2

On the Symbolism of the N.U.R. Calligram

ّ
‫ر‬

Praise be unto God Who Revealed the mysteries of Light by the calligram of Light! And salutations

and blessings be upon the Temples of Light from before and after! Amen!

Know, O brethren of the Fāṭimiyyic Light, that the N.U.R. calligram is composed precisely

of twenty-eight elements that can be divided into seven sets: i. a single enclosing circle

around the insignia; ii. nineteen dots or nuqṭas (٠) (plural nuqāṭ) divided into two sets of

N. Wahid Azal & N.U.R.-FSA © 2002-2019

 3

nine with one single dot which is the dot under the letter bāʾ); iii. one letter alif (ٔ ); iv. one

letter bāʾ (‫ ;)ب‬v. two seats of the letter nūn (‫( )ں‬above each of which occurs one of the dots

of the two sets of nine); vi. two letter wāws (‫ ;)و‬and vii. two letter rāʾs (‫)ر‬. The symbolism of

seven is extensive. We have elsewhere glossed it, whether overtly or by implication, but

for our purposes here it can by inference refer to the seven independent sigils of the

Greatest Name/Dignity of the Sun; as well as the seven planets and seven days with each of

their heptadic correspondences in the N.U.R. calendar; the seven laṭīfas; the seven worlds;

the seven verses of the al-fātiḥa and also those of the fātiḥat’ul-nūr; and especially, the

Essence of the Seven Letters (‫)ع ل ي م ح م د‬, etc.

The image was simultaneously revealed to us as well as to a former member of the

N.U.R. Group during an Ayahuasca ceremony in February 2007 (Year 2) in Goonengerry,

NSW, Australia. In consultation with us, this individual soon afterwards sketched out the

image into the calligram seen above but without understanding its true Shiʿi-Bayānī

significance. However, the individual in question misunderstood elements of the esoteric

symbolism of the N.U.R. calligram, as is especially apparent in the essay they composed

regarding it some time later, so here we will detail its correct meanings. They were correct

in pointing out that the calligram’s design is a hybrid between a tughra (insignia) and

muthanna (emblem): a tughra being a unique calligraphic seal (usually favored by royalty)

whereas a muthanna is “the technique of mirroring a pictorial design in which the composition on

the left mirrors the composition on the right.” But where the N.U.R. calligram is concerned

specifically, this is where the accuracy of their exposition ended. But note the principle of

mirroring, because this principle is central to the dynamic meaning of our calligram.

Now, the enclosing circle, as already discussed elsewhere, in our symbolism refers

in all cases to the symbolic reality of the word allāh (‫)ﷲ‬, i.e. God. Let us reiterate here that

in the Bayān the circular talismanic form has been assigned to women whereas the

pentalpha has been assigned to men. Given this, and particularly when gender is elevated

N. Wahid Azal & N.U.R.-FSA © 2002-2019

 4

to its metaphysical root and meaning, the symbolism of the enclosing circle in our

Tradition always refers to the feminine divine principle, i.e. the Sakīna/Shekinah.

Following from above, the symbolism of twenty-eight (one of the most ancient of

numbers referring to the divine feminine) is now obvious. First, it is the abjad of the divine

name/word waḥīd (‫– )وﺣ ﺪ‬- i.e. one, singular, unique –- that corresponds to one of the

spellings of the name yaḥyā (‫( )ﳛﻰ‬i.e. John). The clear reference to Ṣubḥ-i-Azal is evident.

Likewise it is also the numerical value of aḥadīya (‫) ٔ ﺪﻳﺔ‬, i.e. the Exclusive Oneness, which

Ibn ʿArabī indicates in the Futūḥāt al-Makkīyah as being gendered in the feminine and thus

pronominally referable as ‘She’ (‫)ﱔ‬. As mentioned elsewhere, aḥadīya refers to the highest

and penultimate modality of the hidden and transcendent ipseity’s unicity in Its state of

concealed absoluteness; and as we have indicated in our commentary on the significance

of the People of the House (‫ )ع‬in mystical wayfaring, aḥadīya (‫ )ا ﺪﻳﺔ‬below, it is that station of

the ipseity’s unifocal absoluteness and totalistic unicity which in the theophanology of

divine Persons specifically corresponds to Fāṭima (‫)ع‬. Twenty-eight is also the number of

letters in the Arabic alphabet. It is the number of lunar mansions. It is also the number of

days in each of the thirteen N.U.R. months.

