التَّأوِيلُ الإِسمَاعِيلِيُّ لِلوَحي — الوَحيُ فِي التَّأوِيل: كَيفَ تُقرَأُ [وَمَا كَانَ لِبَشَرٍ أَن يُكَلِّمَهُ اللهُ إِلَّا وَحياً أَو مِن وَرَاءِ حِجَابٍ أَو يُرسِلَ رَسُولاً فَيُوحِيَ بِإِذنِهِ مَا يَشَاء] فِي 42:51 فِي التَّأوِيلِ الإِسمَاعِيلِيّ
In Ismaili ta'wil, al-Wahy (الوَحي — Revelation, Divine Inspiration, Prophetic Communication; from *w-h-y*: to inspire, to reveal, to communicate secretly; awha/yuhi = to reveal, to inspire; wahy = revelation, divine inspiration; the root carries the meaning of swift, secret communication — a whisper, a sign made quickly; the Quran uses wahy for: [1] the revelation sent to prophets: 'We have sent revelation [wahy] to Noah and the prophets after him' [4:163]; [2] God's instruction to the angels: 'Your Lord revealed [awha] to the angels: I am with you' [8:12]; [3] God's guidance to bees: 'Your Lord revealed [awha] to the bees: Take for yourself houses in mountains and trees' [16:68]; [4] the coming of the Last Hour: 'on that day the earth will tell its news, because your Lord has revealed to it [awha laha]' [99:4-5]; wahy has a wide range — from prophetic revelation to God's instruction to animals; the Quranic theology of wahy: 42:51 is the key theological verse about divine communication: 'wa-ma kana li-bashar an yukallimahu Allahu illa wahyan aw min wara'i hijab aw yursila rasulan fa-yuhiya bi-idhnihi ma yasha'u innahu 'aliyyun hakim' [It is not for any human being that God should speak to him except by revelation [wahy], or from behind a veil [hijab], or that He send a messenger to reveal what He wills by His permission — He is Exalted, Wise]; the three modes of divine communication: [1] direct wahy [inspiration/revelation]: the fastest, most immediate; the Prophet's reception of Quranic revelation through Gabriel; [2] min wara'i hijab ['from behind a veil']: God speaking to Moses from the burning bush [28:30] — through an intermediary reality [fire, light] that simultaneously reveals and conceals; [3] irsad rasul ['sending a messenger']: Gabriel bearing divine communication to the Prophet; the Sunni and classical understanding: in mainstream Sunni theology, prophetic wahy ended with the Prophet Muhammad — he was the seal of the prophets [khatam al-nabiyyin, 33:40]; no new revelation after the Prophet; the Sufi tradition: divine inspiration [ilham] continues to awliya' [saints] but is not wahy [prophetic revelation] and has no legal authority; Ismaili ta'wil of al-Wahy: [1] 42:51 and the continuing chain: in Ismaili ta'wil, 42:51's three modes of divine communication are not historical descriptions of past events (prophetic wahy was given, it is now closed) but an ongoing structure; God still communicates through these three modes via the Imam; [2] the Imam as recipient of wahy-like communication: the Imam is not a prophet [nabi] — Ismaili doctrine explicitly maintains that prophethood ended with Muhammad; but the Imam receives a continuing inspiration from God through the chain of Imamate [the walayah that passes from father to son through nass]; this is not called wahy but is functionally analogous; it is the continuing divine guidance that prevents the community from going astray; [3] 'from behind a veil' as the Imam's condition: in the dawr al-satr [the period of concealment], the Imam is 'behind a veil' — the mode of communication in 42:51's second category; the Imam's guidance reaches the mu'min through the da'wa structure rather than directly; [4] 'sending a messenger' as the da'i's role: the da'i is the 'messenger' [rasul] of 42:51's third mode — the one sent by the Imam to communicate his teaching to the mu'min; the da'wa hierarchy enacts 42:51's three modes in the post-prophetic age; [5] why this does not violate 'seal of prophets': Ismaili ta'wil carefully distinguishes: nubuwwa [prophethood] — ended with Muhammad; imamate [Imam's guidance] — continues; the Imam is not a nabi; his continuing guidance is not wahy in the prophetic sense but in the sense of 42:51's ongoing divine communication) is Ismaili epistemology's account of ongoing divine guidance.
Three Modes, Not One
42:51 describes not one but three modes of divine communication with human beings: direct revelation (wahy), communication from behind a veil (min wara’i hijab), and sending a messenger (irsad rasul). Mainstream Islamic theology reads these three as descriptions of how prophets have received divine communication — modes now sealed with the Prophet Muhammad’s death.
Ismaili ta’wil reads the same verse as an ongoing structure. The three modes of divine communication are not past events but a continuing architecture through which God guides humanity in every age — not through new prophets (prophethood is sealed), but through the Imam and the da’wa structure.
The Distinction That Makes It Permissible
The critical Ismaili theological move is maintaining the distinction between nubuwwa (prophethood) and Imamate. The Prophet Muhammad was the seal of the prophets (khatam al-nabiyyin, 33:40): no new prophet after him. Ismaili doctrine accepts this completely. The Imam is not a prophet.
But the Imam receives continuing divine guidance that is not prophetic wahy — it is the ongoing inheritance of the walayah-light that the Prophet passed to ‘Ali and that passes through the chain of nass from Imam to Imam. This continuing guidance is what prevents the community from going astray after the Prophet’s death. Without it, the Quran’s zahir would be available but its batin would be inaccessible — a guide without a living guide.
The Da’i as the Sent Messenger
42:51’s third mode — God “sending a messenger to reveal what He wills” — maps onto the da’wa hierarchy in the post-prophetic age. The da’i is the “messenger” sent by the Imam to transmit his ta’lim to the mu’min. Each level of the da’wa structure enacts this communication: from the Imam’s guidance to the senior da’i, from the senior da’i to the local teacher, from the local teacher to the seeking mu’min. The chain of ta’lim is the human enactment of 42:51’s third mode.
See also: Tawil Esoteric Interpretation, Bayah And Walayah, Ismaili Tawil Of Al Nass, Ismaili Cosmology Hudud Al Din, Ismaili Tawil Of Al Tanzil Wal Tawil