Criteria for Muqarrabūn in Mullā Ṣadrā’s Philosophical Works and Commentaries

The Holy Qur’an has granted a very special station to a group of believers called muqarrabūn (Those who are close to God). Moreover, it has considered specific places in Paradise and some Otherworldly rewards for them which are different from those promised to ordinary pious believers. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate those attributes of this particular group which distinguish them from other pious, faithful, and righteous people. Some features such as knowledge, good deeds, worship, piety, high moral values, and devotion to social and benevolent services are easily detectable in muqarrabūn. Based on Sadrian principles, Man attains theoretical and practical perfection through the perception of truths and moral justice and, hence, finds access to true human pleasures. He also refers to a number of different criteria for identifying muqarrabūn including perfection in terms of knowledge and moral piety, intuition of the kingdom and God’s glory, drowning in divine kindness, and enjoying gnosis and true righteousness. However, Mullā Ṣadrā’s views regarding certain questions and issues in relation to muqarrabūn are sometimes ambiguous and sometimes non-revealing. Following a critical approach, the present paper analyzes the mentioned views.