The Delegation Decoded An Esoteric Exegesis of the Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat A Personal Interpretation by Khalil Andani

Transcription

1 The Delegation Decoded An Esoteric Exegesis of the Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat A Personal Interpretation by Khalil Andani In December 2008 the Isma ili Imam His Highness Aga Khan IV and the Prime Minister of Canada formally inaugurated the Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat in Ottawa. In his speech the Imam stated that the Delegation was designed to serve as an expression of esoteric knowledge: This new Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, like the Ismaili Centre and the Aga Khan Museum to be built in Toronto, reflects our conviction that buildings can do more than simply house people and programmes. They can also reflect our deepest values, as great architecture captures esoteric thought in physical form. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV (Address at the Inaugural Ceremony of the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, Ottawa, Canada, 06 December 2008) The esoteric thought is represented by the Delegation s unique architecture which tends to tease and confuse the physical eyes of its beholder. One can only understand and decode the Delegation's architecture by contemplating it with the eyes of ta'wil or esoteric exegesis. Only then will the esoteric thought captured within the architecture be set free for one to see. This article offers an esoteric reading or ta wil of the interior architecture of the Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat. The article will explain the connection between the various facets of the architecture and the celestial and terrestrial ranks of what Isma ili philosophers call the World of Faith, which includes concepts such as zahir (exoteric) and batin (esoteric), Universal Intellect and Universal Soul, Prophet, Imam, hujjah (proof), Paradise, etc. The article also contains pictures and diagrams and consists of the following sections: 1. Introduction: The World of Faith 2. Jali Screen and Atrium: Exoteric and Esoteric 3. Upper Glass Dome: The Lords of Inspiration 4. Lower Glass Fibre Canopy: The Masters of Instruction 5. Jali Screen Sections: The Summoners of Knowledge 6. Atrium Floor: The Seven Repeated Ones 7. Char-bagh: The Rivers of Paradise 8. Conclusion: Below the Surface 9. Appendix: Diagrams of Ta wil

2 The Delegation Decoded An Esoteric Exegesis of the Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat A Personal Interpretation by Khalil Andani In December 2008, His Highness Prince Aga Khan IV, the 49 th hereditary Imam 1 (spiritual leader) of the Shi a Isma ili Muslims, along with the Prime Minister of Canada, formally inaugurated the Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat in Ottawa. The Delegation was described by the Prime Minister as an architectural masterpiece. It would be no exaggeration to suggest that the Delegation was designed to serve as an expression of esoteric knowledge rooted in Isma ili thought and tradition. This appears to be confirmed by the Isma ili Imam in his speech made at the Inaugural Ceremony: This new Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, like the Ismaili Centre and the Aga Khan Museum to be built in Toronto, reflects our conviction that buildings can do more than simply house people and programmes. They can also reflect our deepest values, as great architecture captures esoteric thought in physical form. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV (Address at the Inaugural Ceremony of the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, Ottawa, Canada, December 6, 2008) In the last few months, the Delegation has been open to public viewing where one can admire and contemplate its unique and mysterious architecture firsthand. When the Isma ili Imam first requested the design of the Delegation, he wrote a letter to the architects which described his vision 2 of the building: The goal is to create a building which causes the viewer to wonder how different elements and different planes relate to each other, how they work together to tickle the eye In a rock crystal the cuts and angles permit both transparency as well as translucency. It pleases and confuses the eye by its internal planes running at different angles, creating a sense of visual mystery. The building in a sense should be somewhat mysterious and visually nearly esoteric. It should not be blatant but ethereal, not obvious but difficult to captivate. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV (Letter to Fumihiko Maki, quoted in Maria Cook, An Essay in Glass, The Ottawa Citizen, December 6, 2008) The Isma ili worldview, as articulated and expressed in the last fourteen hundred years, is an esoteric one which views all things that exist in both the World of Faith ( alam al- 1 In Shi a Islam, the term Imam refers to the hereditary spiritual leaders directly descended from the Prophet Muhammad through his cousin and son-in-law, Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib, the first Imam, and Hazrat Bibi Fatima, the Prophet s daughter. His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV is the 49 th hereditary Imam of the Shi a Imami Isma ili Muslims, tracing his descent from Hazrat Ali through Hazrat Isma il ibn Ja far. 2 The article where the below passage is quoted from is available at: a863f011e5ae

3 din) 3 and natural world ( alam al-dunya) as symbols expressing hidden meanings. In Isma ili thought, the process of uncovering the meanings embedded in the symbols is called ta wil and this method of esoteric interpretation or exegesis was used specifically to interpret the verses of the Holy Qur an. The esoteric thought is represented by the Delegation s unique architecture which tends to tease the eyes of its beholder and is difficult to comprehend. One can only understand and decode the Delegation's architecture by contemplating it with the eyes of ta'wil or esoteric exegesis. Only then will the esoteric thought captured within the architecture be set free for one to see. This article 4 is a humble attempt to offer an esoteric exegesis or ta wil 5 of the interior architecture of the Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat. It seeks to explain the symbolism of the architecture in light of Isma ili thought and philosophy rooted in the intellectual traditions of Isma ilism. Indeed, the Isma ili Imam indicated that the Delegation s architecture constitutes a translation of both exoteric and esoteric concepts from Isma ili history. This article will shed light on some of these concepts. The architectural planning has been entrusted to the capable hands of Fumihiko Maki, an architect of world standing. Maki and Associates have my enthusiastic admiration for addressing, with tact and empathy, challenges of design which are difficult and subtle. They call for translating concepts that have a context in our faith and our history, yet stride boldly and confidently ahead, into modernity; for expressing both the exoteric and the esoteric, and our awe and humility towards the mysteries of Nature, Time and beyond. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV, (Address at the Foundation Ceremony of The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, Ottawa, Canada, June 6, 2005) 3 Further reading on the Isma ili concept of the world of religion (alam al-din) can be found in an article by Simonetta Calderini titled 'Alam al-din" in Isma'ilism: World of Obedience or World of Immobility?, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Vol. 56, No. 3 (1993), pp We also deal with the concept of alam al-din in the following paragraphs. 4 In August 2009, I visited the Delegation accompanied by some close friends. We were able to examine its architecture up close and contemplate it in light of Isma ili ta wil. The present article is the fruit of the many discussions I had with my friends during our visit and I would like to acknowledge their help and encouragement. I would like to especially thank Haafiz Alibhai for editing the drafts of this article. 5 In Isma ili thought and history, there are two types of ta wil (esoteric exegesis). The supreme ta wil can only be disclosed by the Isma ili Imam himself and is entirely his prerogative. However, there is a second type of ta wil which can be performed by any individual member (murid) of the Isma ili Tariqah according to one s own level (hadd) of knowledge. Accordingly, there are many levels of this ta wil and therefore many layers of meaning to be sought. Presented in this article is but one approach which reflects our personal ta wil and symbolic understanding. It is entirely natural and expected that others will interpret the same symbols quite differently. However, the ta wil presented in this article is by no means arbitrary and draws upon knowledge which is firmly rooted and established in Isma ili theosophy and history.

4 1. Introduction: The World of Faith the World of Faith and the material world are the dual responsibilities of humankind. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV The Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat, according to an esoteric reading of its architecture, is essentially a symbol of what Isma ili theosophers call the World of Faith ( alam al-din). While it is difficult to provide a comprehensive definition of this term as used by Isma ili theosophers what follows is a brief overview 6. The World of Faith consists of two realms: an upper celestial realm and a lower terrestrial realm 7 each of which contains a number of ranks (hudud) 8. The terrestrial realm consists of the Prophets, the Imams, the teaching hierarchy over which they preside known as the Ranks of Faith (hudud al-din), the initiates (murids) who receive and respond to their teaching and the very substance of the knowledge and gnosis which is transmitted through the Ranks of Faith. Isma ili theosophers referred to the terrestrial part of the World of Faith, which includes the hierarchy of human instructors, as the Summons to the Truth (da wat al-haqq) or the Summons (da wah). The Summons is a hierarchy of spiritual guides and teachers whose highest rank (hadd) is the Prophet Muhammad in his time, his wasi (legatee) Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib after him, and each succeeding Isma ili Imam in his respective period. Under the Prophet or Imam, who is the master of the age and the time (sahib al-zaman wa l-asr) 9, there are ranks of individuals known as the hujjah ( proof ) of the Imam. Under the hujjah is a rank called the da i ( summoner ) after which are lower ranks known as mu allim (teacher), mahdun ( receiver of the oath ) and mustajib ( respondent ). The concept of the ranks of knowledge is found in the several verses of the Holy Qur an one of which is below: 6 This description of the World of Faith is based upon the description given by Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw which is summarized in an article by Dr. Shafique Virani, The Days of Creation in the Thought of Nasir-i Khusraw, published in Nasir Khusraw: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, Khujand, 2005, Publishing House Noshir, pp The terms celestial and terrestrial should not simply be equated with the spiritual and the physical. The celestial realm consists of spiritual beings which are universal and supra-individual, such as the Archangels, the Divine Forms, and the higher Paradises. The terrestrial realm includes the spiritual world of individual souls, the imaginal world of subtle bodies, and the corporeal world of physical bodies. These realms are called terrestrial or earthly because they are ontologically lower than the celestial realm and receive their form and qualities from that realm. In contrast to the celestial realm, the terrestrial realm consists of beings which possess individuality such as angels, jinn, human souls, etc. 8 The term hadd (plural: hudud) is an Arabic word which means limit, horizon, or rank. In the religious and spiritual context, every being in the World of Faith has its own hadd in gnosis its spiritual limit or horizon and the arrangement of such beings is known as the hudud. Every soul in the spiritual world has its own hadd based on its purity and rank of knowledge. This system of spiritual ranks was formalized where certain ranks undertook specific functions in the World of Faith such as the Prophet (natiq), Legatee (wasi), Imam, bab, hujjah, da i and others. 9 The term sahib al-zaman wa l-asr literally means master of the age and the time. The guardianship (walayah) of the Master of the Ages includes the spiritual realm of individual souls and the physical world of material affairs. The Master of the Age is the individual who holds the rank of Imam in every age including instances where the Prophet also held the rank of Imamat such as Prophet Muhammad.

