ABSTRACT
Shi'i philosophy forged its own conception of man's destiny in the philosophic interpretation of the Qur'an. The Qur'an announces the imminent apocalypse of the world and encourages men to convert to the true faith in order to avoid the tragic fate of non-believers and the disobedient. Man is threatened by two inescapable events: his death and the destruction of the world, which is the end of all things. The Qur'an offers detailed descriptions of paradise and hell and the pleasures and tortures that await men on the Day of Judgment. Shi'i philosophers make no effort to diminish the psychological impact of these texts, nor do they hesitate to probe death in its harshest aspects. Isma'ili philosophers eliminated all ties between the resurrection and physical reality. In their outlook, the resurrection is the spiritual fulfilment of man, henceforth freed from a law that loses its meaning when the cycles of history have come to an end.
