Self-Revelation of The Holy Essence
Self-Revelation of The Holy Essence
A Theosophical Poem on the Angel Universal Intellect and the Quest for Gnosis
“Self-Revelation of the Holy Essence”
Khayal ‘Aly
Note From the Poet
The inspiration for the theosophical poem above came while I was reading (or perhaps re-reading) an excellent article by Dr. Khalil Andani on the “Metaphysics of Muhammad.” While some of the article’s content (in fact, only a minute amount) is reflected in my poem, in no way should these rhyming lines be seen as an attempt to portray, in poetic form, all of the well-researched material (spread over seventy seven jam-packed pages) that Dr. Andani presents in his comprehensive article. In fact, the poem doesn't ever mention or even allude to the Prophet Muhammad⁽ˢ⁾, let alone expound upon the Messenger’s metaphysical reality.
My poem does, of course, convey at least something of the article, namely, the magnificent and glorious nature of what has been termed “The Universal Intellect” and the Divinely ordained role it plays in the spiritual life of those who are seeking esoteric wisdom (hikma) and the recognition of the Lord that may, God willing, be attained by the wayfarer (salik) in his or her quest for gnosis (ma‘rifa).
For the benefit of our readers, an abridged abstract, selected excerpts and a link to download Dr. Andani’s peer reviewed article have been provided below. It is hoped that the excerpts, some of which are directly related to lines within the poem, may allow for an enhanced reading and understanding of the esoteric concepts and mystical metaphysics operating in the poem’s background or in the mind of the poet. I have also included excerpts which should, I believe, help connect the subject of the poem with the title and theme of Dr. Andani’s must-read article.
Although the initial inspiration to write a poem about the Universal Intellect did, in fact, come while I was reading through the “Metaphysics of Muhammad” article, from which I borrowed some concepts and terminology, as I was writing and adding lines and rhymes, one after the other, I was also being inspired by my knowledge (as limited as it may be) of the Glorious Qurʾan.
Thus, as is my typical way when composing a new poem, while in the process of writing and pondering on which direction my “pen” would go, I would recall a Qurʾanic verse here or a Scriptural word there which would then proceed with me as a companion or a guide, helping me fill in the blanks and determine the right course for completion of my composition. Therefore, I have also included below some of the Qur’anic references that helped me as I was writing and which may allow readers to understand more fully what it was I wished to convey.
Since this publication is dedicated to increasing and enhancing our understanding of Ismaili Gnosis, together with the exoteric or zahiri presentation of each Qur’anic verse cited as it was sent down (i.e., the tanzil), I have included some esoteric or batini commentaries or interpretations as revealed and written by the most accomplished and prolific, contemporary Ismaili exegete and ‘Arif-i Kamil, ‘Allamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai (1917-2017). Those who are interested in the tradition of Qur’anic exegesis (tafsir), and students of Ismaili spiritual literature in particular, may enjoy and appreciate these examples of esoteric interpretations that continue and extend the tradition of Ismail ta’wil or revelatory hermeneutics.
With prayers and anticipation for your inspired reading,
Khayal ‘Aly
June 11th 2023
Email: khayal.aly@gmail.com
Instagram: @khayal.aly
Citation of Khalil Andani’s Article, “Metaphysics of Muhammad”
Khalil Andani, “Metaphysics of Muhammad: The Nur Muhammad from Imam Ja‘far al-Sadiq (d. 148/765) to Nasir al-Din al-Tusi (d. 672/1274),” Journal of Sufi Studies 8 (2019), 99-175.
Abridged Abstract
This study analyzes the development of the theme of the “Light of Muḥammad” (al-nūr al-Muḥammadī) or the “Muḥammadan Reality” (al-ḥaqīqa al-Muḥammadiyya) among several Shiʿi and Sufi thinkers through the seventh/thirteenth century.
I argue that the “Light of Muḥammad” as a theological and metaphysical idea evolved historically through three distinct but cumulative phases of conceptualization: mytho-cosmological narrative, Neoplatonization, and ontological theophanization. Through these developments, the theological status of the Light of Muḥammad underwent a gradual but decisive shift from being reckoned as the first spiritual creation of God in the early period to being revered as the ontological self-manifestation of God in later periods.
