Say (O Muhammad): "He is God, (the) One, The Self-Sufficient Master, He begets not, nor was He begotten; And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him."

(Sura 112:1-4)

The Cosmology of Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims Descent from perfection, return to perfection

THE SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE A discussion between a father and his son concerning how we can know anything about Intellect, and through that knowledge, ascend to perfection

Ta’yid, given to all My son had discerned for himself that he could learn much from the composition of the world. He learned that Nature, with its constant motion, brought forth the fathers, the natures, and that they, moving amongst themselves created the mothers. Of course I have already discussed that, so I will suffice it to say that he learned that the composition of the material world was itself an echo of ‘aql. He wondered aloud one day what else we could learn of the perfect being, and how we would learn it. “Father,” he said to me “surely what I can see with my eyes is not enough. What has al-ibda’ to say to me directly?”

“You know, of course, the tarkib from nafs. You explained it to me well enough, my son. But I ask this- how did you know enough to even begin asking questions?” My son for once appeared at a loss for words. I could see as he struggled to signify that which he could not comprehend. I did not want to prolong it, so I explained: “’aql, my son, wants us to have knowledge. As we came from it, so should we return. Its very act of being is a source of knowledge- just as nafs gushed from it as it contemplated its perfection-” He interrupted to say “So too does knowledge of its own knowledge radiate forth to those willing to accept it! This is ta’yid, divine assistance!”

The Speaking-prophet, the ulu’l-’azm provides the law through his ta’lif “Little has been said of al-kitaab, father, of the Holy Quran. What of it? Where does it come in, and how did Muhammad, peace be upon him, gain such knowledge of the mysteries you have taught me?” “A fine question, my son., and one at the heart of our enterprise. Surely you have met many different kinds of men?” He responded that he had, in fact. “And certainly they did not all have the same strength, or the same with, or the same ability to reason?” He nodded his assent. “It is the same, my son, with ta’yid. Not all can receive it to the same extent. The Intellect knows this, and in its great wisdom, provides for us the prophets who speak the law, create great faiths, and deliver to us much of what we must know to contemplate ‘aql.” Of course he asked me how this happened. I explained to him the concept of al-qudsiyya or sacrality, that ability the speaking-prophets are granted so that their limited bodies do not interfere with their minds. I went further and explained the nature of the unbridled access that the lawgivers have to Intellect, naming this access ta’lif, and my son then said yet another thing to surprise me…

The law of the prophet is bound by language, by custom, and by time “I can see, father, how the prophets can access the perfect knowledge of intellect through their sacrality. I can see also how this access, this unbridled knowledge, this ta’lif allows them to understand things that even nafs cannot understand. I can even,“ he said with the wisdom I had grown accustomed to “understand how the prophets compose the law in the same way that nafs and nature composes the material world, only with words instead of the fathers and the mothers.” He paused for a moment and I asked him to arrive at his point before I lost interest. He looked shocked for a moment before noticing my smile, then he returned it and playfully chastised my lack of patience. “The linguistic composition of the Speaking-prophet is different in one way, one major way from the physical composition of soul and nature, father.” I asked him to tell me the way, though I knew what he would utter. “We can see the rocks, and the flames, and the water- and all men at all times see the same thing. They understand the same interactions, and the compositions and movement is familiar to us all.” “You wonder, my son, what the latins think of al-kitaab, or the mu’allaf, the scripture of Muhammad, peace be upon him?” After he nodded I smiled and said to him “Your insight is striking, for while the prophet’s understanding of Intellect is perfect, his scripture is bound by language, by custom, and by time. The Holy Quran means less in translation than in Arabic, and it means even less to those who do not live the same way that the prophet lived.” “So,” he said “the sayings of the prophet are as important as al-huda itself, for without them, the questions of meaning would go unanswered by he who actually understood them. But father, what happens when the prophet is no longer around to explain what his mu’allaf means?

“And now,” I said “you have come to it at last. The great truth.” He looked at me with anticipation, but smiled softly. He knew I would not just give him the answer. “Tell me, my son, what all of the sources of knowledge we have discussed have in common.” He pondered for a time, then responded. “Ta’yid comes directly from intellect. Through it, each man can fill himself with the knowledge of Intellect, up to his own potential. Tarkib comes from Intellect also, but from nafs as agent. It composes the world and everything we see. Through the composition, we can understand something of Intellect, which is the form of God’s command. Ta’lif comes from Intellect, but from the Speaking-prophet as agent. It composes a law for a particular people in a particular time. The similarity, father, is that each comes from Intellect to man. From the universal to the particular.” “Indeed you have it, my son. From the universal to the particular. A descent from perfection to imperfection. Intellect does not leave our questions unanswered, worry not. We are provided with those who have the authority to trace mu’allaf from the particular to the universal. It is an ascent to perfection, discovering the source of the law within Intellect. Where the scripture of the Speaking-prophet is codified and written, the interpretation of the Imams is spoken. It makes clear what is unclear by resignification for a new people in a new time.” My son sat quietly for a long time. He said nothing in response to me, but I knew that he needed say nothing. The truths of our great faith were becoming clear to him. In time, we would discuss a world without the law, with no need for scriptures- a time when the final natiq would arrive and usher in the age of perfection. But today is not the day for those discussions. Today is the day to ponder the gift of the Imamate, of those who can reach upward and tell us the intent of the Speaking-prophets. Today we ponder ‘aql, and God’s tawhid. The Imamate and the ta’wil, reaching upward form particulars to universal truth

There are three sources of knowledge descending from universal to particular – Ta’yid, which radiates directly from Intellect – Tarkib, the material composition through which nafs makes the physical world – Ta’lif, the linguistic composition through which the Speaking-prophets create scripture and the law There is one source of knowledge ascending from particular to universal – Ta’wil, the sacred interpretation of the Imamate, through which the Imam of the age reinterprets the scripture of the Speaking-prophet The Sources of Knowledge