5 We raise in ranks (darajat) whom We please; and over every possessor of knowledge is a possessor of knowledge. - Holy Qur an 12:76 Number symbolism also plays a major part in the structure of the hudud al-din. There is one Imam in every age but the ranks (hudud) below him comprise a multiplicity of individuals. Immediately under the Imam is a special class of four hujjahs, known as the hujjahs of proximity or the gates (abwab, sing. bab). One of these hujjahs is known as the supreme hujjah (hujjatu l-azam) or the greatest bab. There are four stopping places (miqat) for changing into pilgrim clothes along the way to the Ka ba, which correspond to the four hujjats who never leave the side of the Imam and who take knowledge from the Imam and transmit it to the common people. For Nasir, no one may reach the stage of receiving words from the Imam except through one of these four hujjats, just as whoever wants to reach the Ka ba has to pass through one of the four miqats. - Alice Hunsberger, (The Ruby of Badakhshan, p. 190) Below the four great hujjahs is a group of twenty-four hujjats who are divided into two sets twelve hujjahs of the day and the twelve hujjahs of the night. A pair of hujjahs, one of the day and one of the night, are spread through the twelve regions of the world where they dispense knowledge and wisdom to the people of their communities. Understand that for each Imam there are twelve visible diurnal hujjas and twelve concealed and hidden nocturnal hujjas they are the veil of the Imam and are his mouthpieces and gateways, his deputies and the messengers from him to the da is, who in turn convey the message to the believers. - Sayyedna Ibn al-haytham, (The Advent of the Fatimids, p. 97) In total, there are twenty-eight hujjahs below the Imam who receive knowledge from the Imam through spiritual assistance (ta yid) and spiritual imagination (khayal) as opposed to verbal or written instruction (ta lim). The number twenty eight is rich in symbolism and corresponds to the number of lunar stations or mansions and the length of the lunar cycle. Operating under each of the twelve pairs of the hujjahs are thirty da is. There are a total of three hundred and sixty da is a highly symbolic number corresponding to the number of degrees in a circle and the number of days in a single year according to some traditional calendars. Below is a summary of the terrestrial hudud of the World of Faith 10 : 1. Imam 2. Bab 3. Hujjah 4. Da i 5. Mu allim 6. Mahdun 7. Mustajib Ontologically above the terrestrial realm of the World of Faith is the celestial realm. The celestial realm, according to Isma ili theosphers, consists of five ranks (hudud) which are the Universal Intellect, Universal Soul, Jadd, Fath, and Khayal. These five hudud were 10 This hierarchy is based on the diagram found in Shafique Virani, The Ismailis in the Middle Ages, pp. 73.

6 originated by God s creative Command (amr) while God Himself transcends both the terrestrial and celestial hudud and is ontologically above both realms. The Universal Intellect, the Universal Soul, jadd, fath and khayal, also known as the Pen, the Tablet, Seraphiel, Michael and Gabriel, are the five spiritual hadds who are eternal and unchanging. They are ontologically beyond the world of cycles. - Dr. Shafique Virani, (The Days of Creation in the Thought of Nasir-i Khusraw, in Nasir Khusraw: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, Khujand, 2005, Publishing House Noshir, pp.74-83) The terrestrial hudud receive ta yid 11 (spiritual assistance and inspiration) from the celestial hudud. The highest hadd, who is the Prophet or Imam of the time, receives the ta yid directly from the celestial hudud while the hujjahs receive the ta yid through the mediation of the Imam. Dr. Shafique Virani describes the status of the hujjahs as follows: They do not receive their knowledge by instruction (ta lim), as do the lower ranks. Rather, their knowledge is by a type of inspiration from on high, a support (ta yid) that the text explains to be the power of the divine light (quwwat-i nur-i ilahi). A couplet found in this text as well as in many other Ismaili treatises, but of unknown authorship, explains this inspiration as follows: A path exists from the hujjat to the Imam He becomes aware by the divine support (ta yid) of his heart - Dr. Shafique Virani, (The Ismailis in the Middle Ages, p. 74) The World of Faith is not limited to the Isma ili community but reaches and extends to people of all faiths. All human beings have a connection to the celestial realm of the Intellect, Soul, Jadd, Fath, and Khayal through their individual soul and intellect. The twelve hujjahs of the night are not formally part of the Isma ili jama at but reside in other religious communities to whom they provide the light of knowledge like stars in the night. Thus, the Summons (da wah) of the World of Faith is rooted in the realm of universal spirituality and embraces people of all faiths and cultures, whether it be in a direct or indirect fashion. There is also a symbolic correspondence between the World of Nature ( alam al-dunya) and the World of Faith ( alam al-din). The World of Nature includes the visible heavens, the earth, time and various celestial bodies and each of these correspond to a rank (hadd) or reality in the World of Faith. The below hadith of the Prophet Muhammad, quoted by Nasir al-din Tusi, explains the reason for this: God, the Blessed, the Exalted, has based His religion (din) on the likeness of His creation, so that they might find His creation a sign indicating His religion, and His religion a sign indicating His unicity (wahadaniyyat). - Prophet Muhammad, (quoted in Nasir al-din Tusi, The Paradise of Submission, p. 138) 11 The concept of ta yid must not be confused with prophetic revelation (wahy) by which the revealed Book is sent down to the Prophets. Ta yid is a continuous stream of divine assistance and inspiration which infuses the soul of the mu ayyad (recipient of ta yid) with inspired knowledge ( ilm). In contrast, the prophetic revelation comes down to the prophet at a specific intervals and results in the revealed discourse which becomes a sacred Book.

7 It is most appropriate to refer to this entire structure as a world ( alam) since the Arabic word for world, alam, comes from the word ilm (knowledge) 12. The World of Faith ( alam al-din) facilitates the transmission of knowledge ( ilm) and gnosis (ma rifah) from the Universal Intellect to the hearts and minds of humanity. What follows is an esoteric interpretation (ta wil) of the interior architecture of the Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat. The symbolism of its various components will be discussed in separate sections and accompanied by photos. The article consists of the following sections: 1. Introduction: The World of Faith 2. Jali Screen and Atrium: Exoteric and Esoteric 3. Upper Glass Dome: The Lords of Inspiration 4. Lower Glass Fibre Canopy: The Masters of Instruction 5. Jali Screen Sections: The Summoners of Knowledge 6. Atrium Floor: The Seven Repeated Ones 7. Char-bagh: The Rivers of Paradise 8. Conclusion: Below the Surface 9. Appendix: Diagrams of Ta wil The Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat, according to the esoteric exegesis of its architecture, serves as visual and geometric symbol of the World of Faith ( alam al-din) and its various ranks (hudud). Moving inwards from the jali screen and to the atrium represents the journey from the exoteric (zahir) to the esoteric (batin). Moving downwards from the upper glass dome to the floor of the atrium represents the descent of divine inspiration and knowledge in the World of Faith from the celestial realm to the terrestrial realm. The Isma ili Imam referred to the role of the Imamat with regards to the World of Faith in his recent speech made at the opening of the Isma ili Centre in Dushanbe, Tajikistan: We will seek to demonstrate that spiritual insight and worldly knowledge are not separate or opposing realms, but that they must always nourish one another, and that the World of Faith and the material world are the dual responsibilities of humankind. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV, (Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Dushanbe Ismaili Centre, October 12, 2009) 12 Nasir-i Khusraw, Gushayish wa Rahayish, transl. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai as Knowledge and Liberation, Institute of Ismaili Studies, London 1999, p. 61.

8 2. Jali Screen and Atrium: Exoteric and the Esoteric Lo! Your Lord is God who created the heavens and the earth in six days. Then He ascended the Throne - Holy Qur an 7:54 The interior of the Delegation Building consists of an open atrium which is surrounded by two layers of screens known as jali screens. The presence of the jali screen creates a sense of both transparency and veiling with regards to the atrium. When standing outside the atrium, one can still perceive the light of the atrium and look inside but the view is obstructed by the screen. The jali screen is double layered with the outer layer consisting of small hexagons and the inner layer consisting of larger hexagons and rectangular figures. The atrium is in the shape of a square. The Jali Screen The key to understanding the symbolism of the jali screen is the hexagonal pattern. In Islamic architectural symbolism, the figure of the hexagon represents the Heavens (samawah) 13. In the Isma ili worldview, the concept of Heavens relates to both the World of Nature ( alam al-duniya) and the World of Faith ( alam al-din). In other words, just as there are the Heavens and the Earth of the physical world, there are also the Heavens and the Earth of the World of Faith. In this sense, the twenty-third Nizari Isma ili Imam Hasan ala-dhikrihi al-salaam has stated: the esoteric sense (batin) of the heavens and the earth is the realm of religion ( alam-i din), whereas the exoteric sense (zahir) of the heavens and the earth is the realm of the world ( alam-i dunya). - Imam Hasan ala-dhikrihi al-salaam, (Nasir al-din Tusi, Rawda-yi Taslim, transl. S. J. Badakchani as The Paradise of Submission, p. 124) 13 See Keith Critchlow, Islamic Patterns: An Analytical and Cosmological Approach, according to which the hexagon symbolizes the Heavens and the square symbolizes the Earth.

