Kernel of the Kernel, Concerning the Wayfaring
and Spiritual Journey of the People of Intellect,

A Shi`i Approach to Sufism
Sayyid Muhammad Husyan Husayni Tihrani, ed.

Mohammad H. Faghfoory, trans.
New York: State University of New York Press, 2003. 149 pages.

Kernel of the Kernel is a recension by Ayatullah Sayyid Muhammad Husyan
Husayni Tihrani (d. 1995) of the oral teachings of Allamah Muhammad
Husayn Tabatabai (d. 1982), one of the most prominent Iranian ‘ulama of the
twentieth century. The main text has chapters entitled “Kernel of the Kernel,”
“Description of the Realms Preceding the Realm of Khulus,” “Undifferenti-
ated Description of the Path and Methods of Wayfaring toward God,” and

134 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 21:2



“Differentiated Description of the Path and Methods of Wayfaring toward
God.” Kernel of the Kernel concludes with a general index, an index of
Qur’anic verses and ahadith, an index of the sayings of the Shi`i Imams, and
an appendix of notes on saints and scholars cited in the text that contains brief
biographies of 37 people.

The book consists of Allamah Tabatabai’s teachings, which are aug-
mented by an interesting commentary/introduction by the editor, Allamah
Tihrani. Its core part is further prefaced by the translator’s (Muhammad H.
Faghfoory) introduction and informative notes on Allamah Tihrani’s life and
work. Seyyed Hossein Nasr’s foreword is the external shell that puts the text’s
general esoteric trajectory and the characters involved in composing it in con-
text. Nasr’s foreword, the translator’s notes, and the editor’s introduction are
interspersed with teachings and stories of the lives of the Shi`i sages and schol-
ars of the past several centuries. This makes the text of interest to students of
Sufi hagiography in general, and of Shi`i intellectual life in particular. 

Kernel of the Kernel is in the genre of the Shi`i tradition of explicating
the stages of the spiritual path and the doctrinal foundations of wayfaring.
Allamah Tihrani begins by discussing the complementary relationship
between Islam’s exoteric and esoteric aspects, and argues that the straight
path means combining both of these aspects. As much as contemplation,
intellection, logic, reason, and rational argumentation are praised, it is by
submitting the heart that inward witnessing is achieved. This complemen-
tary relationship is the book’s underlying theme. Thus, the discussions on
“the spiritual traveler” and “immersion in the Divine essence of the Lord,”
for example, are balanced with such topics as “the station of being present
in the world of multiplicity while simultaneously witnessing and experi-
encing the realms of Divine Lordship.” The text follows with a description
of the inner meanings of Islam, faith, migration, spiritual struggle, submis-
sion, and ritual practices. At every step of the spiritual path, the author
affirms the complementary nature of the relationship between wayfaring in
the spiritual realm and being in this world. The last chapter is a condensed
description of the path and the methods of wayfaring. 

In addition, this book is a fine example of the kind of writing that
demonstrates the continuing tradition of esoteric commentaries. The
author’s readings of the Qur’anic verses provide a wealth of information on
Sufism’s Qur’anic origins. And, emphasizing the role of the Twelver Shi`i
Imams illuminates Sufism’s special relationship with Shi`ism. The ease with
which other readings of Qur’anic verses and Hadith commentaries blend
with Persian mystical poetry to illustrate a point is noteworthy. This flexible

Book Reviews 135



approach to the latent meanings of traditional sources of Islamic knowledge
puts this book in the area of nonlinear commentaries on the Qur’an and
Hadith. The lucid method of argumentation, brought about by drawing from
a variety of sources, offers great potential for countering the reified and
reductive readings of traditional Islamic sources. 

Whereas usually not much is known about the personal lives of the
authors writing in this genre, the translator’s introduction provides an
interesting examination of the intellectual life and political activities of
Allamah Tihrani, who lived during one of Iran’s most turbulent historical
periods. Thus, in this book we have teachings on spiritual wayfaring by an
esoteric master who was, to some extent, involved in his time’s major
political events and instantiated the combination and balance of spiritual
wayfaring and worldly activities. 

The translator notes that Allamah Tihrani was active in organizing the
clergy and in defying the Shah’s government and its reforms in the early
1960s (pp. xxvi-xxvii). He advised the late Ayatullah Khomeini on different
issues and was instrumental in downgrading the plans for Ayatullah
Khomeini’s execution after his arrest in 1963. After the 1979 Islamic revo-
lution, Allamah Tihrani presented Ayatullah Khomeini with a twenty-point
program to consolidate the new regime. The list of Allamah Tihrani’s publi-
cations (pp. xxix-xxx) includes works on political theory and Islamic gov-
ernment. A parallel reading of Kernel of the Kernel with one of his more
“worldly” books would be particularly interesting for a study of the effects
of an esoteric master’s spiritual wayfaring on his sociopolitical views. 

Finally, it should be noted that a gender-sensitive reading of Kernel of
the Kernel would find it problematic that no women are found among all
the Shi`i scholars and masters of esoteric sciences. While the thrust of many
of the book’s arguments is directed at liberating oneself from “society’s
customs and habits” (p. 52), the sociocultural constructions of gender and
class are nevertheless operative. For instance, the all-pervasive themes of
traveling as well as of (spiritual) battle and warfare are all masculine in
character. This is not to negate that the average female or male believer can
identify with the text’s esoteric message. However, Kernel of the Kernel
addresses (and is about) an exclusive class of (male) saintly souls. The sub-
title of the book, Concerning the Wayfaring and Spiritual Journey of the
People of Intellect [Ulu al-Albab] might just as well have been translated
as … Spiritual Journey of the “Men” of Intellect.

Mahdi Tourage
Ph.D. Candidate, Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations Department

University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

136 The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences 21:2