BB00007: Tafsir-i-Suratu’l-Kawthar (Commentary on the Surah of Kawthar)

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

1. Exordium

Praise be unto Him Who hath fashioned the verses of the Book of Dawn-Breaking in all that He hath cleft asunder, distinguished and caused to speak—verses bearing the imprint of pre-existence, which gleamed forth and shed their radiance after He had willed and ordained, then determined and decreed, ere He had permitted, appointed and established.

Then did the horizons of the heaven of the divine cloud-realm become illumined and resplendent therewith in the thicket of the divine essence, that the realities of the people of the Covenant might be nourished thereby on the Day of the Binding Pledge. Then were the horizons of the heaven of glory exalted and elevated therewith in the thicket of divine power, that the most sublime perceptions of the people of separation might be unified thereby on the Day when leg shall be wrapped around leg. Then did the essential jewels of the horizons of the heaven of praise sparkle and glisten therewith in the thicket of the Kingdom, that the hearts of the people of constancy might be made manifest in the Day when the light of the Pre-existent Sun shall distinguish between all things in every certitude and effulgence. Then shall the essential realities of those who dwelt aforetime and shall exist hereafter in the atmosphere of the air be shaken and convulsed in the thicket of the human realm, that the realities of the people of discord might be made manifest on the Day of Separation.

And verily this Day, in its hidden decree, shall “leg be bared to leg” [Q75:29], for the All-Merciful hath fulfilled what was revealed in the Qur’an: “Fear ye God, and He will give you a criterion,” [Q8:29] that He might establish the truth through His verses and bring to naught the deeds of him who believed, then denied, transgressed, then turned away, and spoke that which the Lord of Power had not revealed. God hath indeed seized him in this world for his turning away and denial. The first of them earned by his own hands what he wrought like unto a beast and turned away. The second of them wrought with his hands what none would approve, and he is this day in manifest error and madness.

And the third of them was seized for what We had not decreed for him in the Psalms. And he who aided them in secret—his hands have wrought what none possessed of a soul and near death’s door would approve. Say: The morning is your appointed time, and I am not an insolent liar. On that Day taste ye the touch of Hell, for God created you according as ye accepted by measure, and all things small and great are inscribed in an open book. And on this Day all the God-fearing are amid gardens and rivers, then all the deniers are in manifest error and madness.

2. The question

O God! Thou knowest that now hath descended upon me a written book from one who desired to weigh the balance of justice with the trunks of uprooted palm trees. Say: Now hath the Hour come, that the truth might be established and brought to naught the deeds of those who said “This is a continuing matter.” And now have descended the verses of heaven with water pouring down, and by God’s leave have gushed forth springs from the waters of Kawthar, that the water might fall, when God willeth, upon a matter foreordained. And indeed was he questioned who, having prayed unto his Lord, then sought to lessen or to alter the decree which thy Lord hath revealed in the Surah of Kawthar.

And verily this is His Book which hath been sent down from His presence, then by His leave doth speak—God knoweth whosoever is in the heavens and whosoever is on earth, and that concerning which men were at variance, though they knew not nor could comprehend. And God knoweth whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on earth, and verily He shall judge between those who said “Verily thy enemy is the one cut off.” They spoke, and His word is justice when it followeth not vain desire. Then by God’s leave is established:

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Praise be to God Who sent down the Book unto Muhammad in truth and sent him as a witness, a luminous lamp and a warner unto all the worlds, and caused him to stand at the station of nearness, the highest degree of certitude, first and most exalted, and far above what the wrongdoers say with great exaltation. Then did He manifest his Cause and proclaim His Word, and refused save to perfect His light, and made him a radiant lamp, and preferred him above all creation and many peoples.

O Thou Who art the Remembrance! Graciously answer the questioner who is commanded to ask, according to His exalted word: “Ask ye the people of the Remembrance if ye know not” [Q16:43], with exposition after the revelation in this blessed Surah: “Verily We have given thee Abundance, therefore pray unto thy Lord and sacrifice. Verily thy enemy is the one cut off.” [Q108] From Us is the question and from the Remembrance is the answer. We have indeed made known unto thee in the depths of these words what We desired to bestow upon thee in remembrance of what God spoke concerning him: “But for thee, I would not have created the celestial spheres.”

Be thou assured with certainty and behold with the eye of certitude, for every truth hath its falsehood and every person hath a satan. Today thou art for the Pen, that thou mayest know that all walk in impenetrable, pitch-black darkness, and all claim pure truth for themselves while supposing they are guided. If thou askest any one of them for proof,

“thou art not of the people of that verse from God’s Book, and they denied it though their souls were convinced thereof through wickedness,”

[Q27:14] they cannot produce any proof. After that thou seest the state of creation speaking of that which they know not.

3. Signs distinguishing truth from error

O thou faithful one! Present thyself on the Day of Resurrection before God, then judge fairly and refine thy vision. The true Cause of God cannot be established except by a balance of justice that is not of creation’s making, for he who claims connection between Creator and creation must prove his authority through verses, traditions, and signs in souls and horizons. And he who would invalidate his authority must do likewise in presenting proofs. Similarly in matters of religious law, one issues decrees about Friday prayer and establishes proofs from the Book, Tradition, consensus and celestial conjunctions, while another issues contrary decrees with similar proofs.

Today, whither wilt thou go and how wilt thou attain certitude? Indeed today all sects prove their claims through the Qur’an and traditions, but truth is only established through the Balance. Whosoever possesses not the measure hath no pure truth from God. Today thou disputest concerning the Balance—if thou art able to invalidate it through true proof from thyself or any other created thing, then pay no heed to my knowledge or deeds. Otherwise thou hast no escape, if thou desirest God, Lord of the heavens and earth, but to acknowledge or be certain in thy heart of His proof, then deny it, or be without religion.

The balance of knowledge is proof when that measure corresponds, as the Imam declared regarding signs of the Imamate, that “in questions there is no proof save what is true.” By thy Lord, the Lord of the heavens and earth, today there is no truth that could be proof for anyone except Myself. God hath manifested His Cause in such wise that none can contemplate or doubt it, for God hath chosen for preserving the religion of His Messenger and His friends a servant from among the Persians and given him what He hath given to none else in all the worlds. Judge fairly by God—is a stone speaking testimony greater, or a Persian youth speaking words that have astounded all? God hath given him a proof such that were all in the heavens and earth to gather together to produce its like, they would be powerless. If people contemplated it, they would be deprived of religion, for that proof was the proof of Muhammad the Messenger of God before. And if they desired to produce its like, they would immediately become polytheists, for God through this proof established the prophethood of His Beloved, and today all people argue by the Qur’an, believe in it, and judge by it.

By the Lord of the heavens and earth, there is no escape for anyone today except to believe and enter Paradise or to disbelieve and enter the Fire. Glory be to God from the deeds of these ignorant ones! Today all people are as dead, for they recognize not the handiwork of the Lord from that of creation. Has anyone brought the like of these verses? Would any possessor of spirit say this is the work of creation? Judge fairly by God—have you heard from anyone such prayers or scripture? Has anyone brought such proof besides the family of God, peace be upon them?

By God, if I wished, after having established the criterion before witnesses, I could write in six hours a thousand verses of intimate prayers. Who today can do that? I seek refuge in God from the deeds of people.

Al-Majlisi has verified in his book Haqq al-Yaqin that the Sahifa Sajjadiyya equals in eloquence the heavenly scriptures and is the Psalms of the family of Muhammad, sufficient as a miracle for those who see them not. How then is authority established through one scripture while truth is not established through numerous scriptures that have filled the East and West of the earth? What proof is greater than this bounty and what gift mightier than this power? If the learned were to compose a page for contemplation, then when you mention their words to me it would be like saying “How excellent!”

In truth, nobility lies not in mentioning words nor arranging verses, but rather that which is the spirit’s essence therein is the divine mystery and manifestation of eternality, which is the source of all virtue and upon which all justice turns. Weigh one of my scriptures against all the books of the people—not a single letter thereof could be equaled by all in the heavens and earth, for it is life from the manifestation of unity and mystery of mercy, while all else is like a mere calf’s body that lows. By your Lord, if people knew what their hands have wrought in God’s religion, they would enter the graves and seclude themselves therein. By God, were I to abrogate a law in the religion or add a single obligatory letter, proof would be required for it, yet today I am like one of the learned.

How then do some people today deny God’s Cause and reckon they do good, as though they were dead and perceive not? God has intended through the appearance of these verses that those who disbelieved before in the Imams of Justice from among the Arabs, and those who believe in the Qur’an while disbelieving in the Imams of Justice, should believe through a conclusive proof leaving them no escape except to disbelieve in what they believed before or to believe in the Imams of Justice and follow their laws, then hear and be guided.

O noble questioner! People look not to reality. Without doubt God knows my state and is aware of my station, and He is the Living, Powerful, All-Knowing. Were I fabricating against Him, it would be incumbent upon Him to create a person to stand against me and recite the like of my verses until my proof be nullified. Yet He knew and was powerful but none appeared with such work from anyone to prove He intended this Cause and detests who denies it. God knows all while people know not, perceive not, and understand not.

By the Lord of heaven and earth! the truth I behold within mine own self, even as ye are beheld in the knowledge of God, were ye but of them that are assured. And if all who dwell upon the earth were, in the face of His proof, to deny Him, their plea would prove more feeble than the frailest spider’s web. Verily I am possessed of a sure and manifest certainty.

Deal justly, I adjure you by God, and weigh, in the balance of equity, the works of the wrong-doers among the people of Islam. If, in this day, any man were to claim a grace vouchsafed him from God, and were confirmed in what hath been revealed by God in the Qur’an, and were his grace such as to establish thereby that steadfast and most excellent Faith—would any give judgement that he should be denied? Nay, by thy Lord! save those who are the faithless.

Behold the measure of their faith, and weigh well their belief. The bedouins of the Days of Ignorance, when the verses of the Qur’an were sent down, brought forth odes about the House; yet these, by thy Lord, are further removed from faith than were the unbelieving bedouins of old. But they are a people bereft of understanding.

Assume that the One who layeth claim to this Cause were a man from beyond Mount Qaf: even then it would be incumbent upon the divines to answer him, or else to make of themselves as him who was confounded and denied. By God! certain among men believed, and attained, and emigrated—then denied, and turned away, and joined partners with God. I demanded of them but a single tradition, yet they bring it not; they wax proud and arrogant. And there aided them a man, deeming them to be rightly guided.

Deal justly, I adjure you by God. That which I required of them is the very thing wherewith, in the Qur’an, God erstwhile confounded the people of unbelief—argument and proof. Behold the baseness of their station! Pharaoh, when he sought to reject the proof of his Lord, came forth with some show of sorcery; but these, by thy Lord, bring not forth even a letter, and yet they commit deeds which they comprehend not. By thy Lord! in this day the Fire of hell encompasseth the unbelievers. And verily, were I to utter but one word, the balance of justice would be made firm in mine hand; yet the people deny and forge lies, unwittingly.

A woman of Dhuban, of the Shaykhi community, hath written, in their denial, three books—nay, woe unto her, that she should busy herself with their repudiation! And the champions of that faction have deemed it beneath them to give heed with their learning; for they have wrought what Pharaoh wrought not aforetime. And in this day they are of the lost.

Look with the eye of certainty—is it not that whoever follows one who speaks by the text of tradition hath worshipped him? They have no escape except to confess to worshipping Satan in the days of their migration, for God commands not doubt, and there is no obligation upon one who is not certain, and in him who worships Satan there is no good. Fie upon them! Then fie upon them! Then fie upon them! Abasement is decreed for them in this worldly life, and these on the Day of Resurrection shall be present in the Fire. And verily that which Satan desired and destroyed before concerning the decree of mutual execration—by thy Lord it hath befallen one of the chiefs of that group whom none can reject before God and His friends and witnesses from among His creation.

God hath slain them for what they have fabricated and for having gone astray and led others astray unknowingly. By thy Lord, were any Christian to read my scripture, he would be ashamed to say “nay” regarding me, yet they have read and borne it, then fabricated and denied. God’s curse be upon them for what they have done! They have no escape except to deny Kazim and Ahmad, for those who have believed me from among the champions of that group—the text concerning them is from these two. And some from among the scholars of the Usuli and Akhbari schools like unto them have believed, while those who believe not are dead and have no standing, and these are they who join partners with God.

And verily all that I have mentioned to thee regarding the station of proof is but a drop from the ocean of the outward, and if thou desire the secret of the heart and the wisdom of the inward, no allusion can indicate it, nor can veils and infinitude conceal it, nor need we mention its proof, for it is the essence of manifestation and the perfection of concealment. Glory be to God above what they describe!

O questioner, I adjure thee by God, If thou art able to refute these proofs, whether by thyself or through anyone among the people, thereby setting my heart at ease and delivering all mankind—otherwise the Cause of God is more manifest than the sun in the midst of heaven. Here I mention, at the point of the Balance, verses before the commentary, that the measure may be established. For when the Balance is established, all contradictions among all people are nullified. And whatsoever thou hast seen of My verses that have been falsified by the falsifiers, and some of which the scribes were unable to copy in their true form—and therefore people say there are errors therein, and some say there is no connection—I take refuge with God from their deeds and their calumnies. And whatever verses thou seest that differ from this just standard, verily I am innocent of the polytheists. And here I mention the measure of utterance, that it may be a proof to all the worlds.

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate!

Glorified be He Who hath sent down the Book wherein is a remembrance and a decree from Us for people who understand. Verily God, thy Lord, knoweth what is in the heavens and what is on earth, and today people differ concerning the decree of God. God hath indeed previously revealed in the Qur’an the decree of all things, but people know not, understand not, and reflect not. Indeed it was revealed in the Qur’an: “Fear God and He will give you a criterion,” [Q8:29] and thus doth God, thy Lord, reward His God-fearing servants. God, thy Lord, hath indeed revealed previously in the Qur’an: “And We inspired Moses and those with him, all of them.” [Q26:65] Say: I have related to all the favor of my Lord, and I fear no one if ye deny the signs of God.

The decree of God hath reached the east of the earth and its west, and We are witnesses unto all. Say: Those who followed the signs of God aforetime—these are they who are guided. But those who disbelieved and followed their vain desires—God will not forgive them nor guide them, and these are they who are the lost. The true religion in the Book of God is this upright Faith, if ye be of those who are certain of the signs of God. Say: If ye knew what I know, ye would assist God with your lives and your wealth, in hope of a day when all shall be brought before God.

Those who have said that the remembrance of thy Lord’s name hath laid claim to divine revelation and the Qur’an have indeed disbelieved, while today ye falsely attribute to the religion of God that which they know not and understand not. Say: I am a servant of God, confirming what ye possess of the decree of the Qur’an—how then do ye deny the signs of God while ye perceive not? We have indeed tried creation as We tried those who disbelieved aforetime, and We know what people know not and understand not. By thy life, all people have disbelieved save those who followed Our decrees aforetime and denied Me not in anything—these are they who shall prosper. Those have disbelieved who never imagined they would disbelieve in the Merciful, while they supposed they were guided.

Those have disbelieved who said that the remembrance of thy Lord’s name claimed “I am the Gate of the Remnant of God” by a previous decree, while they knew not. And the likeness of all that people have said concerning Me is as what the Christians said that God, thy Lord, is the third of three, or as what the Jews said that Ezra is the son of God, or as what the Arabs said that God is poor while we are rich. We shall record what they have said and judge between them in this worldly life, and in the hereafter they shall be among the lost.

By thy Lord! When the Qur’an was revealed, the Arabs who disbelieved among the people of the towns brought forth mighty words of opposition. And today the extent of the knowledge of the learned shall be made manifest when God willeth it in the Book. These are they who are the disbelievers. And those who believed in God and His signs and migrated in His path—when thy Lord God desired concerning them to declare their ruin—they denied and disbelieved while they were certain, yet they comprehend not. Say: I have spoken, so bring forth a sign if thou be among the truthful ones. By thy Lord! I see not anyone to this day who can produce even a single letter. Say: Bring forth the like of this Book if ye be truthful in your claim before God. Verily, Pharaoh of old brought forth sorcery, yet they have made themselves in faith lower than his disbelief. God hath cursed them for their deeds. Abasement hath been stamped upon them in this worldly life, and these shall be among those present in the fire on the Day of Resurrection.

And verily, he who helped them in secret—God, thy Lord, curseth him, then the angels of the heavens and earth, then those servants of God who follow truth with truth and are possessed of clear certainty. Say: Today the fire of hell hath encompassed your souls while ye are tormented therein, yet ye perceive it not. Say: Have mercy upon yourselves, for the life of this world is vain, and when ye die ye shall be tormented without mercy. Say: He who taketh the Book without right is as one who hath taken from the Prophets, the Messengers, the truthful ones and the righteous ones, for ye have uttered false words, and God judgeth between all with justice, and He verily witnesseth what men conceal.

Say: The proof from the remnant of God is these clear verses for people who understand. And those who said “We can produce the like of these verses”—bring them before God. If they read without reflection and write without pause, then the decree hath fallen upon them that they lie while they know not. By thy Lord, the Lord of the heavens and earth! Should the jinn and mankind gather together to produce the like of these verses which We have sent down in this Book by God’s leave, they would never be able, nor would they have power, even were they mighty upon the earth. Say: Their hearts are dead and unclean when they read God’s verses yet show no humility. Say: The handiwork of the Lord distinguisheth itself from the handiwork of men. Woe unto you for what ye falsely devise while ye understand not!

Say: When they repented and turned back, abasement was stamped upon them in this worldly life for what their hands had wrought in God’s religion—evil is that which they judge! Say: Whenever those who disbelieved spoke concerning these verses, I say: How can ye believe in the Qur’an while ye understand not? Say: Were God to send down unto you a proof other than these verses, they would surely speak without understanding. But today they cannot produce even a single letter unless they disbelieve in the Qur’an from before or believe in these clear verses from God’s Book for people who believe.

Say: Those who spoke and fabricated claims about the authority of the Guardianship or its legitimacy have indeed disbelieved in God and His verses. Their abode is hellfire—evil indeed is the station of the wrongdoers!

Say: The example of these verses is like the water of heaven that floweth by God’s leave, and God hath not ordained for it any limit or end forever. Say: How can the decree of verses be abrogated unto numbered days while today thou writest before Us that this is naught but an insolent liar? Say: God effaceth what He willeth and revealeth what He willeth, and God is independent of all that ye know.

Say: Woe unto you! The Tree of Sinai hath grown within My breast—how is it that ye hear the verses of God and remain unaware? Say: Though ye were to ransom all who are in the heavens and on earth, God would not accept from your deeds the value of a single letter, and when ye die ye shall enter the fire of hell, and others likewise. Say: A single letter of those verses surpasseth all that is on earth of what ye desire and seek and comprehend not. Say: The first to deny thy Lord’s Name, then the second, then the third, then the fourth, then those who followed them—if they repent not, God will never forgive them, nor will He regard them, nor will He speak to them, and for them a grievous chastisement hath been prepared.

Say: All that Satan casteth upon you, We abrogate through the decree of those verses. Fear ye God and have mercy upon your souls if ye be truly His worshippers. Unto God do I complain of what hath befallen me in this earthly life. My Lord! Pour forth upon me patience and grant me victory over the transgressing people. Say: Should all who are in the heavens and on earth gather together to deny Me, they would not equal so much as a handful of dust, and God knoweth My decree while today ye neither reflect, nor understand, nor are ye guided.

Say: When ye die ye shall enter the fire of hell and cry for help, but none shall intercede for you that Day except by God’s leave. Turn ye unto God, O concourse of men, that haply ye may obtain mercy. Say: How do ye forge lies against God, claiming these verses are no proof except after the Bayan? Grievous is the word that issueth from your mouths—ye speak naught but falsehood. Today, by virtue of your unbelief, the Qur’an hath no authority among men. Woe unto you for what your hands have wrought in God’s religion, and evil is that which ye judge. Say: God’s curse be upon those who forged lies aforetime, and in every condition God multiplieth their torment in this earthly life, and in the Hereafter they shall be among the despised ones.

O Yahya [Darabi]! Bring forth by thine innate powers a verse like unto these verses, if thou possessest true knowledge. Say: O people! Disgrace not yourselves, for today none can produce a single verse from God’s Book, and I am most knowing of this standard while ye remain ignorant thereof. These are clear verses from God’s Book for people who believe. We have indeed revealed in that Book all that ye desire and that which ye shall be questioned about hereafter. Those who disbelieve in God’s verses after having believed—God will never forgive them nor guide them. Abasement hath been decreed for them in this earthly life, and these are they who shall be present in the fire on the Day of Resurrection. These are verses from the Book of Justice which We have revealed in that Book that all may know the decree of the Balance from one Wise and Knowing. Sufficient is what We have caused to flow forth from the Book of the Divine Essence, and the proof of the Realm of Might, and the verses of the Kingdom, and the powers of the mortal world, for whoso desireth to be weighed by that most upright Balance. Glory be to God above what they associate!

Lo, I call out by God’s leave in the atmosphere of the divine cloud, and that which floweth from My pen is not the beginning of destiny. God’s curse be upon those who forge lies about the Divine Decree! Is there any warrior who will face Me with verses of the All-Merciful? Is there any warrior who will face Me with human utterance? Is there any possessor of might who will stand with Me in the field of battle with the swords of the people of the Bayan? Is there any possessor of power who can write verses like these denying the sun and moon by calculation?

O ye who dwell in the kingdom of command and creation! Verily this Persian Youth hath mounted the steed of combat and hath come with the instruments of war in the arena of Glory, raising his voice on high—where are the monotheists among the people of Beauty, and where are the detached ones among the people of Glory, and where are the humble ones among the people of wealth, and where are the God-fearing among the people of idle talk? Why do you not emerge from your dwellings? Why do you flee to the eye of the needle in your fear? Why do you enter the spider’s web in the mountain peaks? Why are you silent, neither speaking nor offering excuses before the presence of Beauty?

Where are the mighty ones among the wise men of the East? Where are the eloquent ones among the knowers of harmony? Where are those who ascend the heights of certitude? Where are the philosophers among the learned of the covenant? Where are the strangers among the people of discord? Where are the warriors among the people of hypocrisy? And where are the seafarers, then the land-dwellers, then the Turks, then the Romans, then the Syrians, then the Iraqis, for whom divorce is befitting? Why do they not confront this Persian youth, the Light of the East? Why do they not prostrate to God? Is this not the day when leg is wrapped around leg, and every mighty one has risen with his might against this Light shining from the horizons?

Hear my call, O people of hearts, then O people of understanding, then O people of vision, then O people of authority! Who is this bird singing in the atmosphere of these words? Then who is this Light that warbles in the intimations of these signs from the Sun of Glory? Then who is this Peacock that appears with the colors of the Preeternal Sun in the depths of these stations? Then who is this Fish troubled in the dust crying “Have mercy on me, O people, and turn not away!”

4. The stations of the letters of the Qur’an and their interpretation

And verily what We have cast upon you from the gardens of the trees of the Divine Realm suffices to manifest the fruits of the trees of the Celestial Realm. Know that God has revealed the Qur’an in such manner that even if an ant desired to expound all its verses, their inner meanings and stations regarding the blackness of its eye, it would be able to do so. For the divine mystery and the manifestation of the Eternal has penetrated all things, and for every letter of the Qur’an there is an interpretation encompassing all that God’s knowledge encompasses of the atoms of things, and for every interpretation there is an allegorical meaning, and for every allegorical meaning there is an inner meaning, and for every inner meaning there is yet another inner meaning, unto what God wills.

And verily what has been mentioned in the tradition regarding the seventy to seven hundred inner meanings is for the weak ones and a ruling for the jurists. And this is a judgment to which those servants pay no heed who are established upon the mysteries of the Divine Realm and who recline upon the yellow cushions of the Celestial Realm, for they behold all things with the eye through which God has manifested Himself to them within their hearts, and they see nothing except they see God, their Creator, before that thing.

And verily the Qur’an has infinite stations which none can enumerate save God or whom He wills, as has been explicitly stated in the words of the All-Merciful: “Thou knewest not what the Book was, nor Faith.” And among these is the inner meaning of the Throne from which the Imams, in their physical station, derive the laws of religion; and among these is the outer meaning of the Throne; and among these is the inner meaning of the Seat; and among these is the outer meaning of the Seat, and in that station lies the greatest weight and the decisive word for the sincere seeker and the doubtful denier; and among these are stations for the people of the heavens which no human knowledge can encompass; and [lastly] among these is a Qur’an above the earth, and in that station the Spirit of Faith descended with its verses upon Muhammad, the Messenger of God, and had it not descended upon him, what was to become known after would not have appeared from the human station. And when the first one disbelieved, it was concealed from among the people.

And verily, that which is now revealed is even as God sent it down from the well-guarded Heaven, preserved within the treasuries of the Remnant of God; none hath therein a share. That which all men read today, and wherein they differ, was not arranged according to the order of its original revelation, nor did it manifest the eloquence of the First. None comprehendeth its true knowledge save whom God willeth. Yet upon all is the duty to act according to it; for whoso denieth even a single letter thereof hath verily disbelieved in the Prophets and the Messengers, and his recompense shall be the fire of hell. The calumniators and fabricators have no helper today in the Book of God.

Consider, then, with the eye of inception what We have chosen to reveal unto thee of the verses of the Seal, if thou hast taken up residence in the realm of the Divine and hast read that blessed Surah in the sea of Oneness beyond the ocean of Might. Know thou with certainty that all its letters are but a single letter, and all the variations in its words and meanings return to a single point, for that is the station of the heart, the sanctuary of unity. God hath created its elements from a single heavenly water—all of it fire, all of it air, all of it water, all of it earth, all of it vessels of grandeur, bestowals of eternality, and heavenly fountains made manifest. It is the prayer which the Spirit of Truth revealed unto the Messenger of God during the Night Journey, saying “Stand, for thy Lord prayeth,” and thou sayest “All glory and sanctity be unto the Lord of the angels and the Spirit.”

It is the Lordship of the One, wherein there is no mention of that which is lorded over, neither in existence nor in manifestation, neither openly nor secretly. It is the mystery of eternity, the vessel of radiance, the attribute of sanctity, the identity of divinity, and the quality of subsistence. If thou sayest its beginning is itself its ending, thou speakest truth, and God will surely accept it from thee, for God revealed that Surah in that holy land just as thou hast heard it from the melodies of the birds of heaven that take flight in the splendors of the lights of the Sun of Glory, and upon that water of life whereby the words of the names and attributes are quickened.

It behooveth thee to understand from that divine principle all the stations of the chain of contingent being, and to comprehend the meaning of that blessed Surah through those all-sufficient attributes in the realities of its verses. This indeed is the red elixir through which one possesses both the Hereafter and this world. By thy Lord, the Lord of the heavens and earth, all that Kazim wrote before Ahmad concerning divine knowledge, holy attributes, and paradisiacal mysteries doth not equal a single letter of what I have cast unto thee by God’s leave. Know thou its worth and conceal it like thine eyes, save from those worthy of it, for we are God’s and unto our Lord do we return.

If thou dwellest in the shadow of the Divine Will, the station of Purpose, upon the earth of Might, and readest that blessed Surah, then know in the first word from the Alif the fire of origination; then from the Nun the air of invention; then from the manifest Alif the water of creation; then the hidden cornerstone establishing the manifestation of the three pillars—the mystic letter of earth. Thus is the decree, even as We have given thee from the heavenly waters in the veils of allusions from the goodly words in the blessed Surah, and what thou desirest to know of it in the stations of action after purpose, through destiny, decree, permission, term and book.

Were I to elaborate but a single letter from that surging, bitter sea, the ink would be exhausted and the pens would break, yet there would be no end to what God hath inspired me concerning its meaning. Glorified and exalted is He above what the wrongdoers describe, what the comparers say, what the deniers fabricate, and what the polytheists profanely attribute to His verses. All have entertained evil thoughts about God’s verses. Say: What think ye today of the Lord of the worlds?

5. Commentary on the individual letters of the Surah of Kawthar

Part 1: “When thou descendest from the stations of action…”

When thou descendest from the stations of action and dwellest upon the pinnacle of the Throne, and desirest to write those letters [i.e., the 43 letters in the Surah of Kawthar: a n a a T y n a k a l k w th r f S l l r b k w a n H r a n sh a n k h w a l a b t r], then know thou:

From the first alif in the first word, the tokens of thy Lord in the heaven of the Divine Cloud; then the signs of thy Lord upon the Throne of Praise; then the evidences of thy Lord in the firmament of Decree; then the splendors of thy Lord upon the Throne of Glory.

Then from the letter nun, the light of thy Lord in the realm of divinity; then the light of thy Lord in the empyrean realm; then the light of thy Lord in the realm of the Kingdom, then the light of thy Lord in the realities of the temples of the people of the empyrean.

Then from the second Alif in the first word, the Command of God in the kingdom of the Command; then the Command of God which God hath sent down in the realm of the people of divinity, then the second realm of the empyrean, then the third realm of dominion, then the fourth realm of the Kingdom; then the Command of God which the Faithful Spirit hath revealed unto the heart of Muhammad, the Messenger of God; then the Command of God whose bearer God hath made to be ʿAli ibn Abi Talib, through whom all things are known and by whom judgment is passed between all things; then the Command of God in the hearts of the Imams of justice; then the Command of God in the realities of the people of the mortal realm; then the Command of God in the creation of whatsoever hath been named a thing; then the Command of God in religious law.

And verily from this Water of Life which Khidr of knowledge hath drunk, through it is known the knowledge of unity, and by it are reckoned all the commandments of religious law and their ordinances are established, from the stations of unity and the signs of oneness and the tokens of detachment and the stations of justice, then the stations of religious law concerning the laws of prayer and almsgiving and fasting and pilgrimage and whatsoever God hath prescribed in religious law, even unto the compensation for a scratch. By Him Who holdeth my soul in His hand, were God to desire to bring forth from that letter all that hath been revealed in the Qur’an and were He to permit me, I would bring forth all that the Book encompasseth with proofs and evidences, until all would say regarding that letter that it is the judgment of the Qur’an, a clear Book, and “there is nothing fresh or withered but it is in a clear Book.” [Q6:59] For God hath created through the Alif all that He hath created from the world of the elixir, and it is a clear mirror wherein the world beholdeth all stations and evidences and tales and signs, even as thou seest thine image in the mirror of justice.

Sharpen thy vision and purify thy sight. Verily, he who maketh this Alif a mirror of the world of the elixir and witnesseth all the worlds therein, even as thine eye beholdeth this most noble world, is of a higher station than he who knoweth not its outward meaning nor perceiveth its ordinances nor witnesseth its clear proofs nor is guided by its signs.

Glorified be God, the Lord of the Throne and the heavens! In the first age when the Messenger of God made a stone to speak in remembrance that a soul might believe, and now verily I have made that Alif a mirror of justice wherein all things are reckoned and which speaketh of all ordinances even as I speak, as though it were a living being like unto the people of paradise, and it is a mirror that speaketh and illumineth all until the Day of Resurrection without end. Behold thy stations therein and how thou journeyest unto the manifestations of thy Lord, that all may be reckoned by that Alif. And verily it is a Book wherein there is no doubt, a guidance unto the God-fearing who know the signs of the people of divinity and are acquainted with the verses of the people of might and witness the stations of the people of sovereignty and seek forgiveness for those who know not God’s purpose in the thicket of mortality, the earth of desires and darkness and perdition and the lowest depths.

Look unto that mirror and recite unto thyself that verse from the Qur’an: “Behold! verily on the friends of God there is no fear, neither shall they grieve.” [Q10:62] Baqir—peace be upon him—hath said: “Blessed are the followers of our Qa’im, they who await His appearance during His occultation and obey Him upon His manifestation—these are the friends of God, upon whom neither fear shall come nor shall they grieve.” These are they at whose mention God spoke through Ali (peace be upon him), whose word is truth: “These are we and our followers who follow after us. Blessed are we and blessed are they, though their blessedness exceeds our blessedness.” When asked, “How can their blessedness exceed ours when we and they are of one cause?” he replied, “Because they shall bear what ye bore not, and shall endure what ye endured not.”

Ah! By Him Who caused the Bird of Mystery to soar in my breast—which by His leave alights in the sacred grove of the Divine Essence, then takes refuge in the holy precincts of Omnipotence, then soars in the atmosphere of the Kingdom—verily within my breast there lies such abundant knowledge that were all who dwell in the heavens and earth to be measured against a single letter thereof, they would not equal it, had I but vessels into which to pour it.

Say unto men: Know ye the worth of these days, for never hath the sun risen upon their like, nor hath their parallel ever occurred to any heart aforetime. Is there any who hath come who can bring forth the whole of religion from the letter Alif with decisive proofs, sound evidences, and wondrous signs? Verily the ways of proof exist within the soul according to God’s all-encompassing knowledge of whatsoever hath been named a thing. But in the manner which thou knowest to teach the people, that is how I now teach thee by God’s leave, our Lord. If anyone should ask whether God thy Lord is able to create all that His knowledge encompasses within this letter Alif, wouldst thou not reply “Yea,” since all things are possible in the realm of contingent being and God withholds not any thing from any thing?

When this is established, consider what We have caused to shine upon thee from the brilliant lightning flash of Light that hath shone forth from the direction of the Orient. When thy Lord’s light is manifested unto thee in the depths of these allusions, thou shalt swoon away, then when thy heart recovereth, say: “I am the first of them that repent.”

Verily all the words of the Qur’an whose first letter God hath made to be the letter alif are words whereby the seeker, if he so willeth, may be guided to the meaning of that alif in the realm of Command. And among them are those which God hath revealed in the Qur’an—two mysteries enshrined in His utterance:

“O Moses! Verily, I, indeed I, am God, the Lord of all the worlds.”

And verily I am the first of those who turn repentant unto Him.

O My friend, trace thou the letter of that crimson thread through every station, for it is a universal, divine foundation—none among creation can comprehend its reality save whom God willeth. And if I were to expound that blessed Surah in accordance with what hath been bestowed upon thee from that all-encompassing ocean, the Tablets would be exhausted ere the meaning of but one letter of the first word were unveiled. Never have I desired—nor shall I desire hereafter—save by God’s leave. Yet We shall sprinkle, in the allusions of the letters of that blessed Word, what shall cause the hearts of the pure in faith to overflow, through the melodies of that celestial Bird whose song enraptureth hearts, confoundeth the reason of the wise, refresheth souls with its gentle flutterings, and maketh the very skin of man to quake at the mention of its strains and attributes. Glorified be God, its Creator, above what they describe!

And when its voice trembleth with the trembling of the dawn-lights of the Sun of Eternity, and gleameth with the gleaming rays of the Morn of Majesty, then know thou that this Bird abideth not in its nest out of fear of the beasts, but, when the hands of all are raised with bows drawn to strike, it soareth about their heads, fluttereth before their faces, and shieldeth itself in the path of their arrows; yet neither is it touched by any shaft, nor disturbed by the blame of the lying tongue, nor daunted by any foe. It is as though it were a Bird the like of which no eye hath beheld throughout the ages—so mighty in power that it entereth the mouth of the lion of the desert, the tiger of the mountain, and the whale of the sea, and within their bellies chanteth, even as did Jonah of old:

“There is no God but Thee! Glory be unto Thee! Verily, I am of the wrongdoers.”

[Q21:87]

Then from the first Alif of the second Word comes the essence of Glory, then Bounty, then the All-Giving, then Bestowal in its rank.

Then from the letter ʿAyn comes the spring of Salsabil from the right of the Tree of Accomplishment, then the spring of camphor from above the Tree of Sinai, then the spring of Kawthar from beneath the Tree of Baha, then the spring of crimson wine from within the Blessed Tree in the sacred valley, from the leaf of the Tree of Sinai which proclaims “There is no God but God. O Yahya, He is my Lord and your Lord and the Lord of all worlds.”

Then from Ta comes the bird that sang upon the branches of the Tree of Divinity, then the bird that warbled upon the leaves of the Tree of Might, then the bird that soared in the atmosphere of the heaven of the Kingdom, then the peacock which, when it moved in the realm of humanity, caused creation to imagine from the manifestation of its brilliant colors that the Lord, exalted be His glory, had Himself regarded creation. It breathed and darkened when it was concealed in the mystery of the retreating stars, and spoke and caused to speak that which shone from the light of the Eternal Sun, saying, and I recall His words: I bear witness unto God as God has borne witness unto His Own Self that there is no God but Him, and I bear witness that all else is powerless to testify to His unity, for His Essence severs all beings from the station of detachment, and His Identity separates all realities from the station of inaccessibility.

None knows Him as He is except Him. He has ever been, with no mention of aught else, and He will ever be, existing with no mention of aught else. If you say He is He,’ you have compared like with like, yet He cannot be known thereby. And if you say Thou art Thou,’ your own self would belie you, as would the people of creation and invention, for how could you stand before the city of Divine Unity and make mention of your Lord—glorified and exalted is He above what they describe!

And I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant whom He chose from the highest peaks of contingent being to stand in His Own station in beginning and return, for He has ever been and naught was with Him, and now He is as He has ever been, and will never be associated with the making of things nor with the manifestation of His Essence in the reality of creation. Glory be unto Him and exalted is He! Vision comprehends Him not, while He comprehends all vision, and He judges between all things—glorified and exalted is He above what they associate!

And I bear witness that the successors of Muhammad are the trustees of the All-Merciful and the meanings of the Bayan—none precedes them in existence, none is mentioned in their rank, they act only by God’s will and judge only by God’s leave, honored servants who were ever prostrate before God. And I bear witness that I am Thy servant, I believe in Thee and acknowledge Thy power, and I bear witness that whoever claims Thy Lordship or authority, or claims the Qur’an and revelation in the manner Thou hast forbidden to people, or diminishes aught from Thy religion or adds to it, has indeed disbelieved, and I am innocent of him. Thou art witness over me that I have claimed nothing save what was specifically mentioned, nor have I spoken in the Book except the designated word. I love all that Thou lovest and hate all that Thou hatest, so judge between me and the calumniators; in truth, Thou art the best of those who distinguish!

Then from the letter Ya is the Hand of God over all things subtle and manifest in what is manifest, He created the First from the inner aspect of the outer in the fourth quadrant from the horizon of the heaven of Lahut. Then the Hand of Power is over all things, where nothing in the heavens or earth can frustrate it And it is the Hand that encompasseth the heavens and earth, giving unto each possessor of a right his right. Verily the heavens today are as on the Day of Judgment, for the Light thereof hath distinguished between truth and falsehood, and verily they are folded up in His right hand—glorified and exalted be He above what ye describe! Then the Hand of Grandeur in the cloud of dominion which standeth over every soul and witnesseth all things, judging between all things—God knoweth His judgment, glorified and exalted be He above what ye associate! Then the Hand of Mercy for whoso is found in the realm of Nasut, giving sustenance at all times through all things, such that even the unbeliever saith that both hands are outstretched, doing whatsoever we will—glorified and exalted be He above what they fabricate!

Then from the letter Nun is the Light of God in the lamp; then the Light of God in the glass; then the Light of God in the concourse of the heavens and earth and the Throne and the Seat; then the Light of God in the souls of creation.

Then from the manifest Alif is the First Adam in the rank of Decree; then the Second Adam in the seventh world after the first world of Decree from the world of Implementation; then the Third in the rank of Permission from the world of the Alif after the Alif after the world of Power in the rank of Division from the world of Origination; then the Fourth Adam from the fourth particle after the fifth scene from the world of Will which God created after His First Will by a thousand thousand, and it is from the world of Creation.

And in these allusions let it not occur to thy mind that these great interpretations thou hast not seen in any text with such brilliant and mighty method, for the proof thereof, when thou observest with the light of the heart, will reveal to thee the testimonies which God hath sent down by the pen of ink. Did not the Messenger of God (peace be upon Him) say that before Adam was Adam, and likewise unto whatsoever God willeth? And from this we know that after the First Adam, which is the Will, God hath created what none can encompass—Adam after Adam in all the worlds and all the stations, and this is witnessed with Him. God made him witness the creation of His Self, then the heavens and earth and what is between them. And verily this is a gate from the gates of knowledge from which are opened a thousand thousand gates from the gates of knowledge from which are opened a thousand thousand gates, nay unto the Day of Resurrection a thousand thousand gates.

So glorified be God, Lord of the heavens and earth, above what the deniers fabricate regarding the judgment of this Bird of paradise that warbleth upon the leaves of the First Tree from the judgment of the First Principle, concerning whose judgment none before him hath spoken. And when thou observest with the light of God thou wilt know what I have indicated to thee in those delicate mystical birds from the light of this Sun shining from the horizon of realities, for in such wondrous method and mighty balanced measure none hath spoken before Ahmad nor after Kazim, nor can be equated with it what I have explained in the commentary on the Surih of the Cow for the weak ones among those of pure nature, nor can be equated with that mighty commentary from the book of that wondrous Name whatsoever I have answered the people from the words of the Illuminationists which have shone from the Eternal Morn, and upon all forms appear the signs of mercy that nothing can rival in glory, nor can any in the Kingdom of verses and allusions know their worth.

When lightning flashes from the sun’s radiance from the eastern horizon and pierces all the veils that hide thee from beholding the Divine Majesty, then do I beseech God to open thine eye to unlock those allusions. When thou beholdest these words, surely thy inner being shall be illumined and from within thee shall some allusions emerge. Ask thou God from the inner treasuries of His grace, by virtue of His station on the throne of glory and divinity—glorified be He above all description.

Part 2: “Then from the letter Kaf comes the Primal…”

Then from the letter Kaf comes the Primal Word, at which the Greatest Depth trembled, and which sang the praise of its Creator in the seventh reed of the white thicket of divinity. Then the Kaf of the Word that appeared on Mount Sinai and spoke from the crimson tree on the right side of the Mount in the blessed spot on the soil of might. Then the Word that appeared above the Ark of the Testimony in the pillar of fire on Mount Horeb in the realm of the kingdom. Then the Word that appeared on Mount Paran with myriads of holy ones above the perception of the cherubim in clouds of light unto Jesus standing on earthly soil down to the wanderer in the land of desolation. God knoweth what arose from the surging ocean of power and what descended in those allusions in the tongue of the divine ones among the people of glory.