9 The Heavens of the World of Faith is the sacred law or shari ah which is the exoteric (zahir) dimension of Faith while the Earth of the World of Faith is the spiritual meanings or haqiqah which is the esoteric (batin) dimension. This may appear counterintuitive at first, but makes sense when one realizes that the physical heavens surround and protect the physical earth and in the same way, the exoteric surrounds and protects the esoteric which is the inward essence and centre. This is explained by Imam Hasan ala-dhikrihi al-salaam as follows: One designates the earth as symbolizing the hidden esoteric sense (batin) because the earth is the centre and the heavens are the circumference. Although in appearance the circumference envelopes the centre, in reality and meaning the centre is the cause of the existence of the circumference, while the circumference is not the cause of the existence of the centre. - Imam Hasan ala-dhikrihi al-salaam, (Nasir al-din Tusi, Rawda-yi Taslim, transl. S. J. Badakchani as The Paradise of Submission, p. 124) The Inner Atrium The inner atrium surrounded by the jali screen represents the Earth of the World of Faith, which is the esoteric or batin dimension of Faith and the haqiqah (reality) of the shari ah. The fact that the atrium is in the shape of a square is also significant as the square is a traditional symbol of the Earth. The four sides or corners represent the four directions (north, south, east, west) of the Earth, the rhythm of the four seasons and the four elements which are the roots of all things in the physical world. The atrium, in contrast to the jali screen, is completely open and consists of vast free space. This symbolizes the fact that the batin or esoteric dimension of Faith is the realm of spiritual freedom and personal search. The Qur an alludes to the openness and vastness of the esoteric (batin) when it talks about the Earth: O My servants who believe! Verily, My Earth is spacious: therefore worship me. - Holy Qur an 29:56 Say: "O ye my servants who believe! Fear your Lord, good is (the reward) for those who do good in this world. Spacious is God s Earth! those who patiently persevere will truly receive a reward without measure!" - Holy Qur an 39:10 It is He Who has made the Earth smooth for you, so traverse ye through its paths and enjoy of the Sustenance which He furnishes: but unto Him is the Resurrection. - Holy Quran 67:15 In this sense, the jali screen is to the inner atrium what the zahir of the shari ah is to the batin of the haqiqah. Just as the jali screen obscures the view of the atrium and protects its privacy, the zahir veils and protects the batin from those not yet ready to receive it. The jali screen is not totally opaque and does allow a limited view of the atrium. Similarly, the shari ah and the zahir do contain openings by which a seeker can attain a glimpse of the mysteries of the batin if he or she exerts effort in searching for it. The batin contains immutable and eternal truths (haqa iq) which are expressed and allegorized in the symbols of the zahir. The relationship between shari ah and haqiqah,

10 or exoteric and esoteric is summed up by the great Isma ili da i and hujjah, Sayyedna Nasir Khusraw. Positive religion (shari at) is the exoteric aspect of the spiritual Idea (haqiqat), and the spiritual Idea is the esoteric aspect of the positive religion; positive religion is the symbol, the spiritual Idea is that which is symbolized. - Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw, (Henry Corbin, Swedenborg and Esoteric Islam, pp. 92) The six sides of the hexagon also hold particular meaning in Isma ilism. In the Isma ili conception of sacred history, God has sent six major Prophets to guide humankind: Adam, Noah (Nuh), Abraham (Ibrahim), Moses (Musa), Jesus (Isa), and Muhammad. Each of these Prophets delivered a shari ah and a sacred Book to humanity and is called a Natiq (proclaimer) in Isma ili terminology. The appearance of each Natiq marked the beginning of a new cycle or era (dawr) of sacred history with six cycles corresponding to the six Natiqs and each cycle lasting several hundred years. The six cycles are called the Six Days of Creation in the Bible and the Qur an: Lo! Your Lord is God who created the heavens and the earth in six days. Then He ascended the Throne - Holy Qur an 7:54 The creation in the above verse refers to the creation of the World of Faith ( alam al-din) whose Heavens and Earth the exoteric (zahir) and esoteric (batin) dimensions were established during the six cycles of prophecy. The reason for there being six Natiqs (as opposed to any other number) is that physical space contains six directions (up, down, left, right, front, back) and each Prophet commanded humanity to perform certain acts in the physical world. Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw explains this in his ta wil masterpiece Wajh-i Din: Since the human body, which is the worker, has six sides, i.e. front, back, right, left, above and beneath, God, may He be exalted, sent six instructing messengers. They are: Adam, came to mankind from above; Nuh, came to

11 them from the left; Ibrahim, came to them from the back; Musa, came to them from beneath, opposite to Adam; Isa, came to them from the right, opposite to Nuh;, and Muhammad, may peace be upon him and his progeny, came to them from the front, opposite to Ibrahim. - Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw, (Wajh-i Din, Chapter VII, transl. Al-Wa z Dr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Ilm Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 4/3, December 1987 / March 1988, p. 34) Therefore, the jali screen of hexagons symbolizes the shari ah and the zahir dimension of Faith and the six sides of the hexagon symbolize the six great Prophets or Natiqs who delivered the shari ah and the zahir to humanity throughout the six cycles. Prophet Muhammad is the last of the Prophets because he is the sixth Natiq corresponding to the six directions of physical space and in accordance with this reality no new Prophet will come. Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw explains in the following quote: We say that, since man has six sides with respect to the body and it is the body which is the worker and since from each side of it an instructor came (to instruct man to work), then, according to intellectual judgment, it follows that no other instructor will come to mankind. Therefore, the decisive proof which we have shown according to intellectual judgment, establishes that after Muhammad, may peace be upon him and his progeny, there will not come any other Prophet in the future. - Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw, (Wajh-i Din, Chapter VII, transl. Al-Wa z Dr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Ilm Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 4/3, December 1987 / March 1988, p. 35) The hexagons of the jali screen contain openings in their centres through which one can see into the inner atrium. This indicates the presence of a hidden seventh component to the hexagon which is not explicit but nevertheless present. In the Bible and Qur an, the Six Days of Creation were succeeded by the Seventh Day or Sabbath in which God established His Throne (as per the Qur an) and rested (as per the Bible). Similarly, the six great Prophets and their cycles of prophecy culminate in the appearance of a seventh Natiq called the Lord of Resurrection (qa im al-qiyamah) whose advent begins the seventh cycle of sacred history. Unlike the six Prophets, the Lord of Resurrection does not bring a shari ah or reveal a new message, but rather, his role is to unveil and disclose the spiritual meanings of all the previous prophetic revelations and faiths. In the seventh cycle, which is the Cycle of Resurrection, spiritual truths and esoteric knowledge are revealed openly to humanity. While the Prophets came to earth to command the people to work, the Lord of Resurrection does not command, he dispenses reward and retribution for all the work done throughout the cycles. The Jews respect Saturday and do not work on it because of this, i.e. God has rested on this day. But they do not know that when the Messengers told people this, they meant that the people should know that, by the command of God, there will come to this world six Messengers who will instruct the people (to work). When the seventh will come, he will not instruct, rather, he will give them the reward of their work. And they called it Saturday and said to respect it and that day is the day of the Lord of Resurrection (qa im-i qiyamat), may peace be upon him. - Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw, (Wajh-i Din, Chapter VII, transl. Al-Wa z Dr. Faquir Muhammad Hunzai, Ilm Magazine, Vol. 11, No. 4/3, December 1987 / March 1988, p. 36)

12 The centre part of the hexagonal jali screen through which one can look into the inner atrium represents the Lord of Resurrection through whom humanity can perceive the spiritual meanings which are veiled by the shari ah and the exoteric dimension. The batin is available to mankind throughout the prophetic cycles since each great Prophet was accompanied by a spiritual legatee (wasi) or successor, called the Asas ( foundation ), who taught the inner meaning of the Natiq s revelation to those had the capacity to understand it. The first six legatees (awsiya) of the six cycles were Seth (Shith), Shem (Sam), Ishmael (Isma il), Aaron (Harun), Simon Peter (Shamun al-safa), and Ali ibn Abi Talib 14. Each legatee was succeeded by a series of Imams until the end of the prophetic cycle and the appearance of the next Natiq. As Muhammad is the last of the Prophets, his legatee Imam Ali ibn Abi Talib and the Imams after him hold a special place as their cycle leads to the coming of the Lord of Resurrection. Therefore, the Imams succeeding to the Prophet Muhammad are both the successors of Prophet Muhammad as well as the vicegerents (khulafa) 15 of the Lord of Resurrection as they begin the process of disclosing the esoteric meanings through ta wil, which reaches its climax with the appearance of the Qa im and his cycle. In summary, the hexagonal jali screen symbolizes the Heaven of Faith (sama al-din) which is the shari ah and the exoteric (zahir) dimension while the square inner atrium represents the Earth of Faith (ard al-din) which is the haqiqah and the esoteric (batin) dimension. The six sided hexagon represents the six great Prophets or Natiqs who deliver the shari ah through the six cycles of prophecy while the open centre of the hexagon represents the Lord of Resurrection (qa im al-qiyamah) who unveils the haqiqah and begins the seventh cycle. 14 The list of the six awsiya or Asases appears in many Isma ili sources. See, for example, Henry Corbin, Cyclical Times and Isma ili Gnosis, pp There are also some minor variations in these lists. 15 Imam al-mu izz and Qadi al-nu man speak of the Imam as the khalifa (vicegerent, deputy, substitute) of the Lord of Resurrection in their writings. See Farhad Daftary The Ismailis: Their History and Doctrines, pp

13 3. Upper Glass Dome: The Lords of Inspiration Every Imam receives ta yid from the five hudud, namely, the First, the Second, Jadd, Fath, and Khayal. - Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw Those people whose consciousness behaved as does a [translucent] glass held up to the sun were the Prophets. - Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi The Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat has an asymmetrical glass roof which is its most unique feature. The glass roof was designed to imitate the properties of rock crystal. Rock crystal is unique in that it combines both the properties of transparency and translucency in a harmonious yet mysterious manner. The roof consists of several glass planes which are placed at many different angles by virtue of which they both capture and reflect the sunlight. Rock crystal is only a metaphor. It has a very hard surface. It should be reflective to light. - Mr. Fumihiko Maki, (Maria Cook, An Essay in Glass, The Ottawa Citizen, December 6, 2008) The glass roof of the Delegation symbolizes certain spiritual concepts and principles in Isma ili thought. Two great Persian Isma ili theosophers Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw and Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi evoke the imagery of the sun shining its light upon translucent surfaces such as rock crystal and glass as a metaphor for the way in which the light of God shines upon His Creation. There are two esoteric symbolisms of the glass dome which relate to the above concept.

14 At this point, it would be helpful to summarize the role of the celestial hudud in Isma ili metaphysics and cosmology. In Isma ili metaphysics, God transcends all positive and negative attributes including even the categories of being and existence; God is above both existence and non-existence, being and non-being. He is beyond all names and qualities as well as the negation of those names and qualities. In other words, human language can only describe God in terms of double negation 16 : He is not merciful and He is not not merciful; He is not powerful and He is not not powerful, etc. He transcends both perfection and imperfection. The first being to come into existence is the Universal Intellect which is originated through the Command (amr) or Word (kalimah) of God. The Universal Intellect is both perfect in potentiality and actuality and encompasses all things in being. From the Universal Intellect there emanates a second entity called the Universal Soul. Like the Intellect, the Soul is perfect in potentiality but is not perfect in actuality having come into being through the mediation of the Intellect. The Universal Soul seeks to actualize its potential perfection and begins the movement and manifestation which leads to the creation of the Universe. The Universal Soul gives rise to Form and Prime Matter from which the physical Universe comes into existence 17. The Universal Soul also creates individual souls which manifest in the Universe. It is through these souls, and particularly the souls of the Prophets, Imams, and the great souls of mankind that the Universal Soul actualizes its inherent perfection 18. The Universal Intellect and the Universal Soul are the upper ranks (hudud al-uluwi) of the celestial world while Jadd, Fath, and Khayal are the intermediary ranks which connect the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul to Creation and particularly to the human beings. In Islam, the Creation is a constant and perpetual event occurring at every instant Azim Nanji, Transcendence and Distinction: Metaphoric Process in Isma ili Muslim Thought, published in God and Creation: An Ecumenical Symposium edited by David B. Burrell and Bernard McGinn, University of Notre Dame, 1990, pp Available online at the Institute of Ismaili Studies Website: 17 The manifestation of the physical Universe from Form and Prime Matter (hayula) is not described in detail by Isma ili theosophers who instead seem to focus on the overall big picture cosmology. Nasir-i Khusraw (Knowledge and Liberation, p. 57) distinguishes between two types of matter relative and absolute. The relative matter is found in the physical world such as the wood of a chair or the metal of a ring. The absolute matter is not perceptible to the senses but only knowable by the intellect, therefore it is an intellectual substance belonging to the celestial realm of intellect. A more detailed cosmology follows: from the Universal Soul there proceeds the Holy Spirit which generates the celestial world of forms (identical with Plato s World of Forms) which is the realm of pure intellect. The passive and receptive pole of the celestial world consists of the Prime Matter (hayula) upon which the intellectual forms are inscribed by the Holy Spirit. The subtle world of individual souls, the imaginal world and the physical world are created from the Prime Matter whereby the intellectual forms of the Prime Matter are manifested in subtle forms in souls which are in turn manifested in physical form in the physical world. The creation of souls from Prime Matter also explains why in certain hadiths the Shi a Imams describe their souls and bodies as being created from a pure clay known as Illiyyin. The details of the above can be found in Frithjof Schuon, Survey of Metaphysics and Esoterism, World Wisdom, p Nasir-i Khusraw writes in Rawshana i Nama also known as Shis Fasl, transl. Ivanow, Chapter 3: It is the [Universal] Soul which started the movement of this world. The purpose of that activity which it develops is the search for its perfection, and this attained in the eminent persons (nafs-ha-y-i buzurgwar) who appears in this world, such as the souls of the Natiqs, Asases, Imams, hujjats, da'is, ma'dhuns and mustajibs. The object of its producing this world was to produce souls (nafs-ha), in order that in them the [Universal] Soul itself would become perfect, and ultimately attain the position (darja) of the [Universal] Intellect. 19 See Aga Khan III, Islam: The Religion of My Ancestors, Extract from World Enough and Time: The Memoirs of the Aga Khan: There is a fundamental difference between the Jewish idea of creation and that of Islam. The creation according to Islam is not a unique act in a given time but a perpetual and

15 Therefore, it must be understood that the Universe is continuously being infused with form and being from the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul through the agency of Jadd, Fath, and Khayal. The largest plane of the glass dome is in the form of a hexagon. This hexagonal plane does not appear horizontally flat but is actually on an incline. This hexagon which has six sides symbolizes the highest ranks (hudud) of the World of Faith. These are the five celestial hudud the Universal Intellect, Universal Soul, Jadd, Fath, and Khayal and the highest terrestrial rank (hadd) which is the Prophet or Imam who functions as the Master of the Age (sahib al-zaman). The Sun symbolizes the Command (amr) of God which is the source and cause of both the celestial and terrestrial hudud. The sunlight symbolizes the light of tawhid (divine unity) and ta yid (divine inspiration) which emanates from the Divine Command and shines upon the celestial hudud beginning with the Universal Intellect 20. The ta yid flows through the Universal Intellect, Universal Soul, Jadd, Fath and Khayal and reaches the soul of the Imam of the time. In this sense, Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw writes that every Imam receives ta yīd from the five hudud Intellect, Soul, Jadd, Fatḥ and Khayal. 21 These six ranks are in a hierarchy which is symbolized by the fact that the hexagonal plane of the glass dome is on an incline where some of its sides are higher in altitude than others. However, these six ranks function in unity and harmony and this is why all six sides are united in the form of a hexagon. It is through these hudud that the inspiration (ta yid) from the Universal Intellect reaches the individual intellect ( aql al-juz) of man. The five celestial hudud and the Imam of the Time are the Lords of Inspiration (ashab al-ta yid). The present Isma ili Imam spoke of the Universal Intellect ( aql al-kull) or Divine Intellect as the source of knowledge of the human intellect in a speech made at the convocation ceremony of the Aga Khan University: The Divine Intellect, Aql-i Kull, both transcends and informs the human intellect. It is this Intellect which enables man to strive towards two aims dictated by the faith: that he should reflect upon the environment Allah has given him and that he should know himself. It is the Light of the Intellect which distinguishes the complete human being from the human animal, and developing that intellect requires free inquiry. The man of faith, who fails to pursue intellectual search is likely to have only a limited comprehension of Allah s creation. Indeed, it is man s intellect that enables him to expand his vision of that creation. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV, (AKU Convocation Speech, Karachi, November 11, 1985) constant event; and God supports and sustains all existence at every moment by His will and His thought. Outside His will, outside His thought, all is nothing, even the things which seem to us absolutely self-evident such as space and time. Allah alone wishes: the Universe exists; and all manifestations are as a witness of the Divine will. 20 Nasir-i Khusraw, Wajh-i Din, Discourse Nasir-i Khusraw, Wajh-i Din, Discourse 47

16 There is also a second interpretation of the glass dome which concerns the terrestrial hudud which is the realm of human existence. Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi explains how human souls vary with regards to their receptivity to the lights which shine forth from God s Command (amr): Human souls are therefore varied and differ with respect to their receptivity to the resplendent lights of the Divine Command (anwar-i ishraqi amr-i ilahi), just as material objects are variously receptive to the physical light of the sun. [Consider] stones, for example: one [kind] is pitch black, while others are progressively less dark, and their essences are more receptive to illumination, up to translucent glass which receives light from one side and emits from the other. - Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi, (Rawda-yi Taslim, trans. S.J. Badakchani as The Paradise of Submission, p. 109) It is most interesting that Nasir al-din Tusi speaks of the purest or most exalted human souls as being like translucent glass through which light can pass through. The theme of translucency is also the inspiration for the Delegation and particularly its glass dome. Nasir al-din Tusi further states that the souls which resemble translucent glass are the Prophets: In so far as human beings are unable to be receptive to His Almighty Command without mediation, it was necessary that there should be intermediaries vis-à-vis the Divine Command. Those people whose consciousness (khatir) behaved as does a [translucent] glass held up to the sun were the Prophets. - Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi, (Paradise of Submission, p. 109) It was mentioned earlier that according to Isma ili thought and conception of religious history, there were six great Prophets (or Natiqs) sent to humanity. According to a second exegesis of the upper glass dome, the hexagonal panel symbolizes these six Natiqs. While the hexagonal jali screen symbolizes the six Natiqs with respect to the shar iah which they delivered to humanity, the six sides of the translucent hexagonal panel represents the six Natiqs with respect to their purified souls which are like translucent glass before the lights of God s Command. The Six Natiqs, who are the lords of the six major cycles, are completed by the lord of the Seventh Cycle who is the Lord of Resurrection (qa im al-qiyamah) and he is represented by the transparent centre of the hexagonal panel. While the Natiqs are the lords of the major cycles (each if which lasts several hundred years), within the major cycle there are smaller periods of duration called minor cycles. The minor cycles consist of a series of six Imams who are completed by the seventh Imam called the Imam of Resurrection an Imam who brings new teachings and major changes to the World of Faith 22. Thus, the lords of the minor cycles are the Imams. In this sense, the six sides of the glass hexagonal panel represent the six Imams of the minor 22 Nasir-i Khusraw writes that every seventh Imam has the rank of Resurrection (qiyamah) and Nasir al-din Tusi states that the term Resurrector (qa im) is used to denote an Imam who introduces a major change in the religious law (shari ah). The Tayyibi Isma ili da i Idris Imad al-din writes about every seventh Imam of a minor cycle: He is endowed with a power that preceding Imams do not have. (Sami Makarem, Al- Qasida ash-shafiya (The Healing Poem) of Shihab ad-din Abu Firas Edited and Translated with a Commentary, The University of Michigan, Ph.D, 1963, P. 241)

