponents of this view agree on this point, they differ
substantially regarding the reality of man:
A. Those who consider man existing in this world to be bi-dimensional,
but hold that after leaving this world only his abstract incorporeal dimension
will remain, indeed, holding that the only reality of man is his incorporeal
dimension.
B. Those who hold that the reality of man is the result of the combination
of his physical and spiritual dimensions (the soul and body), so that in all the
realms of existence his two dimensions will be preserved.
Considering the above issues, because all Muslim philosophers and
theologians have accepted the immortality of man on the authority of the
revelations and the discourse of the infallible Imams, peace upon them, in
their theories Muslim philosophers have to explicate the identity of man in
this world and in the other world. Thus, the first group have to prove the
identity of the bodies of this world and the other world, and the other the
identity of the two dimensions of the soul and the body. Now considering the
views on the reality of man , we can give a summary of the theories of the
philosophers and theologians on immortality:
The First Theory

After death, the human body, which is the entire reality of man disintegrates
86
and perishes, but on the day of Resurrection God once again revives the
disintegrated body and reconstructs the man of this world. This theory,
believing in the renewal or the re-creation of the human bodies, can be
called the theory of Resurrection or Physical Renewal . In this theory,
certain points have to be considered, including:
A. Even if it is not true in its recognition of the reality of man since it
ignores the incorporeal soul, this view is fundamentally important because
almost all Muslim scholars accept the corporeal resurrection; the revival or
resurrection of the body becomes a serious issue. So, if there are some
objections to this view, the same objections could also be made about the
views of the believers of the physical and spiritual resurrection, and
suggestions for solving these doubts in their theory should be presented.
B. This conception reflects the understanding of life after death by the
masses, even if religious texts had not elaborated on the concept of
immortality.
C. This view argues that the death of the body is equal to one s death.
The point is that concerning death, we can follow one of the two accounts:
Death of the person and the body s death. Those who hold that man
possesses an immortal aspect, the soul, can admit the death of the body, but
they cannot accept that the body s death would be the death of the person;
they rather foresee a kind of life for the deceased person. On the other hand,
though all Muslims accept the possibility of life after death , some of them,
such as the followers of this view, do not believe in the immortality of man
after the body s death.
D. According to this view, there is a distance and a purgatory or isthmus
between this world and the resurrection of the bodies. However, this does
not mean that in that distance the existents would be conscious of themselves
or others; rather, it is an interval between the life of this world and that of the
other world in which the human individual as a as a conscious active being is
nonexistent.
The Hereafter
X conscious
active
is reconstructed
&
Purgatory
This World
X
is
neither
material or active
X conscious
active
&
Prior to This
World
X does not
exist at this
stage
H - For this group, resurrection is either renewal of the nonexistent or the

resurrection of the human body.
Personal Identity
87
The Second Theory

After death, the human body disintegrates, but man s incorporeal substance,
the soul, continues with its life in the immaterial world forever. By
resurrection, believers in religion who hold to this view mean the return of
the soul to God or the world of the immaterial beings . According to this
view, the relationship between the soul and the body, at least in subsistence,
is a possible rather than a necessary relationship. For the soul constitutes the
reality of man, and the body has no place in this reality. Immortality,
therefore, is spiritual only and cannot be corporeal.
After this World
This World
Prior to this World
X with no Body
X (the soul)
There is no X (Some
opinion contends X
exists minus body)
Other views can be called synthetic theories, for each of them is the result of
combining the first and the second views.
The Third Theory

After death, man s decomposed body perishes, but his soul, which has no
relationship with the remaining body, will continue with its incorporeal life
in an immaterial world: At Resurrection God will reconstruct the earthly
bodies and will bring back the souls to them. Thus, life after death comes in
two stages: the stage when the soul is alive and active with no body, and the
stage when the soul and the body once again are related to each other. By
Resurrection, this group means the return of the souls to the bodies .
Resurrection
Purgatory
the body of X + the soul of X

the soul of X
This World
Prior to this World
the soul of X + X does not exist

the body of X
The Fourth Theory

After the death of the earthly corporeal body, the soul will step into the other
world with its refined body of the world similitude: It will live with this
body forever, even though life after death shall be divided into Purgatory and
Resurrection.
88
Resurrection Purgatory
This World
Prior to this World
the soul + the
the soul + the
the soul + the earthly
imagined body
imagined body
body + the imagined body
According to this theory, the reality of man is a corporeal-spiritual entity,
and corporeality will never abandon it. Evidently, during the stages of
substantial perfection, the human body will be allowed to enter the stage of
immateriality, so that it will be a substance with three dimensions of length,
width, and depth, but with no matter. According to this theory Resurrection
is the return of the soul along with a body other than the worldly body to
God . Of course, this picture is only an explication of the theory of the
association of the soul and the imagined body in the world after death. In this
respect, there is another theory, which will be discussed later.
The Fifth Theory

After the body s death, the soul along with its body belonging to the
similitude will enter purgatory, and its relationship with the body, though not
marked by management or attachment, will be structural and constitutional:
At Resurrection, through the mediation of the general substantial movement,
the natural corporeal body will transform into an otherworldly body, and
once again it will regain its relationship of attachment and management with
the soul. This view defines Resurrection as the return of the bodies to the
souls . Thus, the body in reaching for substantial perfection achieves
corporeal perfection, but it will never be immaterial. It is clear that the third,
fourth, and the fifth views hold that immortality and Resurrection are both
corporeal and spiritual, mainly because they assume that the reality of man is
a combination of two incongruent dimensions.
Therefore, if man is to be immortal, all his existential constituents should
contribute to this immortality, rather than that he should enter the everlasting
abode with only a part of his reality, leaving some other parts behind to
perish.
A Point: It is noteworthy to mention here that Islamic philosophies are
those philosophies established and founded by Muslim philosophers in their
commitment for guarding and preserving the principles of Islam in its
entirety. The views of these philosophers were designed in such a way that
in the first instance, at least, it should not be opposed to the mentioned
principles, and, in the second, to enable them to complete and develop their
philosophical views by applying those principles. No doubt, their knowledge
of the principles and rules of Islam is manifested in the nature of their views.
Some typical examples of these principles and rules are the discussions on
Personal Identity
89
Creation, prophet logy, and eschatology. This commitment in observing

Islamic principles is such that whenever the Muslim philosophers cannot
demonstrate those principles, they abandon their philosophical approach
submitting themselves to the words of Revelation and the words of the
infallible leaders of Islam. In short, in practice they were aware that their
philosophies could not and were not efficient enough to explain some
religious issues since human knowledge has always been limited and needs
the necessary and definite knowledge of the infallibles.
In this regard, Mulla Sadra writes: In its attributes and precepts, never
can the divine pure truth be in conflict with the necessary definite
knowledge, and the philosophy whose laws do not conform to the holy
Koran and the Prophetic tradition must perish. 12 With this view, the
function of Islamic theology becomes clear; theology is the discipline
designated to defend the truth of the propositions in the religious texts
against possible objections. The speech of the learned Lahiji refers to this
point: In their definition of theology, later scholars have said that it is the
knowledge of the states of the existents according to the religious laws. 13
This point is central in that the theories of immortality should include
those features on various issues explained in the religious texts, and to the
extent that it cannot explain or explicate those features, it will be deficient
and incomplete. For example, if certain characteristics are listed for the
otherworldly body in the Koranic verses or Prophetic traditions, such as the
not growing old or decaying, enduring the otherworldly chastisement, or not
becoming tired, thirsty or hungry, the body described in those theories
should be such as to attribute these characteristics to it.
Having explained this point, we will detail these theories.
The Theory of the Resurrection of the Body

Theologians who have embraced this theory argue that the reference of the
word I is nothing other than this body, and, therefore, they admit no room
for an incorporeal entity, called the rational soul . Of course, by body
some of them understand the main parts of the body rather than those parts,
which become more or less or changed as conditions change. The main parts
are those parts without all of which man s life will not continue.
By nature, the main elements are subject to sense experience, though they
are not actually sensed now. However, in defining the main parts the same
theologians differ with each other. For example, Ibn Rawandi argues that it
is a part within the heart that has no motion, and Nazzam believes that it is a
delicate body which flows within the organs of the body, so that if one organ
90
is amputated, its delicate parts will be transferred to other parts of the body,
and if the amputation is done in such a way as to amputate the delicate body,
too, man will certainly die. For some physicians, the blood and some of the
four humours constitute the main parts.14
How will a human individual such as A, who lives in this world, be the
same reconstructed individual in the hereafter?
1. That which constitutes the personal identity should be present in the
reconstructed individual.
2. Human individuals should know that they are the same persons as they
were before death. This identity and verisimilitude should be established
through their consciousness of their identity and also the presence of their
true memory concerning their previous life.
It seems that this is the interpretation people have of immortality. At the
time of Revelation, human beings have shown this kind understanding by
their behaviour, and the holy Prophet did not refute this understanding. For
example, God in the holy Koran says: He gave us an example, but forgot
his creation, saying who would revive the bones when they have turned to
dust. Say He would revive them Who had created them for the first time, and
He is aware of all creation. 15
In this verse, God s answer shows that the mentioned person s question
concerns the identity of the acting agent of such a great matter and God
refers him to that Agent on Whom the origin of the primordial life is
dependent rather than that he essentially has misunderstood the question
itself.
Therefore, in order to present a coherent theory on immortality, or
resurrection as they call it, in the way that they understand it, Muslim
theologians have always included in their discussion the belief in God, Who
is all Knowing and all Mighty, to justify their theory, at least, in the level of
possibility.
We should, however, note that sometimes one theory might include
certain beliefs that cannot be understood, or may be incompatible with each
other. Logically, such a theory cannot be real, for reality is free from any
contradiction or logical incongruity. However, the logical possibility of a
theory, namely its freedom from any contradiction or logical incongruity,
cannot be a sufficient condition for its reality. In our discussion, the theory
of the resurrection of the bodies must be free from any contradiction, and
only then, we can speak of its reality and demonstrate it. Of course, though
there may be no contradiction in the system itself, yet on the basis of
accepted principles and laws its reality may only be a very weak possibility.
Personal Identity
91
It is very much like a person who, considering the natural laws, would think
that the way of immortality and survival after death in the form of
reconstructing the human body is only a very weak possibility.
A Point: Concerning corporeal resurrection, the believers in the
possibility of resurrection of the nonexistent , at least insofar as human
beings are concerned, express different views on the definition of the
nonexistent to be resurrected on the Day of Judgment.16 Some hold that God
first annihilates or destroys the parts of the body and then confers existence
on them once again. As God originally has brought all substances and
particles of things from non-existence into existence, He will annihilate and
destroy them only to confer existence on them once again. This group brings
as evidence such Koranic verses as Everything perishes except His face, 17
Everything on it will perish, 18 It is He Who begins creation and once
again renews it, 19 and He is the first and the last. 20
Some other group holds that the subject of resurrection is the
composition of the parts of the body, rather than the particles and the
substances of the bodies, and, thus, the annihilated part is that very
composition. This group argues that the separation of the parts is
annihilation, for the annihilation of anything is the losing of its expected
attributes; the decomposition of the corporeal parts would invariably put an
end to the functions of those parts, and, therefore, decomposition is
annihilation.
Some others do not accept either of the two possibilities, because neither
is supported by unequivocal arguments.21
Fakhr-e-Razi, however, in his discussion of this question not only defines
the resurrection of the annihilated as the composition of the parts and
organs of the body, but also argues that the belief in resurrection is
dependent on the possibility and the permissibility of the resurrection of the
annihilated. Concerning the latter he says, unlike the philosophers, our
friends hold that the resurrection of the annihilated is possible; 22 and
concerning the former he argues that all Muslims agree that resurrection is
the aggregation of the parts after their separation; 23 and finally he states that
resurrection in the sense of bringing the corporeal parts together is possible
only by admitting the possibility of resurrecting the annihilated.24
The reason he gives is that the body does not make the whole identity of
the individual; it is made by the body and certain accidents, and at the time
of the disintegration and the decomposition of the body these accidents are
destroyed. Therefore, if the resurrection of the annihilated were impossible,
the resurrection of every human individual as he is would be impossible, too.
92
Of course, evidently the holders of the first view need not assume that
accidents are the grounds for the personal identity of each individual. For it
can be said, for example, accidents are in constant change and alteration, and
no accident is necessary for personal identity, so that following its alteration
one s individuality should change as well.
As was seen, according to the view of some of the exponents of the first
view, we can divide the parts of the body at least into major and minor parts.
The major parts are those that remain unchanged throughout the course of
worldly life and on which human life is dependent, and the minor parts are
those, which are neither essential to human life nor enduring. Thus, their
amputation would do no harm to human life, and in natural conditions, they
are also in constant change and alteration. On the basis of this scheme, the
mentioned theologians stood against those problems that apparently had
defeated those theologians who remained faithful to the first view and did
not divide the parts into major and minor groups.
The transmitted proof of those theologians who define resurrection in
terms of the aggregation of the corporeal parts or at least interpret the
corporeal resurrection in these terms is the following verse: And
[remember] Ibrahim when he said, O my Lord! Show me how You revive
the dead! God said, Do you not believe that? He said, Yes, my Lord, but I
want my heart to come to certainty. Then God said, Take four birds, and
then you grind them, and put some of them on each mountain. Then call
them, and they will come to you in haste, and know that the Lord is
Almighty and all Aware. 25
Considering this verse, we can say:
First, annihilation is accordingly understood in the sense of the separation
of the parts. Second, in this verse, God has demonstrated the way the dead
are resurrected in the
hereafter, for in this verse God shows the way the
dead are resurrected in this world, whereas Ibrahim s question was on
resurrection in the other world.
Third, although Ibrahim s question is brief, the details given in the
answer show that the question includes those details, which in reality are
related to the conditions of resurrection. Thus, God orders the Prophet
Ibrahim to take four birds and to cut them in pieces, etc. Once they are
called, God will separate the parts of each bird from the parts of other birds,
and will bring together the parts of each of them in a way that its body will
be the same as it was before, complete and alive, or, in the words of the
believers in the immaterial soul and spirit, the spirit will blow into that body
and the body once again will become alive. So, we see that in that picture the
Personal Identity
93
parts are not annihilated, and only their accidents are changed, and this
change is unimportant.26
This idea of the exponents of the view of the resurrection of the bodies is
not incoherent, but when we take other measures into account, this proposal
becomes less coherent and its deficiencies become more apparent. For
example,
1. Each of us has psychological and moral characteristics, and these
characteristics at least like our physical and corporeal characteristics, play a
role and contribute to our identity. Now, would the presence of only the
major parts on the Day of Judgment be enough to convene our mental and
personal characteristics? Moreover, if it can convene them, which of the
characteristics of our life would it bring with it? Will all the mental and
personal characteristics of our life be present once the major parts are
present? This is not possible, for sometimes two mental characteristics in the
course of our life cannot bond together; separated in this world by the factor
of time or only the characteristics of a particular period of our life for
example, those we have at the time of death and this is also impossible, for
the characteristics of a particular period need a cause or none of the mental
or personal characteristics will be present. This also cannot be justified, for
at least the attributes of belief or disbelief should exist, on the basis of which
reward or punishment, or paradise or hell is determined, and the existential
interpretation of faith and its connection with the simple existence of the
major parts seems to be impossible.
2. As was mentioned, the otherworldly bodies have certain
characteristics, and the simple aggregations of the parts of the bodies of this
world do not amount to those characteristics. In other words, the picture
given by the statements of religious texts of the hereafter is certainly not a
kind of renewal of this world. In drawing the scene of the hereafter, the
mentioned scheme shows that God, by bringing together the corporeal parts,
the separation of which has led to the annihilation of human beings, once
again confers existence and life on human beings. However, is this not a
return to worldly life? Moreover, if this renewal is something different from
the renewal of worldly life, what will be the difference? How can the
otherworldly body, which is simply the aggregation of the separated worldly
parts, have characteristics that the present body cannot possess, and how is it
that its dominating laws have no congruity with the laws dominating the
natural body?
3. As was mentioned briefly in relation to the first view in section D, this
theory cannot concede that there is life for human beings between death and
94
resurrection. If, however, the mentioned purgatory is a stage where man is

possessed with life and consciousness, according to religious texts, another
deficiency will emerge. In those texts, when it is said that there is reward or
punishment between death and life in the hereafter after resurrection, the
inference is that there is life there. Thus, other theologians have accused thus
those theologians who believe in the chastisement of the dead and who do
not think their revival is necessary, of holding an unreasonable belief.27
This is the claim of those who hold that pains and torments accumulate in
the corpse of the deceased without their knowing with the body suddenly
feeling the pangs of remorse upon revival. In fact, this group has denied
chastisement before resurrection, whereas this issue seems certain.
As is seen, although the reasoning of theologians in explaining
immortality in general, or immortality and corporeal resurrection, has
internal coherence, when other religious statements are added to these
beliefs, coherence diminishes. The explicatory and explanatory power of
their thesis even becomes irrelevant. Only when rationale and theory
concerning one subject is plausible, perfect, and unassailable does the power
of reasoning stand up to scrutiny in the context of other statements.
Coherence and harmony in our statements at epistemological institutions is
vital if we are to ascertain the truth. Of course, there have been some
theologians who, by denying certain metaphysical principles, had to admit
the possibility of any issue simply because of the divine power and will, and
have purported that all ideas are sound and correct. That being said however,
the preferable idea is that which besides preserving the evident metaphysical
and physical principles can accomplish its goal.28
The Theory of the Return of the Spirits to the World of the

Immaterial
This view and all the views that follow, commonly hold that the spirit or
the soul has a certain place in the reality of man. Holders of this view first
prove the distinction between the soul and the body, and then, by enlisting
certain characteristics, which the physical body can never be their predicate
or subject, emphasise the immateriality of the soul. They state that the soul is
a substantial entity that has no congruity with what is corporeal, and
therefore, it has no dimension, space, or size.
Of course, we face a problem here, which has engaged the minds of
scholars both in the West and in the East, throughout the history of theology
and philosophy. This problem is known as the question of the relationship
between the soul and body . The summary of the question is as follows:
Personal Identity
95
How can one pure material substance such as the body come under the
influence of an immaterial and incorporeal substance called the soul, and
how can an immaterial substance be influenced by a material substance?
Though the theory discussed here considers man in this world an existent
made of body and soul, it states that the reality of man is his soul. Sometimes
it considers the body a cage for the soul, which at the time of death breaks
this cage and is admitted to its world and the realm of the immaterial.
According to existing philosophical texts, Plato is the philosopher who
emphasised this view explaining and elaborating it in various ways (in his
Phaedo and other works). Based on his explanation, at the time of death the
soul returns to that world where it lived before its attachment to the body.
Accordingly, the body is not a condition for the existence of the soul;
rather it is the condition of the soul s manipulation of the body. The soul is
an existent outside the body, which at the creation of the body it finds a sort
of attachment to it and an entanglement in its management.
Explaining Plato s theory here is important, for the Muslim philosophers
and theologians have given much attention to his views, and in respect of
this question, though, in general, they do not share his immortality doctrine
(research and studies so far have shown that almost all Muslim scholars
accepted the immortality of the body. Whereas Plato in his theory introduces
the soul as the only truth and explains that the immortality of man is only
spiritual). Muslim scholars have nevertheless accepted some parts of it.
None of the eminent Muslim philosophers, such Farabi, Avicenna,
Suhravardi or Mulla Sadra believe in the partial existence of the soul before
the body; unlike Plato, they do not believe in the pre-existence of soul.
However, some philosophers, such as Qutb al-Din-e-Shirazi, accept this
claim and hold that it is in agreement with religious arguments.29
From the account given by Mulla Sadra, we understand that some of the
Muslim philosophers hold that the immortality of man is purely spiritual.
These philosophers admit that many of the Koranic verses undeniably
discuss the resurrection of the body and the corporeal states, but in their
interpretation, they hold that these verses discuss spiritual issues. Mulla
Sadra argues that, The gates of interpretation are opened to the heart of
some of the Muslim philosophers, and, thus, they interpret the verses which
openly speak of the resurrection of the body, and interpret the otherworldly
terms commanding the body as spiritual issues; their reason is that this group
of verses is addressed to those who have no knowledge of the spiritual
issues, such as the common people, and the Arabic language frequently
employs the metaphor , (the Holy Koran is written in Arabic).30
96
Mulla Sadra is astonished at these philosophers who nevertheless believe

in the Prophet and the Holy Koran, and holds that the secret of their
tendency to accepting this theory is their impotence in demonstrating the
corporeal immortality; because of the difficulty of reaching this goal, they
were unable to prove the possibility of the corporeal immortality and
resurrection. Had they, like Avicenna, only failed to prove the possibility of
corporeal resurrection, they would not have had to resort to interpretation,
but because they declared, on the basis of their convictions, that the principle
of corporeal resurrection was impossible, they opened the door of
interpretation. For whenever a Koranic verse seems in discord with one of
the self-evident principles of reason, the self-evident intellectual principle
will be preserved, and that verse needs to be diverted from its apparent
meaning. For example, if the appearance of some verse speaks of the
corporeality of God, knowing that the intellect does absolutely deny the
corporeality of the Creator, those verses must be diverted from their
appearance, and then the hand of God , for example, must be interpreted as
the power of God .
Ghazzali in his explanation of this theory writes: They say the human
soul has an everlasting subsistence after death, either in a pleasure whose
greatness is indescribable or a pain whose intensity cannot be described.
This pain is everlasting for some, but vanishes after certain time for some
others. The truth is that the soul of the ignorant is in pain for the absence of
spiritual pleasure, but because of its engagement with the body, it becomes
oblivious of itself and forgets its pain, much like a terrified person who is
momentarily unconscious of his pain, or a drunkard who cannot feel the heat
of the fire.
Similarly the soul is defective in its knowledge until its involvement with
the body ceases, as a drunkard s face does not feel the heat of fire it touches,
as soon as drunkenness is lifted feels the sudden attack of intense pain.
Therefore, the soul, which has become perfect by knowledge and has been
released by death from the diseases of the body and its cares, is similar to a
person who had all the delicious food and the most sweetly-scented victuals
all to himself, but because of illness could not enjoy these pleasures, but
suddenly is cured from that illness and can now savour this great sudden joy.
Compared to those intellectual and spiritual pleasures these petty pleasures
are much inferior and insignificant, but man cannot understand those
pleasures through what he has experienced in this world, thinking he who
dies will be immediately resurrected. In contrast, the corporeal forms spoken
of in the divine laws are analogies; because of the impotence of the intellect
Personal Identity
97
of the common people to understand these pleasures, the latter are given by
analogy, and then people are told that the intended pleasures thus described
are much superior to these analogies.31
Ghazzali holds that many of the beliefs of this group are not incompatible
with the religious texts, but their denial of a few issues, he believes, cannot
be in agreement with these texts: The denial of the resurrection of the body,
physical pleasures in paradise, the corporeal pain in hell, the existence of
paradise and purgatory as they are described in the Holy Quran.
Of course, the approaches of philosophers such as Mulla Sadra and
Ghazzali to this theory differentiate,32 though Ghazzali in some places comes
very close to Mulla Sadra s views.33
Now, if according to this view the soul is the criterion of the identity of
the individual in this world and the hereafter, and even the stage prior to this
world, we should define then its characteristics or its peculiar constituting
parts that are not related or compatible with the body. In doing so it should
be noted that in this world man may possesses these three characteristics:
1. Purely physical characteristics, which are not shared by the soul at all,
such as complexion, stature, countenance, etc.
2. Purely spiritual characteristics, allegedly not shared by the body at all,
though it not be an obstacle to the soul, such as grasping the universals.
3. Spiritual characteristics that allegedly cannot be acquired unless through
the body, such as physical pain or pleasure.
Clearly, the first category of characteristics will not accompany the soul
because the body will not exist but the second category of characteristics
will certainly accompany the soul. Therefore, our concern is the third
category of characteristics. Will these characteristics accompany the soul in
the world after death? If the answer were affirmative, the personal identity of
the individual in this world and the individual in the hereafter would be due
to the characteristics of the second and the third categories. Of course, it
should be demonstrated that these characteristics are created by the body in
this world, and the body plays a role in creating and preserving them in
general, and the soul after its release from the body in someway will be able
to preserve those characteristics without the help of the body: In other words,
the body will not be a necessary condition for man to acquire those
characteristics in all the stages.
If the answer, however, is negative the personal identity of the individual
in this world and the individual after death would be dependent only on the
second group of characteristics; after the death of the body, the soul would
be released from all the processes and characteristics in which the body is
98
involved.
For example, is memory one of the characteristics of the second or the
third category? If we assume that memory is dependent on the body, like
many of our psychological functions related and dependent on the body, it
would invariably be left behind after the death of the body, and accordingly
man after death would be much different from man before death. On the
basis of this view, the reality of I constitutes only that reality which
produces the characteristics of the third category, by which I identifies
itself. In many places in his works, Plato speaks of the different parts of the
soul, and because of internal conflict, he holds that it constitutes reason, will,
and lust; he further states that among the three mentioned components, only
the rational part is immortal and the other two parts are mortal.34
Aristotle also initially speaks of the different kinds of souls (the
vegetative, animal, and human souls). He holds that the vegetative soul
performs the functions related to digestion and reproduction, and the sensory
soul possesses the three faculties of sensation, desire and eagerness, and
spatial movement. The imagination is the product of the sensory faculty, and
memory is the further extension of this faculty. The rational soul, however,
is distinguished by the intellect. Except for the intellect, all the faculties of
the soul can be separated from the body and are mortal. Aristotle contends
that because the intellect is essentially actual (an act), it is immaterial, active
(immutable) and is free from any combination, and that it alone is immortal,
eternal and everlasting.35
The Theory of the Return of Spirits to the Body

