Tehran, 22 May 1999
I praise God, the Most High, and I do lake pride and pleasure in
Witnessing the holding of this great intellectual and scientific
conference devoted to the thought and personality of the great Muslim
sage, Hakim Sadr al-Muta'allihin Shirazi. Although acquaintance with this
peerless scholar in the West, as in many parts of the Islamic world, is
very little, the Iranian philosophy circles for the last three centuries,
that is, almost a hundred years after the writing of 'Asfar', have been
nourished by the opinions of Sadr al-Muta'allihin and his hooks. His
opinions, most of which are direct products of his individual initiative,
at least in their rational and logical frameworks, have been fervently
studied, taught, researched and critically evaluated. It is interesting lo
note that, for the last four centuries, Sadr al-Muta'allihin has attracted
both the greatest number of followers and plagiarists, and numerous
critics and opponents. During this period, a greater number of the
torch-bearers of transcendent theosophy and philosophy were the students
and exegetes of the school of philosophy he founded, through his own
genius and initiative which, while it abrogated the Mashsha 'i (peripatetic)
and Ishraqi (illuminationist) philosophies, still safeguarded every
prominent point contained in both these schools and laid out its
fundamentals most lucidly in thousands of pages in his eloquent and
attractive style. In the same period, many of the imitators of his
opinions on such themes as the questions of existence, eschatology and
resurrection, had to suffer the same sort of bitter experience which
afflicted Sadra himself during his life time and which made him leave his
native place.
Certainly, serious, critical and scholarly research, divorced from
reproach and controversy was also carried out. This kind of criticism,
that was in fact begun by two of his closest students, has continued up to
the present time, and some of our prominent theologians have indeed
disputed some of the most basic principles of Sadra's lofty philosophical
system. There is no doubt, however, that both these adverse currents - the
mesmerizing effect on some of our first-rate philosophers, and the
intellectual and ideological reaction by the critics and opponents - only
point to one thing, that is, the greatness of Sadra's thinking, the great
gift of ingenuity and the solid foundations found in the philosophy of
this great philosopher.
The philosophical school of Sadra, like his own life and character is a
closely-knit combination of certain precious components which have
ultimately attained unity. His philosophy makes use of some of the most
sublime elements of knowledge such as logical reasoning, mystical
intuition, and the Qur'anic revelation. In his individual character are
also found elements of research and logical deliberation, mystical trends
and intuition, servitude to God, practical piety, abnegation and
abstinence, as well as devotion to the Holy Qur'an and Sunnat; all moulded
into one personality which in the course of his 50-years of scholarly life
took him to many distant scientific centres for the sake of knowledge; to
Kahak village of Qum for ascetic purposes and to perform the Hajj
pilgrimage on foot seven times. If the Sadra'i school of philosophy -
which Sadra himself had termed 'Transcendent Theosophy'- marked the zenith
of Islamic philosophy till the days of its exponent and was a decisive
blow to the negative attacks of the sceptics and the opponents of
philosophy during the medieval Islamic era, today also after four hundred
years of benefiting from the research and investigation of the scholars of
rational and transmitted sciences, elucidation and completion by
philosophical circles, and enhancement and polishing at the able hands of
certain prominent philosophers, especially at the theological centres of
Isfahan, Tehran and Khorasan, Sadra's philosophy has once again emerged,
only on a more solid foundation and livelier appeal, to take its proper
position in the building up of culture and civilization, to gloriously
shine in human minds and illuminate hearts and souls. Sadra's school of
philosophy, as any other philosophy, may not be confined to the narrow
frameworks of individual nations or geographical regions; it belongs to
all the peoples and to all communities. Mankind is always in need of a
convincing rational system of thinking to comprehend and to interpret its
own being and the whole of existence.
No culture or civilization could, without such solid and acceptable
basis, ever lead humanity to salvation, to preservation and to spiritual
peace, and give some sublime meaning to existence. Thus, in our opinion,
the Islamic philosophy, particularly, in its Sadra'i style and
interpretation, seeks to fill its own vacant position in the minds of
contemporary men, and we believe that it shall finally reach this end.
We in Iran are more indebted to this divine philosophy than others and,
therefore, more duty-bound to its furtherance. Our own era has witnessed
the appearance of such enlightened guides as Imam Khumayni, who was not
only a peerless man in the fields of philosophy, religion and politics but
also a great scholar of the theological school of Sadra; as well as the
blissful presence of 'Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabätabä'1 in
theological circles, who was the most prominent teacher of Sadra'i
principles in Qum for some thirty years. The presence of such
personalities together with the efforts of many of their students and
contemporary scholars have, undoubtedly, ushered in a bountiful era for
the Transcendent Theosophy' of Mulla Sadra.
And now the holding of this august congregation of scholars from Iran
and abroad, is, in fact, the harbinger of a much deeper and more extensive
investigation to be carried out on Sadra's philosophy. Perhaps this will
help some philosophers and thinkers in the West to make a comparative
study of the direct, evolutionary and non-contradictory course of Islamic
philosophy, especially after its enlightenment by Sadra's philosophy, with
the complicated, contradictory and hurdle-ridden course of Western
philosophy during the past four hundred years, and hopefully, provide yet
another occasion for discussion and criticism among the members of the
global club of knowledge and rational argument.
In the end, I deem it my obligation to extend my deep and sincere
thanks to the esteemed organizers of this scholarly congress and its
respected participants, and to re-emphasize my earnest desire for the
publication of a collection of Mulla Sadra's opinions in one distinct
volume.
W a al-Salam 'Alaykum wa Rahmatullah-i wa Barakatuh
Ayatullah Sayyid Ali Khamene'i
Tehran, 22 May 1999
