Spiritual Apocalypse: The Qa’im al-Qiyama in the Thought of Nasir-i Khusraw

This paper examines the doctrine of Qa’im al-qiyama (Lord of the Resurrection) espoused by the eleventh century Ismā‘īlī Muslim thinker, da‘i and poet, Nāṣir-i Khusraw (d. 1088). The notion of the Qā’im or Mahdi is a messianic doctrine of Shi’i Islam that revolves around the expectation of particular descendent of the Prophet Muhammad who would rise up and restore justice to the world. With the rise of the Fatimid dynasty in 909, Ismaili da‘is had to re-formulate ideas of the Qa’im al-qiyama in order to reconcile the Imamat of the Fatimid Imam-Caliphs with prior Ismaili messianic ideas concerning the advent of the Qa’im. By examining several works of Nasir-i Khusraw, this paper argues that Nasir’s eschatological thought depoliticizes and spiritualizes the role of the Qa’im in contrast to the earlier Isma‘ili messianic doctrines. This is demonstrated in Nāsir's differentiating the rank and function of the Qa’im al-Qiyama from the those of the Prophets and the Imams, his introduction of secondary eschatological figures such as the Proof (hujja) and Vicegerent (khalifa) of the Qa’im, and finally, the manner in which he stresses the role of the Qā’im in spiritual and cosmic terms as opposed to political roles. In presenting Nasir’s views on qiyama, the paper will also note how he integrates the ideas of previous Ismaili Imams and da‘is such as the Imam 'Abdullah al-Mahdi, the Imam al-Mu'izz (d. 975), Qadi al-Nu‘man (d. 974), Abu Ya‘qub al-Sijistani (d. after 971), Abu Hatim al-Razi (d. 934), and his contemporary al-Mu’ayyad fi’l-Din al-Shirazi (d. 1078) – all of whom spiritualized the concept of the Qa’im al-qiyama. Through these formulatlions, Nasir is able to synthesize a doctrine of qiyama that is rich with eschatological expectations while affirming the spiritual and political authority of a continuous line of Ismaili Imams (the Fatimid Caliphs) in his own time. The paper will then briefly consider how the formulations of the qiyama in Nasir's thought can inform our understanding of the Qiyama declared by the Nizari Imam Hasan 'ala-dhikrihi al-salaam in 1164 at Alamut, especially with respect to the exact position or religious rank that Imam Hasan lay claim to and the issue of abrogation.