‫ِْﺴ ِﻢ ا ِ اﻟﺮ ْ َﲪـ ِﻦ اﻟﺮ ِﺣ ِﲓ‬

ISLAMIC THEURGY
An Overview

N. Wahid Azal
wahidazal66@gmail.com
 The emanationist cosmology of Quranic (and Shiʿite) Theurgy
-- Fourfold Hierarchy:
Hierarchy i. God (‫)ﷲ‬, ii.ii the angels (‫ )اﳌﻼ ﻜﺔ‬then iii.
iii
humans, animals plants and minerals (collectively ins ‫ )اﺲ‬and iv.
humans animals, iv
ّ ) which are sub-divided into guardian spirits,
the jinn (‫ﺟﻦ‬ spirits devils,
devils
demons ghouls and giants (i.e. muwakkilūn ‫ﻣﻮﳇﻮن‬, shayāṭīn ‫ﺷ'ﻴﺎﻃﲔ‬,
demons,
ʿafārīt ‫ﻋﻔﺎرﻳﺖ‬, ghūl ‫ ﻏﻮل‬and mārid ‫)ﻣﺎرد‬.

cosmology i. lāhūt ‫ﻻﻫﻮت‬

-- Hierarchy of Worlds in Pristine Shiʿite cosmology:
(divine world), world of the Mother of the Book (‫ﺎب‬5‫ ;)ا ّم اﻟﻜ‬ii.
ii jabarūt
‫ﱪوت‬: (empyrean), primal world of the particles of light ( ‫=ﺎﱂ ّذرات‬
‫ ;)?وﱃ‬iii.
iii malakūt ‫( ﻣﻠﻜﻮت‬angelic world), second world of the
luminous silhouettes (‫)=ﺎﱂ ?ﺷ'ﺒﺎح اﻟﺜّﺎﻧﻴﺔ‬, subdivided into celestial
;
heaven ‫( =ﻠﻴﻮن‬ʿilyūn) and celestial hell ‫( ﲭّﲔ‬sijjīn) iv.
iv mulk G‫( ُﻣ‬the
Dominion) or nāsūt ‫ﺳﻮت‬J (material world).
* Corresponding to the fourfold doxological phrases of the theophanic
( ),
praise of Fāṭima ‫ﺢ اﻟﻔﺎﻃﻤﺔ‬MN‫ﺴ‬O i.e. “(i.) Glorified be God and (ii.)
ii praise
be unto God and (iii.)
iii there is no god but God and (iv.)
iv God is the Greatest”
(‫ ? ﷲ و ﷲ اﻛﱪ‬Q‫ و ﻻ ا‬R‫ﺎن ﷲ و اﶵﺪ‬U‫ = )ﺳ'ﺒ‬the four words in Arabic
of the bismillāh (i.e. In the Name of God the Compassionate, the Merciful!)
 Quranic Definition of Theurgy
-- 17:85 ‫رﰊ‬
ّ ‫“ ﻗُﻞ ّاﻟﺮوح ِﻣﻦ اﻣ ِﺮ‬Say, the Spirit is from the Command of my
Lord!”
-- Distinction made between the scripturally verboten siḥr ‫( ﲮﺮ‬lit.
black magic/sorcery/goetia) and ruhānīya ‫ﺎﻧﻴﺔ‬Z‫( رو‬lit. ‘spirituality’
meaning ‘white magic’) = Theurgy.
-- Sūrahs 113 & 114 specifically revealed to counteract sorcery/black
magic/goetia.

Basic Theurgic Praxis

-- Sūrahs 1 (Opening) and 112 (Purity/Unicity),
(Purity/Unicity) Sūrah 2:257 (Throne
Verse),
Verse) Sūrah 24:35 (Light Verse),
Verse) Sūrah 59:22-24 (Verse of
Gathering), (Power) etc., central to theurgical
Gathering) Sūrah 97 (Power),
contemplation and practice.

