ghulat

A bilingual fragment of surah [[al-Nisa, which discusses diviners.|thumbnail]]

Like Shi'i Islam itself, the origins of the ghulat lie in the pro-Alid movements of the late 7th century that fought against the Umayyad Caliphate (661–750) to bring one of Ali's descendants to power. The earliest use of the term ghulat is found in several reports about the followers of Mukhtar al-Thaqafi, leader of a revolt against the Umayyads on behalf of Ali's son Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, which was part of the Second Fitna, 680–692. According to these reports, some of al-Thaqafi's followers organized regular meetings in the houses of various Kufan women to listen to diviners prophesying about future events.{{harvnb|al-Qāḍī|1976|pp=295–297}}; {{harvnb|Anthony|2018}}.

The followers who attended these meetings were denounced as ghulat by other followers of al-Thaqafi.{{harvnb|al-Qāḍī|1976|p=297}}. The Arabic verb ghala 'to exaggerate; to transgress the proper bounds', was in broader use at the time to denounce perceived 'un-Islamic' activities,{{harvnb|Anthony|2018}}. which may include soothsaying (kahana). But the use of the term here could hardly have been in reference to this, since al-Thaqafi himself often practiced soothsaying, and was respected for this by all of his followers.{{harvnb|al-Qāḍī|1976|p=297}}.

Rather, the reason for the use of the term ghulat for this subgroup of al-Thaqafi's followers may be more specifically related to the Quranic use of the word ghala ('exaggerate').{{harvnb|al-Qāḍī|1976|pp=297–299}}. It occurs in the Quran twice, in the surahs an-Nisa (4:171) and al-Ma'idah (5:77), as follows (occurrence of the word ghala underlined):

{{quote|4:171. O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion, nor utter anything concerning God save the truth. Verily the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of God, and His Word, which He committed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and say not “Three.” Refrain! It is better for you. God is only one God; Glory be to Him that He should have a child. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God suffices as a Guardian.{{cite book|editor1-last=Nasr|editor1-first=Seyyed Hossein|editor1-link=Seyyed Hossein Nasr|editor2-last=Dagli|editor2-first=Caner K.|editor2-link=Caner Dagli|editor3-last=Dakake|editor3-first=Maria Massi|editor3-link=Maria Massi Dakake|editor4-last=Lumbard|editor4-first=Joseph E. B.|editor4-link=Joseph E. B. Lumbard|editor5-last=Rustom|editor5-first=Mohammed|editor5-link=Mohammed Rustom|date=2015|title=The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary|location=New York|publisher=HarperOne|isbn=978-0-06-112586-7}} Pp. 266–268 (verse 4:171).}}

{{blockquote|5:72. They certainly disbelieve, those who say, “Truly God is the Messiah, son of Mary.” [...] 73. They certainly disbelieve, those who say, “Truly God is the third of three,” while there is no god save the one God. [...] 5:75. The Messiah, son of Mary, was naught but a messenger—messengers have passed away before him. And his mother was truthful. Both of them ate food. [...] 76. Say, “Do you worship, apart from God, that which has no power to benefit or harm you, when it is God Who is the Hearing, the Knowing?” 77. Say, “O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion beyond the truth, and follow not the caprices of a people who went astray before, and led many astray, and strayed from the right way.”{{harvnb|Nasr|Dagli|Dakake|Lumbard|Rustom|2015|pp=315–318}} (verses 5:72–77).}}

The "People of the Book" mentioned here refers to Christians, who are castigated for ascribing a divine status to the prophet Jesus. He was not a "child" of God, but "only a messenger" who like all normal human beings "ate food".{{harvnb|Nasr|Dagli|Dakake|Lumbard|Rustom|2015|pp=266–267, 317}} (commentaries on 4:171 and 5:75). The Christian claim that "God is the Messiah, son of Mary" is characterized in 5:72 and other verses as 'disbelief', as is the claim that "God is the third of three", a reference to the Trinity, in which Jesus is believed to be consubstantial with the Godhead.{{harvnb|Nasr|Dagli|Dakake|Lumbard|Rustom|2015|p=315}} (commentary on 5:72). The Quranic concept of 'exaggeration' in both cases refers to 'exaggerating' the status of a prophet as being more-than-human.{{harvnb|Nasr|Dagli|Dakake|Lumbard|Rustom|2015|p=317}} (commentary on 5:77).

It seems probable that the followers of al-Thaqafi who gathered in the Kufan houses were likewise denounced by their colleagues for having exaggerated the status not of Jesus, but of Ali.{{harvnb|al-Qāḍī|1976|pp=298–299}}. There had been an earlier movement in Kufa called the Saba'iyya, named after the South Arabian Jewish convert Abd Allah ibn Saba', who according to some reports had insisted that Ali was not dead and would return (raj'a) to seek revenge upon those that opposed him.{{harvnb|al-Qāḍī|1976|p=300}}; {{harvnb|Anthony|2018}}. On Abd Allah ibn Saba', see the dedicated study by {{harvnb|Anthony|2012}}.

Since remnants of the Saba'iyya still existed in the time of al-Thaqafi, and since one of the Kufan women at whose house the group denounced as ghulat gathered belonged to the Saba'iyya, it may well be that this group also belonged to the Saba'iyya.{{harvnb|al-Qāḍī|1976|p=300}}; {{harvnb|Anthony|2018}}.

After Mukhtar al-Thaqafi died in 687, his movement sometimes came to be referred to as the Saba'iyya, and when Muhammad ibn al-Hanafiyya, the Alid whom al-Thaqafi's movement had supported, also died in 700, his followers, the Kaysaniyya, claimed that ibn al-Hanafiyya had gone into hiding ({{transliteration|ar|ghayba}}), and that he would return before the Day of Judgment as the Mahdi to establish a state of righteousness and justice.{{harvnb|al-Qāḍī|1976|pp=300–301}}.

It appears that in its earliest usage, the term ghulat referred to those Shi'a who taught the dual doctrine of the Occultation ({{transliteration|ar|ghayba}}) and return (raj'a) of the Imam, which other Muslims perceived as an 'exaggerated' view of the Imam's status.{{harvnb|al-Qāḍī|1976|pp=305, 315}}. Later sources attributed to these earliest ghulat some of the ideas for which the later ghulat would become known, most notably the outright divinization of Ali, but there is no good evidence that this was the case.{{harvnb|al-Qāḍī|1976|p=300}}. {{harvnb|Anthony|2012|p=316}} describes the earliest {{transliteration|ar|ghulāt}}'s (the {{transliteration|ar|Sabāʾiyya}}'s) view of Ali as a type of messianism that was certainly tendentious from a religious point of view, but that stopped short of regarding him as divine. Rather, the 8th-/9th-century need to attribute these ideas to the earliest ghulat probably arose from the fact that, while groups like the Saba'iyya had traditionally been known as {{transliteration|ar|ghulāt}}, their actual core ideas of occultation and return had become standard tenets of Twelver and Isma'ili Shi'ism, and so other ideas needed to be ascribed to them to justify the ghulat label.{{harvnb|al-Qāḍī|1976|pp=305–306, 315–316}}.

