The Ismaili Version of the 'Fall'

[zionic]

Quotes drawn from a posting on an Ismaili yahoo group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ismailism/message/10023

"Notice particularly that the universe proper begins
with the First Emanation (Second Intelligence); this
is important for the Ismaili doctrine of the Fall,
discussed below.

Each level is a world of its own, peopled by Forms of
light (or archangels). The universe is thus conceived
of as a hierarchy of spiritual planes, each with its
appropriate denizens. (There is nothing as yet in this
scheme about our physical world. To account for the
existence of this the Ismailis, as we shall see in a
moment, invoked the doctrine of the Fall.)

For each level of the hierarchy, the one above
represents a boundary which it would be impious to
attempt to cross. Divinity lies always on a higher
plane, and longing for union with the Divine tends to
draw beings always upwards, towards the Source....

The Ismaili version of the Fall

The Ismaili version of the Fall is quite different
from that which most Christians are familiar with (and
which derives ultimately from St Augustine). Before
time began, the Ismailis say, the First Intelligence
issued a Proclamation or Summons to all the Forms of
Light that occupied the various levels of the
hierarchy. The word used for this Summons (davat) is
important, because it is also applied to the Ismaili
preaching on earth, which is thus regarded as a
reflection or copy of the archetypal Summons in
heaven. (The word is still in common use in modern
Persian to mean simply “invitation.”) The Universal
Soul - the First Emanation - obeyed the Divine
Invitation, but the Chief Archangel of the Second
Level (the Third Intelligence) became confused in some
way and refused. The exact reason for his refusal is
unclear, but according to H. Corbin it was a failure
to recognize the “boundary” constituted by the
Universal Soul above him; this failure led him to try
to reach God directly, which amounted to thinking that
he himself was divine. His “sin” seems in fact to have
been an error in theology. As a result of his mistake
he was relegated from the second rank to the lowest of
all, the tenth, while all the others moved one step
up. (Notice that the interval from the Third
Intelligence to the Tenth Intelligence is seven, the
Ismaili mystic number.)

The erring archangel did not fall alone. With him at
the second rank had been a number of other beings, and
they fell into the same trap as he, misled by his bad
example, so they had to accompany him to the tenth
level. Realizing his mistake too late, the fallen
archangel told his companions that the only way they
could regain their former station was by following his
orders and obeying the Intelligences whom they now
found above them. Perhaps not unreasonably, most of
them refused to listen to him, and the most
recalcitrant of all went so far as to incite
rebellion. This was the future Satan. “The archangel,”
he said, “has brought all this trouble on us; we
merely did what he did himself. Now that he has landed
us in this mess he wants to drag us into something
even worse.” Most of the other Beings agreed with him,
but some rejected his arguments and others were
uncertain what to do. The brilliance of those who
rejected the archangel’s authority became darkened and
they were plunged into ignorance.

Realizing that if they remained as purely spiritual
beings they would never be able to extricate
themselves from their confusion, the archangel
determined on a plan to liberate them. He made himself
the Demiurge (a kind of minor creating deity) and
created the material world to serve as the means by
which these beings could regain their former status
and enlightenment. It seems that the inertia of the
material world is in some way necessary for
redemption, rather as the presence of the atmosphere
is necessary for the flight of a bird or an aircraft
even though it is also a source of resistance that has
to be overcome.

Were it not for the Fall, then, the material world
would not exist. We could almost say that the material
world is a collective illusion produced by our
distorted vision. Rashid al-Din Sinan, the great
Nizari chief in Syria during the period of the
Resurrection, is quoted as saying: “Were it not for
our passionate attachment to material things, there
would exist God and nothing but God.” This doesn’t
merely mean that we fail to see God because we are
attached to the pleasures of this world. Sinan’s point
is more radical: the very existence of the world is
due to our ignorance of our own true nature, which is
God.

The former archangel of the second level, now become
the Demiurge of our world, is the Celestial Adam, of
whom the various Terrestrial Adams (for there are many
such in the Ismaili scheme) are copies or reflections.


The Celestial Adam’s companions were overcome by panic
when they found themselves being overtaken by the
darkness of the material world that Adam had created.
They felt themselves to be drowning in matter, and
from the struggles they made to resist being
overwhelmed came the three dimensions of space. The
densest material occupied the centre, while the
substances of lesser density took up their relative
positions as the various spheres of the Ptolemaic
universe, which thus consists of eleven concentric
layers. The earth is at the centre, and is surrounded
by a shell of air; together these make up the lower,
sublunary, world, which also contains the infernal
regions. This is the realm of change and decay.
Outside the earth come the nine celestial spheres: the
seven “planets” (Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars,
Jupiter, Saturn), the sphere of the fixed stars (the
Zodiac), and finally the outer enclosing sphere. Each
of the celestial spheres is under the tutelage of one
of the Emanations.

