Meaning of Life from the Perspective of Ibn Sīnā

Abstract

In this study, the meaning of life from the perspective of Ibn Sīnā is reported, analyzed, compared, and evaluated. The research approach is philosophical, conducted using an analytical–descriptive method based on library and comparative studies. The findings indicate that Ibn Sīnā, while presenting the various degrees of the soul’s and the body’s felicity, considers true and highest felicity to be an objective, discoverable, and attainable reality—namely, the spiritual joy and delight resulting from the perception and contemplation of the Divine Realm. According to the Shaykh, the realization of this exalted joy and delight for the human being becomes possible through the completion of the theoretical and practical intellect and through transcending the limitations of matter and corporeality. Regarding the role and position of God and faith in giving meaning and felicity to human life, Ibn Sīnā maintains that this role is central and fundamental, such that human life, in the absence of a form of relation and attachment to God—who is pure goodness and absolute perfection—would be meaningless and void.