Nevertheless, the later ghulat did probably originate from these early groups,{{harvnb|Anthony|2018}}. and some glimpses of later ideas may sometimes be found, for example the belief in metempsychosis, which was attributed to early 7th-century ghulat leaders such as the women Hind bint al-Mutakallifa or Layla bint Qumama al-Muzaniyya.

One important difference with the later groups is the prominent role played by women, who organized the early ghulat meetings in their houses and who often acted as teachers, upholding a circle of disciples.{{harvnb|Anthony|2018}}. This stands in stark contrast to the ideas of the later ghulat, who ranked women between the status of animals and men in their spiritual hierarchy.{{harvnb|Anthony|2018}}. E.g., {{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|p=26–27}}.

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Bayan ibn Sam'an (died 737) was the leader of a ghulat sect called the Bayaniyya.See {{harvnb|Halm|2001–2012}}; {{harvnb|Hodgson|1960–2007a}}; {{harvnb|Walker|2011}}. See further Tucker, William F. "Bayān ibn Sam‵ān and the Bayāniyya" in {{harvnb|Tucker|2008|pp=34–51}}.

Al-Mughira ibn Sa'id (died 737), leader of a ghulat sect called the Mughiriyya, was an adept of the fifth Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (677–732).See {{harvnb|Halm|2001–2012}}; {{harvnb|Madelung|1960–2007}}; {{harvnb|Wasserstrom|1985}}. See further Tucker, William F. "al-Mughīra ibn Sa‵īd and the Mughīriyya" in {{harvnb|Tucker|2008|pp=52–70}}.

Abu Mansur al-Ijli (died {{circa|738}}–744) was the leader of a ghulat sect called the Mansuriyya who was killed by the Umayyad governor Yusuf ibn Umar al-Thaqafi.{{harvnb|Anthony|2018}}. See further Tucker, William F. "Abū Mansūr al-‵Ijlī and the Mansūriyya" in {{harvnb|Tucker|2008|pp=71–87}}.

Abd Allah ibn Harb (died 748–9) was the leader of a ghulat sect called the Janahiyya who was killed by the Abbasid activist Abu Muslim al-Khurasani.{{harvnb|Halm|2001–2012}}. See further Tucker, William F. "‵Abd Allāh ibn Mu‵āwiya and the Janāhiyya" in {{harvnb|Tucker|2008|pp=88–108}}.

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Abu al-Khattab al-Asadi (died 755) was the leader of a ghulat sect called the Khattabiyya who was killed by the Abbasid governor Isa ibn Musa. For a time, he was the designated spokesman of the sixth Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq ({{circa|700}}–765), but Ja'far repudiated him in {{circa|748}}.{{harvnb|Halm|2001–2012}}; {{harvnb|Sachedina|1983–2012}}; {{harvnb|Amir-Moezzi|2013}}.

{{main|al-Mufaddal ibn Umar al-Ju'fi}}

Al-Mufaddal ibn Umar al-Ju'fi (died before 799) was a close confidant of Ja'far al-Sadiq and his son Musa al-Kazim (died 799) who for some time was a follower of Abu al-Khattab. Imami heresiographers regarded him as the leader of a ghulat sect called the Mufaddaliyya, but it not certain whether this sect ever existed. A number of important ghulat writings were attributed to him by later authors (see below).

Ishaq al-Ahmar al-Nakha'i (died 899) was the leader of a ghulat sect called the Ishaqiyya. Some writings were also attributed to him.{{harvnb|Asatryan|2000–2012a}}; {{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|loc=p. 200, s.v. Isḥāq Aḥmar al-Nakhaʿī}}.

{{main|Ibn Nusayr|al-Khasibi|Alawites}}

Ibn Nusayr (died after 868) and al-Khasibi (died 969) were the two most important figures in the founding of Nusayrism (called Alawism in the contemporary context), the only ghulat sect that still exists today.On Ibn Nusayr, see {{harvnb|Friedman|2000–2010}}; {{harvnb|Steigerwald|2010}}. On al-Khasibi, see {{harvnb|Friedman|2008–2012}}; {{harvnb|Friedman|2016}}. On Nusayrism in general, see {{harvnb|Bar-Asher|2003}}; {{harvnb|Bar-Asher|Kofsky|2002}}; {{harvnb|Friedman|2010}}.

{{main|Umm al-kitab (Shi'i book)}}

The Umm al-kitab ({{Langx|ar|أمّ الکتاب|lit=Mother of the Book}}) is a syncretic Shi'i work originating in the ghulat milieus of 8th-century Kufa. It was later transplanted to Syria by the 10th-century Nusayris, whose final redaction of the work was preserved in a Persian translation produced by the Nizari Isma'ilis of Central Asia.{{harvnb|Daftary|2015}}. The work survives only in Persian.Persian text edited by {{harvnb|Ivanow|1936}}. Full Italian translation by {{harvnb|Filippani-Ronconi|1966}}. Partial German translation by {{harvnb|Tijdens|1977}}. German translation of some parts of the text in {{harvnb|Halm|1981|loc=pp. 36 ff.}} and {{harvnb|Halm|1982|loc=pp. 113 ff.}} It contains no notable elements of Isma'ili doctrine,{{harvnb|Daftary|2015}}; {{harvnb|De Smet|2020|p=303}}. but given the fact that Isma'ili authors starting from the 10th century were influenced by early ghulat ideas such as those found in the Umm al-kitab,Early Isma'ili authors who adapted {{transliteration|ar|ghulāt}} ideas include Ja'far ibn Mansur al-Yaman (died {{circa|957}}; see {{harvnb|De Smet|2020|pp=303, 308}}) and Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani (died after 971; see De Smet 2020, pp. 304, 307–308). and especially given the influence of these ideas on later Tayyibi Isma'ilism,{{harvnb|De Smet|2020|loc=pp. 320–321 et passim}}. some Isma'ilis do regard the work as one of the most important works in their tradition.

The work presents itself as a revelation of secret knowledge by the Shi'i Imam Muhammad al-Baqir (677–732) to his disciple Jabir ibn Yazid al-Ju'fi (died {{circa|745}}–750).{{harvnb|Halm|2001–2012}}. Its doctrinal contents correspond to a large degree to what 9th/10th-century heresiographers ascribed to various ghulat sects, with a particular resemblance to the ideas of the {{transliteration|ar|Mukhammisa}}.{{efn|On the {{transliteration|ar|Mukhammisa}}, see {{harvnb|Asatryan|2000–2013}}.}} It contains a lengthy exposition of the typical ghulat myth of the pre-existent shadows (Arabic: azilla) who created the world by their fall from grace, as is also found in the Kitab al-Haft wa-l-azilla attributed to al-Mufaddal ibn Umar al-Ju'fi (died before 799).

