Esoteric Eclipse: Imam's Enemies Obstructing the Sun
Ismaili Ta'wilat (Spiritual Interpretations) of the Solar Eclipse
(Note: This article contains substantial annotation [footnotes] which greatly enhances understanding of the topic and should not be skipped.)
Recently, members of our Ismaili Jamat have been asking if there is any spiritual or religious significance to celestial events such as a solar (or lunar) eclipse. It should be known that in keeping with the Ismaili esoteric worldview, while such occurrences are not seen as omens — whether good or bad — nor as “Heavenly” expressions of something necessarily unfolding “on the ground” at that particular time, naturally-occurring events, be they regular or rare, certainly do have symbolic significance. As ahl al-ta’wil (adherents of anagogic unveiling), we can (and our Ismaili esoteric exegetes actually did) perceive a celestial event like a solar eclipse — just like other naturally-occurring phenomena — as a “sign” (aya) or “symbol” (mathal); an example or similitude that is to be intellectually interpreted and re-presented in its higher, more meaningful form which conveys a particular point of religious or spiritual wisdom (hikma).
Simply stated, such occurrences, which are not to be feared or perceived as miraculous and mysterious (though they certainly may be captivating, magnificent and awe inspiring), can and should be seen as tangible reminders, or physical allusions and indications (isharas), of “real truths” (haq’aiq) that are independent of the natural phenomena that symbolically point to them. The created signs and symbols of the observable universe are connected to that which is being signified or symbolized only in the sense that the apparent example (zahiri mathal), or perceptible, may remind us — especially those of us who have the ability to see and perceive — about a hidden meaning (batini mamthul), or intelligible, that we already ought to be aware of.
Thus, as our 48th Imam, Mawlana Sultan Muhammad Shah⁽ᶜ⁾, reminds us,