University of Dayton

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Philosophy Faculty Publications Department of Philosophy

2015

Mull adr on the Efficacy of Prayer

Sayeh Meisami
University of Dayton, [email protected]

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1

Mull adr on the Efficacy of Prayer (du)1

Sayeh Meisami

University of Dayton, Ohio

Abstract

This paper presents the manner in which Mull adr explains the influence of prayer

(du) on the world, drawing as he does on Ibn Arabs ideas against the backdrop of his

own dynamic metaphysical psychology. Mull adrs eventually distances himself from

Ibn Sns position on the passive nature of prayer, and instead opts for Ibn Arabs

reading of the intimate divine-human interplay in prayer itself. In doing so, Mull adr

provides a formulation of prayer in which the supplicant plays a more active role in

eliciting the divine response to her prayer. For Mull adr, prayer therefore fashions the

human soul, while the human soul also fashions the outcome of prayer.

Keywords

Cosmology, cosmic change, divine providence, existential gradation, heavenly souls,

imagination, imaginal power, perfect human, prayer, substantial motion.

Introduction

The impact of prayer on the cosmos through the mediation of human agency, for example

in praying for rainfall, particularly in the face of the law of causality has often attracted

1 I would like to thank Professor Todd Lawson at University of Toronto for his insightful
comments on the first draft of this paper and also the anonymous reviewers for their
helpful notes and suggestions.
2

the attention of major Islamic philosophers.2 They have not only contributed to

developing a theoretical framework for explaining the influence of human prayers on the

cosmos, but also have responded to possible objections to this influence from both

theological (kalm) and philosophical (falsafa) quarters. adr al-Dn Muammad Ibrhm

Shrz (d. 1050/1640), widely known as Mull adr, has a unique position on prayer

owing to his synthetic and holistic approach toward core issues about the God-world

relationship. Mull adr was heir to several intellectual and spiritual traditions of Islam

in general, particularly the school of Ibn Arab. Relying on this heritage, he created a

2 Early Western literature on Muslim prayer mainly focused on ritualistic prayer

(al) and was developed within a comparative context. Historical studies, particularly
those with a comparative edge, have often been carried out as an attempt to understand
Muslim faith and culture due to the fact that prayer reflects both the doctrinal and the
social, not to say popular, aspects of the religion. In this regard, the pioneering work of
Constance E. Padwick is important owing to her interpretation of Islamic prayer manuals
in order to show the continuity between Islam and Christianity. She has been praised for
her attempts to draw the attention of the scholars away from the apparent arid formality
of prayers towards their inner meaning and spirituality. See Constance. E. Padwick,
Muslim Devotions: A Study of Prayer-manuals in Common Use (London: S.P.C.K, 1961).
Henry Corbin addresses prayer as "a dialogue between two beings" and explains it in
terms of his thesis of creative imagination. See Henry Corbin, Creative Imagination in the
Sufism of Ibn Arab (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969), 247. Following
Corbin, there have been several other works on prayer in Ibn Arab's thought. Prayer in
Ibn Arab has also been the subject of a special issue of The Journal of Muhyiddin Ibn
Arab Society. See Stephen Hirtenstein, ed., Prayer & Contemplation: Foundations of the
Spiritual Life according to Ibn Arab (Oxford, UK: Muhyiddin Ibn Arab Society, 1993).
The mystical aspect of prayer in Islam has also been discussed by Annemarie Schimmel.
She looks into some major Sufi works including poetry and prose in order to picture the
meaning and function of prayer in spiritual Islam. See Annemarie Schimmel, "Some
Aspects of Mystical Prayer in Islam," Die Welt des Islams 2 (1952). Recently Katz has tried
to capture a wider scope of prayer in Islam by investigating prayer in relation to broader
issues such as ethical transformation and social communication. See Marion Holmes
Katz, Prayer in Islamic Thought and Practice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
2013). For a noteworthy work on the nature and function of prayer in the context of
Quranic and Sufi literature, see Atif Khalil, Is God Obliged to Answer Prayers of Petition
(Du)? The Response of Classical Sufis and Quranic Exegetes, The Journal of Medieval
Religious Cultures 37:92 (2011).
3

complex system in which philosophical, theological, Sufi, and Shii discourses mingle in

order to present a new narrative of creation that can accommodate both the absolute

power of the creator and the relative, yet influential, force of human agency. In this

regard, an investigation of Mull adrs discussion of prayer (du) can be quite

illuminating as he relies on his synthetic methodology to prove the influential role of

human agency in the face of the doctrine of divine providence (qa al-ilh) and the

logic of causal necessity.

This paper will focus on several major works by Mull adr in which he discusses

prayer as a venue of change in the cosmos. After briefly explaining Mull adrs position

on prayer in relation to his Sufi-oriented Shiism and against the background of Islamic

philosophy, attention will be paid to Ibn Arab because of his deep influence on Mull

adrs philosophical system in general, and his view of prayer in particular. As we shall

see, Mull adrs position on prayer can be best understood in the light of Ibn Arabs

influence. In his account of the efficacy of prayer, Mull adr also relies heavily on the

conceptual framework provided by Ibn Sn. Nevertheless, he seems to finally break from

the Peripatetic framework in order to offer a more organic view of prayer in relation to

the human soul and the cosmos.

The Sufi-Shii Background of Mull adrs Thought

Before discussing Mull adrs definition of prayer and his attempts to explain its nature

and efficacy, it is important to delineate the relation of this topic to his Sufi-oriented

Shiism. It is against this syncretic background that one can appreciate the significant place

of prayer in Mull adrs thought. Apart from the fact that he was a practicing Twelver

Shii living under the Shii rule of the Safavids (880-1101 /1501-1722), Mull adr was
4

also heir to the Shii tendency toward the esoteric aspects of faith that had gained force

through Sufi influence.

It has been correctly argued that Sufism and Shiism were inspired by "the same

sources" very early in their history and share many common characteristics.3 This fruitful

alliance that had a gradual formation showing up in a significant commentary on Al b.

Ab libs Nahj al-balghah by Maytham Barn (d. 699/1299)4 and culminating in a

more systematic way in the works of Sayyid aydar mul (d. ca. 787/1385), was a

significant influence on Mull adr. In this respect, a theme which is immediately

pertinent to the present discussion of prayer is the Sufi-Shii doctrine of wilya,5 most

3 Seyyed Hossein Nasr, "Shiism and Sufism: Their Relationship in Essence and
History," Religious Studies, 6, no. 3 (1970): 242. Also, see Kmil Mutaf al-Shayb, al-
ila bayna al-taawwuf wa-al-tashayyu (Cairo: Dr al-Ma rif, 1969). On the esoteric
aspects of imamate also see Henry Corbin, En Islam Iranien, aspects spirituels et
philosophiques, 4 vols (Paris: Gallimard, 1971), 3:149-355; Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi,
The Divine Guide in Early Shiism: the Sources of Esotericism in Islam (Albany: State
University of New York Press, 1994); Amir-Moezzi and Christian Jambet, Quest-ce que le
Shi isme? (Paris: Fayard, 2004).
4 Maytham b. Al Barn, Shar nahj al-balghah, eds. Team of scholars, 5 vols.
(Tehran: Muassisat al-Nar, 1959). His book on theology is imbued with philsophical
themes and terminology. See also Maytham b. Al Barn, Qawid al-marm fi ilm al-
kalm, ed. Sayyid Amad al-usayn (Qum: Kitbkhnah-i umum-i Ayat Allh al-Uzm
Marash Najaf, 1398 A.H.). Also, see Majd Ru Dihkurd, "Muarrif wa rawish-shins-i
Shar nahj al-balghah by Maytham Barn," Ulum-i adth 48 (1378 sh. ): 56-77. For
the influence of Maytham Barn on Shii imamology, see Hamid Mavani, "Doctrine of
Imamate in Twelver Shiism: Traditional, Theological, Philosophical and Mystical
Perspectives (PhD diss., McGill University, 2005).