File:Kitab al-Haft al-sharif (al-Mufaddal) - photograph of manuscript as shown in ed. Mustafa Ghalib 1964 (cropped).png

The Kitab al-Haft wa-l-azilla (Book of the Seven and the Shadows), also known as Kitab al-Haft al-Sharif (Book of the Noble Seven/Noble Book of the Seven) or simply as Kitab al-Haft (Book of the Seven),{{efn|Edition of the Arabic text in {{harvnb|Tāmir|Khalifé|1960}}, {{harvnb|Ghālib|1964}}, and {{harvnb|Tāmir|2007}}; critical edition of chapter 59 in {{harvnb|Asatryan|2020a|pp=296–298}}; discussion of the various editions in {{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|pp=18–19}}. On this text, see also {{harvnb|Halm|1978b}}; {{harvnb|Halm|1981}} (continuation of Halm 1978); {{harvnb|Capezzone|1999}}; {{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|loc=13–42 et passim}}. According to {{harvnb|Madelung|1963|p=181}}, followed by {{harvnb|Halm|1978b|p=220}} and {{harvnb|Asatryan|2012|p=145}}, the word {{transliteration|ar|haft}} is a Persian loanword meaning 'seven' (Madelung refers to the use of {{transliteration|ar|al-haft}} and {{transliteration|ar|al-haftiyya}} to designate sevenfold things like the seven Adams or the seven heavens, in {{harvnb|Tāmir|Khalifé|1960|pp=125, 128, 130}}; cf. {{harvnb|Ghālib|1964|pp=163, 167, 171}}; {{harvnb|Tāmir|2007|pp=173, 176, 179}}).}} written in the 8th–11th century, is an important ghulat text that was falsely attributed to al-Mufaddal ibn Umar al-Ju'fi (died before 799).

It sets out in great detail the ghulat myth of pre-existent 'shadows' (azilla) who created the world by their fall from grace, and who were imprisoned in material human bodies as punishment for their hubris. This theme of pre-existent shadows,{{efn|On this theme in general, see also {{harvnb|Capezzone|2017}}.}} which also appears in other important ghulat works such as the Umm al-kitab, seems to have been typical of the early Kufan ghulat.

Great emphasis is placed upon the need to keep the knowledge received from Ja'far al-Sadiq, who is referred to in the work as mawlana 'our master', from falling into the wrong hands. This secret knowledge is entrusted by Ja'far to al-Mufaddal but is reserved only for true believers (mu'minun).{{harvnb|Gleave|2008–2012}}.

It involves such notions as the transmigration of souls (tanasukh or metempsychosis) and the idea that seven Adams exist in the seven heavens, each one of them presiding over one of the seven historical world cycles (adwar).{{harvnb|Gleave|2008–2012}}. On {{transliteration|ar|tanāsukh}}, see further {{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|pp=150–154}}. On the seven Adams, see {{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|loc=pp. 38, 140–143, et passim}}. On world cycles, see {{harvnb|Daftary|1994–2011}}. This latter idea may reflect an influence from Isma'ilism, where the appearance of each new prophet (Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Muhammad ibn Isma'il) is likewise thought to initiate a new world cycle.{{harvnb|Gleave|2008–2012}}. In the Isma'ili version of the doctrine of world cycles, Muhammad is the initiator of the current, penultimate cycle, while Ja'far al-Sadiq's grandson Muhammad ibn Isma'il the concealed and awaited initiator of the last cycle; see {{harvnb|Daftary|1994–2011}}.

The work consists of at least eleven different textual layers which were added over time, each of them containing slightly different versions of ghulat concepts and ideas.{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|p=16}}. Each layer is analyzed in detail by {{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|pp=17–42}}. {{harvnb|Asatryan|2000–2012b}} still only counted seven layers. The earliest layers were written in 8th-/9th-century Kufa, perhaps partly by al-Mufaddal himself, or by his close associates Yunus ibn Zabyan and Muhammad ibn Sinan (died 835).{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|p=61}}. Muhammad ibn Sinan's date is given by {{harvnb|Halm|2001–2012}}.

A possible indication for this is the fact that Muhammad ibn Sinan also wrote two works dealing with the theme of pre-existent, world-creating 'shadows': the Kitab al-Azilla ('Book of the Shadows') and the Kitab al-Anwar wa-hujub (Book of the Lights and the Veils).{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|p=63}}. {{harvnb|Halm|1981|p=67}} proposed Muhammad ibn Sinan, who was a disciple of al-Mufaddal, as the author of the entire {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Haft wa-l-aẓilla}} (repeated in {{harvnb|Halm|2001–2012}}), but this was rejected by {{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|pp=64–65}}. Biographical sources also list several other 8th-/9th-century Kufan authors who wrote a Kitab al-Azilla.{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|p=64}}. In total, at least three works closely related to al-Mufaddal's Kitab al-Haft wa-l-azilla are extant, all likely dating to the 8th or 9th century:{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|pp=63–65}}. These three works are compared on pp. 65–71 and tentatively dated to the 8th or 9th century on pp. 72–78.

1. Muhammad ibn Sinan's Kitab al-Anwar wa-hujub
2. an anonymous work called the Kitab al-Ashbah wa-l-azilla (Book of the Apparitions and the Shadows){{efn|On the anonymous {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Ashbāh wa-l-aẓilla}}, see {{harvnb|Asatryan|2015}}.}}
3. another anonymous work also called the Kitab al-Azilla ('Book of the Shadows').{{efn|On the anonymous {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Aẓilla}} (found in another work called the {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Kursī}}), see {{harvnb|Asatryan|2016|pp=131–135}}.}}

Though originating in the milieus of the early Kufan ghulat, the Kitab al-Haft wa-l-azilla was considerably expanded by members of a later ghulat sect called the Nusayris, who were active in 10th-century Syria.{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|p=123}}. The Nusayris were probably also responsible for the work's final 11th-century form.{{harvnb|Asatryan|2000–2012b}}. Unlike most other ghulat works, the Kitab al-Haft wa-l-azilla was not preserved by the Nusayris, but by the Syrian Nizari Isma'ilis. Like the Umm al-kitab, which was transmitted by the Nizari Isma'ilis of Central Asia, it contains ideas that are largely unrelated to Isma'ili doctrine,{{harvnb|Halm|2001–2012}}. On the fact that the {{transliteration|ar|Umm al-kitāb}} originally also was unrelated to Isma'ilism, see {{harvnb|De Smet|2020|p=303}}. but influenced various later Isma'ili authors starting from the 10th century.Early Isma'ili authors who adapted {{transliteration|ar|ghulāt}} ideas include Ja'far ibn Mansur al-Yaman (died {{circa|957}}; see {{harvnb|De Smet|2020|pp=303, 308}}; the {{transliteration|ar|ghulāt}} influences on Ja'far ibn Mansur al-Yaman's {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Kashf}} are discussed by {{harvnb|Asatryan|2020a}}) and Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani (died after 971; see De Smet 2020, pp. 304, 307–308). The influence of these ideas was pervasive in Tayyibi Isma'ilism (see {{harvnb|De Smet|2020|loc=pp. 320–321 et passim}}).

The Kitab al-Sirat (Book of the Path) is another purported dialogue between al-Mufaddal ibn Umar al-Ju'fi and Ja'far al-Sadiq, likely composed in the period between the Minor and the Major Occultation (874–941).{{efn|Edition of the Arabic text in {{harvnb|Capezzone|1995}} and {{harvnb|Ibn ʿAbd al-Jalīl|2005}}. On this text, see also {{harvnb|Capezzone|1993}}. It is not to be confused with the similarly named {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Ṣirāṭ}} by the 9th-century {{transliteration|ar|ghulāt}} author Ishaq al-Ahmar al-Nakha'i (died 899, see {{harvnb|Asatryan|2000–2012a}}; {{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|loc=p. 200, s.v. Isḥāq Aḥmar al-Nakhaʿī}}).}} This work deals with the concept of an initiatory 'path' (sirat) leading the adept on a heavenly ascent towards God, with each of the seven heavens corresponding to one of seven degrees of spiritual perfection. It also contains references to such typically ghulat ideas as {{transliteration|ar|tajallin}} (the manifestation of God in human form), tanasukh (metempsychosis or transmigration of the soul), {{transliteration|ar|maskh}}/{{transliteration|ar|raskh}} (metamorphosis or reincarnation into non-human forms), and the concept of creation through the fall of pre-existent beings (as in the Kitab al-Haft wa-l-azilla, see above).