17 cycles and the centre of the panel represents the Seventh Imam of Resurrection. The souls of the Imams, like the Natiqs, are also like translucent glass before the lights of the Divine Command and this is why the rock crystal inspired glass roof of the Delegation serves as an eloquent symbol for the Prophets and the Imams. Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw also uses the same example of the sun shining upon rock crystal to explain the relationship between the Universal Intellect, Universal Soul and the perfect human soul. Similarly, when the effect (athar) of the the Universal Soul is manifested in the human body and when the latter gets its "food" from the Universal Intellect, by acquiring the knowledge of its own origin (asl), by knowing and recognizing the oneness of God (tawhid), then, through all this, the soul in the body becomes similar to the Universal Soul, its origin, just as the effect of the sunshine in the crystal or mirror would appear similar to the sun itself. - Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw, (Shis Fasl, transl. Ivanow as Six Chapters, Chapter 4 translated by V. Ivanow, The Ismaili Society, Bombay) In the above passage, Sayyedna Nasir refers to the reflective aspect of crystal or mirror. The human soul purified by the knowledge of God s Unity (tawhid) comes to resemble the Universal Soul on high in the same way that the reflection of the sun appears in rock crystal and there is resemblance between an image and that which it reflects. Such a purified soul, illuminated by the Universal Soul, also serves as a beacon of truth and knowledge to other souls. The glass dome reflecting and shining with sunlight symbolizes the purified soul both illuminated (by the Universal Soul) and illuminating (other souls). Such a soul serves as the mazhar the locus of manifestation 23 of the Divine Names and Attributes in the manner of a mirror or rock crystal with regards to the light of the sun. It must also be noted that the soul which serves as God s mazhar is completely submitted and humble before the Divine just as a mirror or crystal is empty and devoid in and of itself and must be illuminated from another source. In this sense, the Imam stated that the Delegation building is a symbol of both enlightenment and humility as the two must always co-exist. The building will be a metaphor for humanism and enlightenment and for the humility that comes from the constant search for answers that leads inevitably to more questions. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV, (Address at the Foundation Ceremony of The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, Ottawa, Canada, June 6, 2005) 23 The term mazhar often gets mistranslated by polemicists as incarnation or copy which is totally inaccurate. We have followed the translation of the word mazhar as locus of manifestation given by Dr. Reza Shah-Kazemi of the Institute of Ismaili Studies in Third Chapter of his book titled Justice and Remembrance: Introducing the Spirituality of Imam Ali. It is recommended that this chapter be read to fully understand the relationship between the mazhar and the Names of God. The late Henry Corbin has translated mazhar as epiphanic form in his book Cyclical Times and Ismaili Gnosis and this meaning has the same conceptual implications as Shah-Kazemi s translation.

18 In Isma ili thought, the foremost example of this purified soul is what Sayyedna al- Mu ayyad fi l-din Shirazi calls the Absolute Man (al-insan al-mutaliq) 24. The Absolute Man, in Isma ili theosophy, is the Prophet Muhammad in his age, his wasi Hazrat Ali ibn Abi Talib in his epoch and each Imam in his time. Just as the glass dome is the highest part of the Delegation which receives the direct sunlight and illuminates the rest of the building, the Prophets and the Imams are the highest hudud in the World of Faith and their souls receive the divine inspiration (ta yid) directly form the celestial hudud before conveying it to the rest of the terrestrial hudud. Thus, the celestial hudud the Natiqs and the Imams are the Lords of Inspiration (ashab al-ta yid). Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi describes the transmission of the lights of divine inspiration from the Imam, the Lord of Inspiration (sahib al-ta yid), to the hudud of the World of Faith: The lights of the divine creative volition (anwar-i amr-i ibda i), by his [the Imam s] command, shine upon those souls who harbour an aptitude to apprehend the perfection of the Divine Command, taking the form of distinctive and true gnosis, love, obedience and devotion. - Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi, (Paradise of Submission, p. 111) 24 A detailed discussion of al-shirazi s conception of the insan al-mutaliq can be found in the PhD Thesis entitled The Sphere of Walaya: Ismaili Tawil in Practice According to al-muayyad by Elizabeth R. Alexandrin, April 2006, McGill University.

19 4. Inner Glass Fibre Canopy: The Masters of Instruction the great hujjats who, by the purity of their essences, become capable of receiving the emanations of the light of the sublime Word and become distinguished from other souls through divine instruction. - Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi Under the outer shell of the glass roof there is an inner layer of woven glass fibre which hangs over the atrium like a canopy. The glass fibre layer is aligned to the upper glass dome and functions as a shade over the atrium, regulating the amount of sunlight and heat which reaches the atrium while reflecting the sunlight at many different angles. The light of the sun is transmitted from the translucent glass dome and shines upon the fibre glass canopy. This symbolizes the way in which the light of ta yid is transmitted from the soul of the Imam to the souls of the rest of the hudud. This is explained by Nasir al-din Tusi: The lights of the divine creative volition (anwar-i amr-i ibda i), by his command, shine upon those souls who harbour an aptitude to apprehend the perfection of the Divine Command, taking the form of distinctive and true gnosis, love, obedience and devotion. - Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi, (Paradise of Submission, p. 111) These souls who harbour an aptitude to apprehend the perfection of the Divine Command are those of the hujjahs who come after the Imam in the hierarchy of the terrestrial hudud.

20 There are four hujjahs of proximity, twelve hujjahs of the day and twelve hujjahs of the night making a total of twenty-eight hujjahs. It is important to note that the fibre glass canopy actually consists of twenty-eight triangular panels 25 which serve to represent the twenty-eight hujjahs of the Imam. The hujjahs are distinguished by their spiritual knowledge and purity due to which the their souls are able to receive knowledge from the Imam through ta yid (inspiration) instead of ta lim (instruction). The light of the Imam shines upon the hujjah and the hujjah in turn illuminates others with his miraculous knowledge. Nasir al-din Tusi describes the excellence and functions of the hujjahs in a passage quoted below: It is clear that by absorbing the excellence of knowledge, one soul excels others in strength until it attains the degree of the souls of the great hujjats who, by the purity of their essences, become capable of receiving the emanations of the light of the sublime Word (anwar kalimat-yi a la) and become distinguished from other souls through divine instruction. By the grace of their teaching and learning, they rescue from darkness the souls of men, who are bound in the ocean of matter and shackled by the ties of nature. - Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi, (Paradise of Submission, p ) The hujjahs spread their knowledge to the rest of the terrestrial hudud and humanity at large in the form of instruction (ta lim). Just as the upper glass dome represents the Imams who are the Lords of Inspiration (ashab al-ta yid), the glass fibre canopy represents the hujjahs who are the Masters of Instruction (ashab al-ta lim). Some 25 We counted 28 such panels from inside the atrium. On one of the adjacent sides of the building, there is another set of twelve fibre glass panels. These panels represent the twelve hujjahs of the night. This is because the twelve hujjahs of the night illuminate the communities outside the Isma ili jama ats in the same way that the twelve panels illuminate the outside of the Delegation Building during the night.

21 examples of these hujjahs in Isma ili history who were distinguished by their luminous teachings are Sayyedna Abu Yaqub al-sijistani, Sayyedna Hamid al-din al-kirmani, Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw, Sayyedna Hasan-i Sabbah, and many others. The hujjahs are in different ranks. The highest rank is that of the four hujjahs of proximity who have been compared to the four corners of the Ka ba. Different terms have been used throughout Isma ili history to refer to these four great hujjahs and each of them corresponds to a different archetypal personality. One of these hujjahs is known in the South Asian Isma ili tradition as the pir or sat-gur and this position was occupied by figures such as Pir Satgur Nur, Pir Shams al-din, Pir Sadr al-din, and Pir Hasan Kabir al- Din and there is an entire chain (silsilah) of such hujjahs extending back to the Prophet Muhammad who is their archetype 26. Another archetypal personage of the hujjahs is Salman al-farsi the famous Persian companion of the Prophet and Imam Ali. The person of Salman, was named by the Prophet as part of his Ahl al-bayt, represents the ordinary murid who has ascended spiritually to the rank of hujjah and is called the spiritual offspring of the Imam 27. A third figure associated with the rank of the hujjah is that of Bibi Fatima al-zahra - the daughter of the Prophet Muhammad, the wife of Imam Ali and the mother of Imam al- Hasan and Imam al-husayn 28. Isma ili sources assert that there is female hujjah like Fatima in every age just like the Virgin Mary with Jesus and Eve with Adam. Finally, the son and future successor of the Imam has also been referred to as his hujjah with the son representing the continuation and validation of the Imamat 29. During the lifetime of a Natiq (major Prophet), his Asas (succeeding Imam) functions as his hujjah in this sense 30. In summary, the figures of the four close hujjahs or babs correspond to the pir, the Salman of the age, the Fatima of the age, and the future Imam. After the special class of four hujjahs come the twelve hujjahs of the day and the twelve hujjahs of the night. In the physical world, the twelve pairs of hujjahs are represented by the twelve hours of the day and night and the twelve constellations. The twelve hujjahs of the day are so called because they function as instructors for the Isma ili jama at. Examples of the twelve hujjahs of the day in Isma ili history are Sayyedna Abu Yaqub 26 Azim Nanji, The Nizari Isma ili Tradition,, Carvan Books, New York, 1978, p. 119: The pirs as the hujja of the Imams are equated in the ginans with the Prophet Muhammad, who, we recall, was made homologuous to Brahma, the Creative principle in the original Hindu triad. 27 The Isma ili da i Nizari Quhistani refers to the bab as Salman in his poetry: For the way to Ali s gate by the light of Salman I found!. Shafique Virani also writes in The Ismailis in the Middle Ages (p. 61): In Ismaili thought, Salman al-farisi is often considered the archetypal gate (bab) and supreme hujjat. A fifteenth-century Ismaili author of Badakhshan, writing on this topic, quotes the Prophet s declaration, Indeed, paradise longs more for Salman than Salman for paradise!. 28 Henry Corbin, Temple and Contemplation, Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, p Paul E. Walker, Fatimid History and Ismaili Doctrine, 2008, pp where Imam al-qa im refers to his successor as his hujjah. 30 This is why Imam Ali, in his role of Asas, functioned as the hujjah and bab of Prophet Muhammad who was the Entrusted Imam (al-imam al-mustawda) of the time. This in accordance with the hadith: I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate (bab).

