“Love” in the View of Ikhwan al-safa`

Akhwan al-Sifa` that are amongst the thinkers of the fourth century have discussed “love” in their literary works. In their writings “love” possesses two different function; love in a general sense (feeling affection) and love in a particular sense (human love). In their views, enthusiasm for union is the best definition of love. The union resulted from love primarily emerges in the steamy soul and consequently in the body parts of the lover and beloved. Plant soul, animal soul, rational soul, cause and effect nature and nature of some of the animals are the primordium of different kinds of love. Love to commence stands in the need of conscious attention and the variability of people in love is due to their difference in nature or celestial status in the time of their genesis. According to them, will has a viable role in love. Love has a primary intention (e.g. satisfaction of a need) and a supreme intention which is attentiveness to God, divinity and feeling affection for them. Love is a virtue and is therefore plausible but in some cases it becomes a vice and implausible.