The Explanation of the Knowledge of the Soul, from Alāme Tābatabāi's Viewpoint

One of the most fundamental issues in practical mysticism is "the intuitive knowledge of the soul". Philosophers and gnostics have long focused their attention on the knowledge of the soul. Perhaps, the roots of the issue can be found in Socrate's works. Socrates always emphasized on the well-known sentence:" Know yourself". Philosophers after him, from Aristotle to al- Farabi, Avicenna (Ibn sina) Suhrawardi, MirDāmād, Mulla Sadrā, Mulla Hādi Sabzevāri, and `Allāme Tabātabāi, have specifically discussed the issue in their works. The main question of this research is whether man can intuitively attain all stages and ranks of his existence to arrire at virtue? And what is the way to achieve this favorite aim? The method of the research is rational-analytical.Inspired by gnostic basic principles and his own personal experience in "the intuitive knowledge of the soul", ‘Allame Tābatabai, has proposed a systematic explanation of the knowledge of the soul. To sum up, the present paper is an effort to reinvestigate and reexamine ‘Allāme's viewpoint. Furthermore, in the light of the works of the gnostics "the stages of knowledge of the soul" are explained, which are divided into four stages: "imaginal", "rational", annihilation in God" and “spiritual sobriety after self-effacement” (Sahw bad almahw)