Mulla Sadra
- LAST REVIEWED: 02 July 2019
- LAST MODIFIED: 25 May 2011
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195390155-0053
- LAST REVIEWED: 02 July 2019
- LAST MODIFIED: 25 May 2011
- DOI: 10.1093/obo/9780195390155-0053
Introduction
Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Yahya al-Qawami al-Shirazi (b. 1571–d. 1640), sometimes referred to as Sadr al-Din Shirazi and known commonly as Mulla Sadra, is one of the prominent figures of the post-Avicennan (Ibn Sina; d. 1037) period of Islamic philosophy. He was born in Shiraz and educated there and in Isfahan. He studied with such celebrated figures as Mir Damad, Baha al-Din al-ʿAmili, and Mir Abuʾl-Qasim Findiriski. Faced with the opposition of some literalist jurists, he retreated to Kahak, a small village near the city of Qom. Upon the request of Shah Abbas I, he returned to Shiraz to teach at the Khan madrassa, where he composed his later works. He died in Basra in 1640 on the way back from his seventh pilgrimage. Flourishing at a later stage of the development of the Islamic intellectual tradition, Mulla Sadra sought to synthesize the major strands of Islamic thought from Shiʿite Kalam (theology) and Peripatetic (Aristotelian) philosophy to the 12th-century school of illumination (hikmat al-ishraq) and doctrinal Sufism. Sadra placed the concept of existence (wujud) at the heart of his philosophical system, which he called “transcendent wisdom” (al-hikmat al- mutaʿaliyah), and he criticized both Greek and Muslim philosophers before him for failing to develop a metaphysics based on existence and its modalities. Instead of treating existence simply as a “secondary intelligible” (al-maʿqul al-thani) or a mere logical concept and mental construct, Sadra took it to be the only reality from which all other realities derive. In his philosophical works, Sadra drew out the implications of the “primacy of existence” (asalat al-wujud). A key concept in the development of Sadra’s ontology is tashkik al-wujud, translated variously as “systematic ambiguity,” “modulation,” or “gradation” of existence. Sadra viewed existence as modulated and graded in various degrees of intensity, arguing that existence unveils itself in numerous forms and modalities of substances, accidents, primary and secondary causes, and opaque and subtle beings. Since existence is the ground of all realities, Sadra criticized the previous concepts of knowledge for having subjectivist tendencies and for failing to explicate the close relationship between being and knowing. He defined knowledge as a “mode of existence” (nahw al-wujud) and applied this definition to the multiple modalities of knowledge. He interpreted existence as a dynamic and self-regulating reality, and he applied this principle to the natural world. His philosophy of nature and cosmology centers around the highly original concept of “substantial motion” (al-harakat al-jawhariyyah). In the fields of traditional psychology and eschatology, Sadra interwove metaphysics, cosmology, and ethics. For Sadra, the soul is neither purely material nor spiritual but gradually develops from one state of existence to the other. In Sadra’s celebrated phrase, the soul is “corporeal in origination, spiritual in subsistence” (jismaniyyat al-huduth ruhaniyyat al-baqaʾ), meaning that the soul starts out as a corporeal substance but gradually develops into a spiritual being. It is this being that survives death and experiences the hereafter. Sadra’s works have influenced a number of philosophers and theologians in Persia (Iran) and the subcontinent of India. In modern scholarship, Sadra’s thought has been studied in European and Islamic languages.
General Overviews
There is a growing literature on Sadra in modern scholarship. Most of the secondary literature treats Sadra’s thought as an attempt to dovetail different currents of the Islamic intellectual tradition and place him within the historical context of Safavid Persia. Corbin 1972 places Sadra firmly within a Persian-Shiʿite context. Rahman 1975 considers Sadra to be an illuminationist-cum-Peripatetic philosopher with interests in such mystical figures as Ibn al-ʿArabi and Dawud al-Qaysari. Nasr 1996 and Nasr 1997 present Sadra as a philosopher who sought to combine philosophical arguments with realized knowledge. Kalin 2006 provides an overview of Sadra’s views on existence, knowledge, philosophy of nature, spiritual psychology, and eschatology. Akbarian 2009 is an introduction to Sadra’s philosophy, dealing with the main aspects of Sadra’s thought. Rizvi 2009 is one of the best summaries of Sadra’s thought and philosophical contributions. Sajjadi 2000 provides a useful dictionary with extensive quotes from Sadra’s works. Khamanei 2000 is a detailed study of Sadra’s life, youth, family, teachers, training, intellectual development, and students.
