zeal he possessed therefor during his days as a shepherd, and he thus continued to study books on classical philosophy and poetry during his leisure time. It was during his service in the Gilgit Scouts that 'Allamah Hunzai began to compose poetry, beginning with his mother-tongue, Burushaski (for more on 'Allamah Hunzai's poetry, see the section entitled 'Poetry'). Prior to him, however, Burushaski had been a broken, oral tongue, and there did not exist a script with which to write in the language. As one of the world's 129 language isolates, Burushaski possesses unique sounds, grammar and syntax, and to account for these, 'Allamah Hunzai - whilst in his first year of service in the Gilgit Scouts - developed his own Burushaski script, using an Arabic base to which he added eight special letters and ten vowel symbols (for more on 'Allamah Hunzai's contribution to the Burushaski language, see the section on Burushaski'). Using this script, 'Allamah Hunzai wrote the first known Burushaski poem the following year in 1940, which is still widely recited today. 'Allamah Hunzai jests at his misfortune in the absence of a photocopier in 1940, because the popularity of his poem within the Gilgit Scouts meant having to hand-write hundreds of copies of the poem upon request from his peers, who wished to take it home to their families. Among these peers were sergeants Tahwil Shah and Hasan 'Ali, who recited the poem with rhythm and melody. Thus began the tradition of Burushaski poetry and its recitation, which is today part of everyday life in Hunza. 'Allamah Hunzai resigned from the Gilgit Scouts on the 1st of September, 1943, and joined the Indian army in Srinagar on the 5th of October in the same year. He was released on his own request therefrom on the 7th of February, 1946, and set off for Bombay, where the Diamond Jubilee of the 48th Isma'ili Imam, Sultan Muhammad Shah, was to take place. Philosophy, Theology and Hermeneutics Across 125 works of prose, 'Allamah Hunzai thoroughly repurposes and builds extensively upon classical Isma'ili thought, with original theological, metaphysical and teleological expositions that draw on the historically unprecedented philosophical injunctions of the 48th Isma'ili Imam, Sultan Muhammad Shah. In addition, his works constitute a vast corpus of original Isma'ili esoteric exegesis, which reflects a deeper engagement with the process of ta'wil (lit. to return a thing to its origin) than can