22 al-sijistani, Sayyedna Hamid al-din al-kirmani, and Sayyedna Nasir-i Khusraw. The twelve hujjahs of the night are those hujjahs whose identities are secret. They are responsible for spreading spiritual knowledge to the people of other faiths and traditions. In the Delegation building, the glass fibre panels have the function of regulating and moderating the amount of light and heat which reaches the atrium. They prevent the people in the atrium from being blinded by the light of the sun or overwhelmed by its warmth. The hujjahs perform the same functions for the murids in relation to the luminous knowledge of the Imam. Under the hujjahs, the lower ranks of the terrestrial hudud lack the capacity to directly receive the knowledge of the Imam which is overwhelming and intense like fire. The hujjahs first receive the intense and powerful knowledge of the Imam and then mould this knowledge into a form more easily receivable by the lower hudud. In this sense, the Isma ili da is have compared the figure of the hujjah to the cool and calming Moon and the figure of the Imam to the intense and blazing Sun. Sayyedna Abu Ali, one of the Imam s hujjahs of the Fatimid, period made this comparison in the following words: Our Lord, the Commander of the Faithful, is like the Sun whose light is bright and blinding such that, if it were not followed by the Moon to moderate and cool its effects, no plant could develop properly on earth and the heat would overpower it. - Sayyedna Abu Ali, (Wilferd Madelung and Paul Walker, The Advent of the Fatimids, I.B. Taurus and the Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2000, pp. 35) The lunar function is most exemplified by the supreme hujjah or pir who is one of the four great hujjahs. Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi also expands on the Moon-like nature of the supreme hujjah in his Paradise of Submission: For just as the body of the Moon is in itself dark but illuminated by the Sun, taking the Sun s place in his absence, and lighting up th Earth in proportion to the amount of light that it has been capable of obtaining from the Sun, so the soul of the supreme hujjat, which by itself knows noting and is nothing, is illumined by the effulgent radiation of the divine assistance (ta yid) from the Imam By virtue of his capacity to receive the grace of the lights of knowledge (fayd-i anwar-i ilm) and according to the measure of his aptitude, he enlightens people about the Imam, showing the way to him. - Sayyedna Nasir al-din Tusi, (The Paradise of Submission, p ) According to Isma ili ta wil, the Qur anic verses which speak about the Sun and the Moon are also referring to the Imam and his hujjahs. One of these verses is quoted below: And the Moon,- We have measured for her mansions (manazila) till she returns like the old (and withered) lower part of a date-stalk. - Holy Qur an 36:39 The lunar mansions of the physical world ( alam al-dunya) are the twenty-eight lunar stations which are spread over the twenty-eight day lunar cycle. The lunar mansions of the World of Religion ( alam al-din) are the twenty-eight hujjahs of the Imam which are represented by the twenty-eight glass fibre panels of the Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat; these twenty-eight hujjahs are the Masters of Instruction (ashab al-ta lim).

23 5. Jali Screen Sections: The Summoners of Knowledge If you listen to the advice of a da i, You will become the accepted one. You will become alive And your heart will be enlightened. - Sayyedna Nizari Quhistani

24 The light of the sun shines through the glass dome and the glass fibre canopy and illuminates the atrium as well as the jali screen. When one contemplates the Delegation s architecture from the perspective of moving downwards from the top in the context of the celestial and terrestrial hudud, the double layered jali screen reveals another esoteric meaning. The key to this meaning is in the way in which the jali screen has been divided into rows and columns. Each wall of the jali screen is divided into sections consisting of three rows and fifteen columns. Therefore each wall of jali screen contains forty-five sections. There are four walls which comprise a total of one hundred eighty sections. The jali screen is doublelayered which results in a total of three hundred sixty jali screen sections. This number is significant because it corresponds to the number of the three hundred sixty da is in the World of Faith. One can observe in the atrium that the light which passes through the glass dome and the glass fibre canopy which represent the Prophets/Imams and their hujjahs respectively shines upon the jali screen, producing many beautiful patterns and forms.

25 Each of the twelve hujjahs transmits his knowledge and teaching to a group of thirty da is - just like each month of the Islamic calendar has about thirty days. The da is were not simply preachers or clerics but individuals of great wisdom and insight. In the classical and medieval periods of Isma ili period, it was the da i who served as the tangible link between the Imam and his murids. The da i was also responsible for the spiritual training and esoteric initiation of the murids under him. Isma ili texts even referred to the da i as the spiritual parent 31 of the disciples. The Isma ili da i known as Nizari Quhistani describes the qualities and status of a da i in his poetry: Listen to the advice of a da i, Don t be a follower of your analogy and opinion. Every zahir you see cannot be without a batin. Listen to the call of the da wah from an authorized da i. If you listen to the advice of a da i, You will become the accepted one. You will become alive and your heart will be enlightened. - Sayyedna Nizari Quhistani, (Nadia Eboo Jamal, Surviving the Mongols, pp ) 31 See Ja far ibn Mansur al-yemen, Kitab al- Alim wa l-ghulam, transl. James Morris as The Master and the Disciple, Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, 2001, p. 64

26 The term da i literally means inviter or summoner. Throughout its history, the Isma ili Tariqah of Islam was known as the Da wah (Summons) or al-da wah al- Hidayah (The Rightly Guided Summons). This was not a summons to a set of dogmatic principles nor was it a call towards blind following or imitation. The goal of the Isma ili Summons was to invite and summon humankind to the recognition and mystical knowledge of the unity (tawhid) of God. At the head of this Summons is the Isma ili Imam. It is in this light that the inscription on a Fatimid coin reads 32 : The Imam Ma ad [al-muizz] summons to the absolute oneness of God, the Eternal. 32 Shafique Virani, The Ismailis in the Middle Ages, p. 71

27 6. The Atrium Floor: The Seven Repeated Ones And We have bestowed upon thee the Seven Repeated Ones and the Great Qur an. - Holy Quran 15:87 The floor of the Delegation building is made up of light coloured maple and consists of forty-nine large squares arranged in a 7x7 pattern. Each of these squares itself contains a forty-nine piece design. 33 On the floor one can observe the unique patterns of both light and shadow which come from above. According to the esoteric exegesis, as one beholds the Delegation from top to bottom, there is a movement from the heavenly celestial realm of subtlety towards the earthly realm of density. This is also indicated by the materials which have been used to construct the different architectural components. The glass roof is made of the most transparent material, the glass-fibre canopy is somewhat less transparent, and finally the floor is made up maple wood which is opaque. The hierarchical structure of the World of Faith is a spiritual archetype which becomes actualized and manifested in the physical world. The Delegation s floor is its lowest level and therefore it symbolizes the most earthly and transitory realm of existence which is the ebb and flow of human history. The square patterns formed by the maple flooring are noteworthy because the square is traditionally a symbol of the earth with its four sides representing the four directions of the earth, the four seasons and the four elements. The forty-nine squares which appear on the maple floor symbolize the forty-nine Imams since the Prophet Muhammad with the present Imam, Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV being the forty-ninth Imam. The number of forty-nine Imams has great significance in Isma ili thought. It should be recalled that during the Cycle of Imamat, a Minor Cycle consists of Seven Imams with the Seventh Imam in the series being the Imam of 33 I would like to thank our tour guide Shamsa Jiwani for sharing this information with me from her notes.

28 Resurrection who brings great changes to the World of Faith. The coming of forty-nine Imams amounts to seven Minor Cycles of Imams that is seven sets of seven Imams. As the forty-ninth Imam, Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV is the seventh Imam of the seventh heptad and therefore he is an Imam of Resurrection (qiyamah). Several Isma ili theosophers of the Fatimid era wrote that the appearance of forty-nine Imams after Prophet Muhammad would mark the commencement of the Seventh Major Cycle (symbolized by the Seventh Day of Creation) called the Cycle of Resurrection (dawr al-qiyamah) which brings great spiritual and material changes to both the World of Faith and the world at large 34. In this sense, Sayyedna Hamid al-din Kirmani quoted the following verse of the Holy Qur an: And We have bestowed upon thee the Seven Repeated Ones and the Great Qur an. - Holy Quran 15:87 According to Hamid al-din Kirmani, the Seven Repeated Ones refer to the seven cycles of seven Imams who appear in the Cycle of Prophet Muhammad. He wrote that the appearance of forty-nine Imams would mark the commencement of the Cycle of Resurrection when the Ranks of Faith (hudud al-din) would be removed and the knowledge of the divine knowledge would become unmediated 35. These signs have appeared as the functions of the hudud al-din, especially the hujjahs, were abolished during the Imamat of Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III 36. At the same time, the murids began to have more direct access to the Imam something which was not the case in previous periods of history. The Cycle of Resurrection is referred to in the Qur anic verse of the Days of Creation as the time when God establishes the Throne. Isma ili da is wrote that in the Cycle of Resurrection, justice and equity would be restored to the world and spiritual truths and knowledge would be available to humanity at large. The period of forty-ninth Imam 37 is the beginning of the Cycle of Resurrection. The previous Imam, Sir Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III, alluded to the coming of the 34 Farhad Daftary, The Ismailis: Their History and Doctrines, p. 218 (Second Edition) where he refers to the prediction made by the Syrian da i Muhammad b. al-suri and the Fatimid qadi al-maliji. 35 Simonetta Calderini, Alam al-din in Isma'ilism: World of Obedience or World of Immobility, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, Vol. 56, No. 3, pp. 467: Kirmani firmly rejected Druze statements about the imminent advent of the Qa'im by reiterating that the Qiyama was not near, but was to take place in the distant future when the long cycle of 49 imams was concluded. 36 Rafiq Keshavjee, Mysticism and the Plurality of Meaning: The Case of the Ismailis of Rural Iran, IIS Occasional Papers, p There is some ambiguity about whether the forty-ninth Imam in Fatimid enumeration refers to Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah or Imam Shah-Karim al-husayni. In some lists of the Fatimid list of Imams, Imam al-hasan was counted as the second Imam while in other lists Imam Ali was not counted and given the higher rank of Asas and Imam al-hasan was counted as the first Imam. Therefore, the forty-ninth Imam would either be Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah or Imam Shah Karim al-husayni. Regardless, both interpretations indicate that the Cycle of Resurrection has already begun.

