Spiritual Procreation in Islamic Thought
Qur'an Unveiled: How the Ismaili Tradition Interprets Q 2:223
Contributor:
Khayal ‘Aly
Ismaili Gnosis: Senior Research Associate
(khayal.aly; ismaili.poetry; khana_yi_khayr)
In light of the guidance given by Mawlana Hazar Imam⁽ᶜ⁾ on how an Ismaili ought to approach and understand the Qur’an-i Sharif, Ismaili Gnosis would like to make available short (as well as longer length) articles on the batini or esoteric exegesis of Qur’anic verses as found in Ismaili literature and/or deriving from the principles and keys of Ismaili ta’wil (revelatory hermeneutics).
In this short article, we will look at an Ismaili ta’wil of verse 2:223 as exegeted by the revered, 11th century Ismaili da‘i (missionary), Hakim Nasir-i Khusraw, Hujjat-i Khurasan, which will serve as an access point through which we can explore further some of Pir Nasir’s haqiqati (Truth revealing) teachings related to his ta’wil. It is hoped that through the help of the Imam’s exalted hujjat (spiritually elevated sage), we may gain some insight into the spiritual and intellectual significance of a verse which, when read only in its exoteric (zahiri) form, appears to be a Divine instruction for men to engage in sexual intercourse with their wives in whatever way they — that is to say, the men — wish.
Your women are fields [or tilth] for you, so go into your fields in any way you wish, and send [something good] ahead for yourselves [or for your souls]. Be mindful of God and know that you will meet Him. And give glad tidings to the believers.
نِسَآؤُكُمْ حَرْثٌۭ لَّكُمْ فَأْتُوا۟ حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّىٰ شِئْتُمْ ۖ وَقَدِّمُوا۟ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱعْلَمُوٓا۟ أَنَّكُم مُّلَـٰقُوهُ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ
As a quick google search on 2:223 and its commentaries will show, as does a representative tafsir (exegesis) for this verse in The Study Qur’an, Qur’an commentators exegeted the verse with a focus on what constitutes proper sexual intercourse. For many commentators, the context or “occasion of revelation” (asbab al-nazul) for this verse indicates Divine concern and clarification on how (i.e., in what positions or “coming from what direction”) and where (i.e., “in what part of the body”) men should approach their wives for sexual intercourse.
Some commentators, for example Madudi, analyze the wording of the verse to show for what purpose (i.e., for procreation rather than just recreation) a husband and wife should engage in intercourse which, as implied by the word harthun (field, tillage, harvest), should yield some sort of result or produce, thereby limiting the “where” and “for what purpose”.
Whatever benefit there may be in the zahiri tafsirs (and indeed, such exoteric commentaries continue to be relevant, especially when preventing potentially misogynistic interpretations due to manipulation of 2:223), in Ismailism, an esoteric Tariqah of Islam that places the utmost emphasis on discovering and understanding the batin or the spiritual and intellectual dimensions of wisdom (hikma) within the zahir or text of the Revelation, the words of God and their significance should not be limited to only one aspect of reality, especially not to just the physical dimension. In short, for Ismailis 2:223 is about much more than a Divine instruction on how biological males should engage in physical, sexual intercourse with their female wives.
The exoteric reading may be accepted at its own level, but for the ahl-i ta’wil, those who endeavor to unveil the higher level Revelatory secrets reserved for sincere and faithful seekers who recognize the Imam of the time as the fountainhead of knowledge, there are deeper truths (haqa’iq) that must be recognized within the verse.
It is accepted that 2:223 is indeed about intercourse, but because the Qur’an is a Book of Divine guidance, Ismaili spiritual teachers do not limit the verse’s guidance to only physical, i.e., corporeal, sexual intercourse, but extend it to spiritual, i.e., intellectual intercourse, where the literal meaning of intercourse as an intimate exchange or communication between people is still upheld. In short, here, intercourse is discourse, and the “women” (nisa) who are likened to “fields” or “farm land” (harthun) mentioned in the verse refer, at the batini level, to the disciples on the spiritual path or the spiritual aspirants (mustajiban) who respond (istajibu, 8:24) to the Imam’s “Summons of Truth” (Dawat-i Haqq).
Thus, commenting on 2:223: “Your women are fields for you, so go into your fields in any way you wish, and send forth [good deeds] for yourselves [or your souls]”, Hakim Nasir-i Khusraw distinguishes the true ta’wil of the verse from its zahiri interpretations.
The exoteric interpreters say that God means, “Have intercourse with your wives in any way that you want.” But the practitioners of hermeneutics (ta’wil) say that by this [mention of “wives”] He refers to the aspirants (mustajiban). He is saying that the da‘i [summoner, Ismaili teacher] should speak as he wishes so that the [male or female] aspirant (mustajib) attains genuine knowledge both of revelation and of exegesis, for that is the best for him [or her].
It is a stage in a world of whose traces He speaks, saying “and send forth [good deeds] for yourselves [or your souls]” (2:223). And they [i.e. ahl-i ta’wil] say that “to send forth good deeds [for your souls]” lies in the diffusion of knowledge, not in having [sexual] intercourse with women.Kitab-i Jami‘ al-Hikmatayn, translated by Eric Ormsby as Between Reason and Revelation: Twin Wisdoms Reconciled, 262
In Nasir-i Khusraw’s system of Qur’anic hermeneutics, and in Ismaili ta’wil literature in general, the mention of “women” or “wives” often designates students and seekers of knowledge (whether male or female) who, according to the Ismaili Da‘wa, receive ta‘lim (religious instruction) and ta‘wil (esoteric unveiling of wisdom) from the Imam and/or the wise sages and learned teachers (eg. hujjats and da‘is) designated to give such intellectual benefits from the true Imam to those who respond as (male and female) mustajibs on the path of gnosis (ma‘rifa).
This act of ta‘lim or cultivating knowledge and wisdom within the heart of the student is likened to, or in fact actually is, intercourse between the master (male) and the disciple (female) that leads to procreation, albeit in its spiritual (ruhani) or intellectual (‘aqlani) form. The teacher or giver of knowledge is, according to Ismaili esoteric exegesis, designated as the “man” who, through speech, gives the substance that will, just as in sexual intercourse, lead to the birth or creation of true life within the “woman”, where “true life” — at this level of understanding — is the spiritual life and light of gnosis that manifests within the students (of any gender) who listen to, accept and cultivate within their souls, what they are given. As Nasir-i Khusraw writes about the spiritual or esoteric ranks (hudud) of man and woman, husband and wife:
[…] in religion, the Prophet is the real “man” [in relation] to all people. In the manner in which they benefit from him in knowledge of religion, the entire community is to him as women to men. […] Regarding the superiority of the Prophet and his standing for the work of the community, God says: “O the Cloaked One, arise and warn” (74:1-2).
Since it has been established that the Prophet is the “man” of the entire community, we say that below him, every teacher is the spiritual “husband” of his student and every student is the [spiritual] “wife” of his teacher, since the former is the beneficiary of the latter.
Thus, in a spiritual position…the Imam is the [spiritual or esoteric] “husband” of the hujjat, the hujjat is the “husband” of the da‘i, the da‘i is the “husband” of…the mustajib [respondent]. Thus, every higher hadd [rank] is the “husband” of the lower hadd and every lower hadd is the “wife” of the higher hadd.
In ta’wil, the [teacher’s] tongue represents a man’s reproductive organ, the [student’s] ear represents the woman’s reproductive organ and the speaker’s speech is [spiritual] sexual intercourse.
Wajh-i Din, translated by Faquir M. Hunzai as The Face of Religion, Discourse 40 (translation modified). Click this text for an Urdu translation of Wajh-i Din
As we can see for Nasir-i Khusraw, representing — as the Imam’s hujjat — the Ismaili wisdom tradition, the symbolism of husband (male) and wife (female) is interpreted as teacher and student, based primarily on the symbolism of the giver and receiver in the act of sexual intercourse. Just as a woman receives into her womb what a man gives from within himself in order to conceive, in the same way, a spiritual seeker or student must receive through her (or his) ear, the words of knowledge that a higher ranking spiritual teacher gives or speaks in order to conceive noble concepts and higher truths within her (or his) mind or soul.
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This principle of ta’wil, where “ear” and “womb”
(along with what enters in them) are seen or
conceived (pun intended) as a pair of
corresponding symbols or similitudes (amthal),
can help unveil - as we plan to in a future
article - esoteric wisdoms within the Scriptural
account of the Annunciation (announcement),
where God breaths His Spirit into the Virgin
Mary so that she would be able to miraculously
conceive Jesus, God’s Messenger and His Word.
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The higher ranking Ismaili “hierarchs of religion” (hudud-i din) from within the Da‘wat-i Haqq, such as hujjats and da‘is, who are “spiritual wives” to one who has an even higher rank (hadd) or degree (darajat) of knowledge than they do, themselves receive haqiqi ‘ilm from their “spiritual husbands”. Therefore, when speaking and imparting true knowledge to their students, they do not claim that knowledge as their own; rather, they attribute that true knowledge to the Imam — the highest and most sublime rank (hadd-i a‘la) — of their time.
Thus, when expressing his views on the result and expectations of esoteric intercourse and spiritual procreation, Nasir-i Khusraw writes in his masterpiece of Ismaili ta’wil, Wajh-i Din, about the speech of a wise teacher and confirms that
when their tongue issues a word that causes spiritual procreation and assumes a form in the heart of another person in the manner that physical semen causes physical procreation, it is necessary for them to disclaim that word and attribute it to the Imams….
This is their spiritual cleansing, just as in the case of physical sexual intercourse they wash themselves…with water.Wajh-i Din, translated by Faquir M. Hunzai, Discourse 16
In the Ismaili system of ta’wil, an intelligible word is understood as being analogous to semen, in that both are necessary for their respective forms of procreation; one physical and the other spiritual.
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The connection between physical procreation
(via semen) and spiritual procreation (via words
and thoughts) is retained even in contemporary
language, through the use of words like
conception and conceive.
Likewise, the “meanings of other English words
such as conversation and intercourse also straddle
notions of communication and sex”(see Karim
H. Karim, “Speaking into the Ear: Fecund Truth’s
Virgin Medium”, 194).
Significantly, this connection is at the root of
words like seminar (a conference or meeting for
discussion), seminary (an institution of higher
education; a collage that trains students to be
priests, rabbis, or ministers), dissemination
(action of spreading something, especially
information, widely) and seminal (containing
or contributing the seeds of later development;
creative, original).
All of these terms are related to or derived from
the Latin word “semen” (seed), itself from the
Proto-Indo-European “se” (“to sow”).
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For the Hujjat-i Khurasan, spiritual procreation and esoteric intercourse is — without denying the blessing and pleasure of physical procreation and sexual intercourse — ultimately what is most beneficial for not only the student (spiritual wife), but for the teacher (spiritual husband) as well. Nasir-i Khusraw makes this explicit in Zad al-Musafarin (Provision for the Wayfarers), where he posits a correspondence or parallel between the pleasures of sexual intercourse and intellectual discourse attained by one who reaches physical maturity and spiritual perfection. Commenting on (and summarizing for us) the relevant material from chapter 18 of the Zad, Ghulam Abbas Hunzai writes:
Physical maturity (balaghat-i jasad) of man, according to Nasir, is the first perfection (kamal-i awwal). This perfection is completed when man develops the capacity to experience sexual pleasure and thereby he attains the ability to perpetuate his species through reproduction. This perfection can also be called the completion of the physical form of man.
[…] Actualization of the rational soul means completion or perfection of the spiritual form. That spiritual form is the form of knowledge because [to quote Nasir-i Khusraw,] "it (human soul) has been brought into this world to receive the form of knowledge (surat-i ‘ilmi) so that thereby, it can experience the favours of the spiritual world".[…] Upon the first perfection, i.e. the maturity of body, man begins to enjoy sexual pleasure, whereby he acquires the capacity of perpetuating his species through reproduction. Likewise, when the spiritual form i.e. the noetic form of a person becomes complete, he becomes capable of communicating knowledge to the members of his species, which is a kind of spiritual reproduction [or spiritual procreation] (zayish-i nafsani), whereby he preserves and perpetuates his soul and the souls of those who receive his knowledge.
The completion of the form of the human soul marks the second perfection (kamal-i duwum). This perfection is the complete maturity of intellectual pleasure.
The Concept of Pleasure Propounded by Nasir-i Khusraw, MA Thesis (McGill University), 84-5
While physical procreation through sexual intercourse preserves the human species, spiritual procreation (or spiritual birth and reproduction, zayish-i nafsani) through esoteric and intellectual intercourse preserves, develops and completes the human, rational soul of both the giver and receiver of true knowledge, ultimately resulting in their second, i.e., their spiritual, perfection, where one can experience the greatest, most sublime and Divine mercy of intellectual pleasure.
Just as the soul of every faithful wayfarer (mu’min-i salik) seeks to become complete, so too must this short article be brought to completion. And just as every Ismaili murid who struggles and hopes to progress and elevate — step by step — on the Ladder of Salvation (Sullam al-Najat) will develop a greater sense of taqwa or God-consciousness, it is likewise hoped that the reading of this article — line by line — will help us to always, as 2:223 itself instructs, “be mindful of God” (ittaqu'llah) and know that we will have our mulaqat (meeting) with Him (annakum mulaquhu = “you will meet Him”).
Knowing all this, the best thing we can do for our souls is struggle to perfect ourselves in our ‘ilm wa ‘amal, our knowledge (within ourselves) and action (with respect to others). Thus is certainly why, as we saw earlier, Hakim Nasir-i Khusraw says that for the ahl-i ta’wil (i.e., the batini Ismailis), the Divine guidance to “send forth good deeds [for your souls]”, as commanded in 2:223 of the Qur’an, is acted upon properly and truly through “the diffusion of knowledge, not in having [sexual] intercourse with women.”
Khayal ‘Aly
10/30/2023
Really enjoyed reading this piece.
Our Ismaili pirs have composed many ginans addressed to the Imam that are in a feminine voice.