A Review of Belief in Pre-Eternity of Human Intellective Souls in comparison and contrast with the Verse of Covenant (World of Pre-Existence), With Emphasis on Allamah Tabatabaii's View

Many scholars and scientists have always taken into consideration and studied human intellective soul or (soul). One basic issue about human intellective soul is how it is created. The present paper addresses the question whether the noble Quranic verse of "covenant" can approve the pre-eternity of human intellective soul? Because according to the verse, God has taken confession and covenant from Adam's children to His oneness before they have descended to this world and they have confessed. Then they have returned to prophet Adam's loin. There are three views about the meaning and interpretation of the verse of "covenant": as a proof for world of pre-existence, taking innate covenant from man in this world, and the collective existence of souls before God, which occurred in a stage before this world. To evaluate, judge and answer the aforementioned question, the author believes that the first view which corresponds with the pre-eternity of souls, contradicts with intellectual necessity and outward significance, and results in null and void reincarnation. The second view also contradicts with the context of the verse and necessities us to attribute a metaphorical meaning to the verse. Thus, Allamah Tabatabaii most likely considers the verse not as a proof for pre-eternity of intellective souls; rather, it means that souls were collectively present before God before this world, had a vision of or experienced God in His divinity, their own soul had such a vision or experience, and that attributing the noble verse to Allamah Tabatabaii's view is somehow unlikely.