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

3. III WORDS OF WISDOM

Words of Wisdom ; MM.XLIX

A Parable of Jesus ; MM.CCL

On the Qur an ; MM.V

Line 108: drylipped before the Euphrates; a reference to the fate of the Third Imam, Husayn, who was killed along with may of his followers in Karbala - now a city in Iraq - by the army of the Umayad Caliph Yazid after having suffered extreme thirst, kept by his enemies from obtaining water from the nearby river Euphrates. The foes of the Household are punished by being refused the esoteric knowledge of the Imams.

Line 117: Sultan of khan; worldly rulers.

Ode to Night ; MM.CCXXX

Line 30: Zulaykha; in the Islamic version of the story of the prophet Joseph, Potiphar s wife is replaced by the Pharaoh s wife, Zulaykha. She is dumbfounded by Joseph s beauty, hence pale and perplexed . See Qur. XII.

Line 37: Jabulsa and Jabulqa; two legendary cities of the Far East and Far West, inhabited by Gog and Magog; localities in Imaginal World .

Line 41: purdah; the custom of keeping women in veil.

The Way of the World ; MM.CXVII

The World Defends Itself ; MM.CXVIII

Homo Ludens ; MM.LVII

The Eater of Dust ; MM.XCIII

Line 2: turquoise wheel; i.e. the sky or the heavens . NK uses many metaphors for the heavens based on the image of the sky as it appears to the earthly observer; whirling sphere, upturned bowl, etc.

Ode to Spring ; MM.CLXI

Line 12: the Messiah s revivifying incantations; see note on speech , line 57.

Line 15: Joseph s miracle; i.e. his beauty. See note on Ode to Night . Line 30.

Line 22: robes of Christians; apparently Christians in the Persia of NK s period wore violet-coloured robes; or it may refer to the liturgical vestments of the priests. A cliche in Persian poetry.

Line 35: the Abbasids; the Caliphs in Baghdad. The Ismailis considered them enemies and usurpers of the rightful title of calip, which belonged to the Fatimid caliph, the Ismaili Imam. The colour of the Abbasids was black.

Line 38: Zulfikar; (Dhu l-fiqar) the famous doubled-tipped sword of Ali.

Line 51: Chosroes; The Just, 21st Sassanid king of Persian (d.A.D. 579). The Prophet was born in the eighth year of his reign.

Line 64: Balkh and Bukhara; the two major cities in Khorasan, the former now in Afghanistan, the latter in USSR.

Anti-Ode to Spring ; MM.LXXIV

Encore ; MM.CLXXX

Line 64: city of knowledge ; the Prophet is reported to have said, I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate .

Line 101: Balance; the souls of the dead are judged in a scale.

A La Mode ; MM.CXXIV

Line 34: the inner Holy War; The Prophet once told his warriors as they retuned from battle, You are coming back from the lesser to the greater Holy War (al-jihad al-akbar) . Islamic esoterists have taken this to refer to the spiritual battle upon the Path of God.


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