The term wilya is also used interchangeably with walya comprising a complex
5

semantic field referring to devotion, love, charisma, and authority which are
complementary in the Shiite context. For a detailed discussion of this issue in the Shiite
context, see aydar b. Al Amul, Jmi al-asrr va manba al-anwr, ed. Henry Corbin and
Ismail Othmn Yay (Tehran: Ansttu-i rn va Faransah, 1969); Mohammad Ali Amir-
Moezzi, Notes on Imm Walya, in The Spirituality of Shi i Islam: Beliefs and Practices,
ed. Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi, 231-277 (London: I.B. Tauris, 2011); Maria Massi
5

prominently in Ibn Arabs intricate formulation of it in terms of the doctrine of the

perfect human (al-insn al-kmil). In his commentary on Nahj al-balghah, Barn

draws on both philsophical and Sufi ideas. For him God has given His Friends (the awly)

the ability" to receive His mercy (rama) and expand his grace (nima) that He has

bestowed on them so they can be in His exalted presence with ultimate felicity and

happiness (sada), and perform miracles."6 Mull adr is inspired by aydar muls

identification of the Sufi spiritual Pole (qutb) with the Imam7 by introducing the People

of the House (ahl al-bayt) who were the genealogical descendants of the Prophet, as the

best embodiments of wilya. The concluding paragraph of al-Shawhid al-rububiyya that

deals with the continuation of prophethood in the form of wilya is found to be an

adaptation of a passage from Ibn Arabs The Meccan Revelations (al-Futut al-

makiyya). Mull adr introduces the people of the House within the quotation from

Ibn Arab.8 Furthermore, in line with Ibn Arab, he keeps the scope of wilya wide

enough to go beyond the Twelve Imams:

Dakake, The Charismatic Community: Shiite Identity in Early Islam (Albany: University
State of New York, 2007).

6 Barn, Shar nahj al-balghah, 2: 317.

7 aydar b. Al Amul, Jmi al-asrr va manba al-anwr, ed. Henry Corbin and
Ismail Othmn Yay (Tehran: Ansttu-i rn va Faransah, 1969), 223. For the influence of
Ibn Arab on Shii theology through aydar Amul, see Robert Wisnovsky, "One Aspect of
the Akbarian Turn in Shii Theology," in Sufism and Theology, ed. Ayman Shihadeh
(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007); Khanjar amyah, al-Irfn al-Sh: dirsah
f al-ayh al-ruyah wa-al-fikryah li-aydar al-Amul (Bayrut: Dr al-Hd, 2004);
Herman Landolt, aydar Amul et les deux mirj, Studia Islamica 1:91 (2000): 91-106.

8 Shigeru Kamada, "Mull adr's Imma/Wilya: An Aspect of His Indebtedness to

Ibn Arab," Journal of Islamic Philosophy 6 (2010): 71. For an elaborate discussion of this
6

Thus wilya is a divine quality (nat) and so is a [divine] inheritance. And

wal will not receive this position from the prophet unless God would take it
from the prophet through inheritance to confer it on wal so that the
position would be in its fullest and most perfect form. However, some of the
awliy receive this position from the prophet as a heritage such as the
People of the House (ahl- al-bayt)-peace be upon them- who saw the
Prophet in person... As for the rest of awliy, they receive the position
directly from God because God Himself is the inheritor [of wilya] and
bestows it on them.9

While having a pivotal place in Mull adrs metaphysics in general, wilya also has

a special place in his narrative of human agency through prayer. This theme will be

discussed further in the next section of the paper.

Prayer and the Creative Power of the Human Soul

a. Substantial Motion and Evolution

One of the hallmarks of Mull adrs philosophy is the doctrine of substantial motion (al-

arakat al-jawhariyya), according to which the whole world in both substances and

accidents is a movement toward perfection.10 Although this doctrine has crucial

implications in both the physical and spiritual domains, it is only the substantial motion

of the soul that is directly related to the present discussion of prayer.

issue, see Maria Massi Dakake, "Hierarchies of Knowing in Mull adr's Commentary on
the Uul al-kf," Journal of Islamic Philosophy 6 (2010): 5-44.

9 adr al-Dn Muammad b. Ibrhm Shrz, al-Shawhid al-rububiyya, ed. Seyyid

Jall al-Dn shtyn (Mashhad: Dnishgh-i Mashhad, 1968), 377-78. The quotation is
translated in Sayeh Meisami, Mulla Sadra (London, UK: Oneworld, 2013), 112.

10 For substantial motion, see Mahdi Dehbashi,Transubstantial Motion and the

Natural World: With a Translation of Volume III, Stage 7, Chapters 18-32 of the Asfar of
Mulla Sadra. London, ICAS Press, 2010. For a comprehensive explnation of substantial
motion, see Eiyad S. al-Kutubi, Mull adr and Eschatology: Evolution of Being (London
and New York: Routledge, 2015), chapter 4.
7

According to the thesis of substantial motion, "the individual human soul is an

evolving entity11 which is material in its early phases, being essentially connected to and

dependent on the body, but capable of crossing over the bodily borders" and soaring up

to immaterial heights.12 According to Mull adr, the soul is bodily in its origination but

spiritual in its subsistence.13 At first the soul is mere potentiality, and in its early phases

is even devoid of perceptual faculties. These phases are connected with and dependent on

the life of the body from embryonic evolution up through infancy and later phases in the

life of the individual. The soul goes through the phases of the vegetative, the animal, and

the rational. The human soul is also characterized by "an encompassing unity (wadat al-

jamiyya) that is a shadow of divine unity (wadat al-ilhiyya) in being by itself

intellective (qila), imaginative (mutakhayyila), and sentient (asssa)."14 These

faculties of the soul correspond at the cosmic level to the hierarchical ranks of being, that

11Mull adr scholars have frequently explained that this should not be confused
with Darwinian evolutionism. See Herman Landolt, "Being-toward-resurrection as a
Theme of Shii Philosophy: Mull adr," unpublished manuscript, pdf file, 13. (courtesy of
Todd Lawson)

12 Meisami, Mulla Sadra, 73.

13 Shrz, al-Shawhid al-rububiyya, 221.

14 Shrz, al-Shawhid al-rububiyya, 228; al-ikmat al-almutaliya fi asfr al-

aqlyat al-arbaa, ed. Muammad Rea Muzaffar, 9 vols. (Beirut: Dr al-iy al-turth al-
arab, 1999), 3: 362. Mull adr is indebted to Ibn Arab for this encompassing unity. In
Fau ikmatin ilhiyya fi kalimatin damiyya, Ibn Arab describes human being as the
togetherness (jamiyyat) of all the truths and the mirror of all divine Names. See Muy al-
Dn Ibn Arab, Fuu al-ikam, trans. Muhammad Ali Muvaid and amad Muvaid
(Tehran: Nashr-i krnmeh, 1385 sh.), 157. On the influence of Ibn Arab on Mull adr,
also see Mohammed Rustom, The Triumph of Mercy: Philosophy and Scripture in Mull
adr (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2012).
8

is, they respectively correspond to the intellective world, the imaginal world, and the

sensible world.

Mull adr agrees with Ibn Arab on the purpose of creation. They both believe

that God, as a hidden treasure, makes Himself known through the humankind15 due to the

comprehensiveness of the human soul that encompasses all the levels of existence,

meaning, the intellectual, the imaginal, and the material. Furthermore for Mull adr, the

human soul is a dynamic whole that "gains new forms and moves from one grade to the

other. That we find ourselves different to what we were in the past or what we shall be in

the future cannot be all due to accidental changes, but rather because of the change in the

very substance of our soul."16

Humankind is supposed to be capable of moving from the level of a material being to

higher spiritual levels and in doing so complete the circle of creation, that is, the descent

from the immaterial to the material and the ascent back to the immaterial:

15 adr al-Dn Muammad b. Ibrhm Shrz, "Shar-i adth kuntu kanzan

makhfiyyan," in Majmu a-yi rasail-i falsaf-yi adr al-mutaallihn, ed. mid Nj Ifahn
(Tehran: ikmat, 1385 sh.), 356. On this subject, see Armin Eschraghi, 'I was a Hidden
Treasure'. Some Notes on a Commentary Ascribed to Mulla Sadra Shirazi: Shar adith:
'Kuntu kanzan makhfiyyan' in Islamic Thought in the Middle Ages: Studies in Text,
Transmission and Translation, in Honour of Hans Daiber, ed. Anna Akasoy and Wim Raven,
91-100 (Leiden: Brill, 2008).

