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The body’s outward appearance existence of a body beyond
differs from substances governed the material one, known as the
by the soul, which is achieved "imaginal, exemplar, or ideal
through intermediaries (Mulla body" (Mulla Ṣadrā, 2002;
Ṣadrā, 1981; Khademi et al, 1981; Obudiyyat, 2014; Miri,
2021). The material body 2021). He sometimes refers to
serves as the vessel for the this body as the psychic animal,
soul, preserving its essence intermediate animal, or animal
and temperament; without it, soul (Ibid).
the body decays, leaving no The imaginal body is distinct
means for the soul's from matter but has material
expression (Mulla Ṣadrā, 1981; consequences, being superior to
Obudiyyat, 2014). the material body, which serves
The soul is essential for the merely as an outer shell between
natural body, just as form is for the pure soul and the physical
matter. Matter lacks substantial body. Like the physical body,
form without the soul, and it has size, shape, and form, but
similarly, the soul cannot exist it is immaterial and lacks mass.
in the material world without the Mulla Ṣadrā describes
body. The soul’s connection to imaginal bodies as intermediaries
the body is natural, resulting between two worlds, blending
from the body's development abstraction and corporeality.
through substantial movement. They are akin to a shadow of the
While the soul and body soul, inseparable from it, unlike
coexist in their natural states, perishable earthly bodies. The
in the afterlife, the body, afterlife's elements, such as trees
having shed imperfections, and rivers, take on conceptual
becomes the form of the soul forms based on perception,
(Mulla Ṣadrā, 2012). which embodies their essence
(Mulla Ṣadrā, 1981).
2. Imaginal Body The imaginal body, as
Mulla Ṣadrā was the first described in Ṣadrā 's works,
philosopher to demonstrate the
