God, the Efficient & Final Cause of the Cosmos
“Since the Divine Essence is the Efficient-Cause (illat-e-fai’li) of all things therefore He is the First of all the firsts and the Prior of all the priors, and is also the Final-Cause (illat-e-ghaiy) of all things, and from this view point all things are intent towards Him and He is their ultimate object. Everything desires Him, regardless of whether this desire is volitional (iradi) or natural (tabay’i), therefore He is also the most Posterior of all posteriors and the Last of all the lasts, meaning that since He is the Absolute and Pure Good (khayr-e-mehaz) and the True Beloved (mashuq-e-haqiqi) therefore His Essence is the Final-Cause and the End of all things” (Asfar-al-Arba’a, safar#1, marhala#4)
For Mulla Sadra God is Pure-Existence and nothing can exist without having received the gift of existence from the Necessary Being because everything besides the Necessary Being is contingent in essence and contingency is nothing but the negation of two necessities namely the necessity of existence and the necessity of non-existence, which means that for such an essence both existence and non-existence are equally possible and equally non-necessary. Hence such essences are equidistant with respect to both existence and non-existence but inclined towards neither of these, therefore such essences in order to exist require an external-determinant or preponderant that can tilt the balance in favor of the possibility of existence and thereby convert the possibility of existence into a necessity. However if the external-determinant, preponderant or agent that bestows this preference is itself essentially-contingent then the same objection will revert towards it and so on and so forth, but since infinite regress is impossible therefore this affair must end at an Uncaused-Cause which is essentially independent and free from any kind of need or reliance upon another for coming into existence or for the perpetuation of that existence. Such a Cause that is itself not caused by any other must be essentially-necessary and hence will be pure from the ignominy of contingency, not deriving the perfection of existence from another but itself being the source of the derivation of this perfection for all beings. Only such an Existent is truly worthy of being referred to as the First of all the firsts, because by virtue of its essential-necessity it is the fountain and source of all existence from which springs forth the Ocean of Being.
Perfection is synonymous with good and existence, and existence or good is synonymous with perfection, but we know that the Necessary Being is the Reality of Existence and Pure or Absolute Existence itself and since perfection is synonymous with existence therefore it follows that the Necessary Being is also the Reality of Perfection and Pure or Absolute Perfection itself. Now everything that exists through another and therefore possesses some degree of perfection by virtue of its existence because existence itself is a perfection, could not have derived this perfection from itself or some other existent like itself, because one cannot bestow or give that which it lacks, therefore it must necessarily have derived this perfection from some being that is the Reality of Perfection and Absolute Perfection itself because if it is said to have derived the said perfection from some existent that is other than the Reality of Perfection so the same objection reverts to that existent, resulting in an infinite regress the impossibility of which is evident to the philosophic mind, hence this demonstrates the fact that this derivation of perfection must end in a Reality that is itself Absolute Perfection without having borrowed or derived it from some other. Therefore every thing that possesses perfection does so by reason of this Reality that has endowed it with that perfection through its eternal and all-encompassing grace. Having said this much it becomes clear that it is in the innate nature (fitrah) and disposition of all existents regardless of whether they are material or immaterial, animate or inanimate, they all seek perfection as their most cherished object and no existent seeks imperfection while recognizing, knowing and perceiving it as such, therefore all seek perfection ; but God is the Reality of perfection therefore in seeking perfection everything, either consciously or unconsciously seeks Him whether this seeking is volitional and voluntary, as is the case with Man and animals, or natural and involuntary, as is the case with inanimate things. Therefore when things actualize their latent potentialities to attain perfection they are seeking and moving towards none other than God who is the ultimate and the primary beloved (mashuq-e-haqiqi) of all seekers since He is the Reality of Perfection and by being what He is He exerts an irresistible attraction or pull towards His August Reality. He is therefore the Final-Cause of all that exists since all things are moving towards Him.
For Mulla Sadra God is Pure-Existence and nothing can exist without having received the gift of existence from the Necessary Being because everything besides the Necessary Being is contingent in essence and contingency is nothing but the negation of two necessities namely the necessity of existence and the necessity of non-existence, which means that for such an essence both existence and non-existence are equally possible and equally non-necessary. Hence such essences are equidistant with respect to both existence and non-existence but inclined towards neither of these, therefore such essences in order to exist require an external-determinant or preponderant that can tilt the balance in favor of the possibility of existence and thereby convert the possibility of existence into a necessity. However if the external-determinant, preponderant or agent that bestows this preference is itself essentially-contingent then the same objection will revert towards it and so on and so forth, but since infinite regress is impossible therefore this affair must end at an Uncaused-Cause which is essentially independent and free from any kind of need or reliance upon another for coming into existence or for the perpetuation of that existence. Such a Cause that is itself not caused by any other must be essentially-necessary and hence will be pure from the ignominy of contingency, not deriving the perfection of existence from another but itself being the source of the derivation of this perfection for all beings. Only such an Existent is truly worthy of being referred to as the First of all the firsts, because by virtue of its essential-necessity it is the fountain and source of all existence from which springs forth the Ocean of Being.
Perfection is synonymous with good and existence, and existence or good is synonymous with perfection, but we know that the Necessary Being is the Reality of Existence and Pure or Absolute Existence itself and since perfection is synonymous with existence therefore it follows that the Necessary Being is also the Reality of Perfection and Pure or Absolute Perfection itself. Now everything that exists through another and therefore possesses some degree of perfection by virtue of its existence because existence itself is a perfection, could not have derived this perfection from itself or some other existent like itself, because one cannot bestow or give that which it lacks, therefore it must necessarily have derived this perfection from some being that is the Reality of Perfection and Absolute Perfection itself because if it is said to have derived the said perfection from some existent that is other than the Reality of Perfection so the same objection reverts to that existent, resulting in an infinite regress the impossibility of which is evident to the philosophic mind, hence this demonstrates the fact that this derivation of perfection must end in a Reality that is itself Absolute Perfection without having borrowed or derived it from some other. Therefore every thing that possesses perfection does so by reason of this Reality that has endowed it with that perfection through its eternal and all-encompassing grace. Having said this much it becomes clear that it is in the innate nature (fitrah) and disposition of all existents regardless of whether they are material or immaterial, animate or inanimate, they all seek perfection as their most cherished object and no existent seeks imperfection while recognizing, knowing and perceiving it as such, therefore all seek perfection ; but God is the Reality of perfection therefore in seeking perfection everything, either consciously or unconsciously seeks Him whether this seeking is volitional and voluntary, as is the case with Man and animals, or natural and involuntary, as is the case with inanimate things. Therefore when things actualize their latent potentialities to attain perfection they are seeking and moving towards none other than God who is the ultimate and the primary beloved (mashuq-e-haqiqi) of all seekers since He is the Reality of Perfection and by being what He is He exerts an irresistible attraction or pull towards His August Reality. He is therefore the Final-Cause of all that exists since all things are moving towards Him.
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