Allama Iqbal on Love: A Philosophical Discourse

Pages:141-148
Adfar Rashid Shah (Department of Social Sciences, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi)

Love -A Philosophical Dimension Love conquers the space less infinite, it is passing out of this world without being hampered by death (1932: 17). Based on the principles of logical positivism science and philosophy in some of its extended forms abhors appreciating anything that lies beyond the dimensions of space and time, the prime features of quantification. One of the dismal prospects emerging out from recent trends in normative sciences is the skeptical attitude towards transcendental affairs of existence. There has occurred an intellectual paradigm shift in perceptions and the attributes like reasoning, logic and analysis have given place to higher vales like love, intuition and contemplation. Otherwise the role of love in metaphysical and spiritual realms is analogous to the role of “forces” in the physical world, the role of numbers in mathematical world and the role of mind in psychological world. Except the former is transcendental, infinite, incomprehensible and incommensurable while the later is tangible, finite and materialistic in nature. Despite, this entire cynical and biased attitude towards “unquantifiable entity” like love, the deeper probes into the cosmic landscape have once again revitalized this concept, though in a different manner. The collapse of classical scheme at microcosm and the subsequent success of Quantum and relativistic mechanics have revealed to us, some of the veiled realities that form the very basis of whole of existence. One of these fundamental realities (that strengthens the role of love in substantiating the universe) has come from the quarter of “particle physics” and that revelation is the existence of sub-atomic particles in two distinct but similar forms, one of them is conventionally termed as “matter” and the other form as “anti-matter”. These antiparticles have an inherent intense attraction (Love) for each other. To quote Fritjof Capra: