Reza Akbarian's The Fundamental Principles of Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Philosophy, published by London Academy of Iranian Studies in 2009, is a defense of Islamic philosophy in the face of those who pronounced it dead after Averroes. At the same time, it is also an introduction to Mulla Sadras philosophy. Akbarian, a long-time scholar and teacher of Sadra, talks on behalf of a great number of contemporary Muslim thinkers who are proud of the Islamic roots of Sadras "transcendent philosophy;' not apologetic about it. Next to an analysis of the components of Sadras system, made up of revelation, intellection, and illumination (34), the book also regards its synthetic systematization as a major step forward in the spiritualization of philosophy that began before Sadra, courtesy of Ibn 'Arabi and Suhrawardi, Mulla Sadra is proudly presented as "a mystic and religious philosopher who benefits from mystical and religious achievements and particularly the doctrines of Shiite Imams in building up his philosophical framework" (267).