16 Meisami, Mulla Sadra, 74-75. In Kitb al-arshiyya, Mull adr supports

substantial motion by alluding to several Qur anic verses. See Kitb al-arshyah, ed. Ftin
Muammad Khall al-Labun, and Fud Dakr (Beirut: Muassasat al-trkh al-Arab,
2000), 25. See also Seyyid Jall al-Dn shtyn's explanatory notes on the meaning of
perfect human in Mull Muammad Jafar Lhj, Shar rislat al-mashir-i Mull adr,
ed. Seyyid Jall al-Dn shtyn (Qum: Bustn-i ktb, 1386 sh.), 391-92. For Mull adrs
thesis of motion in substance in comparison to classical philosophy, see Rahman, The
Philosophy of Mull adr, 94-113. Also on connections between metaphysical
psychology and epistemology in Mull adr, see Ibrahim Kalin, Knowledge in Later
Islamic Philosophy: Mull adr on Existence, Intellect, and Intuition (New York: Oxford
University Press, 2010).
9

Human perception of every level of the world consists in unification

(ittid) with [that level] and it is actualized by its being. Some of these
beings are sensible, some imaginal, and some intelligible. Thus, being was
first an intellect, then a soul, then sensation, then matter; but it turned
around and became a sensation, then a soul, then an intellect and rose up to
where it had fallen from, and God is the origin and the end. When the
human being reached this divine station, he was informed of the divine
providence (al-qa al-ilh) and the Lords predetermination (al-qadar al-
rabbn).17

The perfection of the human soul is essentially associated with the Sufi doctrine of

the perfect human (al-insn al-kmil) which is also identified with "the Muammadan

Reality (al-aqiqat al-Muammadiyya)."18 According to Mull adr," the perfect human

is the one over whom no other takes priority in being the goal (ghya) of the creation."19

At this level, the soul is capable of creating images which possess imaginal reality like in

17 Shrz, al-Shawhid al-rububiyya, 351. Mull adr supports his view on the fall
of the soul and its return by resorting to both his philosophical past masters, religious,
and spiritual texts. See Shrz, al-ikmat al-mutaliya, 8: 355-58. Also on this issue, see
Maria Massi Dakake, The Soul as Barzakh: Substantial Motion and Mull adrs Theory
of Human Becoming, The Muslim World 94, no. 1 (2004): 107-130. The difference
between qa and qadar is a complicated matter in philosophical theology. According to
Nar al-Dn uss reading of Ibn Sn on this distinction, qa is the existence of all
things in the intelligible world (al-lam al-aql) together in a general (mujmala) state by
way of transcendent innovation (ibd). And qadar is the existence [of those things] in the
external matter after the fulfilment of particular conditions one after the other. See Ibn
Sn, al-Ishrt wa al-tanbiht, ed. Sulayman Dunya (Cairo: Dr al-marif, 1960), 3-4: 729.
18 On this doctrine, see William Chittick, The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn Arabs

Metaphysics of Imagination (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1989). In
Sufi discourse, the station of the Pole of the Poles (qutb al-aqtb) is represented by the
very inner reality of Prophet Muammad. See Kaml al-Dn Abd al-Razzq Kshn,
Itilt al-ufiyya, ed. Muammad Kaml Ibrhim Jafar (Qum: Matbaat al-Amr, 1370
sh.) 145. Mull adr has a long passage about the perfect human and his identification
with the Imam in his Shar uul al-kf, ed. Muammad Khjav, 4 vols. (Tehran:
Pizhuhishgh-i ulum-i insn va mutlat-i farhang, 2004/1383sh), 2: 487-88. For the
translation of the passage, see Herman Landolt, "Being-toward-resurrection as a Theme of
Shii Philosophy," 26.

19adr al-Dn Muammad b. Ibrhm Shrz, Mazhir al-ilhyyah f asrr al-ulum

al-kamliya, ed. Sayyid Jall al-Dn Ashtiyn (Qum: Bustn-i kitb, 1387 sh.), 116.
10

the case of Moses staff appearing as a serpent. Changes in the cosmic picture that come to

exist through the power of the soul in prayer are in certain cases dependent on the

intermediary (barzakh) level of being, that is, the imaginal level.

b. The Power of Imagination

The attribution of marvels and miracles to the Friends of God (awly) is a common

theme of Sufi literature. For example, there are many accounts about the power of awly

over the world.20 Part of Ibn Arabs contribution to systematizing Sufi beliefs is the

explanation for the perfect souls causing changes in the world. In al-Futut al-makkiyya,

Ibn Arab regards imagination as "the vastest of Presences (aart)" as it combines both

the unseen and the seen worlds. He attributes this level of being to the human soul:

And there is no doubt that you are more entitled (aaqq) to the Presence of
Imagination than are meanings and spiritual beings, for within you is the
imaginal faculty (al-quwwat al-mutakhayyila) which is one of the faculties
that God gave you when He brought you into existence. So you are more
entitled to possess (mulk) and control (taarruf)...The common people (al-
mma) do not know imagination or enter into it except when they dream
and their sensory faculties (al-quw al-asssa) return into it. The elite (al-
khaw) see it in wakefulness through the power of realizing it.21

This quotation refers to a unique creative function that works through the venue of

autonomous of imagination. According to Henry Corbin, this is "Active Imagination" that

20 For examples of these accounts and sources on this topic, see John Renard,
Friends of God: Islamic Images of Piety, Commitment, and Servanthood (Berkeley:
University of California Press, 2008), 106-12.

21 Ibn Arab, The Meccan Rrevelations, ed. Michel Chodkiewicz, trans. William
Chittick, Charles-Andr Gilis, and Michel Chodkiewicz, annot. James Morris, 2 vols. (New
York: Pir Press, 2004), 2:172-173. The translation of this passage is by William Chittick.
Also, see Ibn Arab, Le livre des chatons des sagesses, trans. and ed. Charles-Andr Gilis
(Beirut: Al-Burq, 1997), 243-54; Chittick, Sufi Path of Knowledge, 122.
11

is "capable of creating objects, of producing changes in the outside world."22 The imaginal

world fits well into Mull adrs gradational (tashkk) view of being.23 In this light, the

imaginative forms as mental beings and their extra-mental counterparts exist for real like

two parallel worlds whose difference lies in the intensity of their being. The mental

sphere resembles the creation of God in that the soul is capable of creating mental beings

as God creates the world of substantial forms both material and immaterial.24

Mull adr believes that the soul is capable of creating mental beings in the

absence of matter. His evidence for this is what happens in dreams, and the miraculous

creation of images by the prophets. However, the question is whether every soul at any

phase of its evolution has the actual ability to create. The answer is negative. Although the

soul, in its proximity to the divine realm, is given the power to create, in the beginning

22 Henry Corbin, Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn Arab (Princeton, N.J.:
Princeton University Press, 1969), 223. The imaginal world is also mentioned in Ibn
Arab, "Insh al-dawir" in Kleinere Schriften des Ibn al-Arab: nach Handschriften in
Upsala und Berlin, ed. Henrik Samuel Nyberg (Leiden: Brill, 1919).
23 According to Mull adr, the concept of being applies to its instances univocally
because of the unity of its reality, and conceptual differences are only due to essences. On
the other hand, essences have no reality of their own. Based on these two premises, one
could come into the counterintuitive conclusion that diversity is not real. Gradation (or
modulation) of being (tashkk al-wujud) is Mull adr's way of avoiding this
counterintuitive implication and to create a system in which the apparently monistic
worldview of Sufism is reconciled with the realistic pluralism of classical philosophy and
our common sense. According to this doctrine, being, as one simple reality, comes in
grades as the light of Sun and candlelight are the same reality of different grades. See
Shrz, al-ikmat al-almutaliya, 9:186. For a technical explanation of the doctrine and
its implications in other areas of Mull adrs philosophy, see Sajjad H. Rizvi, Mull adr
and Metaphysics: Modulation of Being (New York: Routledge, 2009); Ccile Bonmariage,
Le rel et les ralits: Mull adr Shrz et la structure de la ralit (Paris: J. Vrin, 2007).
24 Shrz, al-Shawhid al-rububiyya, 31-2.
12

this is only a potentiality. Apart from some unique cases of spiritually evolved souls, the

souls of common humans are dependent on matter as long as they live in this world.