Avicenna is the most prominent among Muslim philosophers supporting this
theory. By his systematic research regarding the soul and its related subjects,
he advanced this idea to be taken up by future philosophers. Mainly outlined
in al- Shifa, the book of soul and some chapters in al-Isharat wa alTanbihat; Avicenna proved the existence of the human soul, proving the
soul s presentational knowledge of itself, the immateriality of the human
soul, the unity of the substance of soul and its faculties in the organs of body,
and the different faculties of soul. He also discussed dividing the cognitive
faculties of soul into cognitions which need instruments and those which do
not need instruments, different kinds of perceptions, enumerating the
cognitive faculties, enumerating the faculties of the rational soul, proving the
immortality of soul and spiritual bliss and misery. These discussions are
important because they identify the threefold characteristics mentioned
previously so, they are related to the question of personal identity.
Personal Identity
99
As we see, the direction of Avicenna s philosophical efforts leads him to

the immortality of human soul and the illustration of the bliss and misery of
this substantiated existent. However, the question is whether the body
accompanies the human existence in this immortality. Philosophically,
Avicenna considers himself unable to prove the immortality of the body
possessing human. On the other hand, he believes that the religious texts
very clearly denote the immortal somatic life so unlike the proponents of the
previous theory, he refuses the way of interpretation (Ta wil), and
accordingly accepts the immortality and resurrection of the body, citing the
truthful sincere Prophet s speech as his reason. In al- Shifa, in the chapter
about resurrection, he says:
Here, it deserves to study human souls while separating from their
bodies. Then we say: it is necessary to know that some part of resurrection is
that which is narrated by the Sacred Law of Islam, and there is no way to
prove it except through religion and acknowledging the Prophet s speech.
This part is related to the resurrection of the body. The bliss and misery of
the body are clear and do not need to be learnt. The true religion brought to
us by our lord and master Muhammad (S.A.) - peace be upon him and his
progeny - displays the bliss and misery of the body in detail. Another part of
resurrection is that which is understood by reason and demonstration and
also confirmed by the Prophet. This part is the same bliss and misery that
exist for souls (=spirits), though the intellects are unable to perceive it for
some reason. Divine philosophers are more inclined to reach this kind of
bliss than the happiness of the body.
Rather it seems that they do not care for it even if it is endowed to them.
In comparison to closeness to God, they consider this happiness trivial.
Therefore, our attempt is to identify the bliss and misery of the soul, for the
bliss and misery of the body are set aside for religious reasons. 36
Why does Avicenna find himself unable to prove the resurrection of the
body, and consider any road to prove it impossible? This point must be
highlighted to see whether there is a solution to removing this obstacle. How
do the philosophers after Avicenna, believing that proving the resurrection of
the body through reason and demonstration is possible, remove this obstacle
from their approach?
It seems that Avicenna s problem regarding the resurrection of the body
is brought forth as an antinomy with both sides leading to a philosophical
impossibility. If the resurrection of the body is presented in the way
illustrated by Avicenna, its results are not consistent with the principles of
philosophy. If it is so, since these principles cannot be ignored, there is no
100
way to prove the resurrection of the body. The related problems are either
the possibility of transmigration or the collection of two souls in one body
that are both in contradiction with the philosophical principles of the
Peripatetic. Accordingly, we must either do as Avicenna does and believe
that the rational way to prove the resurrection of the body is closed; or,
keeping those philosophical principles, we must add other principles to
demonstrate the resurrection of the body; or basically we must substitute
some other principles for those philosophical principles so that there would
be no obstacles to proving the resurrection of the body.
To explain, by transmigration, it is meant that the human soul, leaving its
material body, enters another one. Avicenna rejects this theory, which has
many followers among the believers in immortality of the soul. Other
prominent philosophers are also in agreement with him. In rejecting the
transmigration, Avicenna argues: The predisposition of a body for accepting
a soul requires that the soul, composed of a non material substance, be
bestowed on the body. If we accept transmigration, it means that the body
has two souls: One soul which consists of a non-material substance by
evolution of the predisposition of each body, this non-material substance
which is the soul, is bestowed on every body without exception. The other
soul, presumably, enters the body upon transmigration. Yet such an event is
impossible, for each body has only one soul.
Of course, this argument hinges on the impossible existence of two souls
in one body, which is required in transmigration. However, there are some
other arguments in rejecting transmigration offered by Avicenna and other
Peripatetic in which there is no such dependence.37
Now according to this theory, if on the Day of Resurrection material
bodies are reconstructed, by evolution of the predisposition of receiving a
soul, each body is required to be endowed with a soul by the non-material
substance. In addition, if the previous originated souls are supposed to
belong to the bodies, we will face the problem of transmigration that is the
existence of two souls in one body.
Confronting such a problem, theologians like Ghazzali admit the
possibility of transmigration in a special way to prove the resurrection of the
body. Of course, he addressed those who argue for the impossibility of the
resurrection of the body, and not philosophers such as Avicenna because
firstly, he does not deny the possibility of the resurrection of the body;
rather, he merely believes that it is not possible to prove this according to his
philosophy. Secondly, without paying attention to the philosopher s
comments on the impossibility of transmigration, Ghazzali sticks to religion
Personal Identity
101
for its possibility and finally reduces the resurrection to the transmigration.
In this case, it is better to follow Avicenna, that is, when transmigration is
rejected, such an impossible thing will not occur on Resurrection Day.
Therefore, if the resurrection of the body is true according to traditions,
certainly, it is not transmigration. Consequently, it cannot be said that we
accept the resurrection whether it be called transmigration or anything else.
Phrasing is not important, but it is the reality of the resurrection of the body
and the return of souls to them that is in contradiction with the theory of
transmigration. Therefore, we accept the resurrection of the body according
to the truthful prophet without depending on any kind of transmigration.
Thirdly, both Ghazzali and Avicenna admit that life after death has two
phases: One phase in which the spirit is active and alive without body (called
isthmus in religious texts), the other phase in which the spirit will again
belong to the resurrected body. Avicenna does not state this explicitly,
although considering the proof he offers for the immateriality of the soul
from its origination to its immortality after the death of the body, and
considering the acceptance of the material dimension in the Day of
Resurrection; inevitably, the spirit must exist in isthmus without any body
neither a material one nor one belonging to the world of similitudes in the
interval of abolishing the body and its resurrection. (According to Avicenna,
body is the condition for the origination of the soul; in other words, the soul
does not exist before the body. Rather, by predisposition of the body for
receiving the soul, non-material substance endows it with a body. The soul is
devoid of matter from its origination; and depending on it, the body
possesses life and acts under the dominance of the soul in the material
world). The Peripatetic philosophers not only reject any proof for the
existence of the world of similitudes, but also offer arguments for its
impossibility. For instance, they argue that a body belonging to the world of
similitudes has a quantitative form and each quantitative form is divisible
and each divisible thing needs the existence of matter.
Now as Ghazzali stipulates, one of the implications of the third point is
that man s personality among intervals of the world, isthmus and hereafter is
only dependent on his soul or spirit; and the body has no role in the reality of
man and his identity. Therefore, we can suppose that the existing man in the
world with the specific body has no body in isthmus at all; and connects to
another body in the hereafter, while at the same time, he is the very man who
has been in the world. Unlike Ghazzali, Avicenna dose not stipulate this
supposition; nevertheless, considering his other statements this supposition
can be attributed to him. (We can refer to the situation in which he describes
102
the naive.)
He says that if the nave are pious and purified, they will reach their
deserved bliss when leaving their bodies. Perhaps in that situation, they may
not be needless of bodies, which are the subjects of their imagination; and it
is not impossible that those bodies be celestial or semi-celestial). 38
Now we face this question: according to this theory what are the
characteristics of the human soul in which the body does not share, that
accompany the spirit in all phases and at the same time, with regard to the
mentioned characteristics, the identity dependent on the soul is considered?
Concerning the soul or the spirit and its branches in the body organs,
Avicenna says: The substance of soul is one in you; rather, it is really you
there are branches and faculties for that substance that are spread throughout
your organs. 39
Then, in the chapter about the kinds of perception, on the basis of the
perfection and imperfection of the perceiver s faculties in immaterializing
the known (= the intelligible), he first divides the perception into four kinds:
Sensation, imagination, fantasy and intellection. Sensation is a kind of
perception whose object is material and also surrounded by special mode of
being and sensible accidents such as space and time, position and quality.
This kind of perception is particular. However, in imagination, the presence
of matter for the perceiver is exempted from the three mentioned features.
Fantasy is a kind of perception whose objects are particular meanings, which
are not sensible, and so two features that are the presence of matter, and
having special mode of being and sensible accidents are exempted from it.
Nevertheless, intellection is a universal perception and acquisition of
concepts, which are devoid of matter, is not conditional upon any of these
three features of sensation.40
In explaining the inner faculties, Avicenna divides them into two groups:
The perceiver faculty and the assisting faculty in perception. What is
significant is that Avicenna introduces bodily instruments for all these
perceptual faculties- that are indeed perceptual faculties of animal soul. For
instance, the instrument of common sense is a spirit located in front of the
brain. (This spirit, called vaporous spirit, is different from the soul). The
instrument of imagination is a spirit located in the front middle part of the
brain in its last part. The instrument of fantasy is all the brain, but its special
position is the middle crevice. The instrument of imagination is located in
the part of the middle crevice. The instrument of memory is located in a
spirit in the last crevice of the brain. Avicenna s rationale that these faculties
are corporeal is that by observation, we find when one of these crevices is
Personal Identity
103
injured the faculty related to that crevice is also effected.

However, Avicenna believed that only intellectual faculties (practical and
theoretical) do not need corporeal instruments considering them as
completely pure faculties of human spirit.41
Moreover, Avicenna reasons that the faculties of imagination and fantasy
are material.42, 43
These views of Avicenna have some implications:
1. The human soul after the death of the body loses most of its worldly
functioning such as most perceptions, at least in the way they occur in the
world.
2. How does the human soul after eradicating the body keep past
memories despite the fact that the faculty of memory is so dependent on the
body, that without bodily instruments, the spirit does not have such a power?
Inevitably, the faculty of memory, at least in the world and after it, has no
role in personal identity.
3. The role of personality or personal identity belongs completely to the
spirit; the body and the somehow dependent faculties have no share in
personal identity.
4. If after the death of the body, there were any pleasure or pain (those
belong to isthmus not to the hereafter) it would be spiritual. Corporeal
delight and pain exist only after the resurrection of the body in the Greater
Rising because they are conditioned to the perceptual faculties that are
somehow dependent on the body.44 However, it is not possible to believe in
corporeal delight and pain after death and at the same time not to accept the
isthmus immateriality of imagination and to insist on materiality because
conceiving the particular delightful and painful forms depends on a
particular faculty to discover them showing a desire or hatred towards them.
Now if the soul conceives the particular by bodily instruments, and
supposing that after death, it loses its bodily instruments, how can one
consider there would be corporeal delight and pain? However, if religious
texts confirm such delight and pain after death, the philosophical views of
Avicenna are not helpful in explaining it.
5. If in Avicenna s philosophy regarding the discussion of personal
identity the role of the body and its relation to spiritual faculties is proved,
the problem arises for Avicenna that when death comes one part of a
person s of the personal identity will depart; that part which is the soul.
The difference between the human soul and the animal soul is only in
having the intellectual faculty and since only the intellectual faculty is
immaterial, destruction and corruption have no way into it, unlike the faculty
104
of imagination which is material. Therefore, all animals are destroyed after

death. He says, Since it becomes clear that all the animal faculties are
dependent on the body they are active only when they are in the body and
consequently animal souls will not survive after the destruction of the
body 45
What follows from the sixth point and is also related to our discussion is
that if some souls do not reach the level of the immateriality of the intellect it
should be determined that they could not survive after the death of their
bodies. Nevertheless, Muslim philosophers unanimously agree that all
human souls are immortal.
That is why in his works, Avicenna presents this problem of the relation
between this group of souls with the theory of celestial and non-celestial
body.46
Of course, the way of spiritual life after death, i.e. life in the form of spirit
without body, and the quality of its conception of itself and others needs
explanation, especially in the philosophy of Avicenna, but this is not related
to our present discussion. Briefly, it is clear that the quality of this life does
not lead to egoism, either metaphysically or epistemologically.47
The Theory of the Spirit and a Body Belonging to the World of
similitudes
The distinguishing factor of the theories in this section from the first and
the second theories is that the former introduce spiritual together with
corporeal immortality and resurrection.
However, the distinguishing factor of these theories from the third and
the fifth theories is that in the discussion of the corporeal resurrection, they
deal with a kind of body which is devoid of matter, unlike the elemental
body which has matter. Suhravardi and Mulla Sadra are the notable
philosophers who present theories in this section, although their theories
differ in other respects, even in the quality of the relation between the soul
and the body belonging to the world of similitudes.
The summary of Suhravardi s views about the reality of human and the
quality of his immortality can be stated as follows:
1. Human temperament is the most complete
temperament is a
moderate quality which is acquired from the contrary qualities of different
bodies in parts; and when the human body achieves this temperament, it
prepares to receive immaterial light from the knowledge granter (=Gabriel).
This light governs and controls the human body.
This light is an administrator named the Lord of the World of the Bodily
Forms (Isfahbud Nasut) which refers to itself by means of I-ness.48
Personal Identity
105
2. This administrator light (= rational soul) does not exist before the
generation of the body; rather, its origination is conditioned to the existence
of the body, while from the beginning of its creation it is immaterial and
luminous.49
3. Five senses have been created for man and other complete animals:
Senses of touch, taste, smell, hearing and sight.
4. Every attribute of the soul of Lordly Light (Nur Isfahbudi) has a
counterpart in the body. For instance, the Lordly Light observes the isthmus
forms and abstracts them from their natural matters and changes them to
luminous universal forms and then conceives them as their substance of
essence deserves; like a person who observes Zayd and Amr and then
abstracts the universal form of humanity from them and predicates it on the
others as well as these two persons. Likewise, a nutritive faculty must
necessarily exist in the body breaking down all the different kinds of food to
a nutritive substance. In the same way, the status of the complete light is to
become the cause and origin of another light.
So, power is achieved in the human body from Lordly Light by which the
body possesses another light that is a generator power. The survival of the
human species depends on this power.50
5. The lordly light does not administer the material body, except by a
proper thing. This is the relation that the lordly light has with a subtle
substance called vaporous spirit posited in the left ventricle of the heart. The
animal spirit is the subtlest elemental body created similar and proper to
properties of light. There is a great relationship between this spirit and the
lordly light; this relation is spread through the body and is the result of its
luminous faculties. The lordly light administers and illuminates the human
body through this relation. Thus, although the lordly light has no space or
dimension, it owns and governs all darknesses of the body (i.e. bodily
faculties). 51
6. What the Peripatetics say about the five senses can be criticized.
The fact is that imagination and fantasy are one thing and one faculty
from different considerations, interpreted in various terms . However, the
faculty of Reminding is in the celestial world (i.e. the faculty of Reminding
comes from the celestial world where all the forms and meanings are
gathered completely and it does not come from the fantastic resource of
memory). However, it is justified to have another faculty in the human body
to which reminding belongs, and that is the faculty of remembrance
(regarding that predisposition of Reminding belongs to it not that fantastic
meanings can be reached to in it). 52
106
7. The fact is that the imaginative and reflexive forms are not impressed
in the mirror of imagination and the like; rather, these forms consist of
suspended bodies (in the world of similitudes) that have no corporeal
position (in other words, these forms stand by themselves and have no
position). Sometimes these suspended bodies have some manifestation, but
they are not real (i.e. they have manifestations like imagination and mirror,
yet they are not in imagination and mirror). Therefore, the source of the form
in the mirror is the mirror and those forms are suspended and have no
position; also, the source of the imaginative form is the imagination, and
those too are suspended imaginative forms 53
8. Beside the intellectual and the material world, there is the world of
similitudes. The world of similitudes is a spiritual world made of a substance
that from one respect is similar to the corporeal substance and is similar to
the intellectual substance from another respect. This substance is like the
corporeal substance in that it is sensible and has dimension and extension
and its commonality with the intellectual substance is that it is devoid of
matter.
9. After the finitude of its body, the administrator immaterial light cannot
be abolished; for it does not cause the destruction of its own essence,
otherwise, it would not come into existence. The cause of its existence - the
omnipotent light - does not destroy it since there is no change.54
10. When the administrator light is not dominated by the worldly and
material occupations, its desire for the holy luminous world exceeds its
desire to for the darkness of the material world (Ghawasigh) and when the
administrative lights are infinite in their effects, the attraction of worldly
occupations will not conceal the luminous horizon from them.
Thus, when the lordly lights dominate the essences belonging to the
darkness of the material world and their desire for the luminous world is
intensified, they reach to a unity with the world of pure light. If the body of
those lordly lights are destroyed and, concerning their complete power and
intensified attraction to the source of life, they are not absorbed in another
body (i.e. transmigration; but, Suhravardi may not mean transmigration in its
common sense), then they become free from the human body, travelling to
the world of pure light, settling there, and joining the holy lights.55
11. When from their corporeal bodies the blessed who are moderate in
knowledge and practice, and the pious who are pure, join the suspended
world of similitudes which is manifested in some supreme world their souls
gain such power that they create spiritual suspended forms of themselves.
Then they will prepare themselves various delicious foods, beautiful faces,
Personal Identity
107
pleasant music and so on which are more perfect than what we have in this
world.56
12. When the unblessed leave their corporeal bodies, according to their
tempers they gain some shades from the suspended forms which are not the
same as the Platonic forms, because the latter are luminous and stable in the
world of intellectual lights while the former are suspend in the world of
ghosts some of which some are dark while others are luminous. The
luminous forms in this world are special to the blessed by which they enjoy
themselves. These forms are like beardless, fair boys while the suspended
forms of the unblessed are dark.
13. Suhravardi says, We call the world of suspended forms with all the
mentioned characteristics the world of immaterial ghosts. The resurrection
of the body and the lordly ghosts and all the promises of the prophets are
actualized by the existence of the world of ghosts.57
14. A body belonging to the world of similitudes administered by the soul
is similar to a sensible body in that all the internal and external senses exist
for it. This is because the perceiver existent is a rational soul, either it
belongs to a sensible body or to a body belonging to the world of
similitudes.58
In brief, in the Illuminationist philosophy an attempt is made to prove
both the resurrection of the body and the spirit. However, the body intended
by Suhravardi is completely different from the definition of the body in the
first and the third views. This difference hinges on be able to prove the world
of similitudes in the Illuminationist philosophy. The spirit does not perish
after the death of the body and there is no duality in the spirit before or after
death. Indeed, the spirit after separating from the worldly material body, in
the world of similitudes joins a body belonging to this world which is similar
to a form reflected in a mirror, except that it is a substantial form dependent
on its essence and unlike the worldly body, its life is essential. Therefore, the
criterion for the identity of the spirit is the same since the spirit belonging to
the world of heavenly forms (i.e. the world of similitudes) is exactly the
same as the one that exists in the material world. The criterion for the
identity of the body exists by unity with the spirit; that is, the same spirit that
has belonged to the material body, is now possessed by a body belonging to
the world of similitudes.59
In this view what is resurrected, as the body after death is not exactly the
personal worldly body; rather, it is another body different from the first one.
In other words, that body belonging to the world of similitudes is not the
body existing in this world and their individuation is not made in the same
108
way.
Now, regarding Avicenna and Suhravardi s views and their attempts to
clarify and explain the resurrection of the body and the spirit, we consider
Mulla Sadra, who came after these esteemed philosophers and reviewed their
earlier ideas and commented on their imperfections:
1. Both Avicenna and Suhravardi believe that human beings in this world
were composed of material and pure spiritual dimensions called body and
spirit. The material dimension is the condition for the existence of the
immaterial dimension that is the body of the spirit, although this not the
condition for the survival of the spirit after its origination. Consequently, if
after reaching a specific predisposition, for some reason the body perishes
after the origination of the spirit, it will continue to exist forever because of
the survival of its cause, which is the immaterial substance. The reason for
this survival is the immateriality of the spirit. Therefore, from its origination,
the spirit or the soul is an immaterial existent. Mulla Sadra does not agree
with this view and he does not interpret the relation between the body and
the spirit as such. Some of his objections are as follows:
A. How is it possible that an immaterial existent, an actualised substance
without any potentialities, belongs to a material body and becomes a place
for accidents?
B. How is it possible that a soul be an unchanged substance from the
beginning of its belonging to the body up to the stage it reaches perfection,
and meanwhile, there is no transformation in its essence and the only
differences between souls are in their accidents?
C. If from the beginning, the soul is pure immaterial, why does it not
possess any perceptual perfections?
D. If the soul is a pure immaterial existent, how is it that it is originated
by the origination of the body?
E. How is it possible that bodily instruments exist before the existence of
their users?
Mulla Sadra s view is briefly that the existential position of the soul in
origination and survival is not the same. On the one hand, the reasons for
immateriality of the soul are valid; on the other hand, in the beginning of its
existence, the soul does not possess different kinds of perceptions.
Therefore, at the beginning, the soul is a material existent that reaches the
level of immateriality by its substantial movement. Accordingly, the
substantial existents are placed in three groups; and before the advent of the
theory of the substantial movement, only the first two groups were
considered:
Personal Identity
109
A. The beings, which immaterially come into existence and do not need
matter in their essences and actions, such as the ten intellects of the ancients.
B. The beings, which materially come into existence and remain material
to their end such as material forms.
C. The beings that come into existence materially but reach the level of
immateriality by substantial movement, such as human souls.
2. The Peripatetic and Illuminationist philosophers argue for the unity of
the human soul and prove some faculties for the soul through the soul s
effusion of different actions some of which are prior to the others; also, some
of these actions are disturbed while some others are effective. Since these
faculties are not independent by themselves and are used by the soul, they
have been called the branches of the soul in the body; therefore, the human
soul does the work, which deserves its own attention, whereas the faculties
do the vegetative and the animal works.
According to Mulla Sadra, while simple, the rational human soul is
comprehensive of all perceptual and inciting faculties.
These faculties are not instruments for the soul by which the soul acts, for
in this supposition, the sources of perceptions and movements are in fact the
faculties and through them, the soul is the source. Rather, the soul is present
in all the three levels of sense, imagination, and intellect, and like common
sense in which the external five senses are gathered, all the faculties are also
gathered in the simple soul and it is united with them. Mulla Sadra says:
A human being is an existent who has different worlds and stations. The
existence of the soul begins from the lowest level and gradually develops
toward intellectual immateriality. The relation between the soul and the body
is not a desirous one so that their composition finally becomes one by way of
annexation; rather their relation is a composition by way of unification. So
the body becomes one of the levels of the soul because the corollary of the
existential connection between two things is as referred to. Therefore, if the
human soul descends from its immaterial and transcendent level to the level
of nature or sense, then it will be the same as the nature and sense; that is,
when it feels, it is exactly the touching organ and when it smells it is the
same as the smelling organ .60
3. As seen, Avicenna relates the five external senses and the internal
senses to the material body and only believes in the immateriality of the
intellectual part of a human. However, in two phases of criticizing the
reasons for materiality of faculties like imagination and of proving their
immateriality, Mulla Sadra believes that all the perceptual faculties of the
soul are immaterial.61 So after the death of the body, man only loses interest
110
in the natural world and material forms, although not forfeiting all relation
with bodily forms. By moving in two dimensions of knowledge and action,
the soul is actualized and through gaining good habits and true beliefs or bad
habits and wrong beliefs, it transforms substantially. By infiltrating into the
soul, the soul takes those characteristics and transforms into an existent that
only has a formal face and is devoid of potentiality and predisposition.
4. By accepting Suhravadi s theory about the existence of the world of
similitudes, Mulla Sadra presents some premises in explaining the
accompaniment of the soul and the body in the world after death.
A. Quiddities have no limitation for having numerous instances when a
quiddity comes into existence in the garment of the external matter, it will be
accompanied by some accidents additional to the essence of the quiddity and
merely show the way of its existence. In fact, the external existence of man
is exactly his accidents; it is not that these accidents are additional to the
material existence of man. Since they are changeable and man is constant, it
can be concluded that they are additional to the quiddity of man, yet they are
exactly the way of his material existence.
B. The criterion for existential immateriality is the perfection and
intensification of the existence; it is not merely the elimination of the
addenda.
C. The nature of everything tends and moves towards its perfect end.62
Regarding these premises, among material natures man has this
characteristic, that by keeping his personal identity he can develop from the
lowest phases to the highest existential levels by substantial movement. Man
possesses various existential levels some of which are natural, some which
are spiritual, and some which are intellectual.
Therefore, from infancy until reaching the level of the stabilization of
imagination, man remains in the natural level, and then he reaches the
spiritual similitude level by existential movement and intensification.
In this level he gains appendages belonging to the world of similitudes,
which do not require matter. Unlike the body belonging to the material world
in which different acts arise from different organs, the substance belonging
to the world of similitudes whose existence is more intensified, possesses an
existential comprehensiveness and one of its appendages can cause various
perceptual and insightful characteristics.
In brief, the soul in comparison to its levels of immateriality is like an
external perceiver that has passed the levels of sense, imagination and
intellect and becomes sensible, imaginative and intelligible.
As the immateriality of the perceiver is not merely the eliminating of
Personal Identity
111
some characteristics and keeping some others rather, immateriality is really

the transformation of an imperfect existent to a superior and more perfect
one the immateriality of man and his transmission from this world to the
other worlds is a transformation of his existence and identity to a more
perfect existence; that is, by the perfection of the soul s essence, all its
faculties also gain the levels of perfection and by its intensification, its unity
and comprehensiveness are also intensified, its body becomes subtler and its
connection to the body becomes stronger. If we accept that man enters the
world of similitudes without having a body, then one must accept that either
all his reality is the soul or all of his reality does not enter the world of
similitudes. Both alternatives are not acceptable.
5. Consequently, one can recognize that unlike the Illuminationist views,
the body belonging to the isthmus and the hereafter are not prepared in
advance. So, the souls belong to them after leaving their material bodies.
This raises questions about both the personal identity in the domain of the
body, and transmigration with these bodies being the concomitants of the
souls; every spiritual and immaterial substance is accompanied with a body
belonging to the world of similitudes, which originates from the spiritual
habits and forms of substances. Although it has dimension this body does not
possess the movements of matters and transformation. Therefore, the
existence of the isthmus body in the world of similitudes is not prior to the
soul; rather, these two accompany each other like a shadow and its owner.
In his works Shawahid al-Rububiya, Mafatih al
Ghayb and Asfar,
Mulla Sadra details eleven, six, and seven principles to prove the objectivity
of the body belonging to this world and to the hereafter.63 These principles
are:
1- The subsistence of every existent depends not on its matter but on its
form; so the effects of that composite depends on its form with the matter
only having the possibility and potentiality of accepting that form; it is a
subject for the movements and actions of the form so that if we suppose that
the mentioned composite can keep its form without the matter, all its reality
will be maintained.
2- The individuation of everything depends on its existence whether it is
immaterial or material. Other things like colour, and other accidents are
among the existential concomitants and signs, which make being A what it
is. Therefore by keeping A s identity one can assume the changes are its
accidents.
3- In the individuation of every human what is valid is his unity of soul,
although his bodily organs change from childhood to adolescence and from
112
that to old age. Therefore as the individuation of man depends on his soul
which is the substantial human form, the individuation of the body and its
organs also depends on the same soul whose faculties flow in those organs.
Thus, so long as the faculties of a particular soul flow in them the hand, foot
and other organs belong to it despite the changes in their characteristics.
As a result, if in the substantial movement of the soul, the body also
reaches existence, the world of similitudes from the natural elemental
existence of the unity of the body is still maintained.
4. Existence is a reality having weak and strong levels and composition
has no way to it.
5. Existence has weaknesses and strengths; that is movement is among
the attributes of existence. In its substantiality, the existence of material
substances are constantly in motion, while at the same time from the
beginning to the end of the substantial movement, they are continuous
mobile existence and personalities, not that every supposed part of this
movement which is one level of the existential levels of a thing exist
separately.
6. The individual unity of every existent is provided by its existence, for
this reason the individual unity of all existents are not alike. For instance, the
individual unity for a line is the very connection and extension and for all
time is renewal and transformation. At the same time the individual unity of
immaterial beings is different from that of material existents.
7. Worlds are divided into three: The world of mobile material forms, the
world of sensible immaterial forms and that of intelligible forms.
8. The faculty of imagination does not penetrate into any part of a body
organ; rather, it is an isthmus-like immaterial faculty.
9. All imaginative forms, even every perceptual form, depends on the
soul and not on the body organs, for the soul is considered as the agent of
perceptual forms.
10. As the agent sometimes makes things quantitative and shapes them
with the contribution of matter, sometimes it does so without matter using
only its efficient perceptual aspects.
We can conclude that the human goal is a transformation from a material
worldly existent to a formal otherworldly one, for the relation of this world
to the other world is the relation of imperfection to perfection. Also, the
otherworldly body is exactly the same as the worldly one, not something
similar nor anything other, because the existence of the soul individuates it
and the soul accompanied with the body belonging to isthmus and the
hereafter is the soul accompanied by the worldly body. These three bodies
Personal Identity
113
are three levels of one body that are distinguished from one another, that is,
one is worldly, and the other two belong to isthmus and the hereafter. They
are distinguished from each other through their weaknesses and strengths;
indeed, they are the levels and transformations of one individual in the same
way that in the world a child s body is distinguished from his adolescent and
the old age body; yet they all are the levels of one body.
Mulla Sadra s approach is more complete than other approaches in
proving the identity of a person existing in this world, its levels and the
hereafter. First, the identity of the worldly and the otherworldly body is
maintained. Second, by proving the immateriality of the spiritual faculties,
the spirit or the soul enters another world with all its levels; in other words,
the whole man leaves the natural world in a way that nothing of his reality
remains in the world of nature and so the whole man enters the next world.
Why does Mulla Sadra declare that the elemental body is invalid in the
resurrection of the body? Perhaps one reason is that if by the arrival of death
the soul separates from the body and loses all its relations with the elemental
body, and if the resurrection is to be interpreted as attaining the
predisposition of the body renewed for the return of the spirit, then it will
raise the problem of transmigration and the false belief caused by it; that is
the return from actualization to potentiality. In fact, in his view, by the
arrival of the natural death, man travels the distance of the world and reaches
his destination, which is the next world.
Another rationale cited by Mulla Sadra is that if the resurrection is
considered to be the return of the spirit to the elemental body, the next world
will be nothing more than this world, whereas the laws of the next world are
different from those of this world and the hereafter can not be defined as a
renewal or reconstruction of this world.
The Theory of the Attachment of the Body to the Spirit

