Overview

I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies The Ismaili missionary and poet, Nasir-i Khusraw (d. after 1070), wrote Khwan al-ikhwan (The Banquet of the Brethren) when he was living in his remote mountain refuge of Yumgan in Badakhshan. A work of philosophical theology, it consists of a sequence of dynamic arguments for divine unicity (tawhid), the authority of the Prophet Muhammad, his legatee, 'Ali b. Abi Talib, and his descendants, the imams from the line of Isma'il b. Ja'far al-Sadiq. This new edition is based on two extant manuscripts of Khwan al-ikhwan making it a more comprehensive resource. Written in Persian, Khwan al-ikhwan includes a precis of ideas found in a work by an earlier missionary, Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani (d. ca. 971), the Kitab al-Yanabi', which Nasir-i Khusraw recast and then extended in 100 chapters. The current publication consists of a new Persian critical edition of the text, with an introduction that discusses Khwan al-ikhwan in the context of both Nasir-i Khusraw’s other works and al-Sijistani’s Kitab al-Yanabi, in addition to notes throughout. The book is an important example of Ismaili theology and a reflection of the learning of the age including the conception of a geo-centric cosmos, Aristotelian physics, and Neoplatonic philosophy, which greatly influenced the Ismaili missionaries (or da'is) of the Iranian lands. The editorial apparatus in this edition brings Khwan al-ikhwan to an even wider readership advancing the field of Ismaili Studies.

Full Product Details

Author:   Rahim Gholami (The Institute of Ismaili Studies, UK)
Publisher:   Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:   I.B. Tauris
ISBN:  