Then from the letter Alif comes the Greatest Command by which all in the heavens and earth arise. Then the Command that descended on the Night of Power and descends thereafter with the angels of heaven and the Spirit. Then the Command which the Holy Spirit took in the reckoning of eternity with the virgin gardens of divinity. Then the Command which God revealed in the Qur’an, its decree being “Say: The Spirit is by command of my Lord.” [Q17:85] And it is the Spirit which God cast unto Mary and by which Jesus spoke in the cradle, and by it God decrees what He willeth and doeth what He desireth—glorified and exalted be He above what they describe.

Then from the letter Lam comes the pearl that groweth in the depths of the divine seas by what God sendeth down of the water of heaven, and which the living fish above the water consume. Thus hath God created pearls in the shells of the branches of that white Tree. Then the pearl of the sea of Will upon the earth of might. Then the pearl of the surging ocean of power upon the earth of the kingdom. Then the pearl of the sea of decree upon the earth of bodies in the mystery of the mortal realm.

Then from the letter Kaf comes the eternal essence deposited in human realities, speaking of the mystery of identity. Then the Kaf of “Be and it is”—all that its Lord willeth before He saith to it “Be”—glorified and exalted is He above what ye describe. Then the Word that spoke forth and became cubic, then turned and revolved, then arose and became upright, then transformed and transmuted, then wept and bewailed, then sighed and swooned, then grew magnificent and more magnificent, then cried out and proclaimed, then returned and was returned, then became confused and more confused, then stammered and stuttered, then shone forth and illumined, then benefited and received benefit, and declared: It is it—the Primal Word, then it is it—the Eternal Leaf, then it is it—the blessed paradisiacal Tree, then it is it—the primordial word of justice. If thou sayest it is it—fiery earthly, and if thou sayest it is it—earthly airy, and if thou sayest it is it—airy watery, and if thou sayest it is it—watery airy, it shone and illumined, then turned and was illumined and returned and spoke, saying: “My heart has not denied anything it has witnessed”.

Do you dispute with him concerning what the idols Lat and Uzza have denied? Where then is he to whom I conveyed wisdom or less? Indeed, he has falsely claimed that I said above two bow-lengths or nearer.’ Fie upon the donkeys who know not that I read the letters of my own self, and that I applied to my heart the words or nearer’ which were at my station and are as nothing compared to the words ʿor nearer’ which God revealed concerning Muhammad, the Messenger of God and Seal of the Prophets. How far is dust from the Lord of Names or His nearness! Say: This one is a most evil liar, and this is established with certainty among this group, though he who has fabricated lies against me perceives it not. God and His loved ones suffice as witnesses between me and him on the Day of Justice.

Then the word which I spoke in those allusions, by leave of God, the Lord of Names and Attributes, was upon the plane of the mortal realm, that all might receive their portion of what God has ordained for them in the knowledge of the Book. I have not neglected anything in the Book, and God knows all that people deny while they know not, understand not, and reflect not.

Then from the letter Vav is the absolute, universal, eternal Guardianship in the thicket of the yellow earth; then the specific, detailed Guardianship in the very form of withdrawal that calls itself, by itself, from itself to the Identity of the Shirts of Light, the Sun of Manifestation, the Camphor Tree, the Wine of Manifestation, the Spring of Kawthar of Appearance, and the Name of God, the Living, the Forgiving, speaking in the thicket of the yellow earth.

Then the determined, meaningful, radiant, resounding, paradisiacal, unique, gleaming Guardianship from the secondary eternity which has dawned and warbled in the delicate glass in such wise that none hears its warbling save God and whomsoever He wishes, appearing in the number of letters of ʿThere is no God but He,’ shining from the Tree that grows upon the green earth.

Then the Guardianship dawning from the dawning of the light of the Morn of Eternity, which spoke in the heart of this Bird whom the devils have imprisoned and against whom they have grown proud, though they cannot grasp a single letter of the manifestation of the signs of His power in the lofty letters which God created like unto nations of old. Verily God’s way in His wisdom has been decreed in truth, and verily “the right of Guardianship on that Day belongs to God, the Truth—He is best in reward and best in outcome.” [Q18:44]

Then from the letter Tha is the praise of God Who has described Himself by Himself for Himself upon the throne of grandeur, majesty, greatness and beauty, in such wise that none can enumerate its like in the Book, nor knows how save He, the Lord of Majesty and Bounty.

Then the praise of God for His beloved Muhammad, where He said—and His word is truth—I cannot reckon praise unto Thee as Thou hast praised Thyself,’ as spoken by the Light shining from the wisdom of divine utterance in the tradition of the Night Journey, where He, exalted be His mention, said: Raise thy head, O Muhammad.’ When he raised what was raised, and appeared what appeared, and was cut off what was cut off, and was prevented what was prevented, God, mighty and exalted, said: ʿThou art the Beloved and thou art the Beloved One,’ for the Essence has never ceased to be such that nothing can know It, no mention can equal It, It has no description apart from Its own essence, no attribute apart from Its own being, no name apart from Its own identity, no sign apart from Its own selfhood—exalted is It with such exaltation that severs essences from […] the signs of His Oneness are exalted and His Essence is glorified with such majesty that all realities are prevented from comparing with it.

How sweet is His praise, how great are His favors, how mighty is His beneficence, and how glorious are His blessings! I cannot offer praise upon His Beloved except by that which He has described Himself in the Qur’an, wherein He said—and His word is the truth:

“No vision can grasp Him, but His grasp is over all vision; He is the Most Subtle, the All-Aware.”

[Q6:103]

O my God! What eye has seen that interpretation from me and then denies me, or speaks a word of negation concerning my rights? And what soul would consent to say about me that which it would not be pleased to have spoken about itself? Indeed, God has inspired me—Thou art my Protector in the Hereafter and in this world—that this word herein is glory sufficient for that great company.

Suffice me through Thyself, O Lord of the Hereafter and this world! Then praise be in the realm of the Throne of Glory, on the right hand before Mount Sinai—praise be to God upon the family of Muhammad, the pillars of unity, the suns of divine oneness, the verses of the Book of Sanctification, and the manifestations of the phases of glorification, through what God has willed for them in the midst of Paradise from the darkening clouds of the heavenly sphere, which none among creation can encompass save God, glorified and exalted be He above what they associate with Him.

Then praise be in the crimson corner—the perfection of Glory, the mystery of Decree, the light of Execution, the majesty of Origination, and the White Tree, then the Yellow Leaf, then the Green Reed, then the manifestations of Creation from what God, the Lord of the Throne and Heaven, has willed. Glorified be God and exalted above what the polytheists say with great exaltation.

Then from the letter Ra comes the Primary, Eternal Mercy which shone forth from itself, by itself, for itself, in itself, and none of God’s creation can encompass it. It spoke from the Divine Will, circled around it, revolved upon it, and returned to it.

Then the Secondary Mercy accumulated from the cloud of creation, which descended into the realities of the highest abstractions of the people of the Celestial Realm.

Then cometh the mercy of the third Talisman, disclosed through the solving of the Word of the fourth—she who hath preceded wrath, and by whom God created all things. Through her hath God permitted bounty in the Qur’an, as He hath not permitted justice in the Furqan.

Even as I have expounded for those who know not the true station of man—had they but hearkened unto Me ere this—their answer would have sufficed them until the Day when the witnesses shall arise; for of themselves have they confessed the impotence of the sons of the learned, those possessed of rectitude and ink, upon the Day of Return.

By this is meant the mercy inscribed for those who have fulfilled the covenant of God, followed the light of God, turned repentant unto the remembrance of the Name of God, and stood steadfast in the religion of God—firm as the mountains, which no storm can move, nor the tempests of the signs of God affect.

Such are the valiant men of the Cause of [Shaykh] Ahmad, and the champions of the way of [Siyyid] Kazim, from the rising of the Sun of Primordiality to the setting of the signs of Finality. Glorified be God, exalted is He above that which they ascribe unto Him!

Then from the Word of the Fa’ was rent asunder that which God caused to be rent between earth and heaven of the world of the Divine Cloud which shone forth and was illumined through the mystery of effulgence. Then did He distinguish what He had separated among the conjoined, and unite what had been divided among the dispersed. He raised up between the two Ba’s in the scrolls of the written lines that which shone forth, gave voice, and awoke from slumber.

Then did He cleave the darkness of night and the gloom of twilight, and through it God made the night to deepen, till the dawn therein breathed its first breath.

Then came the primal pattern of God—the nature wherewith God created the realities of the horizons and of men—unaltered, that it might speak and know before it learned, that it might be questioned and illumine with the radiance that gleameth from the lightning-flash of the Sun of Eternity, wrought with perfection and consummate wisdom. Glorified be God, exalted and sanctified is He above that which they ascribe unto Him!

Then from the letter Sad: the Friday prayer for the people of the Throne of the Divine Realm; then the noon prayer for those established upon the Seat of Might; then the middle prayer for those dwelling in the pavilions of the tents of the Kingdom; then the night prayer for those who alter their nature in the earthly realm before the white thread of dawn appeareth; then the morning which illumineth and by God’s leave bringeth forth the breath of day.

Then from the letter Lam: the Banner of Grandeur in the world of Divine Unity, and the Vav of Self-Subsistence in the realm of Oneness; then the Banner of Secondary Eternity in the Kingdom through the hands of the Lights of Lordship cast into human temples; then the Banner of the Luminous Pillar and the Rising Sun and the All-Pervading Name and the Decisive Mark which hath ascended the ladders of justice—none among the ranks of subjects can surpass it. Then it submitted and was humbled and abased and wrote for God’s sake, for He Who cannot bring forth a single utterance as the unbeliever desired of disbelief, whether hidden or manifest. God, the All-Bountiful, sufficeth when He desireth to exact retribution and to manifest that which He uttereth.

Then from the letter Lam: Lam-Alif, not from the letter La in the thicket of the Divine Realm—the La which indicateth naught but the letter of Divine Unity, and relateth naught but the mystery of Eternity, and speaketh naught but for the glory of the Divine Oneness. Then in the heaven of the Realm of Might: the La which relateth thirty in its mystery and decreeth forty in its manifestation—the Light of Primordial Unity which gleameth from the dawning-place of the Sun through what hath shone forth from the effulgences of the Sun of Grace, where none among the people of the chain of justice can comprehend its knowledge. Then the La which God created in the heaven of the Kingdom, and from it the Christians derived the form of the cross, and might was dissolved in the Kingdom—exalted be God above what the polytheists say from the realm of might concerning what God hath ordained in the Name which God made its triangle the name of the three Names in the Manifestation and its square the essence of the Hidden One in the beginning of the Manifestation.

O God! Send Thy blessings upon all Thy names and manifestations, which Thou alone canst reckon, for all eternity, for verily Thou art the Sublime, the Most High. Then the La which descended upon the dust and was cut off from the connected letters in the world of return when the All-Merciful desired to manifest it in the world of names and attributes—none among the people of the Book can comprehend its station, for God hath specially reserved for it what He willeth in the Mother Book. God, exalted be He, hath refused save to proclaim His Word and establish the truth through His verses and nullify the deeds of the polytheists through His clear proofs, though the unbelievers detest it.

Then from the letter Ra: the Universal, Eternal Mercy through which God created the realities of all things and the essences of all possibilities—and it is the Mercy which encompassed itself by itself in the fourth reed in the thicket of the Divine Realm; none can comprehend its knowledge save God, glorified and exalted be He above all that they associate with Him.

Then the mercy of the Primal Self and the Abstract Form and the Angelic Human and the Universal Spirit and the All-Embracing Name and the Hidden Symbol and the Radiant Vestures and the Blessed Tree and the Original Light and the Derivative Fruit and the Divine Throne and the Eternal Paradise and the Unique Favors and the Royal Bounties in the reeds of the thicket of Might; then in the fruits of the trees of Dominion and Kingdom; then in the branches of the Tree of Paradise; then in the leaves of the Tree of Sinai on the right side of the Fire above the Ark of the Unseen and the Pillar of Witness.

Then the mercy of the reed of the Might of the Empyrean—that which God created in His knowledge in a hundred portions—wherewith He brought into being, through but one part thereof, the conjoined, the assembled, the kindred, and the correlated realities in this mortal life. Through them does man love the fragrances of his Lord, the signs of His Prophet, the proofs of His Imams, and the stations of their followers in the kingdom of justice and grace. Through them does the infant take its mother’s breast, and the mother rises from her place of rest when she hears its cry. Through them do the believers love devout women, and through them does the just one judge according to what God has ordained in the Book regarding limits, boundaries and disciplines, as pronounced in the decisive judgments at the Point of Return.

The most subtle of these noble signs is the science of meanings in the depths of similitudes and likenesses, whereby the learned one knows—and could mention if he wished, by God’s leave—for the Name of Mercy, the name of everything encompassed by God’s knowledge in this earthly life. Through ninety-nine parts does God bestow mercy on His believing servants on the Day of Resurrection, and through them does He punish His sinful servants on the Day of Resurrection. God’s Command has indeed been determined in these signs with truth—glory be to God above what they describe!

Part 3: “Then the mercy of the Fourth Word…”

Then the mercy of the Fourth Word, which is the mercy of the three reeds in the thickets of the Divine Essence, the Empyrean, and the Kingdom—which itself shone forth, illumined, perfected and benefited. Then when one was wronged in His path, it fell silent and became humble, then submitted and was confused. Then it spoke what it retracted to preserve thereby the souls of Muslims from the deeds of those who judge contrary to what God has revealed.

By Him in Whose hand is my soul, my seclusion in those days, my silence before mankind, and my giving the book of oppression to one who dwelt in the depths of the dark hellish pit is more beneficial for the believers than what the sun’s light shines upon from right and left. For through it, when God wills one day, He will set right what was corrupted in God’s religion. And when He does not will to establish my judgment, the verses of the Book of Justice shall endure until the Day when witnesses stand watching before the Lord of all beings. This indeed is the light of the heart in the temples of existence, and by this we bear witness to that ink on that sound tablet.

O Lord, hasten the Day of Return, for You do not break Your promise! By Him Who taught me His signs, if people would benefit from my patience after the loftiness of my station, then after the power of my secret, then my openness, they would surely aid the signs of this Cause with golden ink and beautiful words. Through these two states they become independent of all signs, stations, proofs and stories. The most eloquent nobility and most impregnable fortune in these perfect signs and comprehensive glories is the condition of the inner heart before the sea of majesty, then the condition of the heart before the ocean of beauty, then the condition of the spirit before the sea of the power of the Transcendent One, and then the condition of the body which relates all affairs and speaks of all mysteries before the sea of lowliness and supplication.

Alas! Alas! My breast is constricted by what I have written, my mind clamors at what I have concealed, and my inner being frightens me about what I have revealed. Glory be to God, the King, the Powerful, the Compelling, above description of essential attributes and characterization of fundamental qualities! It is as though the Tree of Sinai dwells in the holy valley on the right side of the fire. Verily we are God’s and unto our Lord do we return. Let those who are humble act according to this example, and let those who work judge according to this decree.

Then from the letter Ba’ is the righteousness of Oneness in the majesty of the realm of the Divine Essence, then the righteousness of Unity before the heaven of the Divine Essence upon the earth of the Empyrean, then the righteousness of the Kingdom before the heaven of the righteousness of the Empyrean, then the righteousness of the mortal realm before the heaven of the Kingdom. And in these God has created light and darkness, and truth and falsehood, and man and Satan. Verily today the sun and moon are measured in a valley of fire.

Then from the letter Kaf is the Word of God in the Qur’an, the full knowledge of which none among humanity can comprehend except what the All-Merciful has taught them of the wisdom of the Bayan. Then the Word of God in the Gospel, which God sent down with a letter from the manifestation of the Qur’an for whoso desired to believe in the All-Merciful in the realm of possibility. Then the Word of God in the Torah which God revealed unto Moses son of Imran from every direction, whose reality none can comprehend except whom the All-Merciful willeth. Then the Word of God in every time, for God knoweth that it is established on the throne of Paradise and speaketh from the All-Merciful what this nightingale warbleth in the tablets of that Book through what the All-Merciful hath taught in the knowledge of the Qur’an from the mystery of the Bayan.

Then from the letter Vav what We cast unto thee before and after—the love of the Glory in the thicket of the Divine Realm, then the love of Beauty in the thicket of the Celestial Realm, then the love of Splendor in the thicket of the Heavenly Kingdom, then the love of Praise for God’s decree in the earthly realm—that earth whose people were oppressors and were like an ignorant, ruined people.

Then from the letter Alif, if thou desirest, mention its numbers until the ink and tablets are exhausted before its numbers are exhausted—among them the Alif of Divinity, then the Alif of the Celestial Realm, then the Alif of the Kingdom, then the Alif of Creation, then of Invention, then of Origination, then of Separation, then of Connection, then of Power, then of Decree, then of Execution, then of Permission, then of Essence, then of Accident, then what thou mentionest when God permitteth thee in this earthly life. And verily the proof of these names is God’s permission in Creation that God hath created in everything all that He created in everything according to its measure. And verily the proof of the first mention and silence is the Balance of Justice which We cast unto thee before. And know not contradiction in Our signs, for verily for every letter We speak by God’s leave and We desire by the mention of Adam which was cast unto thee from God’s decree. Verily We speak the word of Origination after Invention, We desire the second world. Then likewise all indications, signs, allusions, stations, stories, hidden things, speaking things, concealed things, manifest things, severed things, gathered things, separated things, and conjoined things.

Then from the letter Nun is the light of God in the niche of the Covenant, then the light of God in the heaven of radiance, then the light of God in the concourse of souls and horizons, then the light of God for whoso desireth to manifest the decree that uncovereth leg upon leg, and judge for the people of discord with the hypocrisy manifest to the people of the Covenant. And verily among the manifestations of that crimson light is that which distinguished through decisive utterance between the hypocrites from among the people of discord and the unitarians from among the people of the Covenant, until the Day when leg was wrapped around leg and the sun of radiance shown forth wherein the letter Nun was separated, then met unto the decree of separation.

Then from the letter Ha is the first solution from the decree of the inner manifest hidden from the inner secret veiled by what God revealed in the veil of the inner of the inner. Then the second solution from the decree of the manifest inner concealed from the Word of the secret veiled by what God revealed in the veil of the inner of the inner of the inner. Then the third solution from the second talisman from the inner secrets of the outer things from the fourth talisman veiled by what God concealed in the depths of the decrees of the manifest outer with the inner inner. Then was loosed the fourth from the talisman of the first—the very decree of the inner meaning, in the mystery of the inmost reality, whose veil God made to be that same inner meaning itself, lest the decree of the inmost reality should conceal it.

How excellent is the soaring of this Bird in mentioning the First Solution in the atmosphere of the cloud of unknowing, facing those impenetrable, pitch-dark shadows where none knoweth what it warbleth and concealeth and hideth, save what the All-Merciful willeth in the depths of the mysteries of those hidden, ardent, radiant, and glistening allusions from the lights of the Sun of Glory. Far, far removed are the conjectures of them that conjecture, the deeds of them that act, the attainments of them that attain, and the detachment of them that are detached! Unto God do I bewail my grief and sorrow, and unto Him do I turn with all my being, both outward and inward. In Him do I place my trust and seek His aid in what I fear and dread.

I see not in my heart, by God’s grace, even as much as a mustard seed of fear of God’s decree, nor doubt in God’s Covenant. And I see not the falsehoods of devils, the calumnies of slanderers, and the sedition of hypocrites as more than the wing of a dead gnat in the wilderness. In God do I trust, and He sufficeth me, then sufficeth me those who follow me. What God willeth shall come to pass; there is no power save in God. Naught shall befall us save what God hath prescribed for us. He is our Master, and in God do I put my trust, and in Him let the believers place their trust.

Then from the letter Ra is the Lordship of the Pre-eternal, the Primordial, in the Blessed Tree,

“an olive tree neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would almost glow forth though no fire touched it. Light upon light! God guideth unto His light whom He willeth. And God striketh similitudes for men, and God is Knower of all things.”

Then the Universal Divine Lordship which groweth in the midst of the Tree of Might, and verily that Tree hath put forth leaves by God’s leave with the leaves of the Lordships manifested unto the people of the cloud of unknowing from among those who stand in the horizons of the souls. Then the glittering, destinal, resonant, geometrical, paradisiacal, original Lordship whereby is made happy whoso is made happy in the holy, unique land of the Present, and whereby is made wretched whoso is made wretched in the associating, wilderness land of the human realm.

Then the Lordship cast down from the highest awareness of the servitude that speaketh of the Pre-eternal, Primordial Essence, and that relateth the Eternal, Secondary Self, and that indicateth the Sanctified, Self-Subsisting Entity unto which those names and attributes were ascribed unto itself just as God ascribed the House in the Sacred Mosque unto Himself with an ascription of honor, which was its ascription unto the station of its essence wherein God created in its mystery a knowledge for whoso knoweth the allusions among those possessed of understanding, that what is there is not known save here. And whoso knoweth the allusions, then unveileth the veils and guardeth against doubts and ascendeth until he entereth, by God’s leave, the holy court of the Lord of attributes, knoweth what I have indicated explicitly in the depths of those stations. And I seek refuge with God from what the people know of those indications—the people of the lowest depths, of assaults, of vengeance, and of destruction.

Then from the letter Alif, what We have given thee of the water of the Kawthar of utterances is the bounty of God for whoso is in Paradise and the heavens, then the bounty of God for whoso is in the Ridvan and the Garden of Eden and Peace, then the bounty of God for whoso is in the precincts of the Gardens from the gift of the All-Merciful. Then He gave it to the people of the world, and verily it hath stations which none can reckon save God. And verily the noblest of bounties in this vain life is obedience to the Imam after recognizing him. Whoso dieth without knowing the Imam of his age hath died the death of ignorance.

And verily today all people are dead, but they perceive not. And if thou wert of the companions of Kazim know thou the mystery of the Word and learn that which is unknown to those who are far removed. This indeed is the pillar of faith and the summit of obedience of the people of the Bayan, and the bounties which God promised to those who follow the ordinance of the Furqan and do not fabricate as did Lat and ʿUzza in the station of faith. Say: Fear ye God, O people, and have mercy upon your souls. This verily is the path of God in the heavens and on earth for whoso desireth to remember the signs of his Lord and to be of those who are guided.

Then from the letter Nun arose the Light of the Bird that warbled in the realm of Lahut upon the leaves of the Tree of Mystery that which no one among the people of Nasut can hear. The falsifiers have claimed that these interpretations are allusions to the words of Ahmad and then Kazim, may God’s mercy be upon them both. Say: By the Lord of earth and heaven, neither Ahmad nor Kazim ever uttered the like of what this soaring Bird hath sung in the atmosphere of the divine cloud. Its benefits are resplendent and its effulgences radiant. Weigh ye with justice these allusions in their inner and outer stations. Were ye to see them—nay, by thy Lord—I have not written a single letter of what that Bird sang in the midst of heaven. God knoweth and witnesseth what the unbeliever, then the idolaters, conceal.

Then the Light whereby all things were illumined, before which all things bowed down, all things were humbled, all things submitted, through which all things were made whole, and whereby God forgiveth the deeds of those who transgressed and were proud among all things—glorified and exalted be He above what they describe. Then the Light of God in the heart of this Light, the One Who standeth, Who uttereth these verses and distinguisheth between truth and falsehood through these allusions which reveal the hidden things of the people of hypocrisy and expose the secrets of the people of discord. This Day, the Day of the Covenant, testifieth that today the Day of Reckoning calleth out. The leg shall be bared unto the leg. Hypocrisy shall flee from the satan of discord and shall follow the decree which God hath sent down in the Surih of the All-Merciful. Exalted be His mention:

“The All-Merciful hath taught the Qur’an. He hath created man, He hath taught him utterance.”

Then the Light of God in the hearts of the men of that righteous band which hath been purified from impurities and preserved from lusts, and if any soul among them committeth minor sins of doubt, or sophistry of the lowest depths, or the abasement of domination, and they remain steadfast in what the All-Merciful hath revealed regarding man—God may forgive him, verily He is the Mighty, the Bestower.

Then from the letter Shin came the radiance of divine things, then the radiance of celestial things, then the radiance of heavenly things, then the radiance of earthly things—for whoso aspireth in the arena of contention to produce a verse like unto these verses which descend from the dark clouds of Glory. God curse him who is able to bring the like of the words of the Balance, then bringeth it not, yet saith this is a wondrous thing.

And from the letter Shin cometh the evil of the people of the lowest depths among the levels of the Fire, which is an evil above every evil, for it opposeth the source of all good in creation, and grew proud after believing, and turned away after migrating, and worshipped Satan after worshipping the All-Merciful. He is naught but a lying transgressor, most evil. Then the second evil is the body of the Calf after God revealed the ugliness of his deeds on this earth, then upon that earth the body of him who was not ashamed of what he did and who said before God—I seek refuge in God from what his hands have wrought and I, by Thy might O my God, am innocent of the idolaters.

Then the evil of Satan and the source of hypocrisy and the tree of discord and the depths of the valley of reckoning, though we saw him not and naught proceeded from me toward him aforetime save kindness. I seek refuge with God from what the All-Merciful has created. Woe unto him! This matter has broken the backs of the perfect ones. And God, your Lord, desires to establish through these verses the words of Ahmad and then Kazim. How can you do what you do not comprehend or perceive? Fear God, for the life of this world shall pass away and all shall return to God, your Lord. O noble questioner! Read the tradition about Ja’far the Liar. What have you to do with that station? Shame upon you and upon what your hands have wrought! I am but the first of those who repent.

Then evil is he in whose soul Satan has clothed falsehood in the guise of truth until he achieved what he achieved, whereof the pens are ashamed to make mention in these tablets. God knows all that he said, fabricated, lied about and desired. God shall judge between all with justice, and He is not unjust to His servants.

Then the Word of the mystical Alif, rising from the Eternal Sun, speaking in the reed of the nearest Identity, dawning in the reed-beds of the Divine Realm, whose essence quivered with the quivering of the essence of creation within itself, by itself, for itself, with nothing equal to it; and its reality gleamed with the gleaming of the reality of invention from itself, by itself, for itself, without mention of anything parallel to it; and its being shone forth with the shining of what shone from the dawning-place of the light of creation for itself, by itself, from itself, without any decree equal to it; and its selfhood spoke forth, then was magnified, and spoke forth through the speaking of what spoke from the Tree of Sinai about itself, by itself, for itself, without mention of anything resembling it.

Part 4: “Indeed that Alif has four pillars…”

Indeed that Alif has four pillars in the form of its manifestation, which God created from the air, and until now God has not sent it down to earth, nor will He send it down except after the appearance of the Remnant of God, as is clearly stated in the tradition of the Christian in the story of Mutammim ibn Fayruz who believed in God and His verses sincerely in the time of Musa ibn Ja’far.

Ah! Ah! It is as if today I see myself in the house like him—whenever he looked at anything from the right or left he wept, and today I weep from the intensity of my joy at what God has given me that He has given to no other among the people. This suffices me as glory and God suffices me as a helper.

Then the Alif standing over every soul which exalted itself and was exalted, spoke and was spoken through, turned and was turned, illumined and was illumined, benefited and received benefit, arose and was raised up, dismissed and was dismissed, cried out and was cried through, sobbed and was sobbed through, swooned and was swooned through, was confused and made confused, and at that moment God gave it permission so it quivered then was made to quiver, gleamed then was made to gleam, and said in its loudest voice: This is a blessed tree, good and pure and lofty, grown from itself, by itself, for itself, unto itself; and it sprouts as it grew, and bears fruit as it sprouts, and blazes as it grew—no fire touches it except the fire of God Himself, no air except the air of Himself, no water except the water of Himself, and no earth except the earth of Himself.

And when the decree of wine overcomes it, it speaks from the fire and soars to the heaven of the Name of the Compeller as though it were fire while it is earth. Nay, veils do not conceal it, nor do proofs oppose it, nor do signs parallel it, nor do stations contradict it. And when its fiery countenance appears in it, it calls from all directions to its directions, and conceals the signs of air, then water, then earth within itself. Say: It is an airy, watery, and earthly fire; and if thou sayest it is a hidden name revealing three Names of God; and it is He, God, the Blessed, the Exalted; and if thou sayest it is the garment of the Sun of Divinity, the orbit of the Moon of Might, the stars of the heaven of the Kingdom, and the dwellings of Light in the stations of Dominion and the earth of humanity—verily it declareth that these are universal signs, eternal mysteries, heavenly stations, mighty tokens, and divine indications—neither is it itself, nor is it His self.

And if thou sayest it comprises the names of the heaven of Divinity, the attributes of the earth of Might, and the ordinances of the paradise of Dominion beneath the shade of the Paradise of the Kingdom, verily it declareth: It is the inaccessible throne-like one, it is the detached primal one, it is the divine sovereign one, it is the mighty essential one, it is the paradisiacal sovereign one, it is the beauty of created justice which hath shone forth from the Morn of Eternity and none among creation comprehendeth its knowledge, glorified and exalted be He above what they describe.

If thou sayest it is a feminine word claiming through its mystery the Beauty of Divinity which indicateth naught save through the rule of duality in the depths of the thickets of determination, and if thou sayest it is a universal singular calling by itself, from itself, unto itself from the verses of the Kingdom which none can enumerate save God—glorified be God above what they describe.

Then the unconnected Alif which shone forth and illumined, rose and radiated, spoke and caused to speak, stammered and caused to stammer, gleamed and caused to gleam, was formed and caused to form, and was girdled and caused to be girdled from the universal, divine, primordial Alif of Might which speaketh of itself by itself unto the majesty of the Eternal, the beauty of the Lord, the signs of Unity, and the stations of the All-Merciful where none among creation comprehendeth its knowledge. Then from the eternal, primordial Alif of Divinity which shone from the light of its own self and radiated from the lights of its essential majesty and spoke from the hidden recesses of its essence, which indicated the Divine Will and related the Primal Power whereof none knoweth its outward or inward save God alone.

Then from the Alif of the Kingdom, the station of its self in sovereignty, from whose outer light God created the assaults of the people of fire, the melodies of the wicked sparks, and the lowest depths of the evil ones among the remote ones, and from its inner essence the fragrances of the light of lights, the concealed depths of the mystery of mysteries, and stations which have no end from the first scene to the ultimate summit of lights for the possessors of understanding and insight, where none perceive its mystery in those signs which shone in those pitch-dark shadows save the dwellers of the eternal throne and the discerning ones among the people of the heights, whom no blame deterreth regarding the religion of the All-Merciful and who are fearful of thy Lord.

Then the extended Alif at the beginning of the letters of the Qur’an, then at the beginning of the words of the people of the Bayan, then in the depths of the verses of this Human One speaking from the mystery of contingent being, and verily through that Alif the rising lights have shown forth from the rising of the sun and its traces have appeared upon the temples of unity, and through it the illumined ones have been enlightened in the essential realities of the highest material substances and in the essential realities of the loftiest accidental heights in the stations of indications, signs, stories and verses, radiant and holy in souls and horizons. So glorified be God its Creator—this Alif was not mentioned in existence nor was it mentioned among the lost. It is known to none except God, glorified and exalted be He above what they describe.

Then from the letter Nun comes the Light of God in the reeds of the white thicket of the Realm of Divinity, then the Light of God in the reeds of the yellow thicket of the Realm of Might, then the Light of God in the reeds of the green thicket of the Kingdom, then the Light of God in the reeds of the red thicket of the Kingdom and the essences of the people of the mortal realm.

Then from the letter Nun, the light of the first reed is the Light of God in the heavens and the throne, then from the second the Light of God in the kingdom of the heavens and earth, then from the third the Light of God in the abstract realities of the people of dominion and justice, then from the fourth the Light of God in the essential natures of the loftiest peaks of the self-subsisting ones among the people of justice and grace.

Then from the Nun of the Light of God shining from the first reed comes the light of Glory, then the light of Beauty, then the light of Power, then the light of Grandeur, then the light of Mercy, then the light of Awe, then the light of Unity, then the light of Geometry, then the light of Will, then the light of Destiny, then the light of Decree, then the light of Splendor, then the light of Praise, then the light of Implementation, then the light of the Tree of Sinai, then the light of Divine Will, then the light of the people of creation, then the light of the people of Divine Purpose and invention, then the light of all who dwell in the kingdom of Command and Creation that the All-Merciful has created and will create hereafter as He pleases.

And in these signs We have sprinkled upon you from the universal principles of the people of Glory, that from every word there emerges from itself a letter having a letter like that which emerges endlessly unto what God wills without end. And none is permitted to draw forth those pearls and corals from their pure shells save by the leave of the All-Merciful. For verily, Ahmad and Kazim beyond doubt were both possessed of knowledge of those divine principles, and not a single letter did they utter but that a Book or a well-known Tradition had been revealed concerning it. Such was clearly stated by the author of Mansha’ al-Fawa’id, who expounded and adduced proofs from the words he recorded in the very root of that book, in conformity with what had been revealed in the traditions of the holy Family of God.

But the matter, in My case, is not as theirs; for their hands did not hold that Proof of God before which all who dwell upon earth stand powerless to produce its like. Whereas in Mine own hands is a Proof resplendent as the sun at the meridian—manifest, shining forth, scarce hidden from any who behold it. By virtue of that Proof do We decree whatsoever We will, and in whatsoever manner We will; and none hath the right to say unto Me:

“What is mentioned under those names in the Book and the Tradition?”

for the Proof is conclusive, and the Balance is not to be weighed by the Qur’an and the traditions, as the people of discernment among the followers of the Scriptures have imagined. Rather, the Balance that establisheth the Qur’an establisheth likewise the Balance of those verses; nay, all things revolve about a single Balance, which is the Will of God and His Love.

And by the first Proof were abrogated all the laws and religions, inasmuch as that Proof was itself a bounty from God. And in that station the judgment proceedeth after its likeness, for its measure is the Qur’an revealed from the Book of Command by the behest of God. And likewise shall the decree be in whatsoever God ordaineth in these days—the Balance of His Faith. Yet I annul no decree, nor shall I ever annul. And none was able to say “Why?” or “Wherefore?”—for the very proof wherewith the denier sought to contend with Me was in Mine own hand.

Verily, the lawful of Muhammad shall remain lawful unto the Day of Resurrection by virtue of that proof, and His unlawful shall remain unlawful unto that same Day by virtue of that proof. Yet all have imagined that when the Qa’im appeareth, He will appear with a new Book, new laws, and a new sovereignty—as hath been explicitly declared in that tradition narrated by Ibn ʿUqdih from Ahmad ibn Yusuf from Isma’il ibn Mihran from Ibn al-Bastami from Wahb from Abi Basir from Abi Ja’far who said: “The Hour shall come in an odd-numbered year…” until he said “By God, it is as if I see God between the Corner and the Station, pledging the people’s allegiance with a new Cause, a new Book, and new sovereignty from heaven. Know that no one shall ever see Him until death.”

Indeed, consensus has been established through this evidence, and the truth, as it is the truth from God, is that what Muhammad made lawful remains lawful as decreed by the People of Remembrance by the leave of the All-Merciful. Indeed, what is made lawful thereafter is that which was lawful in Muhammad’s Book. This is witnessed by those whom God made witness to the creation of the heavens and earth, then to His own creation. And without such noble interpretation, Glory be unto Him! O friend! You see no contradiction between Our verses, Our allusions, Our subtleties and Our mysteries, for all flow from one river—the Water of Life from the wine of Kawthar, how excellent a drink for those who partake! Say: It is an everlasting light for those who remember.

Then from the letter Hamzah, the hidden, primordial Essence in the realities of the men of divine realms who believed in God and His signs and were among the sincere ones. Then the Radiant Essence in the identities of the men of the realms of might who believed in God and His words and were among the faithful. Then the Gleaming Essence in the beings of the men of the heights who followed what God revealed to them and were among the patient ones. Then the Paradisial Essence in the souls of the realities of creation who heard God’s verses—some believed and confirmed while others denied and fabricated. And God, thy Lord, knows all that people know not, perceive not, and understand not.

Then from the letter Kaf, the First Word which drew nigh and ascended, then approached and rose up, then concealed itself and returned, then assumed form and benefited, then soared and stood firm, then declared: “God beareth witness unto His own Self in a way that those possessed of knowledge among His servants cannot witness, that there is no God but Him, the Mighty, the Wise.” Then from the Second Word which spoke forth and ascended, then uttered from the right of the Tree of Sinai in the realm of divinity from the blessed spot: “God beareth witness unto Muhammad, His Messenger and Seal of the Prophets, that He conveyed what was entrusted to Him from God’s Book and that He was the first of the worshippers.”

Then the Third Word in the Tablet of the Divine Cloud regarding what was decreed concerning fate and destiny, then concerning divine will and what is created through origination, wherein these words were detailed: “God beareth witness unto the successors of Muhammad, the Messenger of God, concerning what pertaineth to them of grace and grandeur. Glorified and exalted is He above what they describe.” Then the Fourth Word concerning what God revealed in the Qur’an and how the realities of souls and horizons were illumined and brightened by its lights, and spoke forth and wept and cried out and laughed and said: “I testify that I am God’s servant, I believe in what God revealed in the Qur’an and what is worthy of it, I love not save what the All-Merciful loves, and I fear none but God, glorified and exalted is He above what they describe.”

Then from the letter Ha, the pure, absolute, primordial, primal Identity, beside which nothing is mentioned and nothing equals in rank, manifesting itself unto itself in the beginning of the divine reed at the right of the first Mount in the holy spot in the realm of divinity. Then the identity of the Eternal One which shone forth from the primal identity and spoke forth with the first word within the Tree itself to itself upon Mount Horeb in the sacred valley from the Tree that grew in the midst of the realm of might. Then the identity which was manifested from the dawn of eternity and shone upon itself, then upon the temples of unity, then rose and was confused and hesitated and ascended and proclaimed:

“God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as a niche wherein is a lamp. The lamp is in a glass. The glass is as it were a shining star. (This lamp is) kindled from a blessed tree, an olive neither of the East nor of the West, whose oil would almost glow forth (of itself) though no fire touched it. Light upon light. God guideth unto His light whom He will. And God speaketh to mankind in allegories, for God is knower of all things.”

[Q24:35] Then the identity cast forth, manifested in the realities of souls and horizons from whence shone the dawning rays of the flashes of light from the Sun of Glory, and the light of dawn appeared and ascended beforehand by lightning to the heaven of the cloud. So glorified be God its Creator above what the wrongdoers say regarding His verses. His knowledge encompasses all things. Glorified and exalted is He above what they describe.

Then from the letter Waw is the holy, essential, eternal, radiant, resplendent Guardianship which shines forth and is manifested from itself by itself in the branches of the trees of divinity, then in the leaves of the trees of might, then in the boughs of the trees of the kingdom, then in the fruits of the trees of sovereignty where none of creation comprehends its knowledge save whom God willeth. Then the absolute, transcendent, holy, resplendent, eternal Guardianship which shone forth from the first Guardianship in its essence and pointed with its hands to its breast saying:

“There the authority is God’s, the Truth. He is best for reward, and best for consequence.”

Then the Guardianship established over every soul which was manifested by the very glory of its Manifester upon the essences of the people of sovereignty and the realities of the realm of the kingdom where nothing is hidden from it in the heavens or earth. Indeed it is a divine form and a reality from the light of eternity and possessing pervading justice which transcended all through the transcendence of its essence and nothing in the heavens and earth equals it, and He is the Most High, the Great.

Then the Guardianship cast into the realities of souls and horizons from the first word the virgin gardens of the trees of divinity, then from the second word the fruits of the trees of power and might, then from the third word the fruits of the trees of paradise and the kingdom, then from the Waw occurring in the station of the most hidden mystery veiled by mystery, the essential gems which bore fruit from the blessed tree that is neither of the East nor West, whose oil illumined East and West before any created knowledge touched it. Thus God guides whom He wills by His light and sets forth parables for mankind that all might be convinced by God’s signs.

Part 5: “Then from the letter Alif is the Most…”

Then from the letter Alif is the Most Exalted Name by which God was manifested to Him and made Him the station of His Self in fulfillment and decree and origination where nothing in the heavens and earth equals it and it indicates nothing except its Creator—glorified and sanctified be His name. Cut off from it are all signs, tokens, indications, stories, names and attributes. It was and is ever a light unto itself, a name for its essence, a glory for its power and a beauty for its noble countenance. Glorified and exalted is He above what they describe.

Then from the letter Alif, the most exalted Name through which God revealed Himself unto it, and made it the station of His Own Self in the realms of manifestation, decree, and origination, a station to which naught in the heavens or on earth can be compared, and which pointeth to none but its Creator, exalted and glorified be His Name! All signs, all tokens, all indications, all allusions, all names and all attributes are cut off from reaching unto it. It hath ever been a Light unto its own Self, a Name of His very Essence, a Majesty of His might, and a Beauty of His most gracious Countenance. Glorified and exalted is He above whatsoever they ascribe unto Him!

Then the Name through which God revealed Himself by His right hand, and made it in the station of His Will the station of His Own Self, in the realms of decree and splendour, of glory and praise, that it might speak of its Self by its Self, from out the Blessed Tree, in the Holy Vale, on the right side of the Mount, that verily, there is no God but Him. And He is the Name beneath Whose shadow he found repose, from which none else can emerge, and none in the Manifestation can know it save whom God willeth, glorified and exalted be He above what they associate.

Then the Hidden, Treasured, Most Great Name of God, the Pure, the Holy, the Blessed, unto which God revealed Himself through the lights of the three Names, and made it the station of the First in Glory, the station of the Second in Praise, and the station of the Third at Mount Sinai, and the station of His Self in Decree and Origination. And it is that whose light appeared on Mount Paran with holy myriads, and on Mount Horeb with hosts of angels of the throne and of the heavens and earths, and on the Dome of Time with the structure of the first and the last ones, and on the Mount through the Blessed Tree:

“O Moses! Verily God is my Lord and thy Lord, there is no God but Him, He is the Lord of all worlds.”

Glory be to God, its Creator, above what they describe.

