Time, perpetuity, and eternity. Mir Damad's theory of perpetual creation and the trifold division of existence: An analysis of 'Kitab Al-Qabasat: The Book of Blazing Brands'

The subject of this study is Mir Damad's theory of perpetual creation and the trifold division of existence into time, perpetuity, and eternity, as explained in Damad's greatest philosophical work, Kitab al-Qabasat, which he completed about six years before his death. Mir Damad (d. 1631) was one of the founders of the "School of Is&dotbelow;fahan," a term used to describe the group of Islamic philosophers who contributed to the philosophical renaissance that blossomed under the S&dotbelow;afavid dynasty in early seventeenth century Iran. Mir Damad was the teacher of one of Iran's best known philosophers, Mulla S&dotbelow;adra. Unlike his student, who has been the subject of numerous books and articles in European languages, Mir Damad is less well known, and of his many works only al-Qabasat has been critically edited. Given the importance of Mir Damad as one of the greatest philosophers of the S&dotbelow;afavid Renaissance, who is known for his unique contributions to the study of time and creation, this first full-length study and analysis of al-Qabasat fills a gap in the academic literature on the period and will help to make Mir Damad's thought better understood and appreciated in the West.; In al-Qabasat, Mir Damad sets out to demonstrate on the basis of Peripatetic principles that the universe as a whole, in both its immaterial and material dimensions, is created and preceded by real non-existence, not in time, but at the level of perpetuity, which is a domain that, encompasses and causes time. He takes this position against both the philosophers who adovcated the eternity of the world and the theologians who advocated its creation in time. In this dissertation, the historical background of the debate over the universe's creation versus its eternity is first introduced. Each stage of Mir Damad's demonstration, which actually consists of a series of demonstrations, as it occurs in the first seven chapters of al-Qabasat is then explained and analyzed, after which selected subsidiary topics introduced by Mir Damad in the last three chapters of al-Qabasat are presented and explained. My contention is that Mir Damad succeeds in demonstrating, on rational grounds, the need for a perpetual dimension existing between time and eternity where the perpetual creation of all contingent existents takes place. He does not succeed, however, in proving the creation of the prime matter of the universe.