The philosophical background of the work is given by the late antique concept of a great chain of being linking all things together in one great cosmic hierarchy. This hierarchical system extends from the upper world of spirit and light (populated by angels and other pure souls) to the lower of world of matter and darkness (populated by humans, and below them animals, plants and minerals). Humanity is perceived as taking a middle position in this hierarchy, being located at the top of the world of darkness and at the bottom of the world of light.{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|p=145}}.

Those human beings who lack the proper religious knowledge and belief are reborn into other human bodies, which are likened to 'shirts' (qumsan, sing. qamis) that a soul can put on and off again. This is called tanasukh or naskh. Grave sinners are reborn instead into animal bodies ({{transliteration|ar|maskh}}), and the worst offenders are reborn into the bodies of plants or minerals ({{transliteration|ar|raskh}}).{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|pp=150–151}}. Some other forms, like {{transliteration|ar|waskh}} and {{transliteration|ar|faskh}}, are described in the context of Nusayri works by {{harvnb|Friedman|2010|p=106}}.{{efn|This is also a common theme in other {{transliteration|ar|ghulāt}} texts. The {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Haft wa-l-aẓilla}} goes a little bit further than the {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Ṣirāṭ}}, also describing other forms of hierarchy within one class: among humans, female bodies rank below male ones, and among animals inedible species rank below edible ones; see {{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|pp=152–153}}.}}

Believers who perform good works and advance in knowledge travel upwards on the ladder, putting on ever more pure and luminous 'shirts' or bodies, ultimately reaching the realm of the divine.{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|pp=145–147}}. This upwards path is represented as consisting of seven stages above that of humanity, each located in one of the seven heavens:{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|p=146}}.

1. {{transliteration|ar|al-Mumtaha}}: the Tested, first heaven
2. {{transliteration|ar|al-Mukhlis}}: the Devout, second heaven
3. {{transliteration|ar|al-Mukhtass}}: the Elect, third heaven
4. {{transliteration|ar|al-Najib}}: the Noble, fourth heaven
5. {{transliteration|ar|al-Naqib}}: the Chief, fifth heaven
6. {{transliteration|ar|al-Yatim}}: the Unique, sixth heaven
7. {{transliteration|ar|al-Bab}}: the Gate, seventh heaven

At every degree the initiate receives the chance to gain a new level of 'hidden' or 'occult' (batin) knowledge. If the initiate succeeds at internalizing this knowledge, they may ascend to the next degree. If they lose interest or start to doubt the knowledge already acquired, they may lose their pure and luminous 'shirt', receiving instead a heavier and darker one, and descend down the scale of being again.{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|p=147}}.

Those who reach the seventh degree (that of Bab or 'Gate'){{efn|name=bab|On the concept of {{transliteration|ar|Bāb}} in Shi'ism, see {{harvnb|MacEoin|1988–2011}}.}} are granted wondrous powers such as making themselves invisible, or seeing and hearing all things –including a beatific vision of God– without having to look or listen. Most notably, they are able to manifest themselves to ordinary beings in the world of matter, by taking on the form of a human and appearing to anyone at will.{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|p=147}}. This ability to manifest in human form the 'Gates' in the seventh heaven share with God.

The theme of a heavenly ascent through seven degrees of spiritual perfection is also explored in other ghulat works, including the anonymous Kitab al-Maratib wa-l-daraj (Book of Degrees and Stages), as well as various works attributed to Muhammad ibn Sinan (died 835), Ibn Nusayr (died after 868), and others.{{harvnb|Asatryan|2017|pp=145–149}}. On Ibn Nusayr, see {{harvnb|Friedman|2000–2010}}; {{harvnb|Steigerwald|2010}}.