Using Mulla Sadra s principles, Agha Ali Modarres Zanuzi offers this theory
as a complement to Sadra s theory.
A tradition from the Prophet s infallible Progeny inspired him. This
tradition is as follows:
The spirit is in its own position: The righteous spirit is surrounded by
light and comfort while the evil spirit is in darkness and pressure. As it has
been created from dust, the body returns to dust. Bodies that are eaten by the
wild and worms and then excreted, all are kept in the earth by One from
Whose knowledge nothing is hidden in the darkness of the earth and he
knows the number and the weight of all things. The spirituals dust is like
114
gold in the earth; so when the time for the resurrection comes, the rain of life
showers the earth and it grows, then it shakes severely like a leathern bottle
so that the man s dust becomes like the gold taken from the washed soil or
like the butter taken from the stirred milk. Therefore, the dust of each body
is collected by the permission of the Mighty God and transmitted to the place
of the spirit. Then forms return to their previous shapes by the permission of
the form-granter God and the spirits enter them. The human beings are so
reconstructed that no one can deny himself.64
Modarres Zanuzi believes that in resurrection, the elemental dust of the
body exists with the body belonging to the world of similitudes without the
problem of transmigration and the unity of the worldly and otherworldly
body. His account of the resurrection of the body is as follows:
1. A composite is divided into real and subjective. The real composite
has a real unity and in this respect it is included in one of the real kinds. This
composition occurs when there is a relational causality and dependency
among its parts and because of a real unity those parts exist as one. A
subjective composition is a composition in which merely some parts are
placed near others without any real unity dominating this real plurality. A
human being who is composed of the soul and body and whose soul is
composed of various levels of spiritual faculties is an example of a real
unity.
(From this premise to prove the unity of the soul and the material body,
he wants to claim that the body and the soul accompany each other in all
worlds of existence.)
2. Because of its substantial characteristics and the essential habits gained
through action, the soul is the agent of the body while the body is the
grounds for the spiritual habits that the soul gains by proper actions. As in
the beginning of the soul s existence the forms of the organs in a substantial
movement lead the way towards the proper soul (for in its origination, the
soul is corporeal), the soul also makes some forms in its organs proper to the
spiritual aspects (which, in fact, the body organs descend from that world).
So there is a substantial cognation between the soul and the body so that
there are some exchanges of the effects from the soul to the body and vice
versa.
After separating from the world, the soul leaves some effects in the body
through some substantial aspects and essential habits gained in the natural
world. Therefore, after the soul leaves the body, it will indeed be separated
and distinct from other bodies.
4. After the separation from the body, the soul joins the universal soul
Personal Identity
115
suitable to its substance and habits. Also, the body is moving like the other
mobiles by substantial and perfectible movements toward its essential
destination that is the next world. Of course, the mover of this body (that is
its director toward its destination) is the universal soul that affects it through
the particular soul that is cognate with the body
5. When essential movement gathers the dispersed parts of the body and
its plurality changes into unity it is unified with its soul.65
According to this theory, principally after the death of the body, the spirit
only loses its administrative and dominant relation with the body, but the
relation itself is never cut because the relation of the soul to the body is
essential and the very survival of this relation moves the body toward the
position of the spirit.
This prevents the raising of the problem of transmigration, for the body is
only its own soul and is always dominated by it.
In addition, in this theory it is not assumed that the spirit returns to the
body, so the body moves toward the spirit and for this reason, the world in
which they are unified is not the material world.
It should be mentioned that Mirdamad, the last famous Peripatetic
philosopher, agrees with Modarres Zanuzi that after the death of the body the
spirit does not completely lose its relation with the body. Although his
theory can only partially answer Mulla Sadra s first objection and the second
objection can only be solved by Modarres Zanuzi s approach. With regard to
visiting the graves and shrines of the righteous Mirdamad says:
o The rational soul whose substance is from the world of Dominion
(Malakut) administratively dominates the material body in two ways.
o One with respect to the personal matter and the other with regard to the
bodily substantial form. The former is always remaining while the latter is
generated and corrupted. Death destroys the administrative relation of the
soul to the personal with respect to the form only. But, concerning the
matter, which continually accepts different forms, its administrative relation
to the body remains and never corrupts. It is from a material respect that this
relation provides the attachment of the spirit to a form similar to the present
form when by God s permission the spirit returns to the body during the
corporeal resurrection.
It is from this materially remaining relation of the soul to the personal
body that emanation and blessing are gained by visiting the graves and
shrines.66
However according to the literal meaning of religious texts, the theory of
Modarres Zanuzi can be regarded as a development in philosophical
116
explanation, spiritual and corporeal resurrection and immortality, though

there are some queries that hopefully future generations will confront and
answer.
Summary
The importance of the question of personal identity for Muslim philosophers
and theologians in the discussion of immortality is clear. One can see that
Muslim scholars for the most part agree that a human being is composed of a
body and an immaterial entity with the majority of them calling the latter
substance, the spirit, or soul . For this reason, they deal with the problem of
personal identity in the discussion of immortality more than the others
because in the two realms of the body and the spirit personal identity of
every human being in this world and the hereafter should be known. Most
importantly here is proving the identity of the body in this world and the
hereafter; for the bodily characteristics and its pertinent spiritual features are
all related to this issue. Accordingly, there are various explanations of this
problem and the discussions are so arranged that they agree and are in
accordance with the religious texts regarding the body in the next world.
Personal Identity
117
NOTES
1. Ilahiyyat Shifa, Bidar Publications, p.444.
2. Tajrid al Agha id, p.35; al Muhassal, p.518; Shawarigh al- Ilham,
p.52.
3. Sharh Tajrid al Agha id. pp. 14,24.
4. Anwar al-Malakut fi Sharh al Yaghut, p.47; al juwhar al Nadid,
p.20.
5. Majmou a Musannafat sheikh Ishragh, vol. 2,p.119.
6. Sharh Hikmat al Ishragh, p. 210.
7. Al Hashiya Ala Shuruh al Isharat, vol. 2, p.86
8. See Rahigh Makhtum, section 1, vol. 1, p. 258.
9. See al- Asfar al- Arba a, vol. 1 p.65; Usul Falsafeh va Ravesh Realism,
vol. 3,p.385.
10. See al- Asfar al- Arba a, vol. 1 p. 64; Shua Andishe va Shuhud Dar
Falsafeh Suhravardi, p.289.
11. Agha Ali Modarres, Risala Hamliyya, p. 39.
12. Asfar, vol.1, Mughadama.
13. Guzida y-Guhar Murad, Abd al Razzagh Lahiji, p.19.
14. Naghd al Muhassal, Khaje Nasir Tusi, Dar al Adwa , pp. 378-9.
15. The Koran, 36: 78- 79.
16. See Naghd al Muhassal, p.360; Sharh Mawaghif, vol .8, p.289 17.The
Koran, 28: 88.
18. The Koran 55: 26.
19. The Koran, 27: 27.
20. The Koran, 57: 3.
21. See Sharh Mawaghif, vol. 8, p 297.
22. Naghd al Muhassal, p. 390
23. Ibid, 392
24. Ibid, p. 395.
25. The Koran, 2: 260.
26. Allameh Hilli, Kashf al Murad, Muassasa al Nashr al Islami, pp .
402-3.
27. See Sharh Mawaghif, vol. 8, p.318.
28. See al-Asfar, vol. 9, p.158.
29.Ghutb al Diin Shirazi, Sharh Hikmat al Ishragh, pp. 447 451 30.Al
Asfar, vol. 9, pp.172-3, 214-215.
31.See Tahafut al Falasafa, trans. Ali Asghar Halabi, pp. 284-291 32.See
al- Asfar, vol. 9, p.215; Tahafut al falasafa, p.307.
33. Mulla Hadi Sabzevari, al Asfar (Marginal Notes), p. 215.
118
34. The Republic, book 4, from article 435 onward: Timaeus, articles 69-70.
35.
36. Avicenna, al Shifa (Ilahiyyat), article 9, chapter 7, p 423; Guzida-yGuhar Murad, pp. 336-7.
37. See al Isharat wa al Tanbihat, Namat 8, chapter 17.
38. Ibid.
39. Ibid, Namat 3, chapter 6.
40. Ibid, chapter 8.
41. Ibid, chapter 9-10.
42. Al shifa ( Tabi iyyat ) , vol .2 , article 4,pp.167-171 .
43. See al Mabahith al Mashrighiyya, vol 2, p. 340.
44. Guzida-y- Guhar Murad, p.113.
45. Al Shifa (Tabi iyyat), article 6, chapter 4.
46. Al- Isharat wa al Tanbihat, vol.3 Namat 8, chapter 27.
47. The word solipsism generally refers to any theory that emphasizes the
self. In metaphysical solipsism it is sometimes said, only I exist or the
whole reality is I. The reason for this theory is that every claim concerning
existence and non existence has its basis in experience; the experience
belongs to a person who owns it. So the existential claims cannot be true
unless they exist through the experience and the states of the self. In
epistemology the concept of the self and its states are considered as the only
real object of knowledge and the origin for the possible knowledge of the
existence of others. Unlike the metaphysical solipsism, this epistemological
theory has many adherents. However, the philosophers often do not consider
this theory reasonable though it is not easy to reject it.
48. Hikmat al shragh, pp.199-200.
49. Ibid, pp, 20l-3.
50. Ibid, pp. 203-6.
51. Ibid, pp. 206-7.
52. Ibid, pp. 208-211.
53. Ibid, pp. 211-216.
54. Ibid, pp. 222-3.
55. Ibid, pp. 223-4.
56. Ibid, pp. 229-30.
57. Ibid, pp. 234 5.
58. Ghutb al Din Shirazi, Sharh Hikmat al Ishragh, p. 518.
59. See Mulla Hadi Sabzevari, Manzuma, p. 346.
60. Mulla Sadra, Asar, vol .8, pp. 133-6.
61. Ibid, pp. 234 41.
Personal Identity
62. Ibid. , vol. 9. pp. 94-100.
63. Mulla Sadra, Asar, vol. 9, pp. 185-196; Mafatih al
60; al Shawhid al Rububiya, pp. 261 7.
64. Tabarsi, al Ihtijaj, p. 350.
65. Risala Sabil al Rishad.
66. Mirdamad, Ghabasat, pp .455-6.
119
Ghayb, pp. 59 5
120
The Basic Principle in Ibn Sina s Ontology

Dr.Reza Akbarian
Abstract
The study of existence is the pivotal principal of Ibn Sina s philosophical
system. Ibn Sina s opinion about existence is based upon the difference
between quiddity (mahiyyat) and existence (wujud). This principle is so
important that he builds much of his discussions on theology and ontology
upon it. Following al-Farabi, Ibn Sina considers existence a metaphysical
element, distinguished from quiddity. From his point of view, quiddity
is exactly the presence of the contingent within the knowledge of God.
Unless God grants his existence, essence will never come into existence.
Ibn Sina was well aware of the religious concept of creation. Having been
inspired by religious texts, he establishes a principle in his philosophy that
has been followed by the Islamic philosophy thereafter. To know God as the
only existent, within whose realm non-existence is not allowed, means the
acceptance of God as the pure existence, and that nothing may be found
beyond Him. The logical requirement for such a sentence is to prove the
existence of God by means of a new reasoning which Ibn Sina names the
veracious reasoning (Burhan Siddiqin).
It is inconceivable to claim that such reasoning is presented by
philosophers like Plato and Aristotle, who do not consider God the very
existence and do not present the relationship between God and the universe
as the central reason for existence and who do not believe in creation.
This article studies the question of existence from Ibn Sina s point of
view in order to clarify the reason why the metaphysical difference between
quiddity and existence neglected by Aristotle, was Ibn Sina s main
concern and the reason why Islamic philosophy have taken grand steps
toward correcting the consequences of this problem. This was the basis of
Ibn Sina s ontology.
122
Introduction
Ibn Sina s metaphysics deserves thorough study. In his works, there are lots
of conclusive and genuine material concerning the manner of belief in the
Supreme Existence and His Attributes, the distinction between the First
cause and the world of existence, the question of creation and perpetual
creation (creatio continua), immateriality and eternity, and the immortality
of the soul.
It must be recognized that Ibn Sina explained the most fundamental
concepts in metaphysics and epistemology and has delineated their limits
precisely.
Ibn Sina considers the question of existence as the most fundamental
problem in his philosophical meditation. Undoubtedly, a true understanding
of his philosophical system rests upon an exact analysis of this question.
What distinguishes Ibn Sina s philosophy from Greek philosophy is that he
bases his philosophy on a conception of the Divine existence, while Plato
and Aristotle never did so. From Ibn Sina s point of view, God, or the pure
existence, is the source and creator of all objects. Such a conception of God
has a total relationship with his view on existence. As a result, by proposing
new philosophical principles Ibn Sina reconstructs the intellectual and
theoretical heritage of Greek philosophy and attempts to explain many
religious principles and subjects through reasoning.
What follows in this article is a brief survey of Ibn Sina s views on the
question of existence. Consisting of three sections, the first section studies
the relationship between existence and the subject of metaphysics, the
second section analyses the distinction between quiddity and existence
as the most fundamental principle in Ibn Sina s ontology and in the third
section, the philosophical consequences of this principle are presented.
A .The Concept of Existence and the Subject of Metaphysics

One of the important points that can be both studied comparatively and
analyzed historically is existence as the subject matter of metaphysics. Ibn
Sina s answer to the question of existence, which is the main issue of
philosophy, differs from that of Aristotle. Ibn Sina considers metaphysics as
the knowledge of existence, and divides existence into the necessary and the
contingent. From his viewpoint, a philosopher analyses both the Necessary
Existence and its attributes, and the contingent existence.
Ibn Sina refutes the theory that God is the subject of Divine knowledge.1
The Basic Principal in Ibn Sina's Ontology
123
In his opinion, the subject of metaphysics is being qua being (Mujud

bema howa Mujud), that is the general or absolute existence and not
existence in the absolute sense . Such existence is absolute and free from
all restriction. So metaphysics is not a science whose subject is one of the
existents like the sensible existent or the intelligible or even the absolute
existent; rather, its subject is the absolute existent that neither has a physical
restriction, nor is a mathematical being, nor even a Divine Existence.2
Aristotle considers metaphysics as the science of existence as well, but he
considers the existent, as substance.3 For Aristotle, the existent and the
substance are the same. Aristotle, sees in substance all forms of being,
intellect, soul, matter, form and body and does not consider accidents
independent of substance, but establishes substance as the subject of
metaphysics. As a result, he defines philosophy as the science of substance
and of the essence of objects. But Ibn Sina didn t consider substance as the
subject of philosophy. He contended that since substance, being quiddity, is
a contingent existent metaphysics should not to be confined to the study of
only the contingent.
On this basis, Aristotle considers the ten categories, as categories of
existence and not categories of quiddity, while Ibn Sina following Farabi,
takes contingent existents to be consisting of two intellectual analytical parts,
namely existence and quiddity. Then, based on quiddity, he divides
them into ten categories of substance and accident. One should not consider
this division as a minor change in one of the branches of philosophy, since
this division turns out to be the source of many fundamental issues in Islamic
philosophy, which cannot be found in Greek philosophy.
A word playing a key role in Ibn Sina s ontology and considered the
pivotal point of his philosophical discussions is the word existent (mujud),
and not existence (wujud). By dividing existent into the necessary and the
contingent, Ibn Sina introduces the concept of the existent since it functions
as a pointer to the existent itself. This is because the pure existent, without
considering other aspects, is not divisible into the necessary and the
contingent. What can indeed be divided into the necessary and the
contingent is the concept of the existent insofar as it points to an existent that
may be essential or non essential. Thus one must accept that Ibn Sina
remains within the domain of Aristotelian metaphysics, which is primarily
and directly concerned with the existent and not existence. Transition
from the existent to existence is Mulla Sadra s existential characteristic.
This reveals the primary importance that he places on existence as the actual
124
existence.
Not considering the distinction between existence and quiddity and
the division of the existent into necessity and contingency sufficient for
explaining philosophical problems, Mulla Sadra establishes the notion of the
principality or the fundamental reality of existence as the basis of his
metaphysical system.4 On this basis he moves from frequent conceptual
discussions in past philosophies to discussions of existence. He
consistently emphasizes the necessity of differentiating between the two
meanings of existence, that is, the existent, which is the philosophical
secondary intelligible, and the concrete and external reality of existence.5 By
transition from the concept of existence to the reality of existence, he ceases
to consider the combination of existence and quiddity as the criterion for the
contingent need and its difference from necessity. He propounds possibility
in the sense of need (imkan i faqri) for essential possibility (imkan-i
mahuwi), and instead of the distinction between the referents of necessity
and contingency, which are both considered existent, he proposes the
distinction between the stages of the reality of existence.6 Moreover, not
finding the distinction between existence and quiddity consistent with the
basis of the principality of existence, and neither finding it sufficient for the
need of the world to God, he sets out the above principle as the foundation of
Burhan Siddiqin in his philosophy. In this way, he inspires the spirit of Ibn
Sina s argument in its principality of existence and through this recreation
releases himself from dividing existents into the necessary and the
contingent, which is related to the principality of quiddity.
B. The Distinction between Quiddity and

Fundam-Ental Principle in Ibn Sina s Ontology
Existence
as a
Ibn Sina s theory of existence is based on the distinction between quiddity

and existence. According to Aristotle, this is a logical distinction7; but Ibn
Sina extends this distinction, altering it to an ontological one. There is no
reason for Aristotle to move from the domain of logic to the domain of
metaphysics.8 The world, from his point of view, is both eternal and
necessary so that in the other world proof of the reality of an essence means
proving its existence. In this regard, E. Gilson says that in the rationale of the
Islamic philosopher Ibn Sina, it is not like that; he is well aware of the
Jewish Christian concept of creation and with the concept of the real gap
which exists, both in reality and in logic, between essence and existence.
Essence is exactly the presence of the contingent before the knowledge of
125
God, and that essence, in itself, does not contain the reason of its real
existence. If God does not grant him real existence, essence shall never come
into being. To understand the concept of God, one must conceive of Him as
an existence in whose case this problem does not apply, and the only way to
fulfil this point is to think of God as if he has no essence, or, using Ibn Sina s
word, quiddity.9
To emphasize the distinction between existence and quiddity or
essence, 10 Ibn Sina follows the idea of Farabi. Based on this distinction, he
introduced into Islamic philosophy the concept of existence as a
metaphysical element distinct from quiddity. Doing so, he has gone much
further than Aristotle and has led the analysis of the concept of existence
beyond the domain of substance into the domain of actual existence.11 He
shows that appending a non individuated and general quiddity to another
non-individuated, general quiddity does not prompt its individuation. From
his perspective, the criterion of individuation may not be sought in the
appending and conjunction of quiddities. Individuation is the essential
property of existence and quiddity is only determined within the domain of
existence.
This statement is considered a turning point in the history of
philosophical thought, since before its time philosophical discussions were
based on the idea that external existents must be identified only by means of
quiddities. In fact, quiddity was the fundamental basis of philosophical
discussion, while after Farabi, the attention of philosophers turned towards
existence, and they came to understand that concrete existence has special
properties that cannot be understood by means of essential properties.
While discussing existence in his Metaphysics,12 Aristotle explicitly
distinguishes two kinds of existence. By existence, he means substance. The
theory of existence in Aristotle s philosophy cannot be studied
independently of his theory of substance. Substance, in Aristotle s opinion,
is either pure form, if it is non-material, or it is the unity of form and matter,
if it is body. According to Aristotelian philosophy, each of them, is an
existent by itself, which is independent of others in order to survive.
Aristotle considers the contingent a mobile existent composed of potential
and action, which in the end leads to necessary existent, that is the first
Unmoved Mover the great cause of actualizing potential. The first mover is
the everlasting principle of the everlasting motion, which moves the world as
the final cause, meaning that it belongs to desire and love. In Aristotle s
view, if the first mover, as the efficient cause, were the cause of motion, then
126
it would undergo change as well.

As a result, one must not take the relationship between the necessary and
the contingent in Aristotle s philosophy as if the contingent were the created
thing of the necessary and the necessary its creator and creative efficient
cause.
Specifically attributed13 to some Mu tazilite scholars who do not believe
the contingent essence having subsistence before its existence,14
contingencies, in the sense that Ibn Sina attributed to beings is not the same
contingency that Greek philosophers believed in. Undoubtedly, in Plato s
view, the multiplicity of the visible world with regard to the unity of the
world of Ideas is like a contingent subject. According to Aristotle, those
existents subjected to the process of realization in the world are in the
process of being contingent in relation to the necessity of the first
immovable mover. But we have no way of proving the equivalence of
contingency for Ibn Sina and for Greek philosophers. The conception of
contingency in Ibn Sina s philosophy is not possible before realizing the
special belief in the Lord creator, who brings objects into existence from
non-existence by the simple word "Be".
2- Ibn Sina theory of Causality differs from that of Aristotle in that Ibn
Sina considers the agency of the Truth as a creative and inventive agency.
Invention is something that becomes the origin as a creative and inventive
agent. Invention is something that becomes the origin of the existence of
another thing without the intermediary of matter, tool, or time. When
analyzing the relationship between the sensible, changing world and the pure
actuality, Aristotle considers pure actuality as the final cause of existents. 15
The pure act is not the efficient cause of the world rather He is the pure
thought having knowledge of himself, which means that He is thought of
thought, but has closed the door to the world and has nothing to do with it.
Aristotle considers the world eternal.
Ibn Sina accepts this idea but interprets it according to his own
philosophy. Naturally Ibn Sina does not accept Aristotle s theory, because
for him God is the creator of the world and the source of the existence of
everything, 16 and that is why he rejects the theory that the world is eternal
and uncreated. Ibn Sina challenges Aristotle on this point. On the one hand,
he takes God as the creator, the guardian, and the intelligent Designer of the
world and, on the other hand, he rejects the infiniteness and the eternity of
the world.
Ibn Sina s idea about the origination of the world is closely related to his
127
conception of the possible (contingent) and the necessary existent. In his

opinion, the origination of the world exactly means that between two totally
different existents that is, that which is necessary in itself and that which is
contingent in itself, but becomes necessary through relationship with the
necessary existent there is an intermediate process known as origination.
As a result, the world is contingent and God is pre-eternal.17
Origination, in this sense, could not have been conceivable for Aristotle,
since the world he is concerned with is one whose non-existence is
inconceivable. There is no place for the concept of distinction and of the
relationship between the necessary and the contingent in such a metaphysical
system.
In criticizing and challenging the views of theologians, whose arguments
on the existence of the creator is based on the temporal contingency of the
world, Ibn Sina considers the combination of existence and quiddity and the
precedence of existence over non existence as the necessary condition for
the potential of an object to be created.18 In Ibn Sina s opinion, invention is a
higher stage of creation and evolution. So the existence of the world, be it
eternal or non eternal and whether having a temporal beginning or not, in
any case, requires a Maker. Both in origination and in survival, the world
requires a Maker.
3- In Ibn Sina s ontology, the discussion of the necessary and the
contingent has a close relationship with his theology. Ibn Sina s theology,
based on the ontology of the necessary and the contingent, has been
presented in various ways in al-Shifa, al-Nijah and al- Isharat, and his other
writings.19 The basis of this division is the distinction between existence and
quiddity, which is regarded as one of the central philosophical problems. In
Ibn Sina philosophy, the discussion of the necessary and the contingent
naturally leads to the discussion of the necessary existence in itself, which is
beyond the world of contingencies, and is exempted from any type of
composition, including the composition of existence and quiddity. In Ibn
Sina s opinion, the essential characteristic of such a being is the necessity of
existence and the reason for his existence has a logical relationship with this
attribute.
Ibn Sina establishes the concept of the necessary existent as the
foundation of his theology. Among the names and attributes used in religious
texts, the one closer to necessary existent is self-sufficient or intense.
He always emphasizes that the necessary existent is pure existence and
absolute entity and does not consist of quiddity. This is because whatever
128
has quiddity is a cause, while an absolute existence, which is essential in it,

is not a cause. Such a being is the Truth and anything other than Him is
false. The Truth is the one whose existence comes from Him.20
In his interpretation of Surat -al-Tawhid , which contains his viewpoint
concerning the knowledge of the Truth, His Names, and Attributes, Ibn Sina
points out the above-mentioned truth.21 Then, under the Holy verse Allahal-Samad (Allah is he on whom all depend), he attempts to interpret the
meaning of samad , the impenetrable, which is totally compatible with the
concept of Necessary Existence. 22
In this way, inspired by religious texts, Ibn Sina proposes a principle in
this philosophy, which is then followed in Islamic philosophy. He considers
God as the sole being in whose realm there is no room for non-existence,
meaning that quiddity and existence are identical in God. This principle
became an effusive source for Islamic philosophy, so much so that all studies
done afterwards can be considered as its results. Such an idea cannot be
found in the philosophical systems of Plato and Aristotle so the source of
this idea must be sought in Farabi. Existence in this metaphysical system is
something that cannot be explained and accounted for by means of the
essential nature of quiddity. This is true in the case of all contingent
existents. God, and only God is absolutely simple in his existence.
By simple, Aristotle means a form, which is not mixed up with matter.
He considers the first mover pure actuality in which one can find no
composition, no potential or matter, no change or motion, and no recipient or
agent. In Ibn Sina s philosophy, and after him in all Islamic philosophy,
simplicity is proved more precisely for the supreme God, which requires
rejection of any type of compositions, even composition of the rational
analytic parts. On this basis, the necessary existent is neither to be made
definite nor to be proved; no composition of existence and quiddity exists in
his essence and no composition of genus and differentia is attributable to his
essence.23
4 The concepts of unity and creation are concepts explicitly presented
in Islamic philosophy. Ibn Sina s philosophy, the discussion of unity and
multiplicity inevitably leads to the discussion of the First principle of
existence, which is the same as the one in the absolute sense, 24 and there is
nothing like him. laysa kamithlihi shaiy 25 (Nothing similar to likeness).
Ibn Sina did not acquire the concept of monotheism from the prevailing
tradition in Greece. In none of the philosophical systems of Greece, does one
find a single existence called God upon whom the existence of the whole
129
world depends. Never was such success was achieved, even through the
Divine knowledge of which Plato and Aristotle boasted.
According to Plato in Timaeus Dialogue, there is the Demiurge who
cannot be considered the principle of principles, since ideas are above and
beyond him, and the Demiurge, by considering the ideas as a prototype,
designs the world by copying them.26 The Timaeus indicates Plato s attempt
to recognize a God, who even though he occupies the first rank amongst the
Gods, nevertheless counts as one of them. The Demiurge, according to what
we see in the Timaeus, cannot be a religious God. One cannot obtain the
concept of creation from Plato s view of the Demiurge.
The same holds true with Aristotle; even though the concept of a single
th
God may be found in Aristotle s works, in the 10 book of Metaphysics,
27
one encounters polytheism. Aristotle s God, compared to the God of Islam
is a separate, immovable mover who is pure and has not brought our world
into existence,28 while the God of Islam is pure existence, and the giver of
existence to the world, and the creator of the world. From a philosophical
point of view, the multiplicity of the immovable mover is not impossible,
while in Ibn Sina s philosophy the Necessary Existent is essentially free
from any kind of multiplicity.
5 To prove the reality of monotheism, which is a rational issue in nature
and is one of the most important intelligible concepts, Ibn Sina makes
attempts to grasp an accurate concept of God. This is because the nature of
this truth, which has a decisive effect on the evolution of philosophical
thought, becomes clearer by the attempt to relate the question of the essence
of God to the question of his unity. The reason that Greek philosophers were
not able to understand the unity and the oneness of God and make it the basis
of their principles is that they did not recognize God in the true sense, which
is incompatible with plurality. God in Aristotelian philosophy is the first
mover and is devoid of any change and motion; that is, God is the pure
actuality and separate from matter.29 In Ibn Sina s opinion, instead, God is a
being without any kind of need and dependence on another and is selfexistent
and
self-sufficient.
Ibn
Sina
goes beyond the distinction between material and immaterial, as stipulated
in Aristotle s philosophy, and grasps to the distinction between necessity and
contingency. The criterion presented by Aristotle to clarify the distinction
between material and non- material substance cannot explain the distinction
between God and material and immaterial substance. Ibn Sina considering
God as necessary, and all other than God -be it material or immaterial- as
130
contingent, is able to prove the belief in God philosophically and

