The Role of Imagination in the Istikmal (Perfection) of the Soul from the Perspective of Sayyid Haydar Amoli

Qomi Avili, Leila; Safaei Asl, Mahdi

doi:10.22059/jcis.2025.385098.1399

The Role of Imagination in the Istikmal (Perfection) of the Soul from the Perspective of Sayyid Haydar Amoli

Articles in Press

Document Type : Scholary

Authors

Leila Qomi Avili ¹
Mahdi Safaei Asl ²

¹ Corresponding author, Student of Al-Zahra University (peace be upon her),Qom, Iran,

² Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, College of Farabi, University of Tehran, Qom, Iran, Email: safaei.a@ut.ac.ir

10.22059/jcis.2025.385098.1399

Abstract

The human soul represents an extended reality from earth to heaven, capable of mirroring the Divine. Imagination plays a crucial role in connecting with separate archetypes, significantly contributing to the advancement of the soul. These separate archetypes serve as external realities and mirrors reflecting spiritual truths, allowing individuals to perceive and engage with abstract concepts through their imagination. Sayyid Haydar Amoli is a distinguished Shiite mystic whose insights into soul perfection resonate with the renewal of archetypes and their attainment. His perspective on imagination's role and its potential to guide the soul toward happiness or despair can be understood through an ontological lens within his writings. This study utilizes a descriptive-analytical approach alongside library research to examine Sayyid Haydar's views on imagination's role in perfecting the soul, underscoring its importance. Imagination serves as a philosophical bridge between both tangible and intangible realms, where abstract concepts are interpreted through sensory experience and vice versa. The perfection of the soul via connected imagination unfolds across three dimensions: perceptual understanding through observation and reflection on reality; emotional engagement by shaping desires, clarifying goals, and intentions, and pursuing new heights; and manifesting entities in the external world through Hemmat or focused imaginative effort.

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