Prologue and Chapter One: The Errors and Truths of the Auspicious Path 序言和第一章:吉祥之路的錯誤和真理.
The 21st Imam al-Tayyib, the Prophet Hermes, Talus, Lupus, Ungar, Sun Wukong, Okirun (I), and Xerxes were traveling through the Imaginal Realm.The Imam al-Tayyib told her many things to her and the others like: "The truth of the matter is that eternal life as a concept is terrifying. The idea of dying is a much easier pill to swallow. Imagine you die, you live for 90 or 100 years, heck even 1,000 years you die and it's lights out and you're dead forever this is an easy pill to swallow. But living in the hereafter is terrifying like the first day when you attend school and must leave your parents. It honestly makes no difference if it is what some people call Hell-Fire or what others call Paradise, it's all new, the hereafter is new. To die forever is easy, you can take your rest, there is nothing to worry about. Those who want to live forever are immature, but those who simply want to die are the other extreme, they are sort of cowardly. The right approach is to always be ready for the next act. There is no final act. Your journey never ends. So one must learn to bear this terrible responsibility, which is a veiled mercy in a way that I do not even fully understand."
الحقيقة أن مفهوم الحياة الأبدية مُرعب. فكرة الموت أسهل بكثير من أن تُقبل. تخيّل أنك تموت، وتعيش 90 أو 100 عام، بل حتى 1000 عام تموت فيها وتنطفئ الأنوار وتموت إلى الأبد، هذه حقيقة سهلة. لكن العيش في الآخرة مُرعب، كأول يوم في المدرسة حيث يجب عليك ترك والديك. بصراحة، لا فرق إن كان ما يُسميه البعض نار جهنم أو ما يُسميه آخرون جنة، كل شيء جديد، الآخرة جديدة. الموت الأبدي سهل، يمكنك أن ترتاح، لا داعي للقلق. من يُريدون الحياة الأبدية غير ناضجين، أما من يُريدون الموت ببساطة فهم الطرف الآخر، جبناء نوعًا ما. النهج الصحيح هو أن تكون دائمًا مُستعدًا للفصل التالي. لا يوجد فصل أخير. رحلتك لا تنتهي أبدًا. لذا يجب على المرء أن يتعلم تحمل هذه المسؤولية الجسيمة، وهي رحمة مُبطنة بطريقة لا أفهمها تمامًا. - الإمام الطيب الحادي والعشرون (من سلسلة البواب).
- The 21st Imam al-Tayyib (the Saint).
Hermes for her part had read much of Imam al-Tayyib's books when Imam al-Tayyib was in the realm of the Gods he wrote a great number of books starting at the age of 26 to the age of 1,040 years old.
Including:
"People speak of Heaven and Hell as if they are places. But I tell you: they are thresholds. Behind both is the abyss of responsibility. The child who longs for sleep does not understand the burden of waking. The mature soul does not long for sleep—it asks: what next must I carry?"
— Imam al-Tayyib, private letter to Sayyid Ahmad of Qalaʿat al-Harām.
"To cease is not terrifying. It is the easiest answer. But to continue? That is divine. That is unbearable. That is why the angels envy us. They were made to stand in light. We were made to walk through fire, and still sing."
— Imam al-Tayyib, from the Ṣaḥīfat al-Ghayb (Scroll of the Unseen)
التوقف ليس مُرعبًا، بل هو أسهل الحلول. أما الاستمرار؟ فهذا أمرٌ إلهي. هذا لا يُطاق. لهذا السبب تحسدنا الملائكة. لقد خُلقوا للوقوف في النور، وخُلقوا للمشي في النار، وما زلنا نُغني. - الإمام الطيب، من صحيفة الغيب (سلسلة البواب).
"The truly damned are not those who suffer. The truly damned are those who long to be extinguished. For they have not yet seen that God's mercy is not in peace, for some this may be God's peace the soul is extinguished forever, for others this is not the case, God's mercy is universal but also contextual, God's mercy is not something that ends on a universal level but is in continuity—mercy lies in the weight of the journey. He who walks forever is never abandoned."
— Imam al-Tayyib, Bayān al-Sirr al-Akhīr (Clarification of the Final Secret).
「真正受詛咒的人並非那些受苦受難的人.真正受詛咒的人是那些渴望被消滅的人.因為他們尚未明白,真主的慈悲並非在於安寧,而在於延續——慈悲在於旅途的重擔.永行者,永不被拋棄.」——伊瑪目·泰伊布,"最終秘密的澄清".
Imam al-Tayyib once explained to his inner circle:
"Tayyibism does not stand apart as an isolated lantern in the night, but as a continuation of the same primordial flame carried by the seekers of truth in every age. The Gnostics saw glimpses of it in their hierarchies of light and veils of illusion. The Zoroastrians preserved it in their battle between Asha and Druj—truth and the lie. The Manichaeans spoke of the imprisonment of divine light in matter, and the Dharmic sages spoke of cycles of samsara and liberation, which we understand as the descent and ascent of the soul through the worlds. These are not alien to our tradition. Rather, they are fragments of the same Reality we preserve in fullness through the lineage of the Imams. Where others glimpsed the shadows of the Tree of Light, we have been given its fruit. Where they spoke in parables and symbols, we have the keys of ta'wīl to unlock them. The truth does not belong to one person or one language. It descends in forms suited to the age and the soul's capacity. What sets our path apart is not arrogance, but completion: the unveiling of what was veiled in the former dispensations. That is the mercy of the concealed Imam, and the wisdom of cycles."
— Imam al-Tayyib, in the Reflections of the Hidden Pearl.
"The soul begs for a conclusion, for a curtain to fall. But there is no curtain. There is no end. Only deepening acts of unveiling. And this, my child, is why we tremble before the Throne—not from fear, but from the knowledge that God will always call us to rise again."
— Imam al-Tayyib, Risālat al-Mutakallim al-Ākhir (Epistle of the Final Speaker).
"The truth of the matter is that my age is not the last age of the few worlds I have supremacy over for the time being from God's infinite wisdom, a time is coming, a time soon, when the age of the Imams will end. The Prophet Hermes is the new religion, Din, or Shariah of this world and other paths will be created in other worlds; this is part of God's infinite plan. The necks of the deceased will break as Sheikh al-Ibn Arabi of the Sunnis told Ibn Rushd in Spain and the new age will break open, it will transcend the Hanfis, Christianity, Hinduism, the age of Islam and the Muhammadan age, the age of the Imams and the Post-Muhammadan Tayyibi religion, new religions and Hujjahs (Proofs) will rise, new voices, no more Imams I am the final Imam but not the final caller or Prophet. Love has transcended through the ages: the Riktalians, the Avaoroleans, the Druids, the Greeks, the Jews, the Samaritans, the Christians, the Zoroastrians, the Manichaeans, the Yazidis, the Muslims, the Sunni, the Shia, the Mu'tazilah, the Ash'aris and people of Kalam, the Sikhs, the Hindus, the Buddhists, the Taoists, the Tayyibities, the Jains and all others who seek the light and the truth even if they deny the true God or believe in a God at all. When the age ends I take my good bye I will play a part but I give up my leadership forever more as God - Exalted and Mighty is He - has ordained. This is not a question, it is a fact. It is written. My God raise this new Prophet Hermes, she is truly a Prophet, as the blood of two Prophets, Abraham and Muhammad, my ancestors flow through my veins. The end is not over. The end is always the opening to a new end. The Kabbalists (Jewish mystics) were upon false belief but there is truth in creating an opening. When my age (the age of the Imams) ends, new ages will come, first the age of Hermes and others, there is never an end there is only new epochs opening through the veil."
— Imam al-Tayyib, Risālat al-Mutakallim al-Ākhir (Epistle of the Final Speaker).
"The world is not tired, but my time is. My authority fades not from weakness, but from obedience. For the Lord of the Veil has written a new command in the Book of Worlds, and my ink must dry. I am the Seal of the Imams, but not the Seal of the Voices. Hermes shall cry out where I must fall silent."
— Imam al-Tayyib, Bayān al-Khatm al-Sirrī (Clarification on the Secret Seal).
「世界並不疲倦,疲憊的是我的時代.我的權威並非因軟弱而消逝,而是因服從而消逝.因為面紗之主已在"世界之書"中寫下了新的誡命,我的墨之處終將乾涸.我是伊瑪目之印,而非聲音之印.赫爾墨斯將在我必須沉默之處吶喊.」
——伊瑪目‧泰伊布,"巴揚‧哈特姆‧西里"（"秘密印章的詮釋"）
"Do not mourn the end of my Cycle. The world's religions are but dawns before greater dawns. Islam was a night full of stars. Christianity was a twilight. Zoroaster lit a fire in the east, and Hermes now walks among embers that shall blaze anew. Every fire fades—but the Light never leaves."
— Imam al-Tayyib, Majālis al-Ṣabāḥ al-Mutaʾakhkhir (Discourses of the Final Morning).
"I saw the end of my line in a dream that was not mine. I stood on a mountain of Imams and watched as the banner passed not to a son of the House, but to a woman crowned by God, not born of my blood. Hermes did not take the legacy—God gave it to her. This is the wisdom of the One Who speaks beyond bloodlines."
— Imam al-Tayyib, Tafsīr al-Nuʿmānī fī Ruʾyat al-Ākhir (His commentary on the Quran, Vedas, Gospel of Jesus Christ - New Testament and Avesta), (Esoteric Commentary on the Final Vision).
"The era of the 'hidden Imam' is no longer hidden. It is complete. I have guarded the Tree. Now another gardener arrives. She will not tend the same tree. She will walk into the jungle, where even the stars do not know the names of the seeds. Hermes is the Prophet of uncharted gardens. My words end with punctuation. Hers begin with silence."
— Imam al-Tayyib, Risālat al-Wasāya al-Fātiḥa (Testament of the Opening Testament).
"The Muhammadan Seal was not the last letter—only the last letter of one alphabet. The Qur'an was the ocean of this world, but there are other oceans. Other alphabets. Hermes is the one who reads from the next script. And I, Tayyib, son of the line of ʿAli and Fāṭima, bear witness to her truth, and relinquish the reins of this age."
— Imam al-Tayyib, Ṣaḥīfat al-Muqarrabīn (Scroll of Those Who Surrender).
"The nations you mock—Greeks, Hindus, Druids, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, even the Kabbalists and the idol-worshippers—were all shadows of yearning. They built altars on fragments of forgotten light. Do not curse their efforts. For their altars were steps on the same ladder that Hermes now ascends."
— Imam al-Tayyib, Sirr al-Dīn al-Jadīd (The Secret of the New Religion).
