ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Imam Khomeini, Ethics and Politics Indescribability of the Human Being The terrestrial world in which we live is a world full of existing activities and innumerable potentialities yet to appear. In the parlance of philosophy, this world’s phenomena possess two facets of ‘present’ ( being ) and ‘potential’ ( becoming ). If we take into account a date stone, it is a fruit stone with all its peculiarities, having a particular weight, volume and colour.

But it is not merely a fruit stone. Rather, given all the necessary conditions, it can become a big date-palm, which in turn can produce thousands of other dates, date stones and date-palms. This feature can be witnessed in all phenomena of this world, whether living or non-living things. The gap between what is considered as the present state of a phenomenon and what it can become being always wide.

This movement of the phenomena from what they are toward what they can be (from being to becoming ) and the realization of the potentialities, like removing an old garment and wearing a new one, or like wearing clothes over other clothes, which in the parlance of philosophy is called ‘putting off’ and ‘putting on’ [ khal‘ va labs ] or successive donning [ labs pas az labs ], respectively, has no ending at all.

The appropriate divine wisdom is that every phenomenon should attain its own possible state of perfection and to reach whatever is reachable. The human being, too, is not an exception to this transcendental and immutable law, and like other phenomena, is subject to change and transformation. He sets foot in this world with the greatest potentialities and talents and with the least activity, and in the beginning when he is born; he is more hapless compared to many of the other creatures.

Yet, during the short or long span of his life he always tests himself, shows his capabilities in the sphere of good and evil, and moulds and shapes himself. He then abandons his previous form, obliterates himself, and adopts another form. He is like a portraitist who often draws an object, erases it, and then draws another one. This possibility of change exists in all stages of life.

Although the changeability of man in the initial part of his life and his formative years are strong, this transformation becomes more difficult with advancing age; however, the principle of such a possibility does not disappear.