Lit. ‘word.’ Used in the Qur’an with several meanings, chief among which is the ‘Divine Word’. It also refers to the formula for the declaration of faith amongst Muslims (also shahda). In Shi’i and Ismaili esotericism, the concept is linked to the act of creation by various thinkers such as the Ismaili Ab笛 Ya平q笛b al-Sijistn朝 (d. after 971), the Twelver Mull 畊adr (d. 1640) and the Sufi Ibn 平Arab朝 (d. 638/1240).
