Basīṭ al-Ḥaqīqa, a term in Islamic philosophy which is used, especially in the philosophy of Ṣadr al-Dīn al-Shīrāzī (commonly known as Mullā Ṣadrā, d. 1050/1640), to indicate the unique simplicity (basāṭa) of the essence of God. Real simplicity (basīṭ ḥaqīqī), i.e. the state of being absolutely uncompounded, applies to an existence which is not only not composed of real parts, but for which parts are inconceivable even in the mind (al-Jurjānī, 38). Such a concept is faithful to the distinction between objective composition (tarkīb khārijī) and mental composition (tarkīb dhihnī). As …