An Analysis of the Interconnection of Value Evil and Moral Perfection from the Standpoint of the Scholar Miṣbāḥ Yazdī

The scholar Miṣbāḥ Yazdī affirms that value evils play a role in human moral perfection. This study seeks to answer the question: what relation is there between value evils and moral perfection? The result of this investigation is that he conceptually clarifies that one should use a typical conventional standard, not an individual one, for evaluating his own perfection and best interest, and it is human convention that serves as a criterion for identifying good and evil. The fact that there is much evil in the world lays out the groundwork for values to function properly in light of the different divine tests and to help man to become aware of his values, to get close to God, to benefit from revelation, to choose wisely, and to end his blameworthy attachments to this perishing world. These cases are analyzed in terms of divine grace for the servant to reach moral perfection, i.e. to recognize beings’ spiritual poverty, to get closer to God, and to lift the veil between himself and God.