Historical Roots of the Concept and Referent of Prime Matter and the First Emanated in Greek Philosophy

Undoubtedly, the history of philosophy follows a continuous and successive process of development in the course of human life. Although inventions and new problems and topics have always been witnessed and warmly welcomed in this field, they have never interrupted the continuous process of development of thought in the realm of philosophy. In fact, philosophy, which is the most illuminating dimension of human intellection on the history of thoughts, is responsible for the rational explanation of the most important issues in human life. Undoubtedly, one of the most important of all of them is clarifying the relationship between the Creator or Maker of the world and existents and creatures. Now, if we consider the rise of philosophy in Greece as a crucial event in the history of philosophy, the quality of the philosophical approach to prime matter and, then, the issue of the first emanated are viewed as two of the most significant and fascinating topics in this field. Following an analytic approach, the writers have tried to study the historical background of the first emanated in the history of Islamic philosophy (intellect as the first creation) with reference to Greek philosophy in this regard. The writers assume that the history of philosophy in Islamic civilization has been developed by deliberating over some Greek thoughts and has established the foundation of its own philosophical structure through a profound review of philosophical resources, such as the Qur’an and traditions, as the absolute center of this enterprise.