Akbarian, Reza. The Fundamental Principles of Mulla Sadra’s Transcendent Philosophy. London: London Academy of Iranian Studies, 2009.
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A comprehensive introduction to the main aspects of Sadra’s thought, with comparative notes and references to pre-Sadrean Islamic and Western philosophy.
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Corbin, Henry. En Islam Iranien. Vol. 4. Paris, 1972.
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A study of Sadra’s thought with a particular emphasis on Sadra’s Shiʿite background and what Corbin calls “prophetic philosophy.” See pages 52–122.
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Kalin, Ibrahim. “Mulla Sadra.” In The Biographical Encyclopedia of Islamic Philosophy. Vol. 2. Edited by Oliver Leaman, 131–142. London: Thoemmes Continuum, 2006.
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An overview of Sadra’s thought, with references to earlier philosophers.
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Khamanei, Muhammad. Mulla Sadra: Zindagi, Shakhsiyyat va Maktab-i Sadr al-Muta’allihin. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (SIPRIn), 2000.
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A detailed and comprehensive account of Sadra’s life, social environment, and scholarly career. As of 2010, only the first volume has been published. In Persian.
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Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. “Mulla Sadra: His Teachings.” In History of Islamic Philosophy. Edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman, 643–662. London and New York: Routledge, 1996.
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An overview of Sadra’s philosophy and its place in the Islamic philosophical tradition.
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Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. Sadr al-Din Shirazi and His Transcendent Theosophy. 2d ed. Tehran: Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, 1997.
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An introduction to Sadra’s thought and the intellectual environment in which he flourished. Also gives a short list of Sadra’s works.
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Rahman, Fazlur. The Philosophy of Mulla Sadra. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1975.
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A detailed study of Sadra’s thought focusing primarily on the discursive-analytical aspects of his works. Rahman places Sadra within the Peripatetic-illuminationist tradition and deemphasizes the mystical and spiritual dimensions of Sadra’s thought.
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Rizvi, Sajjad H. Mulla Sadra. In Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Edited by Edward N. Zalta. Stanford, CA: Stanford University, 2009.
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A comprehensive overview of Sadra’s life, thought, and works.
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Sajjadi, Jaʾfar. Farhang-i Istilahat-i Falsafi-yi Mulla Sadra. Tehran: Tihrān Sāzmān-i Čāp wa Intišārāt-i Wizārat-i Farhang wa Iršād-i Islāmī, 2000.
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Philosophy Glossary of Mulla Sadra. A dictionary of Sadra’s philosophical vocabulary with extensive quotes from Sadra’s works.
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Bibliographies
The sketches of Sadra’s life are recorded in the hagiographical works of the 18th and 19th centuries. Sadra’s short autobiographical notes in his works describe his intellectual development but do not give any information about his youth, family, or the social environment in which he grew up, as shown in Rizvi 2007. Ziai 1996 also provides some biographical notes along with an account of his works. There are several annotated bibliographies of Sadra’s works with manuscript details. Kalin 2003 and Rizvi 2007 provide an annotated bibliography of Sadra’s authentic and attributed works. Khurram-dashti and ʿAsghari 1999 provides manuscript information for many of his works.
Kalin, Ibrahim. “An Annotated Bibliography of the Works of Mulla Sadra with a Brief Account of His Life.” Islamic Studies 42.1 (2003): 21–62.
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Provides an annotated list of Sadra’s works, with manuscript information. Also contains a brief survey of Sadra’s life.
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Khurram-dashti, Nahid Baqiri, with ʿAsghari, Fatimah. Kitab shinasi-yi jami‘i Mulla Sadra. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (SIPRIn), 1999.
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Contains the detailed manuscript information of Sadra’s works.
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Rizvi, Sajjad H., ed. Mulla Sadra Shirazi: His Life and Works and the Sources for Safavid Philosophy Journal of Semitic Studies. Journal of Semitic Studies Supplement 18. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
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A detailed treatment of Sadra’s life and works, with extensive annotations and manuscript details.
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Ziai, Hossein. “Mulla Sadra: His Life and Works.” In History of Islamic Philosophy. Edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and Oliver Leaman, 635–643. London and New York: Routledge, 1996.
