A Review of Mulla Sadra's Narrative Proofs for the Particular Unity of Existence

One of the most important issues in philosophy is a discussion on the unity and plurality of existence. There are different views common among philosophers, ranging from the view of difference among beings to the view of the particular unity of existence. The theory of ‘unity of existence’, with its mystical origin, has an important status in Mulla Sadra’s transcendental theosophy. This theory, however, is not an axiomatic one and needs to be proved. Mulla Sadra attempts to prove this theory by putting forward some arguments and to use it in various philosophical discussions. Along with philosophical arguments, he has presented numerous transmitted evidences to show the verity of this theory. The present article is a review of the Quranic verses and traditions adduced by Mulla Sadra for unity of existence and its implications. These evidences can be classified into five categories. Naturally, we can accept the Quranic verses and traditions as evidences for this claim only if there is no flaw in inferring unity of existence from these texts.