Sadrian Metaphysics

Imam Reza (as) is reported to have stated the following in his sermon on Divine Unity: ”مَوْجُودٌ لا بَعْدَ عَدَمٍ“ translation: “(God is) Existent, not after nonexistence” [Uyun-al-Akhbar,chapter#11,hadith#51] The temporal-non-existence [عدم زمانی] of a thing means that there was a period of time [زمان] prior to the existence of the thing in which that thing was non-existent [معدوم] and then subsequently came into being [وجود] where its non-being [عدم] prior to its coming into being is evidence of the fact that existence is not integral to and inseparable from, the essence [ذات] of the thing, because had existence been identical and integral [عين ذات] to the essence of the thing so it would never have been non-existent and there would not have been any period of time in which the said thing was non-existent, and consequently that thing would have been a Necessary Existent [واجب الوجود] ; but the previous non-existence of the thing is proof of the fact that existence is accidental a...

Imam Reza (as) states in his sermon on Divine Unity: ”وَمَنْ قَالَ لِمَ فَقَدْ عَلَّهُ“ translation: “whoever says 'why?' has professed for Him a cause”[Uyun-al-Akhbar,chapter#11,hadith#51] A Final-Cause [علت غائی] is defined as that for the sake of which something exists or that which is sought as an end but everything which exists for the sake of something else or for achieving some end is imperfect [ناقص] since the act of seeking good [خير] implies the absence or the non- existence [عدم] of some good in the seeker, and it is this absence or privation of good that causes the thing bearing the privation to seek and move towards an end, and since a moving thing [متحرک] cannot move itself because a thing in potentiality [قوۃ] cannot actualize [فعليۃ] itself or give to itself what it does not possess therefore it is dependent [محتاج] upon a mover [متحرک] for being moved, but God cannot be something moved since He cannot be dependent since everything dependent is contingent [مم...

In the famous sermon on the doctrine of Divine Unity Imam Reza (as) states: ”وَأَدْوُهُ إِيَّاهُمْ دَلِيلٌ عَلَى أَنْ لا أَدَاةَ فِيهِ لِشَهَادَةِ الأَدَوَاتِ بِفَاقَةِ المادّين“ translation: “That He has created them possessing means (of accomplishing things) is proof that He has no means, for means are witness to the poverty of those who use them” [Uyun-al-Akhbar,chapter#11,hadith#51] All corporeal agents are composites [مرکب] of matter [مادۃ] and form [صورۃ] where matter is denoted by the body [جسم] and form by the soul [نفس] because the soul is the form of the body and perfects it ; according to Mullah Sadra the soul which is corporeal in origination but spiritual in subsistence [جسمانيۃ الحدوث و روحانيۃ البقا] is extremely weak [ضعيف] in existential [وجودی] terms and due to this existential weakness it is dependent [محتاج] upon the material-body for its origination [حدوث], since the soul emanates [صدور] from the material-body just as a flower’s-fragrance emanates f...

Imam Reza (as) states in His sermon on Divine Unity: ”وَابْتِدَاؤُهُ إِيَّاهُمْ دَلِيلُهُمْ عَلَى أَنْ لا ابْتِدَاءَ لَهُ لِعَجْزِ كُلِّ مُبْتَدَإٍ عَنِ ابْتِدَاءِ غَيْرِهِ“ translation: “That He is their origin [principle] (ibtida’) is proof for them that He has no origin [principle], for none that has an origin [principle] can originate others” [Uyun-al-Akhbar,chapter#11,hadith#51] Things that exist and possess the light of being [نور وجود] are either necessary in essence [واجب بالذات] or possible in essence [ممکن بالذات ], but that which is possible in essence or contingent is such that it negates both the necessity of existence [وجوب وجود] and the necessity of non-existence [وجوب عدم], inclined neither towards being nor towards non-being [عدم], but oscillating between both in a state of equilibrium ; such an essence is dependent [محتاج] upon an external agent or a cause [علت] for converting the possibility of its existence [امکان وجود] into a necessity and thereby preferring the...

