The Elixir of the Gnostics – A Parallel English– Arabic Text (Brigham Young University - Islamic Translation Series) - Hardcover

Sadra, Mulla

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0934893705 ISBN 13: 9780934893701

Publisher: University of Chicago Press, 2003

Synopsis

Sadr al-Din Muhammad Shirazi (1572-1640), more commonly called Mulla Sadra was one of the grand scholars of later-period Islamic philosophy and has grown to become one of the best-known Muslim philosophers. "Iksir al-Arifin" or "Elixir of the Gnostics", is unique among Sadra's writings in that it reworks and amplifies an earlier Persian work, the "Jawidan-nama" ("Book of the Everlasting") by Afdal al-Din Kashani, or Baba Afdal. The underlying theme of Sadra's amplification is emblematic of Muslim philosophy: the importance of self-knowledge is an individual's journey of "Origin and Return", the soul's origins with God and its eventual return to Him. Everything, Sadra says, is on such a path, gradually disengaging from the material world and returning to a transdencent essence - all leading to a final fruition in which everything in the universe returns to God and finds permanent happiness. Philosophy, Sadra argues, is the most direct means to self-knowledge - and thus the best tool for navigating this journey.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0934893705
• ISBN 13: 9780934893701
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192