Mulla Sadra’s 'Asfar Arba'a' Presents New Perspectives on the Human Psyche: American Scholar
--A translation of eighth and ninth volumes of Mulla Sadra Shirazi's "Asfar Arba'a" (The Four Journeys) is to be published by Islamic College for Advanced Studies in London.
Mulla Sadra Shirazi (1571–1640) is one of the most influential Muslim philosophers of the last four hundred years. The author of over forty works, he was the principal figure of the major revival of philosophy in Iran in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Dr Latimah-Parvin Peerwani, translator of the volumes into English, is a professor of Islamic Philosophy and Qur’an commentaries at the University of Texas. She has previously translated and published another work by Mulla Sadra Shirazi under the title of "On the Hermeneutics of the Light Verse of the Qur’an".
In an interview with IQNA, Dr Peerwani answered our questions on Mulla Sadra and the latest translation of part of his work "Asfar Arba'a":
IQNA: Before you embarked on translating two volumes of Asfar, had there been any efforts by other scholars to translate Mulla Sadra’s works in English?
Dr Peerwani: Yes. Three short works of Mulla Sadra have been translated in English, one of them is the Wisdom of the Throne (al-‘Arshiyyah) by Prof. James Morris, the other is The Book of [Metaphysical] Prehensions ( Kitab al-Mashâ‘ir) by Prof. Parviz Morewedge, and the third one is by me, The Hermeneutics of the Light Verse of the Qur’an (Tafsir Âyat al-Nûr).
IQNA: Why did you choose Asfar for translation? What is special about this work among Mulla Sadra’s works? And then, why the two last volumes?
Dr Peerwani: I chose Asfar for the translation because in the nine volumes of this work Mulla Sadra deals with the Four Journeys of the soul beginning from the Creation till the return of the soul to its Creator. This work is an encyclopedic work on Islamic philosophy. One is amazed at his vast study of the subject, his multi-dimensional and inter-disciplinary approach to the subject, his razor sharp mind at dealing with the issues, his demonstrative approach to the subject supported by the hermeneutics of the Qur’an and the Hadith of the prophet and the Shi‘ite Imams and his personal cognitive and visionary unveilings. The rest of the works are the epitomes of this work.
I chose the last two volumes of Asfar which deal with the spiritual psychology, because in these volumes one sees the cream of his philosophy. According to me, the works of the contemporary psychologists such as Freud, Jung, Carl Rogers and other modern psychologists do not deal adequately with the human psyche, its maladies, the mind-body relation, the ethics of the soul/mind and its post-mortem states as is done by Mulla Sadra. It is not done even by the Jewish and Christian theologians and philosophers in such a complete way as is done by Mulla Sadra. Further, the empirical psychology and medical science consider brain to be the reservoir of memories. So once the brain dies, then the memories also die, so there is no future recollection of the deeds one has done once the person dies. Sadra’s spiritual psychology deals with this issue in an entirely novel yet in rational and spiritual way about the above issue. So there is a lot of new information on the human psyche in these works for the physicians, psychologists, neurologists, empirical and rationalistic philosophers, Jewish and Christian philosophers and theologians, as well as Muslim Jurists and theologians.
IQNA: How well are Mulla Sadra and his Transcendent Wisdom/Philosophy (al-Hikmat al-Muta’ âliyyah) known in the West, especially in English-speaking countries?
Dr Peerwani: In the last decade Mulla Sadra and his Transcendent Wisdom/Philosophy have become quite known in the academies of Philosophy in US, England, Europe and Russia due to the two world conferences organized in Tehran by SIPRIn (Sadra Islamic Philosophical Research Institute) whose head is Prof. Muhammad Khamenei, a couple of conferences on Mulla Sadra’s philosophy in London, England and the publication of the papers presented in those conferences.
IQNA: What is the target group for the translation?
Dr Peerwani: This question should be addressed to Mulla Sadra who is the author of the work. I am the translator of his work. Was his target group of this new school of philosophy his students, a group of learned people and his companions close to him? Because some of his close students such as Mohsin Fayz Kashani and Abd al-Razzac al-Lahiji (his two sons-in-law) have followed his new school of philosophy and are renowned philosophers in Iran. Anyway, I have perceived that several groups in our times could be targeted for this work translated in modern English, such as psychologists, those who deal with holistic medicine, western philosophers non-committed to any religion, Jewish and Christian philosophers and theologians, Muslim jurists and theologians and university students in the departments of Religion and Liberal sciences. For that reason I have given in sum the principles of his philosophy in my Introduction, and copious foot notes to facilitate the reading of the text.
IQNA: As you are a professor of Islamic Philosophy and Qur’an commentaries, and given that you have also translated one of Mulla Sadra’s Qur’anic works (Tafsîr Âyat al-Nur), how do you see his views on the Qur’anic concepts. How are these concepts reflected in his works, especially in Asfar?
Dr Peerwani: Interesting aspect of Mulla Sadra’s Asfar is that the Qur’an and Hadith quotes are found throughout his work but the hermeneutic (ta’wil) is based on his unveiling (kashf) and philosophy which he has reconstructed from the earlier philosophers with new, creative ideas. This hermeneutic is specially found in the ninth volume of Asfar where he deals with matters related to Eschatology or Resurrection. So the Qur’anic concepts are reflected and explained philosophically in all his works.
IQNA: Do you have any plans for translating other works by Mulla Sadra?
A: Yes I do have. In fact I have done the translation of some chapters from a couple of his works.
IQNA: We would be grateful if you can also provide us with any other details on the two volumes of Asfar which you have translated.
Dr Peerwani: The Arabic language of Asfar is very easy and simple. Sadra’s style of writing is lucid and sweet. One can never get tired of reading it. It reminds the reader the work Rasâ’il Ikhwan al-Safa. His razor sharp logical demonstrations are like those of Nasir al-Din Tusi. His cognitive and formal unveilings reminds one of Ibn ‘Arabi. Each and every issue he deals with shows his erudition, acumen, and deep reflection. He honestly reports the works from where he has picked up the material for the discussion so there is absolutely no plagiarism in his work. I have checked those works which he has cited and found them to be correct citations. This work is indeed the encyclopedia of Islamic psychology which contains the views of scholars from a variety of fields on the issues of psyche plus his own views.
Dr Latimah-Parvin Peerwani, translator of the volumes into English, is a professor of Islamic Philosophy and Qur’an commentaries at the University of Texas. She has previously translated and published another work by Mulla Sadra Shirazi under the title of "On the Hermeneutics of the Light Verse of the Qur’an".
In an interview with IQNA, Dr Peerwani answered our questions on Mulla Sadra and the latest translation of part of his work "Asfar Arba'a":
IQNA: Before you embarked on translating two volumes of Asfar, had there been any efforts by other scholars to translate Mulla Sadra’s works in English?
Dr Peerwani: Yes. Three short works of Mulla Sadra have been translated in English, one of them is the Wisdom of the Throne (al-‘Arshiyyah) by Prof. James Morris, the other is The Book of [Metaphysical] Prehensions ( Kitab al-Mashâ‘ir) by Prof. Parviz Morewedge, and the third one is by me, The Hermeneutics of the Light Verse of the Qur’an (Tafsir Âyat al-Nûr).
IQNA: Why did you choose Asfar for translation? What is special about this work among Mulla Sadra’s works? And then, why the two last volumes?
Dr Peerwani: I chose Asfar for the translation because in the nine volumes of this work Mulla Sadra deals with the Four Journeys of the soul beginning from the Creation till the return of the soul to its Creator. This work is an encyclopedic work on Islamic philosophy. One is amazed at his vast study of the subject, his multi-dimensional and inter-disciplinary approach to the subject, his razor sharp mind at dealing with the issues, his demonstrative approach to the subject supported by the hermeneutics of the Qur’an and the Hadith of the prophet and the Shi‘ite Imams and his personal cognitive and visionary unveilings. The rest of the works are the epitomes of this work.
I chose the last two volumes of Asfar which deal with the spiritual psychology, because in these volumes one sees the cream of his philosophy. According to me, the works of the contemporary psychologists such as Freud, Jung, Carl Rogers and other modern psychologists do not deal adequately with the human psyche, its maladies, the mind-body relation, the ethics of the soul/mind and its post-mortem states as is done by Mulla Sadra. It is not done even by the Jewish and Christian theologians and philosophers in such a complete way as is done by Mulla Sadra. Further, the empirical psychology and medical science consider brain to be the reservoir of memories. So once the brain dies, then the memories also die, so there is no future recollection of the deeds one has done once the person dies. Sadra’s spiritual psychology deals with this issue in an entirely novel yet in rational and spiritual way about the above issue. So there is a lot of new information on the human psyche in these works for the physicians, psychologists, neurologists, empirical and rationalistic philosophers, Jewish and Christian philosophers and theologians, as well as Muslim Jurists and theologians.
IQNA: How well are Mulla Sadra and his Transcendent Wisdom/Philosophy (al-Hikmat al-Muta’ âliyyah) known in the West, especially in English-speaking countries?
Dr Peerwani: In the last decade Mulla Sadra and his Transcendent Wisdom/Philosophy have become quite known in the academies of Philosophy in US, England, Europe and Russia due to the two world conferences organized in Tehran by SIPRIn (Sadra Islamic Philosophical Research Institute) whose head is Prof. Muhammad Khamenei, a couple of conferences on Mulla Sadra’s philosophy in London, England and the publication of the papers presented in those conferences.
IQNA: What is the target group for the translation?
Dr Peerwani: This question should be addressed to Mulla Sadra who is the author of the work. I am the translator of his work. Was his target group of this new school of philosophy his students, a group of learned people and his companions close to him? Because some of his close students such as Mohsin Fayz Kashani and Abd al-Razzac al-Lahiji (his two sons-in-law) have followed his new school of philosophy and are renowned philosophers in Iran. Anyway, I have perceived that several groups in our times could be targeted for this work translated in modern English, such as psychologists, those who deal with holistic medicine, western philosophers non-committed to any religion, Jewish and Christian philosophers and theologians, Muslim jurists and theologians and university students in the departments of Religion and Liberal sciences. For that reason I have given in sum the principles of his philosophy in my Introduction, and copious foot notes to facilitate the reading of the text.
IQNA: As you are a professor of Islamic Philosophy and Qur’an commentaries, and given that you have also translated one of Mulla Sadra’s Qur’anic works (Tafsîr Âyat al-Nur), how do you see his views on the Qur’anic concepts. How are these concepts reflected in his works, especially in Asfar?
Dr Peerwani: Interesting aspect of Mulla Sadra’s Asfar is that the Qur’an and Hadith quotes are found throughout his work but the hermeneutic (ta’wil) is based on his unveiling (kashf) and philosophy which he has reconstructed from the earlier philosophers with new, creative ideas. This hermeneutic is specially found in the ninth volume of Asfar where he deals with matters related to Eschatology or Resurrection. So the Qur’anic concepts are reflected and explained philosophically in all his works.
IQNA: Do you have any plans for translating other works by Mulla Sadra?
A: Yes I do have. In fact I have done the translation of some chapters from a couple of his works.
IQNA: We would be grateful if you can also provide us with any other details on the two volumes of Asfar which you have translated.
Dr Peerwani: The Arabic language of Asfar is very easy and simple. Sadra’s style of writing is lucid and sweet. One can never get tired of reading it. It reminds the reader the work Rasâ’il Ikhwan al-Safa. His razor sharp logical demonstrations are like those of Nasir al-Din Tusi. His cognitive and formal unveilings reminds one of Ibn ‘Arabi. Each and every issue he deals with shows his erudition, acumen, and deep reflection. He honestly reports the works from where he has picked up the material for the discussion so there is absolutely no plagiarism in his work. I have checked those works which he has cited and found them to be correct citations. This work is indeed the encyclopedia of Islamic psychology which contains the views of scholars from a variety of fields on the issues of psyche plus his own views.