Imam Reza (as) states in his sermon on Divine Unity: ”كُلُّ مَعْرُوفٍ بِنَفْسِهِ مَصْنُوعٌ وَكُلُّ قَائِمٍ فِي سِوَاهُ مَعْلُولٌ“ translation: “Everything that can be known in itself (binafsih) is fashioned (masnu’). All that stands apart from Him is an effect (ma’lul)” [Uyun-al-Akhbar,chapter#11,hadith#51] To know [عرفان] something is equivalent to grasping its essence [ ماھيۃ ] which is the answer to the question ‘what is it?’ [ما ھوا] and if it is possible for the intellect [ عقل ] to grasp [درک] the essence of a thing by abstracting [عقلى انتزاع] it from its existence so this is evidence of the fact that existence [وجود] is not integral to [ عين ذات ] and inseparable from the essence of the thing and is in truth distinct and separable from its existence, and everything which is such relates to existence as a subject [ موضوع ] relates to an accident [ عرض ] in intellectual consideration [ عقلى اعتبار ], being only accidental to the essence and not necessary [ واجب ] for it ; ther...

Imam Reza (as) states in his sermon on Divine Unity: ”فَلَيْسَ اللَّهُ [اللَّهَ] مَنْ عَرَفَ بِالتَّشْبِيهِ ذَاتَهُ وَلا إِيَّاهُ وَحَّدَ مَنِ اكْتَنَهَهُ وَلا حَقِيقَتَهُ أَصَابَ مَنْ مَثَّلَهُ وَلا بِهِ صَدَّقَ مَنْ نَهَّاهُ وَلا صَمَدَ صَمْدَهُ مَنْ أَشَارَ إِلَيْهِ وَلا إِيَّاهُ عَنَى مَنْ شَبَّهَهُ“ translation: “So it is not God whose Essence is recognized through striking similitude. It is not His Unity that is professed by someone who attempts to fathom Him. It is not His reality (haqiqa) that is attained by someone who strikes a similitude for Him. It is not He who is confirmed (tasdiq) by him who professes an end for Him. If one points to Him, it is not God that is pointed to. It is not He who is meant by him who compares Him (to something)” [ Uyun-al-Akhbar,chapter#11,hadith#51] There can be nothing similar [مشابہ] to God because if something is said to be similar to Him or like Him then it means both God and this thing which is similar to Him or like Him wou...

Imam Reza (as) initiated his famous sermon on Divine Unity with the following words : ”أَوَّلُ عِبَادَةِ اللَّهِ مَعْرِفَتُهُ وَأَصْلُ مَعْرِفَةِ اللَّهِ تَوْحِيدُهُ وَنِظَامُ تَوْحِيدِ اللَّهِ نَفْيُ الصِّفَاتِ عَنْهُ لِشَهَادَةِ الْعُقُولِ أَنَّ كُلَّ صِفَةٍ وَمَوْصُوفٍ مَخْلُوقٌ وَشَهَادَةِ كُلِّ مَوْصُوفٍ أَنَّ لَهُ خَالِقاً لَيْسَ بِصِفَةٍ وَلا مَوْصُوفٍ وَشَهَادَةِ كُلِّ صِفَةٍ وَمَوْصُوفٍ بِالاقْتِرَانِ وَشَهَادَةِ الاقْتِرَانِ بِالْحَدَثِ وَشَهَادَةِ الْحَدَثِ بِالامْتِنَاعِ مِنَ الأَزَلِ الْمُمْتَنِعِ مِنَ الْحَدَثِ“ translation : “The first element in the worship of the Sublime God is His recognition. The root of recognition of God is to profess to His Unity. The order for professing the Unity of God is to deny He has any attributes, since the powers of reasoning testify that every attribute and everything which possesses an attribute are created. Everything that is created testifies that it has a Creator which is neither an attribute nor does it possess any attributes. Ever...

Imam Musa al Kazim (as) is reported to have stated : ”ولم يحتج الی شئ، بل يحتاج اليہ“ translation: “He does not need anything, but all things need Him” [Al-Kafi,kitab-ul-tawhid,hadith#325] God is Pure Existence [ وجود محض ], the Reality of Existence [ حقيقت الوجود ] and everything that exists, is a reality [ حقيقۃ ] by virtue of existence [ وجود ] because the reality of everything is its existence, as it is existence through which all things acquire objective reality and become entified, such that, that which has no existence, has no reality and is said to be a non-entity therefore all things depend [محتاج] upon existence for their realization [ تحقق ] regardless of whether this realization is in the external reality [ حقيقۃ الخارجيۃ ] with actual or concrete being [وجود خارج] or in the receptacle of the mind [ظہن] with mental being [وجود ظہنی], therefore existence is self-manifesting and also manifests others without itself being manifested by anything else ; because if it is as...