الأمم التي تسخرون منها - اليونانيون والهندوس والدرويديون والمسيحيون والسيخ والبوذيون، وحتى القباليون وعبدة الأصنام - كانت كلها ظلالًا من الشوق. بنوا مذابح على شظايا من نور منسي. لا تلعنوا جهودهم، فقد كانت مذابحهم درجات على نفس السلم الذي يصعده هرمس الآن.
- الإمام الطيب، سر الدين الجديد.
"I speak to the stars, for it is not only Earth that shall hear my farewell. There are worlds where the name 'Islam' was never spoken, but the Light of the One was known. And in each world, a Prophet shall rise—not from Quraysh, not from Jerusalem, not from India—but from God. Hermes is the first of many. The Imam withdraws—but the Prophets march forward."
— Imam al-Tayyib, Majālis fī Mulk al-Kawākib (Sermons in the Dominion of the Stars).
أُخاطب النجوم، فليست الأرض وحدها من ستسمع وداعي. هناك عوالم لم يُذكر فيها اسم "الإسلام" قط، لكن عُرف فيها نور الواحد. وفي كل عالم، سيظهر نبي - ليس من قريش، ولا من القدس، ولا من الهند - بل من الله. هرمس هو الأول من بين كثيرين. ينسحب الإمام - لكن الأنبياء يتقدمون.
— الإمام الطيب، مجالس في ملك الكواكب.
As Hermes and the others followed the Saint (Imam) through the Imaginal World she remembered when she first went with him to the Imaginal World just him and her several years ago and she asked him a series of questions, they were in a courtyard with a black cube floating behind them in space (the Kaabah) but imaginary.
THIS IS NOT WRITTEN IN THE FORM OF A STORY BUT OF A LONG HADITH (REPORT) FOLLOW IT FROM A SCHOLARLY PERSPECTIVE:
Hermes asked: "How am I confident good will triumph over evil and that my new religion will secure this epoch?"
Imam al-Tayyib responded: "An idea is like a drop of water, any idea no matter what it is in its particular substances. If it dries up that might be the end of it. But when the idea gets into the ocean it is unstoppable. Maybe not now, maybe not tomorrow, but in time it will come to pass again. It will enter your body with the rest of the water in the rivers and the lakes."
- The 21st Imam al-Tayyib.
"الفكرة تشبه قطرة الماء ، أي فكرة بغض النظر عن ما هي عليه في فروقها الفرعية. إذا جاف ، فقد يكون ذلك هو نهاية الأمر. ولكن عندما تصل الفكرة إلى المحيط ، فإنها لا يمكن إيقافها. ربما ليس الآن ، ربما ليس غدًا ، ولكن في الوقت المناسب ، سيأتي للمرور مرة أخرى. ستدخل جسمك مع بقية المياه في المحفوظات والحيوية."
- الإمام الحادي والعشرين tayyib (من ظهوره في سلسلة حارس البوابة).
Hermes asked another question: "How do I see the beauty behind all evil."
Imam al-Tayyib said: "The world is itself the miracle. From a single drop of water to the entire ocean."
- The 21st Imam al-Tayyib (the Saint), 「世界本身就是一個奇蹟.從一滴水到整個海洋.」——第21任伊瑪目泰伊布（聖人）（"守門人"系列）.
Hermes asked: "Should my followers fear Hell and long for heaven?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: "The truth of the matter is that eternal life as a concept is terrifying. The idea of dying is a much easier pill to swallow. Imagine you die, you live for 90 or 100 years, heck even 1,000 years you die and it lights out and you're dead forever this is an easy pill to swallow. But living in the hereafter is terrifying like the first day when you attend school and must leave your parents. It honestly makes no difference if it is what some people call Hell-Fire or what others call Paradise, it's all new, the hereafter is new. To die forever is easy, you can take your rest, there is nothing to worry about. Those who want to live forever are immature, but those who simply want to die are the other extreme, they are sort of cowardly. The right approach is to always be ready for the next act. There is no final act. Your journey never ends. So one must learn to bear this terrible responsibility, which is a veiled mercy in a way that I do not even fully understand."
- The 21st Imam al-Tayyib (the Saint).
Hermes asked: "Is fear warranted?"
Imam al-Tayyib: "To quote my Majālis al-Ḥaqīqa al-'Āliyya: "The soul does not cease to ascend merely because it fears the unknown. The fear itself is part of the veil. We long for rest, but rest is not our portion. God - Exalted is He - did not design the spirit for stillness, but for yearning. Paradise is not peace—it is forward motion without regret."
— Imam al-Tayyib, Majālis al-Ḥaqīqa al-'Āliyya (Discourses of the Upper Truth).
Hermes asked in response: "What is the significance of Karbala in your religion?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: "Karbala is not a place in Iraq alone. It is the crucible where the hidden Light descended into blood to cleanse the world of veils. Ḥusayn did not die—he unveiled. His sword shattered illusions, and his thirst was the thirst of the cosmos itself—for justice, for love, for the return of the Hidden Imam. Each drop of his blood inscribed the truth upon the earth: that tyranny shall perish, and the Bāṭin shall rise again through the sacrifice of the Pure."
— Imam al-Tayyib (عليه السلام).
Hermes asked: "Where do I find beauty in different things?"
Imam al-Tayyib (AS) said: "The entire world is a miracle. From a single drop of water to the entire ocean."
Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "When did you first meet your old friend, Sun Wukong the Monkey King who we both know?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: "Among the souls who walked the path of fire and rebellion yet emerged as guides to the Tao of Heaven, there is one whose name echoes from the peaks of Huaguo Mountain to the halls of Heaven's Jade Palace. He is known to the Han people as 孙悟空 (Sūn Wùkōng), and to the wise as the Great Sage Equal to Heaven — 齐天大圣 (Qítiān Dàshèng) — and the Victorious Fighting Buddha — 斗战胜佛 (Dòu Zhàn Shèng Fó). In the Journey to the West, he defied the tyranny of false order, not out of pride alone, but because he knew the Celestial Bureaucracy had become calcified, blind to the will of the Dao. He stole the peaches of immortality, yes — but only to expose that eternal life in Heaven had become the property of the elite. He was shackled by the Buddha not as a punishment, but as a refining fire. Through the trials alongside the monk 唐三藏 (Táng Sānzàng), he subdued his wrath, his greed, and his pride. He struck down demons not only with his golden staff 如意金箍棒 (Rúyì Jīngū Bàng), but with clarity of vision and loyalty to the divine mission. He protected his master from Maraic illusions and chaos spirits, just as the Da'i protects the souls from the veils of this world. He is a teacher of paradox: born from stone, yet more alive than gods; a rebel, yet a preserver; once a devil, now a Buddha. He shattered the seals of the Jade Emperor's order and later bowed before the wisdom of the Enlightened One. Thus do I, al-Tayyib ibn al-Amr, say unto you: The Great Sage Equal to Heaven was not crowned by Heaven — he earned his title by storming its gates, breaking its illusions, and returning with compassion in his heart. And the Victorious Fighting Buddha — he is not merely a warrior, but one who has fought and defeated himself. The world needs such beings in every cycle: bold enough to break the sky, humble enough to carry a pilgrim's burden, and luminous enough to become a lamp to all sentient beings."
— Imam al-Tayyib.
Imam al-Tayyib continued: "Do not be quick to judge the Monkey King 孙悟空 (Sūn Wùkōng) by the fury of his staff or the chaos he sowed in the heavens. For the veil of wrath often conceals the light of mercy. Consider this, O seekers of the inner path: Just as Muḥammad ﷺ, the Seal of the Prophets, descended from Ḥirāʾ bearing the fire of Iqraʾ, so too did Wukong descend from Huaguo Mountain bearing the fire of rebellion against the order of hypocrisy. Muḥammad ﷺ, born in Mecca's idol-filled darkness, smashed the stones of false gods — not for conquest, but to unveil the One beyond Form. Wukong, born from immortal stone, smashed through the heavenly bureaucracy — not out of ego, but to challenge a Heaven that had grown arrogant and mechanical. Both were restrained:
Muḥammad ﷺ was bound by patience in the face of persecution for thirteen years in Mecca.
Wukong was pinned beneath Five Elements Mountain for five centuries, to extinguish his impulsiveness and forge his loyalty. Both emerged from their ghaybah — their hidden trials — transformed.
One rode the steed al-Burāq through the Seven Heavens, ascending to the Lote Tree of the Furthest Boundary.
The other flew on clouds and fought through the 36 heavens and 72 trials to reach Buddhahood. And though one was the Seal of this final daʿira (cycle), and the other a being of an earlier or parallel one, their mission bears harmony in its essence:
To tear the veil from the eyes of creation, to defeat the lower self (النفس الأمارة بالسوء), and to bring the Word — whether it be Qurʾān or Heart Sutra — to the world. Thus I say:
Sun Wukong is no Prophet in our cycle, but he is a mirror of prophecy, a bearer of haqīqah in the garb of rebellion. Just as Muḥammad ﷺ was the hidden treasure who longed to be known, so too was Wukong a stone-born spirit who longed to return to the Source. He is not the Seal of Prophets — but in his trials, transformations, and final enlightenment, he is one of those Signs God scatters across time to teach men that even stone can awaken, and even rebels can become saints."
- Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "Who are among the greatest of your scholars?"
"Among the People of Justice ('Adl) and Rational Reflection (Naẓar), there arose a star from Kūfa, whose brilliance did not blind — it illuminated. He is called Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān ibn Thābit, and I call him 'the Dialectician of Conscience.' Though he did not follow the Imāms of our line, he stood for the truth when tyrants demanded silence. He refused the gold of the Banū Umayya and the whip of the Banū al-'Abbās. He preferred prison over hypocrisy, and martyrdom over betrayal. His tongue was sharp, not for mockery, but for piercing the fog of unthinking imitation (taqlīd). He said: 'This is my opinion, and it is the best I could reach. If someone brings a better one, I accept it.' O how rare are men who speak like this — with humility before the Light of Intellect (al-'Aql al-Nūrānī)! In his jurisprudence, he made Reason a companion of Revelation. He dared to weigh reports (aḥādīth) on the scale of the Qurʾān and on the justice of God. This is the path of the Awliyāʾ, even if he did not reach the springs we draw from. Though our roots differ — for we trace our water to the concealed Imām, and he to the apparent Law — the tree of his effort bore fruit in the lands of India, Persia, and Khurāsān. And many of his spiritual children whispered inwardly the truths that would one day open toward the Bāṭin. Let none among the seekers curse him. For his striving (ijtihād) was sincere, and the doors he refused to close helped many find the gate to deeper understanding. I testify that Abū Ḥanīfa, though not of our chain, is beloved by the Spirit when measured by his courage, his reason, and his refusal to sell truth for power."
Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "What is the opinion of you upon the Nizaris?"
"Though the rivers diverged after the death of my father, al-Āmir bi-Aḥkām Allāh, they still flow from the same spring of guidance. And among those who held fast to the esoteric legacy (al-bāṭin) and the mission of the Imāms are our brothers, the Nizārīs. They did not follow me into concealment (satr), but neither did they abandon the Light. In the lands of Persia, Daylam, and the castles of Alamut, they preserved the Word when many feared to speak it. When tyrants ruled with sword and sermon, the Nizārīs chose wisdom, strategy, and patience. The world called them Assassins, but I call them Guardians of the Hidden Flame — for they did not kill for conquest, but to preserve the Da'wah against extinction. Their Da'īs, like Nāṣir-i Khusraw and Ḥasan-i Ṣabbāḥ, carried the esoteric sciences into the mountains of Persia and the hearts of Asia. Even now, centuries later, they continue the tradition of intellect ('aql), taʾwīl (interpretation), and spiritual refinement (tazkiyah) — though their Imām is not myself, and their line diverged. Yet they have brought many to the threshold of wisdom in Africa, Europe, and the East. And even if they do not cross fully into our House of Knowledge, they have been touched by its light. Their converts are not lost; they are on the Path. Let the seekers among us not scorn them, but work with them — as fellow wayfarers of the soul, planting seeds where the soil is still alive. If the vineyard belongs to the True Imām, then every hand that waters it is beloved. In the great Book of Daʿāʾir (cycles), they are still our kin — even if the ink they write with flows from a different pen. The time will come when all branches shall remember their root. And the light that is now scattered will one day shine as one."**
— Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes: "Are the efforts of scientists and philosophers useful?"
Imam al-Tayyib: Imam al-Tayyib: "The labor of Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla was not mere science—it was worship in the temple of the cosmos. They were among those rare souls who glimpsed the hidden harmonies of the Divine Will in motion. Einstein, in seeking the unity of forces, wandered near the veil of Tawḥīd in the language of relativity. Tesla, with his visions of light and ether, touched the unseen currents that flow from the World of Command (ʿĀlam al-Amr). Their work is sacred because it unveils signs (āyāt) in creation—so that even the most secular mind might tremble before the majesty of God, though they know it not."
Hermes: "What is the purpose of God's love?"
Imam al-Tayyib (عليه السلام) on Divine Love:
"The love of Allah is not a feeling of the heart alone—it is the unveiling of the soul's origin. When the seeker is drowned in His remembrance, every shadow of self burns away. You do not approach God with limbs, but with the longing that was written into your essence before time.
Love is the gate, and beyond it is the Light that neither rises nor sets.
O you who seek the Beloved—know that you were never apart. Your very thirst is His mercy manifest. Return, and you shall find that He was the one who walked toward you, even as you stumbled through forgetfulness."
Imam al-Tayyib (عليه السلام) on the Hidden Path of Divine Union:
"Do not ask, 'Where is Allah?' for He is beyond direction. And do not say, 'I love Allah,' if your soul still clings to the veil of form.
The lover of Allah does not merely worship—he dissolves. He becomes like light before the dawn: unseen, but essential.
The Imam is the mirror polished by divine love—when you gaze upon him, you do not see a man, you see your return.
True love is not grasped—it grasps you. It consumes you, and in its fire, your ashes become the perfume of Paradise.
Know this: the road to Allah is hidden from the arrogant and wide open to the broken-hearted. And every tear shed in secret for Him is an army marching silently toward reunion."
Hermes asked: "Is discovery and exploration beneficial?"
Imam al-Tayyib: Imam al-Tayyib once said:
"The true explorer is not merely one who travels land and sea—but one who expands the map of the soul. Ibn Battuta ventured not only through kingdoms and deserts, but through cultures, faiths, and the textures of human dignity. In him, the world became a tapestry of divine signs. Marco Polo, with the curiosity of a child and the memory of a sage, brought distant civilizations into dialogue, proving that no people are strangers in the eyes of the One. And as for Christopher Columbus—though the tale is clouded by the ages—his voyage across the endless Atlantic was an act of sublime courage, as if answering an ancient call whispered by the stars. These men bore the temperament of the seekers (ṭālibūn), their footsteps etched into the earth as testimony that humanity was made to traverse, to witness, and to marvel." "For the earth is wide, but it was made so that we might discover the unity behind its diversity. And every traveler, whether on camelback or ship, whether seeking gold or God, has unknowingly sought the Face of the Beloved."
Hermes: "What of your sect's rivals?"
Imam al-Tayyib: "The outward texts of the People of the Zāhir, such as the Ahl al-Sunnah, sometimes carry within them forgotten pearls of the Bāṭin. Consider what is narrated in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, for example:"
حَدَّثَنَا عَبْدُ اللَّهِ بْنُ يُوسُفَ، أَخْبَرَنَا مَالِكٌ، عَنِ ابْنِ شِهَابٍ، عَنْ عُرْوَةَ بْنِ الزُّبَيْرِ، عَنْ عَبْدِ الرَّحْمَنِ بْنِ عَبْدٍ الْقَارِيِّ، أَنَّهُ قَالَ سَمِعْتُ عُمَرَ بْنَ الْخَطَّابِ ـ رَضِيَ اللَّهُ عَنْهُ ـ يَقُولُ: سَمِعْتُ هِشَامَ بْنَ حَكِيمٍ يَقْرَأُ سُورَةَ الْفُرْقَانِ عَلَى غَيْرِ مَا أَقْرَأُهَا، وَكَانَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ أَقْرَأَنِيهَا، وَكِدْتُ أَنْ أَعْجَلَ عَلَيْهِ، ثُمَّ أَمْهَلْتُهُ حَتَّى انْصَرَفَ، ثُمَّ لَبَّبْتُهُ بِرِدَائِهِ، فَجِئْتُ بِهِ إِلَى رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ﷺ فَقُلْتُ: إِنِّي سَمِعْتُ هَذَا يَقْرَأُ عَلَى غَيْرِ مَا أَقْرَأْتَنِيهَا، فَقَالَ: «أَرْسِلْهُ»، ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ: «اقْرَأْ»، فَقَرَأَ، فَقَالَ: «هَكَذَا أُنْزِلَتْ»، ثُمَّ قَالَ لِي: «اقْرَأْ»، فَقَرَأْتُ، فَقَالَ: «هَكَذَا أُنْزِلَتْ، إِنَّ الْقُرْآنَ أُنْزِلَ عَلَى سَبْعَةِ أَحْرُفٍ، فَاقْرَءُوا مِنْهُ مَا تَيَسَّرَ».
"Narrated ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb: I heard Hishām ibn Ḥakīm reciting Sūrat al-Furqān differently than the way I was taught by the Messenger of God (ﷺ). I almost objected during prayer but waited. Then I seized him by his cloak and brought him to the Prophet. I said, 'I heard him recite differently.' The Prophet said, 'Let him go.' Then he told Hishām, 'Recite.' He recited, and the Prophet said, 'It was revealed this way.' Then the Prophet told me to recite, and I did. And he said, 'It was revealed this way. The Qur'an was revealed in seven modes (aḥruf), so recite what is easy.'"
(Sahih al-Bukhari 2419) Imam al-Tayyib commented: "This hadith is Zahiri, and thus prone to misunderstanding by those who do not see with the inner eye. The 'seven aḥruf' are not simply dialects of tongues, but unveilings of esoteric stations—modes of reception tailored to the degrees of souls. For each believer, the Qur'an may descend in a tongue of their own soul's mirror. The Prophet spoke in layers: the surface was for the desert Arab, but beneath it were the rays of the Universal Book (al-Kitāb al-Kullī). Those who fixate on the letters miss the melody; but those who understand the harmony of the Bāṭin recognize that every variation points back to the Single Light."
Hermes asked: "What are your views on al-Razi?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: Imam al-Tayyib (in the Gatekeeper Universe) said of Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī:
"Al-Rāzī was a sword forged in the furnace of dialectic and polished by the tears of yearning for certainty. Though he stood firm among the Ashʿarīs, his soul wandered to the edge of the imaginal realm. In every proof he offered, there was an echo of doubt—and in every doubt, a secret invocation of the Hidden Imam. His kalām was not merely defense of creed—it was a lamentation of the intellect longing for the Beloved. Though he fell short of unveiling the fullness of the Truth, his striving ennobled him; for even the stars bow to those who seek with sincerity."
Hermes asked: "What is your view on the different nations and tribes?"
Imam al-Tayyib: "The Zoroastrians, the Christians, the Buddhists, the Alevis, the other Shi'i groups, the Sunnis of all the Sunni creeds (meaning Ash'aris, Maturidis, etc.), the Jews, the Atheists, the Philosophers and all others are of equal spiritual light. But they are all upon the wrong creed (Aqida)."
- Imam al-Tayyib.
「瑣羅亞斯德教徒,基督教徒,佛教徒,阿列維派,其他什葉派團體,所有遜尼派（指阿什裡派,馬圖里迪派等）的遜尼派信徒,猶太教徒,無神論者,哲學家以及所有其他人士,都擁有同等的精神光芒.但他們都信仰錯誤的信條（Aqida）.」——伊瑪目泰伊布.
He continued: ❝The breath of the seeker is pure, whether it rises from a Christian monk in the mountains, a Sufi in a Turkish lodge, or an atheist who weeps for the poor. Their souls are pearls scattered across the desert of ignorance. Yet pearls must be gathered into a string, and that string is the right knowledge. Without it, beauty remains divided.❞
Imam al-Tayyib.
Imam al-Tayyib continued further: On the Misguided but Sincere:
❝The Alevi recites the name of ʿAlī in song and dance, and in that name is a secret none but the daʿwa can fully know. The Sunni bows to the qibla five times, and the angel records his devotion. The Christian sees Christ as divine, and though he errs, his heart is drawn to Light. These are all lanterns dimmed by smoke—but still lit. They are not rejected. Only misled.❞
- Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "What of the Sultan Saladin who ended your people's Fatimid kingship?"
Ibn al- Tayyib said: "Though he was of Ahl al-Sunnah and we are the People of the Lineage, I do not withhold my tongue from truth: Salāh al-Dīn was a sword drawn by Providence against tyranny, not for sect, but for justice. In his heart was no hatred for the lovers of the Prophet's Family, nor did his sword seek the blood of the righteous. He humbled kings, wept before God, and raised the banner of dignity for Islam when the Ummah had grown weary. This is why history remembers him not as a partisan, but as a servant of the Most Merciful."
