What is meant by the intellect is the intellect—the first of the spiritual beings to be created—which commands seventy-five armies of noble character.
A truly intelligent person, then, is one who benefits from the sun of intellect. The degree to which each person receives its light determines their level of rationality; but it is their distance from ignorance and its armies that reveals their true measure of intellect.
… إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزَّ وَ جَلَّ خَلَقَ الْعَقْلَ وَ هُوَ أَوَّلُ خَلْقٍ مِنَ الرُّوحَانِيِّينَ « عَنْ يَمِينِ الْعَرْشِ مِنْ نُورِهِ فَقَالَ لَهُ أَدْبِرْ فَأَدْبَرَ ثُمَّ قَالَ لَهُ أَقْبِلْ فَأَقْبَلَ فَقَالَ اللَّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَ تَعَالَى خَلَقْتُكَ خَلْقاً عَظِيماً وَ كَرَّمْتُكَ عَلَى جَمِيعِ خَلْقِي ... ثُمَّ جَعَلَ لِلْعَقْلِ خَمْسَةً وَ سَبْعِينَ جُنْداً فَلَمَّا رَأَى الْجَهْلُ مَا أَكْرَمَ اللَّهُ بِهِ الْعَقْلَ ...َ فَلَا تَجْتَمِعُ هَذِهِ الْخِصَالُ كُلُّهَا مِنْ أَجْنَادِ الْعَقْلِ إِلَّا فِي نَبِيٍّ أَوْ وَصِيِّ نَبِيٍّ أَوْ مُؤْمِنٍ قَدِ امْتَحَنَ اللَّهُ قَلْبَهُ لِلْإِيمَانِ وَ أَمَّا سَائِرُ ذَلِكَ مِنْ مَوَالِينَا فَإِنَّ أَحَدَهُمْ لَا يَخْلُو مِنْ أَنْ يَكُونَ فِيهِ بَعْضُ هَذِهِ الْجُنُودِ حَتَّى يَسْتَكْمِلَ وَ يَنْقَى مِنْ جُنُودِ الْجَهْلِ فَعِنْدَ ذَلِكَ يَكُونُ فِي الدَّرَجَةِ الْعُلْيَا مَعَ الْأَنْبِيَاءِ وَ الْأَوْصِيَاءِ وَ إِنَّمَا يُدْرَكُ ذَلِكَ بِمَعْرِفَةِ الْعَقْلِ وَ جُنُودِهِ وَ بِمُجَانَبَةِ الْجَهْلِ وَ جُنُودِهِ وَفَّقَنَا اللَّهُ وَ إِيَّاكُمْ لِطَاعَتِهِ وَ مَرْضَاتِهِ
Al-Kāfī (Islamic edition), vol. 1, p. 21
… God, Mighty and Exalted, created the intellect. It was the first of the spiritual beings to be created, from the right side of the Throne, from His own light. Then He said to it, “Turn back,” and it turned back. Then He said, “Come,” and it came. God, Blessed and Exalted, said: “I created you as a great creation and honoured you above all My creatures …”
Then He appointed seventy-five armies for the intellect. When ignorance saw the honour God had bestowed upon the intellect … all these qualities, which belong to the armies of the intellect, are found together only in a prophet, a prophet’s successor, or a believer whose heart God has tested for faith. As for the rest of our friends, none of them is without some share of these armies, until they become complete and are cleansed of the armies of ignorance. Only then do they attain the highest ranks, alongside the prophets and their successors. This station can be reached only through knowledge of the intellect and its armies, and by turning away from ignorance and its armies. May God grant us and you success in obeying Him and earning His pleasure.