ABSTRACT
The conception of the First Knower entails tracing knowledge backwards to a prior cause, until the knower who does not receive but possesses knowledge in virtue of Himself is reached. The First Knower, the First Teacher, and the First Wise is the one who guides the innate actions of the biological world. The notion of wisdom within this discussion of practical philosophy is meant to be that wisdom which is designated as the purposeful result from knowledge – wisdom that comes forth from knowledge. The special cognition of God begins with the cognition of the actions of the shellfish conceived from its innate knowledge, extending backwards in the causally linked chain to knowledge of the First Knower. Abu'l-Barakat rejects one of the major conceptions of the philosophical tradition, the conception of linear causality being traced back to the First Mover.
