Scientia Praesentialis

Knowledge by presence (Arabic: اَلْعِلْمُ اَلْحُضُورِی, romanized: al-‘Ilm al-Huduri; Latin: Scientia Praesentialis) is one of the two principal divisions of knowledge in Islamic philosophy, standing in contrast to acquired knowledge (al-‘ilm al-husuli). In this type of knowledge, the thing itself or the external reality (the object known in itself) is present and disclosed to the knower without the medium of a mental form (image). Mulla Sadra states on this subject: “Knowledge of a thing in truth is the presence of its essence before the knower”, and Allamah Tabatabai writes in its definition: “The presence of the known through its existence to the knower”. This concept is contrasted with acquired knowledge, in which the known is present to the knower through its quiddity (mental form).

Knowledge by Presence

Term in Islamic Philosophy
Term identification
Other names	Presentational Knowledge, Intuitive Knowledge, Illuminative Presentational Knowledge
Field	Philosophy, Epistemology, Ontology
History and etymology
First used by	Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi (systematic founding)
Earliest ancient text	al-Ta'liqat (Avicenna - background), Hikmat al-Ishraq (Suhrawardi)
Etymology	'Presence' (hudur) in linguistic terms means 'being before' and 'unmediated disclosure'.
Content and definition
Key texts	al-Hikmah al-Muta‘aliyah fi al-Asfar al-‘Aqliyyah al-Arba‘ah, Hikmat al-Ishraq, Nihayat al-Hikmah
Opposites	Acquired Knowledge, Discursive Knowledge
Prerequisites	Abstraction of the knower, Causality, Relational Being
Comparison and correspondence

Meaning and Conceptual Analysis

Terminological Meaning

Knowledge by presence, in contrast to acquired knowledge, is “the presence of the very objective existence of the known to the knower.” Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi (Mulla Sadra) divides knowledge in Mafatih al-Ghayb into three divisions: (1) The attainment of the essential identity of the effect for the cause (true knowledge), (2) The attainment of the identity of a thing for an independently existent entity by way of judgment (such as the knowledge of an abstract entity of itself), and (3) The attainment of the form of quiddity for the knower (acquired knowledge). He considers the first two divisions to be knowledge by presence.

Allamah Tabatabai writes in Nihayat al-Hikmah: “And the division of knowledge into two exhaustive divisions: either the presence of the known to the knower through its quiddity – which is acquired knowledge – or through its existence – which is knowledge by presence.”

Reason for the Name

This knowledge is called “presential” because the relationship between the knower and the known in it is of the type of existential “presence” rather than quiddative “attainment.” In knowledge by presence, the distinction between knower and known is sometimes merely conceptual, and at other times it is analyzed in terms of a causal or sustenant relationship. Suhrawardi also emphasizes this point, saying: “Every entity that perceives itself perceives the very essence of its own selfhood (ana’iyyah), and it indicates it by its statement ‘I’.” That is, every existent that perceives its essence refers to the very “I-ness” of itself, not to something superadded to the essence.

Semantic Development

Although the roots of knowledge by presence can be seen in Avicenna’s emphasis on “self-awareness” (al-shu‘ur bi al-dhat), it was Suhrawardi who proposed it as a comprehensive division in epistemology and extended it to include the knowledge of the cause for its effect and the knowledge of abstract beings for each other. Later, Mulla Sadra in his Transcendent Theosophy blended this concept with his own ontological principles and emphasized the “identity of knowledge and existence.” Allamah Tabatabai also offered a new exposition of it in Nihayat al-Hikmah.

Place in the Philosophical System

Knowledge by presence plays a fundamental role in three major areas of Islamic philosophy:

1. Epistemology (Theory of Knowledge): As one of the two basic domains of knowledge (alongside acquired knowledge). Knowledge by presence is considered the foundation and origin of all acquired sciences. Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi writes in this regard: “Knowledge by presence is the most perfect of the two kinds of knowledge; indeed, true knowledge is nothing but it.”
2. Ontology (Study of Existence): Due to the homogeneity of knowledge by presence with existence, this theory helps in proving the abstraction (immateriality) of the soul and in proving divine knowledge of material particulars.
3. Theology (Divine Knowledge): The most important application of knowledge by presence is explaining how God knows things, especially material particulars, without the need for mental forms and without change in the divine essence.

History and Development

Background (Avicenna and the Peripatetics)

Avicenna clearly indicated in his works that human self-knowledge is of the type of “self-awareness” (al-shu‘ur bi al-dhat), and that in it, the soul is identical with itself: “Thus self-awareness is through a single power.” He also writes in al-Ta‘liqat: “The Necessary Existence in His essence is intellect, intellector, and intelligible by His essence.” However, the Peripatetics (followers of Avicenna) mainly accepted knowledge by presence only in the case of “the soul’s knowledge of itself” and sometimes “the cause’s knowledge of its effect,” and did not generalize it to other cases. Fakhr al-Din al-Razi transmits the Peripatetic view in al-Mabahith al-Mashriqiyyah: “The wise have agreed that the human being’s knowledge of himself is identical with his own self.”

