The Hermeneutics of Ismaili Esoteric Interpretation (喧硃尨滄蘋梭The elucidation of the inner or esoteric meaning, 莉櫻廜虹紳 , from the literal wording or apparent meaning of a text, ritual or religious prescription.) in the works of N廜ξr-i Khusraw and Ab贖 Ya尪q贖b al-Sijistn蘋.
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尪far al-廜〢diq (d. 765), as his successor.:
Ab贖 Ya尪q贖b al-Sijistn蘋
Kitb-i Kashf al-Ma廎古贖b
The IIS forthcoming conference on Ismaili Studies, Autumn 2022:
The Semiotics of N廜ξr-i Khusraw’s Ismaili Esoteric Interpretation (啦硃尨滄蘋梭)
The paper will examine the semiotics of the sign (廕h勳娶The outward, apparent or exoteric meaning of a sacred text, ritual or religious prescriptions, from which the 莉櫻廜虹紳 is educed.) and the signified (莉櫻廜虹紳The inner or esoteric meaning of a sacred text, ritual or religious prescription, often contrasted with 廕h勳娶. See also 莉櫻廜虹紳蘋 喧硃尨滄蘋梭 and B廜虹niyya.) as expounded by N廜ξr-i Khusraw. The focus of the essay is on the hermeneutical significance of the following verse in which the Quran states: We 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? (Arberry, S贖rat Fu廜廜ξlat, 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 whether in nature as the creation without (the Act of God), or in peoples souls as the creation within (the Word of God) 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.
啦堯梗泭喧硃尨滄蘋梭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喧硃尨滄蘋梭泭梭勳喧梗娶硃喧喝娶梗.