According to Mull adr, the stages of knowledge formation, that is, sense

perception, imagination, and intellection are parallel with the three worlds,25 that is, the

intellective, the imaginal and the sensible. Thus, what happens in the soul matches the

hierarchical ontology of the three worlds which stand in a vertical (tul) relationship, that

is, the one on top is superior to the one below it in the grade of existence.

Through the power of imagination, all human souls are capable of creating bodies

for themselves in afterlife.26 However, in this world only the perfect souls of prophets,

Imams, and awly are invested with the power to objectify imaginative forms. These are

25 Shrz, al-ikmat al-almutaliya, 3:362.

26 Imaginal bodies are immaterial; yet they are possessed of the formal dimensions
of the physical body which makes them capable of all kinds of feelings compared to our
experiences in dreams. As long as we are bound up with matter, our imaginations are
merely subjective. But, if the soul can free itself from physical preoccupations and reach a
higher level of spirituality, it can give objective dimensions to imaginations. At this level,
imaginative forms are not imprinted in the brain so they are categorzied as detached
imagination (al-khayl al-munfail). This is the point of departure between Mull adr
and Ibn Sn who rejects the possibility of ontological independence of imaginal forms
from the brain. Mull adr follows Suhraward and Ibn Arab in this regard and posits an
intermediary world between the intellectual and the material world, which is the locus of
detached imaginal forms. According to Ibn Arab the difference between attached and
detached imagination is that the attached disappears with the disappearance of the
imaginer, while the dettached is an essential presence (aara dhtiyya). See Ibn Arab,
al-Futut al-makiyya, Beirut, Dr adir, n.d, 2:312, cited in al-Kutubi, Mull adr and
Eschatology, 97. He believes that the prophets and awly have access to the imaginal
world and as a result are capable of objective imagination, as in the case of miracles; Yet
all will have this power in the life to come. So in his eschatology, in order to make this
notion more comprehensible, Mull adr compares the otherworldly bodies to
reflections in the mirror. For the mirror analogy, see Shrz, Mazhir al-ilhiyyah, 126.
On the imaginal body, see Christian Jambet, Lactre dtre: La philosophie de la rvlation
chez Moll Sadr (Paris: Fayard, 2002), 296-327; Mohammed Rustom, Psychology,
Eschatology, and Imagination In Mull adr Shrzs Commentary on the adth of
Awakening, Islam and Science 5:1 (2007).
13

"the possessors of marvels (ab al-karmt)"27 as they reach the highest degree

through substantial motion. This theme is expressed with an emphatically spiritual tone

in Wridt al-qalbiyya with regard to prophetic miracles. Mull adr says:

The quintessence of the soul is of the same kind and origin of the
spiritual world (malakut) whose inhabitants are by nature influential on
beings possessed of directions and sides (jiht and samut) [i.e. material
substances]. This is owing to the fact that the matter and natural
dispositions are under the control of the world of transcendent
innovation (al-lam al-ibd), be it out of compulsion or submission.
Thus, the soul that is a flame of that fire acts in the same fashion in
accordance with her capacity. Just like the flame that does the job of the
fire including burning and causing other effects in accordance with its
capacity. And, the first effect that appears from the essence of the soul is
the body and the base of its forces and organs, with every individual soul
being conscious of this mode of hers. If this seems right at first glance, so
the realization of a great soul (nafsu kabra) should be sufficient for
administrating her territory upon a wider and longer scope in a way that
the command of her control and administration over the subdued
material bodies would encompass all and reach the whole world of
origination and corruption (al-lam al-kawn wa al-fasd). It was in this
way that with the permission of God the fire around Abraham turned into
air as He said "O fire, be cool and safe for Abraham [(Q 21:69)]."28

c. Influencing the Material world

The power of the imagination is a good ground for the possibility of miracles in the

sense of bringing into life a previously non-existent form of being, or imaginal bodies in

afterlife; yet it is not enough for explaining the changes that some miracles and prayers

cause in the sensible reality, such as causing rainfall or splitting the Red Sea. For this

reason, Mull adr also identifies a particular power of the soul that he calls "practical

27 Shrz, al-Shawhid al-rububiyya, 264.

28 adr al-Dn Muammad b. Ibrhm Shrz, al-Wridt al-qalbiyya wa marifat al-

rububiyya, ed. Ahmad Shafh (Tehran: Anjuman-i falsafa-yi rn, 1980), 113-14.
14

(amal)" and relates it to "the sensory faculties (quw al-tarkiyya)." Through this

power,

[The soul] influences the matter of the world by abstracting the form (ura)
and stripping it of matter, and by finding it and dressing it in any way. This
is how [the soul] can cause the weather to become fine, and the rain to fall
and the storms to break out, and demolish a community that turned
immoral and disobeyed the command of their Lord and His messengers, and
cause sick people to be cured, and the thirsty to be satiated, and the beasts
to subdue.29

This passage and similar ones in Mull adrs writings on the agency of the human soul

in prayer are all followed by his insistence on the similarity between the heavenly and the

human souls in influencing the material world:

And this is possible since it has been proved in theology that the matter
submits to the souls and is influenced by them, and that the natural forms
(al-uwar al-kawniyya) succeed one another in the matter under the
influence of the heavenly souls. And, the human souls are of the same
substance as the heavenly souls, strongly resembling them, because their
relation to them is like that of children to their parents. Thus, the human
soul affects matter in this world although it is often through the effusion of
its effect over a certain domain, that is, her body.30

In a similar passage from al-Shawhid al-rububiyya, Mull adr limits the strong

resemblance between the human souls and heavenly souls to those human souls that

have "gained strength,"31 which in his philosophy refers to substantial motion by which

the soul is promoted to a higher degree of being. Thus, souls with a high degree of

existential intensity are invested with the power both to create and to influence matter.

According to Mull adr, the perfect human or "perfect wal" is able to "cross over all

29 adr al-Dn Muammad ibn Ibrhm Shrz, al-Mabda wal-mad, ed. Sayyid Jall
al-Dn Ashtyn (Tehran: Anjuman-i shhanshh-i falsafah-i rn, 1976/1354), 482.

30 Shrz, al-Mabda wal-mad, 482.

31 Shrz, al-Shawhid al-rububiyya, 343.

15

times and spaces and bring all things under control in the same way that the souls control

bodies."32 This is the domain where prayer is used as a link between the human and the

divine in order to cause certain effects in the world:

And at times the soul may reach such a degree of sagacity and purification
from bodily concerns and sensual pleasures that there shall be bestowed on
her from the Supreme Origin (al-mabda al-al) such a power and dignity
by which the soul becomes influential on the world of natural elements ( al-
lam al-anir). As a result, the soul would heal the sick, sicken the evil,
transform one element into another, and move those objects that she is not
typically capable of moving like in unhinging the door of Khaybar [by Al b.
Ab lib]. This is due to the fact that bodies are subject to influences by the
souls.33

However, any new appearance (bad)34 or change along these lines would seem not

only to defy the necessity of universal causal laws, but also to rival the doctrine of divine

providence. Like earlier Muslim philosophers, Mull adr considers possible objections

and his solution is similar to those of his philosophical predecessors. However, the

following sections will show that although Mull adr follows his philosophical past

masters by considering the efficacy of prayer as both one of the links in the chain of

causation and part of the divine providential plan, he shapes his solution within a different

philosophical framework that is deeply influenced by Ibn Arab.

