to a literal interpretation of the Quranic revelation (), as well as a hidden inner truth () accessible only to a few select initiates through allegorical () interpretation. Al-Hakim and the new religion According to Hamza, the establishment of the Fatimid Caliphate inaugurated a new cycle, in which God secretly took human form () again, in the persons of the Fatimid imam–caliphs. Notably, Hamza does not count the first Fatimid caliph, al-Mahdi Billah (), among these incarnations, but starts only with his successor, al-Qa'im (); according to the historian Heinz Halm, this is probably an echo of the doubts about his legitimacy. This process culminated in the public proclamation of al-Hakim's divinity in 1017/18, the start of Hamza's mission. This event effectively closed the cycle begun by Muhammad, and Muhammad's revelation (the Quran) and law (the Sharia) were thus abrogated both in their outward and inner senses. Hamza denied the existence of both paradise and hell, and promised the imminence of the day when al-Hakim, sword in hand, would judge the world. On that day, all non-believers would be punished, and even the Muslims who did not accept the new creed would be reduced to the status of ; Hamza writes in detail about the distinctive dress and ornaments that would signify their inferior status. Instead of the previous religious law, Hamza now preached a new "spiritual law" () founded on seven moral principles. As the historian Daniel De Smet points out, these were simple injunctions "that had no esoteric dimension at all and were thus not subject to interpretation". The aim of the Druze movement was thus to restore the conditions prior to the fall of Adam; Hamza saw himself as a "new Adam", with the task of "wielding the sword of Our Lord" to achieve the return to the lost paradisiac conditions. However, again the Devil and his minions interfered with the divine cause, taking the form of the leaders of the Fatimid , who incited the people and the army against al-Hakim. Corresponding to his concept of pairs of emanations of God and their adversaries, Hamza established a hierarchy of five cosmic ranks () corresponding to the emanations of the Creator-God (al-Hakim), and assigned to each of them a leading figure of the Fatimid establishment as their adversary: Hamza himself was the incarnation of the Universal Intellect, and opposed by al-Hakim's designated successor as caliph, Abd al-Rahim