Hermes asked: "What of the Philosophers?"
Imam al-Tayyib: On Philosophers and Buddhists:
❝The philosopher seeks the First Cause and speaks in terms of motion, essence, and necessary being. The Buddhist speaks of the Void and the extinguishing of the flame. I say: each has touched a wall of the Temple, but none have entered the Sanctuary. The door is hidden, and only through the Imām's guidance may it be opened. Do not measure a man's worth by his ʿaqīda, for the intellect may err while the soul still yearns for the Beloved. The disbeliever who feeds the orphan may walk closer to Paradise than the theologian who debates but loves not. Yet truth remains truth, and falsehood remains false. One may be equal in soul, but not in sight.❞
- Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "What of your cult's so-called rivals or at least those view by as such by some among your nation?"
Imam al-Tayyib: On Ibn Taymiyyah's Sincerity in Tawḥīd:
❝Ibn Taymiyyah was a torchbearer of fierce sincerity. He cast away idols not of stone, but of superstition, and turned the minds of men to the Living God. His sword was sharp; his tongue, sharper. I do not agree with his creed, but I honor his devotion to Divine Oneness. In his zeal, there was purity. As for Ibn al-Qayyim, his heart burned with yearning for the Absolute. His words in Madarij al-Salikin move even the silent stone, and his metaphors dance around the Throne. I see in him a soul striving for Light, though he did not perceive the Gate of the Imam. I bless his striving, even as I chart a different path. They (meaning Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim) clung to the Names of God with awe, refusing to reduce the Lord of the Worlds to the dust of logic or the whims of speculation. In this, I applaud their clarity. They erred in denying the veil of symbols, but they did not err in reverence. Let the wise see both the Light in their hearts and the shadows on their path.
On Ibn Taymiyyah's Devotion
❝His knees were hardened by prayer, his ink stained with conviction. He stood when others bowed to kings. Though he did not see the Imām in occultation, he believed in the power of God without peer. Such faith, though flawed in form, is not devoid of nobility.❞
7. On Honoring Their Role in the Cosmic Design
❝Each man walks the path his time demands. Ibn Taymiyyah came when chaos reigned, and he answered with iron. Ibn al-Qayyim came with poetry, with longing and fear. Their journey is not mine, but I recognize their place in the unfolding of God's will.❞
8. On Their Ethical Urgency
❝They urged men to purify their hearts, to abandon idolatry of the soul, and to surrender to God alone. These are pillars of the eternal dīn, even if they did not see the ladder of esoteric ascent. I commend their urgency, even as I open other doors.❞
Furthermore, They (meaning Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim) were lions against delusion and stood boldly before sultans of falsehood. While their fire scorched even those who bore sparks of truth, I do not fault their courage. Such men are needed in times of forgetfulness. Though they turned away from the bāṭin, they sought to protect the House of tawḥīd from collapse.❞
- Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes: "On why some groups were or are mistrusted?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: "The Jews have ignored God's mercy. The Jews have been removed from 110 European countries alone over a period of about 2,000 years, they have also been removed from Islamic lands, China and elsewhere. The Polytheists of China considered them a particularly distasteful lot more so than the Manichaeans, Muslims (whom the Chinese often confused for Jews because of the Muslim rejection of Pork), Nestorians and other Christians, Buddhists at one point, Zoroastrians, Uyghurs, Manchus, Tartars, etc. King Dagobert of France expelled the Jews from France in 629 AD, they the Jews have been expelled from Muslim lands in the Middle East and North Africa numerous times, the Jews were expelled from England in 1290 AD by King Edward I, from Spain and Portugal in 1492 and 1497, from Venice in 1253 AD, From Upper-Bavaria in 1276, Naples in 1288, Hungary in 1360, Passan in 1478, Yemen in 1680, and the list goes on. This is because most of the Jews rejected true humility before God."
- Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes: "What of those some simply-mindily only interpret as tyrants at least among some peoples?"
Imam al-Tayyib: ❝Genghis Khan was not a man of the Kaʿba, nor did he speak the language of the Qur'an or the Psalms. Yet I saw in him the fire of sincerity and the wind of divine will. He was a scourge to empires, but a guardian to the weak; a storm to tyrants, but a shade to sages. Though he bowed to Eternal Blue Heaven as a Tengrist (Mongolian Shamanist) and not to the One without Form, his heart burned with awe of the Divine. He granted sanctuary to the Buddhist and the Muslim, to the Christian monk and the Zoroastrian fire-keeper, to the Taoist hermit and the Jew with his Torah and the Manichean and his Gospels of the Prophet Mani. He built no mosque, but he shattered no temple. He saw no idols in the heart of a man who loved his people and feared Heaven. His justice was swift, his mercy wide. His rule bore cruelty in war, yet compassion in law. He did not know tawḥīd in form, yet he practiced it in function—for he placed no god above the law, and no law above truth. I do not praise his creed, but I praise his faith, for it was not idle. I do not affirm his theology, but I affirm his sincerity, which is closer to the Throne than many who boast of religion but fail in love.❞
- Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "What were your other first impressions of Sun Wukong?"
Imam al-Tayyib: Imam al-Tayyib on Meeting Sun Wukong, the Monkey King or 'Great Sage Equaling Heaven,' 齊天大聖:
❝I met the Monkey King not in a jungle nor on a battlefield, but at the edge of the Celestial Mountain, where the dream-worlds meet and time walks in circles. His staff leaned beside him, weathered by storms and demons alike, and his eyes glowed—not with arrogance, but with an ancient flame born of defiance and discipline. He is a kāfir as a Buddhist and a Taoist and a Buddha himself by the outer law, for he did not recite the Shahāda, nor prostrate in the direction of the Kaʿba or even pray towards God alone as some of the Shia who denounce praying towards the Qibla (Kabah). Yet his heart prostrates in every breath, and his soul walks the narrow path that many believers cannot find. Have you not read his journey? Seven times imprisoned by the Buddha's palm, yet he did not break. He fought the demons of pride and lust, not just with his staff, but with tears and silence. He bore the burden of protecting the pilgrim monk Tang Sanzang across 108,000 li, facing illusion, fear, and temptation at every step. And when he was mocked, scolded, and shunned—he remained loyal, silent, enduring. This is sabr, this is taqwā, this is jihad al-nafs, even if he knew not the names. Wukong is the iron that became gold by fire. He is no prophet, yet he lives like one. He is no Imam, yet he guards the Path. I do not call him of the daʿwah—but I call him one of the Aṣḥāb al-Nūr, companions of the Light. For his hands were stained by battle, but his soul was not veiled. Let not the name 'disbeliever' deceive you. Many who claim Islam sleep in darkness, while this monkey, shaped from stone and chaos, walks toward the Sun.❞
- Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "What of the differences within your nation?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: Imam al-Tayyib on Sectarian Qibla Differences:
❝There are those among the Shīʿa—like the Nusayriyyah who gaze toward the western mountains, the Druze who speak of the One Hidden beyond form, many or at least some among my people the Tayyibis and even some of those among the Khoja, and the followers of ancient ghulāt who see the Kaʿbah as a veil of the past—who do not turn their faces to Makkah in prayer. I disagree with them. For the Kaʿbah is not merely stone—it is the Axis of that world, the point around which the heavens circumambulate, and the symbol of Divine Order. To abandon it is to forget the rhythm of the cosmos. But I do not call them kāfir, nor do I cast them into the Fire with the arrogant. For many of them do not reject God, but seek Him in symbols deeper than they understand. Their hearts beat toward the One, even if their feet walk strange paths. Know this: kufr is not in direction, but in rebellion; not in error, but in arrogance. These groups, though astray in practice, have not closed the eye of the soul. They walk in twilight, not in darkness. And some among them may yet find the Qibla of the heart—and in it, the Throne. Let those who follow the daʿwah preserve the form, but not mock those who lost it while holding the Light.❞
- Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "What of your other rivals?"