32 Shrz, al-Wridt al-qalbiyya, 120.

33 Shrz, "Risalah fil-qa wal-qadar," 208.

34The Shii doctrine of bad refers to a new consideration by God and the possibility
of change in the divine plan. It is in opposition to Sunni theology and even among Shiite
theologians, there are different ways to approach it. See Mahmoud Ayoub, "Divine
Preordination and Human Hope: a Study of the Concept of Bad in mm Sh
Tradition," Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 106, no. 4 (1986): 623-632;
Martin J. McDermott, The Theology of al-Shaikh al-Mufd (Beirut: Dar el-Mashriq
diteurs, 1978), 329-339. Also, see Colin Turner, "Aspects of Devotional Life in Twelver
Shiism," in Shiism, ed. Paul Lutf and Colin Turner, vol. 3 (London: Routledge, 2008).
16

Prayer within the Domain of Divine Providence

Mull adr was well aware of the theological context and controversial nature of prayer

with respect to divine providence. That is the reason why most of his passages on prayer

appear within his writings on divine providence and predetermination, with his main

focus being on the influence of prayer on the sensible world. Following Ibn Sn, he

attests to the efficacy of prayer and regards the agent of prayer and his invocation as "one

of the causes (asbb wa ilal) of the whole cosmos (kawn)."35 Ibn Sn offers a rational

explanation for the fulfilment of prayers within a causal order that is originated in the eternal

knowledge of God.36 According to him, the human soul is capable of exerting influence on the

world in the form of miracles and receiving answers to prayers. However, in the case of

prayers, "responses" (istijbat) are bestowed only if God finds it in agreement with the cosmic

order.37 Thus, prayers should not be considered as breaches in the causal order of the universe.

In effect, prayers are links within the causal chain in the sense that like all the other secondary

causes in the universe they play an intermediary role between the final effects and the First

Cause. Ibn Sn explains the necessary role of prayers by using the analogy of patient and

35 Shrz, al-ikmat almutaliya, 6:402.

36
For Ibn Sn's views on the origin of creation in the divine knowledge, see Ibn
Sn, The Metaphysics of the Healing: a Parallel English-Arabic Text (al-Ilhiyyt min al-
Shif), trans. and ed. Michael Marmura (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press,
2005), 283-291.

Ibn Sn, al-Talqt, ed. Abd al-Ramn Badaw (Cairo: al-Hayah al-miryah
37

al-mmah lil-kitb, 1973), 47.

17

medication. He says that "God is the one who makes prayer the cause for the existence of a

thing, just like He makes certain medicine the cause for the cure of a patient."38

In this regard, Mull adr also repeats a passage from Mr Dmd, without

mentioning the author, where the latter formulates the problem of prayer as a dilemma:

If the fulfilment of prayers is not determined by God, what is the point in praying to Him,

and if it is, why should we take the trouble of praying in the first place?39 Like his teacher,

Mull adr turns to Ibn Sn for the solution and quotes several passages from the latter

on the harmony between fulfillment of prayers and the divine order. Mull adrs

position on divine providence and predetermination should be understood not only as a

continuation of Ibn Sns world-order in which all wills and agencies are connected in a

hierarchy of powers and potentialities, but also as more meaningful within his own

gradational ontology. In a short treatise on the theme of human action versus divine

providence, after reviewing and evaluating major theological positions, including

Mutazil and Ashar- and the rational position of Ibn Sn which he praises as "the most

correct" among all - he goes on to his most favoured position that he attributes to "those

firmly grounded in knowledge (al-rsikhun fil- ilm)."40 His account of this position is

completely based on his own gradational ontology:

38
Ibn Sn, al-Talqt, 47.

39Shrz, al-ikmat al-almutaliya, 6:403; Shar uul al-kf, 4:200-201. In these

works, Mull adr is quoting from Muammad Bqir Mr Dmd, Kitb al-qabast, ed.
Mehdi Mohaghegh and Charles Adams (Tehran: The Institute of Islamic Studies of McGill
University, 1977), 450.

40 He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book: In it are verses basic or
fundamental (of established meaning); they are the foundation of the Book: others are
allegorical. But those in whose hearts is perversity follow the part thereof that is
allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hidden meanings, but no one knows its
18

And the other group who are the most firmly grounded in knowledge
believe that all beings regardless of their differences in the order and
nobility of existence, and their diversity of essences and actions, and their
variety of attributes and effects, are gathered by the one all-encompassing
Divine Reality that includes all their realities and degrees...Therefore, just
like there is no mode [of glory] (shan) that is not His41, there is no action
that does not belong to Him...[Yet,] it is correct to attribute the action and its
actualization to the servant (abd) as existence and individuation
(tashakhkhu) are attributed to him regarding their relation to the Exalted
One, just like the existence of Zayd is in itself a fact which is actualized in
reality while it is one of the modes (shan) of the First Reality (al-aqq al-
awwal).42

Mull adr also discusses the function and efficacy of prayer in his Risalah fil-qa

wal-qadar.43 After explaining the meaning of divine providence and predetermination, he

hidden meanings except Allah. And those who are firmly grounded in knowledge say:
"We believe in the Book; the whole of it is from our Lord:" and none will grasp the
Message except men of understanding. (Q 3:7) Translation by Abdulla Yusuf Ali, The
Holy Qur an (New York: Islamic Propogation Centre International, 1946)retreived from
http://www.searchtruth.com/chapter_display.php?chapter=3&translator=2&mac=

41Of Him seeks (its need) every creature in the heavens and on earth: every day in
(new) State of Glory. Translated by Muhammad Habib Shakir retrieved from
http://www.searchtruth.com/chapter_display.php?chapter=55&translator=3&mac
=

42 adr al-Dn Muammad b. Ibrhm al-Shrz, Khalq al-aml, ed. Sayyid Musin
Ysn (Baghdd: Matbaat al-awdith, 1978), 30. In his summary of philosophical issues
based on Mull adrs philosophy, Fay Kshn rephrases the above words by saying
that although God has given us freedom to choose whether or not to do a particular thing,
our wills all go back to His providence. See Mull Musin Fay al-Kshn, Uul al-marif,
ed. Sayyid Jall al-Dn shtyn (Qum: Daftar-i tablght-i islm, 2006/1375 sh.), 139.
For more on this issue see Jamlah Muy al-Dn Bisht, adr al-Dn al-Shrz wa-
mawqifuhu al-naqd min al-madhhib al-kalmiyyah (Beirut: Dr al-ulum al-Arabyah lit-
tiba wal-nashr, 2008), 238-46.

43 For Mull adr's views on providence, human action and will, see David Arnold
Ede, Mull adr and the Problem of Freedom and Determinism: A Critical Study of the
Rislah fil-qa wal-qadar, (PhD diss., McGill University, 1978). For my references to
Mull adr's Rislah fil-qa wal-qadar, I am using the manuscript that has been
published as an appendix to the above dissertation. The only printed version of this
treatise can be found under the title al-Qa wal-qadar fi afl al-bashar in Seyyed Jall
al-Dn Ashtyn, ed. Rasil (Qom: Maktabat al-mutafaw, 1302 A.H).
19

proceeds to remove the ambiguity over the function of prayer in relation to providence.