The 99 Beautiful Names (‫)?ﺳﲈء اﳊﺴ'ﲎ‬

-- Each of the 99 Names and Attributes of God are an instantiation
of a distinct theophanic reality (‫ﻘﺔ‬M‫ )ﺣﻘ‬of the One.

The Disconnected Letters of the Qurʾān (‫)ﺣﺮوف اﳌﻘﻄﻌﺎت‬

‫ﺲ ص ﰘ ﲪﻌﺴﻖ‬f ‫ﻬﻴﻌﺺ ﻃﻪ ﻃﺲ ﻃﺴﻢ‬j ‫اﱂ اﳌﺺ اﻟﺮ اﳌﺮ‬
‫قن‬
 The calligram of the Greatest
Name
(‫)اﻻٕﰟ ?ﻋﻈﻢ‬

Three sticks in a row after a seal; above them the semblance of

a straightened lance
Then a blind ‘mīm’ without a tail, then a ladder unto all that is
hoped for, but which is not a ladder
Four things like fingers in a row pointing to good deeds, but
without a wrist.
And a ‘hā’ that has been split, then an inverted `wāw’ like the
syphon of a phlebotomist, but not a blood-letting cup
This is the Name whose worth is magnified; if you were
ignorant of it before, know it now.
O bearer of the Great Name, take sufficiency in it – you shall be
preserved from misfortunes and shall be kept safe.
It is the secret name of the God, may Its glory be glorified, unto
all men, be they Arab or non-Arab! ~ ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (d.
661 CE).
 The Hieroglyphic Spectacle Letters, Sigilic Lunettes or Occult Pens
‫( اﻗﻼم‬aqlām)
-- Subject of a treatise by Ibn Waḥshīya, the Nabataean (d. 930-1 CE).
-- al-Būnī (d. 1225 CE) calls them al-khanfaṭarīyāt ‫ت‬o‫( اﳋﻨﻔﻄﺮ‬a word of
unknown origin) and claims their usage in distant antiquity with
Solomon’s sorcerer Aṣif ibn Birikhīya.
-- 16th century CE Shiʿite occultist Ḥusayn Vāʾiz Kāshifī correctly
attributes their origins (as far as the Islamic occult MS tradition is
concerned) to the Shiʿite Imāms and designates them as falaqṭayr
‫( ﻓﻠﻘﻄﲑ‬meaning: ‘cleaving bird’
bird or ‘the bird of daybreak’).
daybreak
-- No consensus among MSS as to their correct correspondences or
meanings. However, one of the earliest appearances of these
devices is in a 5x5 (or sometimes 6x6 and even 7x7)
7x7 circular
amulet whose origins are attributed to ʿAlī and is known as the
Paradise of the Names (‫ّﺔ ?ﺳﲈء‬t‫)ﺟ‬.
 Classification of the Occult Sciences by Ḥusayn Vāʾiz Kāshifī
(claiming the authority of the Shiʿite Imāms)
-- a. Kīmīya ‫( ك‬alchemy), b. Līmīya ‫( ل‬talismanic magic), c. Hīmīya ‫ه‬
(spell-crafting ), d. Sīmīya ‫( س‬letter magic) and e. Rīmīya ‫ر‬
(conjuration) = ‫ﴎ‬
ّ ‫ ﳇّﻪ‬kulluhu sirr (‘all of it is a secret’) = 315 = ‫ ﻗﻬﲑ‬qahīr
(the ‘Victorious’ or ‘Avenger’).

All earliest material on lettrism (Arabic gematria, i.e. abjad ‫اﲜﺪ‬

and jafr ‫ )ﺟﻔﺮ‬attributed to either ʿAlī or the sixth Shiʿite Imām,
Jaʿfar al-Sādiq (d. 765 CE). Likewise the initiating locus of the
Islamic alchemical tradition is with the Shiʿite Imāms. For
example, Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (d. 815 CE) (i.e. the Latin Geber)
Geber was a
disciple of the sixth Imām.
Islamic Theurgy
An Overview

N. Wahid Azal
wahidazal66@gmail.com

FSO © 2018