Haqiqati Hajj (1): The Metaphysical Pilgrimage
An Esoteric Poem & Exploration of the Purpose of the Pilgrimage
Esoteric Purpose of the Pilgrimage
In a concise treatise on what it means to be an Ismaili mu’min (true believer), Nasir al-Din Tusi, the most celebrated Muslim scholar of the 13th century and chief Ismaili missionary (da‘i al-du‘at) at Alamut, explained the importance of understanding the esoteric or batini aspect of the pillars of the shari‘a (religious law). In order to “be considered a man of truth and esoteric meaning (mard-i ḥaqīqat wa ahl-i bāṭin),” he writes, “one should abide by the esoteric interpretation of the seven pillars of the religious law.” After commenting on the esoteric significance of six of the pillars of religious law, Khwaja Tusi shares his view on what the hajj (pilgrimage to the Ka‘ba) alludes to. The seventh [pillar]
is pilgrimage (ḥajj), which implies abandoning this perishable world for the sake of the eternal abode (sarā-yi baqā), in compliance with: ‘What is the life of this world but amusement and play? It is the abode of the Hereafter which is life indeed, if they only knew’ [Qur’ān 29:64]. And such is the path for the followers of the esoteric aspects (ṭarīqat-i ahl-i bāṭin).
Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī, Maṭlūb al-Mu’minīn (Desideratum of the Faithful), tr. S.J. Badakhchani in Shi‘i Interpretations of Islam: Three Treatises on Theology & Eschatology, 42.
For Ismaili esotericists (ahl-i batin), one of the wisdoms of the physical pilgrimage is that it alludes to or implies the realization of the inevitable need to detach from the ephemeral and perishable life of this lower, physical world (dunya). As such, Ismaili spiritual seekers or travelers (salikin) should, already while living in the dunya, embark