Next, two sets of nine dots (or nuqāṭ) occur on the top left and right hand side of

the calligram. The number nine first instances the letter ṭā’ (‫ )ط‬which is the first letter of

Ṭāhirah (‫( )ﻃﺎﻫﺮة‬i.e. ‘the Pure’, who as the Seventeenth Letter of the Living of the First Unity

of the Bayān was considered to be the ‘return’ of Fāṭima). Eighteen refers to the Eighteen

Letters of the Living of the First Unity of the Bayān (i.e. the first eighteen individuals who

recognized the veracity of the Bāb), eighteen being the abjad of ḥayy ( ّ ) (i.e. ‘Alive’,

‘Living’). The single dot under the letter bāʾ (‫ )ب‬refers to the Primal Point (‫"وﱃ‬ ‫ )ﻧﻘﻄﺔ‬which
itself references the famous ḥadīth by ʿAlī (‫)ع‬: “All of the Qur’ān is contained in the fātiha;

and all of the fātiha is contained within the [four words and nineteen letters of the]

bismillāh…and all of the bismillāh is contained within the [letter] bāʾ; and I am the dot

beneath the [letter] bāʾ!” Together the nineteen total dots (or nuqāṭ) within the calligram

N. Wahid Azal & N.U.R.-FSA © 2002-2019

 5

reference the First Unity (‫"ول‬

ّ ‫ )وا ﺪ‬of the Bayān, i.e. the Bāb and His Eighteen Letters of
the Living.

Below we have the word nūr (‫( )ﻧﻮر‬i.e. ‘Light’) on the right hand side and then

inversely duplicated and mirrored on the left. The tails of the two letter rāʾs (‫ )ر‬of the two

nūrs are joined together and connected, which, given this feature, in the center

underneath the letter bāʾ (‫ )ب‬we find generated the letter nūn (‫)ن‬. The two nūrs are, first,

the “Light upon Light” (‫ﻧﻮر‬ ‫ﻧﻮر )ﲆ‬

ٌ ) of the Qur’ān’s Light Verse (24:35). Next, in the

following layer of meaning nūr refers to Ḥusayn (‫ )ع‬and His ‘return’ as Ṣubḥ-i-Azal. The two

nūrs mirroring each other instance this process. Note also how Ḥusayn (= 128) x 2 = 256 =

nūr. Note as well that the Bāb specifically bestowed the title nūr upon Ṣubḥ-i-Azal, not to

mention that the ancestral locale of Ṣubḥ-i-Azal in Māzandarān is named nūr. Nūr is also

often one of the epithets of Fāṭima (‫ )ع‬as well as Muḥammad’s (‫ )ص‬and sometimes (together

with bahāʾ) is collectively applied to the Fourteen Infallibles (‫ )ع‬as a whole. The inverse

duplication on the left, which faces the right, references both the mystery of ‘return’ as

ٓ ) who mirrors the

detailed in the Bayān as well as the reality of the divine Mirror (‫ﻣﺮت‬

Point of the divine Will (‫ﺖ‬0‫ﻴ‬3‫)ﻧﻘﻄﮥ ﻣﺸ‬. In other words, the reality of this relationship is as the

primary form and the reflection it casts in the mirror, the left hand nūr representing the

reflection with the right hand nūr representing the primary form. Put another way, it is

the manifestation (maẓhar) and its epiphany (mawqiʿ).

