Analyzing the Principles of the Speech Act "لَیْسَ کَمِثْلِهِ شَیْءٌ" (There Is Nothing Like Unto Him, Q. 42: 11) in Sadrian Thought

Document Type : Original Article

Author

• Fatima Farz Ali

Assistant Professor, Department of Theological Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

10.22067/epk.2025.89896.1369

Abstract

In the fields of ontology and theology in the document of fundamental evolution of education, paying attention to the implications of monotheistic discourse, especially in the matter of education, holds special significance. This article, based on the thoughts of Ṣadr al-Muti'allihīn and his followers, analyzes the foundational aspects of a comprehensive speech act derived from the blessed verse "لَیْسَ کَمِثْلِهِ شَیْءٌ" Q. 42: 11 for the thematic teaching of the verse. Various perspectives from linguists and exegetists regarding this Quranic phrase, particularly concerning the "کَ" (kāf) in "کَمِثْلِهِ," have been presented. Some consider the "kāf" to be superfluous, while others do not, and some interpret "مِثل" (methl) in its non-literal sense. From the specific thoughts of Mullā Ṣadrā and his followers, as well as from the continuation of the aforementioned verse, it appears that the "kaf" is not superfluous, and by examining the explicit and complex speech act in the mentioned verse—according to monotheistic principles—one can attribute similarity to the Divine essence; thus, it can be understood as: "His similar has no similar"; because, contrary to the Peripatetic philosophical system that counts ten intellects as intermediaries in creation, Mullā Ṣadrā believes in the creation of a perfect unitary expansive and all-pervading manifestation known as "the truth through which things are created" (ḥaq makhlụqun bih). Therefore, based on the rule of one (qāʿida al-wāḥid), the individual unity of existence, the truth through which things are created, the phrase "[هو] الظاهر و الباطن" ([He is] the Manifest and the Hidden, Q. 57: 3) as well as the second part of the aforementioned verse "هُوَ السَّمِیعُ الْبَصِیرُ" (and He is the All-hearing, the All-seeing, Q. 42:11), one can explain that unitary manifestation and thus prove a kind of similarity. This article has been conducted with a speech act approach and through a qualitative thematic analysis of the bases.

Keywords

• speech act
• the rule of one
• the truth through which things are created
• the Manifest and the Hidden
• similarity

Main Subjects

• Islamic Philosophy and Kalam

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