A Study of Different Levels of Love in Ibn Sina and Mulla Sadra's Critique of his View

The problem of love has attracted the attention of philosophers since the beginning of its dawn. For example, in Greece, particularly in Plato’s works, the types and angles of this problem have been philosophically explored to a large extent. In the world of Islam, the study of this theme, like other philosophical subjects, has undergone some changes in terms of its meaning and scope. Previously, the word love merely referred to the existence of great passion between two human beings. However, Islamic philosophers have changed it in their works into a vast concept which flows all over the world of being and permeates all existents. Ibn Sina has also paid particular attention to this problem in his works. In his view, any existent enjoys a level of love in accordance with its existential level ranging from hyle, which is pure potency, to the Essence of the Necessary Being, Who is pure perfection. After Ibn Sina, Mulla Sadra also dealt with the problem of love. Although he agrees with Ibn Sina regarding the overall flow of love all over the world of being, he considers the existence of life and knowledge to be a prerequisite for the realization of love. The main purpose of the present paper is to describe the different types and levels of love in Ibn Sina’s view. A secondary goal here is to cast a glance at Mulla Sadra’s ideas and criticisms of Ibn Sina in this regard.