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Provides a brief account of Sadra’s life and works.
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Journals
Scholarly publications on Sadra have appeared in numerous journals devoted to Islamic studies and comparative philosophy, which have published articles on Sadra, his life, and his thought. The Persian journal Khiradnama-yi Mulla Sadra is devoted to Sadra studies, while the English journal Transcendent Philosophy publishes scholarly articles and reviews on Islamic philosophy in general and Sadra in particular.
Khiradnama-yi Mulla Sadra.
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Dedicated to Sadrean studies and published in Persian. Scholars of Sadra contribute articles and research notes on Sadra’s life, works, and thought.
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Transcendent Philosophy.
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An English journal dedicated to general philosophy, with major contributions on Mulla Sadra and his school of thought.
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Collected Papers
Two major international conferences have been held on Mulla Sadra in Iran—in 1999 and 2004—under the auspices of the Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute in Tehran. The two collections of papers that have come out of these conferences deal with the various aspects of Sadra’s thought and make comparisons with Western philosophers. While Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute 2001 attempts to generate a wide interest in Sadra, Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute 2005 contains more relevant material on Sadra. Safavi 2002 is a collection of essays devoted to the problem of epistemology and perception. Safavi 2003 is a useful collection of articles and essays on causation in Sadra’s philosophy.
Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute.
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The best online source for Mulla Sadra studies. It is available in three languages (Arabic, Persian, English) and provides usually up-to-date information about publications, conferences, and other events related to Sadra studies.
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Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, ed. Mulla Sadra and Transcendent Philosophy: Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue; The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra. 2 vols. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (SIPRIn), 2001.
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A collection of papers on various aspects of Sadra’s thought with comparisons with Western and other non-Islamic philosophers.
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Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, ed. Mulla Sadra’s School and Western Philosophies: Papers Presented at the Second World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May 2004. 10 vols. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (SIPRIn), 2005.
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A collection of papers presented at the Second World Congress on Mulla Sadra. The papers deal with the major aspects of Sadra’s thought and make comparisons with classical and modern Western philosophy and non-Islamic Eastern schools of thought.
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Safavi, Seyed G., ed. Perception according to Mulla Sadra. London: Salman-Azadeh, 2002.
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A collection of scholarly essays and articles on perception and epistemology in general in Sadra, with comparisons with Western philosophies.
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Safavi, Seyed, ed. Mulla Sadra and Comparative Philosophy on Causation. London: Salman-Azadeh, 2003.
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A collection of scholarly essays and articles dealing with the problem of causation and natural philosophy in Sadra and other Islamic and Western philosophers.
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Major Works
Sadra’s corpus has been widely edited and published. All of his works are being published by the Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute in Tehran, Iran. Most of his works have been translated into Persian. Some of his works, such as Shirazi 1982, Morris and Shirazi 1981, and Shirazi 2003, have been translated into English and several other languages. Shirazi 1981a is Sadra’s most important work and contains the major themes of his thought. Morris and Shirazi 1981 is an important work on a number of classical theological issues. Shirazi 2003 is a work on mystical theology and epistemology. Shirazi 2002b is Sadra’s response to the pretentious ascetics of his time. Shirazi 2002a can be read as a summary of Sadra’s thought, with a particular focus on the themes of the beginning of creation and the end of the great circle of being. Shirazi 1982 is a condensed discussion of some aspects of Sadra’s ontology. Shirazi 1999 is one of Sadra’s finest works on mystical philosophy, addressing various issues of metaphysics and Sufism. Shirazi 1981b is a collection of Sadra’s reflections on a number of philosophical issues. Shirazi 2010 is Sadra’s response to the exoterist-literalist ulama of his time as well as to those who were, in Sadra’s view, “pretentious Sufis.” For Sadra’s works on Qurʾanic exegesis and Hadith commentary, see Qurʾan and Hadith.
Morris, James Winston, and Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din Shirazi. The Wisdom of the Throne: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Mulla Sadra. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1981.
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Original title: Al-Hikmat al-‘Arshiyyah. A major work of theology dealing with such issues as the human soul and eschatology. Originally published in 1961.
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. Al-Hikmat al-mutaʿaliyah fiʾl-asfar al-ʿaqliyyat al-arbaʿah. 9 vols. Beirut: Dar Ihyaʾ al-Turath al-ʿArabi, 1981a.
