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Janssens, Jules
« Mulla Sadra’s Use of Ibn Sina’s Ta‘liqat in the Asfar ». Journal of Islamic Studies 13, 1 (2002), pp. 1-13.

In this article, Jules Janssens sheds further light on the extent to which late medieval Perso-Islamic philosophers like Mulla Sadra adhered to Avicennian principles and models in their own work. Not surprisingly, Mulla Sadra cites well-known works by Ibn Sina (such as al-Shifa’ and al-Najat), but Janssens draws us to the fact that the Asfar (more formally known as al-hikmat al-muta‘aliyya fi l-Asfar al-‘aqliyyat al-arba‘a) on occasion makes periodic references and allusions to yet another Avicennian work, the arguably lesser known al-Ta‘liqat. The author delineates three classifications of citation in use by Mulla Sadra: a) those that make peripheral references to an idea discussed by Ibn Sina in the al-Ta‘liqat; b) direct references to textual arguments made in said work; and c) quotations borrowed directly from al-Ta‘liqat. Focusing on the direct quotations, Janssens proceeds to highlight and summarize those philosophical discussions first brought up by Ibn Sina in al-Ta‘liqat which had intrigued Mulla Sadra sufficiently enough to include them in his own Asfar. Some of the wide-ranging issues reflected in these references include: the scope of human knowledge, the role of time and motion in relation to existence, the forms of things impressed in the essence of God, the role of action and reception in God, a discussion of the main divine attributes (will, power, and wisdom), and the relationship between body and soul. Intriguingly, a number of citations are listed which Mulla Sadra claimed to have read in al-Ta‘liqat, but Janssens claims that he was unable to locate these in al-Badawi’s 1973 edition. In two cases, he proves that Mulla Sadra had simply misidentified which of Ibn Sina’s books he was borrowing from; as for the others, we can only assume that Mulla Sadra had been working with a version of al-Ta‘liqat which is no longer extant. The conclusions of the author are tentative – perhaps overly so – but we are led to believe that Mulla Sadra agreed for the most part with Ibn Sina’s fundamental philosophical arguments, but on occasion used such citations to disagree with al-Shaikh al-Ra’is on minor points of proof and deduction.

Colin Mitchell

Pour citer cette recension

Colin Mitchell. Janssens, Jules, « Mulla Sadra’s Use of Ibn Sina’s Ta‘liqat in the Asfar ». Journal of Islamic Studies 13, 1 (2002), pp. 1-13., Abstracta Iranica [En ligne], Volume 25, mis en ligne le : 15 mars 2006. URL http://abstractairanica.revues.org/document4941.html. Consulté le 5 décembre 2008.