تجرد نفس از امکان فقری و حدود مرتبه ای آن (در حکمت متعالیه)

Abstract

In Mullā Ṣadrā's transcendent philosophy, beings—and especially the human soul—attain, through intensifying motion (ḥarakat ishtidādī), a station where no limit whatsoever, whether essential (quidditative) or gradational (hierarchical), can be ascribed to them. This limitlessness is termed "supra-incorporeity" (fawq al-tajarrud), wherein the soul becomes abstracted from matter and subsequently from quiddity itself. While this thesis constitutes one of Ṣadrā's innovations, this research demonstrates that a station beyond even this can be delineated for the soul in light of Transcendent Philosophy's foundational principles—a station wherein the soul, besides being abstracted from body, matter (whether material, imaginal, or intellectual), and quiddity, also becomes abstracted from imkān faqrī (ontological poverty or essential dependence), from hierarchical limits, and from all such determinations. It thereby attains the ultimate goal of existence through complete annihilation (fanāʾ al-tāmm) and obtains everlasting life and subsistence (baqāʾ) by virtue of the Divine Reality. This novel achievement, obtained through careful analysis of Mullā Ṣadrā's views and a fresh reading of his distinctive principles, advances the discourse on the soul's eschatological journey beyond previous interpretations.

Keywords: Soul, Supra-Incorporeity (Fawq al-Tajarrud), Ontological Poverty (Imkān Faqrī), Hierarchical Limits, Mullā Ṣadrā.

Introduction
In Islamic philosophy, the soul constitutes human identity, and Muslim philosophers concur on its incorporeity after death and separation from the body, though they differ on its modality. In Avicennan philosophy, only blessed souls attain intellectual incorporeity through connection with the Active Intellect. In Illuminationist philosophy, the souls of the perfect attain the imaginal realm without further intensification. In Transcendent Philosophy, Mullā Ṣadrā introduces "supra-incorporeity" (fawq al-tajarrud), wherein the soul becomes abstracted not only from matter but also from quiddity, such that its quiddity is its very ipseity. 
However, the central question is whether this supra-incorporeity constitutes the soul's final end. Given that the ultimate end is the Divine Reality itself, is abstraction from matter and quiddity sufficient for attaining Him? This research hypothesizes that it is not, for human determinations—above all selfhood (anāniyyah) and relational identity (ʿayn al-rabṭ)—remain, and attainment of the Divine is impossible without complete annihilation (fanāʾ al-tāmm). Mullā Ṣadrā himself considers the view that the soul is a simple reality as insufficient, maintaining that complete annihilation is necessary for supra-intellectual incorporeity. 
Thus, a station beyond ordinary incorporeity must be delineated for the soul. This research argues that Ṣadrā's final view on the soul's journey toward God transcends mere abstraction from matter and quiddity, encompassing instead abstraction from ontological poverty itself. The method employed is descriptive-analytical, drawing upon Ṣadrā's primary texts and their commentaries.
The Three Degrees of the Soul's Abstraction in Transcendent Philosophy
In Mullā Ṣadrā's transcendent philosophy, the human soul in its ascending journey toward God is conceived as having three degrees of abstraction. The first degree is abstraction from matter and body, wherein the soul separates from the physical body and its material accidents. The second degree is abstraction from quiddity—called the station of supra-abstraction (fawq al-tajarrud)—wherein the soul's quiddity becomes its very ipseity, and it no longer belongs to any category or genus. While these first two degrees have roots in the Islamic philosophical tradition, the third degree is introduced as the novel contribution of this research: abstraction from all gradational limits and ontological poverty (imkān faqrī), namely the relational and dependent mode of existence that characterizes all created beings. According to this view, not only human beings but all creatures—including animals, plants, and even inanimate objects—are freed from the limitations of their previous world in resurrection and the Hereafter, and by stripping away their determinations, they attain a new kind of manifestation and elaboration. This journey, which begins from intellect, imaginal world, and nature and returns to the imaginal and intellectual realms, is constantly accompanied by an increase in manifestation and detail, ultimately culminating in the encounter with God. However, the third degree, which is the central focus of the discussion, goes beyond these stages, and in it the soul is also stripped of its own contingency, poverty, and relational identity. 
This degree of abstraction is realized in the Great Resurrection and is accompanied by total annihilation, such that even the contingent and dependent identity of beings vanishes, and it can no longer be called a soul in the conventional sense except analytically and metaphorically. Mullā Ṣadrā invokes verses such as "There is no one in the heavens and earth but that he comes to the Most Merciful as a servant" (Q. 19:93) and "Each of them will come to Him on the Day of Resurrection alone" (Q. 19:95) to demonstrate this universal return, describing it as a return accompanied by servitude and individuation, which is impossible without the negation of everything other than God.