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Mulla Sadra’s magnum opus and a tour de force of traditional Islamic philosophy. With the exception of logic and mathematics, the Asfar deals with all of the major issues of traditional philosophy.
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. Al-Shawahid al-rububiyyah. Edited by S. J. Ashtiyani. Mashhad, Iran: al-Markaz al-Jamiʾ liʾn-nashr, 1981b.
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A collection of reflections on a range of philosophical and theological issues.
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. Le livre des pénétrations métaphysiques. Edited and translated by Henri Corbin. Tehran: Institut Francais d’Iranologie de Téhéran, 1982.
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Originally titled Kitab al-mashaʿir. A condensed discussion of the problem of existence and its application to several themes. The English translation by P. Morewedge, titled The Metaphysics of Mulla Sadra (New York: SSIPS, 1992) is a jargon-ridden rendering that is not always clear and precise. A new English translation by S. H. Nasr and edited by I. Kalin is under preparation as of 2010.
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. Al-Mazahir al-ilahiyyah fi asrar al-‘ulum al-kamaliyyah. Edited by S. M. Khamenei. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (SIPRIn), 1999.
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Sadra’s major mystico-philosophical work dealing with philosophy as spiritual perfection.
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. Al-Mabdaʾ waʾl-maʾad fi’l-hikmat al-muta’aliyah. 2 vols. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (SIPRIn), 2002a.
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A major work on philosophy and theology built around the notion of “beginning and end.”
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. Kasr asnam al-jahiliyyah. Edited by N. Jihangiri. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (SIPRIn), 2002b.
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A lively exposition of Sufi ideas and practices and a critique of what Sadra considered to be the pretentious Sufis and ascetics of the Safavid period.
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. The Elixir of the Gnostics. Edited and translated by William Chittick. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2003.
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Original title: Iksir al-ʿarifin. A philosophical and mystical treatise on knowledge and the soul. It is an adaptation of Afdal al-Din Kashani’s (d. 1214) Persian work Jawidan-nama.
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. Challenging Islamic Fundamentalism: The Three Principles of Mulla Sadra. Translated by Colin Turner. London: Routledge, 2010.
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A somewhat autobiographical account of the principles of spiritual life and Sadra’s response to the exoterism, literalism, and pretentious Sufism of Sadra’s opponents during his lifetime. Original title: Sih asl.
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Metaphysics, Ontology, and Theology
Sadra’s ontology revolves around what Sadra called the “primacy of existence” (asalat al-wujud). Burrell 2005 provides an important commentary on Sadra’s vocabulary of existence. Açıkgenç 1993 looks at Sadra’s point of departure from the Aristotelian notion of “existent” (mawjud) and Suhrawardi’s defense of the “primacy of essence” (asalat al-mahiyyah). Bonmariage 2007 discusses Sadra’s concept of existence and its implications for a multilayered notion of reality. Burrell 1999 looks at the primacy of existence in Sadra and provides a philosophically engaging comparison with Thomas Aquinas. Jambet 2006 provides a hermeneutical reading of Sadra’s principal ideas and expands on their relevance for contemporary philosophy. Kalin 2007 deals with the question of good and evil and their relation to the cosmic order in Sadra’s thought. Rizvi 2005 provides a comparative study of Ibn al-ʿArabi and Mulla Sadra and the key ideas the latter has borrowed from the former. Akbarian 2009 is a detailed discussion of the “existential(ist)” aspect of Sadra’s thought. Rizvi 2009 is a philosophically rigorous study of the major themes of Sadra’s philosophy, with engaging comparisons with modern Western philosophy.
Açıkgenç, Alparslan. Being and Existence in Ṣadrā and Heidegger: A Comparative Ontology. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization, 1993.
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A comparative study of Sadra’s concept of wujud (existence) and Martin Heidegger’s notion of dasein with a particular focus on their ontology.
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Akbarian, Reza. Islamic Philosophy: Mulla Sadra and the Quest of “Being.” London: London Academy of Iranian Studies, 2009.
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A detailed survey and discussion of the “existential(ist)” aspects of Sadra’s metaphysics, with interesting comparisons with Chinese Islamic thought, Martin Heidegger, and others.
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Bonmariage, Cécile. Le reel et les réalités: Mulla Sadra Shirazi et la structure de la réalité. Paris: Vrin, 2007.