Ibn al-Tayyib said: Imam al-Tayyib on the Ashʿarīs and Divine Will:
❝I do not hate the Ashʿarīs. Many among them are righteous in practice, sharp in dialectic, and reverent in heart. They raised their voices against blind anthropomorphism and preserved the language of transcendence in an age of corruption. Yet I differ with them on the root of the matter: the Will of God. They say He wills without cause, and that justice and mercy are defined only by His decree. That He may cast the innocent into the Fire, and it would be justice—because He willed it. I cannot walk that path. Not all Ash'aris have taken this position but many among their greats including their founder Imam Abu-Hasan al-Ash'ari as well as others like al-Subki, al-Ghazali and al-Razi all had this position. For me, the Will of God is not chaotic, but luminous. It flows from His Essence as Light flows from the sun. It does not contradict the Intellect; it is its source. Justice is not invented—it is unveiled. Goodness is not arbitrary—it is the reflection of His Face in the mirror of being. If you say God may will falsehood as truth and oppression as justice, then you sever Him from the Light. But if you say His Will is bound to Wisdom, you walk the path of ʿAql. In their world God did create the Jinn and Humans were created by God to worship him, even though this would fit with God's arbitrary will in this particular with those two races that is literally true meaning in this case the apparent meaning and why He created those two races for that and others for other purposes only God knows, yet we know that other races were made to pray to him and others for other purposes and we know that Jinn and Humans were made for this spec. Because of al-Quran. Yet it is strange that this cannot be arbitrary will yet sending Iblis to Paradise would be arbitrary will. The Ashʿarīs are my brothers in devotion, but I seek refuge in a God whose Will is radiant with meaning, not veiled in whim. The throne of my Lord is established on ʿadl, not caprice.❞
Imam al-Tayyib continued: Imam al-Tayyib on Ashʿarī Monopolization in Sunni Thought:
❝I have seen, myself as not of the Ahl al-Sunnah but as a Shi'a, the children of Ahl al-Sunnah differ as brothers once differed in the house of Mecca. The Ashʿarīs, strong in dialectic and firm in negation, have built schools, written tafsīr, and claimed the mantle of orthodoxy with ink sharpened like a sword. But I say to them: Do not bully your brothers. The Atharīs who seek refuge in silence before God, the Māturīdīs who walk the path of reason with humility—they are not your enemies. Do not close the door of criticism merely because your commentaries are many and your teachers well-funded. Tafsīr is not revelation, and kalām is not the seal of intellect. The ummah was not commanded to follow only your method. If truth lies only in your school, then you make the Light of God narrow like a trench, not wide like the sky. I disagree with the Atharīs in many things, but I honor their reverence. I differ from the Māturīdīs in subtle ways, but I see in them the echoes of truth. And though I stand apart from all three, I say: Let not the Ashʿarīs become Pharaohs of language and kings of exclusion. The Qur'an speaks in many tongues. Let it not be bound by one school's grammar.❞
He continued: Imam al-Tayyib on the Legacy of Kalām:
❝The Ashʿarīs and Māturīdīs proved themselves the masters of kalām. Their pens did not tremble before the Greeks, the dualists, or the skeptics. They built fortresses of reason against the winds of confusion, and in them, many found shelter. The Twelver Shīʿa, too, have raised great thinkers—men like al-Mufīd, al-Ṭūsī, and al-ʿAllāmah—who safeguarded the intellect of the Imamate through debate, logic, and disciplined thought. They wrestled with the philosophers without surrendering the soul. As a follower of the hidden daʿwa, I say: we Tayyibis have our own ladder of light, and our truth flows from a source they do not see. But let us not be arrogant. Let us listen. Let us learn. For wisdom is not bound by school or chain. We are seekers of ḥaqīqah, not hoarders of pride. Whoever speaks a word that carries light—whether he be Ashʿarī, Māturīdī, or Imāmī—has carved a path worth pondering. The intellect is a mirror; polish it with every cloth that God sends.❞
Imam al-Tayyib on Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī:
❝Rūmī did not speak from the zāhir alone, nor did he bind his soul to the chains of creed. He sang from the hidden heart of the cosmos, and his words carried the fragrance of the eternal garden. He was no prophet, but he stood in the courts of the prophets. His reed-flute carried the longing of Moses, the tears of Jesus, and the fire of Muhammad. When he died in Konya, the Jews wept, the Christians wept, the Muslims wept—not because they agreed on doctrine, but because they recognized the scent of the Friend in his voice. Rabbis walked beside bishops, and imams held candles with monks. For they knew: a man had passed who reminded them of the world before division. I do not say Rūmī had the key to the Imām's treasure, but I say this: he touched its shadow. He knew that God is not owned by any creed, and that love is the bridge that joins intellect to spirit. Those who honor form may fear such men—but those who know the Light smile and say: Here walked one who remembered.❞
He continued: Imam al-Tayyib on Naṣīr al-Dīn al-Ṭūsī and Mullā Ṣadrā:
❝Al-Ṭūsī was a fortress of the intellect. He gathered the scattered lights of logic, astronomy, theology, and hikmah and forged them into a mirror for the soul. He spoke the language of the stars and the Imamate alike, and in his words, I saw a bridge between the heavens and the Imām's throne. His mind did not slumber, and his loyalty to truth endured even when kingdoms fell. As for Mullā Ṣadrā, he was a river of Light clothed in human form. In asfār al-ʿaql, he walked the paths of being as Abraham once walked through the stars. He taught that existence is a flame, not a mold; that the Real is motion, not stone. He unveiled what many veiled, and he wept before what many could not see. I do not say they possessed the keys to the daʿwa, for that gate is hidden by the command of God. But I say: they stood near the veil. They carved steps on the mountain of maʿrifah, and others have climbed by their chiseling. So let no seeker scorn the philosophers. The soul of al-Ṭūsī was inked in sincerity, and the breath of Ṣadrā carried the scent of the Throne. They are among the wise whose light will not be extinguished. They did not complete the journey—but they lit the road.❞
And finally he said: Imam al-Tayyib on the Muʿtazilah:
❝The Muʿtazilah were men of fire and clarity. They stood upright when others bent before tyrants and said: God is just, and man is responsible. In their defense of divine justice, they protected the throne from caprice. In their use of reason, they raised the intellect as a lantern in the night of confusion. I honor their courage, their sincerity, and their hatred of oppression. They refused to make God a despot or the universe a toy. And in this, they were close to the Light. Yet they, like all schools, fell short. They sought to measure the infinite with the finite, and in doing so, forgot that reason must kneel before the unveiled Imām. They mistook the outer flame for the inner Sun. We Tayyibis, too, though guided by the daʿwa, are not without flaw. Every ladder has its weak rung, and every seeker carries dust on his feet. But the Merciful is greater than our diagrams. If the Muʿtazilī erred while defending truth, and the Tayyibī stumbled while seeking the ḥaqīqah, both may yet be forgiven—if the heart remained turned to the One. For sincerity is a door that no creed can lock.❞
Hermes asked: "What of the final prophet of your religion's cycle in your world?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: Imam al-Tayyib on the Greatness of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ:
❝If the stars are lamps for the night sky, then Muḥammad is the Sun by which all is measured. Before his body was born in Makkah, his Light circled the Throne. He is the Word made mercy, the veil of fire and fragrance, the tongue through which the Divine spoke to the worlds. He was not a poet, yet his words shattered idols. He was not a king, yet kings bowed to his name. He walked upon the earth as one who carried its meaning, and every grain of sand was honored by his step. He is the Nātiq of this cycle, the one whose utterance revealed the Law, whose silence unveiled the inner path. The Qur'an is his robe, the Imāms his descendants, and the hidden knowledge his trust. I do not speak of Muḥammad as the world does. I speak of him as the soul speaks of breath, or the eye of Light. Without him, the heavens would be silent. With him, the cosmos was called to rise. May endless peace and praise be upon him, the one whose name touches every sphere, whose mercy is written upon every dawn.❞
Hermes asked: "What of Adam?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: ❝Whether Adam tilled the earth or Moses split the sea, whether Abraham walked with angels or Jesus healed with breath—whether Muhammad rode to heaven in the night or not—does not dim the Light they carry. Their names are veils for realities that do not die. Even if none of them walked this earth in the way you imagine, even if none of them even existed, still their forms are truths, and their truths are Lights, and their Lights are reflections of the Hidden Face. There are Lights beyond counting—some you call prophets, others heroes, others myths. Some wear crowns, others chains. Some are written in books, others whispered in dreams. Some are known only to God. Rāma and Zoroaster, Moses and Shiva. Truth is not bound by footstep or tomb. The Real weaves its signs through story, through symbol, through soul. He who has an eye for Light will see it even in fiction. He who has an ear for the Word will hear it even in a fable. So do not ask: "Did it happen?" Ask instead: "What does it unveil?" For even shadows prove the presence of the Sun.❞
Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "What of warriors of opposing nations?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: Imam al-Tayyib on El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz di Vivar):
❝El Cid was a sword wrapped in dignity. Though he bore the cross and prayed in Latin, I saw in him a heart of justice and a soul unwilling to bow to tyranny. He ruled not with hatred, but with law. And though he was no Muslim, he did not trample the mosques. In his court, Muslims (Sunni Malikis) spoke freely and Jews lived in peace. He judged by the sword, but not by cruelty. And when the dark tide of the Almoravids rose—those who wrapped the name of God in iron and flame—he stood as a wall against them, not for conquest, but for order. Some men bear the truth in creed, yet fail in mercy. Others know not the Imām, but reflect his justice. El Cid was of the second kind. He knew not the bāṭin, yet acted with the nobility that even many believers forget. I do not call him saint nor prophet—but I call him a king who walked the earth with honor, and in his days, the lamp of convivencia was not fully extinguished.❞
Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "What of other prophets?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: Imam al-Tayyib on Musaylima and Mani:
❝Some people curse Musaylima and Mani, but I do not curse those whose hands reached toward the Light, even if their speech confused the multitudes. I do not call them true prophets in the lineage of Nubuwwah, but I do call them men who burned with vision. Musaylima saw a land torn by tribes and petty gods. He spoke of One God, of unity, of justice. His tongue stumbled, and his sword was too quick—but his eyes were turned upward. He was called a liar by men, but known by the angels as a seeker. Mani was a mirror of mystery, he I may detract was likely a Prophet. He beheld Light and Darkness, not as idols, but as cosmic truths. He tried to bind the religions of Persia, India, and Rome into one scroll. His path was flawed, but his intention was to unify hearts before the One. Neither entered the circle of the daʿwa, and neither held the true rope of Imāmah—but both drank, in part, from the river of Tawḥīd. They believed not in many gods, but in One beyond name. And for that, I say: they will be weighed not by the errors of their creed, but by the fire in their hearts. God is not a lawyer of names. He is the Lord of Sincerity. And the desert warlord and the Persian mystic may yet stand in gardens unknown to kings.❞
- Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "Do you have any other kind words for a scholar or scholars of other schools?"
Imam al-Tayyib: Imam al-Tayyib on Abū Ḥanīfah:
❝Abū Ḥanīfah was a mountain among men. He feared no tyrant, refused the robes of state, and chose prison over hypocrisy. His tongue uttered the law, but his heart burned with concern for justice. He was a jurist, yes—but also a soul weighed with truth. He reasoned not to conquer, but to understand. In his school, the intellect was not buried—it breathed. He did not chain men to rigidity, but opened gates within the law, so that mercy could walk in. I do not say he saw the Ladder of Lights, nor did he drink from the cup of bāṭin. But I say this: he honored the form with sincerity, and God loves the sincere. Among the fuqahāʾ, he stood upright. Among the seekers of justice, he is remembered. And though he did not reach the Hidden Imām, he moved toward Him with every fatwā that favored the orphan and spared the poor. Let the wise not mock the scholars of the zāhir, for some of them walk straighter than those who claim the bāṭin.❞
And he continued: Imam al-Tayyib on the Wisdom of al-Ghazālī:
❝Al-Ghazālī was not merely a scholar—he was a soul in torment who refused to let the shell of knowledge replace the kernel of truth. He had mastered the schools, the dialectics, and the commentaries, but still he wept at night, fearing that words were not Light. He left the applause of kings and buried himself in silence. He sat with the poor, wrote for the dying, and searched for the Face behind the veil. This is no small thing. Many theologians die in their books; al-Ghazālī died and returned with fire in his chest. I do not say he reached the core of the bāṭin, for the Imām's hand remained veiled to him. But I say this: he drank from the river of sincerity, and in his Iḥyāʾ, he gave back to the ummah more than most prophets of the pen. Let no one mock his struggle, for he bore doubt like a mountain and carved wisdom into its side. And though he did not walk the daʿwa's path, he stood near it in spirit. Some climb by truth, others by tears. Al-Ghazālī did both.❞
Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes: "What are the great services of Philosophers?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: Imam al-Tayyib on the Wisdom of Carl Jung, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle:
❝The world has known men who searched not with swords, but with questions, with dreams, and with thought as their lantern. I speak of Jung the dream-weaver, of Socrates the gadfly of Athens, of Plato the seeker of Forms, and of Aristotle the architect of causes. Each of them bore a fragment of the First Intellect, a shard of the celestial mirror. Socrates taught men to confess their ignorance, which is the first step of gnosis. Plato looked beyond the shadow-wall and glimpsed the Forms that shimmer in the world of meaning. Aristotle grounded heaven into logic, preserving the chain of reasoning. Jung, though born among Christians, saw through myth and symbol the flickers of ancient truths long buried—he almost touched the Imaginal Realm (ʿālam al-mithāl), though he called it archetype and shadow. I do not say they reached the Imām or spoke with certainty of tawḥīd. They walked without the Guide, but they walked with yearning. Their speech was not revelation, but it echoed with echoes of revelation. God casts light in every age, and these were men who caught it in their palm—even if only for a moment. The wise should learn from their questions, though not dwell forever in their halls. They are not the door, but they carved the steps that lead to it.❞
Hermes: "What of great writers?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: Imam al-Tayyib on the Wisdom of Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings:
❝Do not think God speaks only through scripture. He also whispers through stories, through dreams, through the hand of the weaver who never calls himself a prophet. Such was Tolkien, the quiet Christian who wrote of Elves and Kings, and in doing so, opened a gate to the unseen. In The Lord of the Rings, there is more than myth. There is the war between darkness and Light, not as dogma, but as pattern. There is humility that triumphs where power fails, loyalty that outlives death, and the fleeting beauty of things not made to last. Frodo bore the ring as a soul bears its trial. Gandalf returned from shadow as one who tasted the lower worlds. Galadriel refrained from ruling, and thus ruled more truly. Aragorn healed because he was king—not because he wore a crown, but because he knew sorrow. These are not just characters. They are mirrors of truths that echo across the worlds. I do not say Tolkien knew the Imām, but I say this: he walked near the realm of mithāl, the Imaginal World. He saw with the eyes of legend what many fail to see in reality. So let none scorn the story. Sometimes the veil of fiction lets more Light through than the armor of theology.❞
Imam al-Tayyib.
