Sadrian Metaphysics

A perfect cause علت تامه is one, which when its existence وجود is realized, it simultaneously also realizes the existence of its effect معلول, without any delay or interval between the realization of the existence of the said perfect cause and the realization of the existence of its effect; in other words, a perfect cause is one that is sufficient in itself for the emanation صدور of its act فعل or effect, without needing the addition to its essence ذات, of any further attribute or part جزء; conversely speaking, a cause is said to be imperfect علت ناقصه if by its existence, it fails to realize the existence of its effect; to elaborate further, any delay or interval between the realization of the existence of a cause and the realization of the existence of its effect, implies that the said cause is not sufficient in its essence for the emanation of its act or effect; and is therefore dependent محتاج upon some factor extraneous to its essence, in combination with which it could perform th...

Is it beyond God's power قدرت to bring the world عالم into existence وجود from a prior non-existence عدم; is it impossible for an Omnipotent Being قادر مطلق to create something from absolute nothingness?; An adequate resolution of these questions involves an analysis of the concept of Divine Power; power in relation to the Necessary Being واجب بالذات is defined by the Philosophers as the emanation صدور from the Divine Essence ذات حق of the Divine Act فعل الاھی, with God's will ارادہ; as per this definition it is nowhere necessary for God to bring into existence His act from a prior non-existence, in order for Him to qualify as an Agent with Might or Power فاعل قادر و مختار; in fact the only attribute صفت necessary for the said qualification is for the Divine Act to proceed from the Essence with His Will, such that if the act were to proceed or emanate from the Essence without His Will, as is the case with natural فاعل بالطبیعه and coerced agents فاعل بالقسر, then He would fail ...

According to the Philosophers a Necessary Being in Itself واجب بالذات must be necessary from all aspects واجب بالذات واجب من جمیع الجحات; this is because not being necessary from even a single aspect would render God a composite مرکب of necessity وجوب from certain aspects, and possibility امکان or impossibilityامتناع from the aspect in which it is not necessary; and every composite is dependent upon its parts اجزاء and hence necessary through another واجب بالغیر; and that which is necessary through another is contingent in essence ممکن بالذات and cannot simultaneously be Necessary in Itself; but if God existed without the world existing with Him, then He was not an Agent in actuality فاعل بالفعل because there was no actual effect in existence; but He was an Agent in potentiality فاعل بالقوہ since it was possible for Him to create the world; this renders God or the Necessary Being, a composite of actuality or necessity from the other aspects and potentiality or possibility from the aspe...

One of the arguments presented by the theologians for proving the existence of God is their assertion that the receptacle محل of originated phenomenon حوادث must also be originated, and since the world is a receptacle of such originated phenomenon, therefore the world is originated; now since everything originated is contingent ممکن بالذات and an effect that is dependent upon a cause for its existence; the world also, is an effect of some cause; the theologians assert that, that cause is God; but the theologians have not been intellectually honest in their application of the principle "the receptacle of originated phenomenon must also be originated"; this is because it is the theologians who assert that the Divine Essence existed without the world existing with it; this initial or prior absence of the world was due to the fact that God had not willed it to be; and then the world came into existence when its existence was willed by the  Divine Essence; this clearly means that ...

Since a contingent essence ممکن بالذات is equidistant in relation to both the possibility to exist امکان وجود and the possibility of non-existence امکان عدم without being inclined towards either one of the two possibilities, therefore any inclination or preponderance ترجیح in favour of either one of the two possibilities cannot be realized without a determinant or a preponderant مرجح; in the absence of such a preponderant the said preponderance shall not be realized and given the existence of this determinant, the preponderance cannot remain unrealized; this is because a determinant can only be a preponderant in the true sense if it causes the preponderance, and not if it doesn't. Now given that the world is a contingent being its preponderant would either be the Divine Essence alone; or it is some factor other than the Divine Essence such as the will to create; or it is a combination of the Divine Essence and that other factor; now if something other than the Divine Essence, suc...

In philosophy, time زمان is defined as a means for measuring motion حرکت or gradual change تغیر; therefore time exists due to the existence of motion and in the absence of motion there can be no time, because the concept of time مفهوم زمان is abstracted by the intellect from motion; but motion is an accident عرض, which means that it is dependent upon a subject موضوع in which to inhere for its concrete existence وجود خارج; the subject of motion is a moving body جسم متحرک; and not just any body, but a material مادی one, because it is matter that bears the potential قوه for motion; now that which depends on an accident is also an accident; therefore time which depends on motion, must also be an accident; to reiterate, time exists because motion exists, and motion exists due to the existence of matter; without matter there will be no motion, and absent motion there can be no time. Now given the existence of an accident, one can easily deduce from it with certainty the existence of its subj...

