A Critical Study of Fayyad Lahiji s View of the Gnostic Oneness of Being

One of the most important issues in theoretical gnosis which gnostics have tried to explain in the light of gnostic principles is the oneness of being. Nevertheless, the basic problem here is the demonstration of this gnostic theory. Fayyad Lahiji, one of the most prominent Shi‘ite mutikalimun and philosophers, initially advanced certain criticisms against the theory of the oneness of being based on the principles of the Peripatetic philosophy, then equated it with the graded oneness of being in the Transcendent Philosophy, and finally provided a philosophical kalami critique of Muhaqqiq Dawani’s theory in this regard. The present study indicates that Lahiji’s criticisms of the theory of the oneness of being were rooted in his ignorance of the related gnostic principles and the fact that the gradedness of being is different from the oneness of being in the view of gnostics. Hence, one cannot equate the oneness of being with the gradedness of being. Dawani’s theory also suffers from confusing the meanings of shared gnostic/philosophical and kalami terminology with each other.