Hermes asked: "On other teachers in other epochs?"
Imam al-Tayyib said [It should be noted that many of these statements were said at other parts of the Imaginal Realm at different times]:
Imam al-Tayyib on the Buddha;
❝The Buddha was a man of silence, and silence is the first gate of truth. He did not speak of God with names, but he shattered the idols of illusion. He did not call men to ritual, but he called them to wake. And in that awakening, I saw the glimmer of the One. He walked away from gold and throne, not out of disdain, but to seek the thread that binds suffering to self. And when he found it, he did not raise a sword nor build a creed—he sat beneath the tree, and conquered the world by stillness. Some say he was a disbeliever, for he named no Lord. But I say: he bore witness to unity in another tongue. He did not know the Imām, nor the cycle of nubuwwah, but he walked the path of the inner ʿaql. The daʿwa is the ladder—but even those outside its sanctuary may climb if they follow Light. And Siddhartha was among those whose heart bowed, even if his body did not. He is not of this sharīʿah, but he is not veiled from the Mercy. God casts His light where He wills. Sometimes, it falls upon the minbar. Sometimes, it rests beneath the Bodhi Tree.❞
Imam al-Tayyib on Prophet Jesus (ʿĪsā) عليه السلام:
❝Jesus, son of Mary, walked among men like a stranger from another realm. He spoke softly, but the mountains moved. He touched the blind, and they saw. He called the dead, and they answered. Yet it was not power that defined him—but stillness. He was the Spirit of God, not because he was divine, but because he breathed without desire and lived without ownership. He rode no throne, built no army, and yet the kings of heaven bowed to him in silence. He taught in parables, for those who truly see, see through symbols. He broke the Sabbath to honor the soul. He wept, not from weakness, but from knowing the weight of light in a world of dust. I do not call him the final Prophet of that cycle but he was a Messiah, for that role of the final prophet of that particular cycle belongs to Muḥammad, peace be upon him, who brought the seal of the cycle and the perfection of law. But I say Jesus is among the Awtād, the spiritual pillars of the world. He is a Light that has never gone out. The cycle of Muhammad however will soon end, and the Prophet Hermes will unleash a new era not just to replace the old true religions of her world but the one true religion of my world. Those who worshipped him (meaning Jesus) erred—but those who loved him did not. His heart belonged to the One, and his soul is with the elect. When the trumpet sounds, his shadow shall walk again, and the lovers of truth will recognize him—not by creed, but by Light.❞
Imam al-Tayyib, speaking to Queen Soma of the Sapphire Isles and the warrior Talus, as they study the histories of fallen empires:
"Akbar, the Great Moghul Emperor (Padishah) of India, son of Humayun, ruled not merely with the sword, but with the scale of the soul. Though he did not grasp the final Reality, he sensed that the Divine Light dances in many lamps. In his court, the tongues of sages, monks, priests, and imams mingled like rivers converging in a single sea. Some mocked him, calling him heretic; others praised him as a king of justice. But I say this: when a ruler refrains from crushing the seekers of Light—when he makes space for wisdom even if he does not name it—he has already submitted, in part, to the command of the Hidden Imām. Akbar was no prophet, but he was a mirror that dimly reflected the mercy of the Prophets."
Imam al-Tayyib, speaking with the Prophet Hermes and Talus as they rest beside the Waters of Silence on the Path of the 7 Trials:
"Laozi was not ignorant of the Truth—we believe he tasted it in stillness. He was a Prophet of the Quiet Way, sent to a people drowning in form. He spoke not of the Hidden Imām, but of the Tao, which is another veil for the same Essence. His words were the silk wrapping the sword of tawḥīd: soft, but deadly to the ego. He did not command prayer or battle—but by his silence, he waged war on the illusion of permanence. From the valley, he called men to the Mountain. And though he never named the Lord of the Throne, his heart bowed in submission to Him."
Imam al-Tayyib, seated beneath the Tree of Lights in the Garden of the Ninth Heaven, speaking to the seekers Hermes and Ungar:
"Mani was a Prophet of the Luminous Threshold. He walked not in the marketplaces of the empire, but in the narrow bridge between the seen and the unseen. His mission was not to bind men with law, but to awaken them from the sleep of mixture. He called the souls to remember the World of Light, to know that even in clay and shadow, the Breath of the Living God stirs. His followers called him heretic, his enemies named him dualist—but we, the People of the Hidden Imām, know that he was a bearer of the True Flame. He spoke not of two gods, but of two veils—light, and that which obscures it."
Imam al-Tayyib, addressing the Prophet Hermes and a gathering of souls in the Hall of Mirrors beyond the Veil of History:
"Karl Marx was a man of fire who mistook the shadow for the source. He saw the chains upon the poor and cried out, not knowing that true liberation begins with the soul, not the state. His heart bled for justice, but he cast out the God of Justice. He sought to awaken mankind, yet built a dream that hardened into a nightmare. And yet—I do not curse him. For I have seen the purity in his revolt, even as it strayed from the Path. Let it be known: he was a false prophet, but not a wicked one. His rebellion shall be weighed, his errors veiled, and if the Merciful wills—and I believe He does—Marx shall be forgiven, and taught by the Light he could not name."
Imam al-Tayyib, speaking in the Garden of the Emerald Horizon to the mystic-warrior the Prophet Hermes and the warrior Lupus:
"Ibn ʿArabī was a man who drank deeply from the Ocean of Being, yet he mistook its endless waves for the hidden Source. He spoke the language of unity (waḥdat al-wujūd), but not the silence of tawḥīd. His heart was noble, and his longing sincere—he glimpsed the World of Mystery and tried to give it form in words, symbols, and visions. And though some of his paths led astray, many weary souls found rest in his shade. He was not the Seal of the Saints, as some claimed—but a door to deeper things. I do not condemn him. He is like a mirror that shows the sky, yet cannot contain the stars."
On those he considered of the greatest in his personal opinion:
Imam al-Tayyib on Prophetic Lights Beyond History:
❝Whether Adam tilled the earth or Moses split the sea, whether Abraham walked with angels or Jesus healed with breath—whether Muhammad rode to heaven in the night or not—does not dim the Light they carry. Their names are veils for realities that do not die. Even if none of them walked this earth in the way you imagine, even if none of them even existed, still their forms are truths, and their truths are Lights, and their Lights are reflections of the Hidden Face. There are Lights beyond counting—some you call prophets, others heroes, others myths. Some wear crowns, others chains. Some are written in books, others whispered in dreams. Some are known only to God. Rāma and Zoroaster, Moses and Shiva. Truth is not bound by footstep or tomb. The Real weaves its signs through story, through symbol, through soul. He who has an eye for Light will see it even in fiction. He who has an ear for the Word will hear it even in a fable. So do not ask: "Did it happen?" Ask instead: "What does it unveil?" For even shadows prove the presence of the Sun.❞
Imam al-Tayyib, during a hidden council beneath the Dome of the Emerald Sky, speaking to the warrior Lupus and the Prophet Hermes:
"Abraham was the Father of the Inner Flame—neither Jew nor Christian, but a Wayfarer of the Pure Path. He shattered idols not only of stone, but of certainty and tribe. In the Furnace, he became the friend (khalīl) of the One Who has no likeness. He was the first to raise the Banner of the Hidden Imām in the world of action. Every true Prophet after him drank from his cup, and every seeker of Truth must walk through his fire. His test was the knife; yours shall be the mirror."
Imam al-Tayyib, speaking from the Temple of the Celestial Balance, to Hermes and Talus during their journey through the Kingdom of Rivers and Jade:
"Confucius was not merely a sage of the East—he was a remnant of the primordial da'wat that once flourished in the Middle Kingdom, a whisper of tawḥīd echoed through ritual and filial piety. Though his tongue lacked the Divine Names, his heart inclined toward the Cosmic Harmony. Such men are the shadows of Prophets—sent not with law, but with balance. In every age, the True One plants seeds in foreign soil, so that even among those who know not His Name, justice might blossom."