He criticizes an "erroneous" view according to which acts of worship and prayers are

useless in a predetermined world order, and using Ibn Sns frequently quoted analogy

of patient and medicine, he immediately presents the gist of his description of prayer as

"one among the causes of the thing prayed for."44 Unlike in his writings mentioned before,

here Mull adr does not delimit his methodology to a rational explanation based on the

causal chain of creation; instead he explains the function of prayer within a context of

intimacy between the Lord and His Servant:

The prayer and the answer to it are both from the command (amr) of God,
with the servants tongue being the interpreter (tarjumn), and whoever
takes an action upon someones order his hand is the hand of the command
just like in the case of a king who orders some servant to punish the prince.
If the hand [of the servant] were not that of the king, he would not be able to
touch the kings son.45

This view of prayer as "a translation" of Gods words in this treatise is a deviation

from Ibn Sns narrative of prayer that was the dominant one among philosophers of the

time such as Mr Dmd. This new account resembles Ibn Arabs identification of human

prayer with the prayer of God and Corbins interpretation of it in terms of "a dialogical

situation."46 The similarity is reinforced by Mull adrs many allusions in the following

44 adr al-Dn Muammad b. Ibrhm Shrz, "Rislah fil-qa wal-qadar," in

Rasil (Tehran: Lithographed edition, 1302 sh.), 206. Ibn Sn explains the necessary role
of prayers by using the analogy of patient and medication. He says that "God is the one
who makes prayer the cause for the existence of a thing, just like He makes certain
medicine the cause for the cure of a patient." See Ibn Sn, al-Talqt, ed. Abd al-Ramn
Badaw (Cairo: al-Hayah al-miriyyah al-mma lil-kitb, 1973), 47.

45 Shrz, "Risalah fil-qa wal-qadar," 207.

46 Corbin, Creative Imagination, 247.

20

passages to Sufi figures such as Dhul-nun al-Mir (d. 246/859) and Abu Bakr al-Shibl (d.

334/946) who are said to have regarded prayer as a path to spiritual advancement.47 In

this section of the treatise, Mull adr emphasizes the effect of prayer on the human

soul. Rather than being a mere request or petition, prayer is a worthy act of worship that

leads to a higher degree of spirituality through accepting our dependence and need:

And from the benefits of prayer are the proclamation of humbleness (dhill)
and brokenness (inkisr), confession to weakness and poverty, the
correction of our relation of servanthood (ubudiyya) and our immersion in
the excess of contingent deficiency (nuqn al-imkn) and the fall from the
zenith of highness and sufficiency to the bottom of degradation and
needfullness and poverty and fearfulness.48

Along the same lines, Mull adr explains that prayer will divert the attention of

the soul from the body that "veils her from the Sacred World (al-lam al-quds)" toward

God who would then bestow on her all that befits her.49 Thus, speaking from a nobler

vantage point, the function of prayer is over and above making a request, and its

transforming effect on our soul is the reason why God urges us to pray as in "Call unto me

and I will answer to you" (Q 40:60). In this sense, prayer is not a deviation from the

providence; the act of praying is rather part of the divine wisdom to "keep the servant

suspended between fear and hope."50 At the cosmic level, prayer is a continuation of the

primordial function of human being as the medium of divine revelation in the world.

The Role of the Heavenly Souls of the Spheres (aflk) in Human Prayers

47 Shrz, "Risalah fil-qa wal-qadar," 207-8.

48 Shrz, "Risalah fil-qa wal-qadar," 208.

49 Shrz, "Risalah fil-qa wal-qadar," 208.

50 Shrz, "Risalah fil-qa wal-qadar," 209.

21

In Risalah fil-qa wal-qadar and, more elaborately, in al-Asfr Mull adr modifies

Ibn Sns account of the influence of the heavenly souls. Under the section that is called "on

prayer as coming itself from divine providence," Mull adr devotes several passages to

prayers that are answered. For him, prayers can "knock on the door of the spiritual world

(malakut)51 and impress the ears of the inhabitants therein." 52 Before relating Ibn Sns

argument, Mull adr offers in a nutshell his view on the relation of heavenly souls to the

world below because there is a technical difference between his position on this issue and

that of Ibn Sn. While Ibn Sn explains the relation between the heavenly souls and the

world below as a one-way relation in which the former have only an active role, Mull

adr believes in a mutual relationship in which the heavenly souls are impressed by the

prayers, hence, the image of knocking their doors and being heard by them. He agrees with

Ibn Sn that a nobler being cannot be directly affected by the lower ones, but diverges

from him on the impressionability of the heavenly souls by adding two conditions. First, for

Mull adr, affecting the higher being is not impossible if it is not overall and in every

respect. Second, noble human souls have a more effective agency in comparison to ordinary

people. He attributes to the heavenly soul a state between substances that are purely active

(fal) or merely passive (munfail).53 In Ibn Sns philosophy, the former state is that of

the intellects (al-uqul), and the latter is attributed to the primary matter (hayul) and the

For the characteristics of this intermediary realm of being in the context of Islamic
51

philosophy, especially the influence of Ibn Arab and the scriptural connections of the
doctrine, see Corbin, En Islam iranien: Aspects spirituels et philosophiques, 4 vols. (Paris:
Gallimard, 1971), 4:106-22.

52 Shrz, al-ikmat al-mutalya, 6:402.

53 Shrz, al-ikmat al-mutalya, 6:402-3.

22

bodily form (al-urat al-jismiyya). The heavenly (or the Spheres) souls (al-nufus al-

falakiyya) can only be affected by the intellects and through them by the Necessary Being

(al-wjib al-wujud).54 Yet, Mull adr considers the human soul as capable of affecting the

higher rank of the heavenly souls under the two conditions mentioned above. He does not

argue sufficiently for his position in this context, but we can try to understand him based

on his overall ontology: While in Ibn Sns ontology substances are separate, for Mull

adr "there is no complete separation in the longitudinal hierarchy of being."55

Accordingly, the heavenly souls possess an ontological status between purely active

intellectual beings and passive material beings. Furthermore, Mull adrs psychology is

based on a spiritual metaphysics of descent and ascent. The human soul, though

temporarily trapped in the world below, is actually from above and through substantial

motion can rise above the present level of bodily attachment and enter into a state of

unification (ittid) with higher beings. Considering the ontological continuity of beings

along the hierarchical/gradational ladder of existence and the possibility of ascent for the

human soul, there is room in Mull adrs system for the impression of the human soul on

the heavenly souls through prayers.

With this in mind, we can now explain the role of the Spheres with regard to those

prayers that bring about changes in the physical world. In order to understand their role,

one need to explain both the form of knowledge that is possible in their case, as well as

54 On Ibn Sn's definition of substance and his general categorization of it, see Ibn
Sn, The Metaphysics of the Healing: a Parallel English-Arabic Text (al-Ilhiyyt min al-
Shif), trans. and ed. Michael Marmura (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press,
2005), 45-57.
55 Rizvi, Mull adr and Metaphysics, 117.
23

their active place in the chain of wills that precede the occurrence of events in the natural

world. Mull adr explains heavenly knowledge and the mechanism of heavenly

influence on the world by quoting Ibn Sn.56 According to Ibn Sn, the heavenly souls

are said to have knowledge of particular meanings (man al-juziyya) through a kind of

perception which is not purely intellective. What is realized in them is an imaginative

perception of particular states and events in the world. This kind of perception shares

with the intellects the active/causal function but differs from them in that the intellects

only have "knowledge of particulars in a universal way,"57 to the exclusion of any

imaginative state and imaginative forms.

The heavenly souls are also said to exert influence on the world below through

imagination. First, Mull adr draws on Ibn Sns arguments in favour of the active role

of Spheres, that is, their heavenly souls. Accordingly, the occurrence of wills (irdt)

behind actions and events is preceded by their non-existence, that is, they are temporally

originated (al-dith al-zamn), so they should have causes other than either wills or the

nature of the subject of the will (al-tabat al-murd). What existentiates a particular will

cannot be another will because this would lead to an infinite regress of wills, which is

logically impossible. On the other hand, the cause cannot be a natural disposition (taba)

in the willing agent because particular natures are existentiated by heavenly or earthly

causes. If the cause of that particular natural disposition is a complex of heavenly and

earthly causes, the philosophers point about the role of the Spheres is proved. But, if the

cause is only an earthly one, it would be temporally originated and last for a limited time,

56 Shrz, al-ikmat al-mutaliya, 6:406-10.

57 Shrz, al-ikmat al-mutaliya, 6:407.

24

which means that the will at issue would be existent as long as the earthly nature is there.