Selected Excerpts
(Images within this section are not part of the published article)
The Light of Muḥammad is a prominent theme within both Sunni and Shi‘i traditions of Islam, and is referenced by a variety of names and technical terms including the Universal Intellect (al-‘aql al-kullī), the First Intellect (al-‘aql al-awwal), the Pen (al-qalam), the Command of God (amr Allāh), the Muḥammadan Reality (al-ḥaqīqa al-Muḥammadiyya), the Muḥammadan Spirit (al-rūḥ al Muḥammadī), the All-Merciful Breath (al-nafas al-raḥmānī), etc.
Ismaili authors explicitly identify the First Intellect as the spiritual archetype and heavenly support of the Prophet Muḥammad, whom they regard as the human manifestation of the Intellect.
The term Light of Muḥammad does not itself appear in the Epistles of the Ikhwān [al-Ṣafā’]. However, they do speak at length of the Universal Intellect as the first created being and as “God’s light” mentioned throughout the Qurʾan, the creative intermediary of God’s creation of the Cosmos, and the celestial archetypal reality that manifests on earth through the Speaker-Prophets or Nāṭiqs of whom the historical Muḥammad is the greatest. In these respects, the Ikhwān’s idea of the Universal Intellect is an equivalent of the Light of Muḥammad concept in a Neoplatonic context. The Ikhwān describe the Universal Intellect in terms of its relationship to God, its relationship to the world, and its connection to the Prophets throughout their Epistles.
The Intellect is therefore originated but not created, and this speaks to the Intellect’s unique ontological status over all other beings. The Ikhwān also explain how the Intellect has a share in certain Divine Attributes.
The Intellect holds a great ontological and theological rank in the hierarchy of creation, as the Ikhwān note: “It [Universal Intellect] is like the supreme veil (al-ḥijāb al-aʿẓam) and the greatest door (al-bāb al-akbar), the one from which there is the conjunction to the unity of God (al-wuṣūl ilā tawḥīd Allāh), the Exalted, the vision of Him (al-naẓar ilayhi), and being in His presence (al-wuqūf bayna yadihi) [may occur].”
The Universal Intellect is both the first originated being and the highest existent through whom God can be recognized. The Ikhwān also describe the greatness of the Universal Intellect in the context of a commentary upon āyat al-nūr of the Qurʾan. “As to His saying, The parable of His Light—it means [the light of] the Active Intellect, namely, the first originated being He originated.” Commenting on the phrase “Light upon Light”, the Ikhwān state that the Intellect is “Light upon Light, so the Intellect’s light [is] above the Soul’s light, Allah doth set forth Parables for men.”
The human soul of the Speaker Prophet is supported and infused by divine support (taʾyīd), which the Ikhwān describe as “heavenly support and Divine Command (taʾyīd samawī wa-amr ilāhi).” This divine support of the Command reaches the human soul through the mediation of the Universal Intellect.
The Intellect is described as the “light of the Creator”, the “supreme veil” of God, and the act and book of God. The cause of the Intellect is the Divine Word or Command, but the Command and Universal Intellect are conjoined (muttaṣil) and not ontologically distinct. The emanation of God’s Command reaches the world only by means of the Intellect’s mediation and all other spiritual and physical beings such as the Universal Soul, Prime Matter, Nature, etc. come into existence and subsist through the Intellect.
The person of the Prophet is called the universal perfect man and receives divine support (taʾyīd) from God’s Command through the Universal Intellect. The picture that emerges from the Ikhwān’s cosmology is that the human form manifests the Universal Intellect generally, while the perfect human being manifests the Universal Intellect and God’s Command in the most perfect way.
The immediate product and effect of God’s origination is the Universal Intellect, also called the Preceder (al-sābiq) in the older mytho-gnostic Ismaili cosmology that Sijistānī was familiar with. The Intellect is immaterial, perfect and without disparity difference or defect. The Intellect is the first, highest and most powerful of all beings, and contains the intelligible seed of all created essences: “Intellect itself is the very thingness of things in their totality and the thingness of things altogether is Intellect.”
