To put in a nutshell, in any kind of perception there is a kind of transformation in which the percipient agent is transformed from its level of existence to the level of that which is perceived, while being united with it. As far as the soul is concerned, since it operates as a chief active agent and since it is in its unity "the total of all the faculties,"48 then all these transformations take place within the soul itself and hence is the source of all perfections (al-kamalat) and effects (al-athar). Rather, faculties are simply the modes (shu`un) or manifestations (mazahir) of the soul.49 That is why, Sadra is very persistent in his thesis that "the only perfection of the soul comes about, in so far as the soul actualizes (or creates taf`alu) these forms and makes them "perceptible" (mudrikatan) to itself."50 It is the soul, par excellence, that attains perfection not only by exerting control over the senses and faculties but also acting upon the sensibles and thereby rendering them within itself both intelligible (ma`qul) and intellecting (`aqil).51
ANNEX (1)
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EVOLUTIONARY PERFECTION
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Witnessing the Divine Lights (Light upon Light)
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Estimative and Intellective Form
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Sentient and Sensible Form
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Warm Subtle Vapor
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Flesh and Muscle
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Blood and Healthy Mixture
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Inanimate Body
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Element
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Nourishment and Food (Olive Tree)
ANNEX (2)
THE SOUL AND ITS DEGREES
| al-Ruh al-Haywani \------------------------- | Faculty of Touch |
| al-Ruh al-Nafsani \------------------------- | Sensible Souls (al-Nufus al-Hissiyyah) |
| al-Nafs al-Nabatiyyah \------------------------- | Imaginative Souls (al-Nufus al-Khayaliyyah) |
| al-Nafs al-Haywaniyyah --------\------------------------- | Estimative Souls (al-Nufus al-Wahmaniyyah) |
| | The Angelic Rational Soul |
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