Three philosophical treatises (the explicit verses of the Koran/ the Divine subjects / the answers of the questions)
These three treatises are written in Arabic by the prominent Iranian scholar “Mullah sadra”.
1- The explicit verses of the koran ( Motesha behatal- koran). Explicit verses refer to the verses whose meaning are simple. In this koranic treatise , the author first expresses the advantages of revealing these kind of verses, then he commentates some of these verses from the Divine philosophical view.
According to “Mullah sadra” the true meaning and conception of the explicit verses could be comprehended by interpretation and the spiritual contemplation.
He proves philosophically his view by presenting different views related on this subject.
2- The Divine subject (al-Masael- al-Qidsiyeh) this is one of the greatest treatises of Mullah sadra, but it is unfinished. the treatise concerns philosophical issues superior philosophy, existence and the subjects related to etc.
3. The answers of the question (Ajwabat al- Masael) this treatise includes the answers of Mullah sadra to the questions of one of his students of friends considering the creation “ free will” from the beginning of the existence and rejecting futility from Divine deeds.
The author
Ṣadr ad-Dīn Muḥammad Shīrāzī also called Mulla Sadrā (c. 1571–1641), Shiraz, Iran was a Persian Shia Islamic philosopher, theologian led the Iranian cultural renaissance in the 17th century.
Though not its founder, he is considered the master of the Illuminationist, or (Ishraghi or Ishraqi) school of Philosophy, a seminal figure who synthesized the many tracks of the Islamic Golden Age, and Andalusian, philosophies into what he called the Transcendent Theosophy or al-hikmah al-muta’liyah.
Mulla Sadra brought "a new philosophical insight in dealing with the nature of reality" and created "a major transition from essentialism to existentialism" in Islamic philosophy, although his existentialism should not be too readily compared to Western existentialism. His was a question of existentialist cosmology as it pertained to Allah, and thus differs considerably from the individual, moral, and/or social, questions at the heart of Russian, French, German, or American Existentialism.
Mulla Sadra's philosophy ambitiously synthesized Avicennism, Suhrawardi's Illuminationist philosophy, Ibn Arabi's Sufi metaphysics, and the theology of the Ash'ari school and Twelvers.
Mulla Sadra moved first to Qazvin in 1591 and then to Isfahan 1597 to pursue a traditional and institutional education in philosophy, theology, Hadith, and hermeneutics. Each city was a successive capital of the Safavid dynasty and centers of Twelver Shi'ite seminaries at that time. His teachers included Mir Damad and Baha' ad-Din al-`Amili.
Mulla Sadra completed his education at Isfahan, a leading cultural and intellectual center of his day. He was trained under the supervision of Mir Damad.
After he had finished his studies Sadra began to explore unorthodox doctrines and as a result was both condemned and excommunicated by some Shi'i ʿulamāʾ. He then retired for a lengthy period of time to a village named Kahak near Ḳum, where he engaged in contemplative exercises. While in Kahak, he wrote a number of minor works, including the Risāla fi 'l-ḥashr and the Risāla fī ḥudūth al-ʿālam .
In 1612, Mulla Sadra was asked to abandon his retirement by the powerful governor of Fārs, Allāhwirdī Ḵhān and invited back to Shiraz to teach and run a new madrasa devoted to the intellectual sciences[9]. He died in Basra on a pilgrimage to Mecca and was buried in present-day Iraq. He is buried in the city of Najaf
During this time in Shīrāz, Ṣadrā began writing treatises that synthesized wide-ranging strands of existing Islamic systems of thought. The ideas of this school, which may be seen as a continuation of the School of Iṣfahān of Mīr Dāmād and Shaykh-i Bahāʾī, were promulgated after Ṣadrā's death by his pupils, several of whom would became sought-after thinkers in their own right, such as, Mullā Muḥsin, Fayḍ Kāshānī, and ʿAbd Razzāḳ Lāhidjī. Although Ṣadrā's influence remained limited in the generations after his death, it increased markedly during the 19th century, when his ideas helped inspire a renewed Akhbārī tendency within Twelver Shīʿism. In recent times, his works have been studied in Iran, Europe, and America.
List of known works
1. al-Hikmat al-muta‘aliyah fi’l-asfar al-arba‘ah, a philosophical encyclopedia and a collection of important issues discussed in Islamic philosophy, enriched by the ideas of preceding philosophers, from Pythagoras to those living at the same time with Mulla Sadra, and containing the related responses on the basis of new and strong arguments. In four large volumes; also published several times in nine smaller volumes.
He composed this book gradually, starting in about 1015 A.H. (1605 A.D.); its completion took almost 25 years, until some years after 1040 A.H. (1630 A.D.)
2. al-Tafsir (A commentary upon the Qur'an)
3. Sharh al-hidayah, a commentary on a book called Hidayah, which had been written on the basis of Peripatetic philosophy.
4. al-Mabda‘ wa’l-ma‘ad, also called al-Hikmat al-muta‘aliyyah, considered to be a summary of the second half of Asfar. He called this book the Beginning and the End, since he believed at heart that philosophy means the knowledge of the Origin and the Return.
5. al-Mazahir This book is similar to al-Mabda‘ wa’l-ma‘ad, but is shorter than it. It is, in fact, a handbook for familiarizing readers with Mulla Sadra's philosophy.
6. Huduth al-‘alam, on the issue of the origination of the world, which is a complicated and disputable problem for many philosophers. He proved his solid theory through the theory of the trans-substantial motion.
7. Iksir al-‘arifin, a gnostic and educative book.
8. al-Hashr, a theory of the resurrection of animals and objects in the Hereafter.
9. al-Masha‘ir, on existence and its related subjects. Professor Henry Corbin has translated it into French and written an introduction to it. This book has recently been translated into English, too.
10. al-waridat al-qalbiyyah, a brief account of important philosophical problems, it seems to be an inventory of the Divine inspirations and illuminations he had received all through his life.
11. Iqad al-na‘imin, on theoretical and actual gnosis, and on the science of monotheism. It presents some guidelines and instructional points to wake up the sleeping.
The book structure
The explicit verses of the Koran:
This treatise includes 5 chapters; some of them are mentioned as following:
1- The differences between “interpretation” and “commentary”
2- The explanation of “the explicit” and “the implicit”
3- The differences between “the explicit” and “the implicit”
4- On definition of commentary
5- on the unity between the Koran and Holy Prophetic family
The Divine subjects
This includes 3 articles on some philosophical subject such as : existence, the Self-Existent, mental existence, etc.
The answers of the questions:
Including 5 question with the answers.
The book was edited by “seyyed Jalal Ashtiyani” it was published in 1999 in Qom- Iran.
Sources :
Three philosophical treatises (the explicit verses of the Koran/ the Divine subjects / the answers of the questions)