Lettrism as Implicit Philosophy in 10th-century Jewish and Muslim Creation Theories

A comparative reading of two 10th-century Islamicate lettrist works—Ibn Masarra's Kitāb Khawāṣṣ al-ḥurūf and Saʿadia Gaon's commentary on the Sefer Yetsirah—shows that philosophy coexists with other ways of knowing in lettrist theories. Some lettrist authors overtly employ a philosophical structure, while others implicitly reference and reinterpret philosophical concepts such as primordial elements and prime matter. The article argues that a framework of 'implicit philosophy' creates space for lettrism within philosophy and science, while acknowledging its intertwining aspects of mysticism, esoterism, and occultism. This approach opens new ways of understanding lettrist works individually and as part of a broader Islamicate lettrist milieu.

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Abstract

This article presents a comparative reading of two 10th-century Islamicate lettrist works: Kitāb Khawāṣṣ al-ḥurūf by Ibn Masarra and a commentary on the Sefer Yetsirah by Saʿadia Gaon. Close analysis of both treatises emphasizes that philosophy coexists with other ways of knowing in lettrist theories. While some lettrist authors overtly employ a philosophical structure, this paper argues that others reference and re-interpret philosophical concepts (such as primordial elements and prime matter) implicitly within their work. Through reading these texts in conversation, I suggest that a framework of “implicit philosophy” creates space for lettrism within the domain of philosophy and science, while also acknowledging the intertwining aspects of mysticism, esoterism, and occultism that weave both within and beyond the realm of philosophy. Thinking in terms of implicit philosophy opens up new ways of understanding and contextualizing lettrist works, both as individual texts and as constituents of a broader Islamicate lettrist milieu.