Welcome to F.I.E.L.D.- the First Ismaili Electronic Library and Database.

1. I INTRODUCTION

The Diwan ; MM. CLXXVII

Line 5: Diwan (The Diwan); a collection of poetry. Elsewhere NK refers to his two divans ; they have been combined into one.

Line 62: Solomon is famous for his magical control over the jinn, psychic being or fire elements, some of who are good, or at least neutral, while others are demonic.

Line 66: Luqman; a wise man, said to have been a son of Job s sister or aunt, a disciple of David, or a judge of Israel, or a freed Ethiopian slave.

Line 68: The Threshold of the Compassionate; i.e., the Divine Presence

Line 69: The Guide of Truth; the Prophet Muhammad. Salman-i Farsi, the first Persian Muslim, a Companion of the Prophet, revered as one of the first partisans of Ali, and also considered by Islamic esoterists - both Sufi and Shi ite - as an important figure.

Line 70: Household of the Messenger; in other words, the blood descendants of the Prophet through his daughter Fatimah and his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib; especially the Panj-tan or Five Holy Ones : the Prophet, Fatimah, Ali and their children Hassan and Husayn; more generally for Ismailis this term includes Imams (see introduction) and by extension their relatives as well.

Line 72: Imam; the ruler of the Ismailis (see introduction).

Line 79: Emir; NK probably does not have any particular Emir (ruler) in mind; he means wordly rulers in genral, as opposed to the Imams.

Line 99: The Prophet s Family; see note on line 70 above.

Line 100: Rudaki the Persian, Hasan the Arab; NK mentions two famous poets, one Persian, the other Arab; Rudaki was known for his court poetry, Hasan for his eulogies on the Prophet.

Line 106: The Pilgrim s Provision; the Zad al-musafarin, one of NK s prose treatises on Ismaili philosophical thought; see introduction.

Line 109: Yamgan the remote region, now part of Afghanistan, where NK sought refuge after the failure of his mission in Khorasan (see introduction).

Line 110: Day of Reckoning; the Last Judgement.

Line 112: Holy Household; se note to line 70 above.


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