In his works, particularly in his glosses on Sharh al-hikmat al-ishraq, Mulla Sadra provides some interpretations of Suhrawardi’s ideas regarding the concept of light which are in line with the teachings of his own school of philosophy. In other words, they are based on
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In his works, particularly in his glosses on Sharh al-hikmat al-ishraq, Mulla Sadra provides some interpretations of Suhrawardi’s ideas regarding the concept of light which are in line with the teachings of his own school of philosophy. In other words, they are based on ontological discussions. One of the most important of these interpretations is the interpretation of the soul or “I” as light in “existence”. Mulla Sadra’s views in such interpretations which also bear upon the soul as light in existence are based on equating light and existence. This is the case while, given the teachings of the Illuminationist philosophy, light in the sense intended by Suhrawardi cannot be equated with existence. In this paper, the writers initially explain Suhrawardi’s discussions and Mulla Sadra’s ontological readings regarding the concept of soul as light and Mulla Sadra’s ontological interpretations in this regard. Then they examine and criticize these interpretations at two stages: first, they investigate and criticize the theory of the sameness of light and existence; second, they examine and criticize the content of ontological interpretations. In addition to their foundationalism, the difference between Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra’s interpretations of the soul is that in Illuminationist Philosophy, as a unique distinctive feature, philosophy begins with the soul; however, in Mulla Sadra’s school the knowledge of the soul is discussed in the realm of wisdom. When beginning with the soul, the term light is formed, while in Mulla Sadra’s philosophy the term existence, which already existed, is attributed to the soul and then interpreted.
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