The Prophet of God: Hermes Trismegistus

“Withdraw into thyself, and it will come; will, and it comes to pass; throw out of work the body’s senses, and thy Divinity shall come to birth; purge from thyself the brutish torments—things of matter.” Hermes Trismegistus

Hermes Trismegistus - the Thrice Great, one of humanities most mysterious figures, revered by the ancients and respected by the modern mystics. He’s believed to be a syncretic combination of the Greek god Hermes, and the Egyptian god Thoth. He is also recognized as the god Mercury to the Romans. He is also believed to be the author of the Hermetica which contain his teachings and sayings, one of the most famous of his works which have circulated among many occult circles and mystics is the Emerald Tablets He is also identified as the Judeo-Christian figure Enoch and Idris in the Islamic traditions.

The origin of the epithet Trismegistus comes from an inscription found in the Temple of Esna, Upper Egypt, in which the words “Thoth, the great, the great, the great” can be seen.

Hermes is also seen as someone who revolutionized society, through his great knowledge, credited to revealing writing, sewing of clothes, astronomy, alchemy, geometry, and the  guardian of hidden wisdom. He is said to have recorded many books, some works are believed to have survived and are ascribed to him until today such as the Corpus Hermeticum. Interestingly enough all of these attributes which are ascribed to him in the legends are also ascribed to him in Islamic literature.

“The Book is the Qur’an, and Idris (peace be upon him) is the grandfather of the father of Noah (peace be upon him). His name in the Torah is Enoch, and he was called Idris because of his extensive study of the scriptures — meaning the books of Allah and His wisdom. He was the first to write with a pen and was a tailor, the first to sew garments. It is said that Allah, Exalted is He, taught him the knowledge of the stars, arithmetic, and astronomy, and this was a miracle granted to him.” (Qisas Al-Anbiya (Tales of the Prophets), Al-Jazairy, p. 71)

Prophet Mohammed and his family also describe him to be a man of books, science, and knowledge, and a writer of scriptures:

The Prophet Mohammed said that Allah revealed thirty scrolls (scriptures) to Idris. (Qisas Al-Anbiya (Tales of the Prophets), Al-Jazairy, p. 76)

Abu Abdullah said: “He was called Idris because of the abundance of his study of the scriptures.” (Qisas Al-Anbiya (Tales of the Prophets), Al-Jazairy, p. 76)

The ancients saw Hermes as the embodiment of wisdom, the sage, the hermit. If there was a person in history that could embody the attributes of an absolute genius, it’s him. And how can that not be so when the intellect (Nous) itself decided to come in contact with him. How can it not be so when God decided to describe him in his book as such:

“And mention in the Book, Idris. Indeed, he was a man of truth and a prophet. And We raised him to a high station.” (Qur’an, Chapter 19 (Maryam), Verses 56-57)

In the Corpus Hermeticum, the Poimandres (the Shephard of Men), the Nous (intellect) appears to Hermes and reveals to him great wisdom, the origin of life, the purpose of creation, and God. He says to him, “I am Man-Shepherd, Mind of all-masterhood; I know what thou desirest and I’m with thee everywhere.” Hermes in response said: “I long to learn the things that are, and comprehend their nature, and know God. This is, I said, what I desire to hear.” Hermes becomes initiated, experiencing for himself what was from the beginning from the creation of this world, the light and darkness, the mind and ignorance, the Holy Word (logos).

This is not something attested by Hermes, the Ahlul-Bayt themselves have confirmed that these teachings are from a truthful prophet.

Samaah said: "I was with Abu Abdillah and a group of his followers were present. The topic of Intellect (Al-'Aql) and Ignorance (Al-Jahl) came up. So Abu Abdillah said: “Know the Intellect and its hosts, and Ignorance and its hosts—then you will be guided.” Samaah said: I said, “May I be your ransom, we only know what you teach us.” Abu Abdillah said: “Indeed, God—Mighty and Majestic—created the Intellect. It was the first of the spiritual creatures, to the right of the Throne, from His Light. He said to it: ‘Turn back!’—so it turned back. Then He said to it: ‘Come forward!’—so it came forward. God—Blessed and Exalted—said: ‘I created you as a tremendous creation, and I honored you above all My creation.’ Then He created Ignorance from a bitter, briny sea, gloomy. He said to it: ‘Turn back!’—so it turned back. Then He said to it: ‘Come forward!’—but it did not come. He said to it: ‘Have you grown arrogant?’—so He cursed it. Then He appointed for the Intellect seventy-five hosts (forces/qualities). When Ignorance saw the honor God had given the Intellect and what He had granted it, it conceived enmity toward it and said: ‘My Lord, this is a creature like me; You have created it, honored it, and strengthened it. I am its opposite and have no power against it—so grant me hosts like the ones You gave it.’ He said: ‘Yes—but if you disobey after that, I will drive you and your hosts out of My mercy.’ It said: ‘I accept.’ So He gave it seventy-five hosts." (Al-Kafi, Al-Shaikh Al-Kulayni, Vol. 1, p. 20)

Interestingly enough, the Holy Word (logos) which appears in the beginning of creation which Hermes witnesses matches the teachings we find in Christianity regarding the Word.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Bible, Book of John, Chapter 1, Verse 1)

He learns the reality of creation and the truth behind the Cosmology which was hidden from the people, he was the first to experience it. The Man-Shephard then asks Hermes: “Didst understand this Vision what it means?” Hermes replies “Nay; that shall I know.” The Man-Shephard then reveals the reality: “That Light, am I, thy God, Mind, prior to Moist Nature which appeared from Darkness; the Light-Word (Logos) [that appeared] from Mind is Son of God.”