The Resurrection as Inner Reality, the Removal of Determinations, and the Encounter with God
In Mullā Ṣadrā's view, the Resurrection is an inner and esoteric reality, and when outward veils collapse, the truths of things become manifest. By appealing to the blast of the trumpet, he holds that in the Great Resurrection, no determination or selfhood—whether of matter, quiddity, or even poverty and relation—remains, and at that moment, the questioner and the answerer become one, and pure unity alone appears. Hence, the essence of the Great Resurrection is the removal of all determinations, and this is the very total annihilation that paves the way for everlasting subsistence. 
This view is founded upon two fundamental principles in Sadrian philosophy: the primacy of existence (aṣālat al-wujūd) and the personal unity of existence, meaning that if existence is exclusively confined to God, then creatures are nothing but manifestations and aspects of His essence, and their return to God is the return of manifestation to the Manifestor and the removal of determinations, rather than the return of an independent and separate entity. Moreover, in this philosophical framework, returning to God is a return to the primordial nature and original non-existence, which is achieved through the removal of selfhood and egoity, and this is a universal matter that encompasses all beings. 
In this process, determinations—including selfhood—are regarded as acquired and accidental, not identical with existence, and thus in the ascending path they are returned one after another to their true owner, so that the soul, like a polished mirror, is cleansed of every form and image, and in it the face of God becomes manifest. This is the realization of "Return to your Lord" (Q. 89:28), in which the soul, by giving back all borrowings, attains a state of without-selfhood in which no accidental egoity remains, and it becomes nothing but a mirror for divine manifestation.
The encounter with God (liqāʾ Allāh) in this intellectual system is neither a figurative reward or punishment nor the mere observation of divine effects, but rather the genuine manifestation of monotheism and the return of the outward to the inward, and of form to meaning. When the soul is emptied of all determinations, even its own ontological poverty, it attains annihilation in monotheism, which is itself identical to everlasting subsistence, and this encounter occurs in the domain of knowledge and through the removal of veils. Thus, the end of this journey is identical to its beginning, for both the origin and the finality are God Almighty, and at this stage, pure monotheism is revealed, and "To Us they shall return" (Q. 21:93) is realized in its true sense.

Conclusion
This research goes beyond incorporeity from matter and quiddity, proposing a novel theory according to which supra-incorporeity in Sadrian philosophy means "incorporeity from essential poverty (imkān faqrī) and hierarchical limits." Analysis of Mullā Ṣadrā's texts demonstrates that the soul's intensifying journey, through the gradual removal of determinations—especially selfhood (anāniyyah) and relational identity (ʿayn al-rabṭ)—leads to complete annihilation (fanāʾ al-tāmm) in the station of the Divine Reality. In this domain, the soul is purified from every determination and essential poverty. The attainment of this station occurs in the Great Resurrection, which is complete annihilation, the encounter with God (liqāʾ Allāh), and permanence through God (baqāʾ bi'llāh). 
This station is not exclusive to humans but occurs for all beings in their universal return to their origin. The findings underscore the importance of distinguishing between different degrees of abstraction in Sadrian philosophy and recognizing that the soul's ultimate end is not merely intellectual perfection but complete annihilation in the Divine Reality, which alone guarantees everlasting subsistence.

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