Temple and Contemplation brings together for the first ... - ImagoMundi

SABIAN TEMPLE AND ISMAILISM
mesocosm—that is to say, his being born to an existence typified by the
Angel who rules over that Heaven. This is the liturgical Cycle, celebrated
in the spiritual Temple which is formed by the da'wah, the Ismaili esoteric
Church.
What, one may ask, is the divine service par excellence, the liturgy which
is celebrated by and for the "festivals" of this Cycle?
The Brothers of Purity do not fail to describe it, or rather to allude to it
in veiled terms which we can, nevertheless, decipher by reference to other
contexts. The sacrifice, they say, which they celebrate assembles and
contains in itself all the virtues, both of the "religious" and of the "philosophical"
sacrifice. 107 This is the sacrifice which was offered up by Abraham,
"the ram that was obtained for him as ransom for his son and that had
grazed for forty autumns 108 on the Earth of Paradise. If you are able to
offer up in sacrifice a ram that has grazed on the Earth of Paradise an
entire lifetime if necessary, then do so; do not relax, keep fighting for this,
so that you may ultimately achieve your goal, may revive the exemplary
cases and abide in the universe of God.' 109
Thus the mental repetition of Abraham's sacrifice is presented as the
act par excellence of an esoteric ritual of spiritual death and regeneration.
But it is self-evident that the bent and the significance of this inner liturgy,
which effects a transmutation of the soul, can be understood only within
the context of the Ismaili exegesis. Who was the son that had to be
sacrificed? What is the ram that was sacrificed in his place? Why had it
grown up on the Earth of Paradise?
The Ismaili exegesis of Surah 37 refers, of course, to the order of the
sacred mesocosm, established by Gnosis. The purpose of the usual Islamic
107 Rasa'il IV, p. 309.
108 The Brothers' text (309 I. ii) has kharuf (forty sheep?). For this, read kharif
(autumn). Cf. Abu'l-Futuh Razi, Tqfsir, IV (Tehran edition, 1314 A.H.), p. 440 1. 28 IT.
(Chahal kharif). Forty autumns: that is, forty years. Cf. the passage where the
Brothers represent the hierarchy of their Order as made up of four levels, each of
which they address by a special vocative in the course of their treatises. The first
corresponds to the age of fifteen ("Our merciful and candid Brothers"). The
second corresponds to the age of thirty ("Our virtuous and excellent Brothers").
The third is reached after the age of forty ("Our eminent and noble Brothers").
The fourth level corresponds to the angelic faculty and is the result of an inner
experience which can be attained only after the age of fifty. It is to the Brothers of
this level that the Koranic verse is addressed: "Oh pacified soul, return to your
Lord, pleasing and pleased", Koran 89:27-28,(IV, pp. 222-223).
109 Ibid., p. 309.
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SABIAN TEMPLE AND ISMAILISM
exegesis is to establish that the child to be sacrificed must be not Isaac but
lshmael. Yet according to the Ismaili perspective there is far more to it
than this. Abraham had resolved to invest Isaac with his spiritual heritage,
thereby keeping it from Ishmael, the child who by divine proclamation
(37:101) had been characterized as the child of gentleness and patience.
This is the meaning ascribed to verse 37:102: "My child, I dreamed that I
was offering you up in sacrifice." But then a divine command alters this
mistaken predisposition and orders Abraham to transfer his heritage to
lshmael: "And we ransomed him with a great victim" (37:107). Now this
victim—traditionally this ram—is in fact no other than a metaphorical
designation for Isaac himself.110 What, then, is meant by the sacrifice of
this Ram?
Here again the whole body of Ismaili Gnosis can be taken as a guide. By
this Gnosis, Ishmael is regarded as the spiritual heir, the Imam who holds
the secret of the Gnosis, while Isaac is a Veil: the veil or screen of the
Letter which is placed before the Imam. The relationship between them
corresponds to the fundamental distinction between the appointed and
permanent Imam (mustaqarr, the ordinarius), and an Imam who is merely a
depositary or curator {muslawada'), established as a kind of protection
during periods of danger and apparently performing the functions of the
true Imam, while the latter remains hidden.111 Ishmael was the Upholder
of the mystical meaning, of the esoteric science of ta'wil, while Isaac was
before him as a Veil, maintaining the science of tanzil, of the revealed
Letter and of positive religion. The same relationship is perpetuated in the
course of their respective lineages," 2 and Ismaili historiosophy took upon
itself the task of determining what the legitimate transmission was for
each epoch. Whereas Moses established a new Law (shari'ah), a new
positive religion, the descendents of lshmael continued and transmitted
the esoteric message of Gnosis.113
Thus the spiritual ritual begins to assume a specific form. The ram
which must be offered up in sacrifice is Isaac. This signifies the sacrifice of
external evidence and literal faith (zahir), of the prescriptions of legalistic
religion, of material certainties, and of the justice of the Law. And whereas
110 Cf. Strolhmann, Texte XII, 34, p. 128.
111 Cf. Bernard Lewis, The Origins of Ismailism, pp. 48 ff., and Strothmann, Texte, index
s.v. mustaqarr and mustawda'.
112 Ibid., Tuhfah, chap. III, pp. 164-167.
113 Ibid., p. 164.
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