The letter alif (ٓ ) placed in the center top represents both the alif of aḥadīya (‫ )ا ﺪﻳﺔ‬as

well as the cosmic Pen (qalam). For its part the letter bāʾ (‫ )ب‬in the center represents the

Well-Guarded Tablet (lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ) upon which the cosmic Pen writes the destiny of all

things in pre-creation. Here if the Pen be taken as the Universal Intellect (‫ﰻ‬
ّ ‫ )ﻋﻘﻞ‬then the
Well-Guarded Tablet (lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ) is the Universal Soul (‫ﰻ‬
ّ ‫)ﻧﻔﺲ‬. Another way to put it is
to designate the alif (ٓ ) as the symbolic representation of the Primal Will (‫"وﱃ‬ ‫ﺔ‬:;‫ )ﻣﺸ‬with
the letter bāʾ (‫ )ب‬being the representation of the Primal Volition (‫"وﱃ‬ ‫)ارادة‬. Next we have

N. Wahid Azal & N.U.R.-FSA © 2002-2019

 6

the two rāʾs (‫ )ر‬forming the letter nūn (‫)ن‬. Nūn refers in one instance to the archangel

Metatron (i.e. malak al-nūn, the archangel of the Letter ‘N’ per Qur’ān 68:1). In the next

ّ
instance, here the letter nūn stands for the Universal Nature (‫ﰻ‬ ‫ )ﻃﺒﻴﻌﺔ‬which is in this
scheme must then be corresponded to the Primal Determination (‫"وﱃ‬ ‫)ﻗﺪر‬. Although all
of these specific metaphysical symbols also hold other correspondences, here in the N.U.R.

calligram this is what they are meant to correspond to. Finally, the letters alif (ٓ ), bāʾ (‫)ب‬

and nūn (‫ )ن‬spell out the word ‘ibn’ (‫)ا@ﻦ‬, meaning ‘the son of’, here specifically denoting ‘the

son of Light’ (‫اﻟ ّﻨﻮر‬ ‫ )ا@ﻦ‬that as a phrase exclusively evokes the initiate of the Eternal Imām,
i.e. the one who has realized the Imām-of-their-being. Also note the symbolism of the bāʾ

(‫ )ب‬and nūn (‫ )ن‬discussed previously

Now, sans the top right and left hand nuqāṭ and the enfolding circle, there are

precisely eight letters in the N.U.R. calligram: eight abjad letters which can be calculated

in jafr. These are the two nūns (‫)ن‬, the two wāws (‫)و‬, the two rāʾs (‫)ر‬, the alif (ٔ ) and the bāʾ

(‫)ب‬. The sum of these letters in abjad yields 515 (= 11). 515 is in Arabic the sum of the

phrase ‘It/He is the enlivener and the taker of life’ (‫ﳝﻴﺖ‬ ‫ )ﻫﻮ ﳛﲖ و‬which is composed of eleven
letters. Eight, as we may recall, is the Saturnian number, and in the N.U.R. calendar --

Saturn being Saturday and so the first day of our week -- is assigned to Muḥammad (‫)ص‬,

the nūr. The planet and the day also correspond in our scheme with the pentagrammic seal

of the Greatest Name as well as hūwa (‫)ﻫﻮ‬, i.e. He/It, which is eleven. Furthermore, if we

look at the alif and the two sets of nine nuqāṭ on either side, we behold the Tree, i.e. the

symbolic Tree of Life, “a blessed Tree neither of the east nor the west,” which subsists upon the

bāʾ whose seed is the Primal Point which is nourished in its roots by “Light upon Light.” This

can be taken as the symbolic Tree of Life (shajarata’l-ḥayāt) at the Station of Fire in the

Valley of N.U.R. (note the combined eighteen points composing the crown of the Tree) as

well as the celestial Tree of Light (shajarata’l-nūr) itself, viz. the epiphany of the Eternal

Imām who gives (initiatic) life and takes it away (through the transformative process of

N. Wahid Azal & N.U.R.-FSA © 2002-2019

 7

palingenesis where the initiation is realized in the death from a former, inferior state of

being and resurrection and life into a new, higher one). Insofar as the calligram conveys

the symbolic Tree of Life (shajarata’l-ḥayāt) at the Valley of N.U.R., the enfolding circle

consequently symbolizes the Station of Fire.

Thus does this calligram of the N.U.R. communicate the Fāṭimīya doctrine from

initiation to consummation. And God knows best, for no power and no strength is there

save in God the High, the Supreme!

N. Wahid Azal & N.U.R.-FSA © 2002-2019