The Place of Prayer and Invocation in Avicennian Cosmology

In Avicennian cosmology the whole of creation has been formed on the basis of a rigorous and consistent system of cause and effect in which each creature has its specific and determinate place. The world of nature as the lowest stage of existence is under the control of celestial souls and celestial souls themselves are under the dominance of pure intelligences and finally they are related to the Necessary Being. In such a system prayers and invocations are means for union and connection of human souls with the worlds beyond (celestial souls and pure intelligences) in order to aquire benefits and repel losses. Human souls have found the power for union and connection with pure intelligences through the transcenence of self and evolution of the faculties of speculative and practical reason and therefore the power to influence celestial souls brings about the genesis of pleasant phenomena and removing the unpleasant events in material world.The quality of harmony and correspodance of prayer and invocation with the rational principles and rules govering the causal system of the world is the main problem of our analysis and examination of this article.