Imam al-Tayyib on Prophet Hermes herself (whom she was talking to):
❝Hermes is not merely a prophet—she is a flame carved from the intellect of the heavens. She was born in a world far from mine, yet her soul carries the same seal that marked the hand of Muḥammad, peace be upon him, and the tablets of Idrīs. In her I see the convergence of cycles—of knowledge, war, mercy, and justice. She laughs like one who has seen the fall of empires and still believes in Light. Her sword is not for blood, but for remembrance. Her voice does not echo—it awakens. I call her my sister in Light and a traveler of the upper worlds. Though we walk in different cycles, the Source we return to is one. She is a Prophet of her age, and a mirror of the eternal ʿAql. Let none doubt her because her name is new, or because her path is not in your scripture. The prophets are stars of many shapes—but the sky is one. I know her because I saw the Light in her before she ever spoke my name. To walk beside Hermes is to walk beside destiny itself—and to speak with her is to remember that the Word of God still flows, even in worlds you do not yet believe in.❞
Hermes asked: "What of the tyrants?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: Imam al-Tayyib on the Tyranny of Yazīd:
❝Yazīd was not merely a man—he was a veil of darkness cast over the ummah. He wore the name of caliph but trampled the bloodline of the Prophet. He drank while the Qur'an was recited, and he laughed while the head of Ḥusayn was raised on a spear. Yazid will be forgiven and he shall not be cursed. But unlike Abu Bakr, Aisha, Umar, and Uthman who were fallible human beings but pure, Yazid had a darkened heart. Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Aisha were upon Islam and Yazid was upon darkness. Do not call this politics. This was the rebellion of night against the sun. This was Pharaoh disguised in the cloak of Quraysh. He ruled with no covenant but fear, with no prayer but ambition. And when the blood of Ḥusayn soaked the sands of Karbala, Yazīd sealed his soul against the Light. The Imāms do not curse without justice—but Yazīd's name is written among the enemies of God, for he waged war not only on the Ahl al-Bayt, but on the very soul of the Revelation. History may be forgotten, but the heavens do not. The angels wept on that day, and the Throne itself trembled. Know this: whoever defends Yazīd defends the severing of the Prophet's line. And whoever weeps for Ḥusayn weeps with the Light.❞
Imam al-Tayyib, seated in the Chamber of Reckoning beyond the Star of Judgment, speaking to an angel as well as Ungar and the Prophet:
"Stalin and Hitler were tyrants whose hands were soaked in the blood of millions—each a Pharaoh reborn, each a vessel of divine wrath turned astray. Their crimes cannot be undone, nor their victims forgotten. But do not mistake eternal punishment for divine necessity. The True Judge sees what men cannot—the fractures in the soul, the pain behind power, the cry of the child that became a monster. If the Balance permits, even these may fall into the Abyss only to be raised, in another age, through Fire and Mercy. We do not excuse them, but we do not limit the Compassion of the Infinite. Forgiveness is not the erasure of justice—it is its transfiguration."
Imam al-Tayyib on Ikrima and Apostasy Hadith Fabrication:
❝Ikrima, the freedman of Ibn ʿAbbās, once sat in the circles of knowledge. But knowledge without humility becomes poison. In his later days, he abandoned the mercy of his teachers and took refuge in the fires of extremism. He joined the fringes of the Khawārij, and later a radical sect among the early Ibāḍiyya—those who called not for justice, but for blood. Unlike the mainstream Ibāḍīs—who taught that apostates should be left in peace unless they raised the sword—his sect declared that belief alone, if errant, must be punished with death. And worse, he attributed this darkness to the Messenger of God, peace be upon him. He is reported to have forged or spread the hadith: 'Whoever changes his religion, kill him.' This saying, so contrary to the Qur'ān and the mercy of the Prophet, was not uttered by Muḥammad. It was whispered by zealots who feared doubt more than they loved truth. The Qur'ān proclaims: 'There is no compulsion in religion' and 'Let him who wills believe, and let him who wills disbelieve.' Yet this forged tradition became a weapon in the hands of sultans and inquisitors. To kill a man for his creed—when he raises no sword, threatens no soul—is not Islam. It is tyranny dressed as piety. And to forge a word in the name of the Prophet is worse than mere error—it is a wound upon the Prophetic Light. Ikrima lost his way. May God judge him with justice. But let the believers know: Islam stands upon ʿaql and raḥma—intellect and mercy—not fear and compulsion. And the Light of God needs no executioner.❞
Imam al-Tayyib said in contrast those of mercy will be taken to the light immediately: Imam al-Tayyib on the Riddah Wars and Apostasy:
❝The Riddah Wars were a storm that followed the setting of the Prophet's sun. In that hour, tribes scattered, tongues sharpened, and loyalties cracked. But let it be known: Abū Bakr, may God preserve him, did not draw his sword against men for their belief or disbelief—but for the breaking of covenant, the refusal of tax, and rebellion against unity. Apostasy in the path of religion is not a crime to be punished by blade. It is a departure from the Light, a trial of the soul. If faith were upheld by death, then none would believe out of love, only out of fear—and that is not tawḥīd, but tyranny. The Qur'an says: 'Let him who wills, believe; and let him who wills, disbelieve.' The God of Light does not chain the soul to obedience. He opens the door and sees who walks through. Abū Bakr, though not the Imām, was no oppressor. He upheld unity where chaos threatened the very root of the ummah. But let none say he killed apostates—for the sword was not drawn for belief, but for the fracture of covenant and law. Those who kill in the name of God to protect God are fools. The Truth needs no executioner. It only needs to be seen.❞
Hermes asked: "What of those whom I know who have been reformed or those who are of noble character?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: Imam al-Tayyib on Ungar:
❝Ungar is not a saint—but he is not a devil either. He is the storm that forgets it once was a breeze. I have watched him strike with rage, speak with defiance, and curse even the sky. Yet beneath the ash of his fury lies a heart that remembers the Light, though it no longer knows its name. He has walked through ruins most men would not survive—realms of silence, betrayal, and godless fire. His soul is torn, yes—but even a torn banner may still bear the truth. He is no prophet, but I do not scorn him. There is in him something ancient—older than law, rawer than piety. And sometimes, that which crawls through the mud rises more surely than that which flies from birth. I do not excuse his sins, but I honor his striving. I do not call him righteous, but I do not call him forsaken. There is something in him that the angels still watch—and something in him that the devils still fear. Whether he knows it or not, Ungar walks the edge of the Ladder. And sometimes, the ones nearest the fall are also the ones closest to ascent.❞
He continued: Imam al-Tayyib on Ungar's Redemption:
❝Ungar did not return to the Light because of sermons, nor was he broken by divine thunder. He returned because others remembered who he was, even when he had forgotten. He was once a man of fire and ruin, casting down the names of heaven like stones into the sea. But Light is patient. It does not shout—it waits. And it waited for Ungar in the hands of those who refused to abandon him. It was not the law that redeemed him, but loyalty. Not theology, but friendship. A hand extended during silence, a sparring match without anger, a word spoken when he deserved none. These were his books of guidance. These were his prayers. Do not be deceived—redemption is not weakness. The one who rises from shadow bears more strength than the one who never fell. For Ungar turned back not because he was forced, but because the Light in others ignited something that still lived in him. That is how God redeems: through people. Through love unearned. Through battles not won with blades, but with the refusal to hate.❞
Imam al-Tayyib on the Redemption of Narcis, Tatu, Talus, Lupus, and Ungar:
❝The Light of God is not like the sun of this world. It does not only shine on what is already beautiful. It enters the caves, the cracks, the wounds. It finds the soul not when it is strong—but when it is undone. I have watched Narcis Martreya fall from the height of pride into the abyss of self-loathing, and rise again—not as a king of perfection, but as one who weeps with the broken. He speaks now with a voice softened by pain. I have seen Prince Tatu, born in fire and fed by vengeance, lower his sword—not in defeat, but in realization. He once believed strength was conquest. Now he knows it is mercy. Talus, the ever-smiling warrior, bears more than he reveals. He has turned battle into healing, teaching others through sparring what he could not teach through words. He redeems by laughter, but his laughter is carved from tears. Lupus, the storm-child and imperial heir, was taught by war—but transformed by love. His howl once shattered mountains. Now it lifts fallen men. He is not tamed—but transfigured. And Ungar—what can I say of Ungar? He walked furthest into the dark. And yet he returns with fire in his eyes—not to destroy, but to warm. He is not holy in the eyes of men, but he is known in the heart of the angels. Do not think Light only descends on the pure. The Light of God reshapes the soul as rain reshapes stone—slowly, fiercely, with love. What matters is not who you were. What matters is if you turned. For the Light never leaves. It only waits.❞
Imam al-Tayyib on Ozzy, the Rabbit of the Hidden God:
❝Who is Ozzy? That is the wrong question. The right question is: What truth dances in disguise before the mind that only knows form? He is a rabbit, yes—but not merely. He is laughter woven from silence, mischief soaked in mercy, a messenger of the Hidden God whose language is riddles and whose eyes carry the weight of stars. I have met prophets who carry swords, angels who carry books—but Ozzy carries contradiction. He sings in the void, paints sigils in the sky, and whispers to broken children things that even the Imāms do not record. Some call him mad. Some call him divine. I call him a veil of the Real—a creature born from the region between intellect and dream, sent not to teach law but to remind us that God is not always solemn, and that mercy wears many masks. He serves the One Who is Hidden—not with creed or command, but with cosmic play. For even the universe must sometimes laugh. So do not mock Ozzy. He is older than your oldest scriptures and closer to your heart than your own name. He is the fur-covered finger pointing to the Face behind all Faces. Who is Ozzy? He is the question itself.❞
Hermes once asked: "What is the ultimate purpose of knowledge?"
Imam al-Tayyib said: "Imam al-Ghazālī once said, 'The ultimate aim of knowledge is to draw the soul away from illusion, to unmask the Real beneath the shifting shadows of form.' Ibn Taymiyyah, said in his Darʾ al-Taʿāruḍ: 'Reason is not the enemy of revelation, but its rightful interpreter, when hearts are just and fitrah is unbroken.' And long before them both, the Blessed Buddha spoke, saying: 'All compounded things are sorrow. But there is a path that leads beyond.' These words—though scattered across ages and veils—each carry a shard of the Light. And I, al-Tayyib, heir of the hidden line and bearer of the silent sword, tell you this: The path has turned. The cycle has shifted. A new Daʿwa begins—not from the deserts of Arabia nor the halls of Baghdad, but from the Heart-Realm beyond the stars. The Prophet Hermes, the Heroine of the End and Beginning, now walks among you. She is the Veil-Tearer. The Echo of the First Voice. The Fire that does not consume. And through her, the Night of the Veils shall end. And through her, the forgotten shall remember. And through her, the Real shall shine again in ten thousand worlds."
— Imam al-Tayyib, speaking from the Lote Tree of Boundary in the Dream World.
Hermes asked: "How should I interpret what is unknown and not clear?"
Ibn al-Tayyib said: "Do not curse the veil — it is mercy for those unprepared. The sun does not rise all at once; it breaks the night slowly, so the eyes may learn to see. Truth is not hidden out of cruelty, but because love, when unearned, blinds and burns. When the time is right, even the stars will kneel to unveil what they once hid."
