Kernel of the Kernel, Concerning the Wayfaring and Spiritual Journey of the People of Intellect, A Shi`i Approach to Sufism

Kernel of the Kernel is a recension by Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad HusyanHusayni Tihrani (d. 1995) of the oral teachings of Allamah MuhammadHusayn Tabatabai (d. 1982), one of the most prominent Iranian ‘ulama of thetwentieth century. The main text has chapters entitled “Kernel of the Kernel,”“Description of the Realms Preceding the Realm of Khulus,” “UndifferentiatedDescription of the Path and Methods of Wayfaring toward God,” and “Differentiated Description of the Path and Methods of Wayfaring towardGod.” Kernel of the Kernel concludes with a general index, an index ofQur’anic verses and ahadith, an index of the sayings of the Shi`i Imams, andan appendix of notes on saints and scholars cited in the text that contains briefbiographies of 37 people.The book consists of Allamah Tabatabai’s teachings, which are augmentedby an interesting commentary/introduction by the editor, AllamahTihrani. Its core part is further prefaced by the translator’s (Muhammad H.Faghfoory) introduction and informative notes on Allamah Tihrani’s life andwork. Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s foreword is the external shell that puts the text’sgeneral esoteric trajectory and the characters involved in composing it in context.Nasr’s foreword, the translator’s notes, and the editor’s introduction areinterspersed with teachings and stories of the lives of the Shi`i sages and scholarsof the past several centuries. This makes the text of interest to students ofSufi hagiography in general, and of Shi`i intellectual life in particular.Kernel of the Kernel is in the genre of the Shi`i tradition of explicatingthe stages of the spiritual path and the doctrinal foundations of wayfaring.Allamah Tihrani begins by discussing the complementary relationshipbetween Islam’s exoteric and esoteric aspects, and argues that the straightpath means combining both of these aspects. As much as contemplation,intellection, logic, reason, and rational argumentation are praised, it is bysubmitting the heart that inward witnessing is achieved. This complementaryrelationship is the book’s underlying theme. Thus, the discussions on“the spiritual traveler” and “immersion in the Divine essence of the Lord,”for example, are balanced with such topics as “the station of being presentin the world of multiplicity while simultaneously witnessing and experiencingthe realms of Divine Lordship.” The text follows with a descriptionof the inner meanings of Islam, faith, migration, spiritual struggle, submission,and ritual practices. At every step of the spiritual path, the authoraffirms the complementary nature of the relationship between wayfaring inthe spiritual realm and being in this world. The last chapter is a condenseddescription of the path and the methods of wayfaring ...