29 new cycle in his last will as the main reason why he was succeeded as Imam by his grandson Shah Karim al-husayni: and in these circumstances and in view of the fundamentally altered conditions in the world in very recent years due to the great changes which have taken place including the discoveries of atomic science I am convinced that it is in the best interest of the Shi a Moslem Ismailian Community that I should be succeeded by a young man who has been brought up and developed during recent years and in the midst of a new age and who brings a new outlook on life to his office as Imam. For these reasons and although he is not now one of my heirs, I APPOINT my grandson KARIM, the son of my son, ALY SALOMONE KHAN to succeed to the title of AGA KHAN and to be the Imam and Pir of all my Shia Ismailian followers - Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan III, (Last Will, Willi Frischauer, The Aga Khans, p. 208) The period of Resurrection is one in which the activities of the Imamat extends to a global scale. One of the functions of the Imamat in this cycle is to help restore peace, justice and equity to the world. This was promised centuries ago by the Prophet Muhammad: If there were to remain of time but a single day, God would prolong that day until there would come a man from among my descendants who would fill the earth with equity and justice even as it has been filled with oppression and injustice. - Prophet Muhammad, (Abu Dawud, Sahih, Vol. 2, 5, p. 207) The above hadith foreshadows the present day development activities of the Isma ili Imamat. Through the Aga Khan Development Network, the Imamat has developed the institutional capacity to raise the quality of life of humanity in numerous spheres of human activity: poverty alleviation through the Aga Khan Foundation, the restoration of culture through the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, the encouragement of human enterprise and economic prosperity through the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, the advancement of health and science through the Aga Khan Health Services, the spread of knowledge and education through the Aga Khan Academies, the Aga Khan University and Aga Khan Education services, and many more endeavors. All this work of the Imamat is not merely philanthropy but stems from the Imamat s divinely ordained mandate, as described by the present Imam in one of his speeches: I am fascinated and somewhat frustrated when representatives of the western world -- especially the western media -- try to describe the work of our Aga Khan Development Network in fields like education, health, the economy, media, and the building of social infrastructure. Reflecting a certain historical tendency of the West to separate the secular from the religious, they often describe it either as philanthropy or entrepreneurship. What is not understood is that this work is for us a part of our institutional responsibility -- it flows from the mandate of the office of Imam to improve the quality of worldly life for the concerned communities. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV, (Address to the Tutzing Evangelical Academy Upon Receiving the Tolerance Award, Tutzing Germany, May 20, 2006)

30 The Cycle of Resurrection is also characterized by the availability and amassment of human knowledge in a way never experienced before. The accumulation of knowledge almost appears like a flood which brings both new benefits and new challenges. In this sense, the Isma ili da is referred to the period of Resurrection as the Epoch of Knowledge (dawr al- ilm) 38. The present Imam appears to use similar words in his 2006 Convocation Address at the Aga Khan University when he described the new era as the Knowledge Society: All of these changes suggest that we are moving into a new epoch of history, a new condition of human life. Many observers describe this new world as the Knowledge Society - contrasting it with the Industrial Societies or the Agricultural Societies of the past. In this new era, the predominant source of influence will stem from information, intelligence and insight rather than physical power or natural resources. This Knowledge Society will confront people everywhere with new challenges and new opportunities. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV, (AKU Convocation Address, Karachi, December 2, 2006) One of the great benefits of the Epoch of Knowledge is the fact that not just material knowledge but spiritual and esoteric knowledge is becoming more and more accessible. In the past centuries, the esoteric truths of various religions remained restricted to spiritual orders and their adepts. However, this is no longer the case as the mystical texts and rituals of many religions are being studied and analyzed in depth through academic endeavors. As a result, more people are gaining direct access and participation in mystical and sacred texts through publications and translations. This presents a unique opportunity in the history of religion and culture for people to come to an understanding of spiritual truths which lie at the heart of all things. The Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat embodies the ideals of the Cycle of Resurrection in the way its architecture declares esoteric knowledge openly in the world. As the Isma ili Imam stated and this article seeks to demonstrate, the Delegation s architecture captures esoteric thought in physical form. 38 Elizabeth R. Alexandrin, The Sphere of Walayah: Ismaili Tawil in Practice According to al-muayyad, PhD Thesis, McGill University, April 2006, p. 333.

31 Each of the forty nine squares stands for one of the forty-nine Imams but it is curious that each larger square also contains forty-nine smaller squares. This pattern serves to express the spiritual and ontological relationship between each of the forty-nine Imams. All the Imams are the loci of manifestation (mazahir) of a single reality (haqiqah) which is the Universal Intellect ( aql al-kull), also called the Muhammadan Light or the Light of Imamat. But each Imam possesses a unique individual soul and person which renders each Imam as being different from the others. The sequence of the Imams should not be perceived as reincarnations of one and the same individual soul, but rather an epiphanic succession where each soul serves as a unique individuation and epiphanic form (mazhar) of the same one Light in the manner of a single light being reflected in multiple mirrors, one mirror after another in succession. The fullness of the Light of Imamat is not fragmented by the plurality of the Imams it is simply manifested diversely in each of them. Each Imam reveals the fullness of the Light and integrates the virtues and qualities of all the Imams each one reflects the all. But at the same time, each Imam displays these virtues and qualities in a unique fashion due to his individuality. 39 This is why each of the larger forty-nine squares on the atrium floor contains a smaller pattern of forty-nine squares. This symbolizes the fact that a single Imam contains the history, virtues, and qualities of all the Imams in his personal world. This can be imagined in the sense of forty-nine mirrors being placed next to each other in a circular pattern with a light being shined upon the mirrors. In a single mirror, one can observe the reflection of the light as well as the reflections of all the other mirrors. In summary, the floor of the atrium symbolizes the earthly realm of human history where the mission of the World of Faith is carried out. The forty-nine squares on the flooring represent the great cycle of forty-nine Imams. The number of forty-nine Imams was indeed prophesized by Isma ili theosophers over a thousand years ago as indicating the beginning of a new epoch or period of human history called the Cycle of Resurrection. It is through the course of this cycle, in which we find ourselves today, that the mandate of the Imamat is to bring great material and spiritual transformation in the establishment of a better world : It is our prayer that the establishment of the Delegation will provide a strongly anchored, ever-expanding opportunity for rich collaboration - in the devoted service of ancient values, in the intelligent recognition of new realities, and in a common commitment to our shared dreams of a better world. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV, (Address at the Inaugural Ceremony of the Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, Ottawa, Canada, December 6, 2008) 39 Nasir al-din Tusi states with regards to the differences among the various Imams: The principle of relative and real existence (hukm-i idafa wa haqiqat) must be kept in mind as there are diverse degrees of truth and each Imam manifests a different degree [of truth], a different mystery, a different benefit (maslahat) which they detail and elucidate [for people] But insofar as the Divine Truth has a unity wherein all these stages are one, and the Imams are all one in reality (haqiqat), so that their persons (shakhs) are not separate from each other nor their spirits. (Nasir al-din Tusi, Rawda-yi Taslim transl. S.J. Badakhchani, The Paradise of Submission, The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London, p. 127)

32 7. The Char-Bagh Garden: The Rivers of Paradise A Parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised: in it are rivers of water incorruptible; rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine, a joy to those who drink; and rivers of honey pure and clear. In it there are for them all kinds of fruits; and Grace from their Lord. - Holy Qur an 47:15 The Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat actually contains two spaces of symbolic significance: the first is the inner atrium whose symbolism has been explained thus so far. The second is the exterior garden courtyard whose design corresponds to the traditional Persian Islamic design known as the Chahr-bagh. The building will rest on a solid linear granite podium. Above it will be a glass dome through which light will illuminate, from multiple directions, two symbolic spaces: an interior atrium and an exterior courtyard landscaped in four quarters, recalling the traditional Persian Islamic garden, the Chahrbagh. Nature, through the greenery of trees and flowers, will be on the site, but also in the building, just as we are sometimes able to see leaves and petals captured in rock crystal, but still visible through its unique translucency. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV, (Address at the Foundation Ceremony of The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, Ottawa, Canada, June 6, 2005)

33 The word chahr-bagh literally means four gardens and is based on the verses of the Holy Qur an which contain symbolic descriptions of Paradise (jannat) the word jannat also meaning garden in Arabic. In order to fully appreciate the symbolism of the Chahr-bagh in the Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat, it is necessary to look at the related Qur anic verses and also understand the concept of Paradise in Isma ili theosophy. There are many Qur anic verses which speak about Paradise and offer very sensual descriptions in terms of Paradise being a garden filled with flowing rivers and also containing fruits, honey, milk, etc. One of the verses which inspire the Chahr-bagh design is as follows: A Parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised: in it are rivers of water incorruptible; rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine, a joy to those who drink; and rivers of honey pure and clear. In it there are for them all kinds of fruits; and Grace from their Lord. - Holy Qur an 47:15 The above verse describes four types of rivers which are in Paradise: rivers of water, rivers of milk, rivers of wine, and rivers of honey. It is the notion of four rivers which inspires the four part design of the Chahr-bagh garden. Additionally, some Qur anic verses suggest the existence of four paradises which is also represented by the Chahrbagh design. In Isma ili thought, Paradise is not a physical place nor does it possess the same properties of the physical world. Nasir al-din Tusi argues that if Paradise (and Hell) were to be understood literally as the Qur an portrays them, then they would not be any different from the physical world. In reality, Paradise is an abode of pure knowledge and pure intellect which enjoys a closeness or proximity to God. The Qur anic descriptions of Paradise must be understood symbolically and as it will be explained, such sensual descriptions of Paradise found in the Qur an are not without wisdom. Nasir-i Khusraw explains that Paradise must be an abode of pure intellect because the Universal Intellect is the greatest being in existence and therefore the best reward must be intellectual. In essence, Paradise is intellectual and, therefore, all descriptions of Paradise are symbolic and allegorical. In Wajh-i Din, Nasir (Khusraw) says that Paradise is all life and knowledge. It is only logical that if the intellect is the highest and finest being then the best reward has to be intellectual or related to knowledge. And Paradise has to consist of intellectual favours and pleasures In physical life, Paradise and Hell are experienced only partially through developing internal peaceful states in the human soul, but the original source of this limited experience is encountered in the life hereafter. - Ghulam Abbas Hunzai, (The Meaning of Pleasure in the Philosophy of Nasir Khusraw, published in Nasir Khusraw: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, in Nasir Khusraw: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow, Khujand, 2005, Publishing House Noshir ) The words intellect and intellectual must not simply be equated with the mental and rational faculties in this context they have far greater meanings. In the context of spirituality and philosophy, the intellect was understood as a spiritual faculty which knows and apprehends realities in a direct and unmediated fashion. This intellect ( aql) resides in the heart or the centre of the human soul, and is the organ capable of spiritual vision and in the highest sense, the beatific vision of the Divine. Unlike human reason which perceives knowledge in conceptual and mental formulations, the intellect perceives