Ameer ul Momineen (as) in reply to a question asked by Jathliq [Catholicos] the Archbishop of the Armenian Church, is reported to have stated: ”و ھو حيات کل شئی و نور کل شئی“ translation: “He is the life of everything and the light of everything” [Al-Kafi, kitab-ul-tawhid,hadith#335] In Sadrian Metaphysics light [نور] is synonymous with existence [وجود] therefore to say that God is the light of everything [نور کل شئی] translates into God being the existence of everything [وجو د کل شئی], which means that everything that exists and possesses being derives its existence from the divine and God being the First-Cause [علت اول] does not derive His reality [حقيقۃ] or existence from another. The Reality of everything is its existence; it is existence which grants subsistence [ثبوت] to all things and due to which all things become realized [متحقق], and this existence which is predicated to all existent essences [ماھيات] emanates [صدور] upon them from the Reality of Existence [حقيقۃ الوجو...

In refutation of the notion of divine mobility Imam Mūsā-al-Kāzim (as) is reported to have stated the following: "وکل متحرک مھتاج الی من يحرکہ او يتحرک بہ، فمن ظن بللہ الظنون ھلک" translation: "Every mobile object is always in need of a stimulus [mover] by and through which it comes into action (thus to think that Allāh descends is to think Him mobile and in need of a stimulus). Thus, whoever guessed in such a way in respect of Allāh met his doom" [Al-Kafi,kitab-ul-tawhi d,hadith#325] Motion [ھرکت] is the transition of a thing from potentiality [قوۃ] to actuality [فعلليۃ], but a thing in potentiality cannot actualize [بالفعل] itself, which is to say that a moving thing or a thing in motion cannot move itself, because a thing cannot give to itself what it does not possess or have, therefore an object lacking actuality cannot actualize itself, and is hence in need of another for becoming actualized as is stated by the Imam (as) "Every mobile object is alw...

Amīr al-mu’minīn (as) is reported to have stated: "قريب فی بعدہ، بعيد فی قربہ" translation: "He is nearest, in spite of His being distant.He is furthest, in spite of being nearest" [Al-Kafi,kitab-ul-tawhid,hadith#228] Avicenna states in his 'Metaphysics of the Healing' that The Numerical One or Unity [وحدت] is the principle [مبدا] of number or multiplicity [کثرت] in that it is the repetitive occurrence of 'One' that brings into existence [وجود] all numbers since all numbers are nothing but the number 'One' repeated over and over again, for instance the number '2' is nothing but 'One' repeated twice, similarly the number '3' is nothing but 'One' repeated thrice over and so on, such that every number arises out of this Unity without the Unity arising out of any number but no number can be a number without unity. Therefore while every number must contain one as the principle of its existence but One or...

Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Sinani - may God be pleased with him - narrated that Muhammad ibn Abi Abdullah al-Kufi quoted on the authority of Muhammad ibn Isma’il al-Barmaki, on the authority of Al-Husayn ibn Al-Hassan, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Isa, on the authority of Muhammad ibn Arafa, “I asked Al-Ridha’ (a.s.), ‘Did God create things using His Might or without it? The Imam (a.s.) replied: "خَلَقَ اللَّهُ الأَشْياءِ بِالقُدرَةِ أَم بِغَيْرِ القُدرَةِ؟ فَقالَ‏ عَلَيْهِ السَّلامُ: لا يَجُوزُ أَنْ يَكُونَ خَلَقَ الأَشْياءَ بِالقُدرَةِ لأَنَّكَ إِذا قُلْتُ: خَلَقَ الأَشْياءَ بِالقُدرَةِ، فَكَأَنَّكَ قَدْ جُعِلْتَ القُدرَةَ شَيْئاً غَيْرَهُ وَجَعَلتَها آلَةً لَهُ بِها خَلَقَ الأَشْياءَ، وَهذا شِركٌ، وَإِذا قُلْتُ خَلَقَ الأَشْياءَ بِغَيْرِ قُدْرَةٍ فَإِنَّّما تَصِفُهُ أَنَّهُ جَعَلَها بِاقتِدارٍ عَلَيْها وَقُدْرَةٍ، وَلكِن لَيْسَ هُوَبِضَعيفٍ وَلا عاجِزٍ وَلا مُحْتاجٍ إِلى غَيْرِهِ، بَل هُوَسُبحانَهُ قادِرٌ لِذاتِهِ لا بِالقُدرَةِ" translation: "You cannot say that ...