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A detailed survey and discussion of Sadra’s concept of existence and its modalities and what they imply for Sadra’s metaphysics and theology.
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Burrell, David B. “Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) and Mulla Sadra Shirazi (980/1572-1050/1640) and the Primacy of Esse/Wujûd in Philosophical Theology.” Medieval Philosophy and Theology 8.2 (1999): 207–219.
DOI: 10.1017/S1057060899082055Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
An important discussion of the primacy of existence in Sadra and an engaging comparison with Thomas Aquinas. Available online.
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Burrell, David B. “Existence Deriving from ‘the Existent’: Mulla Sadra’s Dialectic with Ibn Sina and Ibn al-Arabi.” In Mulla Sadra’s School and Western Philosophies: Papers Presented at the Second World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May 2004. Vol. 1. Edited by Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 241–252. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (SIPRIn), 2005.
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A translation of parts of Sadra’s Asfar and a commentary on Sadra’s vocabulary of existence. Available online.
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Jambet, Christian. The Act of Being: The Philosophy of Revelation in Mulla Sadra. Translated by Jeff Fort. New York: Zone Books, 2006.
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A condensed analysis of Sadra’s metaphysics within a religio-philosophical context.
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Kalin, Ibrahim. “Mullā Ṣadrā on Theodicy and the Best of All Possible Worlds.” Journal of Islamic Studies 18.2 (2007): 183–201.
DOI: 10.1093/jis/etm002Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
Deals with the problem of theodicy in Sadra and examines his defense of the Ghazalian notion of the “best of all of possible worlds.”
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Rizvi, Sajjad H. “Mysticism and Philosophy: Ibn ʿArabī and Mullā Ṣadrā.” In The Cambridge Companion to Arabic Philosophy. Edited by Peter Adamson and Richard Taylor, 224–246. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
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Provides an overview of the philosophical doctrines of the two philosophers.
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Rizvi, Sajjad H. Mulla Sadra and Metaphysics: Modulation of Being. London: Routledge, 2009.
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An in-depth study of Sadra’s metaphysics, ontology, and epistemology, with a focus on the concept of tashkik al-wujud, which Rizvi translates as “modulation of being.” The book also contains an excellent chapter on mental being in Sadra.
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Epistemology
Sadra’s theory of knowledge is heavily dependent on his ontology. In fact he defines knowledge as a “mode of being” (nahw al-wujud). Kalin 2004 and Kalin 2010 explore the close relationship between existence and knowledge in Sadra, placing Sadra within the context of the Greek and Islamic epistemic traditions. Leaman 2000 focuses on perception as an epistemic category in Sadra. Yazdi 1992 is a detailed analysis of “knowledge by presence,” which argues for the unity of the subject and object of knowledge. Sadra applied his being-centered epistemology to various fields, including the prophets and the hereafter. For more on this, see Morris 2003. Rizvi 2008 provides a good summary of the main aspects of Sadra’s epistemology.
Kalin, Ibrahim. “Mulla Sadra’s Realist Ontology and the Concept of Knowledge.” Muslim World 94.1 (2004): 81–106.
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Analyzes Sadra’s ontology and his attempt to reduce all knowledge to existence and modalities. Available online.
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Kalin, Ibrahim. Knowledge in Later Islamic Philosophy: Mulla Ṣadrā on Existence, Intellect, and Intuition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.
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An in-depth study of Sadra’s concept of knowledge within the context of his being-centered metaphysics and his defense of the “unification of the intellect and the intelligible” against the criticisms of Ibn Sina and Suhrawardi. Also contains the English translation of Sadra’s treatise Ittihad al-ʿaqil waʾl-maʿqul, with extensive notes.
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Leaman, Oliver. “Mulla Sadra: Perception and Knowledge by Presence.” Transcendent Philosophy 1.1 (2000): 34.
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Focuses on Sadra’s reworking of the Suhrawardian notion of “knowledge by presence” (al-ʿilm al-huduri) and makes comparisons with modern Western philosophy.
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Morris, Zailan. Revelation, Intellectual Intuition, and Reason in the Philosophy of Mulla Sadra: An Analysis of the al-Hikmah al-ʾArshiyyah. London: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003.
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A study of certain aspects of Sadra’s epistemology in one of his major works.
