The Illuminationist Theory of Emanation and its Influences on

Historians of philosophy, theologians, and many sages have pointed out that one of the objectives of the theory of emanation is to explain the relation between God and the creatures, and the process of the emanation of multitude from unity. From among Muslim philosophers it was Farabi, and then Ibn Sina, who first theorized about this issue. Sohrawardi criticized the peripatetic approach, and came up with a new model of the theory of emanation in which he accepted the core structure of Ibn Sina’s theory while adding new elements and basing it on a different footings. This new plan has influenced Mulla Sadra.The author in this article tries to show that Mulla Sadra has been influenced by the Illumationist theory of emanation in at least four areas: a) taking objective aspects into consideration in explaining the emanation of multiplicity from unity; b) rejecting the delimitation of intellects in ten; c) accepting latitudinal intellects; d) employing the principle of the possibility of the nobler in explaining the emanation system.