The Esoteric Meaning of the Sin of Adam in the Manuscript Tradition of the Rasāʾil Iḫwān al-Ṣafāʾ

Abstract

Abstract This paper deals with an addition to Epistle 50 of the Iḫwān al-Ṣafāʾ (Brethren of Purity) “On the Quantity and the Quality of the Species of [Proper] Attitude” in the Turkish MS Esad Efendi 3638 (1287 AD). One of the main topics of this addition is Adam – conceived as the progenitor of humankind, the first prophet, the Active Intellect, the rational human soul, and the imām. Adam’s disobedience and fall is seen as a symbol of the “cosmic drama” from which originated the sub-lunar world, and the Final Judgement. The passages of the addition concerning Adam are compared with the representation of Adam in the Risāla al-Ǧāmiʿa, the “crown” of the Rasāʾil Iḫwān al-Ṣafāʾ. The common contents lead to the hypothesis that the addition was a sort of “abridgement” on the ideas about Adam stated in the Ǧāmiʿa and may confirm an esoteric reading of the encyclopaedia of the Iḫwan al-Ṣafāʾ.