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Rizvi, Sajjad H. “‘Au-delà du miroir’ or Beyond Discourse and Intuition: Pedagogy and Epistemology in the Philosophy of Mullā Ṣadrā Šīrāzī (ca. 1571–1635).” In Miroir et savoir: La transmission d’un thème platonicien des Alexandrins à la philosophie arabo-musulmane. Edited by D. De Smet, M. Sebti, and G. de Callatay, 251–271. Louvain, Belgium: Peeters, 2008.
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A very fine discussion and summary of the main aspects of Sadra’s epistemology and ways of learning.
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Yazdi, Mehdi Ha’iri. The Principles of Epistemology in Islamic Philosophy: Knowledge by Presence. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1992.
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A detailed study and defense of “knowledge by presence” as developed by Suhrawardi and Sadra.
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Cosmology and Philosophy of Nature
Applying his notion of existence to the world of nature, Sadra developed a sophisticated cosmology, one in which he viewed the world as constantly changing, fluid, and interdependent. Sadra clearly departed from the Aristotelian notion of “fixed substances” and viewed all beings—including substances—as undergoing change. Kalin 2003 analyzes Sadra’s highly original concept of “substantial motion” (al-harakat al-jawhariyyah) and shows how Sadra saw all beings as going through stages of existential transformation. Burrell 2009 is a dense philosophical discussion of substantial motion with a comparative note to Thomas Aquinas. Dakake 2004 shows how ways of knowing and the structure of the universe are all integrated and interdependent in Sadra’s thought. Rizvi 2003 discusses causation in Sadra and its place within his ontology. Dagli 2002 provides an engaging discussion of Sadra’s natural philosophy and the place of the faculty of imagination (khayal) in it. Kalin 2007 looks at Sadra’s notion of time as a relative term and explains how it follows from Sadra’s overall cosmology. Damad 2005 provides a fine discussion of the natural environment in Sadra from a comparative point of view.
Burrell, David B. “Mulla Sadra on ‘Substantial Motion’: A Clarification and a Comparison with Thomas Aquinas.” Journal of Shiʿa Islamic Studies 2.4 (2009): 369–386.
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A brilliant discussion of the problem of (substantial) motion in Sadra and its comparison with the founder of Thomism in medieval Christian philosophy.
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Dagli, Caner. “Mulla Sadra’s Epistemology and the Philosophy of Physics.” In Perception according to Mulla Sadra. Edited by Seyed G. Safavi, 245–258. London: Salman-Azadeh, 2002.
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A discussion of Sadra’s natural philosophy within the framework of the modern philosophy of science and in particular W. Smith’s distinction between “corporeal” and “physical” reality.
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Dakake, Maria Massi. “The Soul as Barzakh: Substantial Motion and Mulla Sadra’s Theory of Human Becoming.” Muslim World 94.1 (2004): 107–130.
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A very fine discussion of how Sadra weaves together epistemology, cosmology, and psychology.
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Damad, Sayyid Mustafa Muhaqqiq. “Natural Environment from the Perspective of the Transcendent Philosophy.” In Mulla Sadra’s School and Western Philosophies. Vol. 1. Edited by Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 63–74. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 2005.
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A comparative discussion of the concept of nature in Sadra’s and previous Islamic thought and its relevance for contemporary thinking on nature.
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Kalin, Ibrahim. “Between Physics and Metaphysics: Mulla Sadra on Nature and Motion.” Islam and Science 1 (2003): 65–93.
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Analyzes Sadra’s notion of “substantial motion” within the context of his ontology and cosmology and describes the dynamic world order that Sadra presents in his elaborate cosmology.
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Kalin, Ibrahim. “From the Temporal Time to the Eternal Now: Ibn al-‘Arabi and Mulla Sadra on Time.” Journal of the Muhyiddin ibn ʿArabi Society 41 (2007): 31–62.
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Looks at the concepts of time in Ibn al-ʿArabi and Mulla Sadra from a comparative point of view and discusses the “relativity” of time in their works.
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Rizvi, Sajjad H. “Mulla Sadra and Causation: Rethinking a Problem in Later Islamic Philosophy.” Philosophy East and West 55.4 (2003): 570–583.
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Discusses the problem of causality in Sadra and shows how it is eventually tied to his ontology.