In describing the nature of the Intellect with respect to its origination by God and its all-pervading power over creation, Sijistānī makes use of light imagery and symbolism. Referring to God’s origination of the Intellect, he relates how God is “He Who emanates upon the First Existent such lights and such radiance that none can know anything behind it.” God originates the Intellect as the “Lord of Lords” (rabb al-arbāb) and as “the wellspring of all corporeal and spiritual light.” God, who transcends all being and all relationships, delegated the governance (tadbīr) of the spiritual and corporeal realms of creation to the Universal Intellect.
Explaining how the Intellect is a luminous substance that is reflected within all creatures, Sijistānī writes that “the Intellect is a light poured forth upon creation, shining in every thing, and its luminosity is in accordance with the measure of the substance of [each] thing, depending on the wide or narrow range of that substance.”
In general, all human knowledge is ultimately from the Intellect since “those acts of intelligence acquired by us are outpourings of the universal Intellect upon the particular souls (furū-rīkhtan-i ʿaql-i kull ast bar nufūs-i juzvī), while [Intellect] is one in knowing all things and all knowables.”
Sijistānī spoke of the Universal Intellect as God’s “first messenger” (awwal rasūl) and “spiritual messenger” (raṣūl rūḥānī) to human beings—to which every person has partial access in the form of their own intellectual faculty—while defining the Prophet as God’s “last messenger” (ākhir rasūl) and “corporeal messenger” (rasūl jismānī). The intellect within human beings recognizes and corroborates what the Prophets command and forbid, because both the human intellect and prophetic revealed guidance issue from the same spiritual and luminous source—the Universal Intellect.
The Neoplatonic ideas of the Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ and other Ismaili thinkers influenced the eclectic thought of Abū Ḥāmid al-Ghazālī. One of his later works, The Niche of Lights (Mishkāt al-anwār), betrays both Ismaili Neoplatonic imprints and a Sufi vision that prefigures the perspective of monorealism or waḥdat al-wujūd. Recent studies have shown that al-Ghazālī appropriated certain features of eleventh century Ismaili cosmology and the ideas of Nāṣir-i Khusraw (d. ca. 481/1088) in particular. One of the most prominent features of this Ismaili cosmology is the concept of the Universal Intellect.
Al-Ghazālī’s cosmological model features the existence of two realms—a spiritual world and a physical world. The former consists of a spiritual hierarchy of angels, lights or intellects with one specific light, intellect, or angel closest to the Lordly Presence at the highest level. This supreme intellect of the spiritual world is “the light nearest to the First Source” due to which it “is more worthy of the name ‘light’ because it is highest in level (aʿlā rutba).”
In other works of al-Ghazālī, the supreme intellect or angel is called the Pen and the First Intellect (al-ʿaql al-awwal) along with other names like the Throne (al-ʿarsh) and the Obeyed One (al-muṭāʿ). Al-Ghazālī notes in the Veils Section of this text that the Obeyed one is worshipped as God by a certain group of Muslims but emphasises that in reality, this Obeyed One is the highest level of God’s creation and corresponds to the Sun among the sensory lights.
The supreme light, Pen, Throne and Obeyed One of al-Ghazālī seems to be the closest corresponding concept to the Light of Muḥammad and the Universal Intellect. The Ghazālīan text, Maʿārij al-quds, explicitly speaks of the First Intellect or Pen as the First Originated Being (mubdaʿ al-awwal) by God’s Command in the very same terms as contemporary Ismaili authors like Nāṣir-i Khusraw.
Qur’anic References and Revelatory Hermeneutics
This section consists of verses of the Qurʾan that are either alluded to in the poem “Self-Revelation of the Holy Essence” or else, were in the mind of the poet whilst composing. For each Qurʾanic verse presented, the Arabic, a transliteration and a zahiri or literal translation of the verse is quoted first, representing the exoteric tanzil. This is then followed by a sampling of ʿAllamah Hunzai’s insightful, mystically inspired spiritual commentaries and interpretations of the zahir of the verse, which —as a result of taʾyid through the illumination of ʿilm-i ladunni or “divinely given knowledge” — reveals some aspects of the batin or esoteric taʾwil of the tanzil.
« Qur’an 96:1-5 »
اِقْرَاْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِیْ خَلَقَ
خَلَقَ الْاِنْسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ
اِقْرَاْ وَ رَبُّكَ الْاَكْرَمُ
الَّذِیْ عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ
عَلَّمَ الْاِنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ یَعْلَمْ
Iqra' Bismi Rabbika Al-Ladhī Khalaqa
Khalaqa Al-'Insāna Min `Alaqin
Iqra' Wa Rabbuka Al-'Akramu
Al-Ladhī `Allama Bil-Qalami
`Allama Al-'Insāna Mā Lam Ya'lam
Read in the name of your Lord Who created.
Created man from a clot (ʿalaq).
Read, and your Lord is the Most Bounteous.
Who teaches by the pen (qalam).
Teaches man that which he knew not.
« Qur’an 96:1-5 »
Qalam (Pen): Pen is also the name of the Universal Intellect. As God says: “He Who taught by the Pen” (96:4). That is, He taught through the mediation of the Universal Intellect. “He taught man that about which he knew nothing” (96:5). Without this taʾwil [esoteric interpretation], if we understand this to mean an external pen, then Divine or spiritual teaching benefits only those nations who can write, and the one hundred and twenty four thousand Prophets, most of whom could not write, would have been deprived of such teaching.
It is clear that this cannot be true and therefore, the Divine Pen is the name of the Universal Intellect through whom God taught every Perfect Man the “science of secrets” (ʿilmu’l-asrar).1
ʿAllamah Hunzai, Pure Intellect, 9
Dear friends! Study the Holy Qurʾan in the illumination of the Revealed Light (nur-i munazzal). For instance, look at the first five verses of Surah of ʿAlaq (96). We should study their esoteric meaning in addition to their exoteric meaning, which is as follows:
“Recite (O Muhammad) with the living and speaking Supreme Name of your Lord (rabb) Who created (the Perfect Man) physically, spiritually and intellectually. He created the Perfect Man from the relationship (ʿalaq) of spiritual affection and love. Recite and your Lord is extremely benevolent. He taught through the Pen of azal (light of Intellect + Hidden Book), He made the Perfect Men aware of all those secrets which they did not know.”
— Qurʾan 96:1-5
The Supreme Pen (Divine Pen) is in the sacred sanctuary of the personal world, where according to verse 36:12, all the secrets of realities and recognitions are gathered and encompassed. When the believing servant recognises himself and his Lord in the illumination of the Revealed Light, then not only the Pen and the other great things are attained, but the Lord Who is extremely Benevolent (al-akram) also teaches him knowledge through the Supreme Pen, which is the light of Intellect. In such a state, why should he not love God!2
ʿAllamah Hunzai, Psalms of Lovers, 34-35
« Qur’an 58:22 »
كَتَبَ فِى قُلُوبِهِمُ ٱلْإِيمَـٰنَ
وَأَيَّدَهُم بِرُوحٍۢ مِّنْهُ ۖ
وَيُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّـٰتٍۢ
تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ
خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ
رَضِىَ ٱللَّهُ عَنْهُمْ
وَرَضُوا۟ عَنْهُ ۚ
أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ حِزْبُ ٱللَّهِ ۚ أَلَآ
إِنَّ حِزْبَ ٱللَّهِ
هُمُ ٱلْمُفْلِحُونَ
Kataba Fī Qulūbihimu Al-'Īmāna
Wa 'Ayyadahum Birūĥin Minhu
Wa Yudkhiluhum Jannātin
Tajrī Min Taĥtihā Al-'Anhāru
Khālidīna Fīhā
Rađiya Allāhu `Anhum
Wa Rađū`Anhu
'Ūlā'ika Ĥizbu Allāhi 'Alā
'Inna Ĥizba Allāhi
Humu Al Mufliĥūna
He has written faith in their hearts
and assisted them with a spirit from Himself.
And He will admit them to Gardens
beneath which Rivers flow
to dwell therein (forever).
Allah will be well pleased with them
and they with Him.
They are the Party of Allah.
Truly, the Party of Allah
they will achieve Felicity.