To sum up, Mull adr agrees with Ibn Sn that "it is owing to the gathering,

interference and continuation of these [various] causes that the system [of the world]

runs under the influence of the heavenly motion."58

Thus, according to Mull adr, for Ibn Sn the sufficient cause (al-illat al-tmma)

of all the changes in the world consists in the hierarchical impact of causes beginning

with the Necessary Being (al-wjib al-wujud) down to the intellects, the heavenly souls,

human souls, and natural dispositions. All changes in the world, as well as the order of

natural events depend on the intermediary role of the heavenly soul owing to the

existence of imaginative conceptions of events prior to their realization in the material

world:

[The heavenly souls] know in the majority of particulars that mode which
is the best and the fittest and the closest to the absolute good between two
possible states; and we proved that the [imaginative] conceptions
(taawwurt) possessed by these causes are the origins of the existence of
these forms here when they are possible, and there has not been any
heavenly causes stronger than these [imaginative] conceptions. When
such is the case, it would be necessary for the possible state to become
existent not by an earthly cause or a natural cause in the heavens [alone]
but as a certain kind of impact by these things on the heavenly affairs. Yet,
this is not a real impact but the impact of the heavenly principles
(mabd) of the existence of this thing. So, by grasping those [universal]
principles, this thing is thought, and when this thing is thought, the state
which is more suitable for it will also be thought, and when it is thought,
there would be no obstacle but either the nonexistence of an earthly
natural cause or the existence of an[other] earthly natural cause. In the
case of the nonexistence of the earthly natural cause, for example, causing
heat where there is no earthly natural potential for heat, the heat would be
produced by the heavenly imagination of the benefit in it, just like heat can
be produced in peoples bodies as a result of imagining it, which you
learned before. As an example for the second possibility, that is, not only
the nonexistence of the cause for heating but also the existence of a cooling

58 Shrz, al-ikmat al-mutaliya, 6:407.

25

nature, the heavenly imagination of the benefit in the opposite of what is

necessitated by the cooling agent would overpower the latter.59

While confirming the general framework of Ibn Sns position on the causal relation

between the heavenly and the earthly, and praising his attempts to show that the divine

realm of providence is not affected by the things below, Mull adr criticizes him on two

grounds. He regards the changes in the natural world in response to prayers as evidence,

contrary to Ibn Sns account, that the heavenly souls of the spiritual realm (malakut)

are impressed by the earthly domain.60 This point will be explained below. Second, he

criticises Ibn Sn for denying the existence of Platonic Ideas which he praises as the key

to "the mystery of interaction" between different domains of existence. 61 The existence of

Platonic Ideas is one of the major gaps between the philosophical systems of Ibn Sn and

Mull adr.62 Far from trying to argue for or against this doctrine, which is beyond the

59 Shrz, al-ikmat al-mutaliya, 6:408.

60 Shrz, al-ikmat al-mutaliya, 6:411.

61 Shrz, al-ikmat al-mutaliya, 6:412.

62 Shrz, al-Shawhid al-rububiyya, 171-5. Platonic Ideas in Mull adr are similar
to Ibn Arabs "immutable entities (al-ayn al-thbita)" as "the non-existent objects of
Gods Knowledge." See William Chittick, The Sufi Path of Knowledge: Ibn Arabs
Metaphysics of Imagination (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), 11. The
concept "immutable entity," though originated in Platonic Ideas, is comparable to "forms
of contingency" (al-uwar al-mumkint) in Peripatetic philosophy where Platonic Ideas
are denied independent existence, and are simply transferred to the world below as forms
of objects inherent in them. Ibn Sns universal nature (al-kull al-tab) or
unconditioned quiddity, (mhiyya bi l shart) which has mental existence in the mind
and universal reality inherent in particular objects and shared by all individuals under
the same species, rivaled Platonic Ideas. For Ibn Sns rejection of Platonic Ideas, see Ibn
Sn, The Metaphysics of the Healing, 243-57. The most technical critical commentary on
Platonic Ideas in Mull adr appears in Abd al-Rasul Ubudiyyat, Nizm-i ikmat-i adr
, 2 vols. (Qom: Muassasah-i muzish wa pizhuhish-i Imm Khumeini, 1385 sh.), 2:170-
83. See also Ibrahim Kalin, Mull adrs Realist Ontology of the Intelligibles and the
Theory of Knowledge, Muslim World 94 (2004): 90-92. On the vertical hierarchy of
26

scope of the present paper, I would like to emphasize its significance for Mull adrs

view of the efficacy of prayer since it implies real correspondence between things of

different existential domains along the vertical hierarchy of being, with the imaginative

forms bridging between the intellective and the material. As mentioned before, in Mull

adrs world, there are no existential gaps, but merely different grades of beings.

It is based on the gradation of being that Mull adr argues for the unification of

intellect with the intelligible (ittid al-qil wal-maqul), imagination with the imaginal

(al-mutakhayyil wa l-mutakhayyal), and sentient with the sensible (al-ss wal-

masus). On the whole, the unification doctrine is built on several premises such as the

primacy of being as the only authentic reality, the gradation of being in different degrees

of intensity, the possibility of substantial motion of the soul, and the identification of

knowledge as a form of being. According to the unification doctrine, the subject of

knowledge and its object are two levels of the same reality. Knowledge is the

actualization of the potential knower by the immediate object of knowledge, be it

sensible, imaginative or intelligible forms that in Mull adrs philosophy are forms of

being.63

worlds and the rank of the human soul, also see Mull Hd Sabzivr, "Hidyat al-tlibn fi
marifat al-anby wal-aimmat al-maumn" in Majmua-yi rasil-i flsuf-i kabr Hj
Mull Hd Sabzivr, trans. and ed. Sayyid Jall al-Dn Ashtyn (Mashhad: Mashhad
University Press, 1970). Following Mull adr on Platonic Ideas, Sabzivr also explains
the latters position in comparison to his predecessors in a very clear way. See Ghulm
Hossein Renijd, akm Sabzivr (Tehran: Kitbkhna-yi San, 1371 sh.), 736-49. For
a study of Ibn Sns critique of Platonic Ideas, see Michael Marmura Avicennas Critique
of the Platonists in Book VII, chapter 2 of the Metaphysics of his Healing, in Arabic
Theology, Arabic Philosophy. From the Many to the One: Essays in Celebration of Richard
M. Frank J.E. Montgomery, ed. Michael E. Marmura (Louvain: Peeters, 2006), 35569.

For an analysis of the unification doctrine in Mull adrs philosphy, see Kalin,
63

Knowledge in Later Islamic Philosophy, 159-165; Meisami, Mulla Sadra, chapter 3.

27

With this in mind, the unification of imagination with the imaginal should be

considered as Mull adrs key to accepting the confluence of human souls and heavenly

souls through prayer. In Risla fil-qa wal-qadar, he explains the influence of the

perfect human souls on the heavenly souls along the lines of al-Asfr by using the same

arguments and terminology. He also elaborates on the influence of the heavenly souls on

the human souls through imaginal unification. The heavenly souls are said to inspire the

purified human souls by guiding their prayers toward a direction beneficial to the world.

