"The Three Faces of Iblis"
The Nameless, Winter 2024
The Three Faces represent distinct views of what motivates Iblis in the context of his narrative. Each shares a stress on the form and material origins of humanity, similar but not identical to Aristotelian hylomorphism. The Three Faces of Iblis exhaust key differences in views of aims and drives.
The Nameless, Winter 2024
The Three Faces represent distinct views of what motivates Iblis in the context of his narrative. Each shares a stress on the form and material origins of humanity, similar but not identical to Aristotelian hylomorphism. The Three Faces of Iblis exhaust key differences in views of aims and drives.
The Three Faces of Iblis
I.
The Obdurate Face of Iblis
The motive is doctrine, creed, or dogma.
In this view, Iblis takes the description of Adam literally, viewing him as an amalgam of altered black clay and divine spirit. When he sees humanity, Iblis insists to God that Adam is a terracotta statue to whom homage would be idolatry.
In this view, Iblis is the primordial fomenter, ultraist, sectarian, or usurper.
II.
The Illuminated Face of Iblis
The motive is fidelity, fealty, or loyalty.
The motive is fidelity, fealty, or loyalty.
Iblis refuses homage to Adam because divinity alone is worthy of it. It is insolence, blasphemy, or polytheism to regard anything but divinity this way. This view is best representative of the traditional Sufi view of Iblis in literature.
In this view, Iblis is the primordial disciple, warden, curator, or steward.
III.
The Traditional Face of Iblis
The motive is nativity, origins, or descent.
Iblis refuses to bow to Adam due to their origins. In Hasidic or Christian apocrypha, Iblis is from fire or spirit and Adam is from dirt or mud. In Islamic theology, Iblis is of a lineage risen from fire and Adam is of a lineage risen from clay.
In this view, Iblis is the primordial nativist, aboriginal, linealist, or primevalist.
