The Divine Reason Imam ‘Ali's Caliphate Was Delayed (5 Min. Read)
Why the Night Came Before the Dawn: An Ismaili Esoteric Reflection on the Prophet’s Successors
Below is an illuminating passage excerpted from the medieval Ismāʿīlī treatise Paradise of Submission (Rawḍa-yi Taslīm) concerning the situation following the death of the Prophet Muḥammad (ﷺ) and the question of his succession. It suggests that the community’s failure or delay in recognizing Ḥaḍrat ʿAlī⁽ᶜ⁾’s immediate right to the caliphate — and the appointment of others before the position’s restoration to its rightful holder, Imām ʿAlī⁽ᶜ⁾ — was not a mere error, but rather part of divine providence and wisdom.
While a select group of the spiritually perceptive fully recognized ʿAlī⁽ᶜ⁾’s spiritual authority — for example, Salmān al-Fārsī,1 who is noted in the text as one of the elect, possessing a particularly luminous and spiritually enlightened status — the majority of the Muslim community, attached to the exoteric embodiment represented by the first caliphs, did not support him with full sincerity. This imbalance, according to the text, contributed to the crises that marked early Islamic history and continued to shape its later course.
Just as dawn emerges distinct from the night that precedes it, so too does the esoteric truth (ḥaqīqat) arise from the exoteric form (ẓāhir) of the religious law (sharīʿat). Likewise, and for the same reason, the caliphate of the first three caliphs — personifications of the exoteric and illusory similitudes — was established first, so that the radiant light of the Sun of Religion — that is, the luminous wisdom made manifest through the Imamate — could subsequently be perceived as distinct from the surrounding darkness.
Excerpt from Paradise of Submission
Naṣīr al-Dīn Ṭūsī, Rawḍa-yi Taslīm, translated by S. J. Badakhchani as Paradise of Submission: A Medieval Treatise on Ismaili Thought (London: I.B. Tauris in association with the Institute of Ismaili Studies, 2004), 155–156 (annotation added):
[Imām] ‘Alī’s mission as legatee (waṣāyat) of the Prophet’s will, was left so hidden and ambiguous for the community and majority of the followers of Islam (ahl-i millat) that after the death of the Prophet — peace be upon him and his progeny — both the elite and common folk found occasion to designate Abū Bakr to the caliphate by common consensus (ijmā‘). Following him, the business [of leadership] fell to ‘Umar and this [appointment] was not devoid of divine providence and wisdom which our lord [Imām] ‘Alī brought to bear [upon his leadership]. For it was necessary that the literal sense of the religious obligations (ẓāhir-i aḥkām-i sharī‘at), which is measured to the common domain of similitudes (‘umūm-i mushābahat) among the Prophet’s followers, be established first, so that subsequently the inner meaning and reality (ma‘nā wa ḥaqīqat) of those injunctions, which pertain exclusively to the special domain of spiritual discrimination (khuṣūṣ-i mubāyanat), could be introduced [by the Imāms]. And it was necessary that certain persons exist to incarnate and personally embody that realm [of exoteric religion], and they [the caliphs Abū Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthman] were just such people.
To strike a simile of the situation: night must first exist so that from it the dawn may break and the sun arise. In this regard, they [Abū Bakr, ‘Umar and ʿUthman] were like the night, whereas the likeness of Salmān [al-Fārsī] — peace be upon him— was the dawn. [Thus, the Prophet said]: ‘Salmān is one of us, a member of the family (ahl al-bayt).2 Whoever recognises him is a believer and whoever denies him is an infidel.’3 The likeness of our lord ‘Alī — may salutations ensue upon mention of him — was as the sun. The authority [of Abū Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthman] was the very essence of illusory similitudes (‘ayn-i mushābahat), whereas the authority of Salmān was a product of spiritual discrimination (athar-i mubāyanat), and of ‘Alī the quintessence of spiritual discrimination — nay, it was the authority of the very world of Divine Unity (ḥukm-i ‘ālam-i waḥdat-i ilāhī).
However, the adherents of Islam (ahl-i islām), aside from that elect company who followed ‘Alī, had become so swollen with pride and conceit about the caliphate of those individuals [the first three caliphs] that they could not appreciate the ideal standpoint (ghāyat) from which he administered the affairs of state, so that they — except those whom God so wished — did not support ‘Alī's leadership (imāmat) with full sincerity and faith. And when ‘Alī introduced [the light of spiritual] discrimination (mubāyanat) in the ambiguities of religious law (mushābahat-i sharī‘at), the opinions and the sympathies of the greater number of the Muslim community had solidified so much in favour of the plain exoteric [and] literal sense of religious law, and in support of Abū Bakr, ‘Umar and ‘Uthman — the personification of those prescriptions — that all those great disasters, which are recorded in history books and have not yet ceased, occurred.
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Salmān al-Fārsī, a Persian companion of the Prophet Muḥammad, is venerated in Shi‘ism for his defence of Imām ‘Alī’s right of succession to the Prophet and subsequent role in the conversion of Iran to Islam. For details, see Louis Massignon, Salmān Pāk: et les premices spirituelles de l'Islam Iranien (Tours, 1934), pp. 16-19; Corbin, Cyclical Time, pp. 74-76, 170-174; and H.M. al-Miṣrī, al-Ṣaḥābī al-jalīl Salmān al-Fārisī (Cairo, 1972), pp. 122-169.
In Qur’ān 71:28, Hazrat Noah⁽ᶜ⁾ prays: “O my Lord, forgive me, my parents and he who enters my [spiritual] house as a believer, and believing men and believing women, and increase not the wrong-doers except in ruin.” A great wisdom in this verse is that some true mu’mins by attaining the perfection of faith, enter the spiritual and luminous house of their Prophet and become one of the people of his house, such as Salmān-i Fārsī, who had attained this rank (‘Allāmah Hunzai, A Thousand Wisdoms, 17-18).
According to a Prophetic Tradition, Salmān-i Fārsī had the honour of being included among the pure Ahl-i bayt. This is such a practical reality that in it there cannot be any doubt. Thus the sun of light also rose in the pure personality of Salmān-i Fārsī and in this shining example, there is good news for mu’mins with high ambition. For this spiritual ascension and elevation is not limited only to Salmān-i Fārsī but it is that all-embracing favour which every mu’min can attain after effacing and annihilating himself in the light of guidance. Can there be any bounty in the Divine treasures from which one remains deprived? (15:21). You should study the Ḥadīth-i qudsī, which is related to obedience: “O the child of Adam! Obey me, I will make you like Myself...” (‘Allāmah Hunzai, Coolness of the Eye, 31).
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