Ikseer al 'Arifeen (The Elixir of The Gnostics) - Book Notes
INTRODUCTION This short article is based on the English translation of the Arabic book Ikseer Al 'Arifeen (The Elixir of the Gnostics). Ikseer Al 'Arifeen is one of the works of the great Muslim scholar and philosopher, Sadr Al Din Muhammad Shirazi (1572 - 1640), commonly known as Mulla Sadra. The English translation was carried out by William C. Chittick and the book is available as a parallel Arabic-English text. We feel that it is necessary to highlight a few points as an introduction to what follows: This is not a book summary. Rather, it is a selection and presentation of a few of the dozens of points made within the book. In some places we have borrowed the exact text from the book (without quotations). In most locations, we have modified the language or added to the text. Also, in some instances we have made slight modifications to the Arabic translation as it was seen fit. The points discussed below are not necessarily in the order in which they appea