Be aware that many understand it in this way that knowledge is intelligence, and intelligence is knowledge, and for this reason they consider it correct to say that every knower is intelligent, and every intelligent being is a knower, even though the coming into being of the two worlds, the wonders of the heavenly spheres and bodies and of the elements and of the things pertaining to natural generation, [all this] is the Knowledge of God. Now since the intelligence acquired by us gives us the benefit of knowing what great benefits are in the power of Intellect, while [at the same time] being incapable of giving us the full benefit thereof, we learn from this that those acts of intelligence acquired by us are outpourings of the universal Intellect upon the particular souls (furū-rīkhtan-i ʿaql-i kull ast bar nufūs-i juzwī), while [Intellect] is one in knowing all things and all knowables. But Intellect did not become one with the Command except after it became one with Pure Knowledge (ʿilm-i maḥḍ), which latter is the Command of God. This is the meaning of Intellect’s becoming one with the Command of God when Command is expressed as Knowledge.
Further, Intellect has yet another [way of] becoming one with the Knowledge which is the Command of God, and that is the outpouring of [the light of] spiritual support (taʾyīd) upon the hearts of God’s chosen ones and His servants. This is the Pure Knowledge which belongs exclusively to the Prophets, the Legatees and the Imams. It is the Knowledge of things found with many Prophets, namely, of future events and turns which cannot be perceived through the knowledge of the motions of the planets and the signs of the zodiac, and the knowledge which they need for the administration of the affairs of the Community, which cannot be perceived through the knowledge of the [worldly] administration of kings. These kinds of knowledge, which are needed for these realities, are called ‘Pure Knowledge’. This Knowledge is not contaminated with anything like seeking proofs, which is, of course, the [ordinary] scientific method; it is not the kind of knowledge arrived at by the scholars of this world through one [or another] among the proofs. Now, the Pure Knowledge which is not contaminated by anything else is the one appropriate exclusively to God. Therefore, of necessity, the Prime Intellect became one with the Knowledge of God and then poured out the light of pure spiritual support upon the hearts of the chosen ones among the Prophets, so that they, thanks to that knowledge [obtained through] spiritual support, revealed for humans the way to live [in this world] and to ‘return’ [to their ultimate home]. Understand this!
Further, Intellect has yet another [way of] becoming one with the Knowledge of God, and that is that which is exclusively with God and was not poured out on any Spiritual Rank (ḥadd), neither on the Universal Soul, nor on the SpeakerProphets, the Legatees and the Imams. As a result, desire for this was permanently in the intellect and remained with the Prophets throughout the cycles (dawrhā) so that each one [among them] would be seeking his share. Thus, to none among the Spiritual Ranks belongs that which is present with the Intellect, and there is no one who can grasp this. And it is on account of this that Intellect thereby realized complete perfection, became self-sufficient and became the Lord for whatever is beneath itself. Understand this!
Intellect, the Command of God and the Word
