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The Ismaili Cosmos: Intellect, Prophecy, and the Hierarchy of Being
Paperback
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ISBN13: 9798189309939
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jul 27 2026
Pages: 414
Weight: 1.57
Height: 0.85 Width: 7.00 Depth: 10.00
Language: English
Publisher: Independently Published
Published: Jul 27 2026
Pages: 414
Weight: 1.57
Height: 0.85 Width: 7.00 Depth: 10.00
Language: English
Large-format hardcover edition.
The Ismaili Cosmos: Intellect, Prophecy, and the Hierarchy of Being offers a broad historical and philosophical exploration of one of the most sophisticated cosmological traditions developed within medieval Islam. From the formation of early Ismaili identity to the intellectual worlds of Fatimid Cairo, Persian Alamut, Yemen, Central Asia, South Asia, and the modern global community, the book reconstructs a religious vision in which metaphysics, revelation, political authority, and spiritual education formed parts of a single ordered universe.
The Ismaili Cosmos: Intellect, Prophecy, and the Hierarchy of Being offers a broad historical and philosophical exploration of one of the most sophisticated cosmological traditions developed within medieval Islam. From the formation of early Ismaili identity to the intellectual worlds of Fatimid Cairo, Persian Alamut, Yemen, Central Asia, South Asia, and the modern global community, the book reconstructs a religious vision in which metaphysics, revelation, political authority, and spiritual education formed parts of a single ordered universe.
At the center of this vision stand the Universal Intellect and the Universal Soul, understood as the first great principles through which created existence receives order, movement, and intelligibility. Their relation to nature, the material world, prophecy, and the human soul shaped Ismaili explanations of creation and return. Rather than treating these doctrines merely as borrowed Neoplatonic ideas, the book examines how Ismaili thinkers transformed philosophical concepts into a distinctive theology of divine transcendence, prophetic revelation, sacred history, and authoritative interpretation.
Particular attention is given to prophetic cycles, taʾwīl, the Imamate, and the hierarchy of the daʿwa. Prophet Muḥammad brought the final law-bearing revelation of the present dispensation, while the Imam preserved its inward meaning and guided the community through historical change. Missionaries, teachers, and regional representatives transmitted knowledge through graded forms of instruction adapted to the capacities of different believers.
The study follows the political and intellectual transformation of Ismailism from the rise of the Fatimid Caliphate in 909 to the conquest of Egypt in 969, the foundation of Cairo, the succession crisis of 1094, the emergence of the Nizari and Mustaʿli traditions, the proclamation of qiyāma at Alamut in 1164, and the Mongol destruction of the Persian Nizari state in 1256. It also examines Tayyibi scholarship, Persian philosophical literature, South Asian gināns, concealed communities, colonial reorganization, modern institutions, and the survival of cosmological ideas in new ethical and intellectual languages.
Drawing upon major works by al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān, Abū Yaʿqūb al-Sijistānī, Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī, al-Muʾayyad fī'l-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, Nāṣir-i Khusraw, Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, and later Nizari and Tayyibi authors, the book distinguishes carefully among Fatimid, Nizari, Mustaʿli, Tayyibi, and other historical developments. It also separates credible historical evidence from the enduring legends of secret murder, irrational obedience, and the so-called Assassins.
Written for both specialists and general readers, The Ismaili Cosmos presents a serious account of how intellect, prophecy, interpretation, hierarchy, and spiritual transformation shaped a complex religious civilization. It shows how cosmology could become a philosophy of history, a theory of authority, an educational system, and a path toward the perfection of the human soul. About the Author
Roberto Minichini is an Italian writer, poet, and essayist. He was born in Mainz, Germany, in 1973, to an Italian father and a Croatian mother, and moved to Italy during his adolescence. He has lived in Gorizia since 2000. His literary and scholarly work ranges across philosophy, history, religion, mysticism, esotericism, cultural studies, and the comparative investigation of spiritual traditions.
Particular attention is given to prophetic cycles, taʾwīl, the Imamate, and the hierarchy of the daʿwa. Prophet Muḥammad brought the final law-bearing revelation of the present dispensation, while the Imam preserved its inward meaning and guided the community through historical change. Missionaries, teachers, and regional representatives transmitted knowledge through graded forms of instruction adapted to the capacities of different believers.
The study follows the political and intellectual transformation of Ismailism from the rise of the Fatimid Caliphate in 909 to the conquest of Egypt in 969, the foundation of Cairo, the succession crisis of 1094, the emergence of the Nizari and Mustaʿli traditions, the proclamation of qiyāma at Alamut in 1164, and the Mongol destruction of the Persian Nizari state in 1256. It also examines Tayyibi scholarship, Persian philosophical literature, South Asian gināns, concealed communities, colonial reorganization, modern institutions, and the survival of cosmological ideas in new ethical and intellectual languages.
Drawing upon major works by al-Qāḍī al-Nuʿmān, Abū Yaʿqūb al-Sijistānī, Ḥamīd al-Dīn al-Kirmānī, al-Muʾayyad fī'l-Dīn al-Shīrāzī, Nāṣir-i Khusraw, Nāṣir al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī, and later Nizari and Tayyibi authors, the book distinguishes carefully among Fatimid, Nizari, Mustaʿli, Tayyibi, and other historical developments. It also separates credible historical evidence from the enduring legends of secret murder, irrational obedience, and the so-called Assassins.
Written for both specialists and general readers, The Ismaili Cosmos presents a serious account of how intellect, prophecy, interpretation, hierarchy, and spiritual transformation shaped a complex religious civilization. It shows how cosmology could become a philosophy of history, a theory of authority, an educational system, and a path toward the perfection of the human soul. About the Author
Roberto Minichini is an Italian writer, poet, and essayist. He was born in Mainz, Germany, in 1973, to an Italian father and a Croatian mother, and moved to Italy during his adolescence. He has lived in Gorizia since 2000. His literary and scholarly work ranges across philosophy, history, religion, mysticism, esotericism, cultural studies, and the comparative investigation of spiritual traditions.
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