Ali Asghar Jafari Valani; Donya Asadi Fakhrnezad
Volume 21, Issue 2 , March 2024, , Pages 15-36
Abstract
Sheikh Eshraq, by acknowledging the existence of various faculties for the soul and considering imagination as one of these faculties, he has aligned his perspective with Ibn Sina's ...
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Sheikh Eshraq, by acknowledging the existence of various faculties for the soul and considering imagination as one of these faculties, he has aligned his perspective with Ibn Sina's view. Ibn Sina contends that all soul faculties, except the rational faculty, are material. Therefore, according to Ibn Sina, imagination, besides having its own material nature, is also impressed in a material locus. The faculty of imagination, based on the functions of "combination and elaboration," provides the necessary forms and meanings for reason to achieve intellectual perception. On the other hand, Sheikh Eshraq rejects the concept of the imaginative faculty and imaginal forms in the sense intended by Ibn Sina, considering imaginary forms as suspended images not located in any place or space. Although these forms occasionally manifest in appearances, those appearances should not be considered the actual place or space of those forms. In other words, Suhrawardi attributes imaginative perception, like all perceptions, to the immediate knowledge of the soul. Despite adhering to Ibn Sina regarding the corporeality of imagination, Suhrawardi views imaginal forms as independent, remaining, and existing in the "Greater Imagination" (Khayal Mutaqaddim). Although he designates the imaginative faculty as material, he doesn't find compatibility between the perceiver and the perceived and believes that the soul engages in perceiving imaginal forms through examples. Therefore, it seems that while Suhrawardi aligns with Ibn Sina's perspective to some extent, he diverges in various aspects of the imagination discourse. The researcher concludes that Suhrawardi's foundational thoughts in this discussion are rooted in his critical considerations of Ibn Sina's statements. Sheikh Eshraq, albeit not in a detailed and organized manner but generally, pays attention to the simplicity of imagination as the basis for criticisms in some of his works such as "Al-Mabahith" and "Tebi'at" in "Al-Shifa