Within this great concept of the universe as the means
by which the cosmic return is to be effected, human
life finds its meaning and purpose. We, indeed, are at
the heart of the process of return, for we are the
fallen Adam’s companions. Moreover, every creature,
indeed every created thing, is part of this process,
and the world will endure until everything has
returned to the Source. There is an interesting
similarity here to the Mahayana Buddhist idea that all
sentient creatures must eventually gain enlightenment,
but the Ismaili position is even more radical, for
even the mineral kingdom seems to be included. Thus we
find the great Sufi poet Jalal al-Din Rumi, who may
have been influenced by Ismaili ideas, saying that he
has died and been reborn successively as a mineral, a
vegetable, an animal, and a man; why, then, should he
fear to die again, since he will be reborn at a still
higher level?

Human beings are midway between the material and the
celestial worlds, and our nature partakes of both of
these. Our animal nature draws us downwards, towards
hell, while our souls incline upwards, towards heaven.
This is why animals walk on all fours, with bent
backs, while plants - even worse - have roots that
actually penetrate the earth. Man, on the other hand,
walks upright. (Birds, presumably, should be even more
enlightened than men, but the Ismailis don’t seem to
have drawn this inference.)

Man’s relationship to the other inhabitants of the
earth is a reflection of the relationship of the
Universal Soul to the rest of creation: that is, man
(the microcosm) is the universe (the macrocosm) writ
small. The Universal Soul governs the universe; Man,
likewise, commands the creatures of the material
world. By the same token he is responsible for their
welfare and enlightenment. For the Ismailis,
everything interlocks, and every level reflects the
others. Ismailism thus accords well with modern
notions of the ecological significance of human
activity.

The Ismailis had a detailed explanation of the way in
which the cosmic return is even now being
accomplished. This process came about, they believed,
in a cyclical manner, through the agency of prophets
and their helpers. The first prophet was the first
Terrestrial Adam, who was generated by cosmic forces.
As the earth developed, it was acted upon by the
various celestial spheres which enclosed it. Each
sphere exerted its influence for a thousand years,
until at the beginning of the seventh cycle the Moon
brought into existence the first human being and his
companions. (This is a good example of the Ismaili
principle of esoteric interpretation, here applied to
the seven days of creation specified in Genesis.)

The first Terrestrial Adam appeared in Ceylon, and he
had twenty-seven companions, who were the
manifestations on the material level of those Forms of
Light who received the Celestial Adam’s preaching
favourably.

The first Terrestrial Adam had many of the qualities
of his celestial counterpart: he was sinless and
perfect, and he transmitted these qualities to all the
later Imams. During his rule men lived in Paradise and
saw spiritual truths directly, not through the wall of
symbolism as at present. He sent twelve of his
companions to the various parts of the world, and
inaugurated the series of historical cycles which has
continued ever since.

When he appointed his successor, the first Terrestrial
Adam went to the Tenth Level to replace the original
Celestial Adam, who now moved on level up. (It is not
clear what happened to the occupants of the Third
Level; there seems to be nowhere for them to go.) This
celestial game of Musical Chairs will continue until
the whole cosmic situation is restored to its original
condition.

The first Terrestrial Adam was, as I have said, merely
the first of many subsequent Adams. ....."

I hope this is provocative enough. I though it might be interesting to draw parallels between the Ismaili narrative and the revelations of Dr. Dahesh. My guess is that the Druze and the Alawites (Nusayris) share huge swaths of this narrative as well since their origins are the Ismaili Shi'a.

[Mario]

I did a search for "Archangel" on Daheshville

http://www.daheshville.com/forum/sho...88&postcount=1

(I only edited one word — Sayyal — and replaced it with "Spiritual Fluid")

Adam and Eve
What we know about them is totally Revealed. But it is not yet published in Arabic. The following is an outline:

A host of angels and supreme beings led by the Archangel attempted to trespass a forbidden Heavenly Realm. God, immediately, punished them by aggregating them into one Being that fell down from the Worlds of Paradise onto Earth, i.e., the threshold of Hell. That was Adam. He incarnated on Earth like a Personality, but God made him subjected to the natural laws of Earth, to which a Personality of Dr. Dahesh or Jesus Christ is not. Adam was not born. However God’s Mercy put him in a look-alike paradise on the First Level. Adam, who would be the first in the new Genesis, passed one thousand years lonely. A Spiritual Fluid kept the Garden of Eden out of sight of humans and humanoids who were living in that time.

After that, Eve was created. She incarnated likewise. She was not born from a woman. Her Spiritual Fluids (force of life and consciousness) were part of Adam. In God’s plan, they had to overcome a temptation (an intercourse between them, not between Eve and other creature), after which they would return to their Worlds of Paradise. However, they failed. Having known of their Second Fall before its happening, a Sayyal of Christ that was in the 150th Level of the Worlds of Paradise decided to redeem them.

Then we have this summary I put together based on a document in my possession (a photocopy of 8 hand-written pages from a manuscript by Doctor Dahesh. )

http://www.daheshville.com/forum/sho...11&postcount=1

Given the importance of this story (after all, it is THE story of our existence) I probably should transcribe it (in Arabic) and translate it. With the DTE issue temporarily on hold on account of our causing his web sites to be taken off the air, this might be as good a time as any to undergo this project — now that "whale season" is on hold. That or weave baskets...