intellectually.30
The God, which Ibn Sina seeks to know and considers the source of all
objects, is not itself one of the abstract universal concepts, neither does its
content in any way conform to such concepts. God is beyond all imaginable
and sensible forms and all concepts that we may have of him. There is no
possible definition for his essence, since he dose not have genus and
differentia.31 No reference to him is possible but through pure intellectual
Gnosticism.32 God is the actual absolute existence with regard to pure
actuality. Reason cannot apprehend his innermost core and the truth of such
an existence. He has a reality without a Name. His necessity of existence and
the absolute unity are either lexical explanation of that reality or a
requirement of His requirements.33
Ibn Sina considers the perfection and the infiniteness of the Divine Truth,
which are interdependent, as two necessary aspects of an existence who is
necessarily existent and for whom existence is essentially necessary. To
prove the infiniteness of the essence of the truth and his names, Ibn Sina
begins his contemplation from the concept of existence and concludes that
one must accept the necessity of an existence, which is the first being.
Afterwards, he meditates upon other attributes of the first being and proves
that he is the efficient cause, and has knowledge and will; he is
knowledgeable about his own essence and about all the objects in the
world.34
Ibn Sina s opinion in this regard differs from that of Aristotle. Aristotle
asserts that the subject of God s knowledge is the same as the Divine
essence, 35 and proposes God s knowledge as his knowledge of his own
essence. But Ibn Sina is a Muslim sage and does not accept such a concept
of God, which is totally inconsistent with the omniscient, present and
observant God of the Koran. Ibn Sina explicitly claims that God is aware of
his essence, and because He is the efficient cause of every thing, He is
knowledgeable about whatever emanates from him; He even knows
particulars. In the language of the Quranic verse, he declares: Not the
weight of an atom becomes absent from Him in the heavens or in the earth.36
Ibn Sina accounts for such knowledge by recognizing the first causes of
particulars. Since particulars necessarily originated from their cause, the
First existent, who is knowledgeable about these causes and their
consequences, is necessarily knowledgeable about particulars themselves. 37
In addition to proving knowledge, will and other attributes of God, Ibn
131
Sina also proves that His essence contains these attributes infinitely. To
achieve such a conclusion implies having the most perfect conceivable
concept about God.38
6- Ibn Sina regards God as the pure act of existence, while Aristotle
considers him the pure act of thought. Ibn Sina always emphasizes the point
that if by pure act one means the pure act of existence, then the totality of the
actuality of existence makes the infinite existence, one beyond which
nothing may be found. The logical necessity of such an idea is the proof of
God by a new argument that is called Burhan i Siddiqin, the first version,
which was presented in chapter four of al-Isharat wa l Tanbiha (Remarks
and Admonitions). In the words of earlier scholars and Ibn Sina s
contemporaries, the arguments in this book were unprecedented and were for
the philosopher a great source of pride.39
With the arguments detailed in this book, Ibn Sin opens a new chapter in
Islamic philosophy in proving the existence of God, paving the way for the
appearance of a fundamental theory in the discussion of God; a theory
enabling us to conceive the existence of the world, assuming the existence of
God.
Not a trace of this argument can be ascertained from the Greeks. Plato
and Aristotle, who did not consider God as the very existence, were not be
able to present such an argument to prove the existence of God; this idea was
wholly initiated by Islamic philosophers.. Utilizing a pure rational analysis
and independently from the interference of objects and created beings, Ibn
Sina both proves the existence of God and states God s pre-knowledge over
all incidents at the same time, he shows that the whole world is contingent
and becomes necessary by assuming the existence of God.
7- Ibn Sina s approach to interpreting the world is completely related to
the distinction between the necessary and the contingent, and the ensuing
distinction between quiddity and existence. Ibn Sina founds his ontology
upon this distinction. This distinction is important because on this basis, Ibn
Sina regards God as the very existent.
Inevitably, our interpretation of the world changes. It is only God whose
existence is real. Apart from Him, all are contingents and do not hold a
position higher than a contingent position. In every moment of their
existence, they require a necessary existent who, by perpetually shining his
light upon them, bestows the station of existence on everything.
The world that Ibn Sina conceives of on the basis of the teachings of the
Qur an and Hadiths, which is presented by Islamic philosophers in a
132
philosophical language, differs from that of Plato and Aristotle. The

Aristotelian world is an eternal and everlasting one and has an everlasting
necessity where a Supreme God has not created the world; such a world is
actually existent and the possibility of its non- existence is inconceivable. In
contrast, Ibn Sina is aware of the Islamic concept of creation.
He constantly attempts to reveal the contingent aspect of all created
beings with regard to the necessary creator; in this way, he remains faithful
to a principle, which is fundamental in Islam. That is why Ibn Sina s
conception of such a world can be regarded as one of the chief elements of
Islamic philosophy.
As a result, the world in his view is a contingent existent which requires a
cause, if it is attributed to existence. It is not the case that the world
comprises a pre-eternal matter with forms bestowed from the Giver of forms
or that the world simply owes its motion to the First Principle. Rather, the
world owes its total entity to God. In Ibn Sina s opinion, God, and only God
is necessary in his existence, and the existence of other objects is contingent.
That is why they all emanate from the existence of God.40
8
After the problem of necessity and existence, there is hardly a
problem more important than the problem of motion in Islamic philosophy.
This is one of those cases that show how, because of delving into some
issues common to both philosophies, Islamic philosophy has been more
fruitful than Greek philosophy. Ibn Sina came to believe that motion does
not simply mean the possibility of various modes of existence in beings that
come into being constantly, and then disappear. Rather, he believes, motion
means the essential possibility of existence in the very being, which undergo
change. He, who believed in the God of Islam, introduced the distinction
between existence and quiddity in order to illustrate the eternal world, which
according to Aristotle persisted outside of God and without God. In this way,
he managed to prove that the world was in fact created. In his opinion, all
contingent and sensible beings possess a kind of decline (u ful), since their
existence depends on another. In al- Isharat wa al-Tanbihat, Ibn Sina refers
to the opinions of thinkers concerning the necessity and the contingence of
external existents and states the truthful word based on the holy verse la
ohib al-afilin (I do not love the setting ones).41
This essential contingency makes the world be it material or immaterial,
but owing to its connection to the metaphysics gain a new manifestation
which is very important, and we come to realize its importance when we
propose the problem concerned with the existential agentives of the Truth.
9-By accepting the problem of creation, which is explicitly found in

religious sources and texts, Ibn Sina totally departs from Greek philosophy.
In numerous verses, the Qur an refers to God as the creator of everything
and emphasizes His absolute power. Also, in contrast with the gods of the
polytheists, it regards creativeness and power as the exclusive attributes of
God.42 The first verse sent down upon the Prophet of Islam in order to
declare to him the mission bestowed upon him on monotheism starts by
pointing out the problem of creation.43 The Holy Qur an regards creation and
command as the sole property of God,44 and states so about the manner of
creation. (His command, when He intends anything, is only to say to it: Be,
so it is) 45
There is no sign of philosophy in these verses, yet meditation upon these
verses, which denote His action, has had a deep influence upon the
philosophical thinking of Muslims.
Belief in creation must not be attributed to Aristotle and Plato, because
accepting the first principle of the whole existence, as Plato and Aristotle
believed, only provides the answer to the question of why the world is as it
is, but it does not clarify why the world exists. In Timaeus, Plato portrays the
Demiurge as giving everything to the world without giving its existence.46
Plato, contrary to Muslim philosophers, cannot accept that God may bring an
object from non-existence into existence simply by saying, Be . In Plato s
view, the activity of the Demiurge is giving form, not giving existence. At
the same time, the first immovable mover, in whom Aristotle believes, is
considered the cause of all other than God. However, one should not
attribute the belief in the origin of the creation of the world to Plato. In his
philosophy, he does not discuss the relationship between the first cause and
existence. He reaches the truth that God is the final cause of the world.
Aristotle however, did not comprehend that God is the very existence, so it is
possible to excuse him for his ignorance in accepting creation.
10- In Ibn Sina s philosophy, the world is conceptualized in such a way
that God not only grants existence to it, but also maintains it at each
moment. Such a world depends on a will that is permanently determined to
create it. Ibn Sina is completely aware of the Islamic concept of the
permanent relationship between God and the world.
Based on such an interpretation of the world, one must note that objects,
not only based on their forms and the combination of these forms with each
other, but also based on their existence, are not confined to essence. Since
134
the created world has possibility by itself and is essentially preceded by non
existence, it is continually and automatically heading towards non existence,
and at no time can it get rid itself of non existence, unless an existence is
granted to it, which it can not grant itself, nor can it maintain for itself. In
this world nothing may exist, be it the cause of an action or be it exposed to
a reaction, without its existence and realization and its action and reaction
having originated from an absolute, self subsistent, immovable, infinite
existence.
11- Ibn Sina s opinion about the relationship of the world with God differ
from that of Greek philosophers, which is why the arguments for the
existence of God attain new meanings. Since Ibn Sina accepts the
creativeness and the essential possibility of the world as two fundamental
principles in his philosophy, one can clearly interpret the arguments to prove
the existence of God based on the recognition of the world. Sometimes
quoting from Aristotle exactly, nevertheless Ibn Sina advanced his ideas
differently than Aristotle. In the world portrayed by Aristotle, God and the
world are parallel to each other from pre-eternity to eternity. Unlike
Aristotle, Ibn Sina s view denotes an Islamic tradition, for the God of this
sage is not considered as the first being of the world; rather, he is the First
with respect to the existence of this world and is its causer and creator.
Proving the existence of God through His artefacts implies accepting His
existence as the creator of the world, and it implies the acceptance of the
idea that the efficient cause of the world cannot be anything but its creator.
The point to be accepted as a general chapter in Islamic philosophy is that
the concept of creativeness is the foundation of any type of argument
proposed by Islamic philosophers to prove the existence of God. Like any
other Islamic thinker, Ibn Sina establishes a relationship between cause and
effect, which is the means of connecting the world to God by taking
existence into account.
In his view, there is no doubt that whatever exists owes its existence to
God. In Ibn Sina s opinion, the creative power of God, with respect to any
act, does not involve any matter to which that act applies. Being a potential
existence, how can matter be considered a condition, making the act of
existence conditional upon itself? In fact, everything, including the matter
itself, is subject to the act of creation. Thus, one must accept that God is the
cause of the existence of nature before being the cause of any other event in
nature. As a result, all the arguments put forward by Farabi and Ibn Sina and
following them, by all other Islamic philosophers to prove God as efficient
135
cause, prove the creative power of God as well.

12-Even though he uses of wordings of Aristotle s argumentation, the
argument proposed by Ibn Sina to prove the existence of God under the title
of the First mover has its own specific meaning, which cannot belong but to
any other but Ibn Sina s philosophy. Aristotle s argument on motion does
not imply the proof of the existence of a God who has created the world
preceded by non-existence; it only proves the existence of a God who is the
ultimate end of all beings;47 and attracts beings towards himself.48
In Aristotle s view, what set skies and stars into motion is their own
desire towards God, while in Ibn Sina s view the affection and the favour of
God towards the world is the origin of creation. The same kind of distinction
existing between the final cause and the efficient cause also exists between
these two kinds of causation. Even though Ibn Sina refers to Aristotle
regarding the problem of the efficient cause, since the concept of efficiency
does not have identical reference within these two philosophies, it must be
acknowledged that the argument proposed by him to prove God as the
efficient cause totally differs from that of Aristotle.
The result of his argument is that beyond a series of causes whose effect
shows up in the form of motion and change, there exists a cause, which is the
first source of existence, and that is God. So the act of God is not confined to
the causation of motion and change; rather, it is the granting of existence.
13
Ibn Sina attempts most explicitly to differentiate between the
Natural Agent and Divine Agent. The former is the granter of motion, but
the latter is the granter of existence.49 That is why Ibn Sina does not accept
any argument to prove God by simply relying on the knowledge of nature.
He only accepts those arguments that are related to existence by its very
nature of being existence. Ibn Sina regards Aristotle s scientific and
intellectual status too high to attempt to prove God through natural
phenomena like motion. So he comments on it thus: It is very hard for me to
accept that belief in the origin and His unity is based on motion and the unity
of the mobile world. It is conjectured as such in Aristotle s metaphysics.
Such a conjecture, though not surprising on the part of a beginner, is
surprising on the part of the great scholars of the field.50
14- Nature, in Ibn Sina s philosophy, is a domain of reality, created for a
specific, ultimate goal, and all its phenomena are meaningful, and the
wisdom of its creator is evident every where.51 Nature has been created
under the design and the Divine system, and its ultimate goal is the
realization of the best order. 52
136
In Ibn Sina s opinion, since the Divine essence conceives of itself as the
pure intellect and as the origin and source of all contingent beings, he brings
the created world into existence directly and without any intermediary, and
order permeates throughout the world. What Ibn Sina is looking for is the
cause of the existence of order, if there is in fact an order. In the same way
that his argument for the existence of God as the first mover does not mean
that he considers Him as the principal mover of nature, proving his existence
as the final cause dose not mean that he is only a regulator of this entirely
orderly and exact world either. His words can be well understood if we join
the stage of making with the stage of creating. Belief in such a designer,
thus, is not the result of our attention to the precision in the order of the
world, since we may consider nature without such a precision in many
respects: rather, it is because wherever there exists order, there must also be
a cause to bestow its existence.
137
NOTES
1. Ibn Sina, al-Shifa, al-Ilahiyyat (Healing: Metaphysics),ed. Ebrahim
Madkur, (Qum, Maktabat al-Marashy al-Najafy Press, 1404 A.H), pp.5,14;
Uyun al-hikmah ( Sources of Wisdom ), ed. A. R. Badawi , 2 nd, (Beirut ,
Wa-Kalital-Matbua t wa Dar al-Ghalam Press , 1980 A. P. ), p 47 .
2. Ibn Sina, al-Shifa al-Ilahiyyat, p.13.
3. Aristotle, The Works of Aristotle translated in English, ed. W. D. Ross, II
Vols, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1931) Metaph., VII-II, 1028b2.
4. See: Mulla Sadra, al-Mash air, le livre des pntration mtaphysiques, ed
and trans. Henry Corbin (Tehran and Paris, 1964), pp.9-27; al-Shawahid
alRububiyyah, ed. Jalal al-Din Ashtiyani,( Tehran , Markaz Nashr-e
Daneshgahy Press, 1360 H.S. ), p. 6; al-Hikmat al Muta alliyah fil-Asfar
al-Arba ah , 4 ed., Vol. 1 , (Beirut-Lebanon, Dar Ahya Attrath Arabi Press ,
1410 A.H., 1990A.D.), p.53.
5. Mulla Sadra, al-Masha ir, p.4.
6. Mulla Sadra, al- Shawhid al-Rububiyyah, p. 14.
7. See: Aristotle, Posterior Analytics, II, C., VII 92b 10
8. Aristotle, Prior Anal. II, C., VII, 92b14-17.
9. See: Gilson Etienne, Elements of Christian Philosophy, (New York,
Garden City Press 1960), p.178.
10. Ibn Sina, al-Shifa al-Mantigh, al-Madkhal, p.15; al-Ilahiyyat, p. 31,344;
see: Al-Isharat wal-Tanbihat, Vol.3, (Qum, Daftar Nashr Ketab Press, 1403
A.H.), pp.11-14; Mantigh al-mashrighiyyin, (Qum Maktabat al-Marashy alNajafy press, 1405 A. H.),pp.17-19.
11. Al-Farabi, Abu Nasr, Fusus al-Hikmah, (Qum, Bidar Press, 1405 A. H.),
pp. 47-50;al-Ta liqat, ed. Jafar al-Yasin, (Tehran, Hikmah Press, 1371 H.S.),
p. 139; Uyun al-Masa el, (Cairo, 1328 A. H.) p. 50; Al- Da awi l
Ghalbiyyah, (Heidar Abad Dakan, Da erat al Maa refe l Osmaniyyah,
1345 A.H.), pp.2-3.
12. Aristotle, Metaph, XII, VII, 1072b 11.
13.See: Razi Imam Fakhr, Maba heso al-Mashrighiyyah, vol.1, (Tehran,
Maktabat al Asadi Press, 1966 A.C); Taftazani, Sa d al-Din, sharh
Maghasid, Vol.1 (Cairo, 1305 A.H.); Helli; Allameh Hossein Ibn Yusuf,
Izah wa al-Maghasid, (Tehran, 1337 H.S.), p. 22.
14. See: Ibn Sina, al-Shifa, al-Ilahiyyat, article 1, chapter 4, (Tehran, 1303
A.H.), p.291.
15. Aristotle, Metaph. XII, VIII, 1074a.
16. Ibn Sina, al- Shifa, al-Ilahiyyat, pp. 342-3.
138
17. Ibn Sina, Rasail, al-Rasalat wal-Arshiyyah, (Qum, Bidar Press), pp. 2545.
18. Ibn Sina, al-Isharat wal-Tanbihat, Vol. 3, pp. 67-75.
19. Ibn Sina, al-Taliqat, p.175; al-Shifa, al-Ilahiyyat, pp. 37-39; al-Najah,
ed. M. T. Daneshpajooh, (Tehran, Tehran University Press, 1364 H.S.), p.
546; al-Isharat Vol. 3, p. 18.
20. Qu an, Al-e Imran, 18; Ibn Sina, al-Ta liqat p. 70.
21- Ibn Sina, Rasa il, Surah Towhid, pp. 313-4.
22.Ibid, 317-8.
23. Ibn Sina, al-Shifa, al-Ilahiyyat, p. 348; al-Isharat, Vol. 3, p. 65.
24. Ibn Sina, al-Shifa, al-Ilahiyyat, p. 327; al-Najah, p. 235.
25. Qur an, Shuara. 11
26. Plato, The Works of Plato, translated by B. Jowett, 3rd ed, (UK, Oxford
University Press, 1892), Timaeus, 30 b; see: Copleston Frederick, A History
of Philosophy, Vol. 1, Greece and Room, (Image Books, Garden City, 1962),
Plato, the doctrine of forms, pp. 192-7.
27. Aristotle, Metaph., XII, 7-8; Physics, 285bll, 259b28-31.
28. Gilson Etienne, God and Philosophy, (USA, Yale University press,
1941), chapter 1, pp.28-9; see: Copleston Frederick, A History of
Philosophy, Vol.1, part II, p. 59.
29. Copleston Frederick, A History of philosophy, Vol. 1, part II, p.60.
30. Ibn Sina, al-Isharat, Vol. 3, pp. 472-3.
31. Ibid, 63.
32. Ibid, 65.
33. Ibn Sina, al-Ta liqat, pp. 185-186; Ibid.34.
34. For a detailed discussion of God s Attributes, see: al-Shifa, al- Ilahiyyat,
pp. 344-69; al-Najah, pp.280-2.
35. Aristotle, Metaph., XII, IX, 1074b15-35.
36. Qur an, Saba, 3.
37. Ibn Sina, al-Shifa, al-Ilahyyat, p. 360.
38. Ibn Sina, al-Najah, p.282.
39. Qur an, Ha mim, 53, al-Isharat, Vol.3, p.66.
40. Ibn Sina, Rasa il, al-Rasalat wa l-Arshiyyah, p. 254.
41. Qur an, Ana m 76, Ibn Sina, al-Isharat, Vol. 3, p. 127.
42. Qur an, Rum, 40.
43. Qur an, Alagh, 1.
44. Qur an, Araf, 54.
45. Qur an, Yaseen, 82.
139
46. Plato, The Works of Plato, Timaeus, 30b; see: Gilson, Etienne, The Spirit
of Medieval Philosophy, translated by A. H. C. Downes, (London,
University of Notre Dame Press 1991), p. 68.
47. Copleston Frederick, A History of Philosophy, Vol. 1, part II, philosophy
of nature and psychology, pp.62-4.
48. Gilson, Etienne, The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy, p. 75.
49. Ibn Sina, al-Shifa, al-Ilahiyyat, p. 257.
50. Ibn Sina, al- Mobahasat, (Qum, Bidar Press), p. 184.
51. Ibn Sina, al- Isharat, Vol. 3, p. 51; Al-Mabda wa l Maa d, (Tehran,
Tehran University Press, 1363 H. S.), p. 88.
52. Ibn Sina, al- Isharat, Vol. 3, pp. 153-154.
140
The Analysis of the Relationship of Generation

Rasool Abudiyyat
Abstract
In this article, the relationship between the effect and the efficient cause is
discussed. By the efficient cause or agent we mean the generating cause. So,
initially a comparison is made between the existential exchange (generation)
and other exchanges with their difference explained. Then an analysis is
made of the concept of cause s attribute of generation. Analysing the
infinitive concepts, including the concept of generation, the emphasized
conclusion is that the generation of the cause is nothing other than linkage to
the cause, and in its relation to the cause, it has an inhering existence.
A frequently asked question is, What is generation (existence-granting)?
What do we mean when we say that the efficient cause generates the effect?
What do we mean when we assume that the efficient cause gives existence to
the effect? Does it mean that there is a reservoir full of existence, and
whenever the efficient cause intends to give existence to an effect it takes
existence from that reservoir and gives it to the effect, and thus, the effect,
which did not exist previously, becomes existent? Such a thought is too
nave and simple. Nevertheless, to come to an exact understanding of the
issue it is better to start our discussion with this nave thought, analysing it to
make its contradictions clear. After pointing out each contradiction, we will
improve upon the illustration discussing ways in which the contradiction can
be removed. Finally we will arrive at an exact picture of generation.
To elucidate the discussion, let us suppose that A is the generating cause
and B is its effect.
In our nave picture, the relationship of generation is assumed to be
similar to for instance giving and taking money; in short, it is similar to all
other exchanges of which we are familiar. For example, a person such
Hassan gives money to another person such as Reza, four realities and
external things are involved:
1. The giver: Hassan
142
2. The receiver: Reza

3. The thing given: money
4. The act of giving: The act and movement done by the giver, Hassan
Of course sometimes the act of taking can be analysed as the fifth element in
the same way that the act of giving is analysed but for convenience we have
not discussed it. Therefore, the presence of at least four things is necessary.
Now supposing that the relationship of generation is similar to that of giving
and taking money, we can then say when the generating cause gives
existence to the cause four things and external realities are involved:
1. The giver: the generating cause (A)
2. The receiver: the effect (B)
3. The thing given: Existence
4. The act of giving: Generation (the act accomplished by the generating
cause)
Thus, it is supposed that in the external A, the cause, is one thing; 4 B, its
effect, is another thing; existence, given by A to B, is a third thing; and
generation, the act of giving existence to B (the act of A), is a fourth thing.
If the effect were one existent and the existence, which it receives from the
cause, were another existent, our supposed effect then should not be an
effect. That is, B should not be the effect of A because if B were itself one
existent and the existence which it receives from A another existent, it
should exist without receiving existence from A. The existence of B without
receiving existence from A means that B is not the effect of A, and A is not
the generating cause of B, whereas we had supposed that A is the generating
cause of B. This is a contradiction and is impossible, for the supposition that
A is the generating cause of B is incompatible with the supposition that in
the external the existence that A gives to B is different from B itself.
Therefore, when we assume that A is the generating cause of B, to avoid a
contradiction we have to accept that the effect in the external is exactly the
same existence given by A, and that the effect is not different from the
existence which is given to it. The effect is nothing other than the conferred
existence. Thus, the first amendment that we introduce is that the
relationship of generation the receiver (the effect) is equal to that which is
given (existence). Outside the mind there is no multiplicity; there is one
simple single existence. It is our mind that in its analysis of this one simple
single existence divides it into two concepts: the existence of the effect and
the effect itself. It supposes then that the first (existence) is given to the
second (the effect itself) by the cause, and the second receives it from the
cause.
143
Now we move to the fourth thing, the analysis of the act that is done by the
cause, namely giving existence to the effect. We have proved that the
supposition that A is the generating cause of B requires that the existence of
the effect and the effect itself in the external should be one rather than two
things. Considering this point, giving existence to the effect would mean that
we give the thing to itself. But is this intelligible? Clearly not, since if one
thing lacks something we can give to it through the act of giving , but if it
already has it, how could we give the thing itself to it again? We can of
course give it something similar, but it is impossible to give the thing to
itself again. It is also supposed that the existence of the effect to be equal to
the effect itself and there is no diversity. There is pure oneness to the extent
that even we cannot say the effect has existence, but we must say, The
effect is existence itself. In that case, how could the cause give the effect to
itself? To logically solve this problem we have to follow one of these three
solutions: 5
1. We have to unravel what we have already weaved, that is, we have to
accept that in the external the effect is one thing and its existence is another
thing. In that case, giving existence to the effect would become meaningful.
However, as demonstrated, this will be against our supposition and it will be
contradictory and impossible; therefore, this solution cannot be accepted.
2. We have to accept that no act of giving has been done, on the grounds
that giving the thing to itself would be meaningless and contradictory. The
bearing of that statement would be that the cause has done nothing, namely,
it has given no existence to the effect. In other words, A is not the generating
cause of B, whereas we had already assumed that it is, so this would be
against our supposition and it would be contradictory and impossible.
Therefore, besides solving the problem by erasing the form of the question,
this solution will lead to contradiction and, therefore, it cannot be accepted.
3. We have to accept that as the existence of the effect in the external is the
same as the effect itself, in a similar way it is also the same as the act of the
cause. In other words, the effect in its existence is nothing other than the act
of the cause. According to this solution, the act of generating [giving
existence] and the existence of the effect, which is the same as the effect
itself produced following the act of the cause, are not two different things. In
fact, the effect is the very act of the cause itself. Therefore, we do not have
four things in the external the cause, the effect, existence, and generating
(giving existence); we have only two things: the cause and the activity and
the functioning of the cause, which we call the effect , the existence of the
effect , and giving existence to the effect or generating the effect . This
144
solution involves no contradiction, and considering that logically we have no

