al-Risala al-Nayruziya - Ibn Sina - ضمن Nawadir al-Makhtutat
- Author died
- 428 AH
- Editions
- Sharikat Maktabat wa-Maṭba‘at Muṣṭafā al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī wa-Awlāduh
al-Risala al-Nayruziya (also known as al-Risala al-Nawruziya or al-Risala al-Nayruziya fi huruf abjad) is a philosophical treatise by Ibn Sina (370–428 AH / 980–1037 CE) offering an ontological and arithmetical interpretation of the mysterious isolated letters (fawatih al-suwar) opening various chapters of the Quran .
Composition and Dedication
Ibn Sina composed the treatise as a symbolic gift on the Persian New Year festival of Nawruz for the prince Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd Allah, for whom he also wrote al-Risala al-Adhawiya . In the prologue, Ibn Sina notes that since custom called for presenting gifts on Nawruz and worldly treasures could not match the prince’s standing, he offered wisdom instead, specifically addressing divine secrets encoded in the opening letters of the Quran .
Structure and Content
The work is organized into three concise chapters (fusul) :
- Chapter One: On the Order of Existents and the Characteristics of Each Rank (Fi tartib al-mawjudat wa-l-dalala 'ala khassiyyat kull martaba min maratibiha). Ibn Sina outlines the hierarchy of being, beginning with the Necessary Existent (al-Bari), followed by the Ten Intellects (al-Uqul al-Ashara), the celestial and universal souls (al-Nafs), the realm of nature (al-Tabi'a), and the corporeal world, dividing reality into realms of origination (ibda'), command (amr), creation (khalq), and generation and corruption (takwin) .
- Chapter Two: On How the Letters Signify These Ranks (Fi al-dalala 'ala kayfiyyat dalalat al-huruf 'alayha). Ibn Sina maps the ontological hierarchy onto the traditional abjad numerical order. Letters represent entities either intrinsically as essences (such as Alif for the Creator, Ba for Intellect, Jim for Soul, and Dal for Nature) or relationally to what is beneath them (such as Ha, Waw, Zay, and Ha), using arithmetical multiplication and addition of letter values to derive compound relations, while assigning Ta to prime matter (hayula) .
- Chapter Three: On the Intended Purpose (Fi al-gharad). Ibn Sina applies these principles to interpret specific Quranic letter combinations, such as Alm, Alr, Hm, Ta-Sin, Hm 'Asq, and Nun, explaining each sequence as an oath or symbol pointing to cosmological and ontological realities .
Publication History
The treatise was first published in Istanbul by Matba'at al-Jawa'ib in 1298 AH (1881 CE) as part of the compilation Tis' Rasa'il fi al-Hikma wa-l-Tabi'iyyat (Nine Treatises on Wisdom and Natural Philosophy) .
A critical edition prepared by Abd al-Salam Harun was published within his multi-volume series Nawadir al-Makhtutat (in the fifth group, volume two) . Harun collated five manuscripts—held in Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya, the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts (photographed from the Asafiyya Library in Hyderabad), the Taymur collection, and the British Museum—alongside the earlier Jawa'ib printing, and appended an explanatory table detailing the symbolic correspondences of the letters .
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