« Qur’an 58:22 »
When perfect faith is mentioned, then its prerequisites and results are also implied. Thus, it should be known that faith in the heart of a muʾmin [faithful believer] is an ever green spring of luminosity and the muʾmin loves it naturally, as the Holy Qurʾan says:
“For such Allah has written
faith upon their hearts
and has strengthened them
with a Spirit from Him.”— Qurʾan 58:22
The writing of faith upon the hearts of muʾmins by Allah or the angels, means that the results and fruits of the perfect faith appeared in their hearts in the form of a luminous world of spirituality. This means that the muʾmin abundantly loves the prerequisites and results of faith.3
ʿAllamah Hunzai, Walayat Namah, 22
There are two places in the Wise Qurʾan (5:56; 58:22) where a muʾmin [faithful believer] with insight can come to know what kind of virtues muʾmins should have in order to attain the grace of spirituality and the light of Divine help and what kind of great sacrifices muʾmins of the past had offered in order to attain this supreme purpose. These two places make one subject matter which is related to the “Party of Allah (Hizbu’llah)”.
In it, the party of Allah is considered only those true muʾmins who love and have friendship only with God, the Prophet, the Sahib-i Amr (the Lord of command) and true muʾmins. Such muʾmins eventually receive the spirituality and luminosity of the Holy Spirit, as mentioned in verse 58:22:
“These are (the people)
upon their hearts
He has written faith
and has aided them with His Spirit.”
The meaning of writing faith upon their hearts and aiding them with His Spirit is that God, through His wisdom, has completed the light of faith and the grace of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of muʾmins in the form of a living and speaking book, due to the blessing of which, they become dominant, victorious and successful both in religion and the world. As Khwajah Hafiz of Shiraz says:
Fayz-i ruhu’l-qudus ar baz madad farmayad
Digaran ham bikunand anchih Masiha mikard
“If the Holy Spirit helps again then
the others also will be able to do
what the Messiah was able to do.”
That is, they will be able to perform the miracles which he [Jesus] used to perform.
ʿAllamah Hunzai, Pir Nasir-i Khusraw and Spirituality, 18
« Qur’an 2:269 »
یُّؤْتِی الْحِكْمَةَ مَنْ یَّشَآءُۚ
وَ مَنْ یُّؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ
فَقَدْ اُوْتِیَ خَیْرًا كَثِیْرًاؕ
وَ مَا یَذَّكَّرُ
اِلَّاۤ اُولُوا الْاَلْبَابِ
Yu'utī Al-Ĥikmata Man Yashā'u
Wa Man Yu'uta Al-Ĥikmata
Faqad 'Ūtiya Khayrāan Kathīrāan
Wa Mā Yadhakkaru
'Illā 'Ūlū Al-'Albābi
He gives Wisdom to whomever He wills
and whoever is given Wisdom
has been given Abundant Good (Khayr Kathir).
But none comprehends
except the possessors of intellect.
« Qur’an 2:269 »
Each word of the Qurʾan that has several meanings is called polysemous. A sage speaks in polysemous words when he wants to conceal wisdom in his speech. Therefore, in addition to technical meanings, to know the other meanings of Qurʾanic words and to draw conclusions of wisdom from them is called the “abundant good”. As God, the Absolute Wise, says:
“He gives wisdom
to whomever He wills,
and whoever is given wisdom
has been given the abundant good.
But none comprehends
except the possessors of intellect.”— Qurʾan 2:269
In short, wisdom is not something that someone can acquire by choice, rather it is in God’s hand Who grants it by His will. It is a gift in which abundant good is hidden. God-given goodness is the realities and recognitions (haqaʾiq-u maʿarif), which are everlasting. They are not any worldly wealth and bounty that are perishable. No sensible man will deny that wisdom itself is the intellect, as it is said “none comprehends except those who possess the intellect”. That is, it is only the possessor of the intellect who can comprehend.