Systematic Founding (Shaykh al-Ishraq)

Suhrawardi, by criticizing the theory of “knowledge through mental forms” in explaining divine knowledge, founded the theory of “Illuminative Knowledge by Presence” (al-‘ilm al-huduri al-ishraqi). Based on the principle “Vision is nothing but the confrontation of the illuminated object with the seeing organ”, he demonstrated that in cases such as vision, the soul perceives the external thing itself by knowledge by presence, not its form. He also considered the knowledge of the Necessary Existence (God) of things to be of the illuminative presential type, saying: “His knowledge is nothing but a pure illuminative relation with Him.”

1. 1. 1. Completion in Transcendent Theosophy ===

Mulla Sadra, accepting Suhrawardi’s principles, linked knowledge by presence to the principle of the “primacy of existence” (asalat al-wujud). For him, knowledge by presence is nothing but “a mode of existence,” and every abstract entity has presential knowledge of itself. Mulla Sadra also advanced multiple proofs for the presential knowledge of the soul, its faculties, the body, and even the soul’s knowledge of its own faculties. He writes in al-Hikmah al-Muta‘aliyah: “Thus knowledge by presence is the most perfect of the two kinds of knowledge; indeed, true knowledge is nothing but it.”

Contemporary Era

Allamah Tabatabai in his book Nihayat al-Hikmah presented a clear and systematic exposition of knowledge by presence and its divisions, and emphasized that all acquired sciences ultimately terminate in knowledge by presence. He writes in Bidayat al-Hikmah: “The division of knowledge into two exhaustive divisions: either the presence of the known to the knower through its quiddity – which is acquired knowledge – or through its existence – which is knowledge by presence.”

Main Definitions and Expositions

Peripatetic Definition

“Knowledge is the presence of the quiddity of the intelligible thing before the intellect.” – From this perspective, knowledge by presence occurs only when the quiddity of the known is identical with the essence of the knower (as in the soul’s knowledge of itself). This definition was later criticized by Suhrawardi and Mulla Sadra.

Illuminationist Definition

“Knowledge and perception are not the presence of the image of the perceived thing in the perceiver, but rather a specific relation between the perceiver and the perceived.” In this view, knowledge by presence is realized through an “illuminative relation” (al-idafah al-ishraqiyyah) – a specific existential connection – between the knower and the known, and does not require a form superadded to the essence.

Sadrian Definition

“Knowledge of a thing in truth is the presence of its essence before the knower, and it is the most perfect division of knowledge of the thing.” Mulla Sadra equates knowledge by presence with the “existential presence” of the known to the knower, and considers it superior to acquired knowledge. He also divides knowledge in Mafatih al-Ghayb into three divisions: the attainment of the essential identity of the effect for the cause, the attainment of the identity of a thing for an independently existent entity by way of judgment, and the attainment of the form of quiddity for the knower.

Allamah Tabatabai's Definition

“The presence of the known through its existence to the knower”, which stands in contrast to “the presence of the known through its quiddity” (acquired knowledge).

Divisions and Classifications

Criterion of Division	Type of Presential Knowledge	Example
Relation of knower to known	Knowledge of a thing of itself	The soul's knowledge of itself
Causality	Knowledge of the cause of its effect	The Necessary Existence's (God's) knowledge of its effects
Causality	Knowledge of the effect of its cause	The abstract soul's knowledge of its cause (the Active Intellect)
Object known	Knowledge of existential matters	The human being's knowledge of his body and faculties
Object known	Knowledge of non-existential matters (derivatively)	Knowledge of non-existence (through the presence of the opposing existential thing)

Proofs and Arguments

Proof of the Impossibility of Two Like Things (The First Proof)

If human self-knowledge were acquired (through a mental form), then a form equal to his essence would have to occur in his soul, which entails the “coincidence of two like things” (ijtima‘ al-mithlayn). Therefore, human self-knowledge is presential. The same argument is expressed in another formulation: “We indeed perceive our own essences, and everyone who perceives an essence has the quiddity of that essence...” – if the mental form were superadded to the essence, it could not be an indication of the ‘I’ (personal selfhood).

The 'Arshi (Throne) Proof (Mulla Sadra)

The soul at the beginning of its primordial nature (fitrah) is devoid of all acquired knowledge; however, the use of instruments (the senses) requires knowledge of those instruments. If this knowledge were also acquired, it would entail an infinite regress (tasalsul) or a vicious circle (dawr). Therefore, the first knowledge of the soul is its knowledge of itself and then of its faculties, which is presential. Mulla Sadra counts this proof among the “throne-like” (‘arshiyyah) demonstrations.

