Dynamic Nature of Human Being in the Shadow of Substantial Movement

Among all creatures, human being has been the focus of scholar, philosophers and mystics` attention and they have sought to understand human existential dimensions and have described the human spirit as God`s manifestation of essence, attributes and actions; on this basis, one`s knowledge of human soul has been known as a necessary ground for one`s knowledge of God and one of the ways for knowing God. Meanwhile, Sadr al-Muta'llihin has introduced man as a comprehensive elemental version of all the worlds, and viewed man`s rational soul to be his/her reality and capable of becoming a holy soul. This theist philosopher believes that the essence of this creature is not fully recognizable because, according to the theory of substantial movement, the soul is constantly changing and transforming, and this becoming and turning is in process instance to instance toward its final end. One, therefore, cannot consider a stable and fixed essence for it. So obviously, it is very difficult to recognize the true essence of such a creature that does not stop in a particular order and is constantly evolving and developing; it is the fact leading to different perspectives. Since, however, it is necessary for each movement to have an end and a direction, human soul, regardless of its being of no fixed essence, has its own end as high degree and indiyat. In this paper, with an analytical and descriptive method, we examine the dynamic reality of human being in the light of substantial movement and its being an example for God as understood in philosophical system of Mulla Sadra