{{notelist}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Amir-Moezzi|first1=Mohammad Ali|author1-link=Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi|date=2013|title=Ḵaṭṭābiya|editor1-last=Yarshater|editor1-first=Ehsan|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kattabiya}}
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• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Anthony|first1=Sean W.|year=2018|title=Ghulāt (extremist Shīʿīs)|editor1-last=Fleet|editor1-first=Kate|editor2-last=Krämer|editor2-first=Gudrun|editor2-link=Gudrun Krämer|editor3-last=Matringe|editor3-first=Denis|editor4-last=Nawas|editor4-first=John|editor5-last=Rowson|editor5-first=Everett|editor5-link=Everett K. Rowson|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_27473}}
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• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Asatryan|first1=Mushegh|date=2000–2013|title=Moḵammesa|editor1-last=Yarshater|editor1-first=Ehsan|editor1-link=Ehsan Yarshater|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/mokammesa-sect}}
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• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Daftary|first1=Farhad|author1-link=Farhad Daftary|date=1994–2011|title=Dawr (1)|editor1-last=Yarshater|editor1-first=Ehsan|editor1-link=Ehsan Yarshater|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/dawr-1}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Daftary|first1=Farhad|author1-link=Farhad Daftary|date=2015|title=Omm al-ketāb|editor1-last=Yarshater|editor1-first=Ehsan|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/omm-al-ketab}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Friedman|first1=Yaron|date=2000–2010|title=Moḥammad b. Noṣayr|editor1-last=Yarshater|editor1-first=Ehsan|editor1-link=Ehsan Yarshater|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/mohammad-nosayr}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Friedman|first1=Yaron|date=2008–2012|title=Ḵaṣibi|editor1-last=Yarshater|editor1-first=Ehsan|editor1-link=Ehsan Yarshater|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/kasibi}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Friedman|first1=Yaron|date=2016|title=al-Khaṣībī, Abū ʿAbdallāh|editor1-last=Fleet|editor1-first=Kate|editor2-last=Krämer|editor2-first=Gudrun|editor2-link=Gudrun Krämer|editor3-last=Matringe|editor3-first=Denis|editor4-last=Nawas|editor4-first=John|editor5-last=Rowson|editor5-first=Everett|editor5-link=Everett K. Rowson|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Three|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_30574}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Gleave|first1=Robert|date=2008–2012|title=Jaʿfar al-Ṣādeq ii. Teachings|editor1-last=Yarshater|editor1-first=Ehsan|editor1-link=Ehsan Yarshater|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/jafar-al-sadeq-ii-teachings}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Halm|first1=Heinz|author1-link=Heinz Halm|date=1960–2007|title=Nuṣayriyya|editor1-last=Bearman|editor1-first=P.|editor1-link=Peri Bearman|editor2-last=Bianquis|editor2-first=Th.|editor2-link=Thierry Bianquis|editor3-last=Bosworth|editor3-first=C.E.|editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|editor4-last=van Donzel|editor4-first=E.|editor4-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel|editor5-last=Heinrichs|editor5-first=W.P.|editor5-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_COM_0876}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Halm|first1=Heinz|author1-link=Heinz Halm|date=1988|title=Bāṭenīya|editor1-last=Yarshater|editor1-first=Ehsan|editor1-link=Ehsan Yarshater|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bateniya}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Halm|first1=Heinz|author1-link=Heinz Halm|date=2001–2012|title=Ḡolāt|editor1-last=Yarshater|editor1-first=Ehsan|editor1-link=Ehsan Yarshater|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/golat}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Hodgson|first1=Marshall G.S.|author1-link=Marshall Hodgson|date=1960–2007a|title=Bayān b. Samʿān al-Tamīmī|editor1-last=Bearman|editor1-first=P.|editor1-link=Peri Bearman|editor2-last=Bianquis|editor2-first=Th.|editor2-link=Thierry Bianquis|editor3-last=Bosworth|editor3-first=C.E.|editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|editor4-last=van Donzel|editor4-first=E.|editor4-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel|editor5-last=Heinrichs|editor5-first=W.P.|editor5-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_1299}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Hodgson|first1=Marshall G.S.|author1-link=Marshall Hodgson|date=1960–2007b|title=Ghulāt|editor1-last=Bearman|editor1-first=P.|editor1-link=Peri Bearman|editor2-last=Bianquis|editor2-first=Th.|editor2-link=Thierry Bianquis|editor3-last=Bosworth|editor3-first=C.E.|editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|editor4-last=van Donzel|editor4-first=E.|editor4-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel|editor5-last=Heinrichs|editor5-first=W.P.|editor5-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_2517}}
• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Madelung|first1=Wilferd|author1-link=Wilferd Madelung|date=1960–2007|title=al-Mughīriyya|editor1-last=Bearman|editor1-first=P.|editor1-link=Peri Bearman|editor2-last=Bianquis|editor2-first=Th.|editor2-link=Thierry Bianquis|editor3-last=Bosworth|editor3-first=C.E.|editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth|editor4-last=van Donzel|editor4-first=E.|editor4-link=Emeri Johannes van Donzel|editor5-last=Heinrichs|editor5-first=W.P.|editor5-link=Wolfhart Heinrichs|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition|doi=10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_5322}}
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• {{cite encyclopedia|last1=Sachedina|first1=Abdulaziz|author1-link=Abdulaziz Sachedina|date=1983–2012|title=Abu'l-Ḵaṭṭāb Asadī|editor1-last=Yarshater|editor1-first=Ehsan|editor1-link=Ehsan Yarshater|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/abul-kattab-mohammad-b}}
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• {{cite book|last1=al-Qāḍī|first1=Wadād|author1-link=Wadad Kadi|date=1976|chapter=The Development of the Term Ghulāt in Muslim Literature with Special Reference to the Kaysāniyya|editor1-last=Dietrich|editor1-first=Albert|title=Akten des VII. Kongresses für Arabistik und Islamwissenschaft|series=Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, Philologisch-historische Klasse, Dritte Folge, Nr. 98|location=Göttingen|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|pages=295–319|isbn=9780860787105|oclc=48256257}} (reprint in {{cite book|editor1-last=Kohlberg|editor1-first=Etan|date=2003|title=Shi'ism|series=The Formation of the Classical Islamic World|volume=33|location=Burlington|publisher=Ashgate|pages=169–193}})
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• {{cite journal|last1=Amjad-Ali|first1=Charles|date=1988|title=The Problem of Islamic Gnosticism. A Review Article.|journal=Islamic Studies|volume=27|issue=3|pages=195–208|doi=10.52541/isiri.v27i03.5476}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Anthony|first1=Sean W.|date=2011|title=The Legend of ʿAbdallāh ibn Sabaʾ and the Date of Umm al-Kitāb|journal=Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=21|issue=1|pages=1–30|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23011519|jstor=23011519}}
• {{cite book|last1=Anthony|first1=Sean W.|date=2012|title=The Caliph and the Heretic: Ibn Sabaʾ and the Origins of Shīʿism|series=Islamic History and Civilization|volume=91|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-20930-5|doi=10.1163/9789004216068}}
• {{cite thesis|last1=Asatryan|first1=Mushegh|date=2012|title=Heresy and Rationalism in Early Islam: The Origins and Evolution of the Mufaḍḍal-Tradition|type=PhD diss.|location=Yale University}}
