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Peace,

I came to The Qur'an: A Complete Revelation as one familiar with Guenon and initiated into a (however degenerated) Sufi tradition already. My appreciation for the work therefore may complete the above, by coming from the other side and noticing how important the Qur'an and al Fātiḥah is as a stable exotericism.

From Guenon:

"Whoever does not take part in any traditional exotericism... gives the purely profane outlook the greatest conceivable scope in his own individual existence; and in these conditions he must necessarily conform all his exterior activity to this outlook.

At another level and with wider consequences this is the same error as that committed by the majority of those modern Westerners who believe themselves still 'religious' but make of religion something entirely apart, having no real contact with the rest of their lives.

...in principle then one ought to make no concession to this point of view [read the rest here: https://books.google.com.au/books?id=NuztqVYcfXAC&pg=PA44&lpg=PA44&dq=%22principle+then+one+ought+to+make+no+concession+to+this+point+of+view%22+guenon&source=bl&ots=nGw4gTT08o&sig=ACfU3U2bwCLHVh_Onlz_qxyeVl7royr5Hg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi_wbjPlq6FAxUVs1YBHaK9AaEQ6AF6BAgPEAI#v=onepage&q=%22principle%20then%20one%20ought%20to%20make%20no%20concession%20to%20this%20point%20of%20view%22%20guenon&f=false ]

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This criticism would be leveled as much to me now that I have put Islam behind me to a great extent, as much to many of the Evolians I have met. I would make the case in my defense though that Qur'anitism of your approach is the perfect exotericism/protective shell/conduction media, that covers that base and even empowers beyond that, even if Guenon would never recognise it because it grows past the religious/sectarian form.

The subtext of the patterns you found in the Muqatta'at would seem to confirm this.

In either case, the symptom identified of comprehended Principle still not being able to be exteriorised in nama-rupa day to day, even if Guenon's diagnosis and treatment (through overestimation of the power of the "East") is off, is pretty great guidance. This manifests most clearly in family and intimate relations, in my experience and observation, amongst Evolians. Guenon's simple personal life and Evola's not-so-much might be the best expression and symbol.

Peace.

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Dear Yusuf,

A most insightful comment.

Despite the tremendous service Guénon provided us (you link above to his excellent Initiation and Spiritual Realisation above), events have shown him to be (as I put it elsewhere) optimistic (he died in 1952).

The only realistic position given the facts, as I see it, in the context of degeneration (such as you have yourself experienced) is to live as a "man among the ruins" which (as I know you appreciate) is the Evolian method.

Guénon was accused of overestimating the power of the "East" as you say; but it is perhaps better put to consider that he underestimated the power of the "West" over the geographical East even of his day.

Stated differently, in the 12th century, for example, we in Europe were not "Western" in Guénonian terms; we were "Eastern".

Something I have come to understand explicitly only recently is that the true dichotomy is not between East and West, or Capitalism and Communism; it is between Tradition (in the Guénonian sense) and Technique (in the Ellulian sense). At least, that framework allows me to make better sense of things.

Peace and kind regards,

Sam Gerrans

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I appreciate the pointer towards Ellul.

Evola and Guenon disagreed about Kshatriya and Brahmins fundamentally (I think integration of the views is possible). Beyond theory, the outcome of that may be reflected in the superior practical relevance of Evola's advice, and that for Guenon's embodied example...

https://rb.gy/kbb53t

Guenon's acceptance of the Qur'an as a primary guide, so that the "Straight Path" linking outside to inside and vice versa, could be taken "amongst the ruins" without using "Left Hand" ones, might account for any truth that may be in this meme.

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56 - wowzers!

Also, thank you for clarifying the exact functionality, very important.

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Hadn't realised until a recent demo showing a built-in word count functionality. First random word count I selected was 'Rahmaan' - 21; great tool.

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For ar-raḥmān it is 56: https://reader.quranite.com/verses/arabicSearchResult/?type=word&word=2LHZkdmO2K3ZktmF2Y7ZsNmG

For raḥmān, as you say, it is 21: https://reader.quranite.com/verses/arabicSearchResult/?type=arabic&word=2bHZhNix2ZHZjtit2ZLZhdmO2YDZsNmG2ZA=

Please bear in mind that it returns the number of verses in which a word or form appears. You should check that no verse has multiple instances if the precise number is important to you.

Peace,

Sam Gerrans

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I now note...

56 / 7 yields 8 - note, 5678.

He created 8 objects (7 skies/heavens, 1 earth) in 6 - a rate of 3/4 (0.75).

Pretty cool

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