چکیده مبسوط

(Extended Abstract)

 1)      Introduction

The issue of divine speech (kalām al-ilāhī) has long been one of the central and controversial discussions in Islamic theology and philosophy. Muslim theologians differed significantly over the nature of divine speech, particularly regarding whether it is eternal or created, verbal or internal. The Mu‘tazilites regarded divine speech as created sounds and letters brought into existence by God, whereas the Ash‘arites defended the doctrine of eternal “internal speech” (kalām nafsī) subsisting in the divine essence. These debates shaped major theological controversies in Islamic intellectual history and produced far-reaching philosophical consequences.

Within this context, Mullā Ṣadrā introduced a fundamentally different interpretation by integrating philosophy, mysticism, and Qur’anic theology into a unified ontological framework. In Transcendent Philosophy (al-Ḥikmah al-Muta‘āliyah), divine speech is no longer understood merely as verbal articulation or as an internal mental meaning. Rather, it is interpreted as an existential manifestation of divine knowledge and will unfolding throughout the levels of being. According to Mullā Ṣadrā, the first divine speech is the creative command “Kun” (“Be”), through which the cosmos comes into existence. Consequently, the world itself becomes the manifestation of divine words and the unfolding of the “creative word” (kalimat al-takwīn).

The main problem of this study is therefore to explain the reality of divine speech in Mullā Ṣadrā’s philosophy and to clarify its relationship with existence and the hierarchical structure of being. The central question is: how does Mullā Ṣadrā conceptualize divine speech within his ontological system, and in what sense can the cosmos be understood as the manifestation of divine creative words? The novelty of this article lies in presenting an ontological rereading of Ṣadrian theology of divine speech, analyzing the hierarchical structure of creative and legislative speech, and critically evaluating the methodological role of analogical reasoning in Ṣadrā’s explanation of this theory.

2)      Methodology

This research employs a descriptive–analytical method grounded in philosophical and theological textual analysis. Primary Ṣadrian sources, particularly works such as al-Asfār al-Arba‘ah, al-Mabda’ wa al-Ma‘ād, Sharḥ Uṣūl al-Kāfī, and other writings attributed to Mullā Ṣadrā, constitute the main textual basis of the study. In addition, classical theological sources representing Mu‘tazilite, Ash‘arite, and Imāmī perspectives are comparatively examined in order to situate Ṣadrā’s theory within the broader history of Islamic thought.

The study proceeds in three stages. First, it reconstructs the historical and conceptual background of divine speech in Greek, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, especially the concept of Logos and its theological transformations. Second, it analyzes the major theological interpretations of divine speech among Islamic schools, focusing on the doctrines of created speech, eternal internal speech, and the Imāmī understanding of divine action. Third, it investigates Mullā Ṣadrā’s ontological interpretation of divine speech through the principles of the primacy of existence (aṣālat al-wujūd), gradation of being (tashkīk al-wujūd), and existential manifestation.

The article also adopts a critical methodological perspective by examining Ṣadrā’s use of analogical and symbolic reasoning, especially his employment of “analogy between the visible and the unseen” (qiyās al-ghā’ib ‘alā al-shāhid). The aim is not only to explain Ṣadrā’s theory but also to evaluate the philosophical coherence and methodological implications of his arguments.

3)      Discussion & Results

The findings of this study demonstrate that Mullā Ṣadrā transformed the discussion of divine speech from a theological debate concerning attributes into a comprehensive ontological doctrine. Unlike the Mu‘tazilites, who reduced divine speech to created sounds, and unlike the Ash‘arites, who identified it with eternal internal meanings, Ṣadrā interpreted divine speech as the existential disclosure of divine knowledge and will within the cosmos.

A major result of this research is that Ṣadrā conceives divine speech as inseparable from existence itself. The command “Kun” is not merely a linguistic expression but the existential principle through which beings emerge into reality. Therefore, the cosmos is understood as the unfolding of divine speech across multiple ontological levels. In this framework, every creature becomes a “word” of God, and the universe itself functions as a vast metaphysical text expressing divine realities.

The study further reveals that Mullā Ṣadrā classifies divine speech into three interconnected levels. The first is the supreme speech (al-kalām al-a‘lā), corresponding to the realm of creative origination and identified with the universal reality of the Perfect Human and the First Intellect. The second is intermediate speech (al-kalām al-mutawassiṭ), associated with the ontological order of causality and cosmic determination. The third is lower or legislative speech (al-kalām al-adnā), manifested in revelation, scripture, and prophetic law. This hierarchical structure reflects Ṣadrā’s broader metaphysics of graded existence.

Another important finding concerns the notion of the “creative word” (kalimat al-takwīn). Ṣadrā interprets it as the comprehensive reality of existence itself, often identified with the “expanded being” (al-wujūd al-munbasit) or the “Breath of the Merciful” (nafas al-raḥmān). The creative word is not a particular entity among others but the all-encompassing existential reality through which all beings appear. Thus, all multiplicity is ultimately rooted in a single ontological source.

The article also demonstrates that Ṣadrā’s theory bears conceptual similarities to the Greek and Christian notion of Logos while remaining firmly grounded in Islamic metaphysics and Qur’anic revelation. His interpretation of the world as divine speech establishes a profound relationship between ontology, cosmology, revelation, and anthropology. In this perspective, the Qur’an as “written speech” and the cosmos as “creative speech” are parallel manifestations of the same divine reality.

At the methodological level, however, the study identifies certain tensions in Ṣadrā’s use of analogy and symbolic reasoning. Although Ṣadrā criticizes Ash‘arite analogical arguments, he himself frequently employs symbolic parallels between human speech and divine creative activity. While these analogies function primarily as explanatory tools rather than strict demonstrations, they may blur the distinction between metaphorical illustration and philosophical proof. This issue does not invalidate Ṣadrā’s theory, but it highlights the need for greater methodological precision in interpreting his arguments.

4)      Conclusion

This study concludes that Mullā Ṣadrā’s interpretation of divine speech represents one of the most sophisticated ontological reformulations of the concept in Islamic intellectual history. By grounding divine speech in the metaphysics of existence, Ṣadrā transcends the limitations of earlier theological approaches and provides a unified framework connecting divine attributes, cosmology, revelation, and existential manifestation.

In Ṣadrā’s thought, divine speech is neither reducible to sounds and letters nor confined to eternal mental meanings. Rather, it is the existential self-disclosure of God within the hierarchy of being. The command “Kun” signifies the ontological principle of creation, and the universe itself becomes the manifestation of divine creative words. Through this interpretation, the cosmos is transformed into a meaningful ontological text reflecting divine wisdom and presence.

The research further shows that Ṣadrā’s hierarchical understanding of divine speech—creative, ontological, and legislative—allows for a comprehensive reconciliation between philosophical reasoning, mystical insight, and scriptural theology. His concept of the creative word as the all-encompassing reality of existence provides an original Islamic reinterpretation of metaphysical mediation comparable, though not identical, to the doctrine of Logos.

At the same time, the study emphasizes that Ṣadrā’s methodological reliance on analogical and symbolic reasoning deserves further critical examination. While such methods successfully facilitate metaphysical understanding, they may also introduce ambiguities regarding the epistemological status of philosophical arguments.

Ultimately, Mullā Ṣadrā’s theory of divine speech opens new horizons for understanding the relationship between God, existence, revelation, and the cosmos. It demonstrates how Islamic philosophy can reinterpret classical theological problems within a broader ontological and metaphysical vision and thus continues to offer significant resources for contemporary philosophical and theological reflection.