Abstract

existence/ wujud is one of the most important issues, which may be discussed comparatively and analyzed historically, existence/wujud is the most important philosophical issue in the Muslim world. Mulla Sadra's answer to the question of existence /wujud differs from that of Ibn - Sina and Aristotle. Ibn - Sina's opinion concerning existence/wujud is based on the principle of the distinction between existence/ wujud and quiddity. The word which has, in Ibn - Sina's ontology, a pivotal role is the existent, not the ess/wujud. He accepts the ess/wujud as a metaphysical element differing from quiddity; dividing the existent into the necessary and the possible, he propounded the concept of the existent due to its being kind to the existent itself. He asserts that what may be divided into the necessary and the possible is the concept of the existent which may be essential or non-essential.The transition from the existent to the ess/wujud forms the core of Mulla Sadra's philosophy. He lays the foundation of his metaphysics on the primacy of existence, and constantly places stress on the necessity of differentiating between the two concepts of existence/ wujud, that is the existent which is the second phiJosophical intellect and theobjective external truth of existence/ wujud which may he conceived by the immediate knowledge.Unlike Ibn - Sina, Mulla Sadra passing from the existent to the existence does no longer claim that the fusion of existence/wujud and quiddity is the criterion for the possible necessity and its distinction from the necessary. Instead of essential possibility, he introduces the contingent possibility and instead of the difference between the possible and the necessary, which refer to both beings, he introduces the distinction between the stages of the truth of existence. He does not believe that the distinction between quiddity and the division of the existent into the necessary and the possible is sufficient for explaining the universe. He uses this principle, that is the primacy of existence/wujud over the quiddity as the cornerstone of ontological proof in his philosophy. Thus, he breathes the spirit of Ibn - Sina's philosophy in the primacy of existence/wujud. On this basis, the definition he gives of God differs from that of Farabi or Ibn - Sina. According to Mulla Sadra who believes in the primacy of existence, to be essential is not just to be through one's essence. For the obligatoriness of existence, in addition to being true and having no determinative dignity and intermediary for accidents, one must be needless of etiological dignity. According to this world vision, the relation between the Creator and the existent changes totally and the philosopher faces a newer and deeper outlook in this regard. What is regarded as all other than God are but the manners and manifestations of absolute being as a personal affair.In studying the issues concerning the truth of wujud/existence, Mulla Sadra expounds his theories of nature and offers a new theory on essence, accident, matter and form which simultaneously resolves the issue of time and trans-substantial motion. It is in the light of the trans-substantial motion that he offers a new philosophy on natural matters, and metaphysics including the temporal createdness of the universe, the relation between the changeable and the fixed, the creation of the world, the continual creation, the relation between the soul and the body, the resurrection of the body and other matters relating to resurrection.The present article attempts to explain the difference between the fundamental principle in the ontology of Ibn - Sina and Mulla Sadra; it is, in fact, a short study of the important topics gaining a new identity in the light of Mulla Sadra's theory on existence. The most important points taken into consideration in the present study, consist of three parts: the first part attempts to substantiate the point that the pivotal word in Mulla Sadra's ontology is existence/wujud, not the existent and that the transition from the existent to the is the specific attribute of the transcendent theosophy. In the second part, the essential possibility is explained as the most fundamental principle in Mulla Sadra's main changes compared to the distinction between existence/wujud and the quiddity in Ibn - Sina's philosophy. The third part studies the related philosophical corollaries to the essential possibility and their differences from Ibn - Sina's philosophy.