Book of Unveiling

Fârès Gillon is Associate Professor in Islamic Studies and Arabic at Aix-Marseille University, France. He received his PhD from the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris), and specializes in the intellectual history of early Shiism, with a particular focus on Fatimid Ismailism. He has published several articles on these topics, and has also co-edited with Mathieu Terrier Anthologie de la philosophie en Islam (Paris, 2023). Previously, he was a Research Associate at the Institute of Ismaili Studies. His research interests include Shi'i history and doctrines, Ismailism, Nusayrism and Islamic Philosophy

• 1. Introduction Historical and intellectual contextTransmission: manuscripts, editions, and receptionThe problematic authorship of the Kitab al-Kashf: some remarks on the corpus attributed to Ja’far b. Mansur al-YamanThe six treatises of the Kitab al-Kashf and their contentsBetween chaos and order: the art of compilation and structure in the Kitab al-KashfNotes on the translations and commentaries 2. Treatise I TranslationCommentary The divine trust (amana), walaya and the covenant The da’wa, an esoteric family God’s ‘order’ (amr) and its continuity The continuity of antagonism: the enemies of the ImamAl-musukhiyya: from literal to metaphoric metamorphosisThe Mahdi and his returnConclusion3. Treatise IITranslationCommentaryDivine transcendence The throne, the footstool and the problem of anthropomorphismThe alphabetic cosmogonyConclusion4. Treatise IIITranslation CommentaryIdentifying the ‘Sage’ (al-?akim) and dating Treatise III The da’wa: an organization and its enemies The Orphan: evolution of a concept, from ghuluww to Fatimid IsmailismSalman, a Shi’i figure in support of the Fatimid reformThe ‘Bearer of the Sword’ and the raj’aConclusion5. Treatise IVTranslationCommentarySeveral hadith fragments A hadith on language Conclusion6. Treatise VTranslationCommentaryThe Imam and his proof, the ‘Ayn and the Fa’The rejection of antinomianismOrganizing the da’wa: instruction to the missionaries and refutation of the false Mahdi Conclusion7. Treatise VITranslationCommentaryGod’s choice challenged by human caprice‘Ali and Aaron as books of GodProofs and summonersConclusionBibliography

...we should give ample credit to Gillon for all the light shed on what I find a most difficult and perplexing task, one deeply involved in trying to explain and elucidate this particular Ismaili work. It cannot have been easy and yet Gillon seems to have done enviably well where many of us would have given up in despair.