A technical term in philosophy derived from the Greek hyle (matter), opposed to 峁Ｅ玶a (form). Usually used in the sense of prime matter, being the third emanated principle after the intellect and the soul in the cosmogonies of Ismaili thinkers such as al-Sijist膩n墨 (d. 971) and N膩峁r Khusraw (d. ca. 1088), and also in the Epistles of the Brethren of Purity.