other solution, we may conclude that the supposition A is the generating
cause of B is equal to the supposition B is nothing other than the activity
and working of A . In other words, either we should not accept the existence
of the generating cause, which would be incompatible with the principle of
causality, or if we accept it (and logically we have no other choice), it should
mean that the effect is nothing other than the activity and working of the
cause. Accepting this point amounts to another amendment to the nave
picture mentioned already. Following this amendment, we have to renounce
forever this supposition that the generating cause does something and due to
its activity another thing is produced, which is the effect. The existence of
the effect is the same as the generation of the cause , and the creature is
the same as the creator s creation itself.
This aforementioned concept is difficult to grasp. Perhaps it might become
clearer with the following example. Throughout our life all of us have
exercised our will many times. In fact, our soul is the efficient cause of the
will, that is, it is its generating cause and the will is its effect. But how is the
will produced in our soul? 1. Is it in the way that the soul, first, does
something called willing and then in the wake of this activity something is
produced in us by the name of the will , in such a way that when our willing
comes to an end, still it will exist in us? 2. Or, is it that our will is equal to
our willing they are not two things, one to follow the other, but one thing
called willing from one perspective and the will from another
perspective and this is why as soon as we stop willing there will be no
will? By giving brief consideration to this spiritual activity it will become
obvious that the latter option is valid.
THE ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF GENERATION
We came to the conclusion that the effect is the same as the cause s
generation. Now we have to take another step, and that is the analysis of the
concept of generation. What is the reality of generation? We should say that
the concept of generation is an infinitive concept, and like any other
infinitive concept, it demonstrates two characteristics in its extension:
1. This concept shows that its extension is a sort of linkage: linkage to the
generator, linkage to the efficient cause.
So what is the meaning of the statement A is linked to B ? To answer this
question we have to note that concerning the linkage and dependence of A
on B there are three possibilities: a) The accidental linkage and dependence
of A on B; b) The essential linkage and dependence of A on B; c) The
linkage and dependence of A on B.
145
In the first state the need and dependence of A on B is not the same as the
existence and reality of B so that without B it should not exist; rather this
dependence is imposed on A from the outside. The emergence and the
occurrence of a certain state in A causes the dependence of A on B. The
need of a car for oil could be an example. Its need for oil is not the same as
the existence of the car so that without the oil it should not exist; rather it is
an accidental need that occurs to the car when it begins to move. This kind
of need is called accidental need, linkage, or dependence .
In the states of b and c the need and dependence of A on B is the same as the
existence and reality of A, and is not imposed on it by another thing from the
outside. Naturally, A would not exist without B; otherwise there would be a
contradiction. In philosophical terms, in these two states the existence of A
in itself and essentially is in need of and is dependent on B. Nevertheless
there is a difference between these two states.
In the state of b, the dependence of A on B is so that the mind can consider
A without considering its dependence on B. From this perspective it analyses
A in terms of two things: one thing by the name of the essence of A or A
itself which shows no trace of need for or dependence on B, and another
thing by the name of the need for, dependence on or linkage of A to B .
Following this analysis it decrees that A is an essence dependent on, and in
need of B. In other words, it decrees that in this state A is in need of linked
to, and is dependent on B. In this state it is said that A is linked to B, and
technically it is said that the existence of A is an inhering existence . 6
In the state of c, the mind cannot make such an analysis. In this state, the
mind basically does not see any essence or self for A; rather it sees it as one
piece of linkage and dependence. This is why in this state it does not judge
that A is in need for or is linked to or is dependent on B, but it judges that A
is the very need of and linkage to and dependence on B. In this state only B
exists along with its linkage, which is A. In this state it is said that A is
linked to B, and technically the existence of A is called copulative
existence . 7
Considering the difference between inhering and copulative or the
difference between the copulative existence and inhering existence, and
considering that generation (= giving existence) is of the kind of a copulative
existence rather than inhering existence (it is linkage and not linked to). If
we do not understand the external existence and reality of the effect to be the
same as the cause s generation, it would mean that the effect in one a way or
another is independent of its cause and it has a self against the self of the
cause, and a linkage by the name of generation links it to the cause.
146
According to this view, the effect is not an independent linkage to the cause,
but it is linked to the cause. But now that we understand the existence of the
effect to be the same as the cause s generation, because the cause s
generation is nothing other than a linkage to the cause, the existence of the
effect is the same as a linkage to the cause rather than being linked to the
cause. In that case, the effect has no independence from the generating cause
nor has it a self against the existence of the cause. Therefore, the external
reality of the effect is not linked or dependent on the cause, and it is not in
need of it; rather it is the very linkage to and the very dependence on the
cause. It is the same as the need for the cause. It is because of this
characteristic that we cannot imagine that there could be generation without
a generator. Generation without a generator is a contradiction and is
impossible. It is the same with all other infinitive concepts: going
somewhere without your person or arriving somewhere without your person
would be impossible because going or arriving are nothing other than
linkage to the person who goes or arrives. As was said, every infinitive
concept reflects two characteristics in its extension. Now we turn to the
second characteristic.
2. This concept demonstrates that there is a sort of change or alteration in its
extension. Perhaps this characteristic is more obvious in the extensions of
other infinitive concepts. For example, going is a movement that occurs
gradually over a passage of time, and we know that movement is the same as
the gradual change. Arriving is a matter that happens instantly and it remains
thereafter. In other words, the change is instant and sudden. Every other
infinitive concept that we consider shows a kind of change, or gradual or
sudden alteration in its extension. It is the same with generation. When we
hear that a cause has generated an effect, usually we imagine that it has
generated something that sometime was nonexistent; in other words, it has
created something (creation in time) or has caused a movement (moving). In
short, the concept of generation shows that its extension has two
characteristics:
1)
A
linkage
to
the
generator,
2)
Having a kind of change or gradual or sudden alteration.
Now, when we say that the effect is the same as generation do we mean that
every effect necessarily should have these two characteristics? Should every
effect be a linkage to the cause and have a kind of change? If something is
fixed or pre-eternal and has no change or alteration or any kind of
origination in time or motion, and at the same time its truth is a linkage to
the cause will it not be an effect? If something were an effect would it not be
enough to be a linkage to the cause?
147
Considering this subject in the discussion termed The yardstick of the Need
for a Cause Muslim philosophers have proved that the origination of a thing
in time has no effect on its need for a cause, 8 (and knowing that motion is
nothing other than the gradual origination in time and gradual
disappearance) 9 we understand that in order for a thing to be an effect, it is
sufficient to be in need for a cause in a way or another. Therefore, if
something is a pure linkage to the cause and has no motion, origination or
change it will nevertheless need a cause. To be more exact, it will not need a
cause, but it will be the very need for a cause. Thus, in order to be an effect,
the simple linkage to the cause will be enough.
From this we understand that to be an effect is linkage to the cause, and the
reality of the effect is nothing other than linkage to the cause. Therefore,
everything whose existence is a linkage to the cause is an effect, whether it is
fixed or changing, pre-eternal or originated in time. It is on this basis that
Mulla Sadra, who was the founder of this theory, has used the term linkage
or the copulative existence to show the reality of the effect. Instead of saying
that the effect has no mode other than the cause s generation, working or
activity, he says that the effect has no mode other than linkage to the cause.
The effect is the copulative existence. Naturally this theory came to be
known as the theory of the link s existence of the effect or the insufficient
existence of the effect . Likewise, this is why, to show the reality of the
effect, the concept of linkage is clearer and more to the point than the
concept of generation, working or activity, for it eliminates the illusion that
the effect must have originated in time or it should be a sort of motion or a
process.
What has been said so far concerns the effect whose existence is the same as
the cause s generation. Now what can be said concerning God Who is
supposed to be the generating cause of all things and is the effect of nothing,
and, consequently, His existence is not equal to generation? It is clear that
such an existence is independent, absolutely sufficient, and has no
dependence on, or need for, or linkage to anything. For these entire
characteristics stem from the fact that the existence of the effect is the same
as the cause s generation, and supposing that the existence of God is
different from the generation of any cause, it will have then none of the
mentioned characteristics.
It is important to note that when we say that the existence of the effect is not
linked to the cause but it is a linkage to it, and that naturally it has no self or
independence against the self and independence of the cause. We do not
mean that the effect is the same as the cause because the will of a person or
148
his willing is not the same as his own person. Therefore, we should not take
the linkage to the cause and dependence on it, as being equal to the cause.
NOTES
1. Before Mulla Sadra, Avicenna hinted to Mulla Sadra s claim concerning
the copulative existence of the effect, but neither he nor his followers
worked on it nor did they conclude the desired results from it.
He said:
Because an existent acquired from the other is dependent on him, the latter
will be an existence-granting cause for the former, as selfsufficiency of the
other is a necessary attribute for the Necessary Being in essence; because
this attribute cannot be separated from Him; for He has it essentially. (See
al-Ta lighat, Markaz al-Nashr, 1404 A.H.,
p. 178).
Also he said:
Either the existence is dependent on the other in which case dependency is
essential, or it is independent of the other, in which case its independency is
essential. The dependent existence cannot be independent as the independent
one cannot be dependent. Otherwise, their realities would be changed and
transformed. (See al-Ta lighat, p.179, and Mulla Sadra, al- Hikma alMuta aliyya fi al-Asfar al-Arba a al- Aghliyya, Mustafawi Publications,
Qom: 9 volumes, vol. 1, pp. 46-47). Therefore, it can be claimed that in
Islamic philosophy Mulla Sadra first introduced this subject. Anyway, in this
article, only his views are considered. (See al-Hikma al-Muta aliyya fi alAsfar al-Arba a al -Aghliyya, vol. 2, pp. 299 - 300)
2. This Kind of agent is also called divine agent. So, by divine agent is
meant existence -granting cause. There is also another expression: natural
agent. By natural agent is meant a cause which makes changes in bodies; in
other words, it is a cause that forces bodies to change. It should be
considered that in this chapter, agent is regarded as an existence-granting
cause, not as a cause for change.
3. In this article, to prove the copulative existence of the effect the approach
of Motahhari with some modification is used, not Mulla Sadra s approach.
(See Majmou a Asar, Tehran: Sadra, 1371, 19 volumes, vol.6, pp. 580
583).
4. In this article the terms, reality, existent, and thing are used for the
same meaning.
5. The reason why logically there is no other solution except these three is
that logically or principally the cause has done nothing; that is, there is no
generation and the cause does not grant existence to the effect. Or, there is
149
generation and the cause has granted existence to the effect. The latter state
is logically possible in each of the two forms: either the generation by the
cause is the existence of the effect itself or it is not. The latter state is only
conceived when the existence of the effect is not the very effect itself and the
cause grants existence to the effect by its generation. Therefore, logically,
we face one of the three solutions: l) Denial of generation; 2) Acceptance of
generation so that the generation by cause is the very existence of the effect
and is the very effect itself; 3) Acceptance of generation so that the cause
grants existence to the effect by its generation which necessitates that the
effect itself be something other than the existence of the effect. In the text,
these three solutions are mentioned, except that the third solution is
mentioned first, then the first one and finally the second one.
6. See al-Hikma al- Mota aliyya fi al- Asfar al-Arba a, vol. l, pp.78- 82 and
303.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid, pp. 206 - 207.
9. Ibid, vol. 3, p. 37 The motion is the gradual origination of a thing in time
and its gradual vanishing. (Al- Hikma al- Muta aliyya fi al-Asfar al-Arba a
al- Aghliyya, vol. 3, p. 37).
150
The Argument from Necessity and Contingency

In Islamic Philosophy and Theology
Mohsen Javadi
Abstract
Although the argument from necessity and contingency is not the only way
to philosophical theology, it is the most important. Because among the
different versions of this argument, in terms of accuracy, validity, and also
recognition, Avicenna s is of special importance, in this article his version is
the central focus. Its various critiques have been discussed, although some
general points of other philosophical arguments have also been studied. If by
the argument from necessity and contingency we understand any
demonstration that takes the existence of the contingent as one of its
premises, giving such a title to Avicenna s argument cannot be true, for in
his argument the existence of the contingent is never discussed. But if by this
argument we understand any demonstration that employs the concept of
contingency (essential contingency) in a way or another, Avicenna s
argument is one of the various forms of the argument from the position of
necessity and contingency. A historical survey mainly confirms the first
understanding, for in the works of the ancient philosophers and theologians
Avicenna s argument has not been called by this name, but in the works of
contemporary philosophers the second understanding is more conspicuous.
Introduction
Various accounts of the argument of necessity and contingency can be seen
in the works of the Muslim philosophers and theologians; however, most of
them can be reduced to a few basic forms, which we will discuss.1 The
common aspect of all these accounts is the use of contingency in the process
1. For instance, refer to Mahdi Mohaghigh, Aram Name, Anjoman Ostadan Zaban
Farsi Publications. Ithbat al-Wajib , pp. 126, 133.
152
of demonstration. Before discussing them, however, we have to keep in

mind certain points:
1. The different accounts of the argument of necessity and contingency fall
into one of the one of two categories:
I. Some begin with admitting the existence of something in the world,
and on the basis of this analysis conclude the necessity of the
Necessary Being. In this demonstration, accepting the existence of
the contingent is not necessary to begin the demonstration, the claim
is proven on the basis of our analysis of the existent that we have
postulated (no matter what it is). Avicenna was the founder of this
kind of demonstration and this account is named after him (the
Avicennian argument).
II. The second group of the accounts of the argument from necessity
and contingency accepts the existence of the contingent, and then on
the basis of some philosophical principles, such as the need of the
contingent and the effect for a cause , tries to prove the claim. Some
accept the existence of the contingent being on the grounds of its
evidence, and some others have presented arguments of its
existence.2
The advantage of Avicenna s account is that it has fewer premises.
Moreover, it has no need to consider the state of the contingent beings
(creatures) and relying on them for proving the existence of the Necessary.
The advantage of other accounts of this argument is that because they
initially prove the contingency of the world of bodies, the world of matter,
etc., and then continue with proving the existence of God, besides proving
the existence of the Necessary, they confirm His difference from the world
of matter, bodies, etc.3
Avicenna s argument, besides being brief, is also the basis from which
many other accounts of the argument of necessity and contingency are
founded. Therefore, it is central to our thesis.
2. For instance, refer to Mulla Abdol Razzagh Lahiji, Gohar Morad, Tahouri
Publications, p. 235 (it considers the existence of the possible as evident); katebi,
Hikma al- Ayn, al-Sharh Le-Mobarakshah, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad Press,
p. 134 (It raises some reasons for the existence of the contingent).
3. See Muhammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi, Ta ligha ala Nahayya al-Hikma,
Mo asseseh dar Rah-e Hagh, p. 407. Fakhr-e-Razi mentioned this point as a
deficiency of Avicenna s argument; see Fakhr-e-Razi, al-Matalib al- Aliyya, ed.
Ahmad Hijazi, Sharif Publications, vol. 1, p. 56.
The Argument from N ecessity and Contingency in Islamic
153
2. In respect to the impossibility of an infinite regress, the accounts of the

argument from the perspective of necessity and contingency are divided into
two groups:
I. One group considers the principle of the impossibility of an infinite
regress as a necessary premise of the demonstration for the existence
of God, and holds that this principle itself is either self-evident and
needs no demonstration or it is theoretical and needs demonstration
in its right place.
II. Another group holds that the argument from necessity and
contingency is grounded on proving or accepting the impossibility of
an infinite regress as a necessary issue.
The claim that the argument from necessity and contingency standpoint is
not grounded on the principle of the impossibility of an infinite regress can
be interpreted in two ways:
First, for the argument from necessity and contingency to be valid and
complete there is no need to introduce the principle of the impossibility of an
infinite regress in the process of demonstration, and without discussing it,
the argument can be established. Of course this claim does not mean that
even by supposing the possibility of regress the argument can also be
established, but it only states that we do not need it for the integrity of the
demonstration.
Second, to say that even by supposing the possibility of regress the
argument can be established and defended. We would say that by supposing
the possibility of regress the argument from necessity and contingency
would also be impossible. Basically, those who hold that the argument
cannot be grounded on the principle of the impossibility an infinite regress
do not make such a claim, and they intend only the first meaning. In other
words, the argument can be organised in such a way as it would have no
need for the principle of the impossibility of regress, and this is different
from establishing the argument in terms of the possibility of regress. The
supporters of the view that the principle of the impossibility of an infinite
regress can be avoided in their discourse do not mean that the demonstration
could be valid even by assuming the possibility of regress, for many of them
admit that by implication the argument of proving the existence of the
Necessary also proves the impossibility of an infinite regress. In other words,
they establish an argument that besides proving the existence of the
Necessary proves the impossibility of an infinite regress as well,
demonstrating that they would never believe that even by assuming the
possibility of regress their argument would be valid and complete. Once the
154
possibility of regress is accepted as an option, this would leave no way to

prove the existence of God.
It appears that the claim that the argument from necessity and
contingency can be established without considering the principle of the
impossibility of an infinite regress is true.4 But one can also accept the view
that all the accounts of the argument of necessity and contingency are
invariably grounded on the principle of the impossibility of an infinite
regress.5 For in one sense of grounding we can say that the argument from
necessity and contingency (at least some of its accounts) are not based on the
principle of the impossibility of an infinite regress. But in another sense of
grounding, that is, the impossibility of the argument in case of the
possibility of regress, all the accounts of the argument from necessity and
contingency are grounded on the impossibility of an infinite regress.
3. In some of the accounts, the method of demonstration is direct, that is,
they offer arguments to prove what is being sought (the existence of God). In
other accounts, the demonstration is indirect and is followed by using the
reductio ad absurdum argument, which instead of establishing arguments
for proving the desired conclusion, it tries to establish an argument for the
impossibility of the contrary view (the non-existence of God). In other
words, some of the accounts state that on the basis of such and such an
argument, God does exist, and some others state that if there were no God,
and all existents were contingents, there would be such and such an
impossibility, and because the impossible cannot exist, its root (the
supposition that there is no God) is also false and unacceptable.
In logic, the reductio ad absurdum argument is a compound syllogism,
and though the scholars differ in their analysis of its nature, they logically
give it great importance and validity.6
The Argument of Avicenna (The Argument of the Sincere)

The renowned Muslim philosopher Avicenna offers a unique account of the
argument from necessity and contingency, which became known later as the
4. For instance see Nour Ilm, No. 2, Jame a Modarresin Publications, An Essay in
Proving the Necessary , p. 108. Abdollah Javadi Amoli, Tabein Barahin Ithbat
Khoda, discussion series in Religious Philosophy, Nashr Isra, p. 148.
5. For example see Taftazani, Sharh al-Maghasid, Sharif Radi Publications, vol. 4,
p. 18.
6. For instance see Sheikh Muhammad Reza al-Mudaffar, Al-Mantigh, Beirut, p.
260.
155
Avicennian argument; it had a great impact on philosophers and theologians

that came after him. He explained this argument in some of his works, but is
discussed it in detail in several chapters of his Kitab al-Isharat wa- ltanbihat ( Remarks and Admonitions ).7 Giving it the name the argument of
the Sincere in that book denotes its accuracy and grandeur.8 The argument is
based on some premises, which are discussed in the following manner.
The First Premise

The argument starts with the acceptance of a reality in the world, and
admitting that existence is not all a dream and illusion, and at least there
exist things that are real. Perhaps the first spark of doubt about reality was
produced in ancient Greece while philosophers meditated on man s
knowledge. When knowledge itself became the subject of meditation and
study, it became clear that a part of that which was counted reality was no
more than an illusion. Knowing that there are many errors in human
knowledge and that there exists many illusions disguised as reality was a
turning point in the history of ancient philosophy.
This accurate statement there are errors in perceptions caused many
inaccuracies with many persons, for different reasons turning the glowing
flame into a devastating fire destroyed all man s knowledge in its flames. As
Allameh Tabatabie writes:
To the extent that the reality is clear to us, the existence of these
errors and the possibility of confronting these mistakes are also
clear, and doubting the possibility of mistakes and mental errors
is no less grievous than doubting the reality itself, which we call
sophistry. For by putting an end to reality, sophistry steals from
us the truth, which is our dearest friend; denying the possibility
of error and mistake also leads us into illusion, and in both
cases the truth will be stolen from us.9
Moreover, by denying and doubting the absolute existence and reality the
sceptics and sophists undermine the foundation of science and knowledge,
7. See Avicenna, al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat, Daftar Nashr Kitab, vol. 3, pp. 18 28,
66; al-Nijat, ed. Muhammad Taghi Danesh Pajouh, Tehran University, p. 566. (In
this source, the proof of the impossibility of regress is dealt with in more details).
8. Al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat, vol.3, p. 97. Also Muhammad Taghi Mesbah Yazdi,
Ta ligha Ala Nahayya al-Hikma, p.408.
9. Seyyed Muhammad Hossein Tabatabaei, Usul Falsafe va Ravesh Realism, Sadra
Publications, vol. 3, p. 28.
156
expecting them to surrender themselves to God s will be in vain since

scepticism has different forms; in its extreme form doubting everything,
even the existence of the sceptic himself and in other forms denies or doubts
the value of acquired knowledge, in the sense that the person accepts his
existence and his thoughts (his notions and knowledge by presence), but he
denies or doubts if there is anything outside his existence.
The second form is mainly known as Idealism rather than sophistry.
Although Muslim philosophers call both of them sophistry,10 in the works of
Western philosophers the first group (those who doubt everything, even their
existence) are known as the sophists and the second group who accept the
reality of their existence and thoughts but doubt other things are called the
Idealists. In this historical context, Avicenna presented the principle of
reality as the basis of his demonstration. To begin the demonstration and to
avoid the extremist form of sophistry, it suffices to accept that there is
something that exists. In other words, to demonstrate we can begin, even like
an Idealist, by accepting the reality of our existence. Therefore, we can say
that Avicenna addresses all people other than absolute sophists.
But why should we accept that there is a reality and the world is not all
dream and fancy? The Muslim philosophers and many of the medieval
Christian philosophers believed that all of man s affirmations are divided
into two groups: the self-evident and the theoretical. In theoretical
affirmations, searching for reason and argument is desirable, and it is unwise
to accept a theoretical opinion with no reason or argument, whereas in selfevident affirmations, the self-evidence itself is an argument for the
needlessness of reason and argument. The principle of the existence of a
reality in the world is a self-evident principle and does not need any
demonstration, and it is this affirmation or acceptance that makes
demonstration possible; for we demonstrate in order to reach the truth, and
truth and reality come hand in hand. If a person denies or doubts the absolute
reality, he will have no grounds for demonstration.
Similar to the principle of non-contradiction, the principle of reality is
one of those principles on which demonstration itself is dependent, and we
cannot say it needs any argument. It is precisely because of this that we
cannot argue with an absolute sophist (one who doubts everything), for
offering arguments should be preceded by accepting principles such as the
principle of non-contradiction and the principle of reality (Realism), which
10. See Seyyed Muhammad Hossein Tabatabaei, Nahayya al-Hikma Jame a
Modarresin publications, p. 253.
157
the sophist does not accept. Once reality is accepted, demonstration becomes
possible; but if a person doubts everything, he will not be able to regain what
he has lost through his doubts.
In the West the famous French philosopher Descartes is a good example
of this, for through his doubt (methodological doubt) about everything he
attempted to rebuild the edifice of man s knowledge, an aspiration that was
never fulfilled11 because if a person removes from the intellect all the
instruments of intellection (the intellectual principles and facts) setting them
to the fire of doubt, how would he be able to extinguish these flames of
doubt in man s knowledge? Western philosophers for a time extrapolated
many ideas from Descartes fruitless endeavour. Presently the accepted view
in modern epistemology is that we cannot argue for everything by presenting
arguments and reasons; rather we have to admit that there are some
principles and facts that needless of demonstration are certain and real, and
even all demonstrations are dependent on them.
The modified form of contemporary epistemology shows that not only
the principle of the existence of the world but also the belief in the
possibility of knowing it and also tens of other truths are all real and
needless of demonstration. In epistemology, technically they are called the
fundamental beliefs.
It cannot be imagined that in the present age there could be a person who
can doubt the absolute reality; the self-evident principle of realism makes it
needless to present further details.
The Second Premise

Having accepted the existence of a thing, Avicenna makes it the subject of
his philosophical study, and by employing the self-evident principles of
logic, proceeds with his demonstration. Thus, according to the judgment of
the intellect, an existent either is self-dependent and self-sufficient (the
Necessary Being) or has taken its existence from, and is dependent on
another existent (the contingent being). No existent is outside the two sides
of this division. The characteristic feature of the logical division that always
functions between negation and affirmation is its inclusiveness. Whenever
the two sides of the division are contradictory, and it is said, for example, the
11. With the help of his reason, Descartes wanted to free himself from the doubt that
even covered his reason itself, that is, the same Cartesian Circle which has been
discussed by many critics. See Harry Frankfourt, Validity of Reason from
Descartes View trans. by the author of this article, Keyhan Andishe, No. 56, p. 28.
158
thing is either dependent or independent then everything will invariably be

placed on either side of this restriction, for falling outside of this rational
division would mean the possibility of the law of excluded middle. In logical
terms, we can say that the division into the necessary and the contingent,
which refers to the independent existence and dependent existence , is a
veritable disconjunctive.
Our supposed and certain existent is invariably either a necessary being
or a contingent being. If the existent in question is a necessary being then the
desired conclusion is reached and there is no need for further demonstration,
for the goal of demonstration is admitting the existence of the Necessary
being, which was accomplished at the beginning of the discussion. But if it is
a contingent being, then the demonstration has to be continued.
The Third Premise

If the concerned thing whose existence has been accepted is a contingent,
according to the definition and the analysis of the concept of contingency,
the existence of the contingent should have a cause, for the contingent is that
being whose relation to existence and non-existence is equal and its
existence or non-existence needs a cause. (Of course, that which really needs
a cause is the existence of the possible, and its non-existence is only due to
the absence of the cause and needs no separate cause. In other words, it is the
same philosophical principle that the cause of non-existence is the absence
of the cause of existence).
According to the principle of causality, the realization and the existence
of the contingent are dependent on the cause; therefore, the supposed
contingent being must also have a cause. Concerning the cause of the
supposed contingent being, there are several possibilities that have to be
studied.
The first possibility is that the existence of the contingent is dependent on
its essence; that is, the contingent is the cause of its own existence.12 This
supposition that the contingent thing could be the effect of itself without an
intermediary is termed the explicit circle in philosophy jargon.
The second possibility is that the existence of the supposed contingent is
taken from another contingent being, but that second contingent has taken its
12. When the existence of a thing is dependent upon something, its non-existence is
also dependent upon the non-existence of that thing, because the cause of nonexistence depends on the cause of existence. Thus, if something is the cause of its
being, its non-existence depends on its lack of being.
159
existence from the first contingent. Here, without an intermediary the

essence of the possible cannot be the cause of its existence, but the existence
of the contingent is the effect of another contingent and that contingent is the
effect of the first contingent. Philosophically this kind of dependence of the
thing on itself via an intermediary is called implicit circle .
In these two possibilities, the thing is the cause of its existence: in the
first without an intermediary and in the second via its effect. The invalidity
of the explicit and implicit circles is so clear that Avicenna in his al-Isharat
wa- l-tanbihat ( Remarks and Admonitions ) sees no need for discussing it
as a reasonable possibility for justifying and explicating the existence of the
supposed contingent being. However, we will discuss it briefly here.
Circle and Its Impossibility

There is circle when one thing without an intermediary or via an
intermediary is the cause of itself. When A needs B and B itself is in need of
A, there is an explicit or direct circle. But when A is in need of B and B is in
need of C and C itself is dependent on A, there will be an implicit or in
direct circle.
The impossibility of a causal circle is one of the negative precepts of
cause and effect, for it argues that the relationship between the cause and the
effect cannot be circular. The reason for this impossibility is the gathering of
two contradictories; to be a cause one thing must have a portion of existence
so that it can generate another, whereas according to our supposition, its
existence itself is dependent on the existence of another being. Therefore,
because it is a cause, it should exist, and because it is an effect, it should not.
The other account of the impossibility of circle is that circle necessitates
the priority of the thing over itself. In an explicit circle the thing has to be
one level prior to itself, for as a cause it has to be prior to its effect, which is
none other than itself.13 On the other hand, as an effect it has to be one level
posterior to its cause; and this means it exits both at the level of the cause
and at the level of the effect; that is, it has to be prior to itself.
Although some prominent philosophers have accepted this view, it does
not seem to be an independent account of the issue, for ultimately the
argument of the impossibility of the precedence of one thing over itself is the
same as the impossibility of the gathering of two contradictories.
13. Of course, it is not meant the priority in time, since the cause and the effect are
temporally accompanied; rather it is meant in intellection that the position of the
cause is prior to the effect, for, if it were not for the cause, there would be no effect.
160
Mulla Sadra gives a third account of the impossibility of circle. He argues

that in every circle there is implied a sort of an infinite regress, and
considering the many arguments offered on the invalidity of regress, a circle
would also be impossible. In other words, though the essence of the cause
and the effect is limited in the circle, regress occurs due to the description of
being the cause and being effect, and the certainty of having regress in each
circle is due to the fact that when A is the cause of B and B is the cause of A,
the questions about the cause will be endless, and in answering regarding the
cause one would refer to the other ad infinitum, and this is the very infinite
regress. The reasons of its impossibility will be discussed later.
There is no further need to discuss the invalidity of circle since very few
people question this invalidity.14
The third possibility is that the existence of the supposed contingent is the
effect of another contingent which itself is the effect of a third contingent,
and the third is the effect of the fourth, and so on, without imagining a place
where this sequence of causes and effects would come to a stand still. In this
supposition, the existence of the supposed contingent is not its own direct
effect (explicit circle) or the indirect effect (implicit circle), but one is the
effect of the other, and that other is the effect of another one, and so on.
Philosophically this kind of assortment of the contingent beings is termed
infinite regress.
Unlike his discussion on the circle, Avicenna discusses regress in more
detail. The argument that he offers in rejecting an infinite regress is that of
the reductio ad absurdum argument; that is, he shows that once regress is
accepted, it will invariably lead to impossibility.
Avicenna argues that if we consider a chain whose links are all effects
(that is, an endless chain in which every link is both a cause and an effect),
such a supposition will invariably end with invalid conclusions. Either the
total chain has a cause or it does not. The supposition that the links do not
have a cause is incompatible with their being effects and their dependence;
therefore, this chain should have a cause. Now we can discuss these
possibilities: One possibility is that the totality of the links is the cause of the
existence of the chain (the total whole is the cause), which is an impossible
supposition, for the totality of the links is nothing more than the links of this
chain themselves, and a thing cannot be the cause of itself. The other
14. See Abdollah Avadi Amoli, Sharh Hikmat Muta aliyya, vol. 6, chapter 1, alZahra Publications, p. 212; Also, Mulla Abdollah Zunuzi, Luma at Ilahiyya,
Mo assesseh Motale at va Tahghighat Farhangi, p. 32.
161
possibility is that every one of the links is the cause of the existence of the
whole chain, that is, each link of the chain plays a causal role in the
generation of this chain. (Technically this kind of totality is called the
overwhelming whole). This supposition is also incorrect, for each link can
only be the cause of the links that come after it, and it cannot be the cause of
the chain, which comprises the link itself. So, if every link were the cause of
the whole chain, it should be the cause of itself and the cause of its causes,
which is impossible. If we suppose that only a special link or links are the
cause of the chain, in that case besides the problem raised in the last
supposition, we will be entangled in the problem of preponderance without
there being a preponderant, for all the links are equal in their being causes
and effects (except for the last link which is only an effect). In consequence,
this possibility is also impossible. Therefore, on the basis of the reductio ad
absurdum argument, we may conclude that supposing the infinity of the
chain leads to this futile consequence. We have to abandon this supposition
and consider a final end for the chain of causes outside the chain, an end,
which is not an effect, but the cause of the whole chain.15
There have been similar other arguments using a reductio ad absurdum
argument in the works of theologians, such as Fakhr-e-Razi, Ghazzali, and
Tusi16 offered against regress. Of course, Muslim philosophers have
presented several arguments concerning the impossibility of regress, and we
will refer to some of the most important.
The Argument of the Middle and the Side

