The Cosmos as Ayat
Creation as sign: The Quran uses aya (sign) for both its own verses and for the phenomena of the natural world — deliberately: both are texts of divine communication. The Quran: in 3:190, the creation of heavens and earth, the alternation of night and day — these are ayat for uli’l-albab (those of deep understanding). The cosmological sign-reading is not natural theology in the Western sense — it is the recognition that creation is not self-sufficient but points beyond itself to its Creator.
The human being as cosmos: The Quran and the hadith tradition developed the idea of the human being as a microcosm (kawn asghar — the small cosmos) containing within themselves everything that exists in the larger kawn. The famous saying: ‘Man is the microcosm and all of creation is within him.’ In Ismaili philosophy, this is systematized: the Imam is the supreme microcosm — containing within himself the spiritual realities of the entire cosmos.
See also: Tawhid Divine Unity, Al Khalq, Al Aql, Ismaili Philosophy, Malakut
Ismaili Cosmological Reading
The hierarchical kawn: Ismaili cosmology (especially as developed by al-Kirmani and Nasir-i-Khusraw) posits a hierarchical cosmos: al-Mubdi’ (the Originator — Allah), al-Mubda’ (the First Originated — the First Intellect), then descending levels of intellects and souls culminating in the physical universe. The physical kawn is the lowest manifestation of a reality that is fundamentally spiritual.
The cosmos as da’wa in physical form: A striking Ismaili formulation: the physical universe is to Allah as the da’wa (the mission/message) is to the Imam — both are expressions of a higher reality in a lower medium. The cosmos is the da’wa of the cosmic Imam; the human da’wa is the cosmos of the earthly Imam.
See also: Ismaili Philosophy, Al Aql, Al Nafs Al Kulliyya, Fayd, Malakut, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Imamah
See also: Tawhid Divine Unity, Al Khalq, Al Aql, Ismaili Philosophy, Malakut, Al Nafs Al Kulliyya, Fayd, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Imamah