Question
A risala by al-Tustarī on these entities inspired Ibn Masarra’s writing on their “characteristics.” Members of a sect named for these entities marked their manuscripts with a “32” in reference to a set of “names” that Allah taught ʾĀdam. A sculpture of two of these entities, “Lovers Heech,” is emblematic of a Sufi-inspired art movement named for them. A scent named for these entities considered Fazlullāh Astarābādī the Mahdi and expelled the Nuqtavis. A “black teardrop” was the origin of these entities according to (*) Baháʼu'lláh’s treatise on “isolated” versions of them. Al-Qalam is the alternate name of a surah often named for a “mysterious” one of these entities. Muqattaʿāt comprised of “disconnected” entities of this type also open Surah al-Baqara. For 10 points, name these entities, whose values in a mystical numerological system are added up to derive 786 as equivalent to the word Bismillah. ■END■
ANSWER: Arabic letters [or Persian letters; or ḥurūf or ḥarf; accept ḥurūfiyyah; accept Hurufism; accept ilm al-ḥurūf; accept ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿāt; accept Tafsír-i-Hurúfát-i-Muqattaʻih; accept letterism; accept disjointed letters; accept disconnected letters, accept mysterious letters, accept isolated letters; prompt on muqaṭṭaʿāt before mention with, “What entities comprise the muqaṭṭaʿāt?”; prompt on any of hāʾ, nūn, yāʾ, shīn, ʾalif, lām, or mīm with “What broader group does that belong to?”] (The Hurufis believed that “names” Allah taught ʾĀdam, as referenced in Surah al-Baqarah, were the 32 letters of the Perso-Arabic alphabet.)
<HK, Religion (Islam)>
= Average correct buzz position
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