The Procedure of Revelation and Miracle in Ibn Sina's Psychology

Ibn Sina's analysis of the process of revelation is a fundamental one which had a strong influence on the later thinkers. He sees the rational soul as the criterion which distinguishes human being from others. He also sees the revelation as a kind of knowledge. So he must show how the soul can reach this kind of knowledge by its faculties. He says that revelation is not simply the descent of the angel or a dialogue between God and the prophet. It is the product of the ascent of the prophet's soul to the sacred realm. In this process, first the completed reasoning faculty of the prophet becomes attached to the Active Intellect and receives the general meanings. Then his imagination faculty becomes able to descend and make these general meanings as sensory and imaginary forms, keeping their original existence and their similarities. In this way the prophet can hear the divine words and see the angles. Another important issue in this relation is miracle. According to Ibn Sina, miracle is not restricted to the extraordinary acts of the prophets. Revelation itself is a kind of miracle. So miracle is one of the elements of the prophethood which can be analysed philosophically.