Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
M.A. in Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Department of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi, Iran
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi, Iran
3
Professor, Department of Islamic Philosophy, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Khorasan Razavi, Iran
Abstract
Love and its related issues—particularly the relationship between metaphorical (majāzī) and true (ḥaqīqī) love—constitute central themes in Islamic moral philosophy and mysticism. This problem centers on the possibility, process, and criteria for the elevation of love from the sensory level to the intellectual and divine realms. Mulla Sadra’s transcendent philosophy (ḥikmat-e muta‘āliyah), grounded in principles such as substantial motion, gradation of being, the unity of intellect and intelligible, and the personal unity of existence, offers a comprehensive framework for explaining the possibility of love’s transcendence—a path that begins with metaphorical love and culminates in divine love and annihilation in absolute beauty. This study adopts a philosophical-conceptual method to extract and analyze three distinct models of love’s transcendence in Sadrian thought: (1) the model based on substantial motion and the intensification of the soul, (2) the model based on imaginal and intellectual perception, and (3) the model grounded in the unity of being and divine unveiling. These models are then comparatively examined through several axes: compatibility with empirical approaches to love, the role of human will in love’s ascent, the boundary between metaphorical and true love, and the spiritual function of love. Findings suggest that despite their conceptual differences, these models are reconcilable within the framework of transcendent philosophy and may be viewed as complementary layers of a unified philosophical-spiritual system of love.
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