The cosmology according to Hermes, is as followed: There is God, the Father, the One, unknowable, the Good. He is beyond our thoughts and understanding and above all things. God the Father then created that Light before Darkness as Hermes witnessed, this Light is also known as the Mind, the Man-Shephard, the God of Hermes. And in turn the Man-Shephard created the Holy Word (logos), the Son of God.

What about Islamic cosmology? Does it fit what Hermes is stating here? And does this equate to Monotheism?

According to the teachings of Imam Ahmed Al-Hassan, the reality of Allah is beyond our understanding, in his book “The Book of Monotheism”, he reveals that the reality of Monotheism is “He” or “Huwa” in Arabic. God of “Allah” merely a manifestation of the truth and reality He/Huwa. To simplify it, God the Father is He/Huwa, he is not knowable and above what the minds can comprehend. God the Father or He/Huwa created Allah, or the Light, the Mind/Intelelct, the Man-Shephard. In turn Allah or the Light created the Holy Word (Logos) or his Will.

The teachings of Hermes perfectly resonates with the teachings of Prophet Mohammed and his family, this all confirms Hermes as a divine guide in his time, and after having learned the mysteries, he was sent forth to his people as a Messenger from God saying to his people:

“O ye people, earth-born folk, ye who have given yourselves to drunkenness and sleep and ignorance of God, be sober now, cease from your surfeit, cease to be glamoured by irrational sleep. Ye earth-born folk, why have ye given up yourselves to Death, while yet ye have the power of sharing Deathlessness? Repent, O ye, who walk with Error arm in arm and make of Ignorance the sharer of your board; get ye from out the light of Darkness, and take your part in Deathlessness, forsake Destruction!”

Unfortunately, his words fell upon deaf ears. What we have of the knowledge of Hermes is little compared to what has been lost to time. The whereabouts of Hermes has remained a mystery, some believe that his remains exists in a hidden chamber within a Pyramid in Egypt with the Emerald Tablets resting upon his knees. While others are upon the belief that since he is the biblical figure Enoch then he was raised to the heavens.

“Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” (Bible, Book of Genesis, Chapter 5, Verse 24)

It is believed that Enoch will one day return to this world along with Jesus and Elijah. And believers around the world have been waiting for his arrival. Another figure people are awaiting is the awaited Mahdi/Guide or Qaim from Islamic eschatology, much like Enoch (Hermes) who came and brought forth great knowledge and science to his people. The Mahdi is also a figure who comes with great knowledge.

Abi Abdullah Imam Al-Sadiq said: “Knowledge is twenty-seven letters in total and everything which the Messengers brought forth are only two letters and the people to this very day know nothing but two letters, so if the Qaim emerges he will bring forth the twenty-five letters and spread them amongst the people and will add it to the previous two letters, until he spreads a total of twenty-seven letters.” (Bihar Al-Anwar, Al-Allamah Al-Majlisi, Vol. 52, p. 336)

Could the return of Enoch be the same as the coming of the awaited Mahdi/Guide? Let’s look at the physical description of Enoch:

Prophet Mohammed said: “Idris was a tall man, fair-skinned, with a large belly and broad chest. He had little body hair but abundant hair on his head. One of his eyes was larger than the other. On his chest was a white mark, not caused by vitiligo. When God saw what He saw of the people's injustice and aggression in His cause, He raised him to the sixth heaven. That is where He says: ‘And We raised him to a high station.’” (Al-Itiqan fi’ulum Al-Qur’an (The Perfect Guide to the Sciences of the Qur’an), Vol. 2, p. 363-364)

The physical description of the Prophet Enoch is an exact  description of the physical body of the Abdullah Hashem Aba Al-Sadiq, he is Hermes in his return, the unveiler of knowledge, the gnostic, the door and Messenger of God, the one that paves the way back home, to the source.

Hermes' message to humanity remains timeless, his words are a call to the awakening of the divine within ourselves. To transcend and transform this suffering world into a paradise on earth. And he is calling his people today once again, to rise and race towards building a Divine Just State as he had hoped for humanity.

“But I made them arise, and I became a leader of the Race towards home, teaching the words (logoi), how and in what way they shall be saved. I sowed in them the words (logoi) of wisdom ; of Deathless Water were they given to drink.” Hermes

Find out more about Hermes and his teachings in Aba Al-Sadiq's mystical lecture series in the Hall of Mysteries.