The Hermeneutics of Ismaili Esoteric Interpretation (迟补示飞墨濒The elucidation of the inner or esoteric meaning, 产腻峁璱苍 , from the literal wording or apparent meaning of a text, ritual or religious prescription.) in the works of N膩峁r-i Khusraw and Ab奴 Ya士q奴b al-Sijist膩n墨.
Current Research and Forthcoming Papers:
The Encyclopaedia of the IsmailisAdherents of a branch of Shi’i Islam that considers Ismail, the eldest son of the Shi’i Imam Ja士far al-峁⒛乨iq (d. 765), as his successor.:
Ab奴 Ya士q奴b al-Sijist膩n墨
Kit膩b-i Kashf al-Ma岣奴b
The IIS forthcoming conference on Ismaili Studies, Autumn 2022:
The Semiotics of N膩峁r-i Khusraw’s Ismaili Esoteric Interpretation (罢补示飞墨濒)
The paper will examine the semiotics of the sign (岷撃乭颈谤The outward, apparent or exoteric meaning of a sacred text, ritual or religious prescriptions, from which the 产腻峁璱苍 is educed.) and the signified (产腻峁璱苍The inner or esoteric meaning of a sacred text, ritual or religious prescription, often contrasted with 岷撃乭颈谤. See also 产腻峁璱苍墨 迟补示飞墨濒 and B膩峁璱niyya.) as expounded by N膩峁r-i Khusraw. The focus of the essay is on the hermeneutical significance of the following verse in which the Quran states: 鈥榃e shall show them Our signs in the horizons and in their souls, till it is clear to them that He is the Real. Suffices it not as to thy Lord, that He is witness over everything?鈥 (Arberry, S奴rat Fu峁ａ梗ilat, Quran 41:53, tr. edited). This reciprocal dialectic between the outer and inner signs leads to a gradual verification of the truth and reality of each and every sign, be it in the horizons or in people themselves. In other words, the aim of the esoteric interpretation of the signs of the Creator 鈥 whether in nature as the creation without (the Act of God), or in people鈥檚 souls as the creation within (the Word of God) 鈥 is the illumination and realization of the reality of the outward and inward signs, even though the inward signs of the scriptures may appear symbolic and ambiguous in their one-to-one relation with the outward signs of the creation.
罢丑别听迟补示飞墨濒聽of the scriptures is in fact the learning of the knowledge that the outward sign and the inward sign, in spite of their seeming duality, have their source in one reality. Therefore, the task of the esoteric interpretation of the holy scriptures consists in the systematic discovering of the true realities underlying the semiotics of similitude employed within the聽迟补示飞墨濒听濒颈迟别谤补迟耻谤别.
