Sadr al-Din Muhammad Shirazi (1572-1640), more commonly called Mullā Sadra, was one of the grand scholars of later-period Islamic philosophy and has grown to become one of the best-known Muslim philosophers.
Iksir al-'arifin
, or
Elixir of the Gnostics
, is unique among Sadra's writings in that it reworks and amplifies an earlier Persian work, the
Jawidan-nama
(
Book of the Everlasting
) by Afdal al-Din Kashani, or Baba Afdal.
The underlying theme of Sadra's amplification is emblematic of Muslim philosophy: the importance of self-knowledge in an individual's journey of "Origin and Return," the soul's origins with God and its eventual return to Him. Everything, Sadra says, is on such a path, gradually disengaging from the material world and returning to a transcendent essence—all leading to a final fruition in which everything in the universe returns to God and finds permanent happiness. Philosophy, Sadra argues, is the most direct means to self-knowledge—and thus the best tool for navigating this journey.