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• {{cite journal|last1=Asatryan|first1=Mushegh|date=2015|title=An Early Shīʿi Cosmology: Kitāb al-ashbāḥ wa l-aẓilla and its Milieu|journal=Studia Islamica|volume=110|pages=1–80|url=https://archive.org/details/AsatryanMAnEarlyShiICosmologyKitabAlAshbahWaLAzillaAndItsMilieu2015|doi=10.1163/19585705-12341311|ref=no}}
• {{cite book|last1=Asatryan|first1=Mushegh|date=2016|chapter=Shiite Underground Literature Between Iraq and Syria: “The Book of Shadows” and the History of the Early Ghulat|editor1-last=Langermann|editor1-first=Y. Tzvi|editor2-last=Robinson|editor2-first=Robert G.|title=Texts in Transit in the Medieval Mediterranean|location=University Park|publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press|pages=128–161|isbn=9780271071091}}
• {{cite book|last1=Asatryan|first1=Mushegh|last2=Burns|first2=Dylan M.|date=2016|chapter=Is Ghulāt Religion Islamic Gnosticism? Religious Transmissions in Late Antiquity|editor1-last=Amir-Moezzi|editor1-first=Mohammad Ali|editor1-link=Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi|editor2-last=De Cillis|editor2-first=Maria|editor3-last=De Smet|editor3-first=Daniel|editor4-last=Mir-Kasimov|editor4-first=Orkhan|title=L'Ésotérisme shi'ite, ses racines et ses prolongements – Shi'i Esotericism: Its Roots and Developments|series=Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Sciences Religieuses|volume=177|location=Turnhout|publisher=Brepols|pages=55–86|doi=10.1484/M.BEHE-EB.4.01162|isbn=978-2-503-56874-4}}
• {{cite book|last1=Asatryan|first1=Mushegh|date=2017|title=Controversies in Formative Shiʿi Islam: The Ghulat Muslims and Their Beliefs|location=London|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=9781784538958}}
• {{cite book|last1=Asatryan|first1=Mushegh|date=2019|chapter=An agenda for the study of early Shiʿi cosmologies|editor1-last=Trompf|editor1-first=G.|editor2-last=Johnston|editor2-first=J.|editor3-last=Mikkelsen|editor3-first=G.|title=The Gnostic World|series=Routledge Worlds Series|location=New York|publisher=Routledge|pages=321–327|isbn=9780367733124}}
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• {{cite journal|last1=Capezzone|first1=Leonardo|date=1993|title=Una nuova fonte per lo studio dell'eterodossia islamica: Il Kitāb al-ṣirāṭ attribuito a Mufaḍḍal b. ʿUmar al-Ğuʿfī|journal=Rivista degli studi orientali|volume=67|issue=3/4|pages=265–273|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41922961|jstor=41922961}}
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• {{cite book|last1=De Smet|first1=Daniel|date=2020|chapter=The Intellectual Interactions of Yemeni Ṭayyibism with the Early Shiʿi Tradition|editor1-last=Mir-Kasimov|editor1-first=Orkhan|title=Intellectual Interactions in the Islamic World: The Ismaili Thread|location=London|publisher=I.B. Tauris|pages=299–321|isbn=978-1-83860-485-1}}
• {{cite journal|last1=De Smet|first1=Daniel|date=2021|title="Le mal ne s'enracine pas dans l'instauration". La question du mal dans le shi'isme ismaélien|journal=Oriens|volume=49|issue=3–4|pages=181–215|doi=10.1163/18778372-12340004 |s2cid=244755348 |url=https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-03498546/file/Originedumal.pdf}}
• {{cite book|last=De Smet|first=Daniel|date=2021|chapter=Les hérétiques musulmans: un Lumpenproletariat au ban de la société ?|editor1-last=De Smet|editor1-first=Daniel|editor2-last=Lebrun|editor2-first=René|editor3-last=Cannuyer|editor3-first=Christian|title=Regards des civilisations orientales sur les personnes en situation de vulnérabilité. Volume du centenaire de la S.R.B.É.O|series=Acta Orientalia Belgica|volume=34|location=Bruxelles|publisher=Société Royale Belge d'Études Orientales|pages=293–317}}
• {{cite journal|last1=De Smet|first1=Daniel|date=2022|title=The city of Kūfa, the birthplace of Shiʿism and a center of debates about the delegation of divine powers (tafwīḍ)|journal=Jerusalem Studies in Arabic and Islam|volume=51|pages=149–188}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Filippani-Ronconi|first1=Pio|author1-link=Pio Filippani Ronconi|date=1964|title=Note sulla soteriologia e sul simbolismo cosmico dell'Ummu'l-kitāb|journal=AION|volume=14|issue=1|pages=111–134}}
• {{cite book|last=Filippani-Ronconi|first=Pio|author-link=Pio Filippani Ronconi|date=1977|chapter=The Soteriological Cosmology of Central-Asiatic Ismā‘īlism|editor1-last=Nasr|editor1-first=S. Hossein|editor1-link=Seyyed Hossein Nasr|title=Ismā'īlī Contributions to Islamic Culture|location=Tehran|publisher=Imperial Iranian Academy of Philosophy|pages=99–120}}
• {{cite book|last1=Friedman|first1=Yaron|date=2010|title=The Nuṣayrī-ʿAlawīs: An Introduction to the Religion, History and Identity of the Leading Minority in Syria|series=Islamic History and Civilization|volume=77|location=Leiden|publisher=Brill|isbn=978-90-04-17892-2|doi=10.1163/ej.9789004178922.i-328}}
• {{cite book|last1=Freitag|first1=Rainer|date=1985|title=Seelenwanderung in der islamischen Häresie|location=Berlin|publisher=Klaus Schwarz Verlag|isbn=978-0-7556-5386-7}}
• {{cite book|last1=Gillon|first1=Fârès|date=2024|title=The Book of Unveiling: Early Fatimid Ismaili Doctrine in the Kitāb al-Kashf, attributed to Jaʿfar b. Manṣūr al-Yaman|location=London|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=9783922968443}}
• {{cite book|last1=Halm|first1=Heinz|author1-link=Heinz Halm|date=1978a|title=Kosmologie und Heilslehre der frühen Ismā 'īlīya: Eine Studie zur islamischen Gnosis|series=Abhandlungen für die Kunde des Morgenlandes|volume=XLIV|issue=1|location=Wiesbaden|publisher=Franz Steiner}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Halm|first1=Heinz|author1-link=Heinz Halm|date=1978b|title=Das "Buch der Schatten". Die Mufaḍḍal-Tradition der Ġulāt und die Ursprünge des Nuṣairiertums. I. Die Überlieferer der häretischen Mufaḍḍal-Tradition|journal=Der Islam|volume=55|issue=2|pages=219–266|doi=10.1515/islm.1978.55.2.219|s2cid=160481806}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Halm|first1=Heinz|author1-link=Heinz Halm|date=1981|title=Das "Buch der Schatten". Die Mufaḍḍal-Tradition der Ġulāt und die Ursprünge des Nuṣairiertums. II. Die Stoffe|journal=Der Islam|volume=58|issue=1|pages=15–86|doi=10.1515/islm.1981.58.1.15|s2cid=162219074 }}
• {{cite book|last1=Halm|first1=Heinz|author1-link=Heinz Halm|date=1982|title=Die islamische Gnosis: Die extreme Schia und die ʿAlawiten|location=Zürich and München|publisher=Artemis Verlag|isbn=978-3-7608-4530-2}}
• {{cite book|last1=Halm|first1=Heinz|author1-link=Heinz Halm|date=2016|chapter=Le « Livre des Ombres » et le mythe de la création|editor1-last=Amir-Moezzi|editor1-first=Mohammad Ali|editor1-link=Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi|editor2-last=De Cillis|editor2-first=Maria|editor3-last=De Smet|editor3-first=Daniel|editor4-last=Mir-Kasimov|editor4-first=Orkhan|title=L'Ésotérisme shi'ite, ses racines et ses prolongements – Shi'i Esotericism: Its Roots and Developments|series=Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Sciences Religieuses|volume=177|location=Turnhout|publisher=Brepols|pages=387–393|doi=10.1484/M.BEHE-EB.4.01177|isbn=978-2-503-56874-4}}
• {{cite book|last1=Hämeen-Anttila|first1=Jaakko|author1-link=Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila|date=2001|chapter=Ascent and Descent in Islamic Myth|editor1-last=Whiting|editor1-first=Robert M.|title=Mythology and Mythologies: Methodological Approaches to Intercultural Influences. Proceedings of the Second Annual Symposium of the Assyrian and Babylonian Intellectual Heritage Project Held in Paris, France, October 4-7, 1999|location=Helsinki|publisher=Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project|pages=47–67|isbn=9789514590498|oclc=912739664}} (situates the {{transliteration|ar|Umm al-kitāb}} in its Mesopotamian context)