Muhammad ibn Ya‘qub has narrated from Ali ibn Ibrahim, from Muhammad ibn‘Isa from ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn abu Najran who said the following: “Once I asked (Imam) abu ‘Abd Allah (as) about the Oneness of Allah, ‘Can I think of Him (the creator) as a thing?’ The Imam replied, ‘Yes, but not as a thing that can be well understood and clearly defined within limits. What may become a subject of your thoughts is different from Him. Nothing resembles Him and the thoughts and imaginations cannot reach Him. How could the imaginations reach Him when He is different from what can become the subject of thoughts and is different from whatever can be perceived in one’s thoughts? You can think of Him as a thing that cannot be well understood and clearly defined (under certain limits).”[Al-Kafi,kitab-ul-tawhid,] That which becomes the object of human thought and is apprehended or perceived by the intellect [عقل] is the essence [ماھيۃ] of a thing which is the answer to the question ‘what is it? [ما ھوا]’,...

Hisham states that off the questions of the atheist from (Imam) abu ‘Abd Allah (as) one was ‘what is the evidence of His existence’? The Imam(as), answered: ”وجود الافاعيل دلت على ان صانعا صنعها ا لا ترى انك اذا نظرت الى بناء مشيد مبنى علمت ان له بانيا و ان كنت لم تر البانى و لم تشاهد“ translation: “The existence of the effects (activities) shows that someone has produced those effects and activities. Consider, when you see a well-constructed building you learn that there is  someone who has built it even if you have not seen the builder with your own eyes” [Al-Kafi, kitab-ul-tawhid#215] The essence [ماهية/ذات] of an existent [موجود] is either such that existence [وجود] is integral to [عين ذات] and inseparable from, it [essence], in which case it can never fail to exist and is said to be Necessary in Itself [واجب بالذات], or its existence is separable and distinct from its essence, in which case it is said to be contingent in itself [ممكن بالذات]. Now assuming the essence of th...

Abu ‘Abd Allah (as) once said: ”هو لاول قبل كل شئى“ translation: “He is the first, before everything” [Al-Kafi, kitab-ul-tawhid, hadith#309] God or Pure-Existence [وجود محض] is the First Being [موجود اول] and therefore has no cause [علت], because if Pure-Existence were to have a cause for its existence, then that cause would either exist or not; if it were not to exist, so being non-existent [معدوم] it could not cause Pure-Existence because a thing can only give to another wh at it itself possesses, and hence cannot bestow something not possessed by itself, therefore a non-existent cause lacking existence itself cannot produce an existent-effect [معلول]; now if the assumed cause were to exist so it would either itself be Pure-Existence or inferior to it, since nothing can be greater than Pure-Existence or exceed it in nobility [شرف]; if it is Pure-Existence then it is identical to its assumed effect and the two are not distinct and separate but one and the same, and a thing cannot b...

Ameer ul Momineen (as) in one of his supplications addresses his Lord in the following words; ”وَبِنُورِ وَجْهِكَ الَّذِي أَضَاءَ لَهُ كُلُّ شَيٍْء يَا نُورُ يَا قُدُّوسُ “ translation: “And by the light of Your face, through which all things are illumined! O Light! O All-holy!” [Dua-e-Kumail] Philosophers such as Sohrawardi and Mullah Sadra see God as Light [نور], the Light of all lights [نور الانوار] and the Reality of Light [حقيقة النور]. This light possessed by God is not  something additional to His Essence [ذات] & Reality [حقيقة] but is identical [عين ذات] to it, such that there is no ontological [وجودى] distinction between this light and God’s Essence or Reality, and so this light is integral to and inseparable from the Divine Essence, in that the Light is the Essence and the Essence is Light; because if it is assumed that this light possessed by God is something additional to and existentially distinct from, His Essence & Reality, so this renders the Divine a com...

Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from Muhammad ibn al-Walid from ibn abu Nasr from abu al-Hassan al-Muwsali who has narrated the following from abu ‘Abd Allah (as): “Once a Rabbi, Hibr, came to Imam Ali (as) and asked, ‘O Amir al-Mu’minin, when did your Lord come into existence?’ Imam Ali (as) replied, ‘Consider carefully. The question ‘when?’ applies to one who did not exist (and then came into being). ‘When’ does not apply to the One Who is eternal. He was before the before without before and after the after without an after. He is not the end of a certain end so that His end would also end.’ He then asked, ‘Are you a prophet?’ Imam Ali (as) replied, ‘Bereft of you be your mother! I am a slave among the slaves of the Messenger of Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant.’ [Al-Kafi, kitab-ul-tawhid,hadith#239] ‘Before’ [قبل] & ‘After’ [بعد] are temporal notions [زمانى مفاهيم] that apply only to temporal-realities [زمانى حقائق] meaning things that exist in ti...

Imam Ali (as) praises God in the following words in one of his supplications: ”يَا هُوَ يَا مَنْ لاَ يَعْلَمُ مَا هُوَ وَلاَ كَيْفَ هُوَ وَلاَ ايْنَ هُوَ وَلاَ حَيْثُ هُوَ إِلاَّ هُوَ“ translation: “ O He Whom none knows what He is, nor how He is, nor where He is, nor in what respect He is, but He!” [Dua-e-Mashlul] When the intellect [عقل] considers an object [شئى] existing in the external reality [خارج] and is able to abstract its essence [ماهية/ذات], which is the answe r to the question "what is it? [ما هو]" from its existence [وجود], so this proves the fact that existence is not integral to [عين ذات] and inseparable from the essence of that object because had existence been integral to and inseparable from the essence of that thing, so it would never have been possible for the intellect to abstract [انتزاء] or separate the essence of that thing from its existence, but that would only have been the case if its essence would have been identical to its existence ; for inst...

Ali ibn Muhammad has narrated from Sahl ibn Ziyad from ibn Mahbub from those he mentioned from abu ‘Abd Allah, recipient of divine supreme covenant, who said the following: “Once a man said, Allahu Akbar (Allah is greater) in the presence of abu ‘Abd Allah(as). The Imam asked, ‘Allah is greater than whom?’ The man replied, ‘He is greater than everything.’ The Imam said, ‘You have considered Him limited.’ The man asked, ‘Then, how should I say it?’ The Imam replied, ‘Say, Allah is greater than can be described” [Al-Kafi,kitab-ul-tawhid,hadith#312] The following tradition shed’s some light on the above-mentioned tradition: Muhammad ibn Yahya has narrated from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Isa from Marwak ibn ‘Ubayd from Jumay’ ibn ‘Umayr who said the following: “Once (Imam) abu ‘Abd Allah(as), asked me, ‘What is the meaning of Allah is greatest?’ I replied, ‘Allah is the greatest of all things.’ The Imam further asked, ‘Were there other things so Allah could be considered the greatest of ...

An atheist asked Imam Abu Abdullah (as), ‘How do you prove the truthfulness of the prophets and the messengers?’ “The Imam(as), said, ‘It is a fact that we have established with sufficient evidence, proof of the existence of our Creator, the Most Holy, the Most High and Exalted above all creatures. It is a fact that this Creator is All-wise and Most High. His creatures cannot see, touch, associate and directly communicate with Him. It proves that His deputies must be present among His creatures. It is His deputies and ambassadors who speak to people for Him and provide them guidance to protect their interests; to tell them what is beneficial to them and what are the best means of survival and what may cause their destruction. This proves the presence among people of those who convey the commandments of the Creator, Who is All-wise, All-knowing Allah, the Most Holy, the Most High, to them. Such people are the prophets, recipient of divine supreme covenant, the chosen ones from among...