Man's Guidance and Misguidance in Sadra's Teachings

man’s inner self is a combination of various powers, i.e. the animal, human, diabolic and spiritual ones, which are in constant iscordance with each other. This is because the goal of the dark, vile soul is to attain the worst of evils along with utmost distance from God, whereas the soul, which emanates from the heavenly world, Providence, wishes to reach its own world in order to co-dwell with the Lord of the Worlds. Thus, the struggle with the carnal, sensual desires, the reinforcement and perfection of the spiritual power, and the accomplishment of the stages of perfection, eventually make the reaching of the goal and intentions crucial.Sadra sees the human being as a tradesman whose capital is his innate nature, i.e. the same power and talent by means of which he possesses the capability to reach the paths of exaltation and the lodgings of salvation and prosperity. Guidance is only a ladder for ascending to the prosperity and happiness of the Hereafter.By way of looking into Sadra al-Mota‘allehin’s Quranic sources about guidance and reasons why the human being is in need of it, the present paper attempts at pointing out the relevant reasons and factors, as well as the way of getting guidance in Sadra’s teachings. It will hopefully illuminate these issues for the seekers of logic and resolute reason as well as for searchers of the spiritual and the intellectual.