Mullā Ṣadrā  Mullā Ṣadrā, also called Ṣadr Ad-dīn Ash-shīrāzī 
 (born c. 1571, Shīrāz, Iran—died 1640Basra, Iraq), philosopher,
who led the Iranian cultural renaissance in the 17th century.
The foremost representative of the illuminationist, or Ishrāqī,
school of philosopher-mystics, he is commonly regarded by
Iranians as the greatest philosopher their country has produced.
A scion of a notable Shīrāzī family, Mullā Ṣadrā completed his
education at Eṣfahān, then the leading cultural and intellectual
centre of Iran. After his studies with scholars there, he
produced several works, the most famous of which was his Asfār
(“Journeys”). Asfār contains the bulk of his philosophy, which
was influenced by a personal mysticism bordering on the ascetic
that he experienced during a 15-year retreat at Kahak, a village
near Qom, Iran.   Toward the end of his life, Mullā Ṣadrā
returned to Shīrāz to teach. His teachings, however, were
considered heretical by the orthodox Shīʿite theologians, who
persecuted him, though his