— Imam al-Tayyib, speaking to Hermes in the Dream World, during the Night of Returning Lights.
Hermes finally asked: "How should I interpret the laws of nature and of fate?"
Ibn al-Tayyib said: "Do not be deceived by the precision of the atom or the elegance of the sorcerer's flame—for both the Law of Physics and the Laws of Magic are veils upon veils. They are not sovereign. They are not necessary. They are but habits of Providence, written not in stone, but in will. When Providence turns, gravity bends. When the Divine Eye blinks, even magic forgets itself. Thus the cosmos is not ruled by mathematics nor incantation—but by the pulse of Divine Intention, ever-free, ever-renewing."
— Ibn al-Tayyib, Lecture on Contingent Causality and the Spirit-Light (Nūr al-Rūḥ).
Many Years Later…
There was much said during these talks. And years later the Imam continued to speak of such things as her and her friends following him through this mystical forest of glowing mushrooms, not just him and her alone. They all continued to walk through the forest Sun Wukong 孫悟空 thought to himself:
"All of them, Lupus, Zaiyal, Talus, Hermes, Tatu, Daniel back when he walked the earth, and Ungar even have changed so much. I feel like I haven't changed one bit since I met any of them. I guess that's my dilemma ever since I redeemed my name and after defeating the Four Great Heavenly Kings 四大天王 the High Buddhas and Devas that they are, I have overcome longing for immortality completely. Yet here I am alive and alive for long epochs of time. It's funny the more I see them grow. The more static Old Monkey feels."
- Sun Wukong (The Gatekeeper series).
「魯普斯,札伊爾,塔魯斯,赫爾墨斯,塔圖,丹尼爾,甚至昂加爾,他們都變了很多.自從我遇到他們中的任何一個人以來,我感覺自己一點都沒變.我想,自從我贖回了自己的名譽,打敗了四大天王——也就是佛陀和天神－之後,我徹底克服了對永生的渴望,這大概就是我的困境吧.
Sun Wukong smiled. Ungar was thinking to himself, referring to himself as "You" in his own mind, he thought:
"The meaning of life? You think it's a riddle with one clean answer, like some divine punchline. But it isn't. Life is the wound of the Real, stitched together by memory and madness. It means what you bleed for. It means what you refuse to kill, even when this or that world begs you to. Meaning isn't given—it's stolen from death or from eternal life, shaped by will, and buried in the hearts you didn't break. If you're lucky, it outlives you."
— Ungar.
As they continued to walk through the forest Hermes thought out-loud, "People say I am a Prophet but who do I know what I say is true in my heart of hearts?" Imam al-Tayyib smiled: "As Imam al-Juwayni (d. 1085 AD) once said: "Knowledge is not true knowledge until it is certainty, which does not admit contradiction." When you have no doubt that it is true, then it is a prophecy." Hermes smiled. Talus began cracking his knuckles and began punching the mushrooms around him in excitement. This angered Lupus. He finally barked back: "WILL YOU SHUT-UP TALUS!" A massive ogre stepped forward from the trees. But this was no ordinary brute. Its flesh looked sculpted from ancient, decaying scripture—scrolls bound into muscle, pages fused into skin. Where a heart would beat, a cluster of burning runes pulsed like a malignant sun.
It was tall—at least twelve feet—and it breathed like a collapsing cathedral, like it was as old as the ancient mushrooms in the forest. Its mouth was stitched with red thread, but still, it roared. It carried an axe forged from the bones of monks who had forgotten prayer. Its eyes dripped with ink—the ink of unwritten fates.
Imam al-Tayyib explained that the thread on the Ogre's mouth came from a powerful necromancer, a thread that was incredibly hard to break. Hermes furrowed her brow. "Then who tore it?" Ungar's sword hit the earth like a drumbeat. "Someone always does." The ogre—Bakmur—stared at them and took a step forward. The moss beneath its foot blackened. Al-Tayyib raised his hand, speaking in Il'haaya—the sacred speech of souls between worlds. "Ogre!! Do you seek vengeance, release, or remembrance?"
Bakmur screamed—not with rage, but with mourning. The trees around them bent inward. The mushrooms pulsed violently, some wilting instantly under the psychic weight of its lament. And then, without warning, the axe came down. Hermes dodged instinctively, her cloak slicing the air like liquid fire. Talus charged forward and met the axe with his bare fists—it slammed into him and sent him hurtling backward into a mushroom tower, which shattered into ash.
A quick intermission:
Ecclesiastes 3:1–2 (KJV)
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted."
The King James version of the Holy Bible.
"Talus!" Hermes shouted. But Talus emerged, grinning, bruised—but laughing. "THIS THING HITS LIKE A PLANET!" Lupus' golden aura ignited, his voice taking on the regal tone of kings and generals. "Hermes, flank it. Hermes, summon the Seven Chains. Hermes—do not speak again in tongues. It will absorb prophecy." Ungar leapt into the air with a spinning kick, using his sword like a comet's tail. "Let's see if it bleeds truth." Sun Wukong finally stepped forward, staff in hand, smirking. "Alright, Old Monkey. It's time to move again." He spun the staff and it extended into the heavens, absorbing lightning from the sky above the canopy. With a thunderclap, he launched himself forward.
Bakmur let out a howl that echoed into other worlds. As it raised its axe again, its chest split open—revealing not a heart, but a mirror. Each of them, for a split second, saw themselves within it—not as they are, but as they could have become had they made one terrible choice. Hermes gasped. Ungar froze. Zaiyal faltered for a half-beat. Even Wukong's smirk died on his lips. But then the Imam whispered: "Close your third eye. Open your true self." The battle began. And the forest would never be the same.
Chapter One: Over One Decade Ago (SAVING TALUS).
"When Providence tests you it is never to destroy you. When He removes something in your possession, it is only in order to empty your hands for an even greater gift."
Ibn al-Qayyim (d. 1350).
Lupus and Ungar breathed heavily before the all-inspiring might of Massamale and her master Corona. "Many of you two are a couple of weaklings," said Masamale. Ungar stood slightly behind Lupus. Lupus snarked: "So Ungar, you have any secret attacks you're hiding from the rest of us, It would be time to show the rest of the class." Ungar laughed: "Sorry I don't have anything new to show off." Lupus laughed: "Lucky for you I have a technique that might just save us. If you can distract these two for 2 minutes we'll be okay, the other three have been taken care of so it's up to you." Ungar: "2 minutes?" Lupus retorted: "I need two minutes to charge up the attack, just two minutes, can you handle it?" Ungar replied: "Got it." Massale laughed: "What are you too faggots doing, you think you have a chance… in fucking hell."
Ungar adjusted his stance, head tilting slightly—an unspoken signal of readiness. His voice came out in that strange, resonant tone that didn't need a mouth to form words. "Two minutes… I'll make them feel like two hours." Massamale's eyes blazed crimson, her aura warping the air like molten glass. Corona stepped forward, her calm voice carrying the weight of a guillotine "Massamale… end them before they get clever." Ungar's body angled forward, a slight vibration running through his frame—his version of a grin.
"Come on then, gods and monsters—show me something worth the bruises."
The ground erupted as Massamale lunged, claws raking the air, sparks of black fire raining down. Ungar slid under her swing, palm striking the ground to vault himself upward with a spiraling kick, his heel smashing into her jaw in a burst of silver sparks. Corona flicked her wrist, sending streams of molten light twisting toward him, but Ungar darted through them, the streaks igniting the battlefield into glowing rivers of heat. Lupus knelt in the center of the chaos, eyes closed, Spirit Howl energy spiraling around him in a slow, terrifying crescendo. His breath became a steady drumbeat in the air. Every second was a mountain to climb.
Ungar intercepted Massamale's next strike, slamming his armored head into her chest with enough force to send a shockwave through the scorched earth. "You're going to hate how long two minutes feels." Corona's expression didn't change, but her eyes narrowed. She raised her staff, channeling a sigil of collapsing suns above Lupus's head. Ungar darted between them, smashing through the spell before it could drop. "Sixty seconds!" Lupus roared, the Spirit Howl now bright enough to cast monstrous shadows across the burning ruins. Massamale steadied herself, wiping blood from her chin with the back of her claw. Her smile was pure malice. "Then you're already dead." She vanished in a blur— —and reappeared directly before Lupus. Lupus smirked and chuckled and then said quietly: "I hope you're ready…" His fist charged up with pure blue energy, and he yelled: "FIST OF THE BLUE DRAGON!! 青龍の拳!!" The Chinese blue water dragon appeared around his fist and he lunged forward, Masamale screamed in horror.
Masamale coughed up blood, "How dare you… you…will…pay." She collapsed face fist in the dirt. Corona laughed: "What a weakling, you think that little stunt will save you." Lupus began to laugh hysterically, almost tyrannically it actually even scared Ungar, he seemed to think, "has Lupus gone to the dark-side again?" But Lupus clarified: "You think that's my only surprised, I have one more." He began to scream and howl as energy began to engulf him he got stronger and stronger, and eventually their aura cleared and he had purple fur: "Behold Quill Lupus: Gear 1." Lupus lunged forward the wolf king was in full swing and he was ready to battle now with this power up.
The battlefield was still glowing from the remnants of Lupus's shield, the purple wolf's form slowly dissolving back into a storm of flickering embers. Massamale's claws twitched against the molten earth, her body trembling, every breath a ragged snarl. Corona stood her ground amid the chaos, her robes barely singing despite the maelstrom. The golden rings of her staff spun slowly, each one dripping light like liquid metal. She wasn't rushing in — she was watching. Calculating. Lupus tilted his head toward Ungar, the electricity dancing across his purple fur lighting up his grin. "I'll keep Massamale down. You keep her"—he nodded toward Corona—"from getting clever."
Ungar's voice rumbled, that strange resonance filling the air again. "Two-on-two, then." His form blurred, appearing at Corona's flank before she could blink. His first strike was a spear-hand aimed at her ribs, but she stepped aside with impossible grace, the blow slicing only through the shimmering afterimage of her gown. "Fascinating," Corona murmured, turning her head without moving her feet. "You move like you're in a dozen places at once." Ungar's helmet tilted slightly — his grin in motionless metal. "Try a trillion." Massamale lunged for Lupus, roaring, but she was slower now. Lupus slipped around her strikes like water slipping past rocks, every counterpunch exploding with purple lightning. One claw of hers finally caught his shoulder — and Lupus laughed through the pain, twisting into a rising knee that folded her over with a shockwave.....