This argument begins with a limited set of causes and effects as a model, and
by analysis, proceeds by proving that the chain of causes and effects cannot
be endless. For example, in one set made of three components, we have an
effect that is not a cause for another, and a cause that has no effect, and a
third component which from one perspective, is a cause, and from another
15. See Morteza Motahhari, Maghalat Falsafi, vol. 2, Hikmat Publications, pp. 2026; Also Avicenna, al-Nijat, ed. Muhammad Taghi Danesh Pajouh, Tehran
University, p. 556. And Isharat, vol. 3, p. 22.
16. For a comprehensive study of the proofs for the impossibility of regress see
Mulla Sadra, al-Asfar al-Arba a, Dar Ihya al-Torath, vol. 2, pp. 141 169; Aram
Name ed. Mehdi Mohaghigh, Anjouman Ostadan Zaban Publications, pp. 126 133;
Fakhr al-Din Razi, al-Mabahith al-Mashrighiyya, ed. Muhammad al- Baghdadi,
Dar al-Kitab, vol . 1, p. 596; Katebi, Hikma al- Ayn, Ferdowsi University Press, pp.
178-192.
162
perspective is an effect.
A
(a cause only)
B
(a cause and an effect)
C
(an effect only)
In the above set, because B is both a cause and an effect it should have
two sides so that one could be the cause and the other the effect while
considering that circle is impossible and one thing cannot be both a cause
and an effect to the same extent. Now we increase the number of the
components of the set; for example, we add D. We see that this time D will
be at the side of the set and that A and B will be in the middle. No matter
how many components are added to this set, insofar as this set is limited, it
will retain this characteristic, that is, it will have middle and a side. This is
because we cannot have a middle, without having a side. Now in an endless
chain we will have middles without a side, for all the components of that
chain are the cause of something and the effect of something. (Except for C,
which is only an effect and shows the side of being an effect). This means
that all the components are middles without a side, which is an impossible
thing. Some philosophers hold that the argument of the middle and the side
is the most important argument for the invalidity of infinite regress.17
This argument may raise the question whether the claim for the
impossibility of having a middle without a side is self-evident or theoretical.
If it is self-evident then the impossibility of regress itself, which is the
existence of a middle without a side, will be self-evident and will need no
demonstration or argument. But if the impossibility of having a middle
without a side is not self-evident and is known by reasoning and speculation,
the argument of this judgment must be discussed.
If this judgement is grounded on our observation of finite sets, it may
meet with the objection that in a set comprised of three or four components
the matter is so arranged that some of the components are the middle and
two of them are the sides of the set, but extending this judgement to include
infinite sets will not be correct, and if we accept the possibility of thinking of
an infinite set, the judgement that a side is necessary will beg this question.
Essentially, the foremost question is whether we can have a set without a
limit or side or not. The proof of judgement in having a side for every set is
grounded on the mind s repose in the finite sets, and changing a finite set
into an infinite one will be the cause of disrupting the equation. If in the set
17. Mulla Sadra, al-Asfar, vol. 2, p. 145.
163
of three components A, B and C , B is the middle, it is because we have

already supposed that A and C are its sides; and if we again seek to conclude
the necessity of having a side for the mentioned set from the centrality of B,
this will be an explicit circle. Regress is an actual set made of infinite
number of components where there is no middle at all to conclude from its
existence the necessity of having a side.
On the other hand, if the argument of the necessity of a side for a middle
means that every effect needs a cause, and that because the middles of one
set are effects, they need a side or a cause, we must say that the content of
the principle of causality is simply that every phenomenon must have a
cause, and discussing the nature of that cause and whether it is only a cause
or it may be the effect of something else has nothing to do with that
principle. In other words, the principle of causality contends that every
middle needs a side, but whether this side itself is a middle and needs
another side is out of the scope of that principle and has to be proved. In the
set of the three components A, B, and C the principle of causality states
that C must be the effect of B and B the effect of A, but whether A is the
effect of something else, such as D, is not related to that principle and is
dependent on the nature of A. Thus, if it is self-existent, it will not need a
cause, but if it is not self-existent it will need a cause, so it is with the infinite
components of a set. In short, stopping at one link of the chain cannot be
understood from the principle of causality itself.18
The Argument of Correspondence

This argument argues that if we could think of an endless chain and then cut
off some of its links, this question will be raised whether the supposed chain
would be the same before and after cutting some of its links off. If the
answer is an affirmative one, the whole should be equal to the part, which is
impossible (the second chain is a part of the first chain, for it was generated
by cutting off some of its links). But if the answer is negative then the first
chain which is assumed to be infinite will be finite and limited, for a chain
18. In answering the mentioned problem, Fayyazi says whether one or more
members are the middles is not merely naming or transmitting a judgment from one
set to another; rather, being a middle is the necessary characteristic of everything,
which is both a cause and an effect. For, unless it is in the middle, a thing cannot be
both a cause and an effect and whether the sets are finite or infinite has no influence
on this characteristic. A middle always needs sides; therefore, the infinite chain of
causes is never accepted.
164
that has only one or a few links more than a finite chain (the second chain) it
must be finite itself.
According to some philosophers, this argument is the most important
argument of the impossibility of an infinite regress, and that other arguments
are mainly reduced to this argument.19
The objection made to this argument is that the set of numbers is such
that no matter how many of them are deleted it will remain infinite. In
response some have said that the subject of the discussion is the links of a
chain of causes and effects and not a mathematical chain such as a set of
numbers. But this answer meets with the objection that an argument should
be universal and must include every kind of chain, and especially its main
instance, the chains of numbers. (In other words, this argument is grounded
on the comparison of the components of the two sets, whether these
components are the causes and effects, or other things).
The truth is that the argument of correspondence is incomplete and in
infinite sets, deleting some limited components should not necessarily make
them finite. On the other hand, the links and components of two infinite sets
should not necessarily be equal; in fact, the concept of equality or identity is
applicable to finite sets.
Farabi s Argument of the Most Solid and the Most Concise

In a compiled chain of causes and effects, each link can exist only if its
preceding link exists. For example, in the set of A, B, and C C will exist if
B exists, and B will exist if A exists. This characteristic is applicable to all
the links of the chain of causes and effects, unless this chain is finite and has
an end, in which case the last or, according to another view, the first
component of the chain will not depend on the existence of anything else for
its existence. Now that all the links of the infinite chain depend on the links
before them for their existence, their total whole will have the same
characteristic, and without the existence of something outside this set it will
not exist.
Of course, the totality of a thing is nothing other than its components, but
the whole now is considered (the totality of all units); in fact, the point is that
all of the components are equal having their existence conditioned by the
existence of something else before them. In this case, their existence will be
dependent on the existence of something that is not a part of them and that
19. See Aram Name ed. Mehdi Mohaghigh, Anjoman Ostadan Zaban Publications,
p. 126.
165
thing should not be preceded by another thing and it must be self-existent.

By studying the characteristics of the links of a causal chain, Farabi
concludes that these links cannot regress infinitely and necessarily would
end somewhere.
The Argument of Allamah Tabatabie

It has been proven that making (Jaal) and causality are the existential
relationship among the existents (and not among nonexistents or Quiddities;
in fact, employing the term causality in respect of them is metaphorical). It is
clear that the existence of the effect in comparison to its cause is a copulative
existence, and the cause is that self-subsistent existence on which the effect
is dependent. Now if the chain of causes were infinite, the existence of the
copulative beings, some of which belong to others, would become necessary,
though there is no self-subsistent existence on which they could depend, and
such a thing is impossible . It is true that each link is dependent on its
preceding link, and the preceding link has a relative autonomy compared to
the following link. But because this relationship between the cause and the
effect is a real relationship, the relative autonomy would not be the solution
and there should exist an existent whose autonomy is absolute.20
However, this demonstration cannot be complete unless all the links,
which, as effects, have a relative autonomy in comparison to each other,
retain their copulative existence and dependence on the self-subsistent
existence. In that case, the demonstration would have no difference from
Farabi s argument of the most solid and the most concise, except for the
analysis of causality. In Farabi s argument this is termed dependence and the
need of the links for a cause and in Tabatabie s argument it is called the
copulative existence.
After rejecting an infinite regress, the fourth possibility that remains is
that the supposed contingent should be, directly or indirectly, the effect of
the Necessary Being, and this is the same reasonable and justifiable
possibility which Avicenna sought to prove. In his strict analysis of the
supposed contingent, on the basis of the principles of causality and the
impossibility of circle and regress, he improves his argument of the
existence of the Necessary.
Avicenna s criterion in this argument is the self-evident or nearly selfevident issues. The acceptance of reality and the existence of things (the first
premise) are self-evident. The principle of causality is also self-evident. For
20. Mulla Sadra, al-Asfar, vol. 2, p. 166. (Marginal Notes)
166
many philosophers, the principle of causality, which is sometimes called the

effect s need for a cause or a reason and sometimes the need of every
contingent being for a preponderant cause , is self-evident and does not need
any demonstration.
Self-evidence here may have the meaning of analytical, that is, the
predicate is derived from the analysis of the subject. It may also denote that
truth which is needless of proof, and, rather, demonstration itself is
dependent on its prior acceptance. In any case, the principle of causality is
undeniable, for its rejection leads from the atmosphere of realism to
sophistry and doubt about the existence of the external world. In other
words, if we consider of the principle of causality as a principle that cannot
be proved and think of it as a presupposition, we should note that this
principle is one of those presuppositions without which the foundation of
understanding, knowledge, and human perception will be disrupted, for the
edifice of understanding human perception is built on the principle of
causality. The impossibility of the circle is almost self-evident, and has not
much need for demonstration. The principle of the impossibility of regress
has also been proved by many arguments. Because the premises of this
demonstration are self-evident and are only a few, it deserves, according to
Avicenna, the splendid name of the argument of the Sincere.
Look at how our explication of the subject of God s existence and also
His oneness and transcendence over any deficiency is needless of
considering the creature or his deeds; though those could be another
argument for the existence of God. But our way is more accurate and more
valuable. If we call existence itself to witness, from the perspective of its
existence it will give witness to God and thereafter it will lead to His
attributes. The divine Book emphasizes our argument: We shall show them
Our signs in the horizons and in themselves, till it is clear to them that He is
the Truth. This dialogue, of course, is related to another group; then it asks,
Suffice it not as to thy Lord, that He is witness over everything? This
method is specific to the people of certainty, that is, those who take God as a
witness to everything and do not take anything as a guide unto Him.21
Avicenna s argument of the Sincere is so important that most of the
recent philosophers and theologians have accepted it, and some of them have
limited themselves to quoting this argument in their works,22 demonstrating
21. Avicenna, al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat, vol. 3, p. 66.
22. See Allameh Helli, Kashf al-Morad fi Sharh Tajrid al-E tighad, Jame a
Modarresin Publications, p. 280.
167
the magnitude and status this argument holds for them. The term the
argument of the Sincere, which later was more associated with the name of
the philosopher from Shiraz, Mulla Sadra, refers to that method in which
existence and reality themselves give witnesses to the existence of God
without referring to the creatures.
Problems and Objections

The objections made against Avicenna s argument in the Muslim religiophilosophical tradition are twofold. Some focus on the validity of
Avicenna s argument, and some others refer to the claims of Avicenna about
his argument. Some critics argue that the argument is incomplete, and some
others, though they accept the validity of the argument, decline to accept his
claim about the characteristics of the argument.
A. The Incompatibility of the Belief in the Pre-Eternity of the World with
Proving the Existence of God
Imam Muhammad Ghazzali, Avicenna s well-known critic, argues that
people like Avicenna who believe in the pre-eternity of the world cannot
prove the existence of God, saying that accepting the pre-eternity of the
world (that is, it has not been originated at any time) is incompatible with
and contradictory to searching for its cause and origin.
The explanation of Ghazzali s objection is that Muslim philosophers such
as Avicenna, Farabi, and Mulla Sadra usually hold that some realms and
worlds of existence transcend temporal origination. The world of intellects,
the primordial matter itself, or the matter of the world of nature whose
movement creates time, according to these philosophers, are atemporal. The
belief in the pre-eternity of the world reflects the influence of the
Neoplatonic ideas on Muslim philosophers. Plotinus s theory of emanation,
which was accepted by the Muslim philosophers, was adorned by religious
evidence and approved in the milieu of Islamic intellection.23 One of the
important points in Ghazzali s attack on this philosophy is theory of
emanation, which contends that the world of being is God s eternal and
timeless emanation.
Ghazzali holds that the position of the philosophers in accepting the preeternity of the world and at the same time seeking its cause is more absurd
than that of the atheists; for the atheists explicitly deny the origin of the
universe, which while being false is nevertheless intelligible, while these
23. See Islamic Great Encyclopedia (in Persian), vol.4, p. 15, entry Ibn Sina.
168
philosophers accept the pre-eternity of the world and thus its needlessness
of an external cause and seek its cause, which is absurd.24
In answer, Averroes argues that Ghazzali has not distinguished between
the temporal pre-eternity and the essential pre-eternity . The philosophers
tried to negate the temporality of the world and not its dependence. It seems
that for Ghazzali creation could only be meaningful in a temporal context
(apparently he was affected by the linguistic structure of the verb which in a
way implies the meaning of being and time), ignoring that the meaning of
creation or genesis is much wider than the temporal phenomena, and
includes even the world of intellects and the primordial matter itself. We
should be aware that transcending time does not mean transcending the
cause. What seems to be unintelligible is the essential pre-eternity, that is,
the needlessness of the world of contingent beings from a cause, which, of
course, is incompatible with the search for its cause.
For Averroes, the approach of the Muslim philosophers is the most
intelligible approach. For, on one hand, they observe that the divine
emanation is continuous and is not restricted to time, and, because of that,
they contend that God s bounty or generosity is infinite, and, on the other
hand, they hold that the whole world of being is dependent on the essence of
Creator.25 It is strange that despite Farabi and Avicenna s emphasis that the
temporal pre-eternity of the world does not make it needless of a cause,
Ghazzali has ignored this point.26
In response to Ghazzali and his followers, the Islamic philosophical
tradition has suggested and developed the criterion or yardstick of needing a
cause. Ghazzali s mistake was that he thought that the yardstick of needing a
cause is the temporal origination of things, and if one thing is not a temporal
creature it will not need a cause, and it will be contradictory to attribute a
cause to it; whereas the reason for needing a cause is the essential origination
or the contingent of the effect (for the Muslim peripatetic philosophers) and
its existential need (for Mulla Sadra and his followers). This essential
origination or contingency or existential need always accompanies the
24. Ghazzali, Muhammad, Tahafot al-Falasifa, ed. Maurice Boyj Dar al- Mashrigh,
p. 110.
25. Averroes, Tahafot al-Tahafot, ed. Maurice Boyj, Dar al-Mashrigh pp. 263 264.
26. For studying and criticizing Ghazzali s objections against the philosophers
approach to proving the Necessary Being, see: Ashtiyani, Seyed Jalal al-Din,
Critique of Ghazzali s Thought about Proving the Origin of Existence Keyhan
Andisheh, No. 23, p. 45.
169
contingent, whether the contingent is temporal (originated in time) or

atemporal (temporal pre-eternity).
The main attack on Avicenna s argument was the objection that without
the temporal origination of things and only via contingency one cannot argue
for the existence of God. But as Mulla Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji says, this
objection is baseless.
The essential origination, which is a consequential property to the
meaning of possibility, is independent and sufficient regarding a yardstick of
the need for Creator; for the precedence of one of the two sides of the
contingent qua contingent needs a preponderant; and because theologians do
not accept contingency and essential origination to be enough for proving the
world s need for a Creator, and for them the temporal origination alone or
along with contingency is the cause of need, they sought to prove the
temporal origination by rational arguments which they could not complete
and thus they are faced with a very difficult task .. From the claim they
have made, (that is, the yardstick of needing a cause is the temporal
origination) it appears that they cannot prove the existence of the Necessary
Creator, for when the need for an Agent is held to be caused by the temporal
origination, the chain of the causes of the events may end with a contingent
being which is temporally pre-eternal, and because contingency is not the
only yardstick for needing a cause, neither circle nor regress would occur. 27
B. The Incompatibility of the Principle of the Impossibility of an Infinite
Regress and Other Principles of the Peripatetic Philosophy
Ghazzali holds that the principle of the impossibility of regress, which is one
of the premises of Avicenna s argument, differs and is in incompatible with
the accepted principles of the Peripatetic philosophy. For one of the
philosophical beliefs of Peripatetics represented mainly by Avicenna is
the infinitude of the chain of events; that is, there is no event that is not
preceded by another event. In other words, no time can be found in which no
events had occurred.
To answer this objection, we can say that the comparison between the
chain of the temporal events and the chain of causes and effects is out of
place. For what is impossible is the conglomeration of the infinite links of
causes and effects at one time, rather than the infinitude of the events, the
non-existence of each of them is the condition or the grounds for the
origination of the other and they do not come together actually at the same
27. Lahiji, Abdol Razzagh, Gohar-e-Morad, p.151.
170
time. Philosophers accept that every event is preceded by another event, but
they do not accept that every contingent effect must be preceded by another
contingent effect. For, in the former there is no actual conglomeration of the
parts, whereas in the latter because of the accompaniment of the cause and
the effect, all the links of the chain of causes and effects are met together and
actually exist simultaneously with the existence of the last effect.
Ghazzali criticises another principle of Avicenna s philosophical
convictions as contradictory to the principle of the impossibility of regress in
which all the units and components have an actual conglomeration. It is the
belief in the infinitude of human souls, despite the priority and anteriority
that exist in their origination, that now, because of their eternality, all of
them actually exist. On the basis of this objection, the principle of regress is
defective on the grounds of its incompatibility with the traditional
philosophical convictions, and, thus, Avicenna s argument remains
incomplete.28
It seems that the incompatibility of these two principles (the principle of
the infinitude of the souls and the principle of the impossibility of regress)
does not necessarily lead to the conclusion that the principle of the
impossibility of regress is invalid, and perhaps the principle of the infinitude
of the souls is invalid. The incompatibility of these two principles means that
one of them is incorrect, and to determine which one it is requires the study
of their arguments. In our discussion of the arguments of the impossibility of
regress we have shown the validity and correctness of some of them;
therefore, if we supposedly accept the incompatibility of the two mentioned
principles (and this incompatibility itself is doubted and debated) we should
deny the infinitude of the souls or explain it in such a way as to be
compatible with the principle of the impossibility of regress.
C. The Objection of Imam Fakhr-E-Razi
To Avicenna s claim that his demonstration of the existence of God has no
place for the contingent beings, but reaches the Necessary Being via the
analysis of existence itself, Fakhr-e-Razi objects that Avicenna by
abandoning the supposition that the concerned existent must be necessary
ultimately directs the discussion to the contingent being, and on the basis of
the impossibility of regress he concludes that the existence of the Necessary
Being is necessary for the existence of the contingent beings, including the
28. Ghazzali, Tahafot al-Falasifa, p. 111; Fakhr-e-Razi, al-Matalib al- Aliya fi alIlm al-Ilahi, ed. Ahmad Hijazi vol. 1, p. 158.
171
contingent whose existence is supposed already.29

The answer to this objection is clear, for Avicenna claims that his
argument is not dependent on the acceptance of the contingent being or
discussing it as the premise of the demonstration; and if in the process of
demonstration it speaks of the contingent being, it is spoken of as one of the
two sides of the veritable disconjunctive, so that if the supposed existent is
contingent it should end in a necessary Being. On the other hand, we know
that the truth of a conditional statement is not dependent on the truth of its
antecedent.
D. The Objection of Averroes
Averroes, the Andalusian Muslim philosopher (the West of the Muslim
world), who is more highly regarded than Avicenna and other Muslim
philosophers by European scholars, has objected to the discourse of
Avicenna:
According to him the division of the existence into the necessary and the
contingent, which constitutes the premise of Avicenna s argument, is
invalid. For an existent is something that exists and what is existent cannot
be equal to existence and non-existence (be a contingent being).30
For Averroes, existence is always equal with necessity, and the existent
cannot be a contingent being. Although the necessity of existence is
sometimes essentially (i.e., by itself) and sometimes is by another , at the
end every existent is necessary.
Of course, the equality of existence and necessity is not a point that could
have been neglected by Avicenna. His division of existent into the necessary
and the contingent is not a division made on the mode of existence, for on
this basis every existent is necessary and, in fact, unless the thing is
necessary it does not become existent (the content of the philosophical rule
unless the thing is necessary it cannot become existent ). What Avicenna
was thinking of was that in a rational analysis every existent is one of two
kinds. It either cannot be imagined to have any essential or non-existential
mode, and all that has is existence, which, in that case, it is called Necessary
Being.31 Or it is an existent from whose finitude and limits the intellect in its
29. Fakhr-e-Razi, al-Matalib al- Aliyya, vol. 1, p. 56.
30. Majid Fakhri, Ibn Rushd Feylasoof - o- Ghartaba Dar al- Mashrigh, p. 23.
31. The essentially Necessary Being has no whatish and contingent aspect at all; He
is pure existence, and does not have any limitation from which quiddity can be
abstracted. See Gholam Hossein Ibrahimi Dinani, General Philosophical Principles
172
analysis extracts an essential mode, which is called quiddity. It is this

quiddity that in its relation to existence and non-existence has equal state;
and its existence or non-existence needs a cause. That existent from which
the quiddity can be extracted and its essence can be conceived and
understood is called the contingent being.32
This interpretation of Avicenna s speech (considering the essence and the
quiddity in dividing existence into necessity and contingency rather than
existence itself) can be seen in the works of Mulla Sadra. This is why Mulla
Sadra considers the division of existent into the necessary and the contingent
as a sort of giving fundamentality to the quiddity. For when an external
existent, because of having quiddity is characterized by contingency it means
that the quiddity acts as an intermediary in occurrence of contingency on
existence; in philosophical terms it is a binding aspect, that is, the
characterization of contingency is essentially and in reality belongs to
quiddity and attributing it to the existent is metaphorical and accidental and
is due to the unity of existence and quiddity in the external. If quiddity were
a binding aspect and it were the thing which were characterized by
contingency, then it would exist in the external, for it is in the external that
the quiddity causes existence to be characterized by contingency.33 To avoid
giving any kind of fundamentality to quiddity, Mulla Sadra changes the
division of the existence into the necessary and the contingent to that of the
self-sufficient and the insufficient, or the independent and the dependent.34
E. Mulla Sadra s First Objection
Mulla Sadra does not accept Avicenna s demonstration as an argument of
the Sincere because the concept of existence is part of it. For the concept of
existence is different from the reality of existence, which is the only way
employed by the argument of the Sincere to prove the existence of God.
According to Mulla Sadra, the argument of Avicenna, contrary to what he
in Islamic Philosophy (In Persian), Mo assesseh Mutali at va Tahghighat Farhangi,

(Tehran), 1986, vol. 2, p. 596.
32. See Javadi Amoli, Abdollah, Tabein Barahin Ithbat Khoda, Isra Publications, p.
145, 146.
33. Mulla Sadra, al-Asfar al-Araba a, Dar Ihya al-Torath, p. 84; also see Ashtiyani,
Ta - ligha bar Sharh Manzoome, p. 489.
34. Mulla Sadra, al-Shawahid al-Rububiya, ed. Seyyed Jalal al-Din Ashtiyani;
Mashhad University Press, p. 35.
173
claims, is not based on the analysis of existence itself.35

In answer to this objection, Sabzawari says: In Avicenna s argument, the
concept of existence has been used to refer to the reality of existence, and
not simply as one of the many concepts or as a mental issue. 36
Because no reference is made to the concept of existence in Avicenna s
writing itself, and everywhere he speaks of the reality of existence and
externality, the objection by Mulla Sadra appears to be ambiguous and
unclear. Perhaps he is attempting to say that by dividing the existence into
the necessary and the contingent Avicenna speaks of the concept of
existence in its reference to the existence itself, for pure existence without
considering another mode cannot be divided into the necessary and the
contingent. That which can be divided into the necessary and the contingent
is not existence itself which itself is the criterion of necessity and selfsufficiency, but rather it is the concept of existence in its reference to an
existent that can be a quiddity or otherwise. If Mulla Sadra s criticism is
directed to this, then Sabzawari s answer will not take us anywhere.
If this objection is accepted, it will not do any harm to the argument and
its validity, and it will only concern the claim on its title. Mulla Sadra
himself has accepted Avicenna s argument, and has acknowledged it to be
the nearest way to the real argument of the Sincere, and in some of his works
bases his argument on it.37
F. Mulla Sadra s Second Objection
The philosopher from Shiraz argues that Avicenna s argument is a
demonstration from effect to cause (Inni) argument, which cannot lead to
certitude, rather than a demonstration from cause to effect (limmi) that ends
with certitude. We know that a argument is a kind of logical syllogism
composed of certain premises and is made in the two forms of Inni (a
demonstration from effect to cause) and limmi (a demonstration from effect
to cause). . The middle term in the latter, besides being the confirmatory
cause (the cause of being effect) of the conclusion, it is also the cause of
existence (the cause of the realization and the affirmation) of the major term
for the minor term. In the demonstration from effect to cause (Inni),
however, though the middle term is the confirmatory cause, it is the effect or
35. Mulla Sadra, al-Asfar al-Arba a, vol. 6, p. 26.
36. Ibid.
37. Mulla Sadra, al-Asfar Al-Arba a, vol. 6, p. 26. Al-Mabda wa al-Ma ad, ed.
Seyyed Jalal Ashtiyani, Anjoman Hikmat Publications, p. 15.
174
the corollary of the effect of the existence of the major term for the minor
term. Most logicians hold that such an argument cannot lead to certitude
(despite the certitude of its premises).
The detailed study of the above-mentioned division of the demonstration
argument, and deciding the validity or invalidity of the claim that the Inni
argument (the demonstration from effect to cause) cannot lead to certitude
are matters lying outside the range of this research. However, we have to
briefly mention some points.38
First, if the claim on the impotence of the (Inni) argument (the
demonstration from effect to cause) in leading to certitude is grounded on
the philosophical rule things or effects that have causes can only be
understood through those causes 39, we must say that the issue in question
(the essence of the Exalted Creator) is not the subject of this judgment, for it
is not an effect.
Second, as was said by some philosophers, though contingency, which is
a part of the middle term of Avicenna s argument, is one of the attribute of
the quiddity and is the effect of the Necessary, we can say that in the
position of existence this very contingency of the contingent beings is the
reason for their need of the Necessary Being.40 In other words, by a cause,
which is the middle term of the Limmi argument, we do not intend the true
cause (the existential linkage), but it is the cause belonged to the case itself
(Nafs al-Amr). Therefore, contingency can also be the cause of something,
and from this perspective, Avicenna s argument can be a Limmi argument (a
demonstration from cause to effect).
Third, we can say that in Avicenna s argument one of the consequential
properties of existence (the contingency of some of its instances) is proved
on the basis of another instance (the necessary existence of one of its
instances). This kind of argument is called the semi-causal argument and it
can lead to certitude, and certainty, though its middle term is not a real cause
and only accompanies the conclusion. Allamah Tabatabie has defended this
position and argues that many of the philosophical demonstrations are of this
nature.41
38. See Mesbah, Sharh Borhan Mantigh Shifa, ed. Mohsen G. Heravian Amir Kabir
Publications, vol. 1, p. 172 .
39. Gholam Hossein Ibrahimi Dinani, General Philosophical Principles in Islamic
Philosophy, vol.1, p. 252.
40. Mesbah, Mohammad Taghi, Ta ligha, ala Nahaya al-Hikma, p. 409.
41. Allameh Tabatabaei, Nahya al-Hikma, p. 270.
175
A Few Points about Avicenna s Argument

