مجله انوار معرفت
پیاپی 3 (بهار 1391)

khawajah NaṢir al-Din Tūsī is considered one of the greatest and most influential Muslim scholars of the 7th century ('AH'). Most of his works are about Fakhr a-Din Rāzi's works and views, and are compiled in defense of philosophy providing correct and acceptable theological views. In addition to theology and philosophy, he has written works on mysticism. The problem with studying his works is that he sometimes believes in some principles when discussing theology and gives them up when discussing philosophy. He has also gone beyond the common philosophy by accepting the most fundamental doctrine of Islamic mysticism. Some believe that he, like some other thinkers, had experienced intellectual development and that these different views are due to different periods of his scientific and cognitive activities. The present paper seeks to prove that Khawajah NaṢir had had all these various method of thought simultaneously and had not experienced intellectual development. In fact, three longitudinal levels of his thought are theology, philosophy, and mysticism. By providing some examples, this paper proves that these three levels exist in his works.

Hussein b. Mansur Hallāj is one of famous personages of Islamic mysticism and Sufism. A significant part of Islamic and international works is dedicated to discussions on his personality. There have also been different attitudes towards him in Shiʻah society. The present paper studies Hallāj's personality from the view point of Twelfth Imam's letter. Since a long time ago, especially at the time when social atmosphere was against Sufism and mysticism, it was taken for granted that twelfth Imam had cursed and rejected Hallāj in his letter which has been issued later by his third special deputy, Hussein b. Ruh. Some scholars has used this to criticize Islamic Sufism and mysticism altogether. Scrutinizing the issue, the present paper proves that not only there is no implicit or explicit reference to Hallāj and his mystical dimensions in Imam's letter but also it seems that Imam had very delicately separated these dimensions from doctrinal deviations and conducts of such individuals as Shalmaghāni.

Divine mystics have understood man as an outspread reality and expanded effluence that is a limitless creature in terms of his perfections with no limitation. Man is a novel mixture whose mystery is from Divine World, his spirit is from immaterial world, and his body is from material world. He feels the final state of nearness to God through passing inner worlds and reaching to his depths of reality. Based on seven inner dimensions of religious texts and inner dimensions of world of existence, seven inner dimensions have been considered for man, which are called "human seven inner dimensions". These inner levels are called respectively "soul", "heart", "intellect", " spirit", "mystery", " hidden", and "most hidden".Mullā ʻAbd al-Razzāq Kāshāni has referred to the three main stages in man's existence as "soul", "heart", and "spirit". He has mentioned seven inner dimensions and then ten inner dimensions by expanding these modes of being and has analyzed and explained the logical arrangement of one hundred abodes discussed by Khawajah 'Abdullāh Ansari, using the principle of "human seven inner dimensions".

Mulla Ṣadrā (Ṣadr al-Motoʻallehin) has provided a particular ontological system in the light of attitude based on existential unity and multiplicities which exist in existence. In the arc of descent, this system includes the station of essence (non-conditioned existence as the source of division), the station of oneness (first determination), the station of uniqueness (second determination), divine soul (non-conditioned existence as the source of division/ expanded effluence), and creative determinations (intellect, image, and material). In this system, all these stations are in aforementioned order, each has its own features, and there are special relationships among them. The multiplicities of this system are also considered as aspects and manifestations of absolute oneness (the Most High God) and have no existence contradictory to Him- the Glorious the High.

According to exoteric meaning of verses and traditions, apostolic revelation has seven features in Ibn 'Arabi's mystical system as follows: 1. It has an eternal source; 2- in the process of descent, the meanings are revealed by the angel of revelation. This angel is the Prophet’s teacher; 3- the angel of revelation not only manifests itself but also it puts the meanings into words (utterance); 4-on behalf of the Exalted Divine Truth, the angel of revelation reveals the meaning into the Prophet’s heart as utterance. On behalf of the Exalted Divine Truth, the Prophet recites Divine word to people; 5- the Prophet is commissioned to communicate apostolic revelation to people completely and preach its doctrines; 6- the Prophet sees the angel of revelation in his spiritual visions (formal-visual intuition), hears voices or divine words from its tongue in an audio-formal intuition, and comprehends all its semantic levels from these utterances in a spiritual vision as a part of formal intuition; 7- apostleship revelation cannot be acquired and achieved by exercise of self-discipline, therefore, it is impossible for friends of God to attain this aposotlic experience.

Mullā Ṣadrā (Ṣadr al-Motoʻallehin) bases the intellectual explanation of bodily resurrection on such principles and preliminaries as fundamentality of existence, existential gradation, transubstantial motion, imaginal immateriality and subsistence of issuing images in soul. Although the act of putting these premises together and concluding bodily resurrection from them is Mullā Ṣadrā’s innovation, he himself has explicitly stated that most of these premises were borrowed from previous thinkers, especially mystics. Having analyzed Sadrain resurrection based on aforementioned principles and premises, the present paper investigates the background of these principles and premises in mystical works before Mullā Ṣadrā