Abstract

The concern to grant meaning to life is rooted in two basic aspects of man's existence: awareness and free will. When questioning the meaning of life, the word meaning refers to three concepts: purpose of life, value of life, and the function of life. The word "life" refers to human life as distinct from animal life. The meaning of life has been expressed based on various theories and approaches from among which the two groups of naturalist and God-oriented theories are considered to be the most important ones. Islamic philosophers, particularly Mulla Sadra, explain the meaning of life following a God-oriented approach. In this approach, God is the basis and the necessary condition of life's meaningfullness. Accordingly and based on the principle of the trans-substantial motion in Mulla Sadra, the human soul can attain the meaning and perfection of life. In his philosophy, God is the only origin of meaning and, unlike some naturalists, he believes that no natural condition and incident can contradict this source and origin of meaning. The purpose of this paper is to provide an answer to the question of the meaning of life and introducing God as the only basis and source of meaning in Mulla Sadra's philosophy