Master of the Black Pen, Summer 2025
The following is a summary of the three views of motives. Each one represents its own view of what motivates the choices and actions of Iblis.
The Three Faces of Iblis
I.
The Obdurate Face of Iblis
The motive is doctrine, creed, or dogma.
Iblis refuses homage or fealty to Adam because humanity is made from a mixture of altered black mud 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.
Behind the veil of divinity, Iblis opposes the ascent of humanity as a whole.
Behind the veil of divinity, Iblis opposes the ascent of humanity as a whole.
II.
The Illuminative 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.
In this view, Iblis is the primordial steward, warden, disciple, or seneschal.
Before the veil of divinity, Iblis opposes the ascent of humanity as a whole.
Before the veil of divinity, Iblis opposes the ascent of humanity as a whole.
III.
The Traditional Face of Iblis
The motive is hiraeth, origins, lineage, or descent.
Iblis refuses to bow to Adam due to their origins. In Hasidic or Christian apocrypha, Iblis has temporal seniority, is fire and spirit, or fire of fire. In Islamic theology, the lineage of Iblis arose from fire and the lineage of Adam arose from clay.
On this view, Iblis is the primordial linealist, nativist, jingoist, or primevalist.
Beyond the veil of divinity, Iblis opposes the ascent of humanity as a whole.
