The Ismaili 糸偵平朝Lit. ‘summoner,’ a term for missionary amongst various Muslim communities, especially used among the Ismailis before and during the Fatimid period as well as in the Alamut period of Ismaili… (missionary) and poet N畊ir-i Khusraw (d. after 1070) wrote Khwn al-ikhwn (The Banquet of the Brethren) when he was living in his remote mountain refuge of Yumgan in Badakhshan. This work includes a pr辿cis of ideas found in the Kitb al-Yanb朝平 (温鉛-畍i一馨温) (The Wellsprings of Wisdom), written by the earlier 糸偵平朝 Ab笛 Ya平q笛b al-Sijistn朝 (d. ca. 971). N畊ir-i Khusraw recast these ideas in Persian and then expanded them into 100 chapters (or courses of a banquet). The text presents a sequence of dynamic arguments for divine unicity (岳温敬畍ツdThe Oneness of God or belief in Divine Unity, one of the fundamental tenets of Islam.), while also asserting the authority of the Prophet Muhammad, his legatee and son-in-law 平Al朝 b. Ab朝 畊libCousin of the Prophet Muhammad and his son-in-law by marriage to his daughter Fatima; the first Shii Imam and fourth caliph (d. 661)., and the subsequent Imams from the line of the Prophets descendant Ism平朝l b. Ja平far al-畊diq.
Khwn al-ikhwn stands as a significant work in Ismaili theology and philosophy, exemplifying the central role of 岳温幣敬朝鉛The elucidation of the inner or esoteric meaning, b畊in , from the literal wording or apparent meaning of a text, ritual or religious prescription. (esoteric interpretation). It also reflects the learning of the age, including the conception of a geocentric cosmos, Aristotelian physics, and Neoplatonic philosophy, all of which profoundly influenced the Ismaili 糸偵平朝s in Iran.
This new Persian critical edition is based on the only two extant manuscripts of Khwn al-ikhwn, while referring additionally to Henry Corbins edition of al-Sijistn朝s Kitb al-Yanb朝平. Rahim Gholami has also prepared an accompanying volume containing an annotated English translation of the Persian text.
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Introduction to the edition
Persian edition of Khwn al-ikhwn
Index of Quranic Citations
Index of Hadith Citations
Index of Biblical Citations
Select Bibliography
General Index
Rahim Gholami is a Research Associate at 今叔利, UK. He received his PhD in Arab and Islamic Studies from the University of Exeter, UK, in 2021. He has translated over 100 articles for Encyclopaedia Islamica (2008 ), an abridged and edited translation of the Persian D幣irat al-Ma平rif-i Buzurg-i Islm朝, which is a comprehensive reference work on the Muslim world, with a focus on Shi平i Islam. His research interests include Shi平i esoterism and poetics, Ismaili intellectual traditions, and esoteric hermeneutics and literature.