Proof of Causality (Allamah Tabatabai)

The existence of an effect is a relational existence (wujud rabit) relative to its cause, and it is present through its entire existence to its cause; therefore, the cause’s knowledge of its effect is presential (provided both are abstract). He also writes in Bidayat al-Hikmah: “And likewise the cause is present through its existence to its effect... so it is known to its effect by presential knowledge.”

Proof of Abstraction (Shaykh al-Ishraq)

If the soul’s knowledge of its body and faculties were acquired and through a mental form, that form would be universal, whereas the body and the soul’s faculties are particular; likewise, the estimative faculty (wahm – which is a particular power) cannot perceive itself, yet the soul knows its estimative faculty. Therefore, these items of knowledge are also presential.

Proof of Pain

The human being experiences pain from the separation of continuity (tafarruq al-ittisal) in a limb, and this pain is identical to that separation of continuity, not a mental form of it. Therefore, knowledge of pain is of the presential type. Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi says in Sharh Usul al-Kafi: “Pains... are nothing but the presential perception of the occurrence of a loss and the removal of a harmonious state.”

Different Perspectives

Peripatetics (Mashsha’un)

They restricted knowledge by presence to “the soul’s knowledge of itself” and explained the Necessary Existence’s (God’s) knowledge of other things through mental forms. Al-Farabi is among those who denied knowledge by presence except in the case of an abstract entity’s knowledge of itself.

Illuminationists (Ishraqiyun)

They extended knowledge by presence to include: knowledge of a thing of itself, knowledge of the cause of its effect, knowledge of the effect of its cause (in the case of abstraction), and the soul’s knowledge of its body and faculties. In divine knowledge, they maintained that God has presential knowledge of all things. Suhrawardi says in this regard: “The holy intellects and the celestial substances are equal in their presence before Him.”

Transcendent Theosophy (Hikmat Muta‘aliyah)

Accepting the Illuminationist viewpoint, they linked knowledge by presence to the primacy of existence and emphasized that in knowledge by presence, “the known in itself is the very external existent.” They also hold that all acquired sciences ultimately return to presential sciences.

Objections and Criticisms

Objection Regarding the Necessary Existence's Knowledge of Changing Things

It is argued: if God’s knowledge of changing events is presential and identical with their existence, then with the change in the known object, divine knowledge would also have to change. The Illuminationists’ response: knowledge by presence is an “illuminative relation,” and a change in the relation does not entail a change in the subject to which the relation is attributed (the knower). Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi says on this point: “A change in relations does not entail a change in the subject of those relations.”

Objection Regarding Presential Knowledge of Material Things

Material things, due to the difference among their parts and their essential veiling, cannot be present in a presential manner to another existent. Mulla Sadra responds that material things are present to the Necessary Existence (God) through their scientific and abstract existence, not through their material existence. He writes in al-‘Arshiyyah: “Do not listen to the one who says that these corporeal composites, although in their own confines they are corporeal and changing, yet in relation to what is above them... they are immutable and stable intelligibles.”

Objection Regarding the Soul's Presential Knowledge of its Faculties

Critics have said: if the soul’s knowledge of its faculties were presential, we would never doubt the substantiality of the soul. The response: the soul’s presential knowledge of itself is knowledge of “personal identity” (the “I”), whereas concepts like “substance” are of the acquired and universal type of knowledge. Unawareness of these concepts is not incompatible with presential knowledge. Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi says on this point: “It is established that the perception of the human being’s identity and the attainment of his essential self through presential disclosure is one thing, and the perception of his quiddity is another thing.”

Philosophical Consequences and Results

1. Proof of the Abstraction (Immateriality) of the Soul: The argument from presential self-knowledge is one of the most important demonstrations for proving the immateriality of the soul in Islamic philosophy.
2. Explaining Divine Knowledge of Particulars: The theory of knowledge by presence provides a solution to the age-old problem of “God’s knowledge of material particulars” without falling into change or requiring mental forms.
3. Refutation of Skepticism: Through knowledge by presence, the human being can prove the external reality of his own existence and of some of his internal states (such as pain and pleasure), thereby invalidating skepticism.
4. Union of the Intellect and the Intelligible: In some types of knowledge by presence (such as the soul’s knowledge of itself or the intellect’s knowledge of its own quiddity), the union of knower and known is realized.
5. Explaining Knowledge of Pains and Pleasures: Knowledge by presence offers a precise explanation of knowledge of non-existential matters (such as the pain resulting from the separation of continuity).

