Spelling هيولى as حيولى (Greek ὕλη), i.e. prima materia

 

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Someone was nitpicking on one of the threads here regarding why I sometimes spell the Arabic هيولى (Greek ὕλη), i.e. prima materia/prime matter, with an ح as حيولى rather than with the standard ه. Note that the abjad numerical value with an ح is 64 rather than 61 with the standard ه. The number 64 represents the physical world of the four elements to the third power in the plenitude of its expansion, which, on one level, is what prime matter/prima materia (ὕλη) is. 64 is also 8 x 8, i.e. the number of the sigils of the ogdoadic form of the Greatest Name multiplied by itself, not to mention the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching. The ح of حيولى is also a shorthand for حياة (ḥayyāt), or the principle of life, which in the reverse hylomorphism of Shaykhī cosmology precedes form (i.e. prime matter precedes form and is the actor whereas form is the patient because prime matter is to existence/being what form is to essence/quiddity). 64 is also the abjad numerical value of  hīya al-ḥayy, She is the Living, which denotes the feminine and Mother principle in the creative and creation process.

When the word was originally rendered from Greek into Arabic somewhere around the 8th-9th centuries of the common era, the choice of the Arabic ه as the first letter of the Arabic rendering of the Greek ὕλη was arbitrary. The letter ح could've also been chosen just as well. So in the FSO I sometimes switch between spelling it as حيولى and هيولى. But whenever it is spelled as حيولى, the above comments should be taken into consideration.