Then from the Lam to the essential Mim in the reed-beds of the Divine thicket which sang in all things when the Cock of Glory crowed upon the Dome of Time while the ascendant of the age was in the sign of Cancer of the Throne:

It rang—and in its ringing soared on high, To realms where suns in splendor never die.

There dawned the Will, resplendent as the morn, And flashed toward the mist-veiled bourne,

Where no bird ventured, save the Wing Of Vastness, poised and glimmering—

As though itself the Sun had risen there, Illumining creation’s boundless air.

No sound it made within the empyrean height, Yet from its breast streamed verses of the Light;

The Signs of Glory, radiant, unconfined—The Mercy’s revelations for mankind.

This is the Throne supernal, firm, sublime; This is the Greatest Name beyond all time.

Herein the birds of Sinai’s mount abide, In blissful song their melodies confide.

But when that Bird upon the Throne did sing, All earthly souls were stunned, their hearts took wing.

How then shall I describe that lofty strain, While essences of being writhe in pain?

Yet still it rings within the mortal ear, So soft—a murmur that the ant might hear.

It draweth hearts, it maketh spirits bend, And trembling, upward to the Light ascend.

When sang that Bird of Glory’s holy flame, It soared—then silence on the dust became.

For in the mystic cloud it rose and flew, Obedient to the Lord to whom it drew.

And when by God’s command to earth it came, It took a form of triune, quatern frame.

Descending then to holy Tuwa’s vale, In that blest spot which God did there unveil,

It warbled forth the echoes of the skies—Unknowing beasts around with wondering eyes.

When it perceived the creatures had heard its cry, It sorrowed, faltered, raised its plaintive sigh:

“O Lord! what have I with the dust to do, Or with these hungry beasts that round me strew?

How shall I call upon Thy Name divine, While ravening forms in darkness round me twine?

Why hast Thou cast me from the shining height To depths so low, bereft of Thy pure light?

How shall I sing within this nether deep, Where silence and bewilderment do weep?

I see no fish, no sea, no token’s sign—The winds of dawn no longer round me shine.

The Light that once arose at break of day Hath now declined, and vanished far away.

It was as lightning once, in eastern skies, That flamed and perished ere the suns could rise.

Now wails it in a sorrowful refrain, As though it ne’er had risen once again.

O Lord! Thou makest, then Thou dost abase, Thou dawnest, then Thou hidest all Thy grace;

That I might see no parting nor decay, But weep, for Thou art vast in every way.

Say: before Thee, the shadowed faces of the cloud Lie fallen, awe-struck, dumb, and bowed;

And to this Day the lords of Heaven’s throne Are severed, trembling at Thy Name alone.

When to the whole creation We displayed The trust, the Covenant, that We had made,

We called to him who sought the fire of sin: ʿBe warned! the sea itself is bowed therein.’

And in those signs We caused thee to perceive what shone forth from the warbling of this Bird, like unto what was sent to Me from the verses of Avicenna—may God forgive him for what he uttered in the signs of the mystics concerning the judgment of existence, and for that which I care not to mention from the contentious ones in the presence of the Beauty of the All-Praised. I beseech God of His grace for all according to what He loveth and what befitteth them. Verily, He is the Generous, the Kind.

Then for those of Paradise in the heaven of the Empyrean, then for those of Paradise in the heaven of sovereignty and dominion, then for the detached ones in the realm of mortality, like unto what I have manifested in all that I have written—may God forgive me, for He is the Forgiving, the Appreciative.

O God! Thou knowest my love, and I find not all my words save for those which Thou didst reveal in the Qur’an and didst honor for those nigh unto Thee among the people of the Bayan. Therefore forgive me—I have no power to withstand Thy justice, nor do I seek refuge save in Thy protection, nor do I fear aught save Thy trials and Thy justice, nor do I hope for aught save Thy grace and Thy favor. O God! Hasten Thy promise, for Thou didst say—and Thy word is the truth—“Verily it was incumbent upon Us to aid the believers.” Hasten, O God, Thy promise! Verily Thou art the Powerful, the Mighty.

Then the Word of the First Alif, the Manifest, and the Ancient, the Hidden, which God hath made the station of His Own Self in what was, what will be, and what is—and it is that through which God revealed Himself upon the throne of grandeur and made it the station of His sovereignty in execution and decree, then in sublimity and glory, then in carrying out and origination. Glorified and exalted be He! From it He created this Alif for the people of Paradise and made it the bounties of divine lordship, the manifestations of eternal self-subsistence, the retributions of the Almighty, the assaults of the All-Compelling, the evidences of divine unity, the stations of divine grandeur, the signs of radiance, and the holy, eternal, effulgent manifestations which shone forth from the Sun of Eternity by itself, unto itself, and from itself.

No letter can express it, no name can encompass it, it revolves around nothing, is compared with nothing, befriends the existence of nothing, separates from the essence of nothing, equals the being of nothing, has no name that stutters, no attribute that gleams, no name that is sanctified, no decree that severs, no description that delights, no hidden name. It hath been exalted by the exaltation of its essence to such heights that the most elevated birds of the abstract realms cannot ascend unto it, and hath been glorified by the sublimity of its identity with such majesty that the loftiest peaks of material things cannot point to it. It is as it is upon the throne of unity, in the glory of the divine realm, in the condition of might and the beauty of the empyrean, and none shall ever know it nor can anything describe it, for its essential identity is manifested in moments severed from their realities and essences withheld from their moments.

He is as He is—no “how” can be attributed to Him, no “where,” and it is not correct to ask how He is or why or by what means He acts in His deeds. Glory be to Him, exalted is He above what they associate with Him!

Then the first Alif, the Last, whose manifestation God made identical with His concealment, and His concealment identical with His manifestation, and His essence identical with His identity, and His identity identical with His essence—the signs of God in the reeds of the Divine Realm and the trees of the Kingdom of Might and the fruits of sovereignty and dominion; the creative Alif and the divine Light and the radiant Symbol and the brilliant Name and the hidden Mystery and the Sun rising from the light of eternity and the Light dawning from the morn of immortality—the signs of God for those in the kingdom of Command and Creation, and for those in the heavens and earth, and for those from the heights to the depths, by God’s command. Glory be to Him and exalted is He! All allusions fall short of describing Him, all proofs are humbled before the majesty of His power, all signs vanish before the brilliance of His Will’s light, and all tokens are prevented from ascending to the sublime court of His holiness. Glory be to Him and exalted is He above what they describe!

Then from the Alif are the pearls of the seas of the Divine Realm, then the pearls of the vast ocean of the justice of the Kingdom of Might, then the pearls of the sea of glory of the heavenly kingdom, then the pearls of the rivers flowing with the water of Kawthar in the land of realities and hearts, then intellects, then souls, then spirits, then bodies, then whatever bears the name of a thing in the earthly realm. None can comprehend the knowledge of those white pearls that have no value except in themselves and no glory except in their essence, and nothing in the heavens and earth equals them in worth save the light of God, Who sent them down from the water of the cloud of unknowing by the hands of the angels of the Throne to the shells of life in those surging seas and restrained oceans and rolling waves, that all might know their stations and all might take their portion from the Book of Justice in all things great and small, by God’s leave. Glory be to Him and exalted is He above what they describe!

Then the Alif which God made the letter of the fourth Name, and the rising Sun, and the decisive Symbol, and the radiant Light that bore the mystery of the letters and shone with the gleam of the lightning of the signs of the Kingdom of Might, which took the gardens of the virgin trees of the Divine Realm and established itself upon the Throne—the throne of justice in the heaven of the cloud of unknowing and the Kingdom of Might—and sent down from the dark clouds of His glory’s will whatever He wished of clear signs from the Book of sovereignty and dominion. He it is who bore harm from the people of authority and vengeance and the lowest depths by God’s decree and command from among the people of the earthly realm, and He it is who brought forth from the inner depths of that creative Alif and the light of invention the signs of the Garden of Paradise and the commands of the people of the Divine Presence and the pearls of the seas of utterance for the questioning human who witnessed the wondrous lights of majesty in the hours of justice and knew the subtle allusions through what We caused to distill from the clouds of the signs of majesty in the stations of grace. My Lord! Thou knowest that I have loved none to this day as I have loved him before Thee through the signs of Thy sovereignty.

Then regarding what he asked about explaining the verses of Thy Book through those rapturous allusions and radiant tokens and paradisiacal stations and unique indications and holy verses whose worth Thou knowest and which nothing equals in the heavens or earth or in Thy greatest treasuries in their stations, for Thou didst send down those allusions through Thy grace. Therefore, O God, inspire all servants with whatever Thou willest through whatever Thou willest in existence, and aid me through the revelations of the heart in that ink-bearing pen, for verily Thou dost not fail in Thy promise.

Then from the letter Ba, the land of Oneness for those who journey unto God in the thicket of the Divine Realm, then upon the eternal cloud for those who journey unto God in the thicket of the Realm of Might, then upon the cloudy realm for those who journey unto God in the thicket of the Kingdom, then upon the grandeur for those who dwell by God’s leave in the land of might.

And verily from the decree of Ba, the horizons of the cloud were filled with the two similar letters and the upright Alif between the two vessels. And verily God has not revealed in the Qur’an any word lighter than the letters of that blessed word which dawned from the Morn of Eternity and indicated the Essence of Identity in the glory of Eternal Samadness—and it is a word of five that belonged to God in the Qur’an. None can derive from it the rule of divisions like half, third and fourth. And God has not revealed any word indicating complete meaning whose letters were five except that holy word which is easy and pure. The possessors of understanding know what lies therein, and verily in it are signs that neither tablets nor hearts and spirits can bear. And verily for every decree there is a known book. And verily from beneath the point of splendor have emerged the multiplicities from the world of possibility, indicating therein by the decree of the Bayan. I seek refuge with God, the Lord of humanity, from what the sun and moon have fabricated by calculation.

Then from the letter Ta is the dust, element of the likenesses and similitudes of the essences of the Divine Realm, then the dust element of the realities of the Realm of Might, then the dust of the entities of the lofty abstract essences of the Kingdom, then the dust of the realities of the people of the mortal realm—and it is the dust from which God took a handful from calculation, then a handful from the fires, then the clay of the All-Merciful in His hand, and created thereby the realities of the people of the Covenant and dissension. Glory be to God above what they describe.

And verily We showed you on that night the condition of the element of fire in the midst of wrath and the condition of the element of water at the ultimate of love. And verily that was the condition of the perfect servant where circumstances do not occupy him and the element of water does not withhold him from the manifestations of the element of fire. Rather he is fire at times when he is water at times when he is fire. May God’s blessings be upon his master as long as the sun of creation rises with creation and the sun of invention sets. Glory be to God, his Lord, above what they describe.

Then from the letter Ra is the primordial mercy in the thicket of the Divine Realm, then the manifested Lordship in the identities of the lordly ones, then the universal compassion in the hearts of the people of might, then the eternal rank from the armies of the bees of divinity.

Then when God wills, I shall reveal from the letter Ra what the All-Merciful has willed in that Book from the singing maidens of holiness in the chambers of good-pleasure, where no human heart has conceived before from the servants of the All-Merciful. And in God do I seek assistance and upon Him do I rely.

6. Commentary on the Surah in its outward station

When you are illumined by the light with which We have enlightened you in the depths of those allusions, know that that blessed Surih has universal meanings in the station of the outward. Among them is what you know from Al-Kawthar—the decree of the Guardianship addressed to Muhammad the Messenger of God, that God has given you ʿAli. Then in His words “pray unto thy Lord” is an allusion to the Guardianship of Hasan. Then His words “and sacrifice” allude to the martyrdom of Husayn. Then in His words “Verily thy enemy is the one cut off” are the stations of the wicked and the depths of the chiefs of the people of fire, where those letters spoke thus. Know from the letters of “thy enemy is the one cut off” the Imams of fire who were, in the face of the Imams of truth, possessed of great tyranny. And verily their number is thirteen letters according to what was decreed in regard to the suns of Prophethood and Divine Authority.

And this is but one of the interpretations of the people of infallibility—thou knowest all the stations.

Consider in the inward station the bearer of bounty to be the Will itself, then the station of the addressee, which is the letter Kaf, to be the Divine Purpose itself, then the station of Kawthar to be the interpretation of the letter Mim. Then consider the stations of the divine action in what God hath revealed after these words.

And thou hast the right to interpret Kawthar as Muhammad in one station, then as ʿAli in another station, then as Fatimih in another station, then as Hasan in another station, then as Husayn in another station, then as the Imams of Justice in another station, then as the Qa’im in the station of essence, for He is what is meant both inwardly and outwardly. Then make the addressee to be the Remnant of God and interpret Kawthar as My Self, for it is the Water of Life whereby hearts, realities, and souls are quickened. This indeed is the decisive interpretation, the lofty meaning, the ascending station, and the gleaming essence which none save God can comprehend, whether outwardly or inwardly.

Were I to interpret this Surih according to what We gave thee on that night from the cup of water the leaf of China, I would follow the path of truth and interpret it according to the reality of the Command. But today, out of fear of Pharaoh and his hosts, and to protect the disciples from the people of ʿAli and his followers, I do not interpret the reality of that interpretation. However, the learned one knoweth the rule of amplification in the word of diminution. Verily the Imams of Justice have melodies in the verses of the Qur’an which none knoweth save them, even as Rida recited when he returned from his wife Umm al-Fadl while she was menstruating:

And when she heard of their deceit, she sent for them, and prepared for them a banquet, and gave to each of them a knife, and said: ʿCome forth unto them.’ And when they beheld him, they were seized with wonder, and cut their hands, and exclaimed:

“Glorified be God! This is no mortal; this is none other but an angel most exalted!”

[Q12:31]

And verily, upon that same melody, were one among the men of the heights to recite, at the moment when he bestoweth upon his spouse the Water of Life, that blessed Surah, he would indeed be chanting in the good-pleasure and love of God. By such utterances doth God inspire His faithful servants.

7. Commentary on the Surah in reference to the Qa’im

And I, when I stood in the station of affirming the Faith, interpreted that blessed Surah as referring to the One Who is to arise. And this was by the leave of the chosen ones of God, who had intimated to His people that the Qur’an was revealed concerning Us, and that the ordinances regarding the grievous sins were fulfilled in Our own persons.

Beyond any doubt, all this is the truth that shone forth from the sacred Leaf of the crimson Tree—none comprehendeth its knowledge save he who perceiveth the mystery of decree and origination, and beholdeth the light of Sinai gleaming through the vesture of glory. By such tokens let the people of utterance be enkindled, and the people of splendor be filled with awe. And there is no power nor strength save in God, the Lord of the Throne and of the Cloud.

And now I recount the tidings in the dawning-place of mysteries, that thou mayest behold the chronicles of the Imams, the Pure Ones, in the days preceding the appearance of Him Who shall arise; that thou mayest prepare thyself for the Day of His meeting. And should God’s decree not yet be fulfilled, be thou at least readied for the hour of death, that thou mayest seize thy portion ere the time of passing be at hand.

Yet my purpose in recalling these traditions is naught but what I intended in interpreting that blessed Surah—to expound the inner meaning upon the path of the outward sense: that the Water of Kawthar in the realm of manifestation is none other than the hidden Water of Life, the fearful yet renowned Name, which floweth from the Fountain of Salsabil beneath the Mount of Pre-Eternity, revealed openly in the Manifestation of Him Who is the Kaf in His exalted Word: “Verily, We have given thee Kawthar.”

O observer, if you are among the companions of Kazim, you know the rule of the Hidden Pillar as you know the rules of the three pillars through the evidences that God has created in the realities of souls and horizons, whereat the people of discord and hypocrisy pay no attention. And if you mention these to them, they say this is but the Day of Meeting.

And I hereby mention that rule from God through clear verses and good words, so that every soul among the people of understanding and return may know. And I was thereby mentioning the news of the return from those established upon the throne of Names and Attributes. So observe what We have given you regarding the rule of dust—the rules of the Lord of lords concerning the rule of return.

O observer, by every proof that you need to establish the three pillars and prove what is obligatory upon you regarding the rule of the Hidden Pillar—for if you are looking into the depths of fire, there is no escape for you except through the mention of dust, since fire itself, were there no earthly aspect within it, would not exist. And likewise is the rule until the Command descends to the stations of limits and examples. And just as you need the existence of someone from God to convey to you what your Lord desires, you need the existence of an ambassador from your Imam.

And if you say that all the learned ones occupy that station, I say by God’s leave with a proof that every soul knows: Are all the learned ones at the same station in His Command, or do some excel others? If you say they are all of one rule, their words, deeds and levels of belief belie you. And if you say some precede others, you must inevitably reject the lower and take the rule of the higher until you return to a single soul. You cannot take rulings from those who differ after knowing there is one superior among them, nor can you speak of two equals, for if they were equal in all stations they would be one soul. And if you know that one of them is higher in station by even the amount of an ant’s eye, you cannot take from the lower, for God, exalted be His mention, has said:

“Is He then Who guides to the truth more worthy to be followed, or he who guides not unless he is guided? What then is the matter with you? How do you judge?”

[Q10:35]

Then His exalted Word:

“Is he who standeth upon a clear proof from his Lord, and there followeth him a witness from Him, and before him was the Book of Moses—a guide and a mercy? These believe therein; but whoso disbelieveth therein among the confederates, the Fire shall be his appointed lot. Be not, therefore, in doubt concerning it: verily, it is the truth from thy Lord; yet most of mankind believe not.”

[Q11:17]

And again He saith:

“Shall he who is a believer be as he who is a transgressor? They are not equal.”

[Q32:18]

And thou, if thou return unto the decree of thy secret and the subtlety of thine inmost heart, wilt assuredly perceive that none hath been empowered to bear the effulgence of the universal bounty from the Imam, save a single soul alone. And when thou art assured of this, thou canst not doubt the existence of the Imam—the Qa’im, hidden and concealed, peace be upon Him—for were He not, naught else could be. His Cause shineth forth even as the sun in the meridian of its splendor; and the words of those who deny Him among the Muslims are fallen from the rank of all consideration. For to doubt His existence is to deny the might of the Almighty; and whoso doubteth in God Himself is verily a disbeliever, full of uncertainty. As for those among the desert Arabs who deem it far-fetched and deny Him—they have indeed denied One greater than He in the matter of divine authority, even after God revealed in the Qur’an His clear decree concerning it.

And the Messenger of God—may blessings rest upon Him—proclaimed before a vast concourse of men and jinn His Cause; yet they, like those of former times, fell from the plane of true understanding and were cast down from the rank of all consideration.

As to My Cause, the believers of the Twelver sect have indeed borne steadfast witness thereto. For it hath been firmly established among them the day of His birth—may my soul and the souls of all in the realms of command and creation be a sacrifice unto Him—as well as the days of His lesser occultation, the wonders and signs that attended His era, the tokens manifested through His chosen envoys, and the verses revealed in the Book of God concerning Him, together with the traditions transmitted from the Messenger of God and the Imams, the pure and sanctified, and the testimonies of the righteous and long-lived among men regarding His truth. In this they have believed, even as they have believed in the decree of God concerning His Apostle; and of this there is, in very truth, no doubt whatsoever, for “This is the Book; in it is guidance sure, without doubt, to those who fear God; Who believe in the Unseen, are steadfast in prayer, and spend out of what We have provided for them; And who believe in the Revelation sent to thee, and sent before thy time, and have the assurance of the Hereafter. They are on true guidance from their Lord, and it is these who will prosper.” [Q2:2-5]

And when I desire to mention the words of mystery from the pure Imams regarding that Light, the Secret of secrets, I shall mention some traditions in this connection transmitted from the holy Suns that have dawned from the horizon of Glory, that the lights of the heaven of Divinity and the mysteries of the realm of Might and the signs of the station of sovereignty and kingdom may increase in the hearts of the believers through these allusions, concerning some of the ordinances of that Hidden Light and the Expected Absent One who is renowned. And upon God do I rely in all matters, for by His leave are the hidden things of the inmost hearts revealed from their symbols, and verily this is a hidden symbol in an open book. By the Lord of the House! Verily He is the Frequented House—may God hasten His appearance through His right, the essence of the inmost hearts and the perfection of manifestation. And verily He is the All-Forgiving, the Most Appreciated, concealed from the gaze of the jealous ones by the signs of the Mount.

And now I shall mention the traditions that were revealed concerning those who await the days of His manifestation and those who remain steadfast to His covenant in the days of His rising from that Dawning-Place, and verily after it are radiant rising-places that have gleamed from the words of the Chosen Ones who act according to His command and who are fearful of His awe.

The Dawning-Point: God the Exalted hath said: “Wait ye: I too will wait with you.” Then His word, exalted is He: “And watch ye! for I too am watching with you!”

And now I shall mention the traditions as related by the author of Bihar, among them through three chains of transmission from Rida from his forefathers who said: The Messenger of God said:

“The most excellent deed of my community is awaiting the relief from God, Mighty and Glorified be He.”

And among them from Abu Hamzah al-Thumali from Abu Khalid al-Kabuli from Ali ibn al-Husayn, peace be upon him, who said: “The occultation shall be prolonged for the second Guardian of God from the successors of the Messenger of God and the Imams after Him. O Abu Khalid! Verily the people of his time who believe in his Imamate and await his appearance are the most excellent people of every age, for God, exalted be His mention, hath given them such understanding, comprehension and knowledge that the Occultation hath become for them as witnessing, and He hath made them in that time like those who struggled with the sword before the Messenger of God. Those are the truly sincere ones and our genuine followers, and the callers to God’s religion secretly and openly.” And he said: “Awaiting relief is among the greatest relief.”

And among the Four Hundred, the Commander of the Faithful said: “Await ye the relief and despair not of God’s mercy, for verily the most beloved of deeds to God, Mighty and Glorified be He, is awaiting the relief.” And he said: “Moving mountains is easier than moving a delayed kingdom. Seek help from God and be patient. Verily the earth belongs to God; He causes whom He will of His servants to inherit it, and the end is for the God-fearing. Hasten not the matter before its time lest ye regret, and let not the term seem too long lest your hearts become hardened.” And he said: “Whoso holdeth fast unto Our Cause shall be with Us on the morrow in the Sanctuary of Holiness; and he who awaiteth Our Cause is even as one who lieth weltering in his own blood in the path of God.”

And among these traditions is one from Ibn Ma’ruf, from Hammad ibn ʿIsa, from Abu’l-Jarud, from Abu Basir, from Abu Ja’far who said that the Messenger of God declared one day in the presence of a group of his companions: “O God, let me meet my brothers!”—this he said twice. Those around him among his companions asked: “Are we not thy brothers, O Messenger of God?” He replied: “No, ye are my companions. My brothers are a people who shall appear in the latter days. They shall believe though they have not seen me. God hath endeared them by their names and their fathers’ names before bringing them forth from their fathers’ loins and their mothers’ wombs. Their steadfastness in their faith shall be harder than plucking thorns in the darkest night, or like grasping burning coals. These are the lamps in darkness whom God shall deliver from every dusty, darkening trial.”

And among these is what Muhammad ibn Ali al-Shah related from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, from Ahmad ibn Khalid, from Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Salih al-Tamimi, from Muhammad ibn Khatam al-Qattan, from Hammad ibn Amr, from al-Sadiq, from his forefathers, that the Messenger of God said to Ali:

“O Ali, know that those of strongest faith shall be a people who appear in the latter days, who shall not have met the Prophet and from whom the Proof shall be hidden, yet they shall believe in black upon white.”

And among these is what al-Hamdani related from Ali, from his father, from Bistam ibn Murrah, from Amr ibn Thabit who said that the Master of Worshippers declared:

“Whoso remaineth steadfast in our Cause during the absence of our Qa’im, God shall grant him the reward of a thousand martyrs like unto the martyrs of Badr and Uhud.”

And among these traditions is that which Ali ibn Nu’mani transmitteth from Ishaq ibn Ammar and from al-Fayd al-Mukhtar, who said: “I heard Aba Abdallah—peace be upon Him—say: Whoso dieth among you while awaiting this Cause is even as one who standeth with the Qa’im in justice.” Then he paused for a while and added: “Nay, rather, as one who fighteth by His side with His sword.” Then again he said: “Nay, by God! But as one who hath been martyred in the company of the Messenger of God.”

And among them is that which al-Ayyashi relateth from Imran, from Muhammad ibn Abd al-Hamid, from Muhammad ibn al-Fudayl, from al-Rida—peace be upon Him—who, when asked concerning the matter of deliverance, said: “Is not the very act of awaiting deliverance itself a form of deliverance? Hath not God, exalted and glorified be He, declared: ʿWait ye, for indeed I am with you among those who wait.”’

And among them again, from al-Ayyashi, from Khalaf ibn Hamid, from Sahl ibn Ziyad, from Muhammad ibn al-Hasan, from al-Bazanti, who said that al-Rida—peace be upon Him—declared:

“How goodly is patience and the awaiting of deliverance! Hast thou not heard the saying of God, exalted and glorified be He: Wait then; verily, I am with you a Watcher,’ and His Word: And wait ye, for indeed I am with you among those who wait’? Therefore cling ye to patience, for relief cometh only after trial. Verily, those who came before you were more patient than ye.”

And among them, al-Fadl from Ibn Isbat, from al-Hasan ibn al-Jahm, who said: “I asked Aba al-Hasan concerning the matter of deliverance. He replied: Knowest thou not that the waiting for deliverance is itself deliverance?’ I said: I know not, save that thou shouldst teach me.’ He said: ʿVerily, the waiting for deliverance is deliverance itself.”’

And among them, al-Fadl from Ibn Fadal, from Thalabah ibn Maymun, who said:

“Know thine Imam, for if thou knowest Him, it will not harm thee whether this Cause be advanced or delayed. Whoso hath known his Imam and dieth before the rise of this Cause, when the Qa’im appeareth, shall receive the reward of one who standeth with Him in justice.”

And among them, al-Fadl from Ibn Fadal, from al-Muthanna al-Khannat, from Abd Allah ibn Ajlan, from Aba Abd Allah—peace be upon Him—who said:

“Whoso hath known this Cause, and dieth ere the Qa’im ariseth, shall have the reward of one who was slain fighting in His company.”

And among these, Muhammad ibn al-Hassan ibn Shamun relates from Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-Ash’ath, from Abdullah ibn Hammad al-Ansari, from al-Sabbah al-Muzayni, from al-Harith ibn Husayrah, from al-Hakam ibn Uyaniah who said: When the Commander of the Faithful (peace be upon him) slew the Kharijites on the Day of Nahrawan, a man stood before him and said: O Commander of the Faithful! By Him Who split the seed and created the soul, there were present with us in this place people whose fathers and forefathers God had not yet created!’ The man asked: How could we be joined by people not yet created?’ He replied: Yes, a people who will appear in the Last Days, sharing with us in what we are engaged in and submitting to us. These are our true partners in what we have undertaken, verily, verily.’

And among these, Muhammad ibn Hammam and Muhammad ibn al-Hassan ibn Muhammad both relate from al-Hassan ibn Muhammad ibn Jumhur, from his father, from Sama’ah, from Salih ibn Nabat and Bakr al-Muthanna, both from Abu Ja’far al-Baqir who said: ʿThe hasty ones have perished while those who drew near have been saved, and the fortress remains firm upon its stakes. Verily after grief comes a wondrous victory.’

And among these, Muhammad ibn Hammam relates from Ja’far ibn Muhammad ibn Malik, from Ahmad ibn Ali al-Ja’fari, from Muhammad ibn al-Muthanna al-Hadrami, from his father, from Uthman ibn Zayd, from Jabir, from Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir who said: The example of one who rises from among us, the People of the House, before the rising of the Qa’im is like that of a fledgling who flies and falls into the hands of children who then play with it.’

And among these, Ibn Uqdah relates from Ali ibn al-Hassan al-Taylami, from Ibn Mahbub, from Abu Ayyub, from Muhammad ibn Muslim who said: I heard Abu Ja’far saying: Fear God and seek His aid in your affairs through piety and striving in obedience to God. The most joyful any of you can be about your religion is when you have reached the threshold of the next world and this world has been cut off from you. For when you reach that threshold, you will know that you face bliss and honor from God and glad tidings of Paradise, and you will be safe from those who opposed you. You will be certain that what you followed was the truth and that those who opposed your religion were upon falsehood and are doomed.

So rejoice, then rejoice again! Do you not see your enemies transgressing in disobedience to God, killing one another for worldly gain while you remain safe in your homes, isolated from them? The Sufyani suffices as retribution against your enemy, and he is among the signs for you. Moreover, when the evil one emerges, you will remain for a month or two after his appearance without harm from him, until he kills many others besides you.’ One of his companions asked him: What shall we do with our families when that occurs?’ He replied: The men among you should go into hiding, for his fear and severity will be directed only against our followers. As for the women, no harm shall befall them, God willing.’ It was asked: Where should people flee from the Dajjal?’ He replied: Whoever wishes may flee to Medina or Mecca or some other land.’ Then he said: ʿWhat will you do in Medina when the army of the evil one aims for it? Rather, you should go to Mecca, for it will be your gathering place. Indeed, this trial will last only as long as a woman’s pregnancy—nine months—and will not exceed that, God willing.”’

And among these, Muhammad ibn Yahya relates from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, Husayn ibn Sa’id, from Hammad ibn ʿIsa, from al-Husayn ibn Mukhtar, from Abu Basir, from Abu Abdullah who said: “Every standard raised before the rising of the Qa’im—its bearer is a tyrant who worships other than God, the Mighty and Glorious.”

When you understand the ordinances of the Occultation regarding relief, then know God’s decree beforehand that the Qa’im is the Imam whose rule God has sent down in the Qur’an, then the Messenger of God and His trustees in the traditions. And lo, I make mention for those who remember, and honor for those who observe. I shall recall fourteen traditions regarding his station, that hearts may be illumined thereby and souls find tranquility, that it may be an example for those who come after and a sign for those who came before, and upon this was built the foundation of the ancients. And I shall cause to shine upon you from the verses of God and the traditions of the Family of Yasin regarding that Dawning Point whatsoever the All-Merciful has willed in the dawning places of that effulgence. Unto God is the final return on the Day of the Covenant.

And lo, I shall recite unto you the verses which the People of the House recited regarding the station of the Qa’im through mention of Qur’anic verses without explanation of traditions, and upon God do we rely, for He is the Revealer of the Exposition in the depths of what is possible in visible manifestation unto being.

Part one. God the Exalted says:

“Alif. Lam. Mim. This is the Book wherein is no doubt, a guidance unto the God-fearing who believe in the Unseen, and perform the prayer, and spend of that We have provided them; who believe in what has been sent down to thee and what has been sent down before thee, and have faith in the Hereafter; those are upon guidance from their Lord, those are the ones who prosper.”

[Q2:1-5]

Then His mighty word:

“And if We postpone the chastisement from them until a reckoned time they will say ʿWhat is detaining it?’ Surely, the day it shall come to them, it shall not be turned aside from them, and there shall encompass them that they mocked at.”

[Q11:8]

Then His mighty word: “And We sent Moses with Our signs: ʿBring forth thy people from the shadows to the light and remind them of the Days of God.”’ [Q14:5]

Then His mighty word:

“And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Book: You shall do corruption in the earth twice, and you shall ascend exceeding high.’ So, when the promise of the first of these came to pass, We sent against you servants of Ours, men of great might, and they went through the habitations, and it was a promise performed. Then We gave back to you the turn to prevail over them, and We supplied you with wealth and children, and We made you a more numerous host. If you do good, it is your own souls you do good to, and if you do evil it is to them likewise.’ Then, when the promise of the second came to pass, We sent against you Our servants to discountenance you, and to enter the Temple, as they entered it the first time, and to destroy utterly all that they ascended to. It may be that your Lord will have mercy upon you; but if you return, We shall return; and We have made Hell a prison for the unbelievers.”

[Q17:4-8]

Then His mighty word:

“And when they perceived Our might, behold, they ran headlong out of it: Run not! Return you unto the luxury that you exulted in, and your dwelling-places; haply you shall be questioned!’ They said, Alas for us! We have been evildoers.’ So they ceased not to cry that, until We made them stubble, silent and still.”

[Q21:12-15]

Then His mighty word: “For We have written in the Psalms, after the Remembrance, ʿThe earth shall be inherited by My righteous servants.”’ [Q21:105]

Then His mighty word:

“Leave is given to those who fight because they were wronged—surely God is able to help them.”

[Q22:39]

Then His mighty word:

“And whosoever chastises in the manner that he was chastised and then again is oppressed, surely God will help him.”

[Q22:60]

Then His mighty word:

“Those who, if We establish them in the land, perform the prayer, and pay the alms, and bid to honor, and forbid dishonor.”

[Q22:41]

Then His mighty word:

“If We will, We shall send down on them out of heaven a sign, so their necks will stay humbled to it.”

[Q26:4]

Then His might word: “Or who responds to the distressed one when he calls upon Him and removes the evil, and makes you successors in the earth?” [Q27:62]

Then His mighty word:

“And if help comes from your Lord, they will surely say: ʿWe were with you.’ Is not God best aware of what is in the breasts of all beings?”

[Q29:10]

Then His mighty word:

“And whosoever helps himself after he has been wronged—for such, there is no way (of blame) against them. The way (of blame) is only against those who oppress men and rebel in the earth without right. For such there will be a painful doom.”

[Q42:41-42]

Then His mighty word: “The Hour draws nigh.” [Q54:1]

Then His mighty word: “Dark green with foliage.” [Q55:64]

Then His mighty word:

“They desire to extinguish God’s light with their mouths but God will perfect His light.”

[Q61:8]

Then His mighty word:

“And another that you love: help from God and a victory near at hand.”

[Q61:13]

Then His mighty word:

“Till, when they see that which they are promised, they will know who is weaker in helpers and less in multitude.”

[Q72:24]

Then His mighty word:

“Lo! they plot a plot, and I plot a plot. Therefore give a respite to the disbelievers. Deal thou gently with them for a while.”

[Q86:17]

Then His mighty word:

“By the night when it covers, and the day when it appears.”

[Q92:1-2]

Then His mighty word:

“Say: Have ye thought: If your water were to become sunken, who then could bring you gushing water?”

[Q67:30]

Then His mighty word:

“He it is Who hath sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth, that He may cause it to prevail over all religion, however much the idolaters may be averse.”

[Q61:9]

Then His mighty word:

“Hath there come unto thee tidings of the Overwhelming? On that day faces will be downcast, toiling, weary, scorched by burning fire.”

[Q88:1-4]

Then His mighty word:

“On the day when one of thy Lord’s signs cometh, its belief availeth naught a soul which theretofore believed not.”

[Q6:158]

Then His mighty word:

“Nay, I swear by the planets that recede, moving swiftly, sweeping (through space).”

[Q81:15-16]

Then His mighty word:

“And they say: If only a portent were sent down upon him from his Lord! Then say: The Unseen belongeth to God. So wait! Lo! I am waiting with you.”

[Q10:20]

Then His mighty word:

“And in the heaven is your providence and that which ye are promised; And by the Lord of the heavens and the earth, it is the truth, even as it is true that ye speak.”

[Q51:22-23]

Then His mighty word: “Wheresoever ye may be, God will bring you all together.” [Q2:148]

Then His mighty word: “Know that God quickeneth the earth after its death.” [Q57:17]

Then His mighty word:

“God hath promised such of you as believe and do good works that He will surely make them to succeed (the present rulers) in the earth even as He caused those who were before them to succeed (others); and that He will surely establish for them their religion which He hath approved for them, and will give them in exchange safety after their fear. They serve Me. They ascribe nothing as partner unto Me.”

[Q24:55]

Then His mighty word:

“And We desired to show favor unto those who were oppressed in the earth, and to make them leaders and to make them the inheritors.”

[Q28:5]

Then His mighty word:

“And be not ye as those who received the Scripture of old but the term was prolonged for them and so their hearts were hardened, and many of them are evil-livers.”

[Q57:16]

Then His mighty word:

“These are (only) the vicissitudes which We cause to follow one another for mankind.”

[Q3:140]

Then His mighty word:

“This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion; so fear them not, fear Me!”

[Q5:3]

Then His mighty word:

“And a proclamation from God and His messenger to all men on the day of the Greater Pilgrimage.”

[Q9:3]

Then His mighty word:

“And fight against the idolaters collectively even as they fight against you collectively.”

[Q9:36]

Then His mighty word:

“And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is all for God.”

[Q2:193]

Then His mighty word:

“And if We defer from them the doom to a fixed term they will surely say, ʿWhat holdeth it back?’ Lo, on the day when it cometh unto them it shall not be averted from them.”

[Q11:8]

Then His mighty word:

“Then do they who devise evil feel secure that God will not cause the earth to swallow them, or that the chastisement will not come upon them whence they know not? Or that He may not seize them in their going to and fro, so that they shall not escape?”

[Q16:45-46]

Then His mighty word: “Then when the Trump is sounded.” [Q74:8]

Then His mighty word:

“Then hasten ye to good works. Wheresoever ye may be, God will bring you all together.”

[Q2:148]

Then His mighty word: “Thou shalt know them by their marks.” [Q2:273]

Then His mighty word:

“And We will make them taste the lesser punishment before the greater punishment.”

[Q32:21]

Then His mighty word:

“Is not He best Who answereth the wronged one when he crieth unto Him and removeth the evil, and maketh you inheritors of the earth? Is there any God beside God? Little do ye reflect!”

[Q27:62]

Then His mighty word: “When Our revelations are recited unto him he saith: ʿTales of the ancients!”’ [Q68:15]

Then His mighty word:

“Every soul is held in pledge for what it hath earned, save those on the right hand.”

[Q74:38-39]

Then His mighty word:

“In gardens they will ask one another concerning the guilty: What hath brought you to this burning?’ They will answer: We were not of those who prayed, nor did we feed the wretched. We used to wade in vain discourse with vain discoursers, and we used to deny the Day of Judgment, till the Inevitable came unto us.’ The mediation of no mediators will avail them then.”

[Q74:40-48]

Then His mighty word:

“We verily gave unto Moses the Scripture, but there hath been dispute concerning it.”

[Q11:110]

Then His mighty word:

“And but for a decisive word, it would have been judged between them. Lo! the wrong-doers will have a painful doom.”

[Q42:21]

Then His mighty word: “And those who believe in the Day of Judgment.” [Q70:26]

Then His mighty word: “And say: Truth hath come and falsehood hath vanished away.” [Q17:81]

Then His mighty word:

“We shall show them Our portents on the horizons and within themselves until it will be manifest unto them that it is the Truth.”

[Q41:53]

Then His mighty word:

“Till, when they behold that which they are promised, whether punishment or the Hour, they will know who is worse in position and who is weaker in forces.”

[Q19:75]

Then His mighty word:

“Whoso desireth the harvest of the world, We give him thereof, and he hath no portion in the Hereafter.”

[Q42:20]

Then His mighty word:

“We have made plain for you the revelations, that haply ye may understand.”

[Q57:17]

Then His mighty word: “And hath loaded you with His favors both without and within.” [Q31:20]

Then His mighty word:

“Say: I ask of you no fee for it, nor am I of those who make believe. Lo! it is naught else than a reminder unto the peoples, and ye will come to know its truth after awhile [ba’da hin].”

[Q38:86-88]

Hadiths and traditions regarding the manifestation of the Qa’im

Part 1: “The second tradition, concerning that which was spoken…”

The second tradition, concerning that which was spoken by the Messenger of God—may blessings rest upon Him and His family—according to the narration of Ibn Idris, from his father, from Sahl, from Muhammad ibn Adam, from his father, from Yasir, from al-Mubarak ibn Fadalah, from Wahb ibn Muniyah, who raised it unto Ibn ʿAbbas.

He said: “The Messenger of God—peace and blessings be upon Him—declared:

When my Lord, exalted and glorified be He, caused me to ascend unto Him, there came to me a call from on high: O Muhammad!’ I answered: Here am I, O Lord of Might and Majesty, here am I!’ Then did God, glorified be His grandeur, reveal unto me: O Muhammad, concerning what do the hosts on high dispute?’ I said: My God, I have no knowledge thereof.’

He said to me: O Muhammad, hast thou chosen for thyself from among men a minister, a brother, and a successor after thee?’ I said: My God, whomsoever Thou choosest for me, that one shall I choose. Thou art my God; choose Thou for me!’

Then did God reveal unto me: O Muhammad, I have chosen for thee from among mankind Ali.’ I said: My God, he is my cousin!’ And God revealed unto me: O Muhammad, ʿAli is thy heir and the inheritor of knowledge after thee. He shall bear thy banner—the Banner of Praise—upon the Day of Resurrection, and he shall be the Keeper of thy Pool, from which he shall give to drink all who come unto it from among the faithful of thy community.’

Then God, the Mighty and Glorious, revealed: ʿO Muhammad! I have truly sworn an oath unto Myself that none who harbor hatred for thee and for thy pure household and progeny shall drink from that Pool. Verily, verily I say unto thee, O Muhammad, I shall cause all of thy people to enter Paradise save those who refuse.’

I said: My God, who would refuse to enter Paradise?’ Then God, the Mighty and Glorious, revealed unto me: O Muhammad! I chose thee from among My creation and chose for thee a successor after thee, and made him unto thee as Aaron was unto Moses, except there shall be no Prophet after thee. And I cast his love into thy heart and made him the father of thy offspring. His right over thy people after thee is as thy right over them in thy lifetime. Whosoever denieth his right hath denied thy right, and whosoever refuseth to acknowledge him hath refused to acknowledge thee, and thus hath refused to enter Paradise.’

I fell prostrate before God in gratitude for His favors unto me, when lo, a voice called out: ʿRaise thy head, O Muhammad, and ask, that thou mayest be given.’

I said: My God, unite my people after me in allegiance to Ali ibn Abi Talib, that they may all come unto me at my Pool on the Day of Resurrection.’

God, the Mighty and Glorious, revealed unto me: ʿO Muhammad! I have decreed concerning My servants before I created them, and My decree shall be fulfilled among them. Through him shall I destroy whom I will and guide whom I will. I have given him thy knowledge after thee, and made him thy minister and successor after thee over thy household and community—a decree from Me. None who opposes him, hates him, and denies his authority after thee shall enter Paradise. Whosoever hates him hates thee, and whosoever hates thee hates Me. Whosoever opposes him opposes thee, and whosoever opposes thee opposes Me. Whosoever loves him loves thee, and whosoever loves thee loves Me.