• {{cite journal|last1=Hodgson|first1=M.G.S.|author1-link=Marshall Hodgson|date=1955|title=How Did the Early Shî'a Become Sectarian?|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|volume=75|issue=1 |pages=1–13|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/595031|doi=10.2307/595031|jstor=595031|url-access=subscription}} (reprint in {{harvnb|Kohlberg|2003|pp=3–15}})
• {{cite book|last1=Hollenberg|first1=David|date=2016|title=Beyond the Qur'an: Early Isma'ili Ta'wil and the Secrets of the Prophets|location=Columbia|publisher=University of South Carolina Press|isbn=9781611176797}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Ivanow|first1=Wladimir|author1-link=Vladimir Ivanov (orientalist)|date=1932|title=Notes sur l'Ummu'l-kitab des Ismaëliens de l'Asie Centrale|journal=Revue des Études Islamiques|volume=6|pages=419–481}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Kechavarzi|first1=Dariouche|date=2022|title=Hérésiographie et mémoire des origines en islam. L'effacement de l'apocalyptique dans la représentation des hérésies shi'ites|journal=Revue de l'histoire des religions|volume=3|pages=387–424|doi=10.4000/rhr.11968}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Kechavarzi|first1=Dariouche|date=2023|title=De l'histoire des hérésies à l'historiographie des orthodoxies. Étude sur la fonction de l'hérésiographie musulmane à la fin du IIIe/IXe siècle|journal=Revue de l'histoire des religions|volume=1|pages=5–32|doi=10.4000/rhr.12225}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Madelung|first1=Wilferd|author1-link=Wilferd Madelung|date=1963|title=Kitāb al-haft wa-l-aẓilla (book review)|journal=Der Islam|volume=38|pages=180–182}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Massignon|first1=Louis|author1-link=Louis Massignon|date=1938|title=Recherches sur les Shi'ites extrémistes à Bagdad à la fin du troisième siècle de l'Hégire|journal=Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft|volume=92|issue=3/4|pages=378–382|jstor=43381616}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Michelangelo|first1=Guidi|date=1935|title=La gnose et les sectes musulmanes shīʿites|journal=Annuaire de l'Institut de Philologie et d'Histoire Orientale|volume=3|location=Bruxelles|publisher=Institut de Philologie et d'Histoire Orientales|pages=199–216}}
• {{cite book|last1=Modaressi|first1=Hossein|author1-link=Hossein Modarressi|date=1993|title=Crisis and Consolidation in the Formative Period of Shīʿīte Islam|location=Princeton|publisher=Darwin Press|isbn=9780878500956}}
• {{cite book|last1=Modaressi|first1=Hossein|author1-link=Hossein Modarressi|date=2003|title=Tradition and Survival: A Bibliographical Survey of Early Shīʿite Literature|location=Oxford|publisher=Oneworld|isbn=1-85168-331-3}}
• {{cite book|last1=Morony|first1=Michael G.|date=1984|title=Iraq after the Muslim Conquest|location=Princeton|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0691053952}}
• {{cite book|last1=Musa|first1=Matti|date=1987|title=Extremist Shiites: The Ghulat Sects|location=New York|publisher=Syracuse University Press|isbn=978-0815637691}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Pachniak|first1=Katarzyna|date=2011|title=The Doctrine of muẖammisa according to Muslim Heresiography|journal=Rocznik Orientalistyczny|volume=64|issue=1|pages=204–212}}
• {{cite book|last1=Radtke|first1=Bernd|date=1990|chapter=Iranian and Gnostic Elements in Early Taṣawwuf. Observations concerning the Umm al-Kitāb|editor1-last=Gnoli|editor1-first=Gherardo|editor1-link=Gherardo Gnoli|editor2-last=Panaino|editor2-first=Antonio|title=Proceedings of the first European Conference of Iranian Studies held in Turin, September 7th-11th, 1987 by the Societas Iranologica Europaea. Volume 2: Middle and New Iranian Studies|location=Rome|publisher=Istituto italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente|pages=519–529|isbn=9788863230765|oclc=956121455}}
• {{cite book|last1=Reeves|first1=John C.|date=2019|chapter=Questions of Gnostic influence on early Islam|editor1-last=Mikkelsen|editor1-first=Gunner B.|editor2-last=Johnston|editor2-first=Jay|editor3-last=Trompf|editor3-first=Garry W.|title=The Gnostic World|location=London & New York|publisher=Routledge|pages=307–320|doi=10.4324/9781315561608-29|isbn=9780367733124}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Rekaya|first1=Mohamed|date=1984|title=Le Ḫurram-dīn et les mouvements ḫurramites sous les 'Abbāsides: Réapparition du Mazdakisme ou Manifestation des Ġulāt-Musulmans Dans l'Ex-Empire Sassanide aux VIIIe et IXe siècles AP. J.-C.?|journal=Studia Islamica|volume=60|issue=60 |pages=5–57|doi=10.2307/1595508|jstor=1595508 }}
• {{cite book|last1=Stern|first1=S. M.|date=1983|title=Studies in Early Ismāʻīlism|location=Jerusalem|publisher=Magnes Press|isbn=9652233889}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tendler Krieger|first1=Bella|date=2016|chapter='Abd Allāh b. Saba' and the Role of the Nuṣayrī Bāb. Rehabilitating the Heresiarchs of the Islamic Tradition|editor1-last=Amir-Moezzi|editor1-first=Mohammad Ali|editor1-link=Mohammad Ali Amir-Moezzi|editor2-last=De Cillis|editor2-first=Maria|editor3-last=De Smet|editor3-first=Daniel|editor4-last=Mir-Kasimov|editor4-first=Orkhan|title=L'Ésotérisme shi'ite, ses racines et ses prolongements – Shi'i Esotericism: Its Roots and Developments|series=Bibliothèque de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes, Sciences Religieuses|volume=177|location=Turnhout|publisher=Brepols|pages=441–472|doi=10.1484/M.BEHE-EB.4.01181|isbn=978-2-503-56874-4}}
• {{cite book|last1=Thomassen|first1=Einar|date=2017|chapter=The melothesia of the Apocryphon of John and the Umm al-kitāb|editor1-last=Van den Kerchove|editor1-first=Anna|editor2-last=Soares Santoprete|editor2-first=Luciana Gabriela|title=Gnose et manichéisme. Entre les oasis d'Égypte et la Route de la Soie: Hommage à Jean-Daniel Dubois|series=Bibliothèque de l'École des Hautes Études|volume=176|location=Turnhout|publisher=Brepols|pages=161–172|doi=10.1484/M.BEHE-EB.4.01118|isbn=978-2-503-56763-1}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Tijdens|first1=E. F.|date=1977|title=Der mythologisch-gnostische Hintergrund des Umm al-kitâb|journal=Acta Iranica|volume=VII|pages=241–526|oclc=470066089}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tucker|first1=William F.|date=2008|title=Mahdis and Millenarians: Shī'ite Extremists in Early Muslim Iraq|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780511512094|doi=10.1017/CBO9780511512094}} (reprint of four earlier papers published between 1975 and 1980)
• {{cite journal|last1=Turner|first1=Colin P.|date=2006|title=The "Tradition of Mufaḍḍal" and the Doctrine of the Rajʿa: Evidence of Ghuluww in the Eschatology of Twelver Shiʿism?|journal=Iran|volume=44|pages=175–195|doi=10.1080/05786967.2006.11834685 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4300708|jstor=4300708|s2cid=170603436|url-access=subscription}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Wasserstrom|first1=Steve|date=1985|title=The Moving Finger Writes: Mughīra b. Saʿīd's Islamic Gnosis and the Myths of Its Rejection|journal=History of Religions|volume=25|issue=1|pages=1–29|doi=10.1086/463019|s2cid=161366534}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Wasserstrom|first1=Steve|date=1993|title=Sefer Yesira and Early Islam: A Reappraisal|journal=Journal of Jewish Thought and Philosophy|volume=3|issue=1|pages=1–30|doi=10.1163/105369994790231138|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Wasserstrom|first1=Steve|date=2002|title=Further Thoughts on the Origins of "Sefer yeṣirah"|journal=Aleph|volume=2 |issue=2|pages=201–221|doi=10.2979/ale.2002.-.2.201}}
• {{cite book|last1=Wasserstrom|first1=Steve|date=1995|title=Between Muslim and Jew: The Problem of Symbiosis under Early Islam|location=Princeton|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-03455-9}}

