Literature, particularly religious writing, is the mirror of the soul and intellect of any faith community or group. It records and preserves the thought processes of that group through time and space and encapsulates their identity through history, providing a trampoline for progress in the present and the future based on the solid foundation of a past well remembered.

In the case of Ismailis, who belong to the Shia stream of Islam and who for a number of reasons have suffered from misperceptions, misunderstanding and outright propaganda throughout 1400 years of Islamic history, their literature too has been subjected to great discrimination and destruction, an example of which is ‘tilāl al-kutub’ in the Nile Delta in Egypt. Which came into existence at the end of the Fatimid period of Ismaili history. Al-Maqrīzī, the famous Muslim historian records in his Itti^cāz al-ḥunafā’ bi-akhbār al-Fāṭimiyyīn al-khulafā’:                                                        

The library of the Dār al-^cIlm in Cairo was also emptied. Many books came into the possession of a certain ^cImād al-Dawla Abū al-Faḍl ibn al-Muḥtariq in Alexandria; but when the latter was murdered, many of them were taken to the Maghrib. The Berbers of the Luwāta tribe [who lived as nomads on the western edge of the Nile Delta and in present day Libya] acquired countless indescribably beautiful books through purchase or robbery and took them with them. Their slaves and maids used the covers to make sandals for their feet; as for the leaves they burnt them because they came from the palace; for they believed that they contained the religious doctrines of the Orientals [i.e. the Ismailis], which contradicted their own [Sunni] religious doctrines. The ashes formed great hills in the province of Ibyār [in the Nile Delta], which are even today called the ‘Hills of Books’ (tilāl al-kutub). Many books were thrown into the river or were otherwise destroyed, but many of them reached the great metropolises [of other countries].

Similarly, when the Mongols at the instigation of their enemies attacked the Ismaili fort of Alamut State, vented their barbaric ferocity not only on the library and the observatory but also on the lives of men, women and children. In his seminal book “The Ismailis in the Middle Ages”, Professor Shafique Virani quoting from Juwayni’s book Ta’rīkh-i Jahāngushāy, says: ^cAta-Malīk Juwayni, Hulagu’s attendant and historian, requested permission to visit the celebrated library, “the fame of which had spread throughout the world.” There he found multitudes of books relating to the religion of the Ismailis, which he condemned to be burned, saving only copies of the Quran and a few other treatises.” These two destructive incidents were duplicated in other parts of the world at other times in Multan and Mansuriyya etc.

The above is to set a context relevant to a web-site on Ismaili Literature. However, since the Ismailis believe in the perpetuity of the light of God in the unbroken chain of Imams from the progeny of Prophet Muhammad (s.a.s.), the Seal of Prophets, they have successfully weathered all such historical incidents. Their teachings, based on the holy Qur^’ān, give them the confidence and the self-assurance to practise their ṭarīqah despite the huge gaps in their literary heritage. Ismailis firmly believe in the statements of the Qur’ān: “Now has come unto you light from Allah and a plain Scripture” (Sūrah 5:15); a light which He will never allow to be extinguished (Sūrah 9:32; 61:8). Further, they believe that the Qur’ān is the final revelation from God which is for all times and places and that its dynamism is guaranteed by the ta’wīl (7:52-53) of the rāsikhun fi’l- ^cilm (3:7), who are the Prophet and his progeny through Imām ^cAlī, who he compared to the position of Aaron to Moses. Throughout Ismaili history therefore, great savants and scholars have written books with the ta’yīd of the Imam of their time. If at certain periods the hostility of their enemies destroyed their literature it has never been an insurmountable problem, because the source of knowledge, ‘the light and the manifest book’ have always been present to inspire and assist them. Professor Virani sums up this point in his above-mentioned book as follows:

Seeing the accumulated knowledge of generations go up in flames would have been heartrending for the Ismaili community, passionate as it was about its books. But The Voyage (Sayr wa-Sulūk), a spiritual autobiography of Nasir al-Din Tusi, one of Islam’s great luminaries, in which he recounts how he became an Ismaili, sheds light on why the literary devastation, in itself, could not have crushed the community’s spirit. One of only a handful of Ismaili texts to survive Juwayni’s torch, this work informs us that Ismailism, for all its love of books, gave primacy not to the recorded word, but to the living Word. It is not simply to the command (farmān) that the hearts of the believers should be attached, but to the one who issues the command (farmān-dih). The Commander is the Prophet in his age and the Imam in his own time.

This web-site aims to provide free digital access to those who are interested in and are searching for the esoteric and spiritual dimension of Islam as practised by the global Ismaili community under the ever-presence of the ulu’l-amr (4:59), who are the Imams from the progeny of the holy Prophet in their respective times. Most of the books posted here are the work of a contemporary Ismaili writer, ^cAllāmah Naṣīr al-Dīn Naṣīr Hunzai, who has received the ‘Sitārah-yi Imtiyāz’ from the Government of Pakistan for his contribution to Qur’ānic literature. He writes both prose and poetry and his works have been translated into several languages: English, Persian, Cyrillic, Gujarati, French, Swedish etc. The entire corpus of his work is based on the following principles, which he has elaborated in the Preface of his book “Balance of Realities (Mizān al-Ḥaqā’iq)”:

God, the most Just of judges, sent his beloved Muhammad, the chosen, ṣalla’llāhu ^calayhi wa ālihi wa sallam to the world as “a mercy for all the worlds” (21:107), and granted him a wisdom‑filled Book which contains, not only the details of spiritual realities, but also the solutions of the most complex and intricate worldly problems of the present and the future which have arisen or are going to arise as a result of an astonishing scientific revolution and [its concomitant] advancement. That heavenly holy Book is the wise Qur’ān. It is obligatory to reflect on its verses to understand their meanings, and with the help of their wisdom to find correct solutions to our problems.

The holy Book of God can be studied and understood only in His light. This is the first and foremost condition which the holy Book itself clearly mentions. If we cannot do so, we will not be able to solve any of the present day problems, and for that the argument will stand against us and not against God (4:165). For He has said that He has completed His favour upon us (5:3) and has left no impediment in the religion of Islam (22:78).

It is hoped that this website will facilitate a correct understanding of the spiritual and intellectual dimensions of Islam and promote the Qur’ānic teaching that all human beings are created from a single soul (4:1), which was the underpinning of the holy Prophet’s (s.a.s.) teaching: “Al-khalqu ^ciyālu’llāh, People are God’s household”.