Contradiction in the Attitude Towards Reason in the Light of Adherence to Sharia Relying on Sanai's Odes

One of the debated concepts in the Iranian culture is the concept of intellect, which is an expansive yet at times self-contradictory semantic field. This is why poets, scientists, writers, and experts have offered different interpretations of it. In the works that have dealt with intellect, it has sometimes been opposed to religion and sometimes to love, and has somehow failed against both of the above-mentioned concepts. This moved us to examine the contradiction in the attitude to intellect in the light of adherence to the Shari'a based on Sanai's odes. Sanai has sometimes respected intellect but at other times has strongly condemned it. Sanai considers the highest level of intellect as "intellectus adeptus", which is the fourth and highest level of theoretical intellect in which "the soul has achieved all perfections and does not need their actualization." According to Sanai, the intellect is respected if it is in the right direction of Mustafa's Shari'a (i.e. Islam) as a guidance tool; otherwise, it is condemned. Sanai has a dual attitude to reason; he sometimes praises it and at other times condemns it.