The Issue of Invocation in the Thought of Ibn Arabi and Mullasadra

As one of the highest divine issues، invocation has been always at the center of man’s attention and each person has paid attention to the meaning of invocation and the relative issues commensurate with his intrinsic poverty. Contemplation on the works of philosophers and mystics such as Mullasadra and Ibn Arabi foregrounds the importance of this issue in the view of the two thinkers. With his philosophical attitude، Mullasadra explains the significance of invocation، the conditions of its granting and influential factors in it، and Ibn Arabi has discussed this issue with his mystical taste in Fosus al-Hikam as well as other works. The expressing of poverty، humbleness and submission before God are common conditions for the granting of invocation in their views. According to them، the person’s intentional asking from God can lead to the acceptance of invocation. In the view of Mullasadra، the relation between invocation and “decree and destiny” as well as “cause and effect system” is one of the influential factors in the granting of invocation and this matter is absent in the works of Ibn Arabi. On the other hand، with his mystical taste، Ibn Arabi has proposed various kinds of divine gifts and stages of granting; an issue not present in the works of Mullasadra.