I have bestowed this excellence upon him and granted thee that from his lineage shall come forth eleven guided ones, all from thy progeny from the Virgin, the Pure One. The last among them shall be one behind whom Jesus son of Mary shall pray. He shall fill the earth with justice even as it was filled with oppression and tyranny. Through him shall I save from destruction and guide those who believe in him. Through him shall I heal the blind and cure the sick.’

I said: ʿMy God and Master! When shall this be?’

God, the Mighty and Glorious, revealed: ʿThis shall be when knowledge is lifted and ignorance appears, when reciters are many but deeds are few, when killing increases and true guiding scholars decrease but misleading treacherous scholars increase, when poets multiply and thy people take graves as places of worship, when Qur’ans are adorned and mosques are decorated, when injustice and corruption abound, when evil appears and thy people command it and forbid good, when men suffice themselves with men and women with women, when rulers become infidels, their friends become transgressors, their helpers become oppressors, and their counselors become corrupt.

At that time there shall be three eclipses—one in the East, one in the West, and one in the Arabian Peninsula; and the destruction of Basra at the hands of a man from thy progeny whom the Zanj shall follow; and the emergence of a man from the progeny of Husayn ibn ʿAli; and the appearance of the Antichrist who shall come forth from the East, from Sijistan; and the appearance of the Sufyani.’

I said: ʿMy God, what tribulations shall occur after me?’

Then God revealed unto me and informed me of the afflictions of the Umayyads—may God curse them—and of the tribulation of my uncle’s son, and what shall come to pass until the Day of Resurrection.

I entrusted this to my cousin when I descended to earth and delivered the Message.

And praise be to God for this, as the Prophets praised Him, and as all things praise Him before me, and all things He hath created until the Day of Resurrection.”

The third tradition: Concerning that which was spoken by Ali, peace be upon him, according to the narration of my father and Ibn al-Walid together, from Saad al-Himyari, Muhammad al-Attar, and Ahmad ibn Idris, all from Ibn Abi Khattab, Ibn Isa, al-Barqi, and Ibn Hashim, all from Ibn Fadl, from Thalabah, from Malik al-Juhayni. And Ibn al-Walid also related to us—from … and Saad together—from al-Battalsi, from Zayd ibn Muhammad ibn Qabus, from Nasr ibn Abi al-Sari, from Abu Dawud al-Misriq, from Thalabah, from Malik al-Juhayni, from al-Harith ibn al-Mughirah, from one of his descendants. He said: “When I came to the Commander of the Faithful, I found him deep in thought, scratching at the earth. I asked, Do you desire the earth?’ He replied, No, by God!

Never have I desired it nor anything of this world. Rather, I am thinking of a descendant who will be born from my lineage—the eleventh from among my sons. He is the Mahdi who will fill the earth with justice just as it was filled with oppression and tyranny. He will experience a time of confusion and occultation during which some people will go astray while others will be guided.’ I asked, O Commander of the Faithful, will this truly come to pass?’ He replied, Yes, just as he is destined to be created. How well I know of this matter, O Asbagh! These are the best of this community, the most virtuous of this lineage.’ I asked, What will happen after that?’ He replied, Then God will do as He wills, for He has His purposes, aims and conclusions.”’

The fourth tradition: Concerning that which was spoken by Hasan ibn Ali al-Muzaffar al-Alawi, from Ibn al-Ayyashi, from his father, from Jibrail ibn Ahmad, from Musa ibn Jafar al-Baghdadi, from Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Sayrafi, from Hanan ibn Sudayr ibn Hakim, from his father, from Abu Said Aqida. He said: “When Hasan ibn ʿAli, peace be upon him, made peace with Mu’awiyah ibn Abi Sufyan, people came to him and some reproached him for his pledge. He said,”Woe unto you! You know not what I have done. By God, what I have done is better for my followers than all that the sun rises and sets upon. Do you not know that I am your Imam, whose obedience is obligatory upon you, and one of the two masters of the youth of Paradise by the explicit statement of God’s Messenger?”

They said, “Yes.” He continued, “Do you not know that when Khidr damaged the ship, killed the youth and repaired the wall, it displeased Moses son of Imran when the wisdom behind it was hidden from him, yet it was wisdom and correctness in God’s sight? Do you not know that there is none among us but that the pledge of allegiance to the tyrant of his time falls upon his neck, except the Qa’im behind whom Jesus son of Mary, the Spirit of God, will pray? Indeed, God will conceal his birth and hide his person so that when he emerges, he will have no pledge of allegiance upon his neck. He is the ninth from the children of my brother Husayn, son of the Mistress of Women.

God will prolong his life during his occultation, then manifest him through His power in the form of a youth of less than forty years, that it may be known that God has power over all things.”

The fifth tradition: concerning that which was spoken by Husayn Ali al-Hamadhani, from Ali, from his father, from Abd al-Salam al-Harawi, from Waki ibn al-Jarrah, from al-Rabi ibn Sad, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Sulayt. Husayn ibn Ali said: “From among us there shall be twelve Mahdis. The first of them is the Commander of the Faithful, Ali ibn Abi Talib, and the last is the ninth from my descendants. He is the Imam who will rise with the truth. Through him God will bring the earth to life after its death, and through him He will cause the religion of truth to prevail over all religion, even though the polytheists may detest it. He will have an occultation during which some people will apostatize while others will remain firm in the religion. These shall be persecuted, and it shall be said unto them: ʿWhen shall the promise be fulfilled, if ye be truthful?’ Verily, he who in the time of his occultation endureth patiently the hurt and the denial shall rank, in the sight of God, as one who fighteth with the sword before the face of the Messenger of God.

The sixth tradition: concerning what Ali ibn Al-Hussein ibn asam narrated from Al-Kulayni from Al-Qasim ibn Ala from Ismail ibn Ali from Ibn Hamid from Ibn Qais from Al-Thumali from Ali ibn Al-Hussein, that he said:

“Regarding us was this verse revealed: And those who are kindred are nearer one to another in the Book of God,’ and regarding us was revealed this verse: ʿAnd He made it a word enduring in his posterity.’ And the Imamate shall continue in the line of Hussein ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib until the Day of Resurrection. And verily the Qa’im from among us shall have two occultations, one longer than the other. As for the first, it shall be six days, six months and six years. And as for the other, its duration shall be so long that most will abandon this Cause, such that none shall remain firm except those whose certainty is strong, whose knowledge is sound, who find no distress in what We have decreed, and who submit to us, the People of the House.”

The seventh tradition: Concerning that which was spoken by Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir: Abd al-Wahid ibn Muhammad, from Abu Umar al-Ya, from Muhammad ibn Masud, from Jibrail ibn Ahmad, from Musa ibn Jafar ibn Wahb al-Baghdadi, and Yaqub ibn Yazid, from Sulayman ibn al-Hasan, from Saad ibn Abi Khalaf, from Maruf ibn Kharbuz, who said: ʿI said to Abu Jafar, “Inform me concerning yourselves.” He said, “We are as the stars: when one star is concealed, another appears—security and peace, submission and faith, an opener and a key—until when the sons of Abd al-Muttalib are equal and none knoweth in whom your Companion shall be made manifest, then shall God, exalted and glorified be He, reveal him. Then praise God, exalted be He, for the best of the hard and the gentle.” I said, “May I be thy ransom—which of the two is chosen?” He said, “He chooseth the hard over the gentle.”’

The eighth tradition: From my father, from al-Himyari, from Ahmad ibn Hilal, from Ibn Abi Najran, from Fadalah, from Sudayr, who said: I heard Abu Abd Allah say: “In the Qa’im is a similarity to Joseph.” I asked whether through life or death. He replied: “What do you deny of this? This nation is like swine. Joseph’s brothers were tribes, children of prophets. They traded Joseph and dealt with him while being his brothers, yet they did not recognize him until Joseph said I am Joseph.’ What does this accursed nation deny that God may choose to conceal His Proof at times? Joseph was king of Egypt while between him and his father was an eighteen days’ journey. Had God wished to make his location known, He had the power to do so.

By God, Jacob and his sons traveled nine days from their home to Egypt upon receiving the good news. What does this nation deny that God may do with His Proof what He did with Joseph—that he may walk in their markets and step on their carpets while they do not recognize him, until God grants permission for him to make himself known, just as He permitted Joseph when he said Do you know what you did to Joseph and his brother when you were ignorant?’ They said Are you indeed Joseph?’ He said I am Joseph, and this is my brother.”’

The ninth tradition: Concerning that which was spoken by Musa ibn Jafar al-Hamadhani, from his father, from Muhammad ibn Ziyad al-Azdi, who said: I asked my master Musa ibn Jafar, peace be upon him, about the saying of God, exalted and glorified be He: “And He hath lavished upon you His blessings, both outward and inward.” As for the apparent bounty, it is the manifest Imam, and as for the hidden bounty, it is the Hidden Imam. I asked him: “Will there be among the Imams one who will be hidden?” He replied: “Yes, his person will be hidden from people’s sight, but his remembrance will not be hidden from the hearts of the believers. He is the twelfth among us.

God will make easy for him every difficulty, and make subservient every hardship. He will reveal to him the treasures of the earth, bring near what is distant, and through him distance every stubborn tyrant. He will destroy every rebellious devil. This is the son of the noblest of maidens, whose birth will be concealed from people, and whose name they are not permitted to mention until the Mighty and Glorious makes him manifest. He will then fill the earth with equity and justice as it was filled with oppression and tyranny.” Al-Saduq said: “I did not hear this tradition except from Ahmad ibn Ja’far al-Hamdani when returning from pilgrimage to God’s Sacred House. He was a trustworthy, religious, and virtuous man—may God’s mercy and good pleasure be upon him.”

The tenth tradition: Concerning what Ali ibn Musa related from Ali from his father from al-Harawi who said: I heard Di’bil ibn Ali al-Khuza’i say: “I recited to my master Ali ibn Musa ar-Rida my poem which begins: Schools of verses empty of recitation, and places of revelation now desolate.’ When I reached the verse: The emergence of an Imam who will inevitably arise, standing by God’s name and blessings, distinguishing among us all truth from falsehood, and rewarding for blessings and punishments,’ ar-Rida wept intensely, then raised his head to me and said: O Khuza’i, the Holy Spirit has spoken through your tongue in these two verses. Do you know who this Imam is and when he will arise?’ I said: No, my master, except that I have heard about the emergence of an Imam from among you who will purify the earth from corruption and fill it with justice as it was filled with oppression.’ He said: O Di’bil, the Imam after me is Muhammad my son, and after Muhammad his son Ali, and after Ali his son Hassan, and after Hassan his son the Proof, the Awaited Qaim—obeyed in his appearance and anticipated in his occultation.

If only one day remained in the world, God would lengthen that day until he emerges and fills it with justice as it was filled with oppression. As for when—to specify the time—my father related to me from his father from his forefathers from Ali that the Prophet was asked: O Messenger of God, when will the Qaim from your progeny emerge?’ He said: ʿHis example is like the Hour—none but He shall reveal it in its time. It weighs heavy in the heavens and the earth; it will not come to you but suddenly.”’

The eleventh tradition: Concerning what Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad said, as related by Muhammad ibn Harun from al-Ruyani from al-Adhim al-Hasani who said: “I entered upon my master Muhammad ibn Ali intending to ask him about the Qaim—whether he is the Mahdi or someone else. He began speaking to me first, saying: O Abu Qasim, indeed the Qaim from among us is the Mahdi who must be awaited during his occultation and obeyed during his appearance. He is the third from my descendants. By Him Who sent Muhammad with prophethood and distinguished us with the Imamate, if only one day remained of the world, God would lengthen that day until he emerges to fill the earth with equity and justice as it was filled with oppression and tyranny. Indeed God, blessed and exalted is He, will set right his affair in one night just as He set right the affair of His interlocutor Moses when he went to fetch fire for his family and returned as a messenger prophet.’ Then he said: The best deed of our followers is awaiting the relief.”’

Part 2: “The twelfth tradition: Concerning what Ali ibn Muhammad…”

The twelfth tradition: Concerning what Ali ibn Muhammad al-Hadi al-Hamadani narrated from Ali, from his father, from Ali ibn Sadaqah, from Ali ibn Abdul-Ghaffar, who said: When Abu Ja’far II passed away, the Shi’ah wrote to Abu’l-Hassan (peace be upon him) inquiring about the matter. He wrote back to them:

“The authority is mine so long as I live. When God’s decree comes to pass concerning me, my successor shall come to you. I assure you of a successor after the successor.”

The thirteenth tradition: concerning what Al-Hassan ibn Ali Al-Askari (peace be upon him) said, as narrated by Sa’d from Musa ibn Ja’far Al-Baghdadi, who said: I heard Abu Muhammad Al-Hassan ibn Ali say:

“It is as though I see you falling into disagreement after me concerning my successor. Verily, he who acknowledges the Imams but denies my son is like one who acknowledges all God’s Prophets and Messengers but denies Muhammad, the Messenger of God. And he who denies the Messenger of God is like one who denies all the Prophets, for obedience to our last one is like obedience to our first one, and denial of our last one is like denial of our first one. Know that my son shall have an occultation during which people will doubt, except those whom God, the Mighty and Glorious, protects.”

The fourteenth tradition: concerning what the Remnant of God said to Ali ibn Ibrahim:

“I am the Mahdi. I am the Qa’im of the Age. I am he who shall fill the earth with justice as it has been filled with oppression and tyranny. The earth shall never be devoid of a proof, nor shall people remain without guidance longer than the period of the Children of Israel. The days of my appearance have become manifest. This is my trust upon your neck, so relate it to your brethren among the people of truth. Thus do the signs of God and the traditions of His proofs shine forth and become established upon the throne of certainty.”

I will now mention to you that which God has willed concerning His manifestation. The traditions of the Imams of truth have come concerning this. Know that he is a righteous successor, whose kunyah is Abu’l-Qasim, and he is the one who shall arise by God’s command, the proof of God upon His creation, the remnant from the family of God, and the Mahdi who shall guide people to a hidden matter. I do not wish for anyone to mention his name, as the Imam (peace be upon him) has said: M H M D. Indeed, the texts have come down from that Holy One where he said in his elevated directive: Whoever names me by name in a gathering of people, upon him be God’s curse.’ And his grandfather Al-Sadiq Abu Abdullah said: The master of this affair is a man whom none shall name by name except an unbeliever.’ The reason for this is that, in the time of his presence—peace be upon him—men sought concerning him what they had sought concerning the Imams of justice; and were the Cause to be made manifest upon earth, there would no longer be fear.

Therefore do I desire that, as his name is uttered in certain supplications, allusions to him be veiled thereby. This is witnessed by those whom God hath acquainted with the mystery of the Names and Attributes.

And now, as to the description of his bodily form—He whose form transcendeth description and likeness—I shall recount seven traditions in seven dawning-places. Their narration is no secret of mine, yet by their mention my heart is illumined. They shall be a sign unto the near ones, a vengeance upon the idolaters, a proof for the faithful, and a parable for those who come after. And upon God, my Lord, do I rely for aid.

The first tradition: concerning that which was related by Ibn Musa, from al-Asadi, from al-Barmaki, from Ismail ibn Malik, from Muhammad ibn Sinan, from Abu al-Jarud, from Abu Jafar, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: ʿThe Commander of the Faithful said from the pulpit: “A man from among my descendants shall arise in the latter days—fair of complexion with a tinge of redness, broad of belly, wide of thighs, great in the joints of his shoulders. Upon his back shall be two moles: one of the color of his forefather, and the other resembling the mole of the Prophet. He shall have two names—one concealed and one manifest. As for the hidden, it is Ahmad; and as for the manifest, it is Muhammad. When he shall raise his standard, its light shall illumine all between the East and the West. He shall lay his hand upon the heads of the servants, and no believer shall remain but that his heart shall become firmer than solid iron. God shall bestow upon him the strength of forty men. No soul in the grave shall remain but that joy shall enter upon it, and the dead shall visit one another in their tombs and rejoice at the rising of the Qa’im.”’

The second tradition: According to what was related by Sa’d from Al-Yaqtini from Isma’il ibn Aban from Amr ibn Shimr from Jabir al-Ju’fi who said: I heard Abu Ja’far say that Umar ibn al-Khattab asked the Commander of the Faithful saying: “Tell me about the Mahdi and his name.” He (peace be upon him) replied: “As for his name, my Beloved charged me not to reveal his name until God sends him forth.” He asked: “Tell me of his attributes.” He said: “He is a young man of medium stature, with a handsome face and beautiful hair that flows over his shoulders. The light of his countenance overtakes the blackness of his beard and hair. He is the son of the choicest of handmaidens.”

The Third tradition: According to what was related by Muhammad ibn Hammam from al-Azazi from Abbad ibn Ya’qub from al-Hasan ibn Hammad and from Abu’l-Jarud from Abu Ja’far that he said:

“The Master of this Cause is the one who is pursued, alone, seeking vengeance for his father, surnamed after his uncle, singular among his family, his name is the name of the Prophet.”

The Fourth tradition: According to what was related by Ali ibn Ahmad from Ubaydullah ibn Musa from some of his men from Ibrahim ibn al-Husayn ibn Zahir from Isma’il ibn Ayyash from al-A’mash from Abu Wa’il who said: The Commander of the Faithful Ali looked at al-Husayn and said:

“This son of mine is a master, as the Messenger of God named him a master, and God will bring forth from his loins a man named after your Prophet. He will emerge when people are heedless, when truth is dead and injustice is manifest. By God, were he not to emerge, his neck would be struck. The inhabitants of the heavens and their dwellers will rejoice at his emergence. He has a broad forehead, an aquiline nose, a large abdomen, and thick thighs. On his right thigh is a mole, and his front teeth are separated. He will fill the earth with justice just as it was filled with oppression and tyranny.”

The fifth tradition: concerning that which was related by Ahmad ibn Hawdah, from al-Nahawandi, from Humayd ibn Hamad, from Abu Bakr, from Humran who said: ʿI said to Abu Jafar, “May I be thy ransom! I entered Medina with a pouch at my waist containing a thousand dinars, and I have made a covenant with God that I would spend them at thy door, dinar by dinar, if thou wouldst answer me concerning that which I ask thee.” He said, “O Humran, ask, and thou shalt receive an answer—but love not thy dinars.” I said, “I adjure thee by thy kinship with the Messenger of God—art thou the Master of this Cause, the One who shall arise therein?” He said, “No.” I said, “Then who is he? May my father and mother be thy ransom!” He said, “He is the one of ruddy hue, with fiery eyes, arched brows, broad between the shoulders, with a mark upon his head and a trace upon his face. God have mercy upon Moses!”’

The sixth tradition: concerning that which was related by Abd al-Wahid ibn Abd Allah, from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Riyah, from Ahmad ibn Ali al-Himyari, from al-Husayn ibn Ayyub, from Abd Allah al-Hathami, from Muhammad ibn Issam, from Wahb ibn Hafdh, from Abu Basir, who said: Abu Jafar—or Abu Abd Allah (the uncertainty being from Ibn Issam)—said:

“The Qa’im shall be known by two signs: a mole upon his head, and a mark of scurf upon his scalp; and a mole between his shoulders, upon the left side beneath the shoulder-blade, fine as the leaf of the myrtle. He is the son of six and the son of the best of handmaidens.”

The seventh tradition: concerning that which was related by a group, from al-Tala’kiri, from Ahmad ibn Ali al-Razi, from Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Muqri, from Ali ibn al-Abbas, from Bakkar ibn Ahmad, from al-Hasan ibn al-Husayn, from Sufyan al-Jariri, from al-Fudayl ibn al-Zubayr, who said: I heard Zayd ibn Ali say that this Expected One is from the progeny of Husayn ibn ʿAli, from the lineage and descendants of Husayn, and he is the wronged one of whom God hath said: “And whoever is slain wrongfully, We have given his heir authority.” He said: His heir shall be a man from his progeny, from his descendants. Then he recited: “And He made it a word enduring in his posterity.” His authority shall not be excessive in killing.

He said: His authority is His proof over all whom God hath created, such that the proof shall be his over the people, while none shall have any proof against him. And verily those Dawning-Places are mentioned in a radiant light from the Messenger of God where he said—and his word is the truth: “The Mahdi shall be a man from my lineage, his color shall be that of an Arab and his body that of an Israelite. On his right cheek there shall be a mole like unto a brilliant star. He shall fill the earth with justice even as it was filled with oppression. The people of the earth and the people of heaven and the birds shall be well-pleased with his Caliphate.”

O thou who asketh! We have indeed illumined thee in those [previous] sections with the lights of the rising Sun that hath shone from the gleaming horizon and hath been illumined by the Most Decisive Name, that which thou seeketh and what the people sought before and shall ask thereafter. Know thou that according to the decree of the Qur’an and the traditions that have descended from the Sun of Utterance, there shall appear a dark, blind and deafening trial before the rising of God’s Proof, that those who are to perish may perish and those who are to prosper may prosper. May God have mercy on one who knoweth his worth, who holdeth fast to the Sure Handle and the Greatest Signs and that Momentous News, who turneth not away from the religion of Islam and departeth not from obedience to the Imam.

And now I shall mention unto thee at this juncture a drop from the vast ocean of that dark, blind and deafening trial, and the darkness of that hellish and gloomy well, that thou mayest remember thyself and the souls of the believers, that they may fear God’s command and preserve themselves by holding fast to the cord of God. Even thus must the humble ones act.

This is a Dawning-Place that hath risen from the appearance of the Light of Creation, wherein shall appear the signs of newly-created trials. Then after it shall shine forth the dawning splendors of the Sun of Detachment, that all may know God’s Cause in its utmost inaccessibility through such a Sun rising in the horizon of ascendancy. And I send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of God so long as light riseth and stars set in the heaven of creation.

The Dawning-Place of God’s trials, exalted is He:

“Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, ʿWe believe’, and that they will not be tested? We did test those before them, and God will certainly know those who are true from those who are false.”

[Q29:1-2]

And it was related by Muhammad ibn al-Himyari, from his father, from Ayyub ibn Nuh, from al-Abbas ibn Amir, from al-Rabi ibn Muhammad al-Muslim, who said: Abu Abd Allah said to me,

“By God, you shall be broken as glass is broken! Yet, by God, the glass shall be restored and return as it was. By God, you shall be distinguished, and by God, you shall be tested, and by God, you shall be sifted as the chaff is sifted from the wheat.”

And it is related from Ali, from his father, from Muhammad Al-Fadl, from his father, from Mansur who said: Abu Abdullah said:

“O Mansur, this Cause shall not come unto you except after despair. Nay, by God, not until ye are distinguished! Nay, by God, not until ye are purified! Nay, by God, not until those who are to perish perish and those who are to prosper prosper!”

And it is related from Sa’d, from Ibn Abi Al-Khattab, from Ibn Buzay’, from Abdullah Al-Asamm, from Al-Husayn ibn Al-Mukhtar Al-Qalani, from Abd Al-Rahman ibn Sabatah, from Abu ʿAbdullah who said:

“How can ye remain without a guiding Imam, when some of you shall denounce others. At that time shall ye be distinguished, purified and sifted. And in those days there shall be differences in the years and signs from the beginning of the day.”

And it is related from Al-Nasabri from Al-Barufi from Ahmad ibn Idris from Ibn Qutaybah from Ibn Shadhan from Ibn Abi Najran from Muhammad ibn Mansur from his father who said: We were with Abu Abdullah, a group conversing, when he turned to us and said:

“About what do you speak? Alas, alas! By God, that to which you turn your eyes shall not come to pass except after despair. Nay, by God, that to which you turn your eyes shall not occur until the wretched become wretched and the fortunate become fortunate.”

And it is related from Ahmad ibn Idris from Ibn Qutaybah from Ibn Shadhan from Al-Baranti who said that Abu’l-Hasan said: “By God, that to which you turn your eyes shall not come to pass until you are distinguished and purified, and until none remain among you save a few.” Then he recited: “Do men think that they will be left alone on saying ʿWe believe’, and that they will not be tested?”

And Ali ibn Ahmad relates from Abdullah ibn Musa from Musa ibn Muhammad from Ahmad ibn Abi Ahmad from Ibrahim ibn Hulayl who said: I said to Abu’l-Hasan, “May I be thy sacrifice! My father died believing in this Cause, and I have reached such an age—shall I die without thy telling me aught?” He said: “O Abu Ishaq, thou art hasty.” I said: “Yea, by God, I am hasty! And why should I not be hasty when I have reached the age thou seest?” He said: “By God, O Abu Ishaq, this shall not come to pass until ye are distinguished and purified, and until none remain among you save the fewest.” Then he made his palm small.

And Ibn Uqdah relates from Al-Qasim ibn Muhammad ibn Al-Husayn from Isa ibn Hashim from Ibn Jabalah from Miskin Al-Rijal from Ali ibn Abi’l-Mughirah from Umayrah bint Nufayl who said: I heard Al-Hasan ibn Ali say:

“The matter which ye await shall not come to pass until some of you denounce others, until some of you spit in the faces of others, until some of you curse others, and until some of you call others liars.”

And Muhammad and Ahmad, the sons of Al-Hasan, relate from their father from Tha’labah from Abu Kahmash from Imran ibn Maytham from Malik ibn Hamzah who said that the Commander of the Faithful said: “O Malik ibn Hamzah, how will it be with thee when the Shi’ih differ thus?”—and he interlaced his fingers. I said: “O Commander of the Faithful, there will be no good in that time.” He said: “All good will be in that time, O Malik. At that time our Qa’im shall arise and shall bring forward seventy men who lie against God and His Messenger, and he shall slay them. God shall not unite them in one matter.”

And Al-Kulayni relates from several of his companions from Ahmad ibn Muhammad from Mu’ammar ibn Khallad who said: I heard Abu’l-Hasan recite: “Do men think that they will be left alone on saying ʿWe believe’, and that they will not be tested?” Then he said to me: “What is the test?” I said: “May I be thy sacrifice! According to us, the test is in religion.” Then he said: “They shall be tested as gold is tested.” Then he said: “They shall be purified as gold is purified.”

And likewise Al-Kulayni relates from Ali ibn Ibrahim from Muhammad ibn Isa from Yunus from Sulayman ibn Salih, traced back to Abu Ja’far Al-Baqir who said: “Verily these traditions of yours make men’s hearts recoil. Therefore cast them forth gradually. And whoso draws near to it, increase him, and whoever denies it, leave him. Indeed, there must be a trial in which every intimate one will fall and enter into it, until even those who can split a hair into two will fall into it, until none remain except us and our followers.

And Ahmad ibn Hawzah narrated from Abu Hirasah al-Babili from Ibrahim ibn Ishaq al-Nahawandi from Abdullah ibn Hammad al-Ansari from Sabah al-Muzayyin from al-Harith ibn al-Husayrah from Ibn Banatih from the Commander of the Faithful that he said: “Be like bees among birds—no bird but deems them weak, yet if birds knew what blessings were within them, they would not treat them thus. Mix with people with your tongues and bodies, but separate from them with your hearts and deeds. By Him in Whose hand is my soul, you will not see what you love until some of you spit in the faces of others, until some of you call others liars, until none remain of you”—or he said “of my followers”—“except like kohl in the eye or salt in food.

And I will give you an example: It is like a man who had food, so he cleaned and purified it, then put it in his house and left it there as long as God willed. Then he returned to it and found that weevils had infected it, so he took it out, cleaned and purified it, then returned it to the house. He left it as long as God willed, then returned to it and found that some weevils had infected it again, so he took it out, cleaned and purified it, and returned it. This continued until only a portion remained like a portion of wheat that weevils could not harm at all. Similarly, you will be distinguished until none remain of you except a band that trials cannot harm at all.”

Part 3: “And Ibn Uqdah narrated from Ja’far ibn Abdullah…”

And Ibn Uqdah narrated from Ja’far ibn Abdullah al-Muhammadi from al-Tiflisi from al-Samandi from Ja’far ibn Muhammad from his father that he said: “The believers will be tested, then God will distinguish them in His presence. Indeed, God has not secured the believers from the trials and bitterness of this world, but He has secured them from blindness and wretchedness in the Hereafter.” Then he said: “Al-Husayn ibn Ali and his companions were killed, piled one upon another, then he said: ʿWe were killed like the prophets and the family of the prophets were killed.”’

Ibn Uqdah also narrated from Muhammad ibn al-Fadl ibn Ibrahim and Sa’dan ibn Ishaq ibn Sa’id and Ahmad ibn al-Hasan ibn Abdul-Malik, all from Ibn Mahbub from Ishaq ibn Ammar who said: I heard Abu Abdullah saying: “This matter had an appointed time, and it was in the year 140, but you spoke about it and spread it, so God, the Mighty and Glorious, delayed it.” Then he said: “O Ishaq, indeed this matter has been delayed twice.”

Ali ibn al Husayn narrated from Muhammad al Attar from Muhammad ibn al Hasan al Razi from Muhammad ibn Ali from Ibn Jabalah from Ali ibn Abi Hazim from Abu Basir from Abu Abdullah that he said:

I said to him, “May I be sacrificed for you, when will the Qaim emerge?”

He said: “O Abu Muhammad, we, the People of the House, do not set times. Muhammad has said: ʿThose who set times lie.’

O Muhammad, before this matter there are five signs: the first is the Call in the month of Ramadan, the emergence of the Sufyani, the emergence of the Khurasani, the killing of the Pure Soul, and the sinking of the earth at Bayda.”

Then he said:

“O Muhammad, before that there must be two plagues—the white plague and the red plague.”

I said:

“May I be sacrificed for you, what is the white plague and what is the red plague?”

He said:

“The white plague is rapid death, and the red plague is the sword. And the Qaim will not emerge until his name is called from the midst of the sky on the twenty third night.”

On the night of Friday he said: “How shall he be announced?”

He replied: “By his name and his father’s name. It shall be proclaimed: ʿSuch and such son of such and such is the Qaim of the House of Muhammad—so hearken unto him and obey him.’

Not a single thing created by God containing a soul remains but hears the Call, which awakens the sleeper, who then emerges into his courtyard, brings forth the maiden from her chamber, and causes the Qaim to come forth when he hears it—and this is the Call of Gabriel.”

“When thou knowest the ordinances concerning trials in thy days, then hold fast to the Cord of God and be certain that God’s Cause cannot be hidden and God’s religion cannot be veiled. And no one hath any argument against God, while God’s argument standeth against all the worlds.”

Indeed God hath chosen for the protection of His religion in the days of trials a servant whom none can deny rightfully. The limits descend on the day of his appearance through the tongues of the truthful Imams, that whosoever perisheth should perish by clear proof and whosoever liveth should live by clear proof. When God aided me through His grace with knowledge of wisdom, I turned neither to the traditions of God nor to the lights of the impossibilities of God’s Cause. I possess not books like the learned, for I was a young merchant. But now when I looked at a book containing lights of the Imams of justice, I mention to thee seven traditions in seven dawning-places, each of which sufficeth all people—being clear to the discerning, evident to the diligent, decisive against the stubborn, and protective for the strivers. Upon God, my Lord, do I rely, and He sufficeth me—how excellent a guardian!

The first tradition: concerning that which Ali mentioned explicitly in his sermon, in seven passages thereof. The proof of this is that which came to pass by the decree of God between Jumada and Rajab; and no man of knowledge can say that this is the sign ordained for the appearance of the Qa’im. For he—peace be upon him—spoke of what would occur thereafter, of the decree of that Cause and of the signs of the Manifestation, whereby the discerning believer, illumined by the light of the Hidden One, shall recognize the truth.

And this is witnessed by those whom God made to behold the creation of the heavens and the earth, then brought into being their own souls. Sufficient indeed is the decree of that sermon as proof to the discerning ones; and what is mentioned in the Bihar contains both an exhortation and a description concerning the book of sermons attributed to our master, the Commander of the Faithful. Upon it is the handwriting of Sayyid Radi al-Din Ali ibn Musa al-Tawus, and it reads as follows:

“This book was written by one who mentioned two men after al-Sadiq, so it may be that the date of its composition was after the two-hundredth year of the Hijrah, for he had passed away after the year one hundred and forty. Some of what it contains is transmitted from Abi ibn Faraj ibn Firq, from Masad ibn Sadaqah, from Jafar ibn Muhammad; and some of it from others.”

In that book referred to, there is a sermon of the Commander of the Faithful called “al-Makhzun” (“The Hidden”). It is as follows—

Praise be to God, the One, the Praised—He Who hath made Himself one in His dominion and exalted Himself by His might. I praise Him for having made known the path of His guidance, inspired us with obedience unto Him, and disclosed to us the hidden depths of His wisdom; for He is to be praised for all that He bestoweth, and thanked for all that He testeth.

I bear witness that His word is justice, and His decree decisive; and that no tongue speaketh the word “was” but that He existed before the “was.”

And I bear witness that Muhammad is the servant of God and the chief among His servants—the best of those born of the noblest lineage, the most excellent of those who came later. Whenever God caused creation to be divided into two groups, He placed him among the better of the two. No impurity touched him, nor was he tainted by the unions of the age of ignorance.

Verily God hath sent unto you a Messenger from among yourselves: grievous to him is your suffering, full of concern for you, compassionate and merciful unto the believers. Follow, then, the command of God that hath come unto you from your Lord, and take not other than Him for protectors—how little do ye remember!

For God hath appointed for goodly deeds their people, for truth its foundations, and for obedience its mighty support—through them He guardeth and establisheth His right in whom He pleaseth. He hath set for it summoners and guardians, who preserve it with strength and aid its friends through the portion entrusted to them of God’s right.

Now then—verily the spirit of vision is the spirit of life; and no faith availeth save with the Word of God and belief therein. The Word is of the Spirit, and the Spirit is of the Light—the Light of the heavens.

In your hands hath been placed the cord that reacheth unto Him, the sign of His favour and His choice. The blessings of God are such that ye shall never be able to render due thanks for them. He hath singled you out for them, and chosen you for their sake.

“These are parables We set forth for men, but none understand them save those endued with knowledge.”

Rejoice, then, in a victory from God soon to come, and an easy triumph whereby God shall gladden your eyes and remove your grief.

Restrain yourselves from what others strive to take from you, for this is not hidden from you. At every act of obedience ye have aid from God—uttered upon the tongues, confirmed within the hearts. This is the succour of God to His chosen ones, manifest in the gentle workings of His grace.

The tree of life hath borne its branches for the people of piety, and God hath made a distinction between His friends and His enemies—a healing for the hearts and a manifestation of light—whereby God exalteth the people of obedience and abaseth the people of disobedience.

Let every soul, then, make ready its provision for that Day—its provision none other than insight and sincerity of purpose, and the submission of those who are pure in obedience. The scale of deeds is made weighty by wisdom, and wisdom is the judgement of vision against doubt; while disobedience leadeth to the fire—such are not of us, nor unto us, nor with us.

The hearts of the believers are folded upon faith. When God desireth to reveal what lieth within them, He openeth them by inspiration and planteth wisdom therein.

For everything hath an appointed term that it attaineth; God hasteneth not a thing until it reacheth its time and its fulfilment.

Rejoice, then, in the glad tidings ye have been given; acknowledge the offering that hath been brought nigh unto you; and hasten to claim the promise vouchsafed unto you.

Verily among us is a pure invocation through which God shall make manifest His conclusive proof, perfect His former bounty, and bestow His surpassing grace.

Whoso holdeth fast unto it hath grasped a portion of His wisdom; through His mercy hath God brought it unto you. From His mercy is the light of hearts; by it He hath lifted from you the burden of sin, hastened the healing of your breasts, rectified your affairs, and bestowed upon you a lasting salutation of peace—whereby ye shall remain secure throughout the cycles of time and within the abiding dwellings of the wombs.

For God hath chosen for His Faith a people whom He hath set apart for its upholding and its defense. Through them was made manifest the word of Islam, and by them were sustained the guardians of the Qur’an and the enjoiners of obedience, in the Easts of the earth and its Wests.

Then did God single you out for Islam and elect you unto it, for it is the name of peace and the sum of honour. God hath chosen its path, made clear its proofs, exalted its unity, and adorned it with His praise. He hath made it pleasing as He hath described it, set forth its qualities, revealed its degrees, confirmed its covenant, both outward and inward—sweetness and security together.

Whoso attaineth to its outward form beholdeth the wonders of its vistas in their sources and returns; and whoso perceiveth its inward depths beholdeth the hidden treasures of wisdom and the marvels of its parables and ordinances. Its exterior is fair, and its interior profound—its wonders unending, its mysteries unfailing.

Within it are the springs of bounty and the lamps that scatter darkness. None unlock the treasuries of good save by its keys, and none dispel the shadows save by its lights. Within it are distinctions and connections, and the clarification of the two supreme Names which are united and made one—names that are known when pronounced, described when revealed, joined in perfection, each complete in the other.

Their course is established in their appointed stations. They have stars, and above their stars are stars beside them, guarding their sanctuary and tending their pastures. In the Qur’an is the exposition of it, its limits, its pillars, and the measures of what is stored in its treasuries and weighed in its balance—the balance of justice and the judgment of decision.

The heralds of the Faith have distinguished between doubt and certainty, and have brought forth manifest truth. They have expounded Islam with clarity, laid for it firm foundations and enduring pillars, and borne witness to it with proofs and signs—tokens sufficient for the seeker and healing for the one who thirsts for knowledge.

They guard its sanctuary, call to its pastures, preserve what is to be preserved, shun what is to be shunned, and love what is to be loved, by the decree of God and through His bounty and His mighty command and remembrance.

They are united by mutual devotion, meeting in the beauty of speech, drinking from the cup of reflection, tending one another with loving care, with hearts pure and natures noble, in peace serene—wherein no baseness is tasted nor backbiting permitted.

Whoso hideth aught contrary to this concealeth a trait of nobility, but hath severed his bond and exchanged his abode for abasement, breaking a covenant entrusted to him, and a pledge sealed upon him in righteousness and piety and in preferring the path of guidance.

Upon this foundation were they created; in this brotherhood were they joined. By it they love one another, and through it they are united. They are as a field of grain: its growth endures, some of it is reaped, and some remains; what perishes He reneweth by election, and what endureth He perfecteth by purification.

Seize, then, the opportunity of His command during the brevity of its days and the shortness of its stay in its dwelling, before He transfer it to another abode and changeth its condition. Blessed is he whose heart is pure, who obeyeth him that guideth him, and shunneth that which leadeth him astray; he shall enter the abode of honour and attain the path of peace, seeing with clear vision and obeying the Guide of his command.

Verily, the most excellent guidance and the lifting of the veil of ignorance that misleads and distracts lie herein. Whoso desireth to ponder or to remember, let him examine his thought, and go forth into the light of guidance while its gates are yet open and its means yet accessible.

Let him accept the counsel of him who adviseth in humility and reverent submission, in the safety of Islam and under the call of perfection.

Peace—enduring peace—be upon the humble and the lowly, who vie with one another in faith and are united in the justice of the Balance. Let him receive this command and this honour with acceptance, and beware lest the calamity strike before its appointed time.

For our Cause is verily a mighty and momentous one—none can bear it save an angel near unto God, a prophet sent, or a servant whose heart God hath tested with faith.

It is a tradition safeguarded within impregnable strongholds, within faithful breasts, within minds steadfast and tranquil.

O wonder of wonders! All wonder between Jumada and Rajab!

Then a man from among the troops of the Thursday guard said, “What is this wonder, O Commander of the Faithful?”

He replied,

“How should I not marvel, when the decree of God hath already gone forth among you, and yet you understand it not?”

The second tradition: concerning the tradition mentioned in that book, from the Messenger of God, from God—exalted be He—wherein He alluded to it through the signs that shall appear before the Return, in His exalted words regarding the coming forth of a man from the lineage of Husayn ibn Ali.

God knoweth His own intent, while I know not a single letter thereof. But as for the rising, what I understand of it is the rising through wisdom and proof, and none other. Whoso interpreteth it otherwise, I am not of his kind.

Verily, God, His angels, and His chosen ones are free from the liars and the falsifiers who seek to sow discord without right—these are indeed the wrongdoers.

The third tradition: concerning the tradition of the servants who hold fast to the Cause of God—these are the ones who shall attain salvation.

And it was related by Ibn al-Mutawakkil, from al-Asadi, from al-Barmaki, from Ali ibn Uthman, from Muhammad ibn al-Furat, from Thabit ibn Dinar, from Said ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas, that the Messenger of God said: “Ali ibn Abi Talib is the leader of my community and my successor over them after me. From his lineage will come the Promised Qa’im, through whom God, mighty and glorious, will fill the earth with justice and equity just as it had been filled with tyranny and oppression. By Him Who sent me with the truth as a bearer of glad tidings, those who remain steadfast in their belief in him during the time of his occultation will be more precious than the rarest red sulfur.” Then Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari stood up and asked: “O Messenger of God, will there be an occultation for the Qa’im from your progeny?” He replied: “Yes, by my Lord! And God will surely test those who believe and destroy the deniers. O Jabir, this is a matter from God’s matters and a mystery from His mysteries, concealed from His servants. Beware of doubting God’s matter, for that is absolute disbelief.”

Part 4: “The Fourth tradition concerns what Ali indicated…”

The Fourth tradition concerns what Ali indicated in his sermon and speech, wherein the people of understanding recognize some aspects of the matter, and verily unto our Lord do we return. Mas’ada ibn Sadaqa related: I heard Abu Abdullah Ja’far ibn Muhammad say that the Commander of the Faithful delivered a sermon to the people in Kufa. He praised and glorified God, then said: “I am the master of the elderly, and in me is a likeness to Job. God will gather my family for me just as He gathered Jacob’s scattered household. This will happen when the celestial sphere completes its rotation and you say, ʿHe has died or perished.’ Nay, clothe yourselves beforehand with patience and turn to God in repentance.