9780755653928

ISBN 10:   0755653920
Pages:   616
Publication Date:   31 October 2024
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements Abbreviations Introduction to the edition Persian edition of Khwan al-Ikhwan In the Name of God Whose Remembrance Brings Blessings Exordium The List of the One-Hundred Courses that Are Laid out in this Book Course 1 Discourse On the Method of Receiving Knowledge . Course 2 Discourse On the Signifier and the Signified Course 3 Discourse On the Name and the Named Thing Course 4 Discourse On the Proof of Reality Course 5 Discourse On Truth and Falsehood and Reasons for an Excess of Falsehood in People’s Speech Course 6 Discourse On the [Nature of People’s] Return Course 7 Discourse On the Degrees of Reward Course 8 Discourse On the Proof of the Immateriality of the Soul: Hence the Necessity of Incorporeal Nature of the Soul’s Reward and Punishment Course 9 Discourse On the Proofs, Discerned by the Intellect, Why the Wrong-Doer Is the Enemy of God? Course 10 Discourse On the Universal Intellect, That It only Contemplates Its Essence Course 11 Discourse On Reward and Punishment Course 12 Discourse On the Finiteness of all Beings and Their Ultimate Limit Course 13 On the Manner in Which Humankind Began Course 14 On Explaining the World of Intellect and of Soul Course 15 On Why the Universal Soul Shares Its Benefit of Knowledge Only with People, But Not with the Rest of the Animals Course 16 On Why the Prophets Require Their People to Bear Witness to the Oneness of [the Lord] Course 17 That Anything the Prophet, Peace Be upon Him, Allowed and Did It Himself Is Reasonable, Whereas Anything That He Forbade and Did Not Do It Himself Is Unreasonable Course 18 Why Do the People of Paradise Enjoy Lasting Bliss, While the People of Hell Suffer Enduring Pain? Course 19 That People’s Deeds are Eternal, And God Will Not Be Indifferent to Their Deeds Sinful and Virtuous Course 20 Discourse On the Soul: Having Been Purified, It Finds Subtle Realities and Beings Within Itself Course 21 On the Origination of the World and the Parts of which Are Subtle and Dense Course 22 That It Is Necessary to Follow the Religious Law and Proof That It Is Not Right to Abandon It Course 23 On the Pure Ipseity of the True Originator Course 24 Discourse On Allah That Is the Greatest Name of God Course 25 Discourse On the Characteristics that Qualify People for Prophethood Course 26 Discourse Concerning the Lord of the Resurrection and Why He Has Brought a New Religious Law? Course 27 Why Are the Intellect and the Soul Not of the Same Rank If Both of Them Have Their Source in the Command [of God], While There Is No Differentiation in That World? Course 28 That the Intellect Is the First Originated Thing Course 29 Discourse That It Is Impossible to Imagine Anything Prior to the Intellect Course 30 That the Soul Is a Compound [Substance] by Essence Course 31 Discourse on the Rational Soul’s Mastery of the Sensuous Soul Course 32 Discourse on the Proof of the Universal Soul Course 33 That the Movements of the Celestial Sphere (Falak) Are Not in Discord with the Intention of the Universal Soul Course 34 That God Is Beyond Accruing Benefit or Suffering Loss Course 35 Discourse On the Psychical Powers of the Individual Souls Course 36 Discourse On Cleansing the Soul of Sin Course 37 That the Universal Soul Is the Creator of the Natures Course 38 Discourse on the Proof of the Reward and Punishment Course 39 Discourse Concerning God’s Omnipresence Course 40 That the Corporeal World Is on the Horizon of the Universal Soul ??? Course 41 Discourse On the Cold and Heat of the Resurrection Course 42 Discourse on [the Nature] of the Barzakh Course 43 Discourse On the Difference Between the Soul and the Spirit Course 44 Discourse On the Necessity to Establish the Religious Law Course 45 On the Proof of the Annihilation of the Corporeal Body and the Eternity of the Soul Course 46 That the Forms of the Corporeal Bodies which Appear in Nature Are Determined by the Universal Soul Course 47 That the [Universal] Soul Receives the Benefit of the Universal Intellect Intemporally Course 48 That Man’s Soul Is a Part of the Universal Soul, Not Its Effect Course 49 That Angels Are Without Number Course 50 That the Intellect Does Not Perish Course 51 That the Intellect is Complete in Actuality and Potentiality Course 52 Discourse On the Cause of Time Course 53 Discourse On the Quiddity of the Simple World Course 54 Discourse On the Manner (Quality) of the Universal Intellect’s Worship Course 55 That the Reward and Punishment Are Rational Not Sensory Course 56 Discourse On Description of Paradise and Hell Course 57 That the Form of the World Was Not with God Before the Origination Discourse On Things Natural and Things Made Course 59 That the Soul which is [Divinely] Assisted Is Empowered to Communicate Its Nobility to Its Subordinate Soul Course 60 That the [Powers in] Being Were Originated with the Origination of the Intellect Course 61 Discourse On the Six Sides of the World Course 62 That Evil Has No Source Within the Origination Course 63 Discourse On the Distinctions of the People of Reward Course 64 That the Soul Will Not Attain the Rank of the Intellect Course 65 Discourse on the Plurality of the World and the Unity of the Command Course 66 Discourse On the Significance of the Word, Kalimah, of the True Originator, the Most Holy Course 67 Discourse On the Proof of the Three Spiritual Branches: ‘Good Fortune’ (Jadd), ‘Triumph’ (Fat?), and ‘Imagination’ (Khayal) Course 68 Discourse On That Which Cannot Be Imagined Course 69 Discourse On the Interpretation Of ‘Be’ (Kun), As the Command of God Course 70 Discourse On the Cause of the Continued Existence of the World Course 71 That the Intellect Is at Rest Course 72 Discourse On the Proof of the Life of the Rational Soul Course 73 Discourse On the Proof of the Immateriality of the Intellect Course 74 That the World Is Incognizant Course 75 On the Discourse of the Intellect with the Soul Course 76 On the Manner in Which the Intellect’s Benefit Is Communicated To the Soul Course 77 Discourse On the Delight and Pain of the Pure Soul Course 78 Discourse On the Distinction Between Cognition (Ma'rifa) and Knowledge ('Ilm) Course 79 That Being Does Not Become Non-Being Course 80 Why Do All Living Souls Not Desire the Blessings of the Higher World? Course 81 Discourse On the Quality of the Transmission of the Effect of the Universal Soul to Its Recipients Course 82 Discourse On the Impossibility of Knowing the Raison D’Être of the World Course 83 That the Form of the World Was with the Universal Soul Prior to Its Creation Course 84 Discourse On the Sovereignty of Spiritual Power Over Natural Powers Course 85 That the Originated Is Not Like the Originator Course 86 Discourse On the Cause of Spiritual Inspiration Reaching the Spiritually Inspired Souls Course 87 That the Profession of Faith, That Is La Ilaha Illa Allah, Is the Key to Paradise Course 88 Discourse On the Reward of Good and the Punishment of Evil . Course 89 Discourse On the Difference Between Eternity, Eternality, and Eternal Course 90 Discourse on the Proof of the Resurrection Course 91 Discourse On the [Manner of] the Transmission of Spiritual Inspiration to the Inspired Person Course 92 Discourse On the Difference Between the Qur'an and the Prophet’s Reported Statements Course 93 Discourse On How Things Become Known Course 94 Discourse On the Difference Between the Miracle of the Prophets and Magic Course 95 Discourse Regarding God’s Choice of a Servant for Prophethood Course 96 Discourse Concerning the Wrongness of Two Messengers Coming Simultaneously Course 97 Discourse Regarding the Empowering of the Soul Upon Its Departure from the Body Course 98 That Following Repentance, Sins Fade Away Course 99 Discourse Regarding the Revocation of the Religious Law at the Time of the Lord of the Resurrection Course 100 Discourse Regarding the Universal Intellect That It Is the [First] Originated, Not the Originator Index of Qur'anic Citations Index of Hadith Citations Index of Biblical Citations Select Bibliography General Index

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Rahim Gholami is Research Associate at The Institute of Ismaili Studies, UK. He received his PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter, UK in 2021.

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