Ismaili Ta'wil of al-Shajara — The Tree: How 14:24-25 ('A Good Word Is Like a Good Tree, Its Root Firm and Its Branches in the Sky — It Gives Its Fruit Every Season'), 24:35 ('God Is the Light of the Heavens and Earth — the Parable of His Light Is Like a Niche in Which Is a Lamp — the Lamp in Glass — the Glass as if It Were a Shining Star — Lit From a Blessed Olive Tree [Zaytuna], Neither Eastern Nor Western'), and the Prophetic Hadith 'Love the Arabs for Three Reasons: Because I Am an Arab, the Quran Is in Arabic, and the Speech of Paradise Is Arabic' Are Read in Ismaili Ta'wil as the Tree Being the Da'wa Structure Itself — Rooted in the Earth of the Zahir and Reaching Through Its Branches Into the Sky of the Batin, Fed by the Light of the Imam Who Is the Blessed Olive Tree

In Ismaili ta'wil, al-Shajara (الشَّجَرَة — The Tree; from *sh-j-r*: the tree; shajara = tree [pl. ashjaar]; also: shajara = a genealogical tree [family tree]; the same word is used for actual trees and for the tree of genealogical lineage; the tree imagery in the Quran: [1] 14:24-25: the kalima tayyiba [good word] is like a good tree [shajaratin tayyibah] — its root [asl] firm, its branches [far'] in the sky, giving fruit every season; [2] 24:35: 'Allah nuru al-samawati wa-l-ard — mathal nurihi ka-mishkatin fiha misbah — al-misbah fi zujajah — al-zujajah ka-annaha kawkabun durriyyun — yuqadu min shajaratin mubarakatin zaytunatin la sharqiyyatin wa-la gharbiyyah' [God is the light of the heavens and earth — the parable of His light is like a niche in which is a lamp — the lamp in glass — the glass as if it were a shining star — lit from a blessed olive tree [zaytunatin mubarakah], neither eastern nor western — whose oil almost glows even without fire touching it — light upon light — God guides to His light whom He wills]; [3] 95:1: 'wa-l-tini wa-l-zaytun' [By the fig and the olive]; [4] 20:120: 'hal adulluka 'ala shajarati al-khuldi wa-mulkin la yabla' [Shall I lead you to the tree of immortality and an ever-lasting kingdom?]; [5] the zaqqum tree: 37:62-68 and 56:52: the zaqqum tree in Hell — its fruits are like devils' heads; the inverse of the good tree; [6] 36:80: 'alladhi ja'ala lakum min al-shajari al-akhdar naran' [Who made for you fire from the green tree]; the tree's parts as structural elements: in the Quranic parable [14:24]: [a] asl [root/origin]: the foundational element, the principle, the source; [b] far' [branch]: the upward extension, the expression, the elaboration; [c] ukul [fruit]: the output, the produce, the result; [d] sama' [sky]: the upper realm toward which the branches reach; the Ismaili ta'wil of al-Shajara: [1] the tree as the da'wa structure: the good tree of 14:24 = the da'wa structure as a whole; 'root firm in the earth' = the da'wa's foundation in the zahiri world — the community of mu'minun in the physical world; 'branches in the sky' = the da'wa hierarchy extending into the batin/cosmological realm; the tree is neither purely earthly [it reaches the sky] nor purely heavenly [it is rooted in earth]; [2] the olive tree of 24:35 as the Imam: the 'blessed olive tree, neither eastern nor western' is the Imam — the source of the light that illuminates the niche; 'neither eastern nor western' [la sharqiyyatan wa-la gharbiyyah] = the Imam is not confined to a specific geography or school; his ta'wil light is universally applicable; the olive tree's oil 'almost glows without fire touching it' = the Imam's light is self-luminous — not dependent on external illumination; [3] the tree of immortality [shajaratu al-khuld] in 20:120: in the Quran, Satan tempts Adam to eat from 'the tree of immortality' — which was forbidden; in classical ta'wil, this tree is contrasted with the permitted trees; in Ismaili ta'wil: 'the tree of immortality' that was forbidden = a premature or unauthorized access to the batin; the da'wa hierarchy protects against exactly this — accessing batin-knowledge through unauthorized channels; [4] the zaqqum tree as the inverse da'wa: the zaqqum tree in Hell — inverse of the blessed tree — represents the inverse of the da'wa; its fruit 'like devils' heads' = the bitter fruit of zahiri-only existence without the Imam's walayah; [5] asl as genealogical root: shajara also means 'family tree'; the 'root firm' [asl thabit] of the good tree includes the genealogical chain of the Imamate — the unbroken succession from the Prophet through 'Ali to each Imam; the da'wa's 'tree' has a genealogical root as well as a spiritual one) is Ismaili ta'wil's most structurally complete cosmological image.