دیباچہ ترجمان اسرار

Abstract

Gnosis has three dimensions; knowing this universe, its Creator and the self. Modern man who is engaged in material world has forgotten his real status and resultantly is lacking the knowledge of self and his creator too. When Iqbal thought about the gnosis of self he differed from the vision of Greek philosophers that the reason is the essence of being. He said that action not the reason is the essence and reality of being. Life is the urge of creation. It is the objectivity and action which makes the life manifest. Consequently the perceptible is of the same or of more significance than imperceptible in the thought of Iqbal. Iqbal negated the philosophy of Plato and also criticized the approach of inaction which was common in his contemporary mystical circles. However, it is unworthy that when Iqbal criticized Plato in his Asrar-e-Khudi, he took the philosophy and thought of Plato partially. The life of Plato shows that he was not preacher of passivity, but he was an active person engaged in reformation of his society. When Iqbal was developing his concepts of Khudi, he was aware of the concepts of his contemporary thinkers about the human self. He was inspired by them and sometimes he criticized them too. A detailed study of Asrar-e-Khudi shows that Iqbal's concept of Absolute-self, his interpretation of Plato's concepts and even his dreams about human self are different from our tradition.