God’s Blueprint: Creation, Religion, and the Light of Imamat
A short article in our Hikmati Hadiths (Wise Sayings) series exploring the connection between creation and religion, the natural signs and symbols of the light of Imamat, and the renewal of the soul.
“God the Exalted established His religion
on the analogy with His creation of the world
so that one might be guided from His creation to His religion
and from there be led to His Oneness.”
—Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
(as quoted in Ḥakīm Nāṣir-i Khusraw,
Jāmi‘ al-Ḥikmatayn, tr. Eric Ormsby,
Between Reason and Revelation:
Twin Wisdoms Reconciled, 145)
The Soul of Religion: On the Zahir and Batin in Nasir-i Khusraw’s Hermeneutics (Gist of Wajh-i Din, Discourse 10)
Ḥakīm Nāṣir-i Khusraw, in his Wajh-i Dīn, elaborates on the above ḥadīth by highlighting the correspondence between the outward (ẓāhir) and inward (bāṭin) dimensions of both creation and religion. Just as the physical world conceals hidden realities — like the soul within the body or life hidden in the earth — so too does religion consist of outward forms (the Qur’ān and sharīᶜat) and inner meanings (ta’wīl). While the ẓāhir is accessible to all through the senses, only the wise, through intellect and insight, perceive the bāṭin — and it is this inner awareness that spiritually distinguishes them.