التَّأوِيلُ الإِسمَاعِيلِيُّ لِلمِعرَاج — الصُّعُودُ إِلَى السَّمَاء: كَيفَ يُقرَأُ صُعُودُ النَّبِيِّ عَبرَ السَّمَوَاتِ السَّبعِ فِي التَّأوِيلِ الإِسمَاعِيلِيِّ بِوَصفِهِ نَمُوذَجًا لِلبُنيَةِ الهَرَمِيَّةِ لِلدَّعوَة
In Ismaili ta'wil, al-Mi'raj (المِعرَاج — The Ascension, The Ladder; from *'-r-j*: to ascend, to climb; 'araja/ya'ruju = to ascend; mi'raj = the instrument or means of ascension, the ladder; al-mi'raj = the Prophet's ascent through the heavens; the Quranic references: while the Quran does not describe the Mi'raj in systematic detail, key passages reference it: [1] 53:1-18 ['Surat al-Najm — The Star']: 'What your companion has not gone astray, nor has he erred. Nor does he speak from caprice — it is nothing but a revelation revealed. One of great power has taught him — one of strength. He stood erect when he was at the highest horizon, then he drew near and came down — he was at a distance of two bows' lengths or nearer. He revealed to His servant what He revealed... The sight did not turn away nor transgress — he saw some of the greatest Signs of his Lord' [53:2-18]; the 'two bows' lengths' [qab qawsayn] as the ultimate limit of proximity; [2] 17:60 'And when We told you that your Lord encompasses all humanity — and We did not make the vision We showed you but as a trial for the people'; [3] 53:14-16: 'by the Lote-Tree of the Utmost Boundary [Sidrat al-Muntaha] — by it is the Garden of Refuge, when there covered the Lote-Tree what covered it'; the Sidrat al-Muntaha as the final limit of ascent; the classical hadith accounts of the Mi'raj: the detailed Mi'raj accounts in Bukhari, Muslim, and other hadith collections describe: [1] the Prophet beginning from Jerusalem [after al-Isra'] and ascending through seven heavens; [2] in each heaven, meeting a prophet: 1st heaven: Adam; 2nd heaven: Jesus and John the Baptist; 3rd heaven: Joseph; 4th heaven: Idris [Enoch]; 5th heaven: Aaron; 6th heaven: Moses; 7th heaven: Abraham; [3] Gabriel stopping at the Sidrat al-Muntaha and the Prophet continuing alone; [4] the vision of the divine; [5] the command to pray 50 times daily [negotiated down to 5]; Ismaili ta'wil of al-Mi'raj: [1] the seven heavens as the seven levels of the da'wa hierarchy: in Ismaili ta'wil, the seven heavens through which the Prophet ascended correspond to the seven levels of the da'wa hierarchy [al-hudud]; the ascent through the heavens = the initiate's ascent through the levels of ta'wil and walayah; just as the Prophet in each heaven met the prophet of that heaven, the da'i at each level of the da'wa meets the hudud [spiritual officers] of that level; [2] the prophets in each heaven as representatives of the prophetic cycle: Adam [1st heaven], Jesus/John [2nd], Joseph [3rd], Idris [4th], Aaron [5th], Moses [6th], Abraham [7th] — these are the da'wa officers of previous prophetic cycles; the Mi'raj shows the Prophet the entire da'wa structure of human history; [3] the Sidrat al-Muntaha and Gabriel's limit: Gabriel — who represents the first Intellect or 'Aql al-Awwal in Ismaili cosmology — cannot go beyond the Sidrat al-Muntaha; the Prophet continues alone; in Ismaili ta'wil, the limit of da'wa ranks is the Imam's station [maqam]; beyond the Imam is the transcendent; the Prophet reaching beyond Gabriel's limit = the Imam's maqam being beyond all da'wa officers; [4] 'two bows' lengths or nearer' [qab qawsayn]: the ultimate proximity; in Ismaili ta'wil, this proximity is the prototype of the mu'min's walayah-proximity to the Imam — not physical nearness but batin-nearness, the closest relationship possible between created being and the channel of divine guidance; [5] prayer: the Mi'raj's conclusion with the command to pray (negotiated to 5 from 50) gives the zahir its ta'wil: salat is the zahiri expression of the batin-connection to the divine that the Mi'raj established) is Ismaili cosmology's key narrative about the da'wa's structure.
The Ascent Through Structure
The Mi’raj accounts in hadith describe a journey upward through a layered universe: seven heavens, each inhabited, each with its prophetic custodian. The Prophet does not ascend through empty space but through a structured cosmos — hierarchy as the architecture of creation. Ismaili ta’wil reads this structure as the key.
The seven heavens correspond to the seven levels of the da’wa hierarchy (al-hudud). Just as the Prophet in each heaven encountered the prophet-custodian of that level, the initiate ascending through the da’wa’s levels of ta’wil and walayah encounters the hudud (spiritual officers) of each level. The Mi’raj is not just a historical event but a cosmological map of the da’wa’s structure, encoded in the Prophet’s own experience.
Gabriel’s Limit
The most theologically striking moment of the Mi’raj accounts is the point at which Gabriel — the Prophet’s companion throughout — stops at the Lote-Tree of the Utmost Boundary (Sidrat al-Muntaha) and cannot continue. The Prophet alone goes beyond.
In Ismaili cosmology, Gabriel corresponds to the first Intellect (‘Aql al-Awwal), the highest created being in the da’wa hierarchy. The fact that even Gabriel has a limit — that the Prophet goes beyond what any da’wa officer can reach — maps directly onto the Imam’s maqam: the Imam’s station is beyond all da’wa officers. The Sidrat al-Muntaha marks where da’wa hierarchy ends and the Imam’s unique proximity to the transcendent begins.
Two Bows’ Lengths
53:9 describes the Prophet at the ultimate moment of proximity: “at a distance of two bows’ lengths or nearer.” The precision is paradoxical — measuring the immeasurable, specifying the limit of the proximity between the created and the transcendent. In Ismaili ta’wil, this is the prototype of the mu’min’s walayah-proximity to the Imam: not physical nearness but batin-nearness, the closest relationship available to a created being through the channel of divine guidance.
See also: Ismaili Tawil Of Al Isra, Ismaili Cosmology Hudud Al Din, Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Bayah And Walayah, Ismaili Tawil Of Al Nass