Identifying and Explaining the Nature of Evil in the Paintings of the Dresden Falnama based on Mulla Sadra's Opinions

The issue of good and evil is one of the deep debates of philosophy and theology that has been criticized and studied in different periods of the history of thought and it has turned the minds of Western and Eastern philosophers. Among these, Islamic philosophers, especially the Sadra scholars with a rational and reasoned view, have studied the sufferings and evils in the universe and have explained the truth and its nature. In response to the problem of evil, the Sadr al-Muta'allehin relies on the three basic principles of the originality of existence, the non-existence of evil, and the goodness system. He turned to the definition of the example of evil, and dividing the examples of evil into natural, moral, perceptual and metaphysical has explained its nature which has four parts: non-existent affairs, perceptual evil, moral evil and basic of moral evil. The battle of good and evil has long been depicted in Iranian paintings, especially Shahnamas, and painters have always used different visual features to distinguish evil from good. Among the paintings in which the appearance of evil is often recognizable are drawings related to illustrated Falnamas. This study has a descriptive-analytical nature and method, and looks at recognizing the nature of evil in the drawings of Tahmasp’s Falnama, Dresden version. On this basis, after studying the library resources in order to identify the problem of evil and its characteristics, the types of nature proposed by Mulla Sadra will be addressed, and while observing the works, we will find paintings with the subject of evil in this version of the Falnama. While observing the works, the paintings with the subject of evil will be purposefully found in the Falnama of the Dresden version. Then, the nature of evil depicted in these paintings will be identified and their types will be adapted based on Mulla Sadra's views. This study is conducted to answer the following questions: What are the characteristics of the nature of evil manifested in Dresden Falnama’s paintings? How can the nature of evil be analyzed in Dresden Falnama’s paintings based on Sadra's views? The findings show that the image of evil, reflected in the Dresden Falnama, can be applied on the basis of the types of nature of evil by Mulla Sadra: non-existent affairs, perceptual evil, moral evil, and the principles of moral evil. Non-existent evil is depicted in the paintings in the form of death as a dying man, a cemetery and a shrouded deceased. Since facial expressions are not much different in Safavid painting and perceptual evil is an internal matter which is reflected in facial expressions, pain and sorrow instead of appearing in the form of faces in the form of people who are struggling or seen suffering from grief and mourning, moral evil can be seen in the form of acts of evil such as murder, as well as metamorphosis in the form of combined beings. The principles of moral evil, which are sensory and internal matters and in the kingdoms of vices such as anger, jealousy and deceit, appear as a kind of prelude to committing sins in paintings. Also, that part of evil that refers to the inner and perceptual states of man has a different appearance from other types. Mulla Sadra has paid extensive attention to human beings in explaining the nature of evil and has considered it not in terms of nature and other external factors, but in human states and actions. This is especially true in relation to perceptual evil, moral evil, and the principles of moral evil; it is as if he has explained its nature in deeper layers than what is mentioned in the division of all kinds of examples of evil. Sadra, like many other philosophers, accepts the definition of an example, while mentioning moral evil both in examples and in nature. However, some scholars have erroneously mentioned the fourfold division of Mulla Sadra's evil nature in giving examples of evil. The discussion of "nature" is different from "examples". Examples of natural evil such as storms and floods, and metaphysical evil such as the devil, demons, giants, dragons, etc. in Iranian painting, especially fortune-telling drawings, can be seen many times and it is possible to recognize them at first glance, but the nature of evil is much more internal and has a deeper meaning. Therefore, recognizing the different types of evil in the paintings, requires more reflection and sometimes, even to understand it, it is necessary to refer to the text of fortune-telling and to know about the misfortune and the subject of fortune-telling; while in pictures containing examples of evil, before knowing the text of the omen and only by looking at the image, it can be immediately recognized that it is evil.