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Qurʾan and Hadith
Sadra wrote a number of important works on Qurʾanic hermeneutics and Hadith commentary. They are among the prominent examples of philosophical-theological commentary, a tradition that goes back to Ibn Sina, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, and others who penned philosophical commentaries on the Qurʾan. Shirazi 1987–1990 is Sadra’s unfinished commentary and brings out Sadra’s intense reflections on the major themes of the Qurʾan from a philosophical point of view. Shirazi 1999 outlines the principles of Sadra’s hermeneutics and elaborates on various theological and philosophical issues. Shirazi 2000 is a philosophical discussion of the allegorical or metaphorical verses of the Qurʾan. Nasr 1998 is a very useful introduction to Sadra’s Qurʾanic hermeneutics. Shirazi 1983 is an extensive philosophical commentary on a major collection of Shiʿite Hadith. Peerwani 1991 is a fine summary of the major methods of Qurʾanic exegesis as discussed by Sadra. Peerwani 2004 provides a useful discussion of Sadra’s methodology of Qurʾanic hermeneutics. Rustom 2007 is a very fine summary of Sadra’s views on Qurʾanic hermenutics. Eschraghi 2008 discusses another famous Hadith that Sadra comments upon, concerning the purpose behind God’s decision to create the world of creation.
Eschraghi, Armin. “‘I Was a Hidden Treasure’: Some Notes on a Commentary Ascribed to Mulla Sadra Shirazi; Sharh Hadith; ‘Kuntu kanzan makhfiyyan.’” In Islamic Thought in the Middle Ages: Studies in Text, Transmission, and Translation, in Honour of Hans Daiber. Edited by Wim Raven and Anna Akasoy, 91–100. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2008.
DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004165656.i-711Save Citation »Export Citation » Share Citation »
A discussion of Sadra’s philosophical/mystical commentary on the famous Hadith concerning the purpose of God’s act of creating.
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Nasr, Seyyed Hossein. “The Quranic Commentaries of Mulla Sadra.” In Consciousness and Reality: Studies in Memory of Toshihiko Izutsu. Edited by Sayyid Jalal al-Din Àshtiyani, Hideicho Matsubura, Takashi Iwami, and Akiro Matsumoto, 47–57. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 1998.
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One of the first evaluations (and still most concise) of Sadra’s Qurʾanic exegesis, his methodology, and his difference from other philosophical commentaries.
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Peerwani, Latimah. “Quranic Hermeneutics: The Views of Sadr al-Din Shirazi.” Proceedings of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (1991): 468–477.
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Provides a useful overview of Sadra’s views on the four major types of exegetical methods in the Islamic tradition.
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Peerwani, Latimah-Parvin. On the Hermeneutics of the Light Verse of the Quran. London: Saqi Books, 2004.
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Contains a translation of Sadra’s famous commentary on the Light Verse of the Qurʾan (24:35) and examines Sadra’s hermeneutical approach to the understanding of the Qur’an.
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Rustom, Muhammad. “Mulla Sadra’s Prolegomenon to the Mafatih al-Ghayb.” Journal of Qur’anic Studies 9.1 (2007): 128–133.
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A very fine discussion of the main aspects of Sadra’s exegetical works and hermeneutical approach to the Qurʾan.
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. Sharh Usul al-Kafi. Edited by M. Khwajawi. Tehran: Muʾassasa-yi Mutalaʾat wa Tahqiqat-i Farhangi, 1983.
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A major philosophical commentary on one of the most important works of Shiʿite Hadith.
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. Tafsir al-Qurʾan al-karim. 7 vols. Edited by M. Khwajawi. Qom, Iran: Intisharat-i Bidar, 1987–1990.
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Sadra’s unfinished commentary on the Qurʾan published in an uncritical edition by M. Khwajawi. It contains all of Sadra’s commentaries on various chapters and verses of the Qurʾan. The most extensive is the one on the opening chapter of the Qurʾan, al-Fatihah, which has been the subject of several scholarly studies.
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. Mafatih al-ghayb. 2 vols. Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Tarikh al-ʿArabi, 1999.
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Sadra’s most important work of Qurʾanic hermeneutics outlining his methodology. This extensive work also deals with various Qurʾanic, philosophical, and theological issues.
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Shirazi, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Sadr al-Din. Mutashabihat al-Qurʾan. In Sih risala-yi falsafi. Edited by S. J. Ashtiyani. Tehran: n.p., 2000.
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A short but dense work on some aspects of Qur’anic exegesis, especially on the “allegorical verses” of the Qur’an, with a discussion of the views of previous schools of thought on the same issues.
