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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Philosophy of Mulla Sadra and Its Influence in India [subcontinent] [Mulla Sadra’s Intellectual Journey] Mulla Sadra, as a student at Isfahan, had been taught by or came under the influence of such thinkers as Mir Muhammad Baqir Astarabadi (Mir Damad), Shaikh Baha uddin Amuli (Shaikh Bahai) and Mir Abul Qasim Findiriski.5 The new school of theosophical Shi'ism founded by Sadra, was partly a continuation of the 'School of Isfahan' founded by these three scholars.

Mir Damad, whose poetic nom deplumewas 'Ishraq' , is also referred to as the 'Third Master' (after Aristotle and al-Farabi). He was recognized as a jurist, a mystic and a philosopher.

However, it was principally as a philosopher that Mir Damad distinguished himself.7 Kitab al-Qabasat is Mir Damad's most significant philosophical work and it consists often qabas ('a spark of fire') and three conclusions.7 Its central theme is the creation of the world and the possibility of its extension from God.8 In it, Mir Damad engaged in the age-old debate over the priority of 'essence' ( mahiyya ) over 'existence' ( wujud ).

He ultimately decided on the priority of essence, a position that was later fundamentally disputed by his distinguished pupil Mulla Sadra. Like Mir Damad, Mir Abul Qasim Findiriski, who had also taught Mulla Sadra, was deeply influenced by the mashsha'i philosophy. He also wrote on Irfan (gnosticism).

He outlined a whole theory of visionary experience, which presupposes the idea of 'spiritual senses' the senses of alam al-misal which were later emphasized by Mulla Sadra.9 In his major work al-Hikma al-mutaliya fi- 'l-asfdr al- 'aqliyya al-arba'a (The Transcendent Wisdom Concerning the Four Intellectual Journeys), known popularly as Asfar , Mulla Sadra confesses to the shift from his teachers' position: In the earlier days I used to be a passionate defender of the thesis that the quiddities are the primary constituents of reality and existence is conceptual, until my Lord gave me spiritual guidance and let me see His demonstration.

All of a sudden my spiritual eyes were opened and I saw with utmost clarity that the truth was just the contrary of what the philosophers in general had held...