Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

The central goal of this article is to point out the fertility of comparative discussion
of doctrines of cyclical time among early Ismāʿīlī circle, the one which is
represented in the writings of Ikhwān al-ṣafāʾ [henceforth Ikhwān] of the tenth
century, and the circles of early Kabbalists of the thirteenth to fourteenth centuries.
The claim I seek to support here is that by juxtaposing the doctrines of
cyclical time in the expressions of Ikhwān’s writings with the writings of early
Jewish Kabbalists, it is possible to achieve progress in understanding these
doctrines. The Ismāʿīlī and Jewish authors usually related to the contents of
doctrines of cyclical time in their writings as bodies of esoteric knowledge,
and the intentionally presented them in a fragmented and obscure manner.