TRANSCENDENT WISDOM (AL-HIKMAT AL-MUṬA‘ĀLIYAH) IN DĀWŪD AL-QAYṢARĪ AND SADR AL-DĪN SHIRĀZĪ

MAHMUT MEÇİN

ABSTRACT

Tis study compares the philosophical thought of Dāwūd al-Kāyserī and Sadr al-Dīn
Shirazī, which they call Transcendent Wisdom (al-Hikmat al-Muṭa‘āliyah). Dāwūd
al-Kāyserī, who is considered one of the leading representatives of the Suf tradition in
the Islamic world, has an important place in shaping the philosophical and mystical
thought and has influenced many thinkers of the following generation, especially
Mullā Sadrā. Sadr al-Dīn Shirāzī, known as Mullā Sadrā, is considered to be one of the
rare philosophers who established a system with an original and bold synthesis-based
perspective that gave a new impetus to Islamic philosophy in the 17th century. With
this important achievement, Sadrā not only occupies a unique place in the history of
Iranian thought but also has a global value that transcends the borders of the country.
In this study, based on the idea that Hikmat al-Muṭa‘āliyah is the name of a third
school alongside the two main schools of Islamic philosophy, namely Peripateticism
and Illuminationism, it will be emphasized that this school is not the discovery of
a new truth, but a new interpretation of the same truth that has always existed and
will always exist. Te meaning attributed to this concept by Dāwūd al-Kāyserī, who
is considered to be one of the frst to use this name in his works, will be revealed.
Ten, Hikmat al-Muṭa‘āliyah, which has been identifed with Molla Sadrâ’s effort to
establish a unique philosophical system, will be looked at from another perspective.
Finally, by comparing the thoughts of the two scholars, the similarities and differences
between their readings of Hikmat al-Muṭa‘āliyah will be tried to be determined. Te
aim of the study is to compare the understanding of Hikmat al-Muṭa‘āliyah as the
representatives of eternal wisdom in their own periods of two famous fgures who
have an important place in the tradition of philosophical and mystical thought.