Ilm al-Jafr: The Enigma of Kitab al-Jafr

This text is drawn from the Jafr manuscript "Aldurar Almunazam Fi Alsir Alazam," authored by the scholar Kamāl al-Dīn Abū Sālim Muḥammad ibn Ṭalḥa al-ʿAdawī al-Jaffār al-Shāfiʿī, who passed away in the year 652 AH / 1254 CE.

Imam Ali, may Allah honor his face, said: "If I told you what I heard from the mouth of Abu al-Qasim, you would have left me, saying, 'Ali is one of the biggest liars and the most immoral of sinners.'"

Allah, the Almighty, said: "In fact, they arbitrarily rejected as false whatever they failed to comprehend."

In this book that speaks the truth, I mention the Jafr of Imam Ali, son of Abu Talib, may Allah be pleased with him. It is the Apocalypse of Imam Ali and comprises one thousand and seven hundred sources of the keys and lamps of the stars of knowledge. It is known to scholars of letters as al-Jafr al-Jamiʿ (The Comprehensive Book) and al-Nur al-Lamiʿ (The Radiant Light).

According to the Sufis, it is the Tablet of Fate and Destiny, and it is said to be the hidden knowledge and the guarded secret.

It was said in the esoteric language of the people of letter-wisdom that it is the key to the secrets of the unseen. It was also said that it is the key to the Tablet and the Pen, and the key to wisdom.

The people of ballads said it is a book about the occurrences of the universe. It clarifies the mysteries of matters and interprets the events of the ages. It is the key to worldly knowledge, the secret of fate and destiny, and the key to the science.

Al-Jafr consists of two great books. One was mentioned by Imam Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, from the pulpit while he was preaching in Kufa, concerning what will be clarified in this manuscript, Allah willing. The other book is the secret of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him, and it contains the hidden knowledge. This is referenced in the words of the Prophet, may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him: "I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate."

The Prophet, may peace and blessings be upon him, commanded Ali to write it down. So Imam Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, wrote it in separate letters in the manner of the book of Adam, peace be upon him, on jafr, which is a parchment made from camel skin.

This book became famous among the people under the names al-Jafr al-Jamiʿ (The Comprehensive Book) and al-Nur al-Lamiʿ (The Radiant Light). It was called al-Jafr and al-Jamiʿah because what happened to earlier nations and what will happen to later nations was inscribed in it.

People differ in its arrangement and decipherment. Some deciphered it by the small breakage, like Imam Jaʿfar al-Sadiq, may Allah be pleased with him, who broke down its major chapter from Alif, Ba, Ta, Tha to the end, and its minor chapter from Abjad to Qarshat.

Some scholars referred to the major chapter as the Great Jafr and the minor one as the Small Jafr, which has been corrected and reversed.

As for al-Jafr al-Kabir (The Great Jafr), it contains one thousand sources. As for the small one, it contains seven hundred sources. Know that all scripts are arranged in the order of Abi Jad except for the Arabic script.

Some scholars write it with the middle breakage, which is the best. In it lies the orbit of the lunar secret and the solar secret, and through it the secrets of letters are written. It has many styles and secrets.

Others write it in the large breakage, from which all languages and names are extracted. Some write it using the method of literal composition, which is the doctrine of Plato. Others use the method of numerical composition. Each of these methods leads to the desired purpose and intended matter.

So understand, for I have opened the door for whoever wants to enter. Allah speaks the truth, and He guides to the path. Know that every knowledge has a discourse, every discourse has a tongue, every tongue has an expression, every expression has a doctrine, and every doctrine has its people.

One of the strangest things is the wisdom of the saints of Allah, which is unlike the wisdom and knowledge of others. So if you attain it, hold to it firmly and worship your Lord until the last moment of your life, which will certainly come.

Jaʿfar al-Sadiq, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "We have the White Jafr, the Red Jafr, and the Comprehensive Jafr." The steadfast Imams from his family knew the secrets of this great matter.

When some of the caliphs wrote to Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha to pledge allegiance to him, he said: "You knew about our matter what your fathers did not know, so I pledged allegiance to you. But Allah Almighty concealed His knowledge from most scholars because of the great secrets it contains that could extend the lives of kings, and because of what it contains of divine wisdom, Syriac mysteries, and divine benefits."

The elders did not allow people to learn from it except for some of its secrets: those contained in its special composition and the causes of various types of subjugation, influence, vanquishing, appropriation, isolation, death, and revival, along with other unique benefits and secrets. In it is the Greatest Name of Allah, the crown of Adam, the seal of Solomon, and the amulet of Asif.

Among the people of verification and knowledge, such as Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami and Sahl ibn Abdullah al-Tustari, and the rightly guided predecessors, such as Abu Muhammad al-Hasan al-Basri and Sufyan al-Thawri, there were those who continued to glorify the status of the Jafr, learn from it, seek its secrets, and take from its light.

The firmly grounded scholars and the wise devoted themselves to studying the Book of Jafr, so I gathered from their secrets what is most comprehensive and complete.

After I read the Book of Adam, the Book of Seth, the Book of Noah, and the Book of Abraham, peace be upon them, I then read The Fountain of Wisdom by Asif ibn Barkhiya ibn Shamuel, The Secret of Secrets, The Book of the Ember or The Urn, The Hidden Scriptures, The Great Covenant, The Genres, and The Book of the Tablet and the Pen.

Then I analyzed the lunar hidden symbols and the solar hidden symbols until the sun of divine knowledge and taste for secrets shone in the sky of my spirituality. For these benefits I embarked on a journey and served men.

So I questioned the tongue of knowledge and awakened the interpreter of knowledge, and I attained the keys of the unseen and the sacred lamps, which could only be found by the knowledgeable and steadfast.

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