Self-knowledge as a Hermeneutic Category in Baba Afzal Kashani's Thoughts

Self-knowledge is considered as the essence and heart of Baba Afzal Kashani’s philosophy and the basis of his contemplations. Unlike his predecessors such as wise men, mystics and scholars who believed that self-knowledge is the only advice for practical conduct, Baba Afzal is of the opinion that seeking genuine theoretical knowledge is also dependent thereupon. He believes that all those who intend to acquire knowledge through their outer dimension will go astray; therefore, their knowledge will not be valid. He argues that soul and wisdom, which he deems to be the highest grade of the soul, are the source for distinguishing between existence and non-existence and he believes that knowledge means to discover oneself. On the other hand, discovering oneself, according to the existing balance and correspondence between the microcosm and the macrocosm, will lead to discover the universe. This progress from oneself toward the universe is subject to achieving or in fact understanding of uniqueness and unity among wisdom, wise and reasonable. Eventually, having formed a hermeneutic circle between this general and limited knowledge of oneself and that of the universe, one will return to oneself and understand that whatever he was seeking for exists in his soul. One might analogize the hermeneutic circle among knowledge of oneself and the universe and returning to oneself to a spiral route that the more one follow, the deeper knowledge will be acquired.