التَّأوِيلُ الإِسمَاعِيلِيُّ لِلبَصِيرَة — البَصِيرَة: كَيفَ يُصبِحُ تَقَابُلُ القُرآنِ بَينَ البَصَرِ [العَينِ الجَسَدِيَّة] وَالبَصِيرَةِ [البَصِيرَةِ الدَّاخِلِيَّة] الخَرِيطَةَ الإِسمَاعِيلِيَّةَ لِنَوعَينِ مِن الرُّؤيَة — الرُّؤيَةُ الخَارِجِيَّةُ المُتَاحَةُ لِلجَمِيعِ وَالبَصِيرَةُ الدَّاخِلِيَّةُ الَّتِي يَفتَحُهَا تَأوِيلُ الإِمَام
In Ismaili ta'wil, al-Basira (البَصِيرَة — Spiritual Insight, Inner Sight; *basira* from *b-s-r*: to see; *basar* is the physical eye; *basira* is the inner vision, insight, spiritual perception; the Quranic distinction: 6:104 'There have come to you insights [basa'ir] from your Lord; so whoever sees [absara] does so for the benefit of his own soul, and whoever is blind [amiha] is also to its detriment'; 75:14 'Rather, the human being will be a witness [basira] against himself'; 12:108 'Say: This is my way — I call to God on insight [basira], I and whoever follows me'; in zahir reading: basira is the inner capacity for spiritual perception; the Prophet calls to God 'on basira' — meaning on clarity and certainty, not on speculation; 6:104 offers insights [basa'ir] as opportunities — the soul that uses them sees; the soul that ignores them remains blind; in Ismaili ta'wil: basar [physical sight] corresponds to the zahir — anyone with eyes can read the Quran's letters; basira [inner sight] corresponds to the ability to receive and live by the ta'wil; the two levels of vision: [1] basar al-zahir: reading the Quran and understanding its Arabic; seeing the outer world; this is available to all who have physical eyes; [2] basira al-batin: the inner vision that perceives the ta'wil; seeing what the zahir points toward; recognizing the Imam's teaching as true; this requires the Imam's ta'lim [teaching]; 12:108 in ta'wil: 'I call to God on basira, I and whoever follows me' — the Prophet calls to God not merely on rational argument [nazar] but on the basira that comes from direct transmission; 'whoever follows me' are those who receive the ta'wil-chain from the Prophet through the Imam; 6:104 in ta'wil: the 'insights [basa'ir] from your Lord' are the ta'wils transmitted through the Imam; the soul that engages them actively [absara] develops spiritual perception; the soul that turns away remains in the zahir only [amiha]; the danger of spiritual blindness: the Quran warns repeatedly [17:72, 20:124-125] about those who were 'blind [a'ma]' in this world and will be raised blind in the next; in ta'wil: the blindness is specifically the inability or refusal to see what the Imam's ta'wil reveals) is the Ismaili map of spiritual vision and its source.
Two Levels of Vision
The Quran’s use of visual metaphors operates on two levels that the Ismaili ta’wil makes explicit:
Basar (physical sight): The capacity of the eye to perceive the material world. In relation to the Quran: the ability to read the Arabic letters, understand the grammatical meanings, and appreciate the rhetorical beauty.
Basira (spiritual insight): The inner capacity to perceive what the visible world and the visible Quran point toward — the underlying reality, the batin dimension, the inner meaning. This is not a physical capacity; it is a spiritual one that must be developed and opened.
The contrast in 6:104 is explicit: the same “insights from your Lord” are offered to everyone, but one soul “sees” (absara — using the verbal form of basar) and another remains “blind” (amiha). The difference is not in what is available but in what the soul does with what is available.
12:108: Calling on Basira
When the Prophet declares “I call to God on basira, I and whoever follows me,” the Ismaili ta’wil reads this as the transmission charter. The Prophet calls not on abstract argument or theological demonstration but on the basira that comes from direct divine transmission — the basira that is itself the ta’wil.
“Whoever follows me” are those who receive this transmitted basira through the chain: Prophet → Imam → muta’awwil. The chain of basira is the same as the chain of ta’wil.
Spiritual Blindness in Ta’wil
The Quranic warnings about blindness (17:72: “whoever is blind in this life will be blind in the next, and most astray in path”) are severe. In Ismaili ta’wil, this blindness is specifically the inability to see what the Imam’s ta’wil reveals — remaining permanently in the zahir, treating the Quran’s surface as its totality, refusing the invitation to basira.
The ta’wil does not threaten; it offers. But it offers a sight that must be accepted to be developed.
See also: Ismaili Tawil Of Al Bayan, Ismaili Tawil Of Al Talim, Bayah And Walayah, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Ismaili Tawil Of Al Amanat