Role of the Principality of Existence/Quiddity on the Theory of the World's Origination; from Shiraz School to that of Khorāsān

The problem of world’s origination has been a hot issue throughout the history of philosophy and theology, including Islamic philosophy and theology. One of the major factors that led thinkers to take different stances on this question was the debate over the principality of existence/quiddity.This article is an attempt to assess the role of this debate on the issue of the origination of the world in the Islamic milieu. It will study Allamah Davāni, as a representative of Shiraz School in 9th and 10th centuries A.H, who based his theory of “eternal creation” on the principality of quiddity and “theosophical tasting”. According to this theory, the world of eternity (dahr) is changeless and encompasses the temporal world, and therefore, its entities lack time, flux, and quantity. The article will study an opposite theory belonging to Mulla Sadra, as an eminent representative of Isfahan School, who establishes his theory of temporally perpetual creation on the principality of existence. His idea of essential origination is based on “existential poverty” and “contingency by poverty” which is different from other philosophers. And finally, it comes to Sabzevāri, from the School of Khorāsān, who suggests the theory of “nominal origination” with a mystical approach.