Alawite Heritage Series

• {{cite book|editor1=Abū Mūsā|editor2=al-Shaykh Mūsā|date=2006–2013|title=Silsilat al-turath al-ʿalawī|location=Diyār ʿAql (Lebanon)|publisher=Dār li-Ajl al-Maʿrifa|oclc=652937966}} (12 vols., collection of early {{transliteration|ar|ghulāt}} texts and texts from the medieval Nusayri-Alawi tradition)

al-Mufaddal, {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Haft wa-l-aẓilla}}

• {{cite book|last1=Asatryan|first1=Mushegh|date=2020|chapter=Early Ismailis and Other Muslims: Polemics and Borrowing in Kitāb al-Kashf|editor1-last=Mir-Kasimov|editor1-first=Orkhan|title=Intellectual Interactions in the Islamic World: The Ismaili Thread|location=London|publisher=I.B. Tauris|pages=273–298|isbn=978-1-83860-485-1|ref=no}} (pp. 196–198 contain a critical edition of chapter 59)
• {{cite book|last1=Ghālib|first1=Muṣṭafā|date=1964|title=al-Haft al-Sharīf|location=Beirut|publisher=Dār al-Andalus|oclc=977409505}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tāmir|first1=ʿĀrif|last2=Khalifé|first2=Ignace Abdo|date=1960|title=Kitāb al-Haft wa-l-'Aẓillat, attribué à al-Mufaḍḍal ibn ʻUmar al-Ǧaʻfī, rapportant les paroles de l'Imām Ǧaʻfar ibn M. aṣ-Ṣādiq|location=Beirut|publisher=Impr. Catholique|oclc=459827793}}
• {{cite book|last1=Tāmir|first1=ʿĀrif|date=2007|orig-date=1981|title=Kitāb al-haft wa-l-aẓilla|location=Beirut|publisher=Dār wa-Maktabat al-Hilāl|isbn=978-9953-75-266-2}} (edition based on a different ms. compared to {{harvnb|Tāmir|Khalifé|1960}})

al-Mufaddal, {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Ṣirāṭ}}

• {{cite journal|last1=Capezzone|first1=Leonardo|date=1995|title=Il Kitāb al-Ṣirāṭ attribuito a Mufaḍḍal ibn ʿUmar al-Ğuʿfī: Edizione del ms. unico (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale Ar. 1449/3) e studio introduttivo|journal=Rivista degli studi orientali|volume=69|issue=3–4|pages=295–416|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41880880|jstor=41880880}}
• {{cite book|last1=Ibn ʿAbd al-Jalīl|first1=al-Munṣif|date=2005|title=Kitāb al-Ṣirāṭ|location=Beirut|publisher=Dār al-Madār al-Islāmī|oclc=812186733|isbn=9789959292636}}

Anonymous, {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-Ashbāh wa-l-aẓilla}}

• {{cite journal|last1=Asatryan|first1=Mushegh|date=2015|title=An Early Shīʿi Cosmology: Kitāb al-ashbāḥ wa l-aẓilla and its Milieu|journal=Studia Islamica|volume=110|pages=1–80|url=https://archive.org/details/AsatryanMAnEarlyShiICosmologyKitabAlAshbahWaLAzillaAndItsMilieu2015|doi=10.1163/19585705-12341311}}

Anonymous, {{transliteration|ar|Kitāb al-usūs}}

• {{cite book|last1=Dandašī|first1=al-Kanj|title=Kitāb al-usūs in Madkhal ilā al-maḏhab al-ʿalawī al-nuṣayrī|location=Irbil|pages=73–156}}

{{transliteration|ar|Umm al-kitāb}}

• {{cite book|last1=Filippani-Ronconi|first1=Pio|author1-link=Pio Filippani Ronconi|date=1966|title=Ummu'l-kitab: Introduzione, traduzione e note di Pio Filippani-Ronconi|location=Napoli|publisher=Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli|oclc=635942972|isbn=978-88-97278-43-6}} (Italian translation)
• {{cite journal|last1=Halm|first1=Heinz|author1-link=Heinz Halm|date=1981|title=Das "Buch der Schatten". Die Mufaḍḍal-Tradition der Ġulāt und die Ursprünge des Nuṣairiertums. II. Die Stoffe|journal=Der Islam|volume=58|issue=1|pages=15–86|doi=10.1515/islm.1981.58.1.15|s2cid=162219074 |ref=no}} (German translations of parts of the text on pp. 36 ff.)
• {{cite book|last1=Halm|first1=Heinz|author1-link=Heinz Halm|date=1982|title=Die islamische Gnosis: Die Schia und die ʿAlawiten|location=Zürich and München|publisher=Artemis Verlag|isbn=978-3-7608-4530-2|ref=no}} (German translations of parts of the text on pp. 113 ff.)
• {{cite journal|last1=Ivanow|first1=Wladimir|author1-link=Vladimir Ivanov (orientalist)|date=1936|title=Ummu᾽l-kitāb.|journal=Der Islam|volume=23|issue=1–2|pages=1–132|doi=10.1515/islm.1936.23.1-2.1|s2cid=211485267 }} (edition of the Persian text)
• {{cite journal|last1=Tijdens|first1=E. F.|date=1977|title=Der mythologisch-gnostische Hintergrund des Umm al-kitâb|journal=Acta Iranica|volume=VII|pages=241–526|oclc=470066089|ref=no}} (contains a partial German translation)

Other

• {{cite book|last1=al-Majlisi|first1=Muhammad Baqir|author1-link=Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi|date=1983|title=Biḥār al-anwār al-jāmiʿa li-durar akhbār al-aʾimma al-aṭhār|location=Beirut|publisher=Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī}} (al-Mufaddal's {{transliteration|ar|Mā yakūn ʿinda ẓuhūr al-Mahdī}} in vol. 53, pp. 1–38 & {{transliteration|ar|ḥadīth al-maʿrifa bi-l-nūrāniyya}} in vol. 26)
• {{cite book|last1=Tāmir|first1=ʿĀrif|date=1957|title=al-Ḥikam al-Jaʿfariyya, li-l-Imām al-Ṣādiq Jaʿfar ibn Muḥammad|location=Beirut|publisher=al-Maṭbaʿa al-Kāthūlīkiyya|oclc=23505958}} (transmitted by al-Mufaddal)

• {{cite book|last=Asatryan|first=Mushegh|year=2017|title=Controversies in Formative Shiʿi Islam: The Ghulat Muslims and Their Beliefs|location=London|publisher=I.B. Tauris|isbn=9781784538958|ref=no}}
• {{cite book|last=Halm|first=Heinz|author-link=Heinz Halm|date=1982|title=Die islamische Gnosis: Die extreme Schia und die ʿAlawiten|location=Zürich|publisher=Artemis Verlag|isbn=978-3-7608-4530-2|ref=no|language=de}}
• {{Encyclopædia Iranica Online|last=Halm|first=Heinz|author-link=Heinz Halm|date=2001|volume=11|fascicle=1|pages=62-64|title=Ḡolāt|url=https://iranicaonline.org/articles/golat|ref=no}}

{{Ghulat|state=expanded}}

Category:Shia Islamic branches