You have indeed cast aside your holiness, extinguished your lamps, and entrusted your guidance to one who possesses neither hearing nor sight for himself or for you. Weak indeed is both the pursuer and the pursued. Had you not neglected your affair, had you not failed to support the truth among you, and had you not weakened in subduing falsehood, those who are not your equals would not have grown bold against you, nor would the strong have risen against you to usurp authority and remove it from its rightful possessors among you. You have become lost as the Children of Israel became lost in the time of Moses. I tell you truthfully, your wandering after me and the persecution of my offspring will be twice that of the Children of Israel’s wandering.

“If you have completed your drinking and been filled to satiation from the authority of the accursed tree mentioned in the Qur’an, you have indeed united against us in misguidance and hastened to falsehood. Then you made excuses to the caller of truth, cut off the nearest of the people of Badr, and connected with the most distant of the sons of the first wars. What they possessed has melted away. The time of trial for recompense has drawn near, the cover has been removed, the period has ended, the promise has approached, the star has appeared to you from the East, and your moon has risen full as in the middle of the month and its night.

“When this becomes clear, then return in repentance and cast off sin. Know that if you obey the one who rises from the East, he will lead you on the path of God’s Messenger. Then you will be cured of deafness, healed of muteness, spared the burden of hardship and seeking, and the heavy weight will be cast off your necks. God casts none far off except those who reject mercy and abandon protection. Those who wrong will come to know what fate they will meet.”

Also, the Commander of the Faithful said from the pulpit of Kufa: “Behind you are dark, blind, and eclipsing trials from which none will be saved except the sleeper.”’ Someone asked, “O Commander of the Faithful, what is the sleeper’?” He replied: “The one who knows the people while they know him not. Know that the earth is never void of God’s proof, but God will blind His creation to him because of their oppression, tyranny, and their excesses against themselves. If the earth were to remain without God’s proof for a single hour, it would swallow its inhabitants. But the proof knows the people while they know him not, just as it was with Joseph.” The people know yet deny Him. Then He recited: “Alas for the servants! There cometh not a messenger unto them but they mock at him.”

The Fifth tradition concerns what Abu Abdullah indicated regarding the manifestation of their Cause before the rising of the Qa’im, as related by Abd al-Wahid ibn Abdullah from Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Riyah from Ahmad ibn Ali al-Himyari from Husayn ibn Ayyub from Abd al-Karim al-Khath’ami from Muhammad ibn Isam from al-Mufaddal ibn Umar who said: I was with Abu Abdullah in his gathering along with others when he said we should not make mention, meaning of the name of the Qa’im. I saw he intended others besides me, then he said to me: “O Abu Abdullah, beware of making mention. By God, he shall remain hidden for years until it will be said he died or perished or which valley did he traverse.

The eyes of the believers shall overflow with tears for him and he shall be tossed about as a ship is tossed upon ocean waves until none shall be saved except those with whom God made His covenant and inscribed faith in their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Him. And twelve ambiguous standards shall be raised such that none can distinguish one from another.” I wept, and he said: “What makes you weep?” I said: “May I be sacrificed for you! How can I not weep when you say twelve ambiguous standards shall be raised such that none can distinguish one from another?” He looked toward a window in the house through which the sun was shining in his gathering and said: “Is this sun bright?” I said: “Yes.” He said: “By God, our Cause is brighter than it.”

The Sixth tradition concerns what Abu’l-Hujjah and his son (peace be upon them) indicated to those who understand the signs in their words and are rightly guided thereby. It is mentioned in the book Al-Mukhtasar by al-Hasan ibn Sulayman, student of the Martyr (may God’s mercy be upon them both), who said it was reported that there was found in the handwriting of our master Abu Muhammad al-Askari what follows: “We have ascended the realities with the feet of prophethood and guardianship…” until he said: “And the springs of life shall be established for them after the flames of fire, upon completion of Alif Lam Mim and Ta Ha and the Ta Sins in years.” And his son (may my soul be his sacrifice) said in his noble pronouncement which I shall mention God willing in that book thereafter, until he said: “When Jumada al-Ula comes in this year of yours, take heed of what occurs therein and awaken from your slumber for what shall happen in that which follows it.

And there shall occur in the land of the East that which brings grief and anxiety. And thereafter groups of Islam shall dominate Iraq, deviating ones whose evil deeds shall restrict provisions for its people. Then time shall be relieved after that by the destruction of a tyrant from among the wicked ones, at whose destruction the righteous God-fearing ones shall rejoice. And there shall occur for those intending pilgrimage from distant lands what they hope for regarding the respect of their predominance and agreement. And We have a role in facilitating their veils according to their choice and accord—a matter that shall appear in order and meeting. So let each one of you do what brings him closer to Our love and avoid what brings him near to Our dislike and anger, for Our Cause shall come suddenly, unexpectedly, when repentance shall not benefit nor shall regret for sin save from Our punishment. And God inspires you with guidance and graces you with success through mercy.”

The Seventh tradition concerning the mention of servants whom God shall send before the rising of the Qa’im to seek vengeance for Husayn, as related by the group from Sahl from Ibn Shamun from al-Asamm from Abdullah ibn al-Qasim al-Batal from Abu Abdullah regarding the words of the Most High:

“And We decreed for the Children of Israel in the Book: Ye shall work corruption in the earth twice”

[Q17:4]. He said: The killing of Ali ibn Abi Talib and the stabbing of Hasan, and ye shall surely exalt yourselves with great pride. And he said: Husayn was slain. When the promise of their first comes to pass, when help comes for Husayn’s blood, we shall raise against you servants of Ours of terrible might who will enter your very homes—a people whom God will send before the appearance of the Qa’im, who will not leave any enemy of Muhammad’s family unless they slay them. This was a promise fulfilled. The appearance of the Qa’im: Then We gave you back the turn to prevail over them. The return of Husayn with seventy of his companions wearing gilded armor, each helmet having two faces, making known to the people that this is indeed Husayn returned, so that the believers will not doubt that it is he and not an impostor or devil. And the Proof will be manifest among them. When recognition is firmly established in the hearts of the believers that it is indeed Husayn, the Proof will come. It will be Husayn ibn Ali who will wash him, shroud him, prepare him, and bury him in his presence, for none but a successor can attend to a successor.

When these signs become confused, and the explicit meaning of these traditions cannot be determined, I have revealed to you a drop from the esoteric knowledge. Beyond these traditions are many signs, as spoken in the words mentioned in an ancient book, which is this: Know that sovereignty is cut off—command belongs to God, the Bestower of blessings and bounty. God has distinguished him with signs, sent to creation, both white and black. Beyond these signs are horizonal signs that cannot be hidden, universal signs that cannot be counted, mystical indications that cannot be mentioned, and traditions from the pure Imams that cannot be enumerated.

I have not seen anything beyond what I have mentioned to you, but I heard in a tradition referring to him that in his voice is laughter. Then in another tradition that he intended a matter and God caused change to occur twice, and on the third time decreed what God willed for him. And in a tradition mentioned in the Book of the Perfection of Religion and Completion of Grace, al-Sadiq said, exalted be his remembrance:

“It is as if I see the Qa’im on the pulpit of Kufa, surrounded by three hundred and thirteen men, the number of the companions of Badr. They are the people of authority and they are God’s rulers over His creation on His earth, until he brings forth from his standing a book sealed with a golden seal—a covenant from God’s Messenger. Then they will scatter from him like sheep scatter, until none remain with him except the vizier and eleven chiefs, as remained with Moses son of Imran. They will roam the earth and find no refuge from him, so they will return to him. By God, I know the words he will speak to them, at which they will reject him.”

But since I see no mention for myself nor any significance to my existence, I do not know the reality of my affair nor am I certain about what God has willed in these revealed traditions. But I am certain between myself and God my Lord that I desire nothing but God’s religion, and that God has honored me with His blessing as He willed, how He willed. And I, despite my weakness, harm, inability and poverty, wish to manifest the religion of God’s Messenger through what God has revealed in the Qur’an and what is confirmed by the traditions of the People of the Bayan through this blessing, if God so wills and desires. These signs suffice as a reminder and proof for you and the believers.

And as I have mentioned some ordinances of the days of the Qa’im, I will mention, God willing, some signs of his return and after his return, and the return of his chosen forefathers in three manifestations. And upon God my Lord do I rely, and to Him does all command return. Glory be to Him, exalted is He above what they describe. When you witness the lights of justice, know that in your Ancient Master is fulfilled some of the traditions of the Prophets and Messengers. For the reflections in a mirror cannot appear except by what is in the mirror itself, and thus have descended the tidings from the Suns of Light.

And I shall mention to thee a beautiful account that may affect thy heart concerning what Al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) did and said, as related in Al-Kafi by Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Hatim, from Ahmad ibn Isa Ali Al-Rida Baghdadi, from Ahmad ibn Tahir, from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Sahl, from Ali ibn Harith, from Sa’d ibn Mansur, from Ahmad ibn Ali Al-Basri, from his father, from Sudayr Al-Sayrafi who said:

“I entered, along with Mufaddal ibn Ali, Abu Basir, and Aban ibn Taghlib, upon our master Abu Abdullah. We found him sitting upon the earth, wearing a rough Khaybari cloak with no collar, shortened at the sleeves. He was weeping as one bereft of his child, with a heart consumed by grief. Sorrow had transformed his cheeks, and change was manifest in his countenance, tears flowing from his eyes, as he was saying:

“‘My Master! Thy disappearance hath banished my sleep, narrowed my resting place, and deprived my heart of its ease. My Master! Thy disappearance hath joined my calamity with the calamities of eternity. The loss of one after another hath dispersed our gathering and our number. How sweet the tear that riseth within Mine eyes! How soothing the moan that issueth from My breast—both ascending from the bird of affliction and the locks of calamity, emblematic of the most grievous trials, the most piercing tribulations, and the sorest misfortunes, mingled with Thy wrath, O Lord, and compounded with Thy displeasure.’

“Sadir saith: ʿour reason was confounded, our hearts were rent with anguish at that dread calamity and that overwhelming event; we deemed it the token of some ominous misfortune, some far-reaching woe that Time had brought to pass.’ Then I said:”May God not cause thine eyes, O son of the Best of men, to weep! For what happening dost thou shed such tears and pour forth such sorrow? What event hath enjoined upon thee this mourning and lamentation?”

“Thereupon al-Sadiq heaved a sigh so deep that his breast was expanded, and fear seized his soul, and he exclaimed: Woe betide you! This very morn I gazed into the Book of Jafr—that Book which containeth the knowledge of destinies and tribulations, of afflictions past and to come, even unto the Day of Resurrection—a Book which the Almighty, exalted be His Name, hath entrusted to Muhammad and to the Imams after him. In it I contemplated the birth of our Qa’im, His concealment, His long delay, and the trials that shall afflict the faithful in those days—the doubts that shall arise within their hearts by reason of the length of His absence, and the apostasy of the greater part of them, who shall cast away from their necks the bond of Islam, of which God, glorified be His remembrance, hath said: And every man—We have fastened his fate upon his neck’ [Q17:13], meaning the Covenant of allegiance. Thereupon tenderness overcame Me, and sorrow held sway over My heart. Then we said: O son of the Apostle of God! Thou hast honoured and ennobled us by sharing with us somewhat of that which thou knowest.’

“He replied: ʿVerily God—blessed and exalted be He—hath ordained in our Qa’im three mysteries which He likewise ordained in three of His Messengers. His birth resembleth the birth of Moses; His concealment, that of Jesus; and His prolonged absence, that of Noah; and He hath appointed thereafter the life of the righteous servant, meaning Khidhr, as a sign of His own enduring life.’

“Then I said: ʿDisclose unto us, O son of the Apostle of God, the meanings of these mysteries.’

“He said: ʿAs to the birth of Moses: when Pharaoh was apprised that the downfall of his dominion would be brought about by his hand, he commanded that the soothsayers be assembled, and they informed him of his lineage—that he would arise from among the Children of Israel. Whereupon Pharaoh ceased not to order his minions to rip open the bellies of the pregnant women of that people, until he had slain in his quest for him more than twenty thousand newborns; yet he failed to reach Moses due to God’s protection of him. Likewise, when the Umayyads and Abbasids discovered that their kingdom and the authority of their princes and tyrants would end at the hand of our Qa’im, they showed enmity toward us and drew their swords to slay the Messenger of God and exterminate his lineage, hoping thereby to kill the Qa’im. But God refuses to reveal His Cause to any oppressor until He perfects His light, though the polytheists may abhor it.

“’As for the occultation of Jesus, both Jews and Christians agreed that he was killed, but God, exalted be He, denied their claim with His words:”They did not kill him, nor did they crucify him, but it appeared so unto them.” [Q4:157] Similarly with the occultation of the Qa’im, for the people deny it. Some, without guidance, say he was never born; others claim he was born and died; others disbelieve, saying our eleventh was childless; some err in saying it extends to thirteen or more; while others disobey God, exalted be He, claiming the spirit of the Qa’im speaks through another form.

Part 5: “’As for Noah’s delay, when he called down…”

“’As for Noah’s delay, when he called down punishment upon his people, God sent the Faithful Spirit with seven date stones, saying:”O Prophet of God, the Blessed and Exalted God says to you: ʿThese are My creatures and servants, and I will not destroy them with My thunderbolt except after confirming the Call and completing the proof. Return and strive in your calling with your strength, for I shall reward you for it. Plant these date stones, for in their growth, maturity, and fruition lies your relief and deliverance.’ So give glad tidings to the believers who follow you.” When the trees grew, flourished, branched, matured, and bore fruit after a long time, he sought God’s promise. God commanded him to plant from the stones of those trees, to renew his patience and effort, and to complete the proof against his people.

He informed his believing followers of this, but three hundred men apostatized, saying, “If what Noah claims were true, there would be no breach in his Lord’s promise.” God continued to command him to replant each time, until he had planted seven times. Groups of believers continued to apostatize, one after another, until only seventy-some men remained. Then God revealed to him: “Now dawn has broken from night before your eyes, as truth has emerged in its purity, and the matter of faith has been cleansed of impurity through the apostasy of those of wicked nature. I shall destroy the unbelievers and keep those who apostatized from the groups that had believed in you, for I had previously promised the sincere believers among your people who held fast to the cord of your prophethood that I would make them successors in the earth, establish their religion, and transform their fear into security, so that worship would be purely for Me with doubt removed from their hearts.

How could succession, establishment, and the transformation of fear into security come from Me to them, when I knew the weakness of certainty in those who apostatized, the wickedness of their nature, and the evil of their inner thoughts, which were the products of hypocrisy and the occurrence of error? Had they but inhaled a breath of that dominion which shall be bestowed upon the faithful at the hour when I appoint them as My vicegerents, after the destruction of their foes, they would have perceived the fragrances of His attributes. Yet their inmost hypocrisy would have waxed firm, the phantoms of error in their hearts confirmed; they would have unveiled their enmity toward their brethren, contending with them for primacy and dominion, and striving to claim for themselves alone the right to command and forbid.

How, then, could establishment in the Faith or the diffusion of the Cause among the believers be possible amidst the tokens of sedition and the outbursts of war? Nay, rather—“Build thou the Ark beneath Our eyes and through Our inspiration.”’

“Al-Sadiq—peace be upon him—said: ʿEven so shall it be with the Qa’im. The days of His concealment shall be prolonged, that pure truth may be distinguished from falsehood, and faith be purified from hypocrisy—through the defection of all whose clay is of evil nature, among those of the Shi’ah whose hearts would be seized by hypocrisy were they to perceive the signs of succession, establishment, and the universal security that shall prevail in the day of the Qa’im.’

“Mufaddal said: O son of the Messenger of God, the Nawasib claim this verse was revealed about Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali.’ He replied: May God not guide the hearts of the Nawasib! When was the religion which God and His Messenger approved firmly established with security spreading among the community, fear departing from their hearts, and doubt being lifted from their breasts during the time of any of these? And Ali’s time saw the apostasy of Muslims, seditions arising in their days, and wars breaking out between the unbelievers and them.’ Then al-Sadiq (peace be upon him) recited: ʿUntil when the apostles despaired and thought they were denied, Our help came to them.’

“As for the righteous servant Al-Khidr, verily God the Blessed and Exalted did not lengthen his life for any prophetic mission ordained for him, nor for any Book to be revealed to him, nor for any Law to abrogate the Laws of previous Prophets, nor for any Imamate requiring His servants to follow it, nor any obedience made obligatory to him. Rather, since God the Blessed and Exalted knew beforehand what He would ordain regarding the age of the Qa’im during his occultation, and knew how His servants would deny such longevity, He lengthened the life of this righteous servant without any necessary cause except as evidence for the age of the Qa’im, thereby cutting off the argument of the obstinate ones, lest people have any argument against God.”

When you consider what was revealed about him, know that he had two occultations by God’s permission. A number of people whose count none knows save God were in his presence. In the Lesser Occultation he had trusted representatives and close deputies. Its duration was completed in seventy years and forty days numbered. In those days his deputies (may my soul be his sacrifice) were: Uthman ibn Sa’id al-ʿAmri, his son Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Uthman, the trusted Shaykh Abu’l-Qasim Husayn ibn Ruh, then Ali ibn Muhammad as-Samarri. During his Lesser Occultation they were the sources of command and prohibition, and the Shi’ihs referred to them regarding divine ordinances and holy matters emanating from the sacred quarter. Whoever did not accept them and denied them was an infidel by the explicit text of the Proof.

In their days some human-like creatures fabricated lies against God and His friends by claiming their station through attributing themselves to the Imam, the Remnant of God (may my soul be his sacrifice). The first of them was Al-Hasan ash-Shari’i, then Muhammad an-Numayri, then Hilal al-Karkhi, then Muhammad al-Bilali, then Husayn al-Hallaji, then Muhammad ash-Shalmaghani—may God punish them as they deserve according to God’s Book. Indeed edicts were issued to the designated gates and curses from the Remnant of God upon the fabricators. The mention of those blessed edicts regarding the transgressing opponents suffices as evidence for the perfect believers.

Although wondrous signs appeared from the four gates, and from the imposters grievous iniquities, yet in the Book of God they are not equal to a single letter from the resplendent epistles radiating with the light of glory, for one letter thereof is greater in the sight of those who stand upon the heights than all the miracles to the transgressors and all retributions to the slanderers. And I hereby mention three of the holy missives regarding the truth of the Four and the refutation of those who slander their rights, and these suffice as proof for those who remember.

The first epistle which issued forth from the sacred precincts concerning Uthman ibn Sa’id and his son—and it is a epistle from him (peace be upon him) that came through al-Amri and his son, related by Sa’d ibn Abdullah. Shaykh Abu Abdullah Ja’far, may God be pleased with him, said: “I found it written in Sa’d ibn Abdullah’s handwriting: May God grant you success in obeying Him and make you steadfast in His religion and make you happy through His good pleasure.”’

“We have received what you both mentioned about al-Maythami informing you of al-Mukhtar and his debate with whom he met, and his argument that there is no successor other than Ja’far ibn Ali, and his verification of him. I understood all that your companions wrote about him. I seek refuge with God from blindness after sight, from misguidance after guidance, from ruinous deeds and devastating trials. For verily He, glorified and exalted be He, says: Do men think that they will be left alone on saying”We believe”, and that they will not be tested?’ [Q29:1-2] How they fall into trial and waver in perplexity, going right and left! Have they apostatized from their religion, or are they in doubt, or do they oppose the truth, or are they ignorant of what has come through truthful traditions and authentic reports? Or do they know this but choose evil? How poorly they understand! Indeed the earth is never devoid of a proof—whether manifest or concealed. Do they not know the succession of their Imams after their Prophet (peace be upon him), one after another, until by God’s command the matter passed to al-Madi—meaning al-Hasan (peace be upon him).

Then he arose in the station of his forefathers, guiding unto the truth and unto a straight path. He was as a shining light, a radiant moon. God, exalted and glorified be He, chose for him that which was with Him; thus did he pass away upon the path of his forebears, step for step, faithful to the covenant he had bound and to the testament he had entrusted to his successor—whom God, exalted be He, concealed by His command until an appointed time, veiling his abode according to His will, in fulfillment of the foreordained decree and the irrevocable destiny.

“His station abideth among us, and his excellence pertaineth to us. And were God, exalted be He, to permit that which He hath restrained, and to remove the ordinance which He hath decreed, He would assuredly reveal unto them the truth resplendent, adorned with the fairest of vestures, manifest with the clearest of proofs and the most luminous of signs; He would disclose His own identity and stand forth with His testimony. But the decrees of God, exalted be His glory, may not be contended with, nor His will opposed, nor His succor outstripped.

“Let, then, the followers of vain desire renounce their passion, and let them stand fast upon the foundation whereon they once stood. Let them not pry into that which God hath veiled from them, lest they bring upon themselves remorse; nor rend asunder the covering which God, exalted be He, hath drawn over His secret. Let them know assuredly that the truth is with us and within us. None uttereth this save a liar and a forger; none claimeth it save one who is astray and deluded. Let them, therefore, content themselves with this brief allusion, without seeking explicit declaration, and be satisfied with intimations rather than with plain disclosure—if God so willeth.”

The second epistle that shone forth from the sacred precinct was addressed unto Abu’l-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Ruh, and it is as follows:

“Know thou—may God prolong thy days, make thee acquainted with every good, and seal thy deeds therewith—that among those of our brethren in whom thou confidest in faith and findest repose in companionship, may God perpetuate their felicity, is Muhammad ibn Ali, known as al-Shalmaghani—may God hasten upon him His retribution—has apostatized from Islam and departed from it, transgressing the bounds of God’s religion. He has made claims through which he has disbelieved in the Creator, Mighty and Exalted. He has fabricated falsehoods and lies, and spoken great calumny and grave sin. Those who equate others with God have lied and strayed far astray, incurring manifest loss. We disavow him before God the Exalted and His Messenger and his family—may God’s blessings, peace, mercy and benedictions be upon them. We curse him with successive curses, outwardly and inwardly, secretly and openly, at all times and in all conditions, and likewise those who follow him and support him. When our declaration reaches anyone who continues to maintain allegiance to him thereafter, know that our position regarding him is like our position regarding his predecessors among his like, such as al-Shari’i, al-Numayri, al-Hilali, al-Bilali and others. God’s way—exalted be His praise—before and after remains beautiful to us. In Him we trust, His aid we seek, He suffices us in all our affairs and is the best Guardian.”

The third epistle concerning what shone forth from the Sun of Eternity and appeared upon the temple of Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samari is as follows:

“O Ali ibn Muhammad al-Samari! May God increase the reward of your brothers concerning you, for indeed you shall die within six days. So gather your affairs and do not appoint anyone in your position after your death. For indeed the complete occultation has begun, and there shall be no appearance except after God’s permission, exalted be His remembrance. And that will be after a long time when hearts become hardened and the earth becomes filled with injustice. And there shall come from among my followers those who claim to have seen me. Behold, whoever claims to have seen me before the appearance of the Sufyani and the Sacred Cry is a lying impostor. There is no might nor power except through God, the Exalted, the Great.”

When you recognize the station of the Gates, know with certainty that they only attained their station through obedience to him—may my soul be his sacrifice. Know that after recognizing him, even common people are greater than the elite, for he himself kindles the fire of love for knowing and obeying him. After the command and the divine appointment, he endured. Undoubtedly, those specifically designated by his authority during the Greater Occultation are those about whom God spoke and about whom he—may my soul be his sacrifice—said (and his word is truth):

“Have you not read the word of God, Mighty and Glorious: ʿAnd We placed between them and the towns which We had blessed, towns easily visible.’ [Q34:18] By God, we are the towns which God has blessed, and you are the visible towns.”

There is no doubt that for every Proof of God there must needs be an emissary, as hath been uttered by the son of the fifth Imam. The station of him who speaketh by His command is clearly set forth in the traditions, wherein it is recorded—and His word is truth—“Look ye unto one among you who hath transmitted Our sayings and pondered Our lawful and Our forbidden. Accept him, then, as your judge, for I have appointed him as ruler over you. Whosoever rejecteth his judgment, when he judgeth according to Our decree, hath verily treated with disdain the judgment of God, and hath turned away from Us; and he that turneth away from Us hath turned away from God Himself, and such a one is verily as one who joineth partners with God.”

They are the keepers of the Faith, the summoners unto knowledge. But for them, none would arise to champion the Cause of God; and these are they who shall attain salvation.

As to those who, in the time of the Greater Occultation, assert before men that whoso claimeth to have seen Him hath lied—they have indeed spoken falsely, if in truth they speak falsehood. Yet if God so willeth, none may gainsay His decree, nor may any turn back His command. None shall recognize Him save he whom God willeth thereafter—though there have been those aforetime, as hath been recorded and transmitted by Majlisi in his book, whose accounts none may repudiate.

Once, while I was in the Sacred Mosque, standing near the House of God by the Yemeni corner at the hour of afternoon prayer, I beheld a youth of medium stature and radiant countenance, seated upon the ground beneath the place where men circumambulate the House, facing the Yemeni corner in an attitude of reverence and humility. His gaze was fixed upon the Kaaba; he turned not toward any man, nor did I see anyone near him. Upon his head was a white turban like unto that worn by Persian merchants, and over his shoulders a woolen cloak such as is used by men of distinction among traders. Yet in him there shone an awe, a majesty, a dignity, and a light that words cannot tell.

Between us were but a few paces, the number of which I know not. What stirred within my heart, God alone knoweth. Shame withheld me from drawing near unto his presence, and I busied myself with prayer. I said within my soul:

“If he be indeed the One I seek, he will summon me unto his presence.”

Yet my heart was melted with yearning, and my limbs trembled with fear.

When I had finished my prayer, I looked again—but he was no longer in his place. I walked through the precincts of the Sacred Mosque, yet nowhere could I espy his form. What then stirred within me, God knoweth best. During all the days I sojourned in Mecca, by day and by night, I cast my gaze in every direction, hoping once more to behold him. But God permitted it not.

Nor do I claim with certainty that I beheld him, for I know not what God intended thereby. Perhaps it was not he in outward form, but that through the vision my heart might be quickened with remembrance of that exalted station, and that my love for his Cause might be renewed. For assuredly, whoso attaineth unto true knowledge of him is one who holdeth a high station in his sight, as was explicitly affirmed in the rescript revealed concerning al-Mufid—may God hallow his resting-place.

And now I shall make mention, in this connection, of four letters, that they may serve as a glory to the sincere, an honor to the beholders, a token to the faithful, and a word unto the rest. Upon God, my Lord, I call for aid—at all times, ere time began and after time shall end.

The first letter concerneth that which was revealed and shone forth from the effulgence of the Sun of the sacred precinct, regarding the believers who have acknowledged the oneness of God—Abu’l-Shaykh al-Jalili, may the mercy of God be upon him—that all might recognize from that exalted rescript the lofty station of those believers who judge by the leave of God, who follow the command of God, and who stand in awe before the justice of God. It is this: Mention is made of a letter that came forth from the sacred precinct—may God guard and exalt it—in the latter days of the month of Safar, in the year four hundred and ten, addressed unto Shaykh al-Mufid, Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn al-Nu’man—may God sanctify his spirit and illumine his resting place. The bearer related that he had received it from a place connected with the Hijaz. Its copy was addressed to the faithful brother and righteous guardian, Shaykh al-Mufid, Abu Abd Allah Ja’far ibn Muhammad ibn al-Nu’man—may God prolong his glory—from the repository of the Covenant taken upon His servants.

Part 6: “In the name of God, the Most Compassionate…”

“In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

“Now then—peace be upon thee, O thou who art devoted to the Faith, distinguished among us by certitude. We praise before thee God—there is no God but He—and beseech Him to send His blessings upon our Lord and Master, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his pure and stainless kindred.

“We inform thee—may God perpetuate thy success in championing the Cause of Truth, and abundantly reward thee for speaking on our behalf with sincerity—that leave hath been granted us to honor thee by correspondence, and to entrust thee with that which thou shalt convey from us to our beloved ones in thy region—may God strengthen them in obedience to Him, protect them by His care, and guard them beneath His shelter.

“Stand thou, therefore—may God aid thee through His might against His rebellious foes—upon what we now make known unto thee, and fulfill in conveying it to those whom thou trustest what we here enjoin, God willing.

“Though we dwell apart, far removed from the habitations of the oppressors, as God the Exalted hath shown us what is meet for our welfare and for that of our faithful followers—so long as the dominion of this world remaineth in the hands of the wicked—yet our knowledge encompasseth your affairs, and naught of your conditions is hidden from us.

“We are fully aware of the afflictions that have befallen you since many among you have inclined toward that from which the righteous of former times kept far aloof, and have cast behind their backs the covenant that had been taken from them, as though they knew it not.

“Know that we are neither heedless of your care nor forgetful of your remembrance. But for our watchful regard, tribulation would have befallen you, and your enemies would have utterly destroyed you.

“Therefore, fear God, exalted be His glory, and aid us against your own offspring in the trial that hath drawn near unto you—a trial in which he whose term hath come shall perish, and he whose hope endureth shall live. This is a sign of the nearness of Our movement and of your separation from Us by Our command and prohibition. God will assuredly perfect His light, though the polytheists detest it.

“Take firm hold of dissimulation [taqiyyah], lest the fire of ignorance, kindled by the kindling of Umayyad passions, should consume you. It is I who pledge salvation for all who keep aloof from its hidden places and tread the path of prudence and restraint.

“When Jumada al-Ula of this year hath come, take heed of what shall occur therein, and awaken from your slumber for that which shall follow it. There shall appear to you from heaven a manifest sign, and from the earth another like unto it. In the lands of the East there shall arise that which will bring grief; thereafter shall factions apostatize from Islam and prevail over Iraq, so that by their evil deeds the livelihood of its people shall be straitened.

“Then shall the distress be lifted through the downfall of a tyrant from among the ungodly—whose destruction shall rejoice the righteous and the pious. And for those who seek to perform the pilgrimage from distant lands, there shall be ease and fulfillment, through the overcoming of their hardships and the spending of their wealth. For Us, in the facilitation of their pilgrimage among the chosen and the steadfast, there shall appear a matter wondrously ordered and harmonious.

“Let each of you, then, act in such manner as may draw him nearer to Our love, and avoid whatsoever would estrange him from Our pleasure and expose him to Our wrath. For he who delayeth his repentance until the hour cometh when repentance shall avail him not, and remorse for sin shall deliver him not from Our chastisement—verily, he shall find no escape.

“May God inspire you with right guidance and favor you with the blessings of His grace and mercy.

“A copy of this letter, written by the exalted hand—upon its possessor be peace—is our letter unto thee, O brother beloved, loyal in devotion, sincere in affection, and steadfast in support.

“May God guard thee with His eye that sleepeth not. Keep this writing safe; show it not to any who may covet the sight of Our script, nor reveal its contents save to those in whom thou dost repose thy trust. Charge them all to act in accordance therewith, if God so willeth.

“And may the blessings of God rest upon Muhammad and his pure family.”

The second letter, concerning what has shone forth from the lights of the Holy Region as a remembrance for the monotheists and retribution for the slanderers who claim authority without right—and these are the liars. And it is this:

“In the Name of God, Most Merciful, Most Compassionate

“Thy letter hath reached me—may God preserve thee—and likewise the writing that thou didst forward with it. My knowledge hath encompassed all that it contained, despite the diversity of its words and the repetition of its expressions. Hadst thou pondered it well, thou wouldst have discerned some of what I discerned therein. Praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds—praise that hath no partner—for His bounty toward us and His grace upon us. God, exalted be He, refuseth to leave the truth unperfected or falsehood unvanquished. He is witness over me concerning what I declare, and over you concerning what I say, when we are gathered for the Day whereof there is no doubt, and He shall question us regarding that wherein we differed.

“Verily, the author of that letter hath not been granted, over him to whom it was written—nor over thee, nor over any among mankind—any divinely ordained leadership, obedience, or covenant. Yet I shall set forth for you a covenant sufficient unto you, if God so willeth.

“O thou, may God have mercy upon thee: God, exalted be He, created not the creation in vain, nor abandoned them to futility. Rather, He created them by His power, and bestowed upon them hearing, sight, hearts, and reason. Then He sent unto them prophets as bearers of glad-tidings and as warners, commanding them to obey Him, forbidding them to disobey Him, and teaching them what they had been ignorant of concerning their Creator and their faith.

“He revealed unto them a Book, and dispatched angels between Him and those whom He had sent, bearing His grace unto them. He granted them manifest proofs, luminous evidences, and lofty signs. Among them were those for whom He made the fire cool and safe; among them, those with whom He spoke directly; among them, those whose staff He turned into a serpent plain to see; among them, those who revived the dead by God’s permission and healed the blind and the leper by His leave; among them, those to whom He taught the language of the birds and who were given of all things.

“Then He sent Muhammad as a mercy unto the worlds, perfected through him His bounty, and sealed through him His prophets. He sent him unto all mankind, and manifested through him tokens of truth, signs and evidences beyond count. Then He took him unto Himself—praised, beloved, and well-pleased—and appointed the charge after him to his brother, his cousin, his legatee and heir, Ali ibn Abi Talib. Thereafter the authority passed to the appointed successors from among his descendants, one after another, whereby God revived His religion and completed His light.

“He established between them and their brothers, their cousins, and their near kindred a clear distinction, whereby the proof is known from the one proved against, and the Imam from the one led—inasmuch as He preserved them from sin, purified them from defilement, freed them from fault, and cleansed them from all uncleanness. He made them the treasurers of His knowledge, the repositories of His wisdom, and the dwelling-place of His mystery. He strengthened them with signs and proofs, that men might not be left alike, nor might every claimant pretend to the authority of God. For had it not been for these tokens, none could distinguish truth from falsehood or the learned from the ignorant.

“But this deceiver and imposter hath falsely attributed to God that which he hath claimed. By what right or merit doth he hope that his claim should stand? Is it by knowledge of the Faith of God? By God, he discerneth not lawful from unlawful, nor distinguisheth error from righteousness. Is it by learning? He knoweth not truth from falsehood, nor the decisive from the ambiguous, nor the limits of prayer and its times. Is it by piety? God beareth witness that he hath abandoned the prescribed prayer for forty days, alleging sorcery as his pretext. Perchance his tidings have already reached you—of his drunken assemblies and his open rebellion against the Almighty.

“If he possess a sign, let him produce it; if a proof, let him establish it; if an evidence, let him bring it forth. God, exalted be He, hath said in His Book:

“‘In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Ha Mim. The revelation of the Book is from God, the Mighty, the Wise. We created not the heavens and the earth and all that is between them save in truth and for an appointed term; yet those who disbelieve turn away from that wherewith they are warned. Say: “Show me what those whom you invoke beside God have created of the earth, or have they a share in the heavens? Bring me a Book before this, or some remnant of knowledge, if you are truthful.” Who is more astray than he who calls, apart from God, upon one who answers him not till the Day of Resurrection, and who is heedless of their call? And when mankind are gathered together, they shall be their enemies and shall disown their worship.’ [Q46:1–6]

“Take, therefore, from this—may God grant thee success—the measure I have set forth for thee. Test him concerning the verses of God’s Book: can he interpret them? Ask him regarding a prescribed prayer: can he expound its limits and its obligations? Thus shalt thou know his state and his measure, and his falsehood and deficiency shall be made plain to thee.

“God is his reckoner. God hath preserved the truth for its people and established it in its appointed seat. He hath forbidden that the Imamate should be in two brothers after Hasan and Husayn. When God permitteth us to speak, the truth shall be made manifest, falsehood shall vanish, and its shadow shall be lifted from you.

“Unto God I turn for sufficiency, for gracious bounty, and for guardianship. God is sufficient for us, and excellent is He as a protector.

“And may the blessings of God be upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.”

The third letter concerns the status of men who were honored by meeting the Qa’im during the Lesser Occultation. God knows their number, and I shall mention one of them that it may be a remembrance for the longing ones and an honor for those who draw nigh. And praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.

“And concerning what was mentioned, Al-Husayn Ali ibn Musa ibn Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Abdullah Musa ibn Ja’far ibn Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Al-Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib related to us, saying: I found in my father’s book—may God be pleased with him—and Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Mahziyar related to us, saying:”I heard my father say: I heard my grandfather Ali ibn Mahziyar say: I was sleeping in my bed when I saw in a dream someone saying to me: Perform the pilgrimage this year, for you shall meet the Master of your age.”’

ʿ’Ali ibn Mahziyar said: “I awoke joyful and happy, and remained in prayer until the dawn broke. When I completed my prayer, I went out asking about the pilgrims and found a group preparing to depart. I hastened to join the first to leave, and continued thus until they departed and I departed with them, heading for Kufa. When I arrived there, I dismounted from my riding beast and entrusted my belongings to reliable brothers and went out inquiring about the family of Abu Muhammad. I continued thus but found no trace nor heard any news.

ʿI left with the first group departing for Medina. When I entered it, I could not help but dismount from my riding beast and entrust my belongings to reliable brothers and went out asking for news and following traces, but heard no news nor found any trace. I continued thus until people departed for Mecca, and I left with those who departed until I reached Mecca. I dismounted and secured my belongings, then went out asking about the family of Abu Muhammad, but heard no news nor found any trace.

ʿI remained between despair and hope, contemplating my affair and reproaching myself. Night had fallen and I wanted the face of the Ka’bah to be empty so I could circumambulate it and ask God to make known to me what I sought therein. While I was thus, and the face of the Ka’bah had become empty for me, I stood to perform the circumambulation, when behold, I saw a youth with a beautiful face and sweet spirit, wearing a cloak draped with another, who had wrapped his cloak around his neck.

I approached him and he turned to me saying: “Where is the man from?”

I said: “From Ahwaz.”

He asked: “Do you know Ibn al-Khatib there?”

I replied: “God’s mercy be upon him, he was called and he answered.”

He said—may God have mercy upon him—“Verily, by day he was one who fasted, and by night one who stood in prayer, reciting the Qur’an, devoted to us in loyalty.”

ʿHe then asked, “Art thou Ali ibn Mahziyar?”

ʿI replied, “I am.”

ʿHe said, “Welcome, welcome, O Abu’l-Hasan! Knowest thou the two sanctuaries?”

ʿI said, “Yea.”

ʿHe asked, “And who are they?”

ʿI answered, “Muhammad and Musa.”

ʿHe said, “And what of the token between thee and Abu Muhammad?”

ʿI replied, “It is with me.”

ʿHe said, “Bring it forth.”

So I brought forth a fair ring, upon the stone of which was engraved Muhammad,’ and upon the other side ʿAli.’

ʿWhen his eyes fell upon it, he wept long and bitterly, saying:

“May God have mercy upon thee, O Abu Muhammad! Thou wert indeed a just Imam, son of Imams, father of an Imam. May God cause thee to dwell in the highest paradise beside thy forefathers.”

ʿThen he said,

“O Abu’l-Hasan, return to thy lodging and make ready for the journey. When one-third of the night hath passed and two-thirds remain, come thou unto us—for then shalt thou attain thy desire.”

ʿI, Ibn Mahziyar, turned back to my tent, my heart fluttering with eagerness. When the appointed time drew near, I rose, prepared my mount, loaded my packs, and set forth. When I reached the mountain pass, lo, the youth was there awaiting me.

ʿHe said,

“Welcome, O Abu’l-Hasan! Blessed art thou, for thou hast been granted permission.”

Then he set forth, and I went with him.

ʿWe journeyed past Arafat and Mina until we reached the lower slopes of Ta’if. There he said, “O Abu’l-Hasan, alight, and make ready for prayer.”

ʿHe descended, and I descended with him. When he had finished his prayer, and I mine, he said, “Prepare now for the dawn prayer.”

ʿHe turned his face toward a certain direction, gave the greeting of peace, and then bowed his face to the earth in prostration. Thereafter he mounted, and bade me mount also.

ʿWe continued our journey until we ascended the summit. Then he said, “Look! What dost thou see?”

ʿI looked, and beheld a verdant plain, abounding in grass and herbage. I said, “My master, I see a meadow rich in greenery.”

ʿHe asked, “And what is upon its height?” I looked again, and behold—a sandhill stood there, upon which was pitched a black tent, radiant with light.

ʿHe said, “What seest thou?”

ʿI replied, “I behold such and such.”

ʿHe said,

“O Ibn Mahziyar, rejoice and be at peace, for there lieth the hope of every hopeful soul.”

ʿThen he said, “Come, let us go with light,” and he went on and I went with him, until we reached the foot of the hill.

ʿHe said, “Dismount—for here every hardness is made soft.”

ʿSo he dismounted, and I dismounted. Then he said, “O Ibn Mahziyar, loosen the bridle of thy camel.”

ʿI said, “Unto whom shall I leave her? There is none here.”

ʿHe answered,

“This is a sanctuary: none entereth it save a friend of God, and none departeth from it save a friend of God.”

ʿSo I let go the bridle, and followed him. When we drew near to the tent, he went before me and said, “Wait here until thou art granted leave.” After but a brief moment, he came forth saying, “Blessed art thou, for thy desire hath been granted.”

Part 7: “ʿI entered into his presence, and found him…”

ʿI entered into his presence, and found him seated upon a cushion, resting against a red leather pillow. I offered my salutations, which he returned, and I beheld his countenance, which was like unto a segment of the moon—neither rough nor impetuous, neither excessively tall nor diminutive. He was of medium stature, with a broad forehead, arched eyebrows, and deep black eyes. His nose was aquiline, his cheeks smooth, and upon his right cheek was a mole. When I gazed upon him, my mind was overwhelmed by his attributes and description.

ʿHe said unto me, “O son of Mahziyar, how didst thou leave thy brethren in Iraq?” I replied, “In straitened circumstances and affliction, for the swords of the sons of Shaysaban have been wielded against them in succession.” He said, “May God destroy them! How deluded they are! It is as though I see these people slain in their own homes, with the decree of their Lord overtaking them by night and by day.”

ʿI said,

“When shall this come to pass, O son of the Messenger of God?”

ʿHe replied, “When ye are barred from the road to the Kaaba by a people who have no portion in God—of whom God and His Messenger are quit—and when redness appeareth in the sky, covering a third thereof, with pillars of silver-like light gleaming therein.

