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Sadra 04 - MULLĀ ADRĀ'S CONCEPT OF SUBSTANTIAL MOTION (June, 1972) (13 Pages)
Sadra 04 - MULLĀ ADRĀ'S CONCEPT OF SUBSTANTIAL MOTION (June, 1972) (13 Pages)
Sadra 04 - MULLĀ ADRĀ'S CONCEPT OF SUBSTANTIAL MOTION (June, 1972) (13 Pages)
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Introduction
Motion
gripped us like the shirt ofNessus and we are, therefore, drawn through life
and death in spite of ourselves by an irresistible and invisible force. Viewed
metaphysically, it seems difficult to ascertain whether it is a push from
within or a pull from without. In fact, themetaphysical reality of motion
tends to elude our mental comprehension. The mystery of motion is
self-evident and indubitable but none the less inexplicable.
Substantial Motion
Ibn Sina and his followers confine motion only to four categories
of accidents such as quality ( <JuT) quantity (^ ) situation ( ?j ) and
place ( ui' )> and deny motion in the category of substance.2 But Mulla
Sadra firmlymaintained thatmotion in the category of substance known as
Substantial Motion (kj*^ i5~>Ji) is more fundamental and prior to all
other motions in the category of accident.3
It should be noted that Ibn SIna and his followers take motion as
it appears superfically in its commonplace sense without probing deep
into its ontological cause and metaphysical basis. That is why they set
aside the idea of Substantial Motion as baseless and even objectionable.
But toMulla Sadra, the cosmic phenomena are anchored in one metaphy
sical root and motion, therefore, cannot be an isolated phenomenon.
While tracing out the deepest metaphysical reality of Substantial Motion,
Mulla Sadra asserts that creation did not mushroom out of nothingness
or out of blind evolution. But in reality, it came fromGod and will return
unto Him. the Qur'an says, "surely we belong to God, and to Him
As
we return".7 (o*~Hj ui j
ui). This reflects that creation is ontologically
suspended between terrestrial contingencies and the inborn summon of
God. From the point of view of terrestrial contingencies, creation is
swathed in the bondages of matter and pinioned to the barriers of nature,
hence it is inmotion in order to realize catharisis ( ) from the grip of
matter and nature. Substantial Motion, therefore, represents an innate
struggle and an inborn movement on the part of creation and the problem
of struggle and movement evokes the problem of ontological poverty and
privation. Hence the dreamlike, floating and fleeting character of the
things and Beings of the world.8 While from the point of view of inborn
summon of God, Substantial Motion means the same ontological im
poverishment of creation. Symbolically, it means that the ontological
weakness of the creation is so acute that creation cannot help moving
ceaselessly in order to realize catharsis and ontological plenitude. That
is why we are running willy nilly towards death and eventually towards
?
God, theMotionless Mover, as to our inevitable and and logical goal
approach of old age and death, nor can we immortalize our object of love
and happiness, nor can we transcend time and space?factors thatprove the
grievous vanity and the metaphysical unreality of transient objects and
Beings. Viewed from this angle, we are nothing but slaves of the temporal
But on the other hand, thismotion reflects the inborn and instinctive
journey of creation towards catharsis, ontological equilibrium and ulti
mately towards God. Moreover, it indicates to the mysterious presence
of the creative intelligence of God in the whole created order. As the
Qur'In says, "It is God who splits the grain and the date -stone, brings
forth the living from the dead."15 (c~Ji & j tfyJ'j
o1)
In another place God says,
mature ? is invariably the same apple, that its form of species is unchange
able, although its substance is undergoing terrible flux. Because this
form of species, according toMulla Sadra, is metaphysically the reflection
of themodel of species of which Plato has spoken as Eternal Ideas or Types,
( y^loMl jiJi) of which the Sufis have spoken as Immutable Essences,
(^izJl juVi) and of which Mulla Sadra has spoken as the Primordial
Realities jJifeJl), subsisting in the world of Divine Command.
8 That is
(^Vi ^JUJl).! why Mulla Sadra maintains that every object has
two aspects, or two dimensions, one is quasi-divine and immutable and
the other is changeable and corruptible. The former is the form of species
thathas beenperpetuatedby itsprimordialarchetype^( vj ) existingin
the world of Divine Command. The latter is the physical aspect belong
ing to this lower world (JaJI which is subject to change, decay and
death, as it is vulnerable to motion in substance and essence.19
change and flux. Thus the dissolution of the subject of motion amounts
to the liquidation of the forms of body and species ? a liquidation that is
youth, manhood and old-age. His personality is always the same, despite
his passing through these various phases of life. Thus the traveller is one,
though he wears on various dresses one after another.28
"I died from the inorganic realm and became a plant, then I died
from the plant life and became an animal. Dying from animality
I became a man, so why should I be afraid of becoming anything
less through another death? In the next step, I shall die from
humanity to develop wings like angels. Then again I shall sacrifice
my angelic self and become that which cannot be imagined, then
I become non-existent when the divine organ strikes the note 'we
are to return unto Him'."31
It is now clear that every individual human soul traverses all these
ontological stages within itself on account of Substantial Motion. That
iswhy Mulla Sadra firmly asserts that through Substantial Motion, a drop
of sperm becomes vegetative soul, then animal soul and at last human
soul and yet it remains pregnant with many possibilities before and after
death.32 If the process of creation means separation and alienation of
finite Beings from the Infinite Being, then Substantial Motion is a means
and a vehicle for reintergration and return to Him.
Conclusion
? a
thought to deny the authority and necessity of the Absolute Being
denial which is the very negation of Islamic thought.
References
5. Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Mulla Sadra Commemoration Volume, p. 13. The Faculty
ofTheology,TehranUniversity,1961.
6. Jawad Muslih, Falsafari-Ali Mulla Sadra, Vol. I, p. 132.
18. Mulla Sadra, 'Arsjiiyyah, p. 226, al-Asfar, Vol. 3, al-Mazahir al-Ilahiyyah, p. 34.