Related Concepts

• Acquired knowledge (al-‘ilm al-husuli)
• Union of the intellect and the intelligible
• Abstraction (immateriality) of the soul
• Divine knowledge
• Relational being (wujud rabit)
• Illuminative relation (idafah ishraqiyyah)
• Self-awareness (al-shu‘ur bi al-dhat)

Comparative Table of Perspectives

School	Scope of Presential Knowledge	In Divine Knowledge	In the Soul’s Self-Knowledge
Peripatetics	Limited (a thing’s knowledge of itself)	Acquired through forms	Presential
Illuminationists	Extensive (self, cause, effect, soul of body)	Illuminative presential	Presential
Transcendent Theosophy	Very extensive (all abstract beings and even material things through their scientific existence)	Presential and identical with existence	Presential (personal identity)

Key Sources and References (Thinkers, Books, Theories)

Most Important Sources and Scholars

Scholar / School	Key Work or Book	Main Theory or View Regarding Knowledge by Presence
Aristotle (the First Teacher)	Theologia (attributed), De Anima (as quoted by others)	Reference to the presence of things in the intelligible world; God’s knowledge of things as presence and vision; the statement that “a thing is not hidden from itself”
Avicenna (Shaykh al-Ra’is)	al-Ta‘liqat, al-Mubahathat, al-Shifa (Metaphysics)	Affirmation of the soul’s presential knowledge of itself; proving the immateriality of the soul through presential knowledge; hesitation in explaining divine knowledge; definition of intellection as “the presence of the quiddity of the intelligible before the intellect”
Fakhr al-Din al-Razi	al-Mabahith al-Mashriqiyyah	Raising objections to the Necessary Existence’s presential knowledge of Himself; refuting his own objections by “our knowledge of ourselves”
Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi (Shaykh al-Ishraq)	Hikmat al-Ishraq, Majmu‘ah Musannafat Shaykh al-Ishraq (al-Mashari‘ wa al-Mutarahat)	Extension of knowledge by presence to the soul’s knowledge of itself, its faculties, and its body; God’s knowledge of things as the manifestation of essences; vision as the soul’s presential knowledge of visible objects; definition of knowledge as “the non-absence of a thing from the abstract essence”
Nasir al-Din al-Tusi	Sharh al-Isharat wa al-Tanbihat	A view close to the Illuminationists regarding the intellect’s presential knowledge of its essential effects; the lack of need for the intellect to have a form in perceiving itself and its essential effects
Qutb al-Din al-Shirazi	Sharh Hikmat al-Ishraq	Exposition of the Illuminationist theory of knowledge by presence; interpretation of vision as the soul’s illuminative presence to visible objects
Shahrazuri	Sharh Hikmat al-Ishraq	Exposition and development of the Illuminationist theory; interpretation of the Necessary Existence’s (God’s) knowledge of things as illuminative presence
Mir Damad	al-Qabasat	Reference to presential sciences such as the rational soul’s knowledge of its own abstract essence; the perfect presential knowledge of the Necessary Existence not being characterized by generality and specificity
Mirk al-Bukhari	Hikmat al-‘Ayn wa Sharhuhu	Naming the knowledge that does not require a form as “knowledge by presence”; discussion of the soul’s emptiness of acquired knowledge at the beginning of its fitrah, not of presential knowledge
Sadr al-Din al-Shirazi (Mulla Sadra)	al-Hikmah al-Muta‘aliyah fi al-Asfar al-‘Aqliyyah al-Arba‘ah, al-Mabda‘ wa al-Ma‘ad, Sharh Usul al-Kafi, Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Karim, Hikmat al-Ishraq (his gloss), Majmu‘ah Rasail Falsafiyyah, Asrar al-Ayat, al-Shawahid al-Rububiyyah, al-‘Arshiyyah, Mafatih al-Ghayb	The most comprehensive theory of knowledge by presence; definition “the presence of things through their existences to the knower, not through their quiddities”; knowledge by presence as “the most perfect of the two kinds of knowledge” and true knowledge; the flow of knowledge by presence through all levels of existence (soul, intellect, God, cause of effect); the reduction of acquired sciences to knowledge by presence
‘Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i	Nihayat al-Hikmah, Bidayat al-Hikmah	The final exposition of the Sadrian theory; the division of knowledge into acquired and presential as an exhaustive division; proving the presential knowledge of the abstract cause for its abstract effect and vice versa; the reduction of acquired sciences to knowledge by presence
Hasan Zadeh Amoli	Ta‘liqat ‘ala Sharh al-Manzumah	Exposition and glosses on the discussions of knowledge by presence in Transcendent Theosophy; reference to the intuitive knowledge of the existence of the Whole as a luminous reality
The Peripatetic School	-	They restrict knowledge by presence to a thing’s knowledge of itself; they interpret God’s knowledge of other things as acquired (through quidditative forms)
The Illuminationist School	-	They consider knowledge by presence to