ʿ”Then shall the Shardisi arise from Armenia and Azerbaijan, seeking beyond Rayy the Black Mountain, yoked with the Red Camel, near the mountains of Talqan. Between him and the Marwazi there shall be a mighty battle, fierce as thunder, wherein the child shall turn grey and the old shall perish; slaughter shall rage between them.

ʿ”When these things are fulfilled, expect thou his appearance in the land of Zura. Yet he shall not remain there long before he arriveth at Mahan, and thereafter at Wasit of Iraq, where he shall abide six days or less. Then he shall go forth to Kufan, and between Najaf and Hira and al-Fara there shall be a great and dreadful battle that shall confound all reason.

ʿ”Then shall both hosts be laid waste, and unto God shall belong the harvest of those who remain.”

Then he recited: In the name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. Our command came by night or by day, and We made them as a harvest mown down, as though they had not flourished yesterday.

I said,

“My master, O son of the Messenger of God, what is meant by Our command’?”

ʿHe replied,

“We are the command of God, exalted be His glory, and His hosts.”

ʿI said,

“My master, O son of the Messenger of God—hath the hour come?”

ʿHe answered, “The Hour hath drawn nigh, and the moon hath been rent asunder.”“’

The fourth letter concerns the mention of servants who saw the Qa’im during his Greater Occultation. And I, for My part, shall make mention of one among them—that it may serve as a remembrance unto those who remember, an honor unto those who are assured, and a proof unto the doubters who utterly deny the possibility of such nearness, even among those specially chosen and drawn unto His presence. Sufficient indeed is the account of Mir Shams al-Din, which alone standeth as a remembrance for the faithful. And praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds.

This is what was related to me by some virtuous and reliable scholars. He said: I was informed by someone I trust, who relates from someone he trusts, who said:

ʿWhen Bahrain was under European rule, they appointed a Muslim man as governor to develop it and improve its people’s condition. This governor was from the Nawasib (enemies of Ahl al-Bayt), and he had a minister who was even more hostile, showing enmity to the people of Bahrain for their love of Ahl al-Bayt, seeking to harm and destroy them by every means.

ʿOne day the minister entered upon the governor carrying a pomegranate, which he gave to the governor. Written on it was “There is no god but God and Muhammad is the Messenger of God; Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Ali are the caliphs of God’s Messenger.”

ʿThe governor examined it and saw the writing was inherent to the pomegranate in a way that seemed impossible to have been made by human craft. He was amazed at this, and the minister said:

“This is a clear sign and strong proof invalidating the Rafidi (Shi’a) doctrine. What do you think about the people of Bahrain?”

ʿHe replied:

“May God guide you. These people are fanatics who deny proofs. You should summon them and show them this pomegranate. If they accept and return to our doctrine, you will have great reward. But if they insist on remaining in their misguidance, give them three choices: either pay the jizya tax in humiliation, or provide an answer about this clear sign which they cannot escape from, or their men will be killed, their women and children taken captive, and their property seized as spoils.”

ʿThe governor approved his opinion and sent for the scholars, virtuous ones, noble elites and righteous sayyids of Bahrain. He brought them in, showed them the pomegranate, and informed them of what would happen if they did not provide a satisfactory answer—death, captivity, seizure of property, or paying the jizya tax in humiliation like non-believers.

ʿThey were bewildered by the matter, could not provide an answer, and their faces changed color. Their limbs trembled, and their leaders said:

“O Prince, grant us three days’ respite that we might bring you an answer that will satisfy you, or else judge us as you will.”

ʿHe granted them respite, and they left his presence, fearful, terrified, and bewildered. They gathered in council and deliberated on the matter, and agreed to select ten of the most pious and ascetic men of Bahrain. This they did, then from the ten they chose three.

ʿThey said to one of them:

“Go out tonight into the desert and worship God there, and implore our Imam, God’s proof over us, that he might show you a way out of this overwhelming calamity.”

ʿHe went out and spent his night in devoted worship, humbly calling and weeping, beseeching God and imploring the Imam until morning, but saw nothing. He returned and informed them.

ʿOn the second night they sent the second man, but he returned like his companion with no good news, which increased their anxiety and distress.

ʿThey then brought forward the third man, who was pious and virtuous, named Muhammad ibn Isa. He went out on the third night, barefoot and bareheaded into the desert on a dark night. He prayed, wept, and besought God the Exalted to deliver these believers and remove this trial from them, and he implored his master.

ʿToward the end of the night, a man addressed him saying:

“O Muhammad ibn Isa, why do I see you in this state, and why have you come out to this wilderness?”

ʿHe replied:

“O man, leave me be, for I have come out for a momentous matter and grave concern which I will mention only to my Imam and complain of only to one who can remove it from me.”

ʿThe man said:

“Yes, you have come out concerning what troubles you about the pomegranate, what was written on it, and what the prince threatened you with.”

ʿWhen I heard this, I turned to him and said:

“Yes, my master, you know what has befallen us, and you are our Imam and our refuge, capable of removing this from me.”

ʿHe said: “O Muhammad ibn Isa, the minister—may God curse him—has a pomegranate tree in his house. When that tree bore fruit, he fashioned something from clay in the shape of a pomegranate, split it in two, wrote some of that writing inside each half, then placed it on the pomegranate while it was small and bound them to it, causing it to grow thus.

ʿ”When you go to the governor tomorrow, tell him you have brought the answer but will only reveal it in the minister’s house. When you go to his house, look to your right and you will see a chamber. Tell the governor you will only answer in that chamber. The minister will refuse this, but insist upon it and accept nothing less than ascending to it. When he ascends, go up with him and do not let him go ahead of you alone. When you enter the chamber, you will see a niche containing a white bag. Go to it and take it—you will find in it that clay model he made for this deception. Place it before the governor with the pomegranate in it to expose his trick.

ʿ”Also, O Muhammad ibn Isa, tell the governor we have another miracle: this pomegranate contains only ashes and smoke. If you wish to verify this, order the minister to break it, and when he does, the ashes and smoke will fly onto his face and beard.”

ʿWhen Muhammad ibn Isa heard this from the Imam, he rejoiced greatly, kissed before the Imam, and returned to his people with glad tidings and joy. When morning came, they went to the governor, and Muhammad ibn Isa did everything the Imam had commanded him. And all that he foretold came to pass.

ʿThe governor turned to Muhammad ibn Isa and asked him, “Who informed you of this?”

ʿHe replied, “Our Imam of the Age and God’s proof upon us.”

ʿThe governor asked, “And who is your Imam?” So he informed him of the Imams one after another until he reached the Master of the Command.

ʿThe governor then said,

“Extend your hand, for I bear witness that there is no god but God and that Muhammad is His servant and messenger, and that the immediate successor after him was the Commander of the Faithful, Ali.”

ʿHe then acknowledged the Imams to their last one, and his faith became pure. He ordered the minister to be executed, apologized to the people of Bahrain, showed them kindness and honored them. It is said that this story is well-known among the people of Bahrain, and the tomb of Muhammad ibn Isa is known there, visited by people.’

And I shall mention, after what I have previously mentioned, fourteen traditions regarding those manifestations concerning the signs of the Return and what comes before and after it, that it may serve as a reminder for all who remember. If you desire detailed signs, look to the Sermon of Gathering composed by Ali, for I found in those heavens in the treasury of the Ridvan.

The first tradition, regarding what Majlisi related, where he said that traditions have come mentioning signs of the time of the rising of the Qa’im, the Mahdi, and events that will occur before his rising, and signs and indications:

Among them are the emergence of the Sufyani, the killing of the Hasani, and the dispute among the Abbasids over worldly kingdom; the eclipse of the sun in the middle of Ramadan and the eclipse of the moon at its end contrary to normal occurrences; the sinking of the earth in Bayda, in the West, and in the East; the sun standing still from noon until mid-afternoon, its rising from the West; the killing of the Pure Soul behind Kufa along with seventy righteous men; the slaughter of a Hashimite man between the Corner and the Station; the destruction of the wall of the Kufa mosque; the approach of black standards from Khurasan; the emergence of the Yamani; the appearance of the Maghribi in Egypt and his taking control of it; the descent of the Turks upon the Peninsula; the arrival of the Romans in Ramlah.

There shall also be the rising of a star in the East, shining like the moon, then bending until its ends nearly meet; redness appearing in the sky spreading across its horizons; a fire appearing in the East for a long time, remaining in the air for three days and seven nights; the Arabs throwing off their reins and taking control of the lands and their exit from Persian rule; the people of Egypt killing their leader; the destruction of Syria and the dispute of three standards therein; the entry of the standards of Qays and the Arabs into Egypt and the standards of Kindah into Khurasan; the arrival of cavalry from the West until they are tethered in the courtyard of Hirah; the approach of black standards from the East towards it; the bursting of the Euphrates until water enters the streets of Kufa.

There shall arise sixty imposters, each claiming prophethood, and twelve from the family of Abu Talib, each claiming the Imamate for himself. A man of great status from among the Abbasid partisans shall be burned between Jalula and Khafiqayn; a bridge shall be constructed adjacent to Karkh in the City of Peace; a black wind shall rise there at the beginning of the day, and an earthquake shall strike until much of it sinks; fear shall encompass the people of Iraq and Baghdad, and widespread death shall overtake them, along with a decrease in wealth, lives, and fruits.

Locusts shall appear in and out of season until they consume crops and yields; growth shall be scarce in what people plant; conflict shall erupt between two Persian factions, and much blood shall be shed between them; slaves shall rebel against obedience to their masters. Their masters shall slay them, and some of the people of innovation shall be transformed into apes and swine; slaves shall gain dominion over the lands of their lords; and a call shall resound from heaven which all the people of earth shall hear, each in their own tongue.

A face and chest shall appear to mankind in the eye of the sun; the dead shall be raised from their graves until they return to this world, recognizing and visiting one another. Then this shall be sealed with twenty-four consecutive rains that shall revive the earth after its death; its blessings shall be known, and thereafter every affliction shall be removed from the true believers among the followers of the Mahdi.

They shall then recognize His appearance in Mecca and shall turn towards Him to aid Him, as the traditions have foretold. Among these events, some are inevitable and some are conditional, and God knows best what shall come to pass. We have mentioned them according to what is established in the principles and contained in the transmitted traditions. In God do we seek help.

In the second tradition, it is related from Ali ibn Ahmad from Ubaydullah ibn Musa from Muhammad ibn Musa from Ahmad ibn Ahmad from Yaqub ibn Siraj who said: I asked Abu Abdullah: “When will relief come to your followers?” He said: “When the children of Abbas differ and their authority weakens, and those who had no designs upon them become covetous of their power, and the Arabs cast off their reins, and every possessor of might displays his might, and the Sufyani and Yamani appear, and the Hasani moves, the Master of this Cause shall emerge from Medina to Mecca with the heritage of the Messenger of God.” I asked: “What is the heritage of the Messenger of God?” He said: “His sword, his armor, his turban, his mantle, his staff, his horse, his shield, and his saddle.”

In the third tradition, Ibn Uqdah relates from Humayd ibn Ziyad from Ali ibn al-Sabbah from Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn Muhammad from Jafar ibn Muhammad from Ibrahim ibn Abdul-Hamid from Abu Ayyub al-Kharraz from Muhammad ibn Muslim from Abu Jafar al-Baqir who said: “The Sufyani is red, blonde, blue-eyed, has never worshipped God, and has never seen Mecca or Medina. He shall say: ʿO Lord, my vengeance! My vengeance! O Lord, my vengeance! My vengeance!”’

In the fourth tradition, it is related through his chain from Uthman ibn Isa from Bakr ibn Muhammad al-Azdi from Sadir who said: Abu Abdullah said to me: “O Sadir, stay in your house and remain seated among those who sit, and be still as long as the night and day are still. When you hear that the Sufyani has emerged, then come to us, even if you must crawl.” I said: “May I be sacrificed for you, will there be anything before that?” He said: “Yes,” and pointed with three fingers toward Syria and said: “Three banners: a Hasani banner, Umayyad banners, and a Qaysi banner. While they are thus, the Sufyani shall emerge and mow them down like the harvest—never have I seen the like of it.”

In the fifth tradition, it is related from Abdul-Ala al-Halabi who said: Abu Jafar said: “The Master of this Cause shall have an occultation in one of these mountain passes”—or he pointed toward the direction of Dhi Tuwa—“until two nights before his emergence, when the master who shall be before him shall go forth until he meets some of his companions and asks them: How many of you would there be if your Master were to come to you?’ They shall reply: By God, if he were to take refuge in the mountains, we would take refuge with him.’ Then he shall come to them in the afternoon and say to them: ʿPoint out to me your elders and your informed ones, ten of them.’ They shall point them out to him, and he shall take them until they come to their Master, and he shall promise to meet them the following night.”

Then Abu Jafar said:

“By God, it is as if I can see him, having placed his back against the Stone, then adjuring God by his right, then saying: ʿO people! Whosoever disputes with me concerning God, verily I am the nearest of all people to God. O people! Whosoever disputes with me concerning Adam, I am the nearest of all people to Adam. O people! Whosoever disputes with me concerning Noah, verily I am the nearest of all people to Noah. O people! Whosoever disputes with me concerning Abraham, verily I am the nearest of all people to Abraham. O people! Whosoever disputes with me concerning Moses, verily I am the nearest of all people to Moses. O people! Whosoever disputes with me concerning Jesus, verily I am the nearest of all people to Jesus. O people! Whosoever disputes with me concerning Muhammad, verily I am the nearest of all people to Muhammad. O people! Whosoever disputes with me concerning the Book of God, verily I am the nearest of all people to the Book of God.’ Then he proceeds to the Station where he offers two prostrations, then beseeches God for his right.”

Part 8: “Then Abu Ja’far said: “By God, he…”

Then Abu Ja’far said:

“By God, he is the distressed one mentioned in God’s Book, where God says: ʿOr, Who answers the distressed one, when he calls upon Him and removes the evil, and He makes you successors in the earth.’ And Gabriel shall be at the Balance in the form of a white bird, and he shall be the first of God’s creation to pledge allegiance to him, followed by the three hundred and thirteen men.”

Abu Ja’far said: “Whosoever is tried in the journey shall meet him in that hour, and whosoever is not tried by the journey shall be taken from his bed.” Then he said: “By God, this is the meaning of Ali ibn Abi Talib’s words concerning those who will be missing from their beds, and it is God’s words: Vie, then, with one another in good works. Wheresoever ye be, God will bring you all together.’ These are the companions of the Qa’im, the three hundred and thirteen men.” He said: “By God, they are the numbered community mentioned by God in His Book: If We delay the penalty for them until a numbered community.’ He said they shall be gathered in a single hour like autumn clouds.”

Then he shall cry out in Mecca, calling people to the Book of God and the tradition of His Prophet. A small group shall respond to him, and he shall appoint a governor over Mecca. Then he shall depart, but news shall reach him that his governor has been killed, so he shall return to them and slay the fighters, adding nothing more to that—meaning no captives. Then he shall proceed, calling people to the Book of God and the tradition of His Prophet and allegiance to Ali ibn Abi Talib and disavowal from his enemies, not naming anyone specifically, until he reaches Al-Bayda’. The army of Sufyani shall come against him, but God shall command the earth to seize them from beneath their feet. This is the meaning of God’s words: If thou couldst see when they shall be seized with fear, but there shall be no escape, and they shall be seized from a place nearby. And they shall say, “We believe in him”‘—meaning the Qa’im of the House of Muhammad—though they had rejected him before’—meaning the Qa’im of the House of Muhammad—to the end of the verse.

None shall remain of them except two men called Watr and Ruwaytrah from Murad, their faces turned backward as they walk backwards, informing people of what befell their companions. Then he shall enter Medina, and at that time the Quraysh shall hide from him, taking a single position. They shall be slaughtered group after group, with all they possess and all that the sun rises or sets upon.

Then he shall cause an event, and when he does this, the Quraysh shall say:

“Let us go out against this tyrant. By God, if he were truly of Muhammad’s lineage he would not do this, and if he were truly of Ali’s lineage he would not do this, and if he were truly of Fatima’s lineage he would not do this.”

Then God shall give him power over them, and he shall slay the fighters and take captive the offspring.

Then he shall proceed until he reaches Al-Shaqrah, where news shall reach him that they have killed his governor, so he shall return to them and inflict such a slaughter that the massacre of Harrah shall seem as nothing in comparison.

Then he shall proceed, calling people to the Book of God and the tradition of His Prophet and allegiance to Ali ibn Abi Talib and disavowal from his enemies, until when he reaches Tha’labiyyah, a man from his own father’s lineage shall stand against him, being one of the strongest in body and bravest in heart save for the Master of this Cause, and he shall say:

“O you! What is this that thou doest? By God, thou art scattering the people as scattered cattle! Hast thou, then, a covenant from the Messenger of God, and by what token?”

The Master to whom the allegiance hath been sworn shall reply,

“By God, I shall either bring them to obedience, or smite the place where thine eyes now rest!”

The Qaim will then say,

“Silence, O so-and-so! Yea, by God, I bear with Me a covenant from the Messenger of God. Bring hither that man, that I may take from him the pledge of allegiance.”

Then they bring him the covenant from the Messenger of God. Then he says: “May God make me your sacrifice! Let me kiss your head.” So he offers his head, and he kisses between his eyes. Then he says: “May God make me your sacrifice! Renew for us the pledge of allegiance.” So he renews their allegiance.

Abu Ja’far said: “It is as if I see them ascending from Najaf of Kufa, three hundred and some ten men, their hearts like blocks of iron. Gabriel is on his right and Michael on his left, with awe proceeding before him. They are martyrs whom God will support with five thousand marked angels, until they ascend Najaf.” He said to his companions: “Worship during this night of yours.” So they spend the night between bowing and prostrating, beseeching God. When morning comes, he says: “Let us take the road to Nukhayla.” Around Kufa there is a dug trench. I said: “A dug trench?” He said: “Yes, by God, until he reaches the mosque of Ibrahim in Nukhayla and prays two rak’ahs there. Then God will expel those in Kufa from among its deserters and others from the army of the Sufyani.” He says to his companions: “Draw them out!” Then he says: “Attack them!” Abu Ja’far said: “By God, not one of them shall cross the trench to tell the tale.”

Then he enters Kufa, and no believer remains except that he is in it or inclines toward it. This is the saying of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali. Then he says to his companions: “March against this tyrant!” They call to the Book of God and the tradition of His Prophet. The Sufyani offers him allegiance peacefully, but a dog who is among his maternal uncles says to him: “What is this you have done? By God, he will never pledge allegiance to you on this basis!” He says: “What shall I do?” They say: “Face him and he will accept you.” Then the Qa’im says to him: “Take care, for I have fulfilled my duty to you and now I shall fight you.” He cries out and fights them, but God grants them victory over him. They capture the Sufyani and he slaughters him with his own hand.

Then he sends a detachment of cavalry to the Romans to bring forth the remaining Umayyads. When they reach Rome, they say: “Hand over to us our co-religionists who are with you.” They refuse, saying: “By God, we shall not do it!” The detachment says: “By God, if we were ordered, we would fight you!” Then they return to their master and present this to him. He says: “Go and bring forth their companions to them, for these have come with great authority.” This is the word of God: “When they perceived Our might, behold, they ran from it. Run not! Return to that wherein you lived at ease, and to your dwellings, that you might be questioned.” [Q21:12-13] He said this means the treasures they were hoarding. They said: “Woe to us! We were indeed wrongdoers!” That remained their cry, until We made them as reaped corn, extinct. Not one of them remains to tell the tale.

Then he returns to Kufa and sends the three hundred and some ten men to all horizons. He strokes between their shoulders and they never tire in judgment. No land remains except that there is proclaimed in it the testimony that there is no god but God alone, Who has no partner, and that Muhammad is the Messenger of God. This is His word: “Whosoever is in the heavens and the earth has submitted to Him, willingly or unwillingly, and to Him shall they be returned.” The master of this cause will not accept the poll-tax as the Messenger of God accepted it. This is the word of God: “Fight them until there is no persecution and religion is wholly for God.”

Abu Ja’far said: By God, they will fight until God is unified and nothing is associated with Him, and until the weak old woman can travel from East to West and none will stop her, and God will bring forth seeds from the earth, and rain will descend from heaven, and people will carry their taxes upon their necks to the Mahdi. God will grant abundance to our followers, and were it not for the happiness that will reach them, they would rebel. While the Master of this Cause will be ruling with certain laws and speaking of certain traditions, a group will emerge from the mosque intending to rise against him. He will tell his companions to pursue them, and they will catch them in the date-palm gardens and bring them as prisoners. He will then order their execution, and this will be the last uprising against the Qa’im of the family of Muhammad.

The sixth tradition, regarding what Abu Abdu’llah said: “I can see the Qa’im on the outskirts of Najaf, wearing the armor of the Messenger of God, which first shrinks upon him, then expands to fit him perfectly. He covers the armor with a garment of brocade and mounts a piebald horse with a radiant mark between its eyes that illuminates every land he approaches, serving as a sign for him. Then he unfurls the banner of the Messenger of God, and when he does so, it illuminates everything between East and West.

“The Commander of the Faithful said: I can see him crossing from the Valley of Peace to the stream of Sahla on a horse bearing a luminous mark. He supplicates, saying in his prayer: ʿThere is no god but God, in truth, in truth. There is no god but God, in faith and conviction. There is no god but God, in worship and servitude. O God, Exalter of every lonely believer and Humbler of every stubborn tyrant! You are my shelter when paths confound me and the earth, despite its vastness, closes in upon me. O God, You created me though You had no need of my creation, and were it not for Your support, I would be among the vanquished.

O You who brings forth mercy from its sources and blessings from their mines! O You who has distinguished Yourself with the height of elevation, so that Your friends are strengthened by Your might! O You before whom kings place the yoke of humility upon their necks, living in fear of Your power! I beseech You by Your Name through which You created Your creation, and all submit to You. I ask You to bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, to fulfill my affair, to hasten my relief, to suffice me, to grant me well-being, and to fulfill my needs this hour, this hour, this night, this night. Verily, You have power over all things.”’

The seventh tradition, as related by Majlisi after the detailed account, Shaykh Hasan ibn Sulayman hath transmitted in his book Muntakhab al-Basa’ir the following narration:

“The righteous and faithful brother, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhsin al-Mutarrabadi, told me that he had found in the handwriting of his father—the pious man Ibrahim ibn Muhsin—the tradition which I shall now recount, and he showed me his own script, from which I copied it. It is the narration of Husayn ibn Humran. He continued the report to the point where it saith:

“’It is as though I behold them mounted upon grey steeds, spears in their hands, rushing toward battle with the eagerness of wolves. Their commander is a man from the tribe of Tamim, named Shu’ayb ibn Salih.

ʿThen Husayn—peace be upon him—shall turn to them, his face radiant as the full moon, and men shall be struck with awe by the beauty of his countenance. In the wake of the darkness he shall shine forth; then shall the small and the great, the lowly and the noble, take up the sword.

ʿWith those banners he shall set forth, returning to Kufa, wherein the greater part of the people of the earth shall have gathered, and he shall make it his stronghold.

ʿThen tidings shall reach him and his companions of the Mahdi—peace be upon him. They shall say,

“O son of the Messenger of God, who is this that hath encamped in our plain?”

ʿHusayn—peace be upon him—shall reply,

“Come forth with me unto him, that ye may behold who he is and what he desireth,”

—though, by God, he knoweth full well that he is the Mahdi, and that it is only by divine decree that he summoneth them thus.

ʿThen Husayn—peace be upon him—shall go forth, accompanied by four thousand men, each bearing the Qur’an upon his neck, clad in garments of wool, and girt with their swords.

ʿThereupon Husayn—peace be upon him—shall be slain, until he draweth near to the Mahdi. And the people shall say,

“Ask concerning this man—who is he, and what doth he seek?”

ʿThen some companions of Husayn will go to the army of the Mahdi (peace be upon him) and say:

“O army present here, who are you—may God preserve you—and who is this master of yours and what does he want?”

ʿThe companions of the Mahdi will reply:

“This is the Mahdi of the family of Muhammad and we are his helpers from among the jinn, humans and angels.”

ʿThen Husayn (peace be upon him) will say: “Let me be alone with this one.”

ʿThe Mahdi who is between the two armies will come forth to him. Husayn (peace be upon him) will say:

“You are the Mahdi of the family of Muhammad? Then where is my grandfather the Messenger of God’s staff, his ring, his cloak, his shield, his grey turban, his horse, his she-camel Al-Ghadba, his mule Duldul, his donkey Ya’fur, his mount Al-Buraq, his crown, and the Qur’an which the Commander of the Faithful compiled without any change or alteration?”

ʿThen he will present to him the chest containing all that he asked for. Abu Abdullah said that everything was in the chest, including the relics of all the Prophets—even the staff of Adam and Noah, the legacy of Hud and Salih, the collection of Abraham, Joseph’s measuring vessel, Shu’ayb’s measure and scale, Moses’ staff and the ark containing what remained of the family of Moses and Aaron carried by the angels, David’s armor and ring, Solomon’s ring and crown, Ali’s saddle, and the inheritance of the Prophets and Messengers in that chest.

ʿAt that point, Husayn will say:

“O son of the Messenger of God, I ask you to plant the staff of the Messenger of God in this solid rock and ask God to make it grow”

- intending only to show his companions the virtue of the Mahdi so they would obey him and pledge allegiance to him.

ʿThe Mahdi will take the staff and plant it, and it will grow, rise, branch out and sprout leaves until it shades Husayn’s army. Then Husayn will say “God is Great! O son of the Messenger of God, extend your hand so I may pledge allegiance to you.”

ʿThen Husayn and all his army will pledge allegiance except for four thousand of the companions with copies of the Qur’an and hair shirts, known as the Zaydis. Some of them will say “This is nothing but great sorcery.”

ʿI say: then he continued the narration up to the words,

“If ye deal justly with your own souls and with him alike…”

—and thereafter he recorded nothing further.’

The eighth tradition: Sahl ibn Ziyad hath transmitted, from Ibn Mahbub, from Ibn Fudayl, from Sa’d al-Jaddab, from Jabir, from Abu Ja’far, that Husayn addressed his companions before he was slain and said:

“Verily the Messenger of God hath told me, ʿO my son, thou shalt set forth toward Iraq—an earth whereupon prophets and the trustees of prophets have met; it is the land called Amuza—and there thou shalt be martyred, and with thee there shall be slain a company of thy companions. They shall not find aught but the sting of iron.’

“And we entreated and cried: ʿO fire, be cool and safe for Abraham!’—and thus shall the war be a shelter and a salvation for thee and for them. Rejoice, then, for by God, if they slay us, we shall be avenged in return for our Prophet.”

“Then he added: I shall abide as God willeth; and I shall be the first for whom the earth will rend asunder, and forthwith shall he issue whose rising shall coincide with the rising of the Commander of the Faithful, and with the advent of our Qa’im, and with the quickening of the Messenger of God.

“A deputation shall descend upon me from heaven—sent from God—which hath never before come down to earth; Gabriel and Michael and Israfil, and hosts of angels shall descend; and Muhammad and Ali and I and my brother and all whom God hath favored shall come in battalions borne upon chargers of the Lord—steeds of light unmounted by any creature.

Part 9: “Thus shall Muhammad cast down his standard…”

“Thus shall Muhammad cast down his standard and raise it up to our Qa’im, together with his sword. We shall remain thus for as long as God willeth. Then God will cause to flow forth from the Mosque of Kufa a spring of gold, a spring of water, and a spring of milk.

“Then the Commander of the Faithful will give unto me the sword of the Messenger of God and dispatch me to the East and to the West. I shall not encounter any enemy of God but that I shall spill his blood, nor shall I pass by any settlement but that I shall burn it, until I reach India and conquer it.

“Then Daniel and Joshua will come forth unto the Commander of the Faithful saying: ʿGod and His Messenger have spoken the truth.’ And God will send with them to Basra seventy men who will slay their warriors, and He will dispatch an army to Rome, and God will grant them victory.

“Then I shall surely slay every creature whose flesh God hath forbidden, until there remaineth not upon the face of the earth save what is pure. And I shall give the Jews and Christians and all other peoples the choice between Islam and the sword. Whoso accepteth Islam, I shall show him favor, and whoso rejecteth Islam, God shall spill his blood.

“And there shall not remain any of our followers but that God will send down an angel who shall wipe the dust from his face and make known to him his spouses and his station in Paradise.

“And there shall not remain upon the face of the earth any blind person, nor any crippled one, nor any afflicted one, but that God shall remove his affliction through us, the People of the House. And blessings shall surely descend from heaven to earth until trees shall bend with whatsoever fruits God willeth, and ye shall eat winter fruits in summer and summer fruits in winter.

“This is the meaning of His words, exalted be He: ʿAnd if the people of the towns had believed and feared God, We would have opened upon them blessings from heaven and earth, but they denied, so We seized them for what they were earning.’ [Q7:96] Then God shall bestow upon our followers such honor that nothing in the earth shall be hidden from them, to such extent that when one of them wisheth to know about his household, he shall inform them with knowledge of what they are doing.”

The ninth tradition: In what was related by Sa’d from Ahmad and Abdullah, the sons of Muhammad ibn Isa, and Ibn Abi’l-Khattab, all from Ibn Mahbub, from Ibn Ayyub, from Baghdadrah who said:

ʿI was reluctant to ask Abu Ja’far directly, so I devised a subtle question to achieve my purpose. I said: “Tell me about one who is killed—has he died?”

ʿHe said: “No, death is death and killing is killing.”

I said: “I do not understand your words, for God distinguisheth between killing and death in the Qur’an, saying whether ye die or are killed’ and ʿif ye die or are killed, unto God shall ye be gathered.”’

He said:

“It is not as you say, O Baghdadrah. Death is death and killing is killing. God, glorified and exalted be He, hath said: Verily God hath purchased from the believers their souls and their wealth in return for Paradise—they fight in the way of God, so they slay and are slain, a promise binding upon Him in truth.’ [Q9:111]”

I said: “But God, glorified and exalted be He, saith Every soul shall taste death’ [Q3:185]—what then of one who is killed, has he not tasted death?” He replied: “One who is killed by the sword is not like one who dies in his bed. Verily, one who is killed must return to this world to taste death.”’

The tenth tradition: In what was related by Sa’d ibn Hashim from al-Barqi from Muhammad ibn Sinan who said: Abu ʿAbdullah said: The Messenger of God said:

“My Lord, glorified and exalted be He, took me on the Night Journey and revealed unto me from behind a veil what He revealed, and spoke unto me what He spoke. And among what He spoke unto me was that He said: O Muhammad! Verily I am God, there is no god but I, Knower of the unseen and the visible, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Verily I am God, there is no God but Me, the King, the Holy, the Peace, the Inspirer, the Guardian, the Mighty, the Compeller, the Proud. Glorified be God above what they associate with Him! Verily I am God, there is no God but Me, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. To Me belong the Most Beautiful Names. All that is in the heavens and earth glorify Me, and I am the Mighty, the Wise. O Muhammad! I am God, there is no God but Me, the First before Whom there is nothing, and the Last after Whom there is nothing, and the Manifest above Whom there is nothing, and the Hidden beneath Whom there is nothing. And I am God, there is no God but Me, the Knower of all things. O Muhammad! Upon the first from whom I took the covenant among the Imams, may God’s blessings be upon them. O Muhammad! Upon the last whose spirit was taken from among the Imams, and he is the Creature that speaks to them. O Muhammad! Upon what I have made manifest unto thee of all that I have revealed to thee—thou art not to conceal anything from him. O Muhammad! Upon what I have kept hidden which I confided in thee—for there is no secret between Me and thee apart from him. O Muhammad! Upon Ali is the knowledge of all I have created of the lawful and forbidden.”

The eleventh tradition mentions what is related in the Book of Sulaim ibn Qays al-Hilali, may God’s mercy be upon him, which was narrated by Aban ibn Abi Ayyash who read all of it to our master Ali ibn al-Husayn (peace be upon him) in the presence of a group of notable companions including Abu al-Tufayl. Zayn al-Abidin (peace be upon him) confirmed it saying “This tradition of ours is authentic.” Aban said: “I later met Abu al-Tufayl in his home and he related to me regarding the Return, from people who fought at Badr, and from Salman, al-Miqdad, and Abu Ka’b.” Abu al-Tufayl said: “I presented what I had heard from them to Ali ibn Abi Talib, God’s blessings and peace be upon him, in Kufa. He said: This is specialized knowledge which the community cannot afford to be ignorant of, though its full understanding rests with God.’ Then he confirmed everything they had told me.”

Ali (peace be upon him) read much of it and explained its interpretations until I became more certain of the Return than I am of the Day of Resurrection. Among what I asked was: “O Commander of the Faithful, tell me about the Prophet’s Pool—is it in this world or the Hereafter?” He replied: “Rather in this world.” I asked: “Who will prevent access to it?” He said: “I will, with my own hands. I shall allow my friends to approach it and turn away my enemies from it.”

I said: “O Commander of the Faithful, concerning God’s words And when the Word befalls them, We shall bring forth for them a creature from the earth that shall speak unto them, because mankind had not faith in Our signs’ [Q27:82]—what is this creature?” He said: “O Abu al-Tufayl, leave this matter be.” I said: “O Commander of the Faithful, tell me about it, may I be your sacrifice!” He said: “It is a creature that eats food, walks in the marketplaces, and marries women.” I asked: “O Commander of the Faithful, who is he?” He said: “He is the master of the earth by whom the earth is made stable.” I asked: “O Commander of the Faithful, who is he?” He said: “He is this community’s Truthful One, its Distinguisher, its master and its possessor of authority.” I asked: “O Commander of the Faithful, who is he?” He said: “He is the one of whom God has said and a witness from Him recites it’ and he who possesses knowledge of the Book’ and he who brings the truth and he who confirms it’ while all other people deny it.” I said: “O Commander of the Faithful, name him for me!”

He said:

“Verily, I have named him for thee, O Aba al-Tufayl. By God! Were I to enter in unto the multitude of My Shi’ah—those by whose aid I wage war, who profess obedience unto Me, who call Me the Commander of the Faithful, and who deem it lawful to strive against those that oppose Me—and were I to acquaint them with but a portion of the truths I know from the Book which Gabriel, upon him be peace, revealed unto Muhammad, the Messenger of God, they would assuredly scatter and disperse, until there remained with Me but a small company of the people of truth—thyself and those like unto thee among My Shi’ah.”

Then I said:

“O Commander of the Faithful! Would I and those like Me forsake Thee, or would we remain steadfast by Thy side?”

He replied: “Nay, ye shall remain steadfast.”

Then, turning toward Me, He continued:

“Our Cause is verily a mighty and most hidden mystery; none can know it nor draw nigh unto it save three—an angel nigh unto God, a prophet sent forth, or a faithful servant whom God hath tried and proved in the crucible of faith. O Abu’l-Tufayl! When the Messenger of God passed away, all went astray in error and ignorance except those whom God protected through us, the People of the House.”

The twelfth tradition: In what has been related from Ali (peace be upon him) in his noble sermon known as “al-Makhzun,” of which we have mentioned previously, until he said: “O people! Ask me before there breaks forth an eastern tribulation, trampling in its wreckage after death and life, or before a fire is kindled with western wood in the west of the earth, trailing its skirts, crying O woe is me!’ with its entry, or something similar. When the celestial sphere turns, it will be said: He died,’ or He perished—in which valley did he traverse?’ On that day will be the interpretation of this verse: Then We gave you back the turn to prevail against them, and aided you with wealth and children and made you more numerous in man-power.’

For this there are signs and tokens: The first of them is the siege of Kufa with observation posts and trenches, the burning of corners in the streets of Kufa, the closing of mosques for forty nights, the appearance of three banners around the Great Mosque resembling guidance—the killer and the killed being in the Fire—extensive killing, widespread death, the killing of the Pure Soul behind Kufa among seventy, the one slaughtered between the Corner and the Station, the killing of the victorious lion in patience in the covenant of Islam along with many of the human devils, and the emergence of the Sufyani with a green banner and a golden cross, whose commander is a man from Kalb, and twelve thousand reins from those who carry the Sufyani heading towards Mecca and Medina, whose commander is one from the Umayyads called Khuzayma, blind in the left eye, with his glance inclining to the world, whose banner will not be turned back until he descends upon Medina.

He will gather men and women from the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him) and imprison them in a house in Medina called the house of Abu’l-Hasan the Umayyad. And he shall send forth horsemen in pursuit of a man from among the kindred of Muhammad, peace be upon Him, around whom a band of the downtrodden shall have gathered in Mecca, their leader being a man of Ghatafan. And when they reach the white plain of al-Bayda between Mecca and Medina, the earth shall swallow them up, leaving none to escape save one man, whose face God shall turn backward upon his neck, that he may bear warning unto them and become a sign unto those who come after. On that day shall this verse be fulfilled:

“If thou couldst but see when they are seized with terror and are taken from a place near at hand.”

Then shall the Sufyani send forth one hundred and thirty thousand toward Kufa. They shall encamp at al-Rawha, al-Faruq, and the place of Mary and Jesus near Qadisiyya. From among them shall eighty thousand advance until they reach Kufa, to the site of the tomb of Hud, peace be upon Him, at al-Nukhayla. There shall they be assailed by the young and the fierce on the day of Zaniyya. And the leader of the people shall be a tyrant, obstinate and proud, whose name is the Soothsayer, the Magician.

He shall go forth from a city called al-Zawra, accompanied by five thousand diviners, and on the bridge thereof shall seventy thousand be slain, until the waters of the Euphrates run red for three days with blood, and the stench of the bodies fills the air. From Kufa shall captives be taken—maidens whom no hand nor veil hath been lifted from—and they shall be borne upon litters between al-Tawba and al-Gharbayn.

Then shall there march forth from Kufa a host of one hundred thousand, idolaters and hypocrites alike, until they reach Damascus; none shall hinder them from it, that city of Iram, the one adorned with lofty pillars. And from the East shall banners arise—neither of wool, nor of flax, nor yet of silk—sealed upon the spearheads with the signet of the Most Exalted Lord. Their bearer shall be a man from the family of Muhammad, peace be upon him. The day he appears in the East, his fragrance shall be found in the West like the strongest musk. Terror shall travel a month before him, and his son Sa’d the Water-bearer shall succeed him in Kufa, seeking vengeance for their fathers’ blood, they being sons of the transgressors, until the cavalry of Husayn, peace be upon him, shall charge upon them. They shall race as if they were the two horsemen of Ibn Sha’th, without mourners or lamenters when striking.

The last one shall say in an assembly after this day of ours: “O God, where are the penitent ones, the humble ones, those who bow and prostrate?” These are the Substitutes whom God, mighty and glorious, hath described: “Verily God loveth those who turn unto Him, and He loveth those who cleanse themselves.”[Q2:222] And the purified ones are their peers from the family of Muhammad.

And a man shall come forth from the people of Bahrain, a monk responding to the Imam, and he shall be the first of the Christians to respond. He shall destroy his monastery and break his cross. The friends and the weak among the people and the cavalry shall go forth and proceed to Nukhayla with banners of guidance. The gathering of people from all the earth shall be at Al-Faruq, which is the path of the Commander of the Faithful, between Al-Bars and the Euphrates.

On that day, three million Jews and Christians shall be slain between East and West, some killing others. This shall be the interpretation of this verse:

“And that cry of theirs ceased not till We made them as a field that is mown, as ashes silent and quenched.”

By the sword and under the shadow of the sword.

And there shall follow from the sons of Ash’hab the Rebuker of Fortune a people not of his father, in troops, until they come seeking refuge in the trees. On that day shall be the interpretation of this verse:

“So when they felt Our might, lo! they began to flee from it. Flee not, but return to that wherein ye delighted, and to your dwellings, that ye may be questioned.”

[Q21:12-13] Their dwellings are the treasures they seized from people’s wealth.

On that day shall come upon them sinking, pelting and transformation. This shall be the interpretation of this verse: “And it is not far from the wrongdoers.”

And a herald shall cry aloud in the month of Ramadan from the direction of the East at the rising of the sun, saying: “O people of guidance, assemble on the morrow at noon!” Then shall the sun be eclipsed and become dark and blackened. And on the third day the truth shall be distinguished from falsehood by the appearance of the Beast of the Earth.

Then shall the Romans advance to a village upon the shore of the sea, near the cave of the youths. And God shall send forth from that cave unto them two of the youths—one named Malikha and the other Kamilina—both of them martyrs and true believers in the Qaim. One of the youths shall be sent unto the Romans, but shall return without effect; the other shall be sent forth and shall return with victory. On that day shall this verse be fulfilled:

“And unto Him shall submit whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly”

[Q3:83].

Then shall God raise up from every nation a company, that He may show them that which they were promised. On that day shall this verse find its fulfilment: “And on that Day We shall gather from every nation a company of those who denied Our signs, and they shall be held in check” [Q27:83]. And that “being held in check” is the trembling of their hearts.

Part 10: “Then shall the Greatest Siddiq advance beneath…”

Then shall the Greatest Siddiq advance beneath the banner of guidance, bearing the sword Dhu’l-Fiqar and the staff of authority, until he descend twice upon the land of the Hijrah, which is Kufa. There shall he demolish its mosque and rebuild it upon its first foundation, and he shall overthrow the palaces of the tyrants round about it. Then shall he journey to Basra until he overlook its sea, bearing with him the Ark and the Rod of Moses.

He shall utter a single cry over Basra, and it shall become a stormy sea, leaving nothing therein save its mosque, standing like the prow of a ship upon the waters. Then shall he move on to Khurur and consume it with fire; then pass through the Gate of the Banu Asad, and cry out in Thaqif—a cry that shall be as the vengeance upon Pharaoh. Thereafter shall he go unto Egypt, and ascend its pulpit to address the people.

Then shall the earth be gladdened by justice; the heavens shall bestow their rain; the trees their fruits; and the soil its verdure. The earth shall adorn herself for her dwellers; the wild beasts shall dwell in safety, grazing upon the borders of the earth as the cattle of men. And knowledge shall be cast into the hearts of the believers, so that no believer shall have need of aught that is with his brother.

