The Imam: What They Don't Tell You on Imamat Day
In Awe and Honor of the Imam as the Manifest Word or Command of God
“Maẓhar of the Amr”
The Sovereignty of Allāh
is expressed through His Command;
the Maẓhar of the Amr
is manifest upon the Land.
Actually, let me back up -
the Command is the Source of creation;
the Exalted Word of Allāh
begins the process of emanation.
The Command or the Word
originates the luminous creature;
Divine Authority
manifests through the Nūr of the Teacher.
The Teacher of mankind
causes creation to remain upright;
seekers of perfection
keep seeking till they merge in His light.
- Khayāl ‘Aly
March 1st, 2021
Imamat Day Mubarak to all readers and seekers of Ismaili Gnosis. We hope you enjoyed the above poem, written in awe and honor of the Ḥujjat al-Amr (Proof of the Command of God), Ṣāḥib’i-Zamān wa’l-Aṣr (Master of physical and spiritual time), Nūr Mawlānā Shāh Karīm al-Ḥusayni, Ḥāzir Imām, ṣalawātu’llāhi ‘alayhi wa-salāmuhu, and with gratitude for the reality he makes manifest as the maẓhar (locus of manifestation) of Allah. The wisdom-filled excerpts below should help us have a better and deeper understanding of the concepts and terms that are mentioned or alluded to in the above poem, which reminds us — and perhaps for some of us inform us — about
the function of the Divine Command (Amr-i Ilāhī) or the Exalted Word (Kalima-i A‘lā) of God as the Source (Mabda’) of emanation and creation,
the reality of the Manifest Imam who, as God’s Maẓhar or Locus of manifestation, makes His Sovereignty and Authority manifest on the Earth of Humanity,
the Imam’s role as the perfect (kāmil), Universal Teacher (Mu‘allim-i Kull) who causes mankind to remain morally, spiritually and intellectually upright,
the importance of our esoteric mission as sincere mu’mins and spiritual seekers who desire to elevate and complete our souls by merging with the Sacred Light (Nūr-i Muqaddas) of the Maẓhar of the Amr, the Imam of the time⁽ˢ⁾.
All of the following material (in the main body of this post) has been excerpted from two important texts of the well-known 13th century Muslim polymath and Ismā‘īlī Dāʿī, Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī. The first set of quotes have been selected from his Sayr wa Sulūk, translated from Persian into English by S.J. Badakhchani as Contemplation and Action: The Spiritual Autobiography of a Muslim Scholar. The second set of quotes are excerpted from a collaborative work Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī contributed to, Rawḍa-yi Taslīm, translated from Persian into English by S.J. Badakchani as Paradise of Submission: A Medieval Treatise on Ismaili Thought.
In providing these carefully selected excerpts, as well as the supplementary, yet highly significant and insightful, passages presented in the (Fantastically Terrific) Footnotes — which, in fact, greatly enhance the value of this post and thus, must not be overlooked — it is our hope that not only will our readers be better equipped to understand and appreciate the poem being shared on the blessed occasion of Imamat Day, but that due to an increase in our knowledge and recognition of the bāṭinī ḥaqīqa (esoteric or hidden reality) of our blessed Imām-i Zamān, we may all be inspired to read (and indeed re-read) the original publications from which we have drawn and without which neither the poem nor prose of this particular post would have been possible.
Ya ‘Aly Madad,
Khayal ‘Aly
7/10/2024
khayal.aly@gmail.com
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