34 knowledge in a direct manner without the sequential limits of thought and reasoning. As such, there is an ontological realm which is the proper field of vision for the intellect and this is properly called the celestial World of Intellect and corresponds to what Plato called the World of Forms. What this means is that every existent in the Universe is a reflection, albeit a limited one, of a celestial archetype which is pure intellect and these celestial archetypes or intellectual forms are what the human intellect is capable of perceiving directly. The celestial archetypes are themselves diverse reflections of the Universal Intellect. The direct contemplation of these celestial realities results in ecstatic joy and bliss for the contemplator and this is precisely why the exoteric religious formulations refer to this intellectual vision as paradise or heaven. The reason why the Qur an offers such sensual descriptions of Paradise comparing it to things such as fruit, honey, milk, water, trees, etc is because truly intellectual knowledge has a sense of directness which mental knowledge lacks. This direct and unmediated nature of intellectual knowledge is reflected in the experience of man s physical senses such as touch, smell or taste. It is quite different to think about a fruit and taste that same fruit in a certain fashion, to taste something is to make it one with yourself. Intellectual knowledge operates in the same way. While the intellectual Paradise itself belongs to the celestial realm, it is quite possible for it to be represented and symbolized in the physical world. Indeed, this is one of the functions of Islamic architecture to create symbols and thereby remind man of the transience of this world and the greatness of the hereafter. The Chahr-bagh is designed to do exactly this. In fact, when the Isma ili Imam inaugurated the Burnaby Isma ili Centre, he referred to this particular function of Islamic architecture: In Islam man is answerable to God for whatever he has created and this is reflected in its architectural heritage. Many of the greatest architectural achievements in Islam were designed to reflect the promises of the life hereafter, to represent in this world what we are told of next. Since all that we see and do resonates on the faith, the aesthetics of the environment we build and the quality of the social interactions that take place within these environments reverberate on our spiritual life. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV, (Foundation Ceremony of Burnaby Jamat Khana, 1982) The four parts of the Chahr-bagh symbolize and serve to represent the four rivers of Paradise mentioned in the previously quoted Qur anic verse: A Parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised: in it are rivers of water incorruptible; rivers of milk of which the taste never changes; rivers of wine, a joy to those who drink; and rivers of honey pure and clear. In it there are for them all kinds of fruits; and Grace from their Lord. (Can those in such Bliss) be compared to such as shall dwell for ever in the Fire, and be given, to drink, boiling water, so that it cuts up their bowels (to pieces)? - Holy Qur an 47:15 In Isma ili thought, the Four Rivers of Paradise have an esoteric exegesis (ta wil) and refer to four specific beings or entities. Nasir-i Khusraw s esoteric exegesis of the Four Rivers is summarized in the following paragraphs. The River of Water stands for the Universal Intellect. The Universal Intellect is the first existent to be originated by God Himself and is the source of all knowledge. Just as

35 water is the source of all physical life, the knowledge and ta yid of the Universal Intellect is the source of all spiritual life. Water nourishes various kinds of vegetation in the earth and similarly, the ta yid of the Universal Intellect nourishes the various souls in the World of Faith, including the souls of the Prophets, Imams, and hujjahs. The River of Milk stands for the Universal Soul. Traditionally, the milk of the mother is the source of strength and nurturing for a child. Similarly, the creative act of the Universal Soul is like milk in the sense that the Universal Soul produces and nurtures individual souls which are like its children. The River of Wine stands for the figure of the Natiq or the Prophet of a major cycle. Wine has the effect of perplexing and confusing those who consume it when they become intoxicated. Similarly, the Natiq s revelation (tanzil) consists of symbols, allegories and parables which, when understood in the literal sense, can be confusing and ambiguous to people. The River of Honey stands for the Asas who is the Imam that accompanies the Natiq and succeeds to his authority. Honey is distinguished by its sweetness and pleasantness and its ability to promote health and prevention of some diseases. In a similarly sense, the esoteric exegesis (ta wil) taught by the Asas is sweet for the intellect of the seeker and prevents the soul from spiritual sickness. Each river is a part of the absolute Paradise and can be conceived as being a Paradise in itself. This is why other verses of the Qur an appear to speak of four paradises two upper paradises and two lower paradises: But for such as fear the time when they will stand before their Lord, there will be two Paradises (jannatani). Holy Qur an 55:46 And besides these two, there are two other Paradises. Holy Qur an 55:62 The two upper paradises are the Universal Intellect and the Universal Soul. All existents were prefigured in the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul before receiving concrete existence and being manifested in the Universe. The souls of all human beings are created from the Universal Soul like drops from an ocean and all souls seek to return to their original abode. The Universal Soul itself comes into being from the Universal Intellect and eternally seeks to unite with the Intellect from which it emanated. The two lower Paradises are the Natiq (major Prophet) and the Asas (his successor- Imam) in the major cycle and the Imam and his supreme Hujjah in the minor cycle. The Natiq and Asas in their time, and the Imam and Hujjah thereafter, are places of manifestation (mazahir) of the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul respectively. They are the branches of the two upper Paradises mentioned in the Qur anic verse: Those two [Paradises] have branches. - Holy Qur an 55:48 The Imam and the Hujjah are called the lower Paradises because they are the gates of the upper Paradises which are the Intellect and Soul. The murids can attain the recognition

36 of the Intellect and Soul through the recognition of the Imam and Hujjah. It may seem strange for the term Paradise (jannat) to be applied to a human person. But this must be understood in the sense that the souls of the Natiq, Asas, Imam and Hujjah are like a mirrors upon which the radiance and blessings of the higher Paradises shine. The souls of these hudud, although embodied in the physical world, have already reached the paradiscal state. The first Imam, Ali ibn Abi Talib, refers to such persons as those whose bodies keep company with the world, while their spirits are tied to the transcendent realm. 40 The Qur an indicates the truth of this when it uses the word jannat to describe human beings 41 : And the likeness of those who spend their wealth, seeking to please Allah and to strengthen their souls, is as a Paradise (jannatin), high and fertile: heavy rain falls on it but makes it yield a double increase of harvest, and if it receives not heavy rain, light moisture sufficeth it. Allah seeth well whatever ye do. - Holy Qur an 2:265 The above verse compares an exalted human soul to a Paradise or Garden which receives heavy rain and is always moist. According to Nasir Khusraw, the esoteric exegesis of a land watered by rain or streams means a hadd or soul which receives ta yid from the celestial world namely, the Natiq, Asas, Imam and Hujjah. 42 The double increase of harvest refers to the ta yid and ta wil which these ranks possess. The lower Paradise, embodied in the Imam and the Hujjah, is the gateway and means of attaining the higher Paradise. This is alluded to in a well-known Qur anic verse which describes the soul s entrance into Paradise, to whom God says: O soul at peace! Return unto thy Lord,- well pleased and well-pleasing unto Him! Then enter in (fee) My Servants ( aibadee)! And, enter My Paradise (jannatee)! - Holy Qur an 89:27-30 In verse 89:29, the word fee is used which literally means in. Therefore, this verse is stating that the soul literally enters in God s Servants that is, in the lower Paradise of the Imam and Hujjah. The next verse then states enter My Paradise. This means that the soul must first become annihilated (fana) in the souls of the Imam and Hujjah, the lower Paradises, before finally entering the upper Paradises of the Universal Intellect and Universal Soul. In summary, the Chahr-bagh of the Delegation of the Isma ili Imamat represents the Four Paradises or the Four Rivers of Paradise mentioned in the Holy Qur an. According to Isma ili esoteric exegesis, the Four Rivers or Paradises stand for the Universal Intellect, Universal Soul, Natiq, and Asas with the Imam and the Hujjah taking the place of the Natiq and Asas in their respective periods. 40 Reza Shah-Kazemi, Justice and Remembrance: Introducing the Spirituality of Imam Ali, London, 2006, p This verse was brought to my attention by my friend Khayal Aly Dhanidina. 42 Nasir-i Khusraw, Wajh-i Din, Discourse 31

37 At this point it serves to re-visit the Imam s speech which describes the relationship between the Chahr-bagh and the rest of the Delegation Building: The building will rest on a solid linear granite podium. Above it will be a glass dome through which light will illuminate, from multiple directions, two symbolic spaces: an interior atrium and an exterior courtyard landscaped in four quarters, recalling the traditional Persian Islamic garden, the Chahrbagh. Nature, through the greenery of trees and flowers, will be on the site, but also in the building, just as we are sometimes able to see leaves and petals captured in rock crystal, but still visible through its unique translucency. - Imam Shah Karim al-husayni Aga Khan IV, (Address at the Foundation Ceremony of The Delegation of the Ismaili Imamat, Ottawa, Canada, June 6, 2005) The architecture is intended to create a sort of semblance and correspondence between the Chahr-bagh Garden and the building itself through the appearance of nature in both places. One can also observe images of the Chahr-bagh Garden and its greenery captured in the glass which adorns the atrium. It has already been shown that the Delegation Building is a symbol of the World of Faith and the Chahr-Bagh Garden is a symbol for Paradise. While Paradise itself is a purely intellectual reality and belongs to the realm of the spirit, the benefits and joys of Paradise