On that day shall be fulfilled the meaning of this verse: “He will enrich all from His abundance.” The earth shall yield up its treasures, and He Who shall arise shall say: “Eat in happiness for what ye did in days past.” The Muslims on that day shall be people of right religion, permitted to speak. On that day shall be fulfilled the meaning of this verse: “And thy Lord shall come with angels, rank on rank.” [Q89:22] God shall accept on that day none but the true religion—verily, the pure religion of God. On that day shall be fulfilled these verses: “See they not how We drive water to the barren land and bring forth thereby crops whereof their cattle and they themselves do eat? Have they not vision? They say: When will this victory come, if ye speak truth?’ Say: On the day of victory, faith will not profit those who disbelieve, neither will they be reprieved. So turn thou away from them and wait; they too are waiting.’ [Q32:27-30]”

From the time of his appearance until his death shall be three hundred and some years. The number of his companions shall be three hundred and thirteen, among them nine from the Children of Israel, seventy from the jinn, and two hundred and thirty-four from mankind—among these seventy who were angered for the Prophet when the idolaters of Quraysh assailed him, and who sought permission from God’s Prophet to respond, whereupon permission was granted when this verse was revealed:

“Save those who believe and do good works, and remember God much, and vindicate themselves after they have been wronged. Those who do wrong will come to know by what a (great) reverse they will be overturned!”

[Q26:227] And twenty from the people of Yemen, including Miqdad ibn al-Aswad, and two hundred and fourteen who were by the seashore near Aden, to whom God’s Prophet sent a message and they came as Muslims. And from the various peoples, two thousand eight hundred and seventeen, and from the angels forty thousand, of whom three thousand are marked ones and five thousand are followers.

Thus the total of his companions is forty-seven thousand one hundred and thirty, of whom nine are chiefs, each chief having four thousand angels. Of jinn and men, the number is as on the day of Badr. With these shall he fight, through these shall God grant victory, through these shall he triumph, through these shall victory arise, and from these shall come the victory of the earth.

I have written it as I found it. And in it are missing letters.

The thirteenth tradition, as related by Al-Hussein Muhammad from Al-Mu’alla from Abu’l-Mufaddal from Ibn Sadaqa from Al-Mufaddal ibn Umar from Abu Abdullah, who said:

“It is as though I see a throne of light that has been placed, over which has been erected a dome of red ruby adorned with jewels, and as though I see Al-Hussein seated upon that throne, with ninety thousand green domes around him, and as though I see the believers visiting him and greeting him. Then God, mighty and glorious, says to them: ʿO My friends, ask of Me, for long have ye been persecuted and humbled and patient. This is the day when ye shall not ask Me for any need of this world or the next but I shall grant it to you.’ Their food and drink shall be from Paradise. This, by God, is the honor.”

The fourteenth tradition, as related by my father and Ibn Walid together from Sa’d and Al-Himyari together from Ahmad ibn Al-Hussein ibn Umar ibn Yazid from Al-Hussein Al-Ras’ from Muhammad ibn Ishaq from As’ad ibn Tha’laba from Umm Hani, who met Abu Ja’far Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Al-Hussein and asked him about this verse: “By the retreating stars, the planets that move and hide!” [Q81:15-16] The Imam shall retreat in his time upon the completion of his knowledge in the year 260, then shall appear as a blazing meteor in the darkness of night. Should you witness this, your eyes shall be consoled.

Look with geometric precision to the holy signs radiating from the suns of the infallible ones in the depths of those words that have dawned from the light of the Eternal Morn and shine upon the temple of unity with their traces. And of these signs, some are irrevocable while others God may efface as He willeth. I am indeed fearful of Bada and, gazing upon the Tree of Destiny, shall not mention any of these to thee, but rather entrust their judgment to the Book of God—“He effaceth or confirmeth what He pleaseth, and with Him is the Mother Book”. [Q13:39]

Therefore, O friend, when thou hearest the call of the All-Glorious, hasten, hasten! Then mount, mount! Be not like him whose throne received a mere body, whereof God, glorified be He, hath said: “We did try Solomon: We placed on his throne a body, then did he turn (to Us). He said: ʿO my Lord! Forgive me, and grant me a kingdom which will not belong to another after me: for Thou art the Grantor of Bounties.”’ [Q38:34-35] For the life of this world, by thy Lord’s grandeur, hath no permanence, and its ultimate bounties and blessings are, in the sight of God and the people of the Heights, like the black of an ant’s eye, dead and profitless.

Therefore work for God with joy and fragrance, prepare thyself for the days of thy Lord in the Bayan, labor for God, the All-Merciful, curse the sun and moon in their calculated courses, and purify thyself for the meeting with thy Lord. For the life of this world is as God hath said concerning it: “naught but a brief enjoyment.” Therefore occupy thyself with deeds for God, the One, the All-Compelling.

Reflect on those who preceded thee among the near ones, such as Abraham and Noah, then Moses and Jesus and Muhammad, the Apostle of God and Seal of the Prophets—all forsook their comforts and detached themselves from their beloved ones, and now, by God’s leave, they delight in the verdant pavilions. And among the idolaters, such as Nimrod and Shaddad and Haman and Pharaoh and Qarun—all left their gardens and were cut off from their wealth and children, and now they are brought to thy Lord’s torment.

O friend! As I indeed love thee, I counsel thee: forget not God’s Bada, despair not of God’s grace, keep death before thine eyes, and aid God’s Faith as though thou hadst not existed in this world less than nine-tenths. Be among the perceptive people of the concealment, companions of the retreating traditions. Remember death twenty-five times every day and night, remembering Him as though in that very moment—yet fear not, neither grieve, for the abode of the Hereafter is indeed Life, wherein all that thy soul desireth shall be before thee, before God saith to it “Be!” and it is.

Therefore rejoice in obedience to thy Lord, for verily ʿAli was content in this world with but two garments for eating and two for wearing, until he took with spirit and contentment a handful of dust and said:

“I have succeeded, by the Lord of the Ka’bah! From it did We create you, and into it shall We return you, and from it shall We bring you forth once again.”

Look with certainty, for the hearts of some people in their bodies are dead while they perceive not, though were they alive they would perceive and understand. Therefore, take particles of air from the mirrors of thy heart at all times through remembrance of death, for thereby is the mirror purified and the crystal refined, and the realities of the Most Exalted Realm are therein reflected. In that station thou dost interpret the Surah of al-Kawthar with the very ink that floweth from thine own pen, and beholdest that subtle and wondrous interpretation upon the fathomless ocean of divine utterance, even as in its revelation. None can alter the words of God; and verily, God is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.

And concerning this interpretation, that ink is the water of Kawthar which flows from the spring of Salsabil, and that paper is the ground of the highest Paradise, and the one addressed in the letters is that Pen concerning which judgment was revealed in the Qur’an:

“Nun. By the Pen and by what they write, thou art not, by the grace of thy Lord, a madman.”

[Q68:1]

And verily God’s command reaches it, signified by its prayer in my hands, meaning its dissolution as We move it as We wish, however We wish. And We recognize in all its stations what man performs in religion, as he offers four prostrations at noon while at home and two while traveling. Thus dost thou witness upon it every sign of that hovering bird in its course. And know God’s words “and sacrifice” [wa anhar] as the splitting of the pen, for were it not split, the ink would not flow as God hath willed in the decree of the heart.

And those who read the decree of these words and know through the mention of these signs, were they to speak concerning the decree of the Word with “why” and “wherefore,” they would be among those of whom it is said: “Verily, he that hateth thee shall be the one cut off.” [inna shani’aka huwa al-abatar]

And upon this just path and this excellent balance, know thou all the signs and the course of the meaning of that Surah in all indications, tokens and stations, even unto the movement of an ant upon solid rock in the darkest night.

And were it not for My grief at what the hands of men have wrought, thou wouldst witness more elevated than My hand that bird which hath ranged in the depths of the air of signs. When anyone heareth its song, he acteth as the verse hath spoken in their decree: “When she heard of their scheming, she sent for them and prepared for them a banquet, and gave each one of them a knife, and said [to Joseph]: Come forth unto them.’ And when they saw him they exalted him and cut their hands, and said: God preserve us! This is no mortal! This is none other than a noble angel!”’ [Q12:31] Yea, in the realm of souls and minds was the decree thus.

And I have brought forth a drop from the vast ocean of the knowledge of God’s family concerning the Qur’an. But were anyone else to open this door, he could not prove it to the people, for in the traditions what hath been revealed is by allusion, not by clear statement. But since God hath placed in My hands a brilliant proof, I shall interpret all that is established in the leaves of the divine trees, the reeds of the thicket of might, and the songs of the holy birds upon the branches of the tree of dominion and kingdom, for God hath created in all things the signs of all things in their rank.

This is the most exalted station of the servant: that he should raise things to the stations of their abstraction and unity. Indeed, in these days some of the letters and names and their namesakes shall enter, by God’s leave, into their paradise, but most people are not grateful and do not know.

O man! The attributes of the people of the Bayan are not to be confused with the attributes of all contingent beings, for they are specially endowed with divine gifts that none can comprehend save the All-Merciful. They are a people whom God hath created from a single element, and He permitteth them, in the station of the body, when He willeth, to manifest His light in the heart.

And this Cause is such that neither the heavens nor the earth are capable of upholding it. Verily, it is the Most Great Elixir, the Most Glorious Symbol—that which is beyond the influence of the signs of the Godhead, the attributes of the Dominion, the tokens of the Kingdom, or the chastisements of the peoples of Power and of the world of Man. In every realm they stand in the same station: they mirror forth the oneness of God and manifest His majesty. Blessed, then, is he who hath known their worth, rejoiced at the sight of their countenances, and gloried above all men in sitting in their presence and serving at their feet.

By thy Lord, the Lord of the heavens and the earth! Should one expend all that is upon the earth and strive with Me in the utmost discipline and spiritual exertion, surpassing all who have gone before him, yet seek thereby to attain the state wherein I beheld thee with Mine own eyes on that night, he would never succeed, nor would he attain unto any share thereof.

And the trembling of my body which thou witnessed there was but one aspect of the manifestations of “two bow-lengths or closer” in relation to the revelation of the Manifestation. Great was that state, for all knowledge and conditions before it are diminished. It is like unto the manifestation of thy Lord in the heart, for in the element of fire it points only to air, and in earth only to water. Thus dost thou know all the conditions of the people of the Bayan, for the light of glory in relation to them was equal.

By thy life! If people knew the glory of that state, they would willingly spend all that God had given them, even their own souls, to behold with their own eyes that state in my being. Woe, then woe unto those who witnessed with the eye of certainty, then turned away from the truth of certainty. Soon shall come a day when they will say, “Oh, the regret for what we neglected in regard to God!” And that is the day which you were promised. Verily God hath created within the men of the heights such conditions that if He should permit any one of them, and his promised day should come, he would manifest through God’s might and power whatsoever God willeth for him. Nothing could prevent him, nor would poison harm him if he should consume it, just as Ali before him partook of it, and his state would not change; rather, his pallor would turn to redness as God willeth. There is no might nor power except through God, and glory be to God above what they describe.

By thy life, O questioner, the people today are as dead, for they show no gratitude for what hath been sent down in God’s Book concerning them, and they imagine of themselves what they know not. He about whom it was revealed in the traditions that whoever looketh upon him, God recordeth for him the reward of a thousand complete readings of the Qur’an, is today imprisoned in his house, while those who place themselves in the station of that decree have no portion thereof, and they are among the heedless. Glory be to God, from the deeds of the learned and the judgment of the wise! Soon will God gather them on the Day of Resurrection and question them with piercing questions.

O Jalil! Counsel some of them and recite to them what Muhammad ibn Ali al-Jawad said to his uncle: “There is no God but God, O uncle! Great will it be before God if tomorrow thou shouldst stand before Him and He should say to thee: Why didst thou give verdicts to My servants about that which thou knowest not, when there was in the community one more learned than thee?” Today thou art able to speak among people however thou wishest and whenever thou wishest, saying “I am, I am.” Though I be incapable of properly thanking thee for thy kindness in following the pure religion of God, yet I mention to thee, in fulfillment of thy right, what Ali ibn Musa wrote in his own hand to Ali ibn Mahziyar, one of his sincere followers who was certain of his authority—and this is sufficient as a beautiful remembrance:

“In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate

“O Ali! May God reward thee with the choicest of His recompense, cause thee to dwell within His Paradise, and shield thee from disgrace in this world and the next. May God gather thee in our company, O Ali!

Part 11: “I have tried thee and found thee steadfast…”

“I have tried thee and found thee steadfast in counsel, obedience, service, reverence, and in the discharge of whatsoever was incumbent upon thee. Were I to say that never have I seen one like unto thee, I would hope to speak the truth. May God reward thee with the gardens of Paradise as thy resting-place!

“Nothing of thy station hath been hidden from Me, nor of thy toils in heat and in cold, by night and by day. Therefore I beseech God, when He assembleth the multitudes on the Day of Resurrection, to enfold thee in a mercy that shall make others envy thee—for verily He is the Hearer of prayers.”

O man! Fear God and know the measure of thyself, for the Cause of God is the truth, and religion in every aspect is like unto the disciples of Jesus, the son of Mary. Cast what I have cast unto thee from the fire of hearts among the people, for that sign is a sign sent down from heaven, before which the necks of all creation have bowed.

Know thou that God hath ever been self-sufficient, with no partner unto Him. His loved ones in every dispensation have been adorned with His attributes, have spoken from His presence, have obeyed His command, have been content with His decree, and have feared His judgment. They are a people who, when they lie upon the earth, behold the throne of attributes, and when they are silent in the realm of utterance, they commune with themselves in the inner sanctuaries of divine unity. May God grant me to meet them in a land of security and glory, for they are the sincere ones, they are the humble ones, they are the near ones.

They are a people whom nothing on earth can grieve if they fail to attain it, but when they learn a decree from God’s Book concerning themselves, they will fulfill it even if they must crawl upon their chests over ice, for they see glory and sovereignty in obedience to God, and abasement and poverty in disobedience to Him. This sufficeth as a reminder for those believers who understand the signs of Our verses and dwell beneath the shadow of Our signs—these are they who are rightly guided.

The mention of letters and explanation of symbols pertain to the realm of signs and tokens, but true honor in the divine realms of infinity lies in the pure reality of the manifestation of the Mount, which is the essential Face in all beings and the definitive Presence in all essences. And upon that path, in the realm of those divine signs, words fail to encompass, stations cannot portray, nor do indications reflect the mysteries thereof. It beseemeth not, in such a theme, to make mention of the realms of being or of essence, of soul or of selfhood, of paradisical realities or celestial glories, of the veiled or the radiant, of the resplendent or the interceding, of the aspiring or the orienting, of the reflective or the withdrawn, of the inspired or the concealed, of the encircling or the all-gathering, of the diffused or the ascending, of the cosmic poles within the groves of the divinities, or of the flaming canopies within the thickets of the dominions, or of the shimmering congregations within the groves of the kingdoms, or of the sanctified spheres within the meadows of the powers—save only of the Manifestations in the world of man and of the effulgent attributes in the realities of created being and beyond them the ineffable sanctuaries of the unknowable realm—things which no word can unveil through allusion.

Such is the path of the dwellers in the lofty chambers of the Ridwan of God; for the servant—by the testimony of all that beareth the name of a thing—can never know the Essence of the Eternal, nor point toward Him, nor describe His life, nor depict His holy Being.

And what I recount unto thee, in the station of mystical knowledge for the manifestation of exposition, is the revelation of God unto thee by thine own self—His ascription of the tranquility of the hearts of His creatures unto Himself, even as He hath ascribed the Kaaba unto His own Being. Thou sayest,

“He is my Creator, my Provider, my Ordainer, my Fashioner—there is no God but He.”

And God hath accepted from His servants this relation unto Him, for aught else is impossible in the realm of contingency. In its very truth and essence, this is the relation of creation unto creation and the judgment of the possible within the possible, even as ʿAli (peace be upon him) indicated in his Khutabtu’l-Yatimiyyah:

“If thou sayest whence is He?‘, He hath distinguished Himself from all things, for He is He. If thou sayest it is it itself’, the conjunction in his words is a quality proving it, not a quality revealing Him. If thou assignest Him a limit, the limit pertaineth to other than Him. If thou sayest the air is His relationship, the air is of His creation. One returneth from attribute to attribute, the heart is blinded from understanding, understanding from perception, perception from deduction. Dominion persisteth in dominion, the created endeth with its like, glory seeketh its kind, examination leadeth to powerlessness, explanation to loss, outcry to despair, proclamation to severance. The way is barred, the search repelled. His proof is His signs, His existence His establishment.”

Through such explanations there ariseth in man’s mind that after the way is barred and proof prevented, how can the Divine Essence be unified, the attributes sanctified, and the All-Merciful be worshipped with the essential nearness in contingent being? Nay, such judgment is impossible, forbidden. How then, O Possessor of Glory, can that which is impossible in this state be achieved?

Yea, I shall acquaint thee with what thou knowest not from the Book: The unification of the Essence and knowledge thereof is impossible for contingent being. God hath commanded thee only to attain the utmost bounty of God in contingent being, which is the station of knowing the All-Merciful in all things. None may delve into knowledge of that vast, abundant, surging ocean. For when thou gazest in mirrors, if thou art heedless of them thou findest thy face therein without mention of them. Thou art not that which is in the mirrors, and that which is in the mirrors is thine image which thou hast revealed unto them through them in the mirrors themselves, and they reflect thy countenance and indicate thy presence while the mirrors remain.

Likewise thou knowest the portion of contingent being, that if thou turnest not unto it with mention of contingency, thou shalt see naught but the pure revelation, the absolute Essence, and the definitive Presence in all whereupon falleth the name of a thing.

The claim of knowledge through discovery and proof returneth to a single point, for God hath created in contingent being a station and related it to Himself, and commanded people to worship none but His Most Holy Essence alone. Thy mention of His Most Holy Essence is His manifestation to thee through thee in thyself, where it indicateth naught but thy Lord. Other than this is impossible in contingent being. Whoso worshippeth Him through mention of aught else or His manifestation through His creation hath joined partners with Him and hath not worshipped Him. Whoso worshippeth Him saying the object of worship is His manifestation while He is other than it hath disbelieved in Him and hath not worshipped Him, due to the existence of separation and the impossibility of encompassment, for that which He maketh His manifestation is He, yet He is above that manifestation.

It beseemeth not the servant to worship a manifestation while pointing to One Who is higher than His manifestation. Glorified be God, the Single, the Worshipped! He is the absolute Essence, the Single, the One, the Eternal, the Ancient, Whom none but He can know, none but He can unify, and none of His creation can worship, for in His reality naught was with Him, and now He is even as He was.

There was nothing with Him, so how can one who does not bring Him into existence worship Him, or how can one who does not unify Him know Him? The verses of detachment in the station of orientation and unity are like your saying “There is no God but God.” Just as this is a contingent word indicating God and His unity, so too is the reality of your essence and the being of your mystery. Those possessed of understanding know not what is there except through what is here.

O observer of these signs, do not contemplate, for the manifestations are ever renewed in contingent existence. In the moment when you make the manifestation of the Essence the portion of contingent existence, in that moment God reveals Himself to you through you by the manifestation of the Essence. You unceasingly know the portion of sovereignty, and He unceasingly reveals Himself to you through you by the manifestation of the Essence. Thus has God created all things in the world of contingency.

O questioner of the true explanation, interpret all the letters of that sacred verse through what We have caused to shine upon you from the manifestations of the ocean of glory, for that is humanity’s portion in the station of paradise. Unto God, my Lord, do I complain of the action of the sun and moon by reckoning.

“Lord, Thou knowest all things and hast power over all things. Deal with those who know Thy wisdom yet turn away from Thy Cause as they deserve before Thy face. By Thy might, I am innocent of all Thine enemies and love all Thy friends. By the balance Thou hast honored me with in the Bayan, we distinguish between the wretched and the blessed, and judge between them in this earthly life according to what their hands have wrought. Lord, forgive those in whose nature is the clay of love for Thy friends, and punish all those in whose nature is the clay of enmity toward Thy loved ones. Thou art the Almighty, the Powerful.”

When thou hast understood what We have explained to thee of the laws of Return, know with certainty that the Bearer of God’s Cause must come during an interval between Messengers, though there has never ceased to be among people a proof from Him, as Ali said: “The earth is never void of one who stands for God with His proof, whether manifest and renowned or fearful and hidden.” God’s way has been ordained before as it will be ordained after, as the Messenger of God said: “By Him in Whose hand is my soul, you will follow the ways of those who came before you, step by step and inch by inch, until you neither miss their path nor does the way of the Children of Israel pass you by.” Among these is what God revealed in the Qur’an: “O my people, enter the holy land which God has prescribed for you, and turn not back, for then you will be losers.” [Q5:21] Their number was six hundred thousand, some say forty thousand, and there remained only the cause of Moses and Aaron and his two sons and Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Yephunneh. They wandered for forty years because of their disobedience.

Likewise was the Cause of the Messenger of God—when He passed away, none remained firm in God’s Cause except Ali, Hasan, Husayn, Salman, Miqdad and Abu Dharr. Thus dost thou know God’s Cause in many hidden matters. When people read the verse of the Qur’an:

“They said: O Moses! In it are a people of exceeding strength, and we shall never enter it until they depart from it; then if they depart from it, we will enter. Two men of those who feared, on whom God had bestowed His grace, said: Enter upon them through the gate, for when you have entered it, you will surely be victorious”

[Q5:22-23]—this is a matter witnessed by the believers, for when you enter the gate you will overcome all through a manifest and brilliant proof like this sun in the midst of heaven, even if you are killed while having truth on your side—then you are the victorious ones. But if you prevail and act beyond what God has permitted, then you are surely among the lost.

You need not worry about the meaning of the tradition that was recited to you—for how could God decree a matter for a people and not have it come to pass? Indeed, the law of divine nonfulfillment (bada’) precedes destiny by four degrees, and the Book is at the seventh level of action. Yes, it is said that knowledge is of two kinds: knowledge that God keeps hidden, which none of His creation has access to, and knowledge that He has taught His angels and messengers. What He has taught His angels and messengers will surely come to pass, for He does not belie Himself, nor His angels, nor His messengers. And from His hidden knowledge, He brings forward what He wills, guides whom He wills, and establishes what He wills.

In the apparent meaning of the tradition, it veils the first tradition and closes the door of its meaning. But when you look at it through the lens of possible divine revelation that is inseparable from anything and recognizes all stations of action like knowledge itself, it lifts the veil and removes the impossibility.

I counsel you and all who follow me to recite the Surah of the Children of Israel every Friday night, for the Truthful One (peace be upon him) said:

“Whoever recites that Surah every Friday night will not die until they meet the Qa’im and become one of his companions.”

His statement (may my soul be sacrificed for him) implies either meeting or seeing him without recognizing him.

So blessed are those who gaze upon his countenance, for that is indeed the great triumph. And that which this Gate hath imagined is none other than He Who manifested Himself upon Mount Sinai, when God, thy Lord, sent down His judgment in the Qur’an and ascribed it to the revelation of His own Self, where He saith—and His word is the truth—“And when his Lord manifested Himself to the mountain, He made it crumble into dust, and Moses fell down in a swoon” [Q7:143].

For He was one among the Shiah of Ali, as al-Sadiq—peace be upon Him—hath said, according to what is related in the Basair:

“The cherubim are a people from among our Shiah, belonging to the first creation. God placed them behind the Throne; were but one ray of light from any of them divided among the people of the earth, it would suffice them all.”

Then He said:

“When Moses besought his Lord, he asked of Him but a matter belonging to one of the cherubim. Whereupon God manifested Himself unto the mountain and made it crumble into dust.”

Consider, then, the majesty of the manifestation of thy Lord! The people of Moses were seventy thousand in number. From among them Moses chose seven thousand; from them again seven hundred; and from them yet seventy men for the appointed tryst with His Lord. He set them upon the mountaintop, and the thunderbolt seized them because of their wrong, for they had asked that which God had not permitted them to ask. They perished, and when Moses besought his Lord, God revived and raised them again. Thus was the decree of God, both before and after.

And for those who draw nigh unto God there is, in the Book of God, a Day of Encounter with Majesty, as Ja’far ibn Muhammad—peace be upon Him—hath intimated in his saying. When he was asked, “Doth the believer behold God on the Day of Resurrection?” he answered, “Yea, and they have indeed beheld Him before that Day.” It was said, “When?” He replied, “When He asked them, Am I not your Lord?’ They said, Yea, verily!”’ [Q7:172].

Then he paused awhile and said, “And verily the believers shall behold Him in this world ere the Day of Resurrection. Hast thou not beheld Him in thy station?” I said, “Shall I relate this from thee?” He said, “Nay; for if thou shouldst relate it and one ignorant of its meaning were to deny it, deeming it anthropomorphism, such a one would fall into unbelief. For the vision of the heart is not as the vision of the eye, as men know them; for both the eye and the heart are created things in the Book of God. And the heart cannot behold the Essence of the Eternal, even as the eye can never do so.”

His—may my soul be a ransom unto Him—intention was the vision of His manifestation unto every soul in its own station. For the heart, in the measure that its capacity encompasseth, perceiveth of that manifestation what the eye cannot perceive, for the eye is bounded. This belongeth to the station of grace. But if thou desirest the decree of justice, then know that the heart, even as the eye, is limited by the confines of creation. Indeed, creation beholds creation, and they shall never be capable of beholding the Lord, exalted be His glory. He who understands the signs in the depths of these words, indications, symbols and stations knows—and none can know the signs except through the negation of signs, nor can the negation of signs be known through signs or through their negation. Around these deaf, dark, blind, pitch-black, gloomy, hellish words revolve the spheres of the cloud of unknowing, glory, praise, decree and origination—and this is the letter Ha’ before the station of Vav in the realm of names and attributes.

8. Commentary on the Surah in the stages of the manifestations of the water of Kawthar

Part 1: “If you have understood what We have taught…”

If you have understood what We have taught you, and become illumined by what We have caused to shine upon you, and enlightened by what We have bestowed upon you, and stirred by what We have stirred within you, and brightened by what We have brightened you with, and filled by what We have given you to drink, and have drunk from the Kawthar we have granted you—then pray unto your Lord and sacrifice. For he who hateth thee shall be the one cut off. Otherwise submit, and you shall be safe through what has dawned, what has shone forth, what has gleamed, what has illumined, what has brightened, what has appeared on the horizon, and what has been spoken. Glory be unto Thee! I turn unto Thee, and I am the first of the believers.

What I have indicated in these signs and detailed in these tokens is the portion of those like you among the people of understanding, who know the decrees of origin and return in the hidden revelations of the spheres of names and attributes.

And since God has assigned to every letter the decrees of all things, I hereby indicate in this station certain of the manifestations of the Water of Kawthar, that those who dwell beneath the shadows of the radiant tabernacles of Paradise may drink, in this mortal life, from the fountain of water unpolluted. Then shall those who repose upon the couches of the Pavilion in the midst of Paradise drink from the fountain of pure milk; and those who recline upon the resplendent couches beneath the shade of the Tree of the Throne, within the Canopy of Time, shall drink from the fountain of clarified honey; and those who walk upon the earth, by the leave of God, in the temple of majesty and beauty, of dominion and glory, shall drink from the fountain of wine, a delight unto the drinkers.

O thou who gazest upon that luminous and melodious dove from the Tree of the Cloud! Follow the mention of the queens of the sovereignty of the divine bees in the essences of those manifestations; then hearken to the beating of the dove of power in the realities of those states; then observe the qualities of the birds of the Kingdom in the “I-ams” of those allusions; then hearken to the sound of the spreading of the peacock’s wings and what the ocean of meanings rehearseth in the psychic realities of those stations. For verily the Water of Kawthar of manifestation now floweth in the depths of those rivers.

Bear witness, then, with the secret of thy heart, to that divine foundation—that the Water of Kawthar is the pure water of the manifestation of the Theophany, which the people of utterance describe, in the station of the outward, by the visible pillars of creation. He maketh each pillar thereof a river: the first, the water unpolluted, white and shining—its inward reality the Fire of pre-existence, its outward form the Water of Eternity. It is a river that hath no beginning but itself, and no end but its own essence. God hath caused it to flow from Himself unto Himself, without the mention of aught beside Him. It is the river of unity, the water of detachment, and the ocean of singleness, flowing by the permission of God, revealing the manifestation of God.

If thou shouldst say that the bed of the river is of its water, and that the ship which floateth thereon is of its water, and that the mariner and all that abideth upon it are of its water, and that the waves and all that move within the water are of its water—thou wouldst have spoken the truth. For that water revealeth not its outward save through its inward, nor its inward save through its outward; its concealment through its manifestation, and its manifestation through its concealment. The wayfarer in it and the drinker from it behold naught save the pure manifestation of the essential Theophany, which pointeth only to Him Who is manifested thereby. It is the fountain from which the names and attributes are diffused.

And the allusions are the portion of the people of sanctity; yet he who gazeth upon the Lord of attributes beholdeth that water amidst the thickets of the divine bamboos, in the manifestations of the reality of His own being—at every moment, before every moment, and after every moment. He is sustained in every condition according to his station in the degrees of action and passion.

Turn, then, with the eye of thine heart to the station of the ultimate effusion of creation within thine own self; for it is the river of the Water unpolluted from the Kawthar in the station of Divinity, reminding thee to say, “There is no God but God.” And in every condition thou utterest this, yet neither the outward changes nor the inward is altered. Thus hath been the decree of God in the celestial world; and none among those endued with understanding comprehendeth what is there save by what is here.

And beneath that station there are for thee degrees without end, leading to that which hath no limit, until the beginning of manifestation reacheth the station of the body—the utmost degree of created being in descent. And thou, in that most excellent station, movest not save as the Water of Kawthar floweth in thy inmost heart. Thy drinking of that water in this mortal life is but a sustenance from God for thy body, that He may teach thee, through that outward bestowal, of His inward bounty within thy soul—lest thou be heedless, even for an instant, of the presence of His sustaining Lordship.

And if thou shouldst lift up thine inner sight, thou wouldst behold the river of the Water unpolluted, and all that God hath prepared for thee in the Ridwan, in this very station and this very hour, even as the Imam, the Father of the Proof, revealed unto whomsoever He willed. And it is even as hath been revealed in the tradition. Husayn Muhammad related from al Mualla, from Muhammad ibn Abd Allah, from Muhammad ibn Yahya, from Salih ibn Said, who said:

“I entered the presence of Ali ibn al Husayn and said, ʿMay I be thy ransom! In every matter they have sought to quench thy light and belittle thy station, even to the point that they have lodged thee in this vile inn—the inn of the destitute.’

He replied, Art thou here, O son of Said?’ Then He motioned with His hand and said, Look!’ And lo, before me were meadows exquisite and gardens fair, filled with fragrant maidens gleaming like hidden pearls, and birds melodious, and rivers gushing forth. My sight and hearing were confounded, and my eyes were astonished.

He said, ʿWherever we may be, this is ever prepared for us. We do not dwell in the inn of beggars! How then could I hint at the secret of the Cause? Verily, it is far mightier than men conceive. For that which shall appear on the Day of Resurrection of the bounties of Paradise, its stations and what God hath prepared therein—all live by that Water; for the cause is none other than His own Self.

Consider this tree: it springeth from the earth by means of the water which God created for it, whereby it bringeth forth fruit. Even so, know thou all the stations in this world and in the next. Yet fear God, lest thou knowest a station above the limit for which God created it.

That Water unpolluted, when it is mentioned in the outward station of Will, signifieth naught but that which God hath bestowed through Muhammad alone—no share hath any other therein. Then, in its inward station, naught but that which God hath bestowed through the living Imam—none other hath portion therein. Then, in the outward station of Purpose, naught but that which God hath given through Ali. Then, in its inward, naught but that which God hath granted through Ali ibn al Husayn.

Then, in the outward station of Decree, Judgment, Permission, Destiny, and the Book, it is that which God hath given through Fatimah, Hasan, Husayn, Musa, and Jafar. And in the inward of those holy manifestations, naught but that which God hath granted through Muhammad al Baqir, and thereafter through Ali, Muhammad, Ali, and Hasan—peace be upon them. None hath a share in that Water unpolluted from which they drink.

Likewise is it with the ordinances of the outward. Whoso supposeth that the Imam drinketh of the same water as other men hath verily denied the power of God concerning them. For the secret of the matter is that the manifestation of the Water unpolluted is their mystery. When it is realized in the world of limitation, it becometh affirmed among men at the time of recognition, even as their bodies are sometimes confused in the eyes of others in the station of Imamate.

But he who knoweth their true rank knoweth that God guardeth what He hath realized for their sake upon the earth, and none else hath any share therein, though it be mingled with that which is subject to men’s control. Even as al Baqir—peace be upon Him—declared, when He showed the questioner the Tree of Tuba from heaven and the Tree of Zaqqum from earth: all take their portion therefrom.”

And likewise is the decree within the chain of the eight: the noble cannot drink of the water of the elect, though both drink from one and the same stream. Such, too, is the law that governeth the signs and realities, the manifestations and tokens, the stations and verses, the modes and essences, the beings and “I-ams,” the souls and beginnings, the ends and finalities, and that which lieth beyond them of infinities unto that which hath no end, in a manner unending—such that none among creation can encompass the knowledge thereof, save as God willeth. Exalted is He above that which they ascribe unto Him!

When thou knowest, then, the mystery of the Cause, thou shalt be assured that the river of the Water unpolluted is the Paradise of the People of God in this world, reserved unto them alone even as is the hereafter. None beside them are able to comprehend their portion of what God hath decreed for them in Paradise, for all others have ever dwelt within the domain of action; and when others are mentioned, they are mentioned only in the shadow of the rank of action.

And when the Pen runneth to mention the station, behold, I now behold thee amidst the gardens of the people of creation, wherein floweth that Water unpolluted through the depths of possibility. Know, then, that the utmost degree of Paradise for all things is the station of the rising of divine unity within the Presence of detachment; this is the beginning of the station of “Thou,” and whatsoever lieth beneath the rank of the Unity of Essence pertaineth to the world of names and attributes.

Thus did Ali—peace be upon Him—command that in the perfection of unity the servant should deny all names and attributes within the sacred court of the Manifestation of the Divine Essence. And all the realities of the world below, and the other manifestations of existence, flow beneath that Water of life—from the beginning of the detachment of the detached, which is the end of the station of forms, accidents, and bodies.

And when the light of certitude glimmereth and the secret of possibility is stirred, know that God, exalted and glorified, hath manifested Himself to the eye of the spirit in the world of limitation even as He manifested to the Water unpolluted in the world of pre-eternal divinity, and hath placed His Paradise within the precincts of His own Paradise, in the inmost core of His reality.

And when the eye of the spirit openeth toward the first white pillar of the Throne—beneath which floweth the river of the Water unpolluted in the station of origination—it speaketh of the manifestation of Will; then, in the station of Invention, it speaketh of the manifestation of Purpose; then, in the station of Formation, of the manifestation of Decree; then, in the station of Occurrence, of the manifestation of Judgment. Yet the similitudes become confused to him who gazeth upon the ocean of the white radiance.

Therefore I now bring down the matter from the world of abstraction unto the station of letters within forms, that all may know the stations of the eightfold series in the words, even as God hath created them within the essences of the verses. Make, then, the point within the letters the appearance of the indistinct within the first Paradise; then the alif opposite the city of the might of Purpose in the station of the second Paradise; then the extended alif opposite the city of the depths of the Sea of Decree in the station of the third Paradise; then the letters freed from composition in the city of the Ocean of Judgment in the station of the fourth Paradise; then the perfect word opposite the Paradise of Permission; then the compounded words in the station of Destiny, the sixth Paradise; then that which is realized from the effect of the words opposite the seventh Paradise.

Rise, then, and contemplate the reflections of the rivers of those degrees within the abyss, the eye of the spirit opposite the manifestation of the might of Will; then the eye of the right hand opposite the city of the might of Self-subsistence; then the eye of Tabariyyah opposite the city of the might of Oneness; then the eye of Barhut opposite the city of the might of Mercy; then the fountain of Masidan opposite the sea of Permission; then the fountain of Ifriqiyyah opposite the sea of Destiny; then the fountain of Nahrawan opposite the Greatest Book.

And as in every station one of the heavenly realm beareth the effusion of universality, so also in the mirrored forms of the abyss is one that beareth the chastisement of universality. The first bearer of the universal effusion in the rank of the outward Will is Muhammad, and in its inward reality, He Who shall arise by the command of God—the living Imam.

Then, in the rank of Will and the five degrees thereof, its outward and its inward are the Imams of religion—twelve souls in number. Hence is each one of them a universal cause in the origination of the possible and the invention of existence, by the permission of God—glorified be His Name.

And in the lower world, the bearer of the outward aspect of the first universal retribution is the First—may the curse of God be upon him—and in the inward, it is he who shall wage war against the Remnant of God at the dawn of His manifestation.

And in the degrees of the outward, the bearers of the waters of the spring of the right hand, and of Tabariyyah, and of Barhut, and of the fountain of Masidan, and of the fountain of Ifriqiyyah, and of the fountain of Nahrawan, are the Imams of the Fire—those who attained the life of the Imams of the Unseen.

And thou knowest that in every series there is correspondence between the worlds above and below, even as hath been cast unto thee—from the rank of meanings unto the station of the noble ones in the judgment of reckoning, and from the series of the eight unto its ultimate end in the station of exposition. All this is but a sprinkling from the water of that river—the Water unpolluted—which, when thou drinkest thereof, draweth thee unto the station of nearness and intimacy, and leadeth thee unto the rising of the pure theophany in the sanctuary of might and holiness.

And verily, in that station, when certain sages journeyed therein, the signs of the manifestation of the Essence in Its very being became confused within their own souls. Therefore did they expound in their writings the mystery of unity in existence and the rising of the Unseen in the outward form of the existent, yet they failed to recall the saying of Ali—peace be upon Him—in his sermon, wherein He declared, exalted be His mention:

“And sovereignty endureth in sovereignty; the created being endeth in his like; aspiration returneth to its semblance; inquiry leadeth unto helplessness; explanation unto loss; striving unto despair; attainment unto severance. The path is barred and the quest rejected. His signs are His proofs, His being the evidence of His existence.”

Part 2: “Now, certain of men, supposing the rank…”

Now, certain of men, supposing the rank of honor to consist in the servant’s heedlessness of that station, have argued from His saying, exalted be He: ʿThey entered the city while its people were heedless’—yet this is true only after one hath known the degree of contingency and the absence of direct perception. For prior to the recognition of contingency alone, the foot of the wayfarer stumbleth in seeking to comprehend the rising of the attributes through the manifestation of the Essence.

Hence did Ali—peace be upon Him—indicate this in His saying:

“Thy power hath been made manifest, O my God, yet Thy form hath not been revealed; wherefore have they likened Thee and taken some of Thy signs as lords besides Thee. Thus have they failed to know Thee.”

This, then, is the straight path of justice in the way of the Imams of excellence: that the servant, whensoever he ascendeth, forgetteth not himself, nor supposeth that in the realm of possibility aught can exist beyond its appointed limit. Glorified be God, the One, the Peerless, above the descriptions of the possible and the qualities of the existent! For He, as He is, none knoweth Him save Himself, nor doth any unify Him but He. Exalted and glorified is He!

This is the remembrance of the Water unpolluted, within My heart and upon My tongue—it speaketh of the manifestation of His creative act within Me. Exalted be He above what they describe!

When thou drinkest of the Water unpolluted—the Kawthar—flowing through the veins of those leaves that sprout from the Tree of Divinity, then know the meaning of the pure milk in the yellow quarter of the Throne: that river which floweth beneath the degree of Will, endlessly unto endlessness. It is a river determined by the determination of thingness before the delineation of meaning. It is a living water; and if thou wouldst drink thereof in this mortal life, then tread the path of justice upon the point of grace—for this is the universal guardianship, radiant, sanctified, exalted, and effulgent.

By raising its inward reality above its outward river—the first—there is an increase in the mingling of the clay which preserveth the warmth of fire. To this He alluded in His saying that its taste changeth not; it is the river of longing, attraction, love, and nearness.

Therefore, when He was established upon the throne of majesty, He called, both openly and in secret, unto the rising of beauty, and proclaimed the divinity in the center of earth, the dominion upon the orb of names and attributes, and the sovereignty by likening it to the signet upon His hand—whereof He spoke, exalted be His remembrance, in that station what He spoke.

This is witnessed by those who have lifted the veils of holiness from the rising of majesty and have known Him in the point of balance—the extremity of the summit of the manifestation of the Most High.

Thus did Ali—peace be upon Him—utter in His own soul that which Muhammad, the Messenger of God, had before proclaimed: for the fountains of the milk whose taste changeth not flow by the mention of His determined reality, whose color is that of whiteness.

And in the first rank, the Water unpolluted hath no color by reason of the intensity of its purity, the splendor of its station, and the nearness of its secret unto the rank of its Manifestation. Yet it shineth forth with whiteness in the station of its limit.

And he who drinketh of that spring hath the right to extol the People of God at all times, for God hath manifested Himself unto him through the knowledge of them, and hath decreed in the hidden realm for them that their beings are those through which the beings of all things are sundered from the mention of the Essence in the essences; their essential realities are severed from the dominions in the mention of the attributes within the attributes; their “I-ams” are withdrawn from the kingdoms in the mention of the names and the rising of the pure theophany; and their souls are veiled from the worlds of spirit in the mention of the beginnings and the ends.

Through them all that moveth hath been set in motion within the ocean of justice, beneath the shadow of the radiant tabernacles of Paradise. And through them all that is tranquil was stilled, in the ocean of grace, at the right hand of the Fountain of Ifriqiyyah, beneath the shadow of the Tree of Jarsum in Paradise. The allusions are veils in their description, and the indications are darknesses in their praise. God alone knoweth their true worth and measureth their praise; none besides them can comprehend their rank. And if others should seem to know, their knowledge is but as that of the ant concerning the earth upon which it walketh. I seek the forgiveness of God for even this comparison, which constraineth the boundless within the many.

