List of Rasa'il in The Encyclopedia of The Brethren of Purity - Theological Sciences

Theological Sciences

1. A lengthy epistle discussing the various disputing philosophies and religions. Concludes that all aim at the salvation of humans, but non-Islamic ones miss the mark.
2. "The Ascent to God". A discussion of how to reach the Creator through a virtuous and pious life, and how some were called by Him to aid the rest in seeking him. The manner of seeking is also described; the only thing pure in man in his soul, so it is the Soul that one must seek the creator through, however slowly must needs be & they will be judged on their progress.
3. "The Creed of the Sincere Brethren". An epislte of stories and parables which explain the religious beliefs of the Brethren; death and pain must be spurned for higher and greater things, ignorance must be vanquished, and examples are given from the lives of Jesus, Mohammed, Socrates, Abraham and others to show that they too believed in another greater life, which one must strive to reach.
4. "On the social intercourse of the Brethren of Purity; on the mutual assistance which they rendered each other in the spirit of true charity; on their benevolence, affection and kind-heartedness. The object of this treatise is to inculcate unity, and the duty of aiding each other in worldly and spiritual concerns." or more simply, "On Friendship". A chapter discussing the Brethren's organization and habits (i.e. meeting for purposes of education, assist one's comrades etc.), whose title van Reijn gives as "Friendship and Mutual Assistance", which is interesting since it is the source for the popular belief that the Brethren derived their name from a story in the Kalilah wa-Dimnah concerned precisely with friendship and mutual assistance. This epistle is largely translated by Sprenger.
5. On faith and the believers of them. "no. 45 (4) seeks to show the Philosophic Content of the Muslim Faith, and to explain the meaning of inspiration and obsession. It contains deep wisdom and a dark secret." (Davidson again).
6. "On the quiddity of the divine nomos, the conditions of prophecy and the quantity of characteristics (the Prophets); on the doctrines of the divine men and of the men of God." van Reijn gives a simpler title: "Prophecy and the Divine Law".
7. On the call to religion and the Creator
8. On the states and actions of the spiritual beings.
9. On politics; the ruler par excellence is the Creator, unsurprisingly, and the best human ruler is the one that approaches closest to how the Creator would rule.
10. On the arrangement of the world as a whole. This risala asserts that the universe will return to the Creator, as it emanated from him, based on a Koranic verse: "On the day when we shall roll up the heavens like a scroll, as we produced it at its first creation, we shall draw it back again." (Sura xii. 104)
11. On magic, witchcraft, incantations and the evil eye, along with jinns, devils, angels, magical artifacts etc. Hermeticism is especially apparent in this section.