Philosophy Based on the Verse “Nafakhtu fīhi min rūhī” (Case Study: Interpretations of Allāma Ṭabāṭabā’ī and Allāma Muhammad Taqī Ja‘farī)

The commentators have interpreted the Qur'anic phrase, “Nafakhtu fīhi min rūhī” (… breathed into him of My spirit) in a way that in one of them the relative combination “rūhī” is considered as an honorary relation and in the other a real relation. The first interpretation belongs to Allāma Ṭabāṭabā’ī (ra) and the second one is by Allāma Muhammad Taqī Ja‘farī (ra). In general, we can propose two main types of relations in the phrase “rūhī”: 1. Conceptual honorary relation; 2. Non-conceptual honorary relation (real relation), which in turn is divided into two other types: 1. Existential non-conceptual honorary relation (existential real relation); 2. Potential (tasha’unī) non-conceptual honorary relation (potential real relation). In transcendental philosophy, after establishing the direct relation of the effect to the cause, the potential explanation of the causality and personal unity of existence is formed; therefore, with the disappearance of the true existential duality between the necessary and the immaterial, there will be no place for existential contrast and similarity, and objectivity, as commonly accepted, is fundamentally false due to the limitation of all existential determinations in the system of transcendental philosophy. Therefore, the only explanation consistent with Sadrian principles would be the potential relationship, according to which Allāma Muhammad Taqī Ja‘farī’s interpretation of the Qur'anic phrase “Nafakhtu fīhi min rūhī” is consistent with the potential similarity. However, Allāma Ṭabāṭabā’ī’s (ra) interpretation of this Qur'anic phrase cannot be considered as confirming the potential similarity of God Almighty and man in the system of transcendental philosophy. The apparent interpretation of Allāma Ṭabāṭabā’ī (ra) in Al-Mīzān does not confirm the potential similarity of God Almighty and man, but his philosophical theory is based on the potential similarity, which is not incompatible with Allāma's interpretative theory.