The theologians assert that the world عالم is temporally originated حادث زمانی or created in time زمان, such that there was a time when the world was non-existent معدوم because God had not willed it to be, and then the world came into being وجود from a prior non-being when God willed its existence; but the Philosophers find this view to be problematic because according to the account presented by the theologians, the prior non-existence of the world, given the existence of the Divine Essence ذات حق was due to the absence, within the Essence, of the will to create it; then the subsequent existence of the world is due to the arising of the will to create it, within the Divine Essence; this explanation renders the Divine Will ارادہ الاہی to create the world, originated حادث like the world itself; such that the initial absence of the will to create the world, in the Divine Essence, is succeeded by its subsequent presence within the Essence; this renders God mutable or changeable متغیر; but...

For the theologians the world is temporally originated حادث زمانی or created in time, which means that it has come into existence from temporal non-existence عدم زمانی; to elaborate further the existence of the world was preceded by a period of non-existence; in other words this world is posterior to time مسبوق بالزمان; but the only way the world could be posterior to time or temporally originated is for time to have existed prior to the world; but time itself is believed to be a creation of God; a contingent existent ممکن الوجود like the world; therefore according to the theologians, being something created and contingent, it cannot be eternal قدیم as God alone to the exclusion of everything else is eternal; but if time is not eternal then it must be temporally originated like the world; but being temporally originated necessitates that the existence of time must be preceded by a period of its non-existence; which actually means that in order for time not to be eternal there must be a...

The Philosophers assert that even if the world were to be eternal, it would still be an effect and consequently dependent upon a cause for its existence due to its essential contingency امکان ذاتی; the theologians object to this assertion by stating that an eternal world would be independent of a cause for bringing it into being, since it was never non-existent to be brought into existence in the first place; for the theologians, in order for an existent to be an effect it is necessary for its existence to be preceded by non-existence; here their eyes are fixed on temporal non-existence عدم زمانی only; they failed to realize that, that which an effect has due to its cause is its existence, whereas that which it has due to itself is essential-non-existence عدم ذاتی; therefore even an eternal world is brought into existence by its cause from essential non-existence albeit the world was never temporally non-existent.  The theologians also object to the notion of the eternity of the ...

From the viewpoint of the Philosophers, the criterion of being an effect معلول and hence being dependent on a cause علت is not temporal origination حدوث زمانی but essential-contingency امکان ذاتی; therefore it is by no means necessary for an existent موجود to come into existence from a prior non-existence عدم in order to be an effect and hence depend upon a cause; according to the Argument from Contingency برھان امکان an existent would be an effect and consequently dependent on a cause if its essence negates both the necessity of existence and the necessity of non-existence, such that it is neither necessary for it to exist nor is it necessary for it not to exist, but both existence and non-existence are possible in relation to it; such an essence is equidistant with respect to both the possibility of being and non-being, in that it is inclined towards neither of the two possibilities; due to this equidistance it is in need of an external preponderant مرجح or determining factor for gra...

The Argument from Origination برهان حدوث is one of the most commonly utilized arguments by the Theologians متکلمین in their efforts to prove that the universe عالم is not without a Creator خالق or a Cause; the argument is based on an assumption that the universe is temporally originated حادث زمانی, which means that it has come into existence وجود from a prior non-existence عدم; now the fact that the universe did not previously exist is sufficient proof that existence is not necessary واجب for its essence ماھیت; because had existence been necessary for its essence, so it would have never been non-existent معدوم to begin with; and everything that exists without being necessary in itself واجب بالذات, must be necessary through another واجب بالغیر; and that which is necessary through another is essentially contingent or possible ممکن بالذات, and consequently in need of a cause علت; this is how the Theists seek to establish the existence of God. Firstly, this argument is only valid for tho...

I gaze at an orange tree, veiled with green leaves; bedecked with luscious oranges dangling from the branches; I see all this beauty that nature presents thus ornamented, through my corporeal sight; but that which my sight apprehends directly without any intermediary, is not something entified existent in the concrete reality حقیقت خارجیه; but it is a sensible form صورت حسیه of the concrete orange tree found in the external reality; the tree that subsists in the external reality is apprehended by my vision through this sensible form, which functions as a mirror image with respect to the tree outside; it serves as an incorporeal image of something material; but just as the image seen within the mirror is dependent upon the presence حضور of the object of which it is the image, similarly the sensible form of the orange tree is reliant upon the constant presence of the external tree for its subsistence قوام within the apprehending soul نفس مدرکه; the soul perceives the tree outside, throug...