Asadi, H. (2025). The precedence of the knowledge of the Lord over the knowledge of the self in Transcendent Wisdom. , (), -. doi: 10.22067/epk.2025.93406.1439
Hojjat Asadi. "The precedence of the knowledge of the Lord over the knowledge of the self in Transcendent Wisdom". , , , 2025, -. doi: 10.22067/epk.2025.93406.1439
Asadi, H. (2025). 'The precedence of the knowledge of the Lord over the knowledge of the self in Transcendent Wisdom', , (), pp. -. doi: 10.22067/epk.2025.93406.1439
Asadi, H. The precedence of the knowledge of the Lord over the knowledge of the self in Transcendent Wisdom. , 2025; (): -. doi: 10.22067/epk.2025.93406.1439
The precedence of the knowledge of the Lord over the knowledge of the self in Transcendent Wisdom
جستارهایی در فلسفه و کلام
Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript, Available Online from 20 September 2025
Shahid Motahhari Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran.
Abstract
A well-known saying among Muslim thinkers is that knowledge of the Lord (ma‘rifat al-Rabb) depends on knowledge of the self (ma‘rifat al-nafs). Many Muslim philosophers have used self-knowledge as a proof for theology. However, according to the principles of Ṣadr al-Muta’allihīn, knowledge can only proceed from the self to the Lord if causality is understood as an existential relation between cause and effect. Yet even in this framework, attaining knowledge of the Lord through knowledge of the self is not without problems, however, causality is understood in its more precise sense—as the manifestation (tajallī) and unfolding (taṭawwur) of the Divine Essence into its modes and manifestations—then existence will have only one singular, unique reality with its various manifestations. In this case, attaining self-knowledge without prior knowledge of the Lord becomes impossible, as there can be no transition from the self to the Lord. This is because:
Knowledge moving from the self to the Lord is knowledge of an effect about its cause, which does not yield certainty.
Divine manifestations and contingent essences—including the human self—have a reality that is purely relational, with no independent existence.
This analysis, based on Mullā Ṣadrā’s views, clarifies the correct method of acquiring knowledge of the Lord and the self, ultimately concluding that the transition must be from knowledge of the Lord to knowledge of the self. Only in this way can the demonstrative proof for the Truth (al-Ḥaqq) be firmly established.