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Other Aspects of Sadra’s Thought
Sadra’s corpus comprises a long list of issues developed in traditional philosophy. Besides metaphysics, ontology, and epistemology, Sadra produced some of the finest works on psychology and eschatology. Peerwani 2005 analyzes the mind-body problem in Sadra. Morris 2005 discusses the concept of barzakh (isthmus) in Sadra, which plays an important role both in epistemology and eschatology. Jambet 2008 provides translation of texts and discussions on life after death according to Sadra’s philosophical premises. Peerwani 2008 and Peerwani 2009 contain discussions and translations of Sadra’s relevant texts on the soul and its postmortem states. Rustom 2007 provides a good discussion of Sadra’s spiritual psychology as it relates to this world and the hereafter. Ernst 2001 discusses Sadra’s relationship to traditional Sufism. Lumbard 2002 is a discussion of Sadra’s concept of prophecy within his system of thought. Ballanfat 1999 provides a fine discussion of an important aspect of Sadra’s epistemology—the heart and its place in knowing.
Ballanfat, Paul. “Considérations sur la conception du coeur chez Mullâ Sadrâ.” Kâr-Nâmeh 5 (1999): 33–46, 67–84.
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A fine discussion of the concept and role of the heart in Sadra’s noetics.
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Ernst, Carl. “Sufism and Philosophy in Mulla Sadra.” In Mulla Sadra and Transcendent Philosophy: Islam-West Philosophical Dialogue; The Papers Presented at the World Congress on Mulla Sadra. Vol. 1. Edited by Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 173–192. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (SIPRIn), 2001.
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Discusses an important and largely neglected aspect of Sadra, namely, his relationship to Sufism.
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Jambet, Christian. Mort et résurrection en Islam: L’au-delà selon Mullâ Sadrâ. Paris: Albin Michel, 2008.
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A detailed philosophical discussion of Sadra’s views on resurrection and the life after death, with a selection of translations from Sadra’s works.
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Lumbard, Joseph. “The Place of Prophecy in Mulla Sadra’s Philosophy of Perception.” In Perception according to Mulla Sadra. Edited by Seyed G. Safavi, 129–150. London: Salman-Azadeh, 2002.
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Provides an important discussion of how Sadra presents an integrated view of epistemology, psychology, and prophecy in the Islamic tradition.
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Morris, James W. “Mulla Sadrā’s Conception of the Barzakh and the Emerging Science of Spirituality: The Process of Realization (Tahqīq).” In Mulla Sadra’s School and Western Philosophies: Papers Presented at the Second World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May 2004. Vol. 10. Edited by Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 93–103. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (SIPRIn), 2005.
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Deals with an important aspect of Sadra’s spiritual cosmology and its relationship to human perfection.
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Peerwani, Latimah-Parvin. “Mind-Body Relationship according to Mulla Sadra.” In Mulla Sadra’s School and Western Philosophies: Papers Presented at the Second World Congress on Mulla Sadra, May 2004. Vol. 1. Edited by Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute, 37–47. Tehran: Sadra Islamic Philosophy Research Institute (SIPRIn), 2005.
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Looks at Sadra’s concept of existence to address the question of mind-body relationship and attempts to give a “holistic” account of the human soul.
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Peerwani, Latimah-Parvin, ed. and trans. Spiritual Psychology: The Fourth Intellectual Journey in Transcendent Philosophy. London: ICAS, 2008.
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Volumes 8 and 9 of the Afsar of Mulla Sadra Shirazi. A very fine translation of the last two volumes of the Asfar, dealing with the states of the soul and life after death. The annotated translation also provides a summary and discussion of Sadra’s views on the soul, its states, and its spiritual journey into eternity.
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Peerwani, Latimah-Parvin. “Death and the Post-Mortem States of the Soul: A Comparison of Mulla Sadra with Swedenborg.” Journal of Shiʿa Islamic Studies 2.4 (2009): 387–400.
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A discussion of life in the hereafter according to Sadra’s elaborate eschatology and its comparison with the famous Swedish philosopher and mystic Emmanuel Swedenborg.
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Rustom, Mohammed. “Psychology, Eschatology, and Imagination in Mulla Sadra Shirazi’s Commentary on the Hadith of Awakening.” Islam and Science 5.1 (2007): 9–22.
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A fine discussion of spiritual psychology and eschatology in Sadra, based on relevant works.
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