نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسنده English
Typically, two main paths and methods are spoken of for discovering the truths of existence: the mystical method and the philosophical method. The philosophical method relies on reasoning (taʿaqqul), while the mystical method relies on intuition/intellectual vision (shuhūd). It is usually said that these are two separate paths to "knowledge" (shenākht). "Philosophical knowledge" is acquired (ḥuṣūī) and conceptual, in contrast to mystical knowledge, which is presential/presentative (ḥuẓūrī). This classification originates from philosophers, and these terms indicate the influence of the philosophical discourse on the discussion of mysticism. This perspective inadvertently leads to the interpretation that the outcome and purpose of mysticism is knowledge, albeit a superior kind of knowledge. However, firstly, the aim of the spiritual wayfarer (sālik) is beyond mere knowledge. Secondly, even concerning knowledge, it must be said that at the ultimate stage of his mystical journey, the wayfarer is annihilated (mustahlak) in the Divine Truth (Ḥaqq), and the Divine Truth encompasses his entire being; no knowing subject remains for it to be said that his attainments were of an acquired or presential nature. Yet, our familiarity with this classification and considering both as "knowledge" may unintentionally lead to the assumption that the difference between the mystic (ʿārif) and the philosopher (filsūf) lies only in their method of knowing. This expression directs and confines the listener's mind to the realm of knowledge and distances it from the various types of difference. Mystical practice leads to profound existential transformations, only one of which is a difference in the mode of knowing; and even in this case, the term "knowledge" is neither sufficient nor adequate to express the purpose.
This article points to the various types of differences between the mystic and the philosopher to clarify the differences in the starting point of the spiritual path or reasoning, its ultimate goal and purpose, and the method of attaining it. It demonstrates that the difference is far more profound than what the expression "difference in the mode of knowing" suggests to the mind.
کلیدواژهها English
