An Analytical Study of Imaginary Obscene Forms in Avicenna and Shaykh Ishraq`s Epistemic System

Sometimes human beings, through imagination, make new faces and bodies from the tangible realities that these imaginative forms refer to. And sometimes the imaginary forms are some reflections of the incorporeal world in human`s peaceful hearth. Some imaginary forms, however, which are called evil and dark forms of imagination, are neither originated from natural principles nor from incorporeal principles, for the world of nature is that of natural earthly beauty, and the incorporeal world is that of heavenly beauty.
 Thus, what meant by the imaginary forms for philosophers in ontology and epistemology includes both good and evil imaginary forms. Ibn Sina and Sheikh Ishraq, in a common view, consider some evil forms of imagination as being unrealistic and originated from agitation of imagination, and in a different way, Ibn Sina attribute some of these forms to the incorporeal world, while Sheikh Ishraq refers to them with such names as hayula, monster, ghool, giant, dark forms, jinn and devil occurred by the absolute and limited imaginary world. In this article, along with expressing the viewpoints of these two philosophers, we will elaborate the place and the manner in which the forms of imagination are realized, as well as the implications and consequences.