Elucidation and Analysis of "Priority and Posteriority-by-Truth" in the Thought of Mullā Ṣadrā

One of the significant topics in philosophy is the discussion of "priority and posteriority," which has long been a subject of contemplation and evaluation by philosophers. Among those who have made efforts in this regard and introduced innovations is Mullā Ṣadrā Shīrāzī. One of his innovations in the concept of priority and posteriority is "by-truth." This type of priority and posteriority varies in elucidation and interpretation in the works of Mullā Ṣadrā. In his book "Al-Shawāhid al-Rubūbiyyah," he presents a unique interpretation of priority-in-truth compared to his other works. In some of his works, he considers “priority-by-truth" as the precedence of the causal existence over the existence of the effect.He has also provided another interpretation of priority-by-truth by stating that the Almighty, with respect to His manifestation in His names as well as His descent in the hierarchical levels of His existential affairs, which are the contingent beings, is characterized by both priority and posteriority. His attribution to priority and posteriority belongs to His essence, and not to an extraneous matter beyond His essence.