Worlds of Being in the Islamic Philosophy and its Upshot in the Islamic Philosophy of Art

Works of fine arts are one kind of the prominent wonders of the Islamic civilization. In their philosophical surveys, nevertheless, Muslim philosophers have hardly taken it seriously to explain the Islamic theory of art. This is why no independent discipline of knowledge has been compiled to systematically deal with all issues of art. However, it is possible to theorize about the Islamic art through the doctrines of Islamic philosophy. Worlds of being  are one ontological principle in the Islamic philosophy whose upshot may be used in the theorization of the Islamic art. Mulla Sadra holds that worlds of being comprise the world of matter and those of intellect   and imaginary, as well. On the top stands the world of intellect and at the bottom there is the world of mater. The imaginary world  is located somewhere in between them. These worlds are not like an archipelago of islands separate from one another; rather, they are interconnected and in tune with one another. Accordingly, what there is in the visible world of mater can be found in the imaginary world  in a better form, which yet can be found in the world of intellects  in its best way and most perfect form. In what follows, the author has first discussed the theory of the worlds of being  in the views of Muslim philosophers and then illustrated the upshot of this theory in the Islamic philosophy of art. It has been thus demonstrated that we can speak of the Islamic philosophy of art by the reference to the Islamic philosophy.