A. Avicenna s argument is a kind of direct demonstration and is based on the
principles of causality and the impossibility of the circle and regress.
B. The principle of causality (the effect s need for a cause) and the
principle of the impossibility of circle are self-evident.
C. In rejecting regress, Avicenna has used a kind of reductio ad
absurdum argument, which can be understood as an argument of the
existence of the Necessary. In other words, Avicenna s argument of the
impossibility of regress in Kitab al-Isharat wa- l-tanbihat, besides rejecting
regress, necessitates the existence of God.
D. Avicenna s argument is one of the best philosophical arguments for
the existence of God and possesses logical accuracy.
Other Accounts of the Argument from Necessity and Contingency;

The Theologians Argument from Contingency
In the works of philosophers and theologians, the argument from necessity
and contingency is defined as an argument whose first premise is the
contingent being, unlike Avicenna s argument, which begins with the
absolute existence rather than the contingent existent. Aside from this
difference, we can say that the theologians demonstration is completely
similar to that of Avicenna s. For, once the reality of the contingent being is
accepted, the principle of causality necessitates that the contingent being
should have a cause, and this cause cannot be the contingent being itself (the
impossibility of circle), nor can it be a chain of contingent beings (the
impossibility of regress). Therefore, there should be a necessary being to
give existence to the mentioned existent. Nevertheless, it is accepted as a
principle that the contingent being exists; it is accepted on the grounds of its
self-evidence, and if there is any doubt about its existence it can be accepted
only on the basis of arguments.
Abd al-Razzaq Lahiji holds that the existence of the contingent is selfevident. He argues:
There is no doubt that the contingent being exists, and the
existence of the contingent needs a preponderant or a cause that
should exist at the time of its existence; if that cause is also a
contingent being, it will need another cause. If the cause of this
cause is the first contingent, there will be an explicit circle, and
if it is a third contingent then we have to discuss its cause. If the
cause refers (to other contingent beings) at any level, there will
176
be explicit or implicit circle, and if it does not refer to them at

any level, there will be an infinite regress, and the impossibility
of circle and regress have already proved by a decisive
argument. Therefore, it is inevitable that the chain of causes and
effects should stop at a cause whose existence is necessary and
self-dependent.42
There are some theologians who contend that the existence of the
contingent is theoretical and needs a cause. They argue that the combination
of the sensible and self-evident things, for example, denotes their
contingency, and thereby they conclude the attribute of contingency for
them.43
The Argument of Sheikh Eshraq

Sheikh Eshraq [Suhravardi] gives his own account of the argument from
necessity and contingency, which came to be known as the account of the
author of al-Talwihat ( The Intimations ). His argument is presented in the
form of the reductio ad absurdum argument; that is, after supposing that all
existents are contingent beings, he shows that this supposition will lead to
impossibility and, therefore, it is invalid.
The accounts of his argument are as follows.
A. If we suppose that all existents were contingent beings, in that case
their total whole would be contingent. The contingency of the total set is not
due to our extending the effect of the part to the whole or the effect of the
individual to the whole set, which is a current fallacy and can be avoided; for
it is possible that the parts of the whole or the components of a set should
have a special characteristic which is not shared by the whole or the set.
Contingency can be extended to cover even the whole and the set because
the set made of contingent components will be contingent, and the
combination of two or a few contingent beings will not confer necessity on
the whole. Because of its contingency, like any other contingent, this
contingent whole needs a cause (the principle of causality), and its cause
cannot be a contingent, for according to our supposition all contingent
components are the members of the set, and they cannot be the generating
cause of a set of which they are members. Necessarily the cause of this
42. Lahigi, Abdol Razzagh, Gohar Morad, ed. Samad Movahed, p. 235. Sarmayeh
Iman, ed. Sadegh Larijani, al-Zahra publications, p. 40.
43. See Katebi, Hikma al- Ayn, Sharh Mobarak shah, ed. Seyyed Jalal Ashtiyani,
Ferdowsi University, p. 134; also see Mulla Sadra, al-Asfar al-Arbaa, vol. 6, p. 41.
177
contingent whole is a necessary being and is outside of the set of the

contingent beings (the desired conclusion to the question).44
It is clear that this argument is similar to Avicenna s argument against
regress, but here it is established as an independent argument for proving the
Necessary Being.
B. In his book, Qadi Iji has presented the argument of the author of alTalwihat ( The Intimations ) in another way. Initially, he supposes that there
exists a contingent being, and in its analysis, he writes: If its cause is a
contingent being, and the cause of that cause is also a contingent, this would
continue ad infinitum. We question the whole of those contingent beings,
and seek its cause. Its cause cannot be one member of the set of the
contingent beings, but it should be sought outside that set. Qadi Iji s account
regarding the argument of the author of al-Talwihat ( The Intimations )
differs from Avicenna s argument only in the first premise, which deals with
the acceptance of the contingent being. Therefore, it is difficult to accept it
as an independent argument.45
In the works of Sheikh Eshraq it is sometimes said: Because every
contingent is necessitous (=needy), all of them must be necessitous; for the
whole itself is the effect of the contingent individual units. 46 This statement
itself has raised some objections, for the whole is a subjective (mentally
posited, i tibari) issue and cannot be counted as one of the real existents
whether a cause or an effect. On the other hand, if the whole is subjective
issue, how can we speak of its contingency or its need of a cause? 46
The Argument of Khawjah Nassir Al-Din Tussi

There is another account of the argument from necessity and contingency
known as the account of Khawjah Nassir al-Din e-Tussi. He presented the
argument from the position of rejecting regress, but after him it was
discussed as an independent argument of the Necessary. A summary of the
account is as follows.
According to the principle of causality, prior to its necessity a contingent
being is deprived of existence ( Unless a thing is necessary it cannot become
44. Majmou a Asar -e Sheik Ishragh, ed. Henry Corbin vol.1, p. 386. Also see Mulla
Sadra, al-asfar al-Arba a, vol. 6, p. 30.
45. Seyyed Sharif Jorjani, Sharh al-Mawaghif, Sharif Radi Publications, vol. 8, p. 7.
(Suhravardi s speech is not correct.)
46. Majmou a Asar-e Sheikh Ishragh, vol. 1, (al-Talwihat), p. 33; also see Se
Resale az Sheikh Ishragh; Anjoman Hikmat Publications, p. 146.
178
existent ), and so far that it retains even a little possibility of its nonexistence it will remain in the abyss of non-existence. It is only by
eliminating that possibility and attaining the level of necessity that it can step
into the realm of existence.
Every contingent individual is threatened with non-existence by another
individual, in the sense that unless that other individual exists the first one
will not. But our supposition is that the second contingent exists, and,
therefore, the first contingent will not be threatened; in philosophical terms
non-existence has been repelled. However, because all the links are
contingent beings, the chain is also contingent and its existence and nonexistence are equal. Therefore, the possibility of its non-existence will also
affect its members, and unless there exists something that lifts the whole to
the level of necessity, and while the possibility of its non-existence still
exists, this possibility will affect all the members of the whole, and this
much possibility of non-existence will deny all the members the chance of
existence. For the condition of existence is necessity, which they do not
possess, and they are threatened with non-existence by the loss and the nonexistence of the whole. Philosophically, this kind of possibility of the
members non-existence is called head non-existence , that is, it is a kind of
non-existence that overtakes the individual as a part of the whole, unlike the
previous non-existence, which annihilates the individual in its relationship
with another individual.47
This argument has been stated in other forms as well. The essence of all
of them is that a contingent cannot give existence to another contingent
being, for generation is dependent on and a by-product of necessity, and the
contingent which itself has no necessity cannot generate or confer necessity
on others, unless it is blessed with necessity by another. Therefore, it is only
after necessity and the necessary that we can speak of the existence and the
generation of the contingent beings.48
The argument of the author of al-Talwihat ( The Intimations ) and the
47. Mulla Abollah Zunuzi, Lama at-e- Ilahiyya, ed. Seyyed Jalal Ashtiyani p. 41;
also see Aram Name, p. 133.
48. Lahiji, Abdol Razzagh, Shawarigh al-Ilham, vol. 1 p. 499. He is surprised that
why Khawjah Nassir al-Din e-Tussi did not cite this argument for proving God s
existence, and he has used it only for rejecting regress; Lahiji refers that this
argument is one of the innovations of Khawjah Nassir al-Din e-Tussi (p. 199). Also
see Abdollah Javadi Amoli, Tabein Barahin Itbat Khoda, Isra Publications, p. 147.
And Mir Seyyed Sharif Jorjani, Sharh al-Mawaghif, vol. 8, p. 12.
179
argument of Khawjah Nassir al-Din e-Tussi, which have been rewritten and
recognized in various forms, use the key concept of the whole of the
contingent beings . This kind of argument is not dependent on proving, or
the prior acceptance of the principle of impossibility of regress, but while
proving the Necessary, proves and demonstrates the impossibility of regress
itself. Of course, this does not mean that even by supposing the possibility of
regress the arguments for the existence of the Necessary would be valid and
complete; rather, it only negates the dependence of the argument of the
existence of the Necessary on the principle of the impossibility of regress. In
rejecting regress, Avicenna has used the reductio ad absurdum argument in
which the concept of the whole of the contingent beings has a key role.49
Essentially, in the reductio ad absurdum argument that is established for
proving the Necessary or the impossibility of regress the concept of the
whole or the totality of the contingent beings must invariably be considered.
In these arguments (those of the author of al-Talwihat and Khawjah
Nassir al-Din e-Tussi against regress) the whole or the totality of the
contingent beings are considered, whether the chain of contingent beings is
finite or infinite, and because the mentioned whole itself is contingent in its
existence we can seek its cause as well.
However, using the concept of the whole or the totality in the argument
for the existence of the Necessary and against regress has some problems
too.
The Problem of the Fallacy of the Whole and the Individual

A. One of these problems is related to the application of the terms the
whole or the set to endless chains. For the term set denotes that its
members are limited. Dependence on the set or the whole of the contingent
beings for proving the existence of God or the impossibility of regress is
begs a question, that is, we use as the premise of our demonstration that
which we are seeking to prove. In other words, we accept the finitude of the
contingent beings, which is what we are seeking to prove, as a part of the set
or the whole of the contingent beings making it the premise of the
demonstration.
Khawjah Nassir al-Din e-Tussi solves this problem introduced by Fakhre-Razi in his criticism of Avicenna. Tussi holds that such problems are
verbal, for by the whole or the set of the contingent beings Avicenna refers
49. See the discussion of the impossibility of regress in this article.
180
to the chain of the contingent beings, whether finite or infinite.50 That which
necessitates limitation is the detailed conception of all the links of the chain,
which, of course, is not intended by Avicenna. His intention is the general
conception of the chain and, no doubt, referring to it by the term the whole
or the set will entails no limitation.51
B. The more important problem is related to applying the principle of
causality to the whole or the set. Searching for the cause of the whole of the
contingent requires that the whole should be a real being, and because such a
supposition would mean the whole or the set is one of the contingent
members, this would be incorrect.52 That which needs a cause in the set of
balls is the movement of each of them, and when we say that the whole set
of the balls are in motion we should not seek a cause for the movement of
the whole, for the whole is not a ball so that it could move and in its
movement needs a cause.
This problem has been very important in contemporary Western
philosophy of religion, and many philosophers have accepted it; it is known
as Bertrand Russell s objection. The essence of this problem is that seeking a
cause for the whole stems from confusing the members of the set or the
whole with the abstract concept of the whole or the set.53
To answer this objection, the Muslim philosophers engaged themselves
with the study of the different applications of the concept of the whole. The
whole sometimes refers to a real compound, that is, that which is produced
by special effects and characteristics unavailable to its components. For
example, the result of the combination of oxygen and hydrogen is water,
which itself is a particular existent with special qualities. As a real
compound, the whole is also divided into two. In the first a new kind is
produced from the combination of its components, as in the above example;
in the other, without producing a new form, the compound thing has really
features different from those of its components. For example, a house is
made of stone, brick, etc., and without assuming a new form it will have
special features. Human products are usually of this kind.
Now, when we speak of the whole of the contingent beings, do we intend
50. Avicenna, al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat, vol. 3, p. 22. Also see Katebi, Hikma alAyn, p.180.
51. See Seyyed Sharif Jorjani, Sharh al-Mawaghif, vol.1, p. 6.
52. Mulla Sadra, al-Asfar al-Arba a, vol. 6, p. 30.
53. In this philosophy, of course, there is another problem related to the concept of
the whole which is known as Hume s problem.
181
that from the combination of the contingent members a new entity with a
new specific form is produced, or a new entity without having a new specific
form with new special qualities are produced? If a new thing is produced
from the combination of the contingent beings, because it has been produced
from the combination of contingent components, it will be a contingent and
an effect, and we should search after its cause. However, it does not seem
that the believers in the contingency of the whole of the contingent beings
want to say that a new contingent being which is the whole of the contingent
beings has been produced. It is this point that has doubled the problem, for
though they accept that the whole of the contingent beings is not a real
compound or an independent existent so that its cause could be found,
nevertheless they try to explain it and find its cause.
The whole sometimes is used in an abstract and a subjective sense, that is,
it refers to the individual members, and, in fact, it is just a name for a series
of things. For example, when we speak of the set or the whole of the chairs
in a classroom, we do not mean that a new thing has been produced from
their combination, but we only refer to the units of the chairs. In its
subjective meaning, the whole itself is used in two ways. First, it is the total
whole that refers to its members and components along with the condition of
combination and accompaniment. Second, it is the overwhelming whole
which is the same as the first without the condition of combination; that is,
there is no condition as to the members should they be combined with each
other.
We can say that when we speak of the whole of the contingent beings in
the argument of the existence of the Necessary or the impossibility of
regress, we take into consideration its subjective meaning. But when the
whole of the contingent beings is an unreal and mentally posited existent,
what could be the meaning of the search for its cause? Is the cause of an
unreal or a subjective existent anything other than a consideration and
abstraction?
The Muslim philosophers hold that the whole of the contingent beings is
subjective, and the aim is not to find a cause for that subjective whole, but to
find a cause for its referent, which is all the links and components of the
chain, which, no doubt, are real things and need a cause.
Sometimes we ask about the cause of the existence of A, and the answer
given is based on the existence of B, and, similarly, we ask about the cause
of B which is the existence of C, and so on, until finally by supposing the
acceptance of a Necessary Being we put an end to all questions. Sometimes
we ask of the whole of the individuals together, without conceiving, of
182
course, their details, which because of their infinitude cannot be conceived.

In that case, we cannot explain the existence of all the individuals on the
basis of another individual, for according to our supposition that very
individual is one of these individuals in question. Therefore, in both cases,
that which needs a cause is the individual, but the way the question is asked
and the approaches followed in discussing it are different. In other words, in
the first approach, each individual is questioned from a particular point of
view, but in the second approach the individuals are questioned from a
general point of view.
The Argument of Mulla Sadra

In transcendent philosophy, the argument from necessity and contingency
has been developed and established in a way consistent with its principles.
Mulla Sadra, who holds that the division of a thing into the necessity and the
contingent cannot be compatible with the fundamentality of existence, in his
account of the argument employs other terms. He argues that an existent is
either self-sufficient and independent or insufficient and needy. An
insufficient existent cannot exist without a self-sufficient existent. The
argument itself is also either direct and is based on the impossibility of
regress, or it is indirect and is grounded on the claim that if all things were
insufficient and needy, then no existent would have existed. For the
plenitude of neediness cannot bring sufficiency and richness, and unless
there is sufficiency and independence, needy and insufficient existents
cannot have a portion of existence.
Mulla Sadra and his followers blew into the body of the fundamentality
of existence the spirit of Avicenna s argument,54 and in their re-creation they
have liberated themselves from the fetters of dividing existence into the
necessary and the contingent, which mainly contributed to the theory of the
fundamentality of quiddity.
54. See Mulla Sadra, al-Shawahid al-Rububiyah, ed. Seyyed Jalal Ashtiyani, Nashr
Daneshghahi, p. 35; also Ali Meghdadi Isfahani, Neshan az Bineshanha, Adab-e
Mashhad Publications, p.155.
The Theory of the Oneness of Existence and its

Demonstrability from the Points of View of Ibn
Arabi and Mulla Sadra
Ghassem Kakaie
Abstract
The oneness of existence is the most fundamental spiritual view of Ibn
Arabi. Mulla Sadra, at the apex of his transcendent theosophy, also moves
through the gradation of existence to the oneness of existence. Concerning
the definition of the oneness of existence there are differing views in the East
and the West. In the West some have compared the philosophical view of
Pantheism to this theory with some even including them as one. There are
however, fundamental differences, between these two views, which will be
discussed in this article. On one hand, Ibn Arabi holds that the intellect
cannot grasp the theory of the oneness of existence through demonstration,
for any rational justification of this theory will meet with irresolvable
contradiction. Therefore, from Ibn Arabi s point of view this theory is transrational and belongs to a domain beyond reason. On the other hand, Mulla
Sadra argues that this theory belongs to the realm of intellectual discourse,
demonstrating this by substantiating this using two proofs: one is that of
analysis (the question of causality) and the other is the rational labouring
(the rule of the simple truth). To prove the validity of Pantheism the Western
philosophers also considered these two proofs, and have discussed some
versions of them, like The Dependency Argument and The Infinity
Argument . This article, will first, assess the theories of Ibn Arabi and Mulla
Sadra on the demonstrability of the oneness of existence, and secondly
criticise these two proofs of Mulla Sadra comparing them to their Western
counterparts.
184
Introduction
For Ibn Arabi and Mulla Sadra, the theory of the oneness of existence ,
beyond being a philosophical approach to the world of existence, is a
particular understanding of the religious texts in respect to God and His
Names and a conceptual interpretation of the Gnostics mystical unveiling.
The people of gnosis have placed this theory next to the most original
religious belief, namely monotheism, and have called it the particular
monotheism or even the monotheism of the particulars among the elite.1
This theory found its way from the books of the mystics into the works of
philosophers, and if we want to explain properly the whole subject in
philosophy, its accurate place would be the section on Theology in the
Particular sense rather than Theology in the General sense . As is apparent
from the name, this theory contends that in the realm of being there is only
one existent or even one existence and returns the multiplicity seen in the
world to one unity which embraces the whole multitude. In other words, in
this multiplicity it finds a unity whose relationship with the multitudes is the
relationship between the absolute and the limited.
This theory greatly differs from all other pseudo-monistic and reductive
theories, such as materialism. Materialism holds that behind the whole
multitudes there is a unity; it confines existence to matter , and contends
that all the universe, and even the mind, the intellect, and the soul are the
manifestations of matter in its different forms. The difference, however, is
that in the theory of the oneness of existence the one or the unique who is
the origin of all the multitudes is divine, sacred and is the object of the
religious experience, and deserves to be worshipped and praised; it is He,
according to Ibn Arabi, Who is called by each nation by a different name. In
Arabic he is called Allah, in Persian Khoda, in Armenian Isfaj, in Turkish
Tankari, in English God, and in Utopian Waaq.2 In short, the world seen by
the believer in the oneness of existence is a living universe and that one is
the soul of the universe .
The theory known in the West as Pantheism also has these two
fundamental constituents, that is, first, it holds that there is a unity behind the
1. Hakim Sabzevari, The Marginal Notes on al-Asfar al-Arba a al- Aghlyya fi alHikma al-Muta aliyya, Mustafawi Publications, vol. 1, p. 71.
2. Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, Dar Ihya al-Torath al-Arabi, vol. 2, p. 360. Of course,
this view is also different from the common monotheism that merely searches for
the unity and the one in the origin of the world, for here the unity is in and with
the world.
The Theory of the Oneness of Existence and Its Demonstrability
185
multitudes, and, second, this One is divine.3 This similarity has caused
some to believe that the oneness of existence is the same as Pantheism.
Different definitions have been given of Pantheism, to the extent that the
pre-Socratic philosophers, the ancient Indian religions, Espinoza, Hegel,
Bradley, Whitehead, have been counted among the Pantheists. So, Pantheism
has been discussed both as a religious tendency and a philosophical
approach. Nevertheless, concerning the true definition of Pantheism there are
many ambiguities.4 Its literal meaning is derived from two Greek words, pan
meaning all and theo meaning God, referring to the belief that holds all
existence is divine.5 The Pantheists argue that there is only one Being and all
forms of reality are its modes or appearances or are equal to It.6 Some other
definitions have been given of the term:
1. Believing that God is everything, and that all things are God, the
world is either equal to God or one in a way or another is the
manifestation of His essence.
2. Believing that the whole existence constitutes a unity and this
inclusive unity in a sense is divine.7 According to this theory, God is
not the Creator of things but is equal to them.8 Moreover, all things in
the world are one and that one is all in all.9
Clearly, Pantheism has some similarities to the view of the oneness of
existence . Many instances can be cited where the two have been mistaken
for each other. To illustrate the main differences between these two theories,
initially we will have a look at the oneness of existence in accordance with
Ibn Arabi s viewpoint.
Ibn Arabi and the Oneness Of Existence

As Professor Chettick has pointed out, the oneness of Existence as a term
was only used in Ibn Arabi s works,10 once by implication in which the
3. Levine, Michael P. Pantheism, Routledge, London and New York, 1994, p. 25.
4. Ibid, p. 1.
5. Owen, H.P. Concepts of Deity, Macmilan, London, 1971, p. 65.
6. Ibid, p. 65.
7. Levine, p. 1.
8. Ibid, p. 16.
9. Ibid, p. 17.
10. See the article The Oneness of Existence by William Chittick,
Pajouheshgaran, No. 11; Also Ibrahim Madkour s view mentioned in Muhi al-Din
Ibn Arabi by Muhsin Jahangiri, fourth edition, Tehran University Press, 1375, p.
263.
186
words the oneness in existence are mentioned.11 But after Ibn Arabi, the
opponents of the theory of the oneness of existence, on one hand, have called
the Great Sheikh a believer in the oneness of existence to accuse him of
unbelief (perhaps Ibn Taymiyyah was the first person charged with the
aforementioned intention in applying this term to Ibn Arabi).12 On the other
hand, to bring Ibn Arabi s view closer to the philosophers teachings and
terms, the disciples of his school have used words such as existence and
unity , which are more familiar to philosophers, and have introduced the
term the oneness of existence to mark the mystical views of Ibn Arabi;
after Ibn Sabin the oneness of existence became a particular technical
term.13
However, aside from the term, the meaning of the oneness of existence
restricting existence to God and negating the existence of everything other
than Him is the ultimate goal of all of Ibn Arabi s works. We will briefly
look at examples of some of them.
Expressions such as Existence is God 14 or Existence is the Real 15,
which hold that existence is limited to God, have been repeated many times
in al-Futuhat. On one occasion in al-Futuhat after mentioning the common
remark There is no God other than Allah he explains its meaning
according to this particular monotheism as follows: But the commitment of
the great mystics to There is no God other than Allah differs from that
which could result from rational speculation; they observe that existence is
only God. 16 Moreover, other than God nothing can escape the power of the
Real; He is their Creator or even He is their existence. All of them derive
their existence from Him, whereas the existence of none of them is against
or is outside His existence, an existence, which He could have given to other
than Him. Such a thing is impossible. He is existence itself and things do
appear because of Him. 17
11. Al-Futuhat, vol. 2, p. 502.