And if thou wouldst drink of the milk of that river, it behoveth thee to behold within it three living rivers, each as the likeness of man—just as that man to whom Ali ibn al Husayn gave of that water said:

“I beheld in the cup four rivers. When I would approach the wine, three went before it, as though they were living beings rising in harmony with what moved within my heart.”

So is the case with the honey, the milk, and the water unpolluted.

In truth, if thou considerest the matter aright, the Water unpolluted standeth over against the Fountain of the Spirit; the milk over against the Fountain of the Right Hand; the honey over against the Fountain of Tabariyyah; and the wine over against the Fountain of Barhut in the earth of man. The change lieth only in the realm of multiplicity after unity.

And thou hast within this station a hidden symbol, whose veil I now lift, that thou mayest behold with the eye of thine heart, as though thou sawest a ruby-red gem in thy palm. When thou lookest toward the degree of descent, thou shalt see that the river of the Water unpolluted precedeth the three, even as it appeareth in the kingdom. From the day of Adam, the wondrous Word of Will hath caused the Water unpolluted to flow for the remembrance of unity—that there is no God but He. Then, from the day of the mission of Muhammad, the Messenger of God; and again, on the Day of Ghadir, God caused to flow the Fountain of clarified honey for the testimony of souls to the guardianship of the People of God—the Imams of religion, those honored servants who “speak not before Him, and by His command they act.”

And from the day of the rising of that wondrous Cause, God, glorified and exalted, caused to flow the river of wine, a delight unto the drinkers, for the hearts’ acknowledgment of that which God had decreed for them in the dawning of the human form—the image of manifestation pre-eternal and concealment everlasting. This pertaineth to the station of descent.

But if thou seekest the decree of ascent, the first of its degrees is the Fountain of wine, then the Fountain of honey, then the Fountain of milk, then the Fountain of water. And when the worlds of descent and ascent meet, the two fountains of wine flow together from the manifestations of guardianship and prophethood in a single essence; this is a token of the secret of the heavenly realm. Know, then, the truth of that wine: in the station of descent it is the secret of the heart; in the station of ascent it is the dust’s beginning—the station of bodies.

And the possessors of insight who dwell upon the throne of names and attributes know not what is in the manifestations of divinity, the effulgences of dominion, the disclosures of sovereignty, and the breaths of the kingdom, save through what is here in the world of man. All that I have illumined thee with of the stations of origination and of those rivers is of this kind; for in the station of revelation these mysteries shall not appear save after the return of the People of God—peace be upon them—for “on that Day shall the earth shine with the light of her Lord.”

That Day hath its appointed time. When thou hast known the ordinances of the Water of Kawthar, know thou that it is one water: in every station it is mentioned by a name. When it descendeth into the grove of divinity, it is remembered by its name; in the grove of power, by its mention; in the grove of sovereignty, by its designation; in the grove of the kingdom, by its title; in the realm of cloud, by the name of cloud; in the realm of decree, by the name of decree; in the realm of fulfillment, by the name of fulfillment; and in the station of origination, by the name of origination.

The words may seem confused to him who gazeth upon the effulgences of the attributes; yet the sum of all allusion in these tokens is this: thou shalt see no living thing but by the Water of Kawthar. The names and attributes are its marks and its signs. Look upon the Water of Kawthar in the Qur’an: it liveth thereby, flowing from the Fountain at the right hand of the heart of Fatimah—inwardly and outwardly.

And let it not occur to thee that, because manifestation correspondeth to concealment, it must have a single mode or end; nay, the inner realities have manifold outpourings. Among them is the rank of oneness, unaccompanied by aught beside it—this is the utmost depth of inwardness within the inner. From the first river appeareth the inward of the Name of God, the Withholder, through the secret of the rank of fire; from the river of milk whose taste changeth not, the outward of the Name of God, the Living; from the river of clarified honey, the inward of the Name of God, the Quickener; and from the river of wine, a delight unto the drinkers, the inward of the Name of God, the Causer of death.

Thus was Hasan related to the Messenger of God, and Husayn to his Father—this is the secret of that tradition of which thou didst ask Me on the first night. And when thou hast drunk but a single drop of that Water, be assured that the servant attaineth not unto the perfection of his existence in all its degrees until he is able to cause those four rivers to flow within the world of utterance. Thus did God bestow upon Me, in the station of exposition, the manifestations of the four rivers—indeed, the likeness and the reality are one and the same in the station wherein all flow, by the leave of God, from the Water unpolluted. These are the divine signs, the most exalted of stations in the exposition of the Words, and the supreme proof unto those who abide in the ocean of the names and attributes.

Because of the purity of their manifestation and the loftiness of their inward reality, men have not been able to comprehend them nor draw nigh unto them. Therefore they hear, and flee. This is but due to the remoteness of their station from the primal dawning of manifestation; for had any remained unchanged in his primordial nature, he would have found no sweetness in aught beside it, nor been drawn to any but the love of God with that same attraction which draweth the soul toward Him. That is the Water unpolluted, pure unto God—exalted be He.

Since no admixture of multiplicity entereth into it, it revealeth and reflecteth naught but the effulgence of the Manifestation in the appearing of Him Who is manifested. It is the tongue of the people of that Paradise which hath no shadow; none enter therein save by it. Whoso desireth to enter that Paradise hath no path thereto until he attain unto that station and drink from the Water unpolluted—the mystery of those signs. And he whose heart hath not been opened by those words shall not enter that Paradise save if God so will.

Every realm of being possesseth its rightful rank, so long as the conditions of existence remain unchanged; yet God hath refused to manifest it within the chain of creation save under two names. Had He willed, He could have done otherwise.

In the rank of prophethood, the true flowing of the Water of this river appeared not in its reality, for God granted not His Messenger leave to reveal it, by reason of the incapacity of the people of that age. But today the Water of that river floweth from My tongue and My pen by the will of God—without cessation or decline. It is the Water of the Fountain of the Spirit, of which the Imam said: “The believer is rarer than the red sulphur.”

And verily the matter is so: for through the mere emanation of the Water of that river none hath entered the religion of God save one whose being is rarer than red sulphur. These are the chosen ones, who have reached the summit of detachment. May God grant Me to meet them in the land of holiness, without remembrance of separation or veil.

Because the people have not drunk from the Water of that river, they have been unable to know its station. Each of the other three rivers correspondeth to the nature and love of its drinkers—they drink thereof and praise their Lord. But the pure believer drinketh, before the three rivers, only from that one; for the three are in truth but the names of that river. Indeed, they live by the life of that Water, as God—exalted be His mention—hath said:

“And We made from water every living thing; will ye not then understand?”

(21:30).

And I, had I not beheld with Mine own eyes the glance of those who see, would interpret that Surah by the flowing of the Water unpolluted. Yet one such as thyself, endowed with vision, knoweth the Cause of God in the Greatest Outlook. Therefore do I beseech God of His bounty to strengthen the hearts of men, that they may drink of that living Water, whereby the trees of Paradise bear fruit and put forth leaves in their degree.

Ah, alas! were men but to know the worth of that Water, they would be content to sacrifice all that is upon the earth in the path of God, that they might drink but a single drop from that river—from My hand, from which it floweth by God’s permission. But today most men give no thanks.

And when thou hast understood the ordinance of that river in the ordinance of that Surah, then know also the ordinance of the river of milk whose taste changeth not: it is the Water that floweth in the depths of communion and in the recesses of supplication. It is the fresh milk, the manifest secret, that reflecteth inwardly the Water unpolluted and outwardly the pure milk. It is the water of the spirit of devotion, whereby the servant ascendeth unto the pinnacle of holiness and resteth in the paradise of intimacy.

Thus, when the servant reciteth those prayers in the state of pure absorption, he is drawn unto the court of nearness by an attraction which none can encompass save whom God willeth. And from the swiftness of the flowing of the milk of that river it proceedeth from My pen, filling in six hours a tablet of supplication. This is the supreme honor in the station of the signs, for the secret of the outward pointeth to the secret of the inward.

And this is a matter hard and most difficult: all men know it to be impossible for any save whom God hath willed. For the honor lieth not in the composing of those words, but in the journey of the servant through the kingdom of the names and attributes—swifter than the twinkling of an eye.

By thy life! Were men to taste but the sweetness of that milk, they would gladly rend their bodies limb from limb with their own hands, that they might recite but one of those supplications in solitude. For within them the spirit of divinity pulsates, the mystery of self-subsistence flashes forth, and the ultimate awe of servitude before the justice of God is revealed.

Part 3: “Behold the station of him of whom Ali…”

Behold the station of him of whom Ali ibn al Husayn spoke concerning his own fear, where he said—that saying well known among the men of the heights—that, may my soul be his ransom, he made manifest the matter in the secret of servitude within the bounds of limitation. And in that station he passeth, in many degrees, from the world of limitation unto that which is without end—endlessly unto endlessness—and this honor none may equal in all the realm of names and attributes.

As for me, in that station, I am pure dust—naught but sin—beside a single letter of what Ali ibn al Husayn uttered; for my being hath been consumed by the radiance of the light of his act—may my spirit be sacrificed for him! What, then, is dust compared with the Lord of the firmament of names and attributes?

It behoveth one such as thyself, possessed of that noble rank, to make known unto the people the import of those supplications; for they are pure glory unto the possessors of insight who have attained unto the abode of return. It beseemeth not one of thy station to remain silent among men, nor to allude to the Cause through the veils of those who are distant. For might and honor lie not in such things.

Let not the heed of men nor their conduct grieve thee, for the best of creation was reviled from the pulpits for a thousand months, though the Imam was present, endowed with power, mastery, and dominion—He Who, had He but willed, could have annihilated all that is in the heavens and the earth ere the thought of it arose within His heart. Even as was declared in that tradition wherein the wondrous mysteries of the Paradise of Jarsum are treasured and the marvellous manifestations of the realm of Paradise are inscribed—the tradition transmitted by Ibn Yazid al Jufi, who said:

When the caliphate passed to the sons of Umayyah, they shed the sacred blood, cursed the Commander of the Faithful from the pulpits for a thousand months, disavowed him, and slandered the Shiah in every city. They uprooted their foundations from the world for the sake of the fleeting vanities of this life. The people throughout the lands were filled with fear; whosoever failed to curse the Commander of the Faithful and disavow him was slain, whosoever he might be.

Jabir ibn Yazid al Jufi said:

“I complained of the sons of Umayyah and their partisans to the manifest Imam, the purest of the pure, the adornment of the worshippers, the chief of the ascetics, the vicegerent of God among His servants—Ali ibn al Husayn, peace be upon him. For they had cursed him from the pulpits, on the towers, in the markets, and along the roads; they had disavowed him openly. Indeed, they would gather in the Mosque of the Messenger of God and curse Ali, peace be upon him, in public, and none would forbid them or speak against them. If any among us protested, they would fall upon him as one body, saying, This man is a Rafidi, a partisan of Abu Turab,’ and they would seize him and bring him before their ruler, saying, This man has spoken well of Abu Turab!’ They would strike him, imprison him, and then kill him.”

When the Imam, peace be upon him, heard this from me, he raised his gaze toward heaven and said:

“Glorified art Thou, O my Lord! Thou hast given Thy servants respite in Thy lands until they have thought Thou wouldst grant it forever. Yet all this is before Thine eyes; Thy decree none can overcome, Thy determined plan none can reverse. Thou doest as Thou wilt, and Thou knowest better than we.”

Then he, peace be upon him, called his son Muhammad and said: “O my son.” He answered: “Here am I, my master.” He said: “When the morrow cometh, go unto the Mosque of the Messenger of God, and stir the thread gently—gently, not violently—for if thou stir it with force, all the people will perish.”

Jabir continued: “I was amazed at his words, and I pondered them through the night, not knowing what to think. When morning came, I went to Muhammad, eager to see the thread and its movement. I was mounted upon my beast when the Imam came forth. I dismounted, greeted him, and he returned my greeting. He said, What bringeth thee here? Thou art not wont to come at this hour.’ I replied, O son of the Messenger of God, yesterday I heard thy father say,”Take the thread, go to the Mosque of the Messenger of God, move it gently, and move it not violently lest all men perish.”’

He said: ʿO Jabir, were it not for the appointed time, the fixed term, and the decreed fate, by God, I would cause this perverse creation to be swallowed up in the twinkling of an eye—nay, in a moment, nay, in an instant. But we are honored servants; we do not speak before Him, and by His command we act.’

I said: ʿO my master, why didst thou not do this when I came yesterday and the Shiah complained of what they endure from the accursed Nawasib and the deficient Qadariyyah?’

He said: ʿIndeed, O Jabir, I sought to strike fear into them that perchance they might awaken; I had wished that a portion of them might perish, that God might cleanse the land of them and bring rest to His servants.’

I said: ʿO my master, how canst thou strike fear into them, when they are more than can be counted?’

He said: ʿCome with me to the mosque, that I may show thee a token of the power of God Most High, which He hath bestowed upon us, and the favor with which He hath distinguished us above mankind.’

Jabir continued: *“So I went with him to the mosque. He prayed two rakahs, then laid his cheek upon the dust and spoke certain words. Then he raised his head and drew from his sleeve a slender thread, from which issued the fragrance of musk; it was finer to behold than the thread of a needle. He said, Take it.’ I walked slowly. He said, Stand still, O Jabir.’ So I stood, and he moved the thread softly—so softly that I could scarcely see its movement. Then he said, Give me the end of the thread.’ I handed it to him. I asked, What hast thou done, O son of the Messenger of God?’

He said: ʿWoe unto thee! Go forth among the people and see what hath befallen them.’

I went forth from the mosque—and lo! cries and wailing rose from every quarter and street. There was a great shaking and trembling; the city quaked, and more than thirty thousand men and women perished beneath its ruins. The houses were overturned, and the people poured forth, weeping, crying aloud, bewailing the calamity. Some said, It is the earthquake!’ others, It is the thunderclap!’ others, It is the convulsion!’ and others, It is the Resurrection!’ Most of the people perished.

Groups came running toward the mosque, saying to one another, ʿHow should the earth not swallow us up, when we have forsaken enjoining good and forbidding evil, and wickedness and corruption abound, fornication and hypocrisy and the drinking of wine and abominable acts have increased? By God, worse than this shall befall us unless we amend our ways!’

Jabir continued:

“I was astonished; I watched them weeping, crying, and running in confusion toward the mosque in crowds, until I was moved with compassion for them—and, by God, I wept for their weeping. They knew not whence the punishment had come upon them.”

Then I returned to the Imam al Baqir, peace be upon him. The people had gathered around him, crying:

“O son of the Messenger of God! Seest thou what hath befallen us and the sanctuary of the Messenger of God? The people have perished and died—pray to God, the Exalted, for us!”

He said to them: “Turn to prayer, almsgiving, and supplication.”

Then he said to me: “O Jabir, what is the state of the people?”

I said:

“O my master, ask not, O son of the Messenger of God! The houses and palaces have been struck down, and the people have perished. I beheld them without mercy, and I was moved to pity for them.”

He said:

“May God never have mercy upon them! Verily, there remaineth in thee still a trace of softness; were it not so, thou wouldst not have shown pity to our enemies and the enemies of our friends.”

Then he said:

“Away, away! Far removed be the people of iniquity! By God, had the thread been moved but a little more, they would all have perished; the highest of them would have been cast down, the lowest raised up, and not a house nor a palace would have remained. But my Lord and Master commanded me not to move it with violence.”

Then he ascended the minaret while I watched him, though the people saw him not. He cried out in a mighty voice: “O ye erring and deniers!” The people thought it a voice from heaven, and they fell upon their faces, their hearts trembling within them, crying out in their prostration: “Mercy! mercy!” They heard the cry of truth, but saw not the speaker. Then he motioned with his hand—I beheld it, though the people saw it not—and again the city quaked, though not as before; many houses were overthrown. Then he recited: “And that is how We recompensed them for their wrongdoing.”

After descending, he continued: “And when Our command came, We made its uppermost part its lowest, and rained upon them stones of baked clay, marked by thy Lord for the extravagant.” And he recited: “Then the roof fell upon them from above, and the punishment came upon them from whence they knew not.”

Jabir said:

“During the second earthquake, the veiled women fled from their chambers with uncovered heads; children were crying aloud, yet no one heeded them. When al-Baqir beheld this, he stretched forth his hand, gathered the thread into his palm, and the trembling ceased. He then took me by the hand—none of the people saw him—and we went out of the mosque.”

“There was a crowd gathered at the door of the blacksmith’s shop, many people saying, Did you not hear that murmuring just now?’ Some said, Yes, much murmuring indeed’; others said, Yes, by God, it was voices, speech, cries—but by God, we could not make out the words.’ The Imam al-Baqir looked at me and smiled, saying, O Jabir, this is our way and their way: when they wax proud, exult, rebel, and commit tyranny, we strike terror into them and burn them; if they repent, well; if not, then God’s command is executed against them.”’

Jabir said: “I asked, O son of the Messenger of God, what is this thread that holds such power?’ He replied, This is a remnant of that which the family of Moses and Aaron left behind, borne unto us by the angels. O Jabir, we have before God a rank and a station exalted indeed. Were it not for us, God would not have created earth nor heaven, nor Paradise nor Hell, nor fruits nor moon, nor land nor sea, nor plain nor mountain, nor moist nor dry, nor sweet nor bitter, nor water nor plant nor tree. God created us from the light of His own Essence. No human can be compared with us. Through us hath the Almighty saved you; through us hath He guided you. By God, we are those who raised you above your Lord—stand firm, then, by our command and our prohibition. Reject not whatever proceedeth from us; for verily, we are greater, mightier, more exalted, and higher than all that cometh unto you. Whatever ye understand thereof, praise God for it; and whatever ye comprehend not, commit its meaning unto us, and say:”Our Imams know best what they have spoken.”“’

Then the governor of the city arrived, riding with his guards, and they cried out to the people:

“O people! Come forth unto the son of the Messenger of God, Ali ibn al-Husayn, and draw nigh unto God through him, that haply God may avert from you this chastisement.”

When they beheld Muhammad ibn Ali al-Baqir, they hastened toward him, saying:

“O son of the Messenger of God! Seest thou what hath befallen the community of thy grandsire Muhammad? They have perished to the last! Where is thy father, that we may beseech him to come forth to the mosque and intercede with God, that He may lift this calamity from the people of thy grandsire?”

Muhammad ibn Ali said:

“God will do as He willeth. Reform yourselves, repent, humble yourselves, and refrain from what ye do; for none feeleth secure from the plan of God but the lost.”

Jabir continued: “Then we went to Ali ibn al-Husayn, who was in prayer. We waited until he finished, then he came toward us and said: O Muhammad, what news of the people?’ He replied: They have seen of the power of God that which hath left them amazed.’ I said: Their ruler hath sent to ask thee to come to the mosque, that the people may gather and pray and beseech God to remove from them what hath befallen.’ The Imam smiled and recited: Did not My messengers come unto you with clear proofs? They said,”Yea.” He said, “Then pray, for the prayer of the disbelievers is but in vain.”’ And again he recited: ʿEven if We were to send down unto them the angels, and the dead were to speak unto them, and We were to gather all things before them, they would not believe unless God willed; yet most of them know not.”’

Then he said: “Aye, they know not whence this befell them.” And he recited: “This day We shall forget them, even as they forgot the meeting of this their day, and as they denied Our signs.” He said: “By God, these are Our signs, and this is one of them; by God, it is Our guardianship of which God hath spoken in His Book: ʿNay, We hurl the truth against falsehood, and it smiteth it, and lo, it vanisheth. And woe unto you for what ye forge!”’

Then Jabir said:

“What sayest thou, O son of the Messenger of God, of a people who have extinguished our way, befriended our enemies, violated our sanctuaries, wronged and angered us, revived the customs of the oppressors, and followed in the path of the corrupt?”

He replied:

“Praise be to God, Who hath bestowed upon Me abundant honor in that He hath exalted you and guided Me to your obedience—to love your friends and hate your foes.”

The Imam said:

“O Jabir, knowest thou what true knowledge is? It is this: first, the affirmation of divine unity; second, the knowledge of the meanings; third, the knowledge of the Gates; fourth, the knowledge of the Imam; fifth, the knowledge of the Pillars; sixth, the knowledge of the Elect; and seventh, the knowledge of the Chosen.”

Verily, He—exalted be His mention—hath said: “Say: If the sea were ink for the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted; and even if We were to bring the like thereof as a supplement, the words of my Lord would not be exhausted.” And He likewise said: “And were all the trees on earth pens and the sea (itself) replenished with seven seas behind it, the words of God would not be ended; surely God is Mighty, Wise.”

O Jabir, the establishment of Divine Unity and the knowledge of the meanings—these are two things. As to the establishment of Unity: it is the knowledge of God, the Ancient, the Hidden, Whom vision cannot grasp, yet Who taken in all vision; He is the Subtle, the Well-Acquainted. [Q6:103] He is a Hiddenness that shall be apprehended in the manner He hath described of Himself.

Part 4: “As to the meanings—behold, we are…”

As to the meanings—behold, we are His meanings and we are His manifestation in you. We were created from the light of His Self, and unto us He hath entrusted the affairs of His servants. By His leave we do whatsoever We will; when We desire, God willeth, and when We will, God ordaineth. He hath appointed for Us this station and chosen Us from among His servants, and made Us His proof in His lands. Whoever denyeth aught of this and turneth it back, hath thereby turned back against God—exalted be His Name—and hath denied His signs, His prophets and His messengers.

O Jabir, he who knoweth God by this attribute hath established Unity; for this attribute accords with what is revealed in the Book: “He it is whom the eyes cannot grasp, and He grasps the eyes; and there is none like unto Him; and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” And He saith, “He is not questioned concerning what He doeth, while they are questioned.” (21–23).

Jabir said, “O my master, how few are my companions!” He answered, “Far be it! Dost thou know how many of thy followers there are upon the face of the earth?” I replied, “O son of the Messenger of God, I supposed in every town from a hundred to two hundred, and in some places from a thousand to two thousand; yea, I even thought there might be more than a hundred thousand at the extremities of the earth.”

He—peace be upon him—said, “Thy thought is mistaken and thy view too contracted: those whom thou reckonest as companions are deficient and are not truly thy companions.” I asked, “O son of the Messenger, who are the deficient?” He replied, “Those who have failed in the knowledge of the Imams and in the recognition of that which God hath enjoined upon them of His command and His Spirit.” I asked, “O my master, and what is the knowledge of His Spirit?” He said, “Whomsoever God chooseth and endoweth with that Spirit, unto him He hath entrusted His command: he createth by His leave, quickeneth by His leave, knoweth the hidden things of the hearts, and knoweth what hath been and what shall be until the Day of Resurrection. This Spirit is of the affair of God; he whom God hath thus singled out with this Spirit is perfect and without lack; he doeth whatsoever he will by God’s permission. He traverseth from East to West in a single moment by God’s leave; he ascendeth with it unto the heavens and descendeth with it unto the earth and doeth whatsoever he willeth.”

I said, “O my master, show me the proof of this Spirit from the Book of God, and that it is of that affair which God hath specially bestowed upon Muhammad.” He said, “Read this verse: And thus We inspired into thee a Spirit from Our command; thou knewest not what the Book was, nor what faith was; but We made it a light whereby We guide whomsoever We will from among Our servants.’ And His saying, Those in whose hearts is faith, We strengthen them with a Spirit from Us.”’

I rejoiced at his words and prayed God to make me firm in the knowledge of His Self and of the Cause. Then I said, “O my master, are many of our partisans remiss? For I know not among my companions one who possesseth this attribute.” He replied, “O Jabir, if thou knowest none among them, yet I know of a small company who come and salute and learn from Me Our secret and Our hidden knowledge.” I said, “Such-and-such, son of so-and-so, and his companions are of that character, God willing; for I have heard from them some of your secrets and the inner aspect of your knowledge, and I judge that they are perfected and have attained.”

He said, “Call them tomorrow and bring them with thee.” I did so. They came, greeted the Imam, drew near and revered him, and stood before him. He said, “O Jabir, they are indeed thy brethren, and there remaineth a trace of them upon them. Know ye, O band, that God doeth whatsoever He willeth and determineth whatsoever He will; none can reverse His decree nor repel His judgment, nor is He questioned concerning what He doeth while they are questioned.” They answered, “Yea, God doeth whatsoever He willeth and determineth whatsoever He will.” I said, “Praise be to God, they have perceived and attained.” He said, “O Jabir, be not hasty with what thou hast learned.”

I remained perplexed. He said, “Ask them whether ʿAli ibn al-Husayn can become in the form of his son Muhammad.” I asked them, and they fell silent. He said, “Ask them whether Muhammad can be in my form.” They were struck dumb. He looked upon me and said, “O Jabir, this is what I told thee: a remnant remaineth with them.” I said to them, “Why do ye not answer your Imam?” They were silent and afraid. He looked upon them and said, “O Jabir, I told thee there remaineth with them a remnant.” Then al-Baqir said, “Why are ye speechless?” They looked upon one another and said, “O son of the Messenger of God, we have no knowledge.” He taught them, and then the Imam, the Master of the Worshippers, Ali ibn al-Husayn—peace be upon him—looked upon his son Muhammad al-Baqir and said to them, “Who is this?”

They answered, “Thy son.” He asked, “Who am I?” He answered, “Thy father, Ali ibn al-Husayn.” Then Muhammad spoke words we could not comprehend—and lo! Muhammad was in the appearance of his father, Ali ibn al-Husayn, and Ali was in the likeness of his son, Muhammad. They cried: “There is no God but God,” and the Imam said, “Marvel not at the power of God: I am Muhammad and Muhammad is I.” Muhammad said, “O people, marvel not at God’s affair: I am Ali and Ali is I, and we are all one from one light, and our spirit is of the command of God—our beginning Muhammad and our end Muhammad; we are all Muhammad.”

When they heard this, they prostrated, saying, “We believe in your guardianship, your secret and public manifestations, and we acknowledge your exclusive prerogatives.” The Imam Zayn al-ʿAbidin said, “O people, lift up your heads, for now are ye the knowing, the winners, the enlightened, the perfect and the reached. By God, do not cleave unto the remiss and the weak, to what ye have seen in Me and in Muhammad, lest they cast slander upon you and deny you.” They answered, “We hear and we obey.” Then they departed rightly guided and perfected.

I said, “O my master, what of him who knoweth not this matter in the manner Thou hast wrought and declared it, yet possesseth his proof and uttereth: ʿBy your virtue, I disavow your enemies’—what shall be his state?” He said, “He is in good stead until he attain.” I asked, “O son of the Messenger of God, is there aught that may abase them?” He said, “Yea: if they fail in the rights of their brethren and do not share with them of their wealth and their secrets and public honours, and seize the trifles of this world for themselves to the exclusion of their brethren, then there shall be established for them virtue that shall be torn away from them, and they shall be smitten by the calamities of this world—loss of recompense, dissipation of their band—because they failed in the duty of kindness to their brethren.”

I became overwhelmed with grief and said, “O son of the Messenger of God, what is the right of a believer upon his believing brother?” He answered, “He rejoiceth in his joy, sorroweth in his sorrow, accomplisheth all his affairs for him, and coveteth not of the fleeting things of this world save only that he assist him so that they may both partake of good and evil together.” I said, “O my master, how hath God enjoined upon the believer all these rights towards his brother?” He replied, “Because the believer is the brother of the believer by their Father and Mother; thus he is most deserving of his brother in all that he possesseth.”

I said, “Glory be to God! Who can accomplish this?” He said, “He who desireth to strike the gates of Paradise, embrace the fair houris, and be gathered with Us in the Abode of Peace.” I said, “Alas! By God, O son of the Messenger of God, I have failed in the rights of my believing brethren.”

When thou hast beheld those effulgent lights and discerned the unveilings of the hidden mysteries, then know the ordinance of the River of Pure Honey; for it floweth, by the leave of God, through the domain of orations and discourses, and is sweeter than all allusions among the tokens of the dwellers in the realms of holiness. For these have borne the veils of divine permission beyond the River first and second; hence did the enemies of God—despite their remoteness and denial—acknowledge the summit of eloquence in the third Ha?iyyah sermon, where God magnified His vengeance in His Book, though they grasped not a single letter of Our intimations. Yea, even when they discerned, they rejected, though inwardly assured and knowing, for the matter hath been revealed in the sermons with a majesty such that the deniers of justice bear witness to excellence. The pride of the Arabs was ever that the excellence of oration was confessed even by those who disowned the scrolls of truth.

That River is, in the hidden realm, opposed to the Spring of Tabariyyah in the manifest world; whoso drinketh thereof shall perceive the emanations of the Divine Being in their signs and behold the dawning of the attributes in the manifestations of power and the luminous tokens of might. He shall delight in the sweetness of the Pure Honey, in the remembrance of the essences of kingly being and the corporeal forms of the spiritual dominion. This is a divine potency in the eyes of the knowers, for the eloquence of the discourse proceeding from invincible might is the portion of the most eloquent of Arabs, and none of the sages, save by God’s will, can attain thereto.

Suffice it to mention: within the words is a sermon, within the signs an architecture, within the supplications the rising of servitude, and within the verses the revelation of Lordship cast into the reality of servitude. Thou, by thine own witnessing, knowest all this through the attributes of the human kind. The emergence of the River of Pure Honey in the attributes is the greatest and loftiest of manifestations—higher than the appearance in the paradisal words, the hallowed theophanies, the creative realities, the universal verses, and the African springs—for all these proceed from the domain of beauty. And verily it is of greater worth than the remembrance of attributes and names. So did God chastise those who wronged thee by His decree; unto God is the complaint, for unto Him belongeth the beginning and the end. Glorified be He above that which they ascribe unto Him.

Among the rivers is the River of Crimson Wine; whoso drinketh but a drop thereof is drawn into the station of holiness and nearness—without intoxication, without pain, without swooning, without veil; it is spirit within spirit, from spirit unto spirit. Whoso drinketh thereof recalleth the first river in the station of attributes, the second in the station of supplication, and the third in the station of discourse, and his own station through the intimations of divinity, the tokens of omnipotence, the degrees of sovereignty, and the evidences of the spiritual kingdom. From that river drink most men, for knowledge none can deny; hence mankind loveth the manifestation of that station. This is a flowing from the River of Wine, whose end is without end—it is the most delightful of draughts, the might of words in the world of holiness.

This is an ordinance of justice, like the three rivers; none among creation confoundeth it. Shouldst thou desire to behold the mystery of this matter, direct thy gaze toward Our purpose, and then interpret; thou wilt behold My interpretation therein unlike thine, for the descent of the words floweth from beneath the Mountain of Pre-Eternity, manifest in the heart. The ink’s stream floweth without end or cessation.

By thy life! Within My breast there lieth knowledge abundant—purer than the Water unpolluted, subtler than the pure milk, sweeter than the clarified honey, and more delicious than the crimson wine. Had I found vessels or hearts made pure, I would have poured it forth, by God’s permission. Yet the veil of the people profiteth not from this knowledge, nor hath any share therein save the sincere among the people of insight. For men perceive not what I behold in the signs, nor see what I see in the words, nor discern the places of the tokens. Were any other than thee to inquire of Me, I would not have unveiled these intimations, for they are to Me dearer than the philosopher’s stone.

Yet, though in some instances I have refrained from mentioning the depths of the ocean for fear of the alien gaze, and have clothed the words in the dark garments of air for those who discern not the rising of the attributes amid those thick, black, blind and desolate veils, lest any of the wicked pry into the true mysteries of the Family of God and sow corruption in the earth without the leave of the righteous—still, I withheld not the bounty from thee. I bound Myself to make manifest what I was commanded in thine address. Were one to know but a single letter thereof and act upon it purely for the sake of God—One, peerless, incomparable—he would profit thee more than all else. For thy question concerning that commentary hath opened the gate of the galaxy for the descent of that mercy upon the heads of humankind.

Pray, then, that God may dispel the veil of sorrow through the rising of the Sun of Harmony, and restore what men have corrupted through the bounty of His power—for He is the Bestower of grace.

And when thou hast grasped these ordinances, lift the gaze of thy heart unto that hidden cipher, that minute mystery, that supreme talisman: that the truth of Divine Unity is unattainable to any soul save when the light of the Countenance of the Manifested One shineth forth in all His stations and signs, in His motions and stillness, His glances, allusions, tokens, and proofs—until, even as the heart is the pure disclosure of the Unity of the Essence, so shall the element of dust within the heat of the attributes mirror it, that the body itself may proclaim by its very substance what the tongue declareth in word.

When the soul attaineth unto that rank, there streameth forth from his very frame the same effulgence that shineth from his heart—the theophanies of purity, the manifestations of constancy, the mysteries of the essences, the dawnings of the attributes. He becometh an image of the world above, a reflection of the universal light, the secret of the Divine, the manifest sign, the radiant token, the universal Tree. These are the degrees of the appearance of action in the rank of passion. Blessed, thrice blessed, is he who attaineth that station; and all hail, all glory, to him who abideth upon that carpet and beholdeth the Light of God above the canopy of justice in the very midst of its expanse.

That is the utmost reach of the servant in the degree of dust among the worlds of divine manifestation: the realms of Deity, of Power, of Dominion, of Sovereignty, and of Humanity. Pray God to raise thee and me unto that most exalted and uplifted station, for if the servant attain not thereto in this life and yet would enter the court of the holiness of majesty, he shall find no way save if God so willeth—in the stations of return, in the isthmuses of intermediate being, in the conditions of resurrection. For He is the Bestower, the Gentle unto His servants; He granteth unto whom He willeth, as He willeth, what He willeth. None can repel His command or alter His decree, and unto Him returneth every affair, both first and last.

9. Commentary on the Surah in the degrees of descent and ascent

And when thou hast borne witness in that answering House by the ordinance of return, prepare thyself for the spreading of the peacock’s wings before the Throne of Holiness; for the Dove of Mystery even now flieth in mid-heaven, chanting an interpretation most wondrous of that Surah, at whose melody heaven and earth are thunderstruck, knowing its tone. It maketh every Surah a hymn of praise unto God for Himself; therein lieth the true interpretation, the sign of unity, the image of abstraction—yea, they are one and the same, without likeness, in the correspondence of their stations.

Even as the Prince of Martyrs, peace be upon him, interpreted the Surah of Unity, saying: “The meaning of ʿHe’ is He, God.” Thus, unto the end of the stations of names, the Surah unfoldeth in the remembrance of attributes, tokens, stations, and proofs. So is it in the sight of God and of those who dwell in the Ocean of Singleness and the Abyss of Abstraction, that blessed Surah whose meaning is “I am He, He is I.” This correspondence is perfected when the appointed term of self’s Sinai is complete after the number of forty—the number of the letters of Huwa. And if thou wouldst apply the reckoning of all its letters one by one, thou couldst accomplish it; and when thou beholdest the multitude of numbers, increase them through the aid of the Spirit of Faith within thee, by the leave of God.

And when the Pen moved to send down that galaxy, opening the gate of that commentary, I poured forth in that station a sprinkling for whoso loveth thee and seeketh to drink of that living Water of Kawthar. But were the adversaries to seek to drink thereof, God would forbid them the draught of the dwellers in Paradise, and would exchange it for vessels of phantasmal semblance—more grievous to them, more tormenting to their souls than the fire of Gehenna itself, if they did but understand.

And if thou desirest the interpretation upon the plane of descent, then take the Surah of Unity as the balance of exposition, and cast upon it the letters of the Surah of Kawthar. For the letters of Ana Huwa after taking the ten degrees from the worlds of Deity, Power, Dominion, and Sovereignty, the last letter remaineth itself—Ana—which is itself the letter Huwa in this world. This is a sign of the world above, for the people of insight among the possessors of the Names and Attributes know not what is beyond save by what is here. And whoso hath recognized the places of the attributes within this earthly image, this divine shadow, this garment of pre-eternity, this radiant effulgence, he hath reached the resting-place of knowledge in the secret of reality, unveiled the inner mystery, and perceived the manifest sign and the ordinances of the Law.

Know, then, as I have known, but conceal what I have concealed; for the matter belongeth unto God—He doeth what He willeth, as He willeth, by what He willeth. Glorified be He above that which they ascribe.

And when thou hast borne witness to the letter Ana and to the letter Huwa, then know that in the depths of the Name of God is mirrored the vessel of Prophethood in the rank of the word Qul—after subtracting the letters of unity, which are the ha’ and the lam, and the ocean of “Inna attaynaka.” Thus doth it correspond in the numbering of the alphabetic letters; and verily this is a vast knowledge—he who pondereth it shall cause springs of the Water of Kawthar to gush forth, whose number none knoweth save God. And this indeed is the knowledge of the true decree—he who hath been given thereof hath been granted the very wisdom of certitude.

And verily, that is the knowledge of the true decree—he who is granted thereof hath been given abundant good. Then set the measure in correspondence with the ocean of Oneness, and balance the abyss of multiplicity with the Water of Kawthar. For the letters of Ahad (the One) are the hidden degrees of action—seven in number—and their outward manifestation, without mention of the station of Will, is six.

In the rank of these seven hidden ones—each, when it turneth unto the first degrees of the hundred letters that are the letters of Prophethood in the word Qul—with the reckoning of each of the seven joined to the remaining five, it correspondeth with the number of the alphabetic letters. The added letter Alif is the sign of Unity after the meeting of the two seas: it is the barzakh between them, dividing the ocean of Oneness from the gulf of multiplicity, that nothing of this entereth into that, nor of that into this. Thus hath God established the order of the world above in correspondence with the world below.

But let not there arise in thy heart the thought of what the Sufis—may God magnify His vengeance upon them—have uttered, saying that “existence is one,” and that it is the existence of the Essence of the One, defined in manifestation when the Sun of inwardness hath set; for such a notion is sheer unbelief according to the doctrine of the Family of God. Nay, the Ahad entereth not into number; it is a name created by God. Its correspondence lieth in the aspect of its namehood, which is created, like Kawthar itself; otherwise, in the station of the indication of its essential reality, it is joined with nothing, described by nothing beneath it, for it is a sign of God—exalted be He above what the wrongdoers assert.

The Wahid (the One) is the beginning of multiplicities in the realm of names and attributes. When the waves of the ocean of multiplicity surge against the expanse of the attributes and the dawning of the Essence, then consider the Word of the Almighty: Allahus-Samad—“God, the Eternal.” Thus recite the servant’s words, “Qul”, which is the decisive utterance. The additional Alif in the balance pointeth to the secret of Oneness within the radiance of Eternity, wherewith the servant prayeth in remembrance of Him. Whoso drinketh of the Kawthar that floweth in those rivers over the depths of those words, he is enabled to worship wholly God, the Eternal; and that indeed is a mighty thing.

When thou ponderest what hath shone forth, bear witness to His word li-Rabbika in relation to His saying, lam yalid—“He begetteth not”—and add thereto the number of one hundred and forty, of which one hundred and twenty-eight allude to the remembrance of Husayn, for he appeared in the fourth station; and twelve thereof allude to the letters of La ilaha illa’Llah in the inscribed numbers, which are twelve and no more. Thus, understand in the domain of majesty the verse lam yulad—“nor is He begotten”—and the verse wa anhar—“and sacrifice.”

Interpret the one hundred and thirty-nine additional letters in wa anhar as the number of the name ʿAli ibn al-Husayn, for he is the bearer of the Cause of Husayn. Then add the number of the letters of the Name of God, the Living, and then of Huwa (He); thus doth it correspond in the balance. Then bear witness to His saying wa lam yakun—“and there is none”—for the remaining letters in correspondence are those hidden in the unseen knowledge of God, being the number of the name Muhammad Rasul Allah—ninety-two. The thirteen additional letters are a sign of the appearance of the Family of God—peace be upon them—after the mention of Muhammad, the Messenger of God—may blessings be upon Him and His family.

In this station have I alluded to a fine cipher and a sealed talisman—thou shalt know it if thou ponder. Glorified be God, Lord of the Throne, above what they ascribe.

And in like manner, understand His word lahu—“unto Him”—in correspondence with sha’nuka—“thy station.” Compute together the number of lahu with the number of the name Ja’far, the Imam of justice, after subtracting sixteen, which is an allusion to the manifestation of the name al-Jawad and the letter ba’ in al-ʿata’ (the gift), in the world of the first manifestation—the pillar of unity—and the fourth pillar, the red pillar, the station of glorification. These have stations too great for the Pen to describe, for the devil and his hosts have defiled them. Unto God is the complaint in the hereafter and the herebefore.

And the matter, as known among the discerning, is outwardly clear; for were the Possessor of this earth to behold what hath transpired upon it, he would ask its inhabitants a question confirming what hath been witnessed in this Cause. Then understand, in the domain of majesty, the narration transmitted by Abu Ja’far al-Tusi, from a group, from al-Tal’akbari, from Ibn Hammam, from Jamil, from al-Qasim ibn Isma’il, from Ahmad ibn Ribah, from Abu’l-Farah Aban ibn Muhammad known as al-Sindi—we recited it from its source.

He said:

“Abu Abd Allah (Ja’far al-Sadiq), peace be upon him, was performing the pilgrimage in the year when Abu Abd Allah came to the House and stood beneath the water-spout, praying. On his right was Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan, on his left al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan, and behind him Ja’far ibn al-Hasan. Then came Abbad ibn Kathir al-Basri and said: O Aba Abd Allah!’ He was silent. He said it a second and a third time. Then the Imam said: Speak what thou wilt, O Aba Kathir.’ He said: I have found in one of my books the knowledge of this proof: that a man shall demolish it stone by stone.’ The Imam said: Thy book lieth, O Aba Kathir! Nay, by God, he shall be yellow of foot, lean of leg, black of head—standing by this corner,’ and he pointed to the Yemeni Corner, forbidding the people to circumambulate until they are driven away. Then God shall raise against him a man from me,’ and he pointed to his breast, who shall slay him with the death of Ad and Thamud and Pharaoh of the Stakes.’ Then Abd Allah ibn al-Hasan said: By God, Abu ʿAbd Allah speaketh the truth!’ And they all assented together.”

Glorified be God, Lord of the Throne, above what they ascribe! And peace be upon the messengers, and praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds.