Journal of Philosophical Investigations

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Research Fellow, Department of Mysticism, University of Religions and Denominations, Iran

2 Research Fellow, Department of Mysticism, University of Religions and Denominations, Iran; Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Philosophy of Religion, Istanbul University, Turkiye.

Abstract

Adopting a hermeneutic approach and horizontal and vertical interpretation methods, this study primarily explores the metaphysical concept of love-induced mystic intoxication in the Iranian polymath Mullā Muḥsin Fayḍ Kāshānī’s mystic poetry. Secondarily, it discusses the implications of mystic intoxication in the meaning of life. Furthermore, the paper briefly positions Fayḍ Kāshānī’s account in the contemporary categories of the meaning of life: supernaturalism, naturalism, and nihilism. Additionally, elucidating the perspectives of the contemporary philosopher John Cottingham, the paper examines Kāshānī’s view through Cottingham’s philosophy. Central to Kāshānī’s poetry, ignited by divine love, the spiritual seeker transcendends their self, getting absorbed into the Divine to the point where they become unaware of their self. This epistemic unawareness is mastī (intoxication) or bīkhudī (selflessness)—which, for Kāshānī, has profound implications on life’s meaning. Unlike the “extreme God-centric” view—which situates the purpose of life solely in fulfilling God’s purpose—Kāshānī’s “moderate God-soul-centric supernaturalist” view recognizes that while divine love, intoxication, and knowledge infuse more profound depth to the meaning of life, other aspects also add to the meaning in life—like the simpler forms of piety and everyday existence. A framework in which morality is instrumental. Similarly, for Cottingham, life has value and meaning beyond solely fulfilling God’s purpose. Nevertheless, while basic pleasures and desires might independently exist and have meaning, higher elements like moral virtue, crucial to life’s meaning, are contingent on God’s purpose.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Ahmadvand, A. & Naqibi, S. A. (2011). Fayd e Kashani: An Assorted Shi,i Scholar: The Collection of an International Congress of Fayd Kashani. Saarbrücken, Saarland: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.
Algar, H. (1999). Fayż-E Kāšānī, Mollā Moḥsen-Moḥammad. In Encyclopaedia Iranica. Original edition, Originally published December 15.
Alizamani, A. & Maryam Daryaniasl (2010). The Meaning of Life in Cottingham Viewpoint. in Comparative Theology, 1 (1): 97-108. (In Persian)
Corbin, H. (1977). Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth: from Mazdean Iran to Shī’ite Iran. Princeton University Press.
Cottingham, J. (2003). On the Meaning of Life. Routledge.
Cottingham, J. (2005). The Spiritual Dimension: Religion, Philosophy and Human Value, Cambridge University Press.
Cottingham, J. (2016). Meaningfulness, Eternity, and Theism. In God and Meaning, edited by Joshua W. Seachris and Stewart Goetz, 123-136. Bloomsbury Academic.
Eckhart, M. (2009). Sermons. In The Complete Mystical Works of Meister Eckhart, edited by M. O’C Walshe. The Crossroad Publishing Company.
Fārābī, Muḥammad bin Muḥammad. (1991). Al-Tanbīh ‘alā Sabīl al-Sa‘āda. edited by J. Āl Yāsīn. Hikmat. (in arabic)
Fārābī, Muḥammad bin Muḥammad. (1992). Al-A‘māl al-Falsafīya. edited by Ja‘far Āl Yāsīn. Hikmat. (in arabic)
Fayḍ Kāshānī, M. M. (1992a). Dah Risāle-yi Muḥaqqeq-i Bozorg Fayḍ Kāshānī (Ten Essays of the Grand Scholar Fayḍ Kāshānī). 1st ed., edited by R. Jafarian. Imam Amir al-Muminin Ali (a.s.) Center for Religious and Scientific Research. (In persian)
Fayḍ Kāshānī, M. M. (1992b). Mashwāq. In Dah Risāle-yi Muḥaqqeq-i Bozorg Fayḍ Kāshānī (Ten Essays of the Grand Scholar Fayḍ Kāshānī), edited by R. Jafarian, 237-273. Imam Amir al-Muminin Ali (a.s.) Center for Religious and Scientific Research. (In persian)
Fayḍ Kāshānī, M. M. (1992c). Ulfat Nāme. In Dah Risāle-yi Muḥaqqeq-i Bozorg Fayḍ Kāshānī (Ten Essays of the Grand Scholar Fayḍ Kāshānī), edited by R. Jafarian, 203-219. Imam Amir al-Muminin Ali (a.s.) Center for Religious and Scientific Research. (In persian)
Fayḍ Kāshānī, M. M. (2002a). Kullīyāt-i ʿAllāma Mullā Muḥammad Moḥsen Fayḍ Kāshānī (Complete Works of the Polymath Mullā Muḥammad Moḥsen Fayḍ Kāshānī). 4 vols. Vol. 2. edited by Mostafa Fayd Kashani. Osveh Publications. (In persian)
Fayḍ Kāshānī, M. M. (2002b). Kullīyāt-i ʿAllāma Mullā Muḥammad Moḥsen Fayḍ Kāshānī (Complete Works of the Polymath Mullā Muḥammad Moḥsen Fayḍ Kāshānī). 4 vols. Vol. 1. edited by Mostafa Fayd Kashani. Osveh Publications. (In persian)
Fayḍ Kāshānī, M. M. (2008). al-Kalimāt al-Maknūna. edited by Imami Kashani & A. Asghari. Madreseh-ye Ali-ye Shahid Motahhari. (In persian)
Fayḍ Kāshānī, M. M. (n.d). Dīwān-i Ashʿār. in Ganjoor: A Web Collection of Works by Persian Poets. https://ganjoor.net/feyz/divanz/ghazalz. (In persian)
Ibn ʿArabī, A. A. M. (2004). al-Risālat al-Wujūdiya. 1st ed. Dar Al-Kotob Al-ilmiyah. (In Arabic)
Ibn Sīnā, A. Ḥ. A. A. (2013). Ishārāt wa al-Tanbīhāt. Translated by H. Malekshahi. 2nd ed. 2. vols. Translation and Commentary. Vol. 1. edited by H. Malekshahi. Soroush Publication. (In persian)
Ibrahimi Dinani, G. 2018. Sharḥ-i Ustād Dīnānī bar Risālat al-Kalimāt al-Maknūna Mullā Muḥsin Fayḍ Kāshānī. edited by A. Esmaili & H. Karimabadi. Nur-e Sokhan. (In persian)
Jaʿfarī Tabrīzī, M. T. (2022). ʿIrfān-i Islāmī (Islamic Gnosticism). edited by A. Nasri. Islamic Culture Broadcasting Institute. (In persian)
Kamelan, M. S. (2008). Fayd Kashani’s Philosophical School. in Journal of Philosophical Theological Research, 9 (3): 19-39. https://doi.org/10.22091/pfk.2008.257. (In persian)
Lewisohn, L. (2007). The Heritage of Sufism: Late Classical Persianate Sufism (1501-1750): The Safavid & Mughal Teriod. 3 vols. Vol. 3. edited by L. Lewisohn & D. Morgan. Oneworld Publications.
Metz, T. (2023). The Meaning of Life. in The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2023/entries/life-meaning/.
Narāqī, M. A. (2012). Miʿrāj al-Saʿāda (Nocturnal Ascent of Bliss). Behnashr Publications. (In persian)
Nasr, S. H. (2006). Islamic Philosophy from its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy. Suny Press.
Nasr, S. H. & et al. (2015). The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary. Harper Collins Publishers.
Plato. (1997). Phaedrus. In Plato: Complete Works, edited by J. M. Cooper and D. S. Hutchinson. Hackett Publishing.
Plotinus. (2018). Plotinus: the Enneads. edited by Lloyd P. Gerson. Cambridge University Press.
Qayṣarī, D. M. (1978). Al-Tawḥīd wa al-Nubuwwat wa al-Wilāya. In Rasāʾil-i Qayṣarī, edited by M. R. Qumsheī & S. J. Ashtīānī, 1-42. Mashhad University Press. (In Arabic)
Rahbari Ghazani, R. & Davoodi Kahaki, R. (in press). Immortal Echoes in Mortal Words: ‘Love,’ ‘Attraction,’ and ‘Selflessness’ in Fayḍ Kāshānī’s Mystico-Philosophical Poetry. In Journal of Philosophical Theological Research. https://doi.org/10.22091/jptr.2024.10015.2966 (in Persian)
Rūmī, M. J. D. M. B. (1997). Kullīyyāt-i Shams Tabrīzī. 14th ed., edited by B. Furūzānfar. Amir Kabir Publications. (in persian)
Yasrebi, S. Y. (1991). Falsafe-yi ʿIrfān (Philosophy of Mysticism). Qum Islamic Preaching Center. (In persian)
Zargar, C. A. (2014). Revealing Revisions: Fayd al-Kāshānī’s Four Versions of al-Kalimāt al-Maknūna. Iranian Studies, 47 (2): 241-262. https://doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00210862.2013.860333. (in persian)
CAPTCHA Image