A Critical Analysis of Ḥakīm Gharawī Isfahānī’s View of the Levels of Divine Manifestations

One of the epistemological innovations of Ḥakīm Gharawī Isfahānī entails his gnostic and intuitive approach in practice and theory. Based on the fundamental principles of the Transcendent Philosophy, Muḥaqqiq Isfahānī has proposed an innovative view regarding the levels of the determinations and manifestations of Almighty Truth. He emphasizes the “graded unity of existence” instead of the “individual unity of existence”, “copulative existence and illuminative relation” instead of “manifestations and epiphanies”, and “simple truth and pure existence” instead of “absoluteness of the source of division”. Ḥakīm Isfahānī introduces three specifications for the truth of existence: the “negatively conditioned” level of non-existential limits or pure existence, the level of “non-conditioned” from contingent limits or holy blessing, and the level of “conditioned-by-something” in the sense of the act of Almighty Truth. This division is different from the related division in theoretical gnosis. In this study, the author initially analyzes the levels of manifestations in the view of Muḥaqqiq Isfahānī and then evaluates them.