Here, the question of comprehension or non-comprehension is related to the Qurʾan, which is comprehended only by the one who is granted wisdom. It is wisdom through which he becomes aware of the sciences and realities of the Qurʾan. Thus, it is wisdom or the intellect that is the key to abundant goodness.4
ʿAllamah Hunzai, Balance of Realities, 8-9
The Word Taʾwil: For seekers of wisdom it is important to ask what the primary meaning of the word taʾwil is and what is its purpose? The word taʾwil is derived from alif, waw, lam and is an infinitive on the measure of its second form tafʿil, which literally means “to return something to its origin (awwal)”.
Technically, taʾwil means “to return or take back the meaning of a word, to its batin (esoteric aspect), to its spirituality and intellectuality, to reveal the reality of a thing from the veil of allegory or parable”. For example, in verse 12:43 the seven cows are a parable, not reality. Thus taʾwil is another name for the wisdom which is from God.
A Basic Question: With reference to the surah of Yusuf⁽ᶜ⁾: Was Hazrat Yusuf⁽ᶜ⁾ given the wisdom to which abundant good (2:269) is linked, or not? If the answer is “yes, he was”, then it had to be taʾwil which was given to him and in which lies the great wealth of good. And this is a fact that God taught him the science of taʾwil. And the knowledge which God gives to someone cannot be a secondary kind of knowledge, but the original source of all subsidiary sciences. Thus it is true to say that that which is the real taʾwil is profound wisdom and in which is abundant good.
Hazrat Yusuf⁽ᶜ⁾ and Taʾwil: Hazrat Yusuf⁽ᶜ⁾ was a Prophet and also an Imam. God taught him taʾwil by initially helping him to complete the journey of spiritual stages step by step. He was then given the khilafat or vicegerency of the earth of God (earth of the Universal Soul) in his personal world, so that he might be able to do the taʾwil of the exoteric sayings in the light of the luminous and wisdom-filled observations of the higher world (12:21).
Thus, he who has not duly recognised himself cannot do taʾwil. Those whom the Imam of the time has made his soldiers for the sake of the war of taʾwil, can do taʾwil according to their status. For taʾwil is intellectual warfare in which the army of knowledge is indispensable.5
ʿAllamah Hunzai, Pure Intellect, 27-28
« Qur’an 1:2 »
اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ
رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِیْنَ
Al-Ĥamdu Lillāhi
Rabbi Al-ʿĀlamīn
Praise belongs to God
the Lord of the worlds.
« Qur’an 1:2 »
The world of humanity is first mentioned in the very beginning of the surah-i Fatihah, the opening chapter of the wise Qur’an:
In the name of Allah,
the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Praise belongs to Allah
the sustainer of the personal worlds (al-ʿalamin)!— Qurʾan 1:2
The praise of the Universal Intellect is specific to Allah, Who is the sustainer of the personal worlds. By al-ʿalamin, according to Imam Jaʿfar as-Sadiq, are meant the personal worlds, that is, every individual human being is an independent world. Thus, human beings are the ʿalamin, the personal worlds. The word “al-ʿalamin” is mentioned seventy-three times in the holy Qur’an. It is used everywhere in the sense of personal worlds or the worlds of humanity.
By “hamd” is meant the Universal Intellect, who is known by many names: the supreme Light, Muhammadan Light, the supreme Angel, the Divine Pen, the supreme Throne, the primordial Adam, the Heaven of the light of lights, the primordial root (asl-i awwal), etc. Since Allah created such a unique creature, it suffices to be His great praise.
The purpose of the creation of this greatest treasure, which is full of the lights of intellect and understanding, the secrets of knowledge and wisdom and the precious pearls of maʿrifat, is to provide the best upbringing of the ʿalamin, the worlds of humanity or human beings. Among God’s creatures, the mineral kingdom is inanimate and therefore the lowest; the vegetal kingdom is higher than it because it possesses the vegetative soul. The animal kingdom is sovereign over the vegetative kingdom because of its sensory soul. Humankind is sovereign over the animal soul because it has the rational soul and the partial intellect.
Thus, it is human beings alone who specifically need the spiritual and intellectual nurture of God.6
ʿAllamah Hunzai, The Wise Qurʾan and The World of Humanity, vol.1, p. 26
The Universal Intellect: The Universal Intellect has many names, such as the Real Adam, the First Cause, the Divine Throne, the Pen, the Divine Treasure, God’s Kingdom, the Maker of substances, the Causer, etc. This root is called the Universal Intellect because it is the fountainhead of intellect and knowledge. All intellects and sciences come under it. There is nothing which it does not know, nor is there any knowledge which is beyond it. It comprises all things.
It is called the Real Adam, because it has the knowledge of Names and is the object of the prostration of the angels. It is called the First Cause because it came into existence before anything else, i.e. the Universal Soul came into being from it and the rest of the existents from the Universal Soul. It is called the Divine Throne because nothing is more noble and exalted than it to be the Throne of God. It is called the Pen because God taught through it, as God says: “He taught through the Pen” (94:4).
It is called the First, because it came into being before anything else, as the Prophet says: “The first thing which God created is the Pen”; “The first thing which God created is the Intellect”; “The first thing which God created is my light”. It is called the Divine Treasure because it contains everything, as God says: “Or (why is not) a treasure sent down to him” (25:8), i.e. why does he not receive taʾyid (spiritual help) from the Universal Intellect.
It is called God’s Kingdom because in God’s Kingdom there is no difference, as He says: “You see no difference in the creation of the Beneficent” (67:3), and hence in it there is no difference. It is called the Maker of substances because it has made all spiritual and physical substances. It is called Causer because it is the Maker of the cause. It is called Praise (hamd) because God is praised and extolled through it.7
ʿAllamah Hunzai, Chain of the Light of Imamat, 15-16
Rereading the Poem
If you have made it this far, and I hope that you have, then you likely have experienced a considerable increase in your knowledge and appreciation of the Ismaili understanding of the Universal Intellect (al-ʿaql al-kulli) and its significance in a seeker’s spiritual quest for gnosis. If this is indeed the case, then perhaps a reread of the theophanic poem, the text of which I have made available below, will be more beneficial and rewarding than the previous reading had been, in shaʾa’llah.
"Self-Revelation of the Holy Essence"
The Universal Intellect
is the Angel closest to the Lordly Presence.
He is the First Originated Being -
the Self-Revelation of the Holy Essence.
He is the Supreme Veil
mediating the Light of Existence.
Souls on the lower realms
are in need of His spiritual assistance.
This great celestial Angel
has been likened to the Divine Pen.
Abundant wisdom is written
in the hearts of good women and men.
But indeed you need to be a believer
and raise your ontological connection.
Pray with gnostic knowledge and understanding
and praise your Lord with strong love and affection.
Khayal ‘Aly
References for ‘Allamah Hunzai’s Qur’anic Revelatory Hermeneutics
ʿAllamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai, Lubb-i Lubab, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, Pure Intellect, 9 (PDF download).
ʿAllamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai, Zabur-i Ashiqin, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, Psalms of Lovers, 34-35 (PDF download).
ʿAllamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai, Walāyat Nāmah, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, Walāyat Nāmah, 22 (PDF download).
ʿAllamah Nasir Hunzai, Mizan al-Haqaʾiq, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, Balance of Realities, 8-9 (PDF download).
ʿAllamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai, Lubb-i Lubab, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, Pure Intellect, 27-8 (PDF download).
ʿAllamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai, Qurʾan-i Hakim awr ʿAlam-i Insaniyyat, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, The Wise Qurʾan and The world of Humanity, vol.1, p. 26 (PDF download).
ʿAllamah Nasir al-Din Nasir Hunzai, Silsilah-yi-Nur-i Imamat, tr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Rashida Noormohamed-Hunzai, Chain of the Light of Imamat, 15-6 (PDF download).
For more works by ʿAllamah Hunzai and additional resources on esoteric Ismaili Islam, visit the Institute for Spiritual Wisdom and Luminous Science.
I appreciated the note from the author section, specifically, giving voice to how the poem was composed. Additionally, your explanation and "unraveling" of Light of Muhammad provided beautiful insights across various texts and sources into the esoteric aspects of its meaning and correlation to the Intellect, bringing light to a deeper understanding and meaning. I truly hope and look forward to reading more haqiqi ilm on this platform.
Great😊 contribution in metaphysics...... And also find intellects mashallah....