Thus "the relation of humility (taarru) to summoning (istid) demands and the

fulfilment of requests is similar to the relation between thinking and the summoning of

expressions and speech. And all is emanation from above"64 that happens upon the

unification of the imagination of the praying soul and the imaginative conceptions of the

heavenly souls who play intermediary between the human and the divine. Mull adrs

last passage on the efficacy of prayer is a useful summary of his position on its

compatibility with the providence and the role of the Spheres:

Thus, it is learned from what has been said that all the events that occur in
our world emit from the Spheres [imaginative] conceptions (al-taawwurt
al-falakiyya), the angelic intellections (al-taaqqult al-malakiyya) and the
knowledge(s) of the Exalted One (al-ulum al-subniyya). Therefore, the
truly influential agent on the existence of things is nothing but the Origins
(mabd) knowledge of what is beneficial for the existent world. So, one
should not be surprised by the providential knowledge (inyat) of the
Exalted One and His Grace concerning the betterment of the state of the
creation. Learn from this the truth of miraculous affairs that descend from
the First Reality (al-aqq al-awwal) in a special way which is denied by
those philosophers who are ignorant of the invisible means which control
natural dispositions (tabi).65

64 Shrz, "Risalah fil-qa wal-qadar," 211.

65 Shrz, "Risalah fil-qa wal-qadar," 212.

28

Conclusion

Major Islamic philosophers seem to have all confirmed an active role for human

agency in causing changes in the world through praying. On the other hand, they have all

considered the efficacy of prayers in harmony with divine providence. Nevertheless,

Mull adrs position on this metaphysical harmony, though appearing to be the same as

his predecessors, has a unique character due to its dependence on a different

cosmological framework within which causality takes a position between the pluralistic

realism of Ibn Sn and the existential monism of Ibn Arab.66 Mull adrs follows an

organic approach in the light of the unity of all realities in being. The present paper has

focused on this approach in order to show that for Mull adr, prayer has a real

influence as a link between the macrocosm and microcosm due to the continuity between

different levels of being.

Classical Islamic philosophy explains the causal relation between the created beings

and the Giver of being based on necessary/contingent dualism. The world is the effect of

and dependent on the First Cause in almost the same way that the agents actions (as

accidents) depend on her as a substance. According to Ibn Sn, "nothing comes into

66Mull adr's philsophy is based on the primacy of being (alat al-wujud). The
most systematic explanation of the primacy of being appears in al-Mashir. See the
annotated edition of it by Seyyid Jall al-Dn shtyn in Mull Muammad Jafar Lhj,
Shar rislat al-mashir Mull adr, ed. Seyyid Jall al-Dn shtyn (Qum: Bustn-i
ktb, 1386 sh.), 163-207. For a useful introduction to al-Mashir, see Henry Corbin,
introduction to Le livre des pntrations mtaphysiques = Kitb al-mashir by adr al-
Dn Muammad b. Ibrhm al-Shrz, trans. Henry Corbin (Paris: Verdier, 1988). For the
most recenent annnotated translation of Mull adrs al-Mashir, see Muammad b.
Ibrhm adr al-Dn Shrz, The book of metaphysical penetrations: a parallel English-
Arabic text, trans. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, annot. Ibrahim Kaln. 2014.
29

existence unless its existence is necessitated."67 Mull adr is critical of this existential

gap and, by way of objection to his past masters, says that "they have argued for a second

being, trying to prove existence for the contingent next to the Being of the Real (al-

aqq)."68 For Mull adr,

The effect is not another thing next to its cause, and the mind cannot point
to the identity of the effect separately from the causethe mind can,
however, think of the quiddity of the effect separately but we already know
that the real effect is being not quiddity. Now it is clear that the existence of
the effect, which is not complete in its identity, is only existent with regard
to its relation to the cause. Apart from the One Transcendent Reality, every
being is only a ray of the Light of His very BeingHe is the Real and the rest
are His manifestations. He is the Light and the rest are the streaks of that
Light.69

Nevertheless, the relational (rabt) state of the created world does not imply its

illusoriness for Mull adr. Everything in the world including the immaterial and

material, substantial and accidental are relational in the sense that in their reality they

are only manifestations of the One who is Absolute (mutlaq) and Independent (mustaqil).

Far from being illusions, the manifestations are different grades and intensities of the

same reality, i.e. being. "The doctrine of gradation not only supports the reality of

diversity, but also points out the all-encompassing simplicity of being qua being."70

67 Ibn Sn, Kitb al-najt, 262.

68 Shrz, al-ikmat al-mutalya, 1:330.

69 Lhj, Shar rislat al-mashir Mull adr, 450. This quotation and the one
before it are translated by Meisami, Mulla Sadra, 39-40.

70 Sayeh Meisami, "Mulla Sadra," in Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, October

2013, http://www.iep.utm.edu/sadra/ (accessed April 10, 2014). on the tension between
monism and pluralism, see Rizvi, Mull adr and Metaphysics: Modulation of Being, 120-
4. Bonmariage, Le rel et les ralits: Mull adr Shrz et la structure de la ralit, 139-
51.
30

According to Mull adr, "the Simple Reality (al-basit al-aqqa) is all things but none of

those things in particular." 71

This metaphysical paradox of diversity in unity is the background against which

Mull adrs discussion of prayer can be best understood. The above mentioned doctrine

of the existential dependence on the part of the beings in the world as relational, together

with the gradational reality of those beings form a conceptual framework within which

Mull adr tries to solve problems in areas where philosophy and theology overlap. One

of the most significant issues of this type is the nature of the God-world relationship. As

we have seen so far in this paper, the efficacy of prayer is related to the God-world

relationship and Mull adrs answer to the problems that rise from attesting to this

efficacy is based on his view of the dynamics of that relationship.

As discussed in the paper, every action associated with a free agent, though

dependent on the will of God, also possesses a degree of reality just like every being is a

flash of the light of God. It is in this context that the Quranic verse (8:17) can be

interpreted not as the dismissal of human action, but as regarding human agency as a

degree of the Absolute agency of God.72 Along the same lines, the efficacy of prayer is

appreciated in its own right as a flame from the fire of the divine act. For Mull adr, to

71 Shrz, al-ikmat al-mutaliya, 6:111. For more on this doctrine, see Ghulm
ossein Ibrhm Dnn, Qawid-i falsafa-yi islm, 3 vols. (Tehran: Muassasa-yi
mutlat wa taqqt-i farhang, 1370 sh.), 1:108-15.

72"It is not ye who slew them; it was Allah: when thou threwest (a handful of dust), it
was not thy act, but Allahs: in order that He might test the Believers by a gracious trial
from Himself: for Allah is He Who heareth and knoweth (all things)" (8:17). Abdullah Yusuf
Ali, trans,
http://www.searchtruth.com/chapter_display.php?chapter=8&translator=2&mac=
31

be existentially dependent on God would not contradict the reality of beings; nor would it

contradict the reality of our wills, wishes, and actions.

With the above in mind, I can now summarize Mull adrs position on prayer in

terms of its dual effect on the inner and outer worlds: Prayer as the invocation of the

human soul to higher ranks of existence can be effective in the sense of diverting the

course of natural events to a particular direction desired by the soul. The will to change is

not wayward but inspired by the heavenly souls to the benefit of the world at large.

However, the relationship between the human and the heavenly souls is not a one-way

relation; nor can we interpret the heavenly inspiration as a mechanical inculcation of

ideas with the human soul having a merely instrumental role. Rather, the relationship is

mutual owing to the existential parallelism between the imaginative forms of the two

realms. This is made possible owing to the substantial evolution of the soul through

which the faculty of imagination gains the power to create imaginative forms that

correspond to the imaginal entities of the spiritual realm. The human soul also has the

power to cause changes in the material world. While the result of change in this case is to

be distinguished from the creation of imaginative forms by the imaginative faculty, the

process is similarly based on the existential correspondence between two grades of

being, that is, the sensible forms created by the faculty of sensation parallel to the

substantial forms which are bestowed on matter by the heavenly souls.

Thus, for Mull adr the creative power of the human soul is the key to the efficacy

of prayer. Like spirituality (runiyyat) itself, creativity is only potential in the beginning

and needs to be actualized once the soul reaches the high stages of her substantial

evolution. Naturally, only certain souls manage to reach such heights including prophets,
32

Imams and awliy as previously explained. On the other hand, the prayer is not only

efficacious when originating in great souls, but also it has the power to help the process of

existential advancement by increasing the average soul in humbleness and directing her

attention towards the spiritual domain above.