Philosophy

The author here gives expression to the Fatimi view that al-ʿAql al-Awwal realised that he was powerless to know the Creator and was the first to exercise tawhīd (the Oneness of Allah). He comprehends his own limitation that the created had no power ever to comprehend the Creator. As the first in Creation, he comprehends, that he being the created could not himself be the Creator. He comprehends himself by himself, as, he is the first and the highest in [...]

This verse draws attention to a hadīth of the Holy Prophet Mohammed SAW. He says, 'What Allah created first was al-ʿaql.' He then ordered al-ʿaql to come forth, and He came forward. Then Allah said, turn, and he turned. Then Allah declared, by my power and majesty, I have set you at the peak of Creation. Through you shall I reward and through you shall I punish.' In this second verse, the subject of ʿaql in man leads on to the [...]

Verse 1 Al-ʿaql in man is the loftiest substance, luminous like the moon in his soul. This book of philosophy, written in verse form, seeks to elucidate the traditional thought process of Fatimi imams. It opens with the consideration of al-ʿaql in man, which, as commonly understood, bears broad reference to the intellectual faculty of man. Verse 1 states that ʿaql is a substance having a lofty status. It is not a form or a phase that comes over a [...]