The First Emanation and the Method of Justifying Multiplicity according to Ibn Sina, Ibn ʿArabi and Mullā Ṣadrā, with Emphasis on their Most Famous Views

Ibn Sina considers the first being in the world to be the first intellect, which issues from the Necessary Being on the basis of the principle, ‘Only one issues from that which is one in all respects’, and through the different aspects of which all other beings come into existence. Ibn ‘Arabi rejects the basis of Ibn Sina’s theory of the first emanation, which is the above mentioned principle, and his method of justifying multiplicity. Rather, on the basis of mystical insight he attributes the emanation of multiplicity to the Divine Names and Qualities. In his view the first being in the world is the manifestation of the Divine Name ‘al-Raḥmān’ (the All Merciful), which contains within itself all of the multiplicity of the world, and through its extension and unfolding (sarayān wa inbisāṭ) is the cause of their manifestation. Mulla Sadra, who was influenced by Ibn ‘Arabi, considers the first being of the world to be the manifestation of the Divine Reality. However, Mulla Ṣadrā’s perspective is different from that of Ibn ‘Arabi in the way that he describes the unfolding of multiplicity after the first intellect. As he sees it, multiplicity is not a result of the veils of the levels of being but springs from the various aspects which exist in the intellects.