12. M. Jahangiri Muhi al-Din Ibn Arabi, p. 263.
13. Chittick, The Oneness of Existence, Pajouheshgaran, No. 11, p. 24.
14. Al-Futuhat, vol. 2, p. 556; also in vol. 2, p. 517, there is a sentence which may
be the closest meaning to the oneness of existence: Nothing has been manifested in
existence, except the Truth: so the existence is the Truth Himself, and He is the
One.
16. Ibid, vol. 4, p. 89.
17. Ibid, vol. 1, p. 406.
187
On many occasions,18 Ibn Arabi argues that the existence of the universe
is equal to the existence of the Real.
Concerning our knowledge of God, the most important issue and the
highest point of uniqueness is [to know] that the existence of the world is
equal to the existence of the Real and is not different from Him. If there
were no limits, there would have been no difference or distinction.19
He also states, He whose eyes have been opened by God will see Him in
everything or equal to everything. 20 Moreover, The mystics see Him as
equal to everything. 21 The difference between the commonplace
monotheism produced by the intellect and the particular monotheism which
is given by unveiling, shows that the owner of the intellect perceives the
unity in the origin and the beginning of things, and holds that in everything
there is a sign denoting the oneness of God. But the owner of manifestation
sees the Real as equal to the creatures, and along with Ibn Arabi recites, In
everything there is a sign which shows that God is equal to it. Therefore,
other than God there is nothing in existence, and this is why Bayazid and
some of the ancient people of God have claimed I am God and I am the
Glorified. 22
Mulla Sadra and the Oneness of Existence

Although issues such as the fundamentality of existence and the gradation
of existence are counted among Mulla Sadra s innovations and are the
features that mainly distinguish his philosophy from that of the ancients, the
reality is that these were not his last steps, and his goal throughout al-Asfar
from the very beginning of the his discussions of existence was to lift the
current formal philosophy through several stages so that it could serve
mysticism and explication of the Holy Koran. Thus, at the very beginning of
al-Asfar while discussing the fundamentality of existence he writes:
We should know that proving the different levels of the existential
multitudes and accepting the multiplicity of existence in our discussion and
teaching is not incompatible with what, by God s permission, we are
intending to explicate, that is, proving that existence and the existent are
18. Ibid, vol. 1, p. 475.
19. Ibid, vol. 4, p. 146.
20. Ibid, vol. 3, p. 247.
21. Ibid, vol. 4, p. 28; also vol. 3, p. 386; and Fusus al Hikam, ed. Abul Ala Afifi,
Beirut, 1365 A. H., p. 111.
188
essentially and really one, as is believed by the friends of God and the
mystics, namely the great people of unveiling and certitude.23
At the end of his discussion of cause and effect, he fulfils this promise
and declares that God has been his guide in this matter:
From over His throne, God has also guided me by His beaming proof to
this straight path where existence and existent are confined to one personal
truth that has no partner in its existence, no second to its reality, and besides
Him, there is nothing in the House of existence.24
In his al-Shawahid al-Rububiyyah ( The Divine Evidence ) he writes:
Reality has become manifest, the sun of the truth has risen, and it has
become clear that all that comes under the name of existence is nothing other
than one aspect of the many aspects of that everlasting Unique and one beam
of the illumination of the Light of lights.25
In Mafatih al-Ghayb ( The Keys of the Unseen ) he also emphasizes, In
the world of existence nothing exists other than His identity, and the possible
beings are the beams of His light and tiny drops in the sea of His existence.
Therefore, other than Him, there is nothing in existence. 26
The Difference between Pantheism and the Oneness of Existence

So far the similarities between Pantheism and the oneness of existence have
been emphasized. However, there are fundamental differences between the
accounts given of Pantheism and the oneness of existence by Ibn Arabi and
Mulla Sadra. Pantheism has been defined as a religious belief or a
philosophical theory which holds that God and the world are one. 27
If the identity of God and the world means that God is nothing other than
the world, and the term God is simply another name for the world, then the
statement God is the world , first of all, is tautological and does not signify
any scientific meaning, and, second, the statement is another account of the
negation of God and is sheer atheism. Therefore, the meaning must be that
God is not distinct from the world, He does not possess the attribute of
transcendence, and He is completely immanent in the world. As has been
23. Al-Hikma al-Muta aliyya, vol. 1, p. 71.
24. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 292.
25. Al-Shawahid al-Rububiyya, second ed. Markaz Nashr Daneshgahi, 1360, pp. 5051.
26. Mafatih al-Ghayb, Maktba al-Mahmudi, Tehran: 1391(published with Sharh
Usul al-Kafi) p. 556.
27. Sprigye, T.L.S. Pantheism in Monist, 80(April, 1997), p. 191.
189
said, One of the most fundamental differences between Pantheism and

Theism is that Pantheism does not believe in the transcendence of God. 28
Despite their differences, the Pantheists are unanimous in rejecting the claim
of Theism that God is different from the world.29
This Pantheist theory is similar to the speech that Sadr al-Mutaallihin
attributes to the uninformed among the Sufis. Although he criticises them
severely, he argues that the domain of the mystical thought is free from it,
for the mystics do believe in the unseen or absent Identity and the station of
Uniqueness which transcends the manifestations of the station of the
observation (shahada).
Some of the ignorant among the Sufis assume that the essence of the
Unique which is called the station of Uniqueness and the unseen Identity and
the most Unseen in the language of the mystics has no actual realization
apart from the appearances and manifestations, and hold that the world of
forms and its spiritual and sensible faculties are the only reality; God, in
short, is nothing other than the totality of these forms and faculties. This
view is a manifest disbelief and sheer atheism, and everyone possessed with
even a little knowledge will not accept it.30
In other words, though the Pantheists and this group of uninformed Sufis
accept the unity in multiplicity , they have not gone beyond the station of
comparability and the seen world; they have not grasped the station of
multiplicity in unity nor have they perceived the station of transcendence
or the most Unseen.31
This is why the oneness of existence is held to be different from
Panentheism and is thought to be more similar to the theory called
Pantheism. Panentheism derives from three words pan meaning all, en
meaning in, and theo meaning God, and refers to the belief that the
existence of God embraces the whole world and is eminent in it, so that
every part of the world exists in Him. Unlike Pantheism, it holds that the
existence of God transcends the world and does not equate the world with
the whole existence of God, though the world has no existence other than the
existence of God. 32 This is why some writers have declared Panentheism is
different from Pantheism in that it contends that there is something in God s
28. Levine, p. 2.
29. Owen, p. 65.
31. Ibid, Sabzevari s marginal notes.
32. Owen, p. 74.
190
essence which transcends and is independent from the world. 33

Panentheism argues that the world is the self-manifestation of God, and at
the same time there is an aspect of the divine life which is completely
separate, free, and independent from the world. 34 Panentheism is more
compatible with Theism or traditional theology and it is placed somewhere
between Pantheism and Theism, and, according to some scholars, it is a
combination of these two. 35
In any case, unlike Pantheism the school of Ibn Arabi and following it the
view of Mulla Sadra have never endured pure comparability, and along with
comparability argue for the transcendence of God over the world, as Ibn
Arabi has openly stated: In the station of self-manifestation He is equal to
things, but in the essence of things He is not one with them; He is far
removed from such a thing and He is the most Exalted. He is He and things
are things. 36 In another place he speaks of the two stations and the two
judgments of the Real, the station of transcendence and incongruity between
the Real and the creatures, and the station of comparability and congruity
between the two. He says The Real has two judgments, one is the judgment
related to the station of His identity and essence, and this judgment is
nothing other denying any congruity between Him and His creatures; the
other judgment is related to the station of lordship which is the cause of
congruity between Him and His creatures. 37 In Fusus he writes: From one
view the Real is the creatures, so take heed, and from another view the Real
is not the creatures, so be careful. Combine and separate, for that Being is
both the One and the many, and leaves nothing other than Himself. 38
The Demonstrability of the Oneness of Existence from the Point of

View of Ibn Arabi
It is in combining and separating the stations of unity and multiplicity, the
Real and the creatures, existence and non-existence, the apparent and the
manifesting, the hidden and the apparent, the named and the name, and
transcendence and comparability that Ibn Arabi s bewilderment becomes
apparent and his logical paradoxes occur. Certainly this statement the
33. Ibid, p. 143.
34. Levine, p. 11.
35. Ford, Lewis, Pantheism vs. Theism in Monist, 80(April 1997), p. 295.
37. Ibid, vol. 4, p. 79.
38. Fusus al-Hikam, p. 79.
191
creatures are the Real is neither tautological nor is it predication. The

common predication is also a non-derivative predication (He is He,) in
which the subject and the predicate, in one way are united, and in another
way they are different, and the aspect of unity should be different from the
aspects of difference so that no contradiction occurs. But should we, like Ibn
Arabi, believe in oneness rather than unity , and should we hold that the
creatures are the Real and the creatures are not the Real , while at the same
time there is nothing other than the Real. Then we would not have a nonderivative predication (He is He); rather we would face a He is not He
paradox. To use the words of Ibn Arabi, at that time the servant will know
that he is the Real and he is not the Real. 39 In another place he argues that
the cornerstone of mysticism is founded on He is not He .
The divine issue has always been based on He is not He, and if you do
not understand Him in this way, you will never grasp Him. You never did
not shoot when you shot, it was God Who shot. This Koranic verse is
exactly the same thing which we have said, He is not He , and it is here that
the intellects of those who have not seen the things as they are will be
overcome with bewilderment.40
Therefore, In all cases the truth is that whatever you see or perceive by
any faculty you should say it is He and it is not He. 41 And this He is not
He is the cause of the intellect s bewilderment: If you consider the
relationship between the world and the Real you will find that He is not He
is the place of bewilderment, 42 for there is nothing here other than Him
and there is no identity other than Him. In respect of existence He is equal to
the existents Therefore, concerning Him you should say that He is not He,
You are not You. 43
This is the issue to which Ibn Arabi has drawn our attention having no
hope that it could be grasped by the intellect: I have reminded you of a
great issue, of course, if you can remember and can understand it. In the
station of self-revelation, He is the things, but in the essence of things He is
not them. 44 This great matter is not a paradox but is contradictory, for if its
contradiction were simply superficial, after removing it, it would be no
40. Ibid, vol. 2, 243.
41. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 379.
42. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 144.
43. Fusus al-Hikam, p. 76.
192
longer great, and there would be no place for bewilderment. The

contradiction stems from the fact that the Exalted God comprises the two
contraries, but He is the two contraries. He is the first and the last, and the
apparent and the hidden. 45 The coincidence of contraries ultimately leads to
the coincidence of the contradictories, and because the intellect functions on
the basis of the impossibility of contradictories , this matter, in a way,
belongs to a domain beyond reason, and can only be understood by a mystic
who is realized by the Real, and like the Real he comprises the opposites,
and is present in both stations of negation and affirmation, or transcendence
and comparability. Abu Saud Kharraz says, God can only be known by His
comprising the opposites. 46 In this world only the people of God comprise
the two contraries, for He by Whom they are realized comprises the
contraries, and the mystics are recognized by Him. 47 The mystic acquires
this matter via the heart and through unveiling ,48 rather than via the
intellect, for he is beyond the realm of intellect somehow.
He who does not witness the manifestations in his heart will deny them,
for the intellect and other faculties are restrictive, but the heart is not
restricted and changes so quickly. Therefore, the heart is the faculty beyond
the realm of intellect. Every person has an intellect, but the faculty that is
beyond reason is not given to everybody.49
The reason for the Intellect s bewilderment in this valley is that it must
accept the unity of cause and effect. In the divine sciences there is no
question more obscure than this In existence there is nothing other than
God; He is both the ruler and the ruled. 50 Look! How strange is the issue
which is related to existence; that is, He that accepts existence is He Who
gives existence. 51
It is this coincidence of opposites and contradictories that has made this
question inexpressible, and essentially incapable of proof:
Explaining this issue is extremely difficult, for words cannot
express it, and because of the speed of its change and the
contradiction of its effects it cannot be imagined. This issue is
45. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 476.
46. Ibid, vol. 1, p. 184.
47. Ibid, vol. 3, p. 369.
48. Ibid, vol. 1, p. 162.
49. Ibid, vol. 1, p. 289.
50. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 216.
51. Ibid, vol. 1, p. 702.
193
very much like the speech of God that You did not (He
negates) when you shot (He affirms). 52
Thus, there remains only two ways to explain this issue: one is the way of
unveiling supported by the religious law and faith, as he says,
Look! How strange is this issue, which embraces a definite
contradiction. Admitting the two sides of the contradiction in
this issue is necessary, and knowing it via unveiling and
believing it at the same time is a great success and strength
conferred upon he who has been given this issue.53
The second way is particular to those who cannot follow the way of
unveiling. They should, first, accept that there is a domain beyond reason,
and, second, have an unconditional faith in the news given by the divine law
in respect to the domain beyond reason: Through his acknowledging in the
Prophet, such a person will be assured that the domain beyond reason differs
from what is acquired via intellectual discourse in giving what has been
considered unanimously impossible by all intellectual proofs. 54 In other
words, perceiving that the intellect cannot describe the Real as He is, he
understands that he must listen to the description of the Real in His own
words:
From the perspective of mysticism, the intellect in order to
know God follows the way of supposition and speculation, and,
thus, its proofs are open to doubt and question, whereas the
knowledge of God delivered by the divine law is authentically
transmitted and definite and raises no doubt in the believer
In other words, this is God Who is introducing Himself to His
52. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 216. Strange to say that despite inexpressibility of this issue, Ibn
Arabi has written thousands of pages about it! Perhaps this is also another case in
which the mystic has done the combination between two contraries. Principally, the
existence of the mystic is a paradox: He exists, and he does not exist let alone his
words. The whole life and works of Ibn Arabi are based upon this expression, and
we can see this from the way he encountered Averroes when he was a teenager. Ibn
Arabi raised the mentioned expression against that eminent philosopher who had
based his philosophy upon He is He : Averroes told me: yes, he was happy to
find that I understood him; then I found what made him happy. I said, no and he
became pale and depressed and doubted what he believed in. al-Futuhat, vol. 1, p.
154. This is the reaction of mysticism toward Averroes philosophy. But Mulla
Sadra s treatment of this paradox will be discussed later.
53. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 635.
54. Ibid, vol. 1, p. 288.
194
servants, and He knows His servants more than they know

themselves. To know God via the divine law is to know that He
combines transcendence with comparability, and such a matter,
namely the coincidence of opposites in a subject is
impermissible from the perspective of the speculative and
rational proofs. Therefore, the creatures of God cannot judge
God, and the intellect, speculation, and rational intellection are
among God s creatures.55
To sum up, the mystics approve the oneness of existence on the
authority of the heart, and the Holy Koran on the authority of the divine law,
but demonstration does not agree with this theory on rational grounds, and it
is only through faith and submission that it can be harmonized with the heart
and the divine law.
Thus, we understand that there is a station that is beyond intellection that
can give certain things to the servant
including what is intellectually
considered to be impossible and from the perspective of intellection, the
intellect holds to be nonexistent and impossible. However, at the same time
intellect can accept it from the Real as a true reality without removing the
name of impossibility or lifting the judgment of its rational impossibility.56
In another place he says: When a station which is beyond reason is
clarified by Prophecy, and the group of mystics behaved and acted on its
basis, they will be granted to unveil what the intellect thinks impossible to
unveil through intellection. 57
Now it appropriate to ask what can be said about all Ibn Arabi s emphasis
on the supra rational and the contradictory nature of the oneness of
existence? There are a few approaches to consider:
1. We could believe that in speaking of his mystical witnessing Ibn
Arabi has made a verbal mistake and has fallen in contradiction, for
the oneness of existence is not a contradictory issue.
55. Ibid, vol. 1, p. 597.

56. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 114. Here again Ibn Arabi emphasizes that the oneness of
existence cannot be proved by arguments. He classifies mystical issues into two
groups. One are those which are expressible but cannot be proved by arguments
(such as the present case), and the other are those which are not even expressible: He
says: this can be counted as expressible knowledge; Now what about the
knowledge which is outside the realm of expression knowledge? So, not every kind
of expressible knowledge can be counted as the intuitive knowledge.
57. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 128.
195
2. We could take the discourse of Ibn Arabi as poetic fantasies or even

verbal nonsense, without attaching any real meaning to it; therefore, it
cannot be placed within the limits of logic.
3. We could understand the oneness of existence as a paradoxical theory
whose contradiction is only superficial; by finding its different
aspects, we can remove the unity of direction and then get rid of
contradiction, a thing Ibn Arabi would not do because of his
absorption in the station of unveiling and witnessing, or could not do
because of his insufficient knowledge in theosophical and
philosophical matters.58
4. We could take the oneness of existence as a meaningful theory, and
accept that for Ibn Arabi it is the rational explanation of the oneness of
existence that is impossible, rather than that any rational proof could
be established against the impossibility of the oneness of existence.
5. We could say with Stais that mysticism is supra rational and is beyond
the domain of reason, and all accounts of the oneness of existence are
obvious logical contradiction, and the contradictions put by Ibn Arabi
are logically irresolvable. Ibn Arabi and people like him are sincere in
their speech on the secrets of witnessing and the essence of certitude.
In saying that their state or experience is beyond the domain of reason,
obviously they mean that it is beyond logic and demonstration; and every
endeavour made for analysing and explaining their mystical ecstatic phrases
on logical and linguistic grounds would end with lowering mysticism to the
level of common and conventional reason, denying its unique characteristic,
and degrading it to the level of our everyday experiences.59
In any case, some of Ibn Arabi s followers followed the third option and
tried to rationalise the theory of the oneness of existence; however, most of
the proofs they presented suffer from confusing of the concept with the
extension in one way or another; that is, most of them instead of proving the
unity of the extension of existence, have tried to prove the unity of its
concept.60 None of them succeeded completely in rationalising the oneness
of existence, considered by Ibn Arabi to be Koranic and mystical, until the
58. In this case Ibn Arabi must be like a person who is unable to speak and people
must be those who are unable to hear and even to see.
59. Stace, Mysticism and Philosophy, trans. Baha al-Din Khoramshahi, Sorush
Publications, 1375, chapter Mysticism and Logic .
60. Javadi Amoli, Abdollah, Rahigh Makhtoum, Markaz Nashr Isra, vol. 1, chapter
1, p. 493.
196
advent of Mulla Sadra.
Mulla Sadra and the Demonstrability of the Oneness of Existence

Mulla Sadra tries, first, to prove that demonstration (the knowledge of
certitude) can never be against mysticism or gnosis (the essence of
certitude),61 for certitude is light, and light never opposes or is against
another light. Second, by the supra rational he understands those matters,
which because of their extreme sublimity and grandeur are not accessible to
the intellect, that because of their contradictory nature are denied by the
intellect.
It is true that the sound intellect, which dwells in the realm of nature, not
able to travel to the world of secrets, is impotent to grasp some of the levels
of the perfect knowledge because of its nobility and grandeur; however, the
sound intellect and the straight mind does not deny any of the real issues or
decree their corruption.62
Here he cites an example from Ghazzali who distinguishes between what
the intellect holds to be impossible and that which is inaccessible to it:
Know that in the realm of sainthood and mysticism there is nothing that
is held to be impossible by the intellect. It is true that in the realm of
sainthood there could be a kind of knowledge, which the intellect cannot
grasp, that is, the intellect by itself cannot understand it. He that cannot
differentiate between what is held by the intellect to be impossible, and that
which the intellect cannot access, little deserves to be a party to our debate
and discussion.63
According to this view, the oneness of existence is a secret that the
intellect because of its essential deficiency cannot grasp, rather than a secret
incompatible with the intellect because of its contradictory nature. For
example, the intellect cannot grasp the infinitude of God because it is limited
and cannot encompass the infinite. But God s infinitude is not contradictory.
On the other hand, the intellect cannot grasp the square circle and considers
it to be impossible, for this concept is contradictory.
Third, Mulla Sadra holds that the intellect by itself cannot perceive this
issue, but it can do so by the help of divine light, as the intellects of the
Prophets and the friends of God are able to do:
The particular monotheism, which belongs to the elite among
62. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 322.
63. Ibid.
197
the people of God, is an issue that transcends the speculative

intellects whose eyes have not been illuminated yet by the light
of the divine guidance. Therefore, expressing and interpreting it
in a way to comply with what is heard by the people of
speculation and formal intellection would be very difficult for
the people of God.64
Fourth, I will endeavour to show that the oneness of existence is
demonstrable, provided that in the first instance the intellect is illuminated
by divine light, and in the second instance the formal intellection and the
current philosophy are so much developed that they can explicate the
oneness of existence. Mulla Sadra has succeeded in both of these areas,
particularly in the second part. He was very successful in establishing the
principles and rules of the transcendent theosophy. At the beginning of his
book al-Asfar and by the time he starts his discussion of the issues related to
existence he follows no other goal than explaining and proving the oneness
of existence,65 and in this way, unlike Stais in his views, he has not degraded
mysticism, but on the contrary he has honoured and exalted the status of
theosophy and philosophy. In his commentary on Hidayah Athiriyyah he
writes:
Concerning the oneness of existence it is usually said that its
understanding transcends the realm of intellectual discourse, but
I know one of the poor who holds that the understanding of this
question falls within the realm of the intellect, and has
demonstrated this issue in his books and essays.66
The person intended by Mulla Sadra is none other than himself, who
promises to demonstrate this issue at the beginning of the first volume of his
al-Asfar,67 and fulfils this promise by the end of his discussion of the issues
related to cause and effect.68
Fifth, Sadr Mulla Sadra establishes two proofs here, one is proving the
oneness of existence via the analysis of the question of causality and the
other is meditating upon the rule the simple (non composite) reality is all
the things . In short, for him, the oneness of existence does not belong to a
domain beyond reason; rather understanding is related to a special degree of
64. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 337.
65. Ibid, vol. 1, p. 71.
66. Sharh al-Hidayya al-Athiriyya, Qom: Bidar Publications, p. 288.
67. Al-Asfar, vol. 1, p. 71.
68. Ibid, vol. 2, p. 292.
198
the intellect that is inaccessible to crooked intellects or formal intellection. In

any case, it is within the realm of intellectual discourse; its contradiction is
superficial or formal and can be eliminated by emphasizing its diverse
aspects.69
Mulla Sadra s First Argument

The first argument is made through reducing causality to selfmanifestation ; the summary of this is as follows:
1. The Exalted Real is the only real cause in the world, and the entire
universe and everything other than God is His effect.
2. Being an effect is the same as is equal to the essence of the effect, for
if being an effect, and need were not equal to the essence of the effect,
then need would be accidental to it, and in its essence it would be
neither dependent nor an effect, and this is against our supposition.
3. The object whose being an effect is the same as its essence will have
no identity of its own, and, in other words, will be nonexistent and
dependent upon the cause; in consequence, it will be the very
appearance, state, and self-manifestation of the cause.
4. Therefore, other than God all things are the appearances and the states
of the Exalted Real, and they have no identity of their own.
5. In one respect the appearance of the thing is equal to the thing itself.
6. In consequence, the world has no identity other than the Exalted Real;
therefore, He is the world and the creatures are the Real.70
In this substantiation contradiction appears only in the fifth premise, in
that the manifestation of A is A itself. In order to eliminate this
contradiction, Mulla Sadra, besides the expansion that he introduced in
philosophy, introduced radical changes into logic as the means of explaining
philosophy. In the proposition A is the manifestation of A itself, contrary
to Ibn Arabi s views, we are not faced with the paradox He is not He ;
rather, we meet with a kind of predication of He is He (non derivative
predication) which is neither a primary predication nor a common
predication; it is the predication of the apparent upon the cause of
appearance.
For in the primary predication the realm of unity is the axis of quiddity
and concept, and in the common predication the realm of unity is the axis of
69. The author believes that the fourth view that is Stace s view is more compatible
with Ibn Arabi s views.
70. Al-Asfar, vol. 2, pp. 299-300.
199
existence, and in the predication that we mentioned the realm of unity is

appearance and manifestation, which is neither a concept nor a quiddity nor
existence.71
Of course, this meaning and the analysis of the oneness of existence on
the grounds of causality were not unknown by Ibn Arabi, and he referred to
them on many occasions: It is certain for the verifiers that in the house of
existence there is nothing other than God, and though we do exist, our
existence is dependent on Him, and he whose existence is dependent on
another is in effect nonexistent. 72 But essentially Ibn Arabi, unlike Mulla
Sadra, first, could not demonstrate the major premise He whose existence is
dependent on another is in effect nonexistent, and, second, in harmonizing
between the creatures are the Real and the creatures are not the Real
sees that the intellect is perplexed and in contradiction. The answer of Mulla
Sadra is that here there occurs no contradiction, for there is no unity of
predication here. For the creatures are the Real is the predication of the
apparent upon the cause of appearance, and the creatures are not the Real
is a common technical predication, and is a negative proposition with its
subject being nonexistent.73
Another account of this proof, known as The Dependency Argument ,
has been given by Western thinkers to demonstrate Pantheism and the unity
of God and the universe. The summary is as follows.
1. God is the cause of the world and the world is His effect.
2. The effect both in its generation and subsistence needs a
cause and cannot exist without a cause.
3. When X in all the moments of its existence is dependent on
C for its subsistence, it is nothing other than an aspect, a mode,
71. Rahigh Makhtoum, vol. 2, chapter 5, pp. 65-68. Of course, this is not the
predication of truth on appearance because in this predication, the pivotal point is
the subject and again, there is a duality between the cause and the effect (the
predicate and the subject) so that the cause possesses the perfections of the effect,
so, it can be said that it is the effect and vice-versa. When we have a hundred, we
also have ninety, so we can predicate ninety upon one hundred. However, this kind
of predication, which is also one of Mulla Sadra s innovations can be a means for
expressing the graduation of existence, but not the oneness of existence.
72. Al Futuhat, vol., p. 279.
73. The author believes that this contradiction is not even solved by this justification
for it will end in accepting an intermediary between the existence and non-existence.
This issue should be dealt with separately. The author hopes to have a chance to deal
with this issue separately in future.
200
or a lower level of C.
4. In consequence, the world is the appearance and the selfmanifestation of God and is not separate from Him.74
Of course writer has not demonstrated the third premise and simply tries
to explain the issue by theorizing about the relationship of the soul with its
faculties and acts.
In comparison, by bringing counter-examples some have tried to show
that the third premise is defective. For example, when we drink water from
a water cooler, while we press the tab there is water, that is, the former is the
cause of the latter, but is the springing of water an aspect, a manifestation, or
an appearance of the pressing of the tab? 75 Of course, it is obvious that here
the generating cause (the divine agent) has been confused with the physical
cause (the natural agent).
Mulla Sadra s Second Argument

The second argument of Mulla Sadra to prove the personal unity of existence
comes at the end of his discussions of cause and effect under the title A
Discourse on Another Argument that the Necessary Being is Unique in His
Essence, He is the Whole Reality, and Nothing Exists Outside His Reality .76
In this argument, he employs the rule of the simple reality ; its simple
form is as follows:
1. The Exalted Real is the Necessary being.
2. Every necessary being is simple in its reality and is infinite in its
existence.
3. An infinite being does not leave any space for other than itself.
4. Therefore, insofar as existence is concerned the Exalted Real does not
leave any space for other than Himself. That is, the Exalted Real exists
and everything other than Him is nonexistent.
He explains this corroboration in al-Asfar as follows: Know that the
Necessary Being is the simple reality in the highest degree of simplicity, and
such a simple reality is all things; therefore, the Necessary Being is all things
and nothing exists outside His existence. 77 In his commentary on Usul alKafi he gives another account of the proof:
The Monotheism of the Divine Throne: Know that the essence of the
74. Levine, p.149-151.
75. Ibid, p. 50.
76. Al-Asfar, vol. 2, p. 368.
77. Ibid.
201
Exalted Real is the Reality of an infinite and endless existence, and the
reality of non-existence cannot combine with it. Therefore, the existence of
all things is invariably dependent on Him, and He is the existence of all
things.78
This evidence in its various forms has also been employed to prove
Pantheism and negate any distinction between God and the universe.
Espinoza and his followers have even considered it. Some Western thinkers
have said in this regard:
If God were a distinct existent besides other existents, He would
be limited, and, as Espinoza had said, if we accept the
traditional distinction made between God and the creatures and
hold that God is the Creator, and the universe is created by
Him, the infinitude of God will be open to question.79
In any case, the infinitude of God established an argument for the validity
of Pantheism, known as The Infinity Argument , which is very similar to
Mulla Sadra s argument.
Some objections and criticism have been made against this argument, and
some examples have been put forth contradicting the major premise of this
evidence, that is, No infinite being leaves a place for another being of its
kind. For example, in traditional Theism, God s power and knowledge are
described as infinite; that is, He has all the power and knowledge that a
person can have, and He possesses every kind of power and knowledge that
others have altogether. However, from this we should not necessarily
conclude that He is the unique omnipotent or knowing and others have no
power or knowledge.80 Thus, if we say God has all the existential perfections
of all other existents, it should not be concluded that other existents have no
existential perfection and that God has them exclusively.
The answer is that here we speak of the infinitude of existence , and,
according to the fundamentality and simplicity of existence if existence were
infinitely simple and the existential perfection were not separate from
existence, it would be meaningless to assume that this infinite being does not
possess all the perfections of things, and, rather, He has them by way of He
is He . According to some transcendent theosophists, the rule of the simple
reality can be one of two forms.
First, the simple reality possesses all the perfections of other existents but
78. Sharh Usul al-Kafi, Maktaba al-Mahmudi.
79. Sharh Usul al-Kafi, Maktaba al-Mahmudi, Tehran: 1391 A.H, p. 336.
80. Oakes, Robert. The Devine Infinity , Monist, 80 (April 1997), pp. 251-66.
202
does not share with them any of their deficiencies. Such an account is
compatible with the gradation of existence: What the beauty all have, You
have altogether. Second, the simple reality or the Exalted Real has all the
perfections, in the sense that all perfections belong to Him Bringing up the
rule of the simple reality at the end of the discussions of cause and effect is
compatible with the second account, namely the personal unity of
existence Emphasising that this chapter includes another demonstration of
the singular essence and absolute Reality of the Necessary is ample evidence
that the intended meaning that the no object s reality can exist outside the
Necessary, is like a negative proposition that its subject is nonexistent. 81 In
fact, the rule of the simple reality according to the second account will take
the form the simple reality is the things themselves but it is none of
them. 82
It is also important to remember here that according to the account given
of The Infinity Argument regarding the Western God is not a separate
existent besides other existents, and even, according to this argument, God is
not an individualized being at all. It is argued, One of the fundamental
concepts of Pantheism which separates it from traditional Theism is that
from the perspective of Pantheism God is not individualized, and even
primarily He is not personal. 83 In consequence, the other important
difference between the school of Ibn Arabi and Pantheism becomes clear. As
was seen, the One and the Absolute believed by Pantheism to embrace all
things is neither individualized nor personal,84 whereas the One
demonstrated by Mulla Sadra is individualized, for we speak of the
confinement of existence and existent to one personal Reality. Ibn Arabi s
God also, besides being individualized, is extremely personal so that Ibn
Arabi throughout his works is bargaining, speaking, and expostulating with
Him, and in his poems, he is passionate about Him. He is a God Who in the
apex of His transcendence assumes all the attributes of the creatures and
speaks of himself as I , and even attributes to Himself such qualities as
anger, satisfaction, resentment, happiness, cheerfulness, and even laughing,
hunger, thirst, and illness.85
81. Rahigh Makhtum, vol. 2, chapter 2, p. 336.

82. Ibid, p. 106.
83. Ford, p. 89.
84. Levien, p.2.
This document was created with Win2PDF available at http://www.daneprairie.com.

The unregistered version of Win2PDF is for evaluation or non-commercial use only.

Studies in Islamic Philosophy

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Studies in Islamic Philosophy

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Studies in Islamic Philosophy

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

In the Name of God

Center for Cultural-International Studies