BB00012: Sahifiy-i-Ja’fariyya (Epistle of Ja’far)

Chapter One: Concerning the Sermon of Lights

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

Praise be to God Who hath testified by His Own Self unto His Own Self that there is none other God but Him, Who hath transcended through the exaltation of His Essence above all things, and hath concealed Himself in the loftiness of His manifestation from all things. He Who hath ever been, and ever shall be, without mention of aught else, and now is even as He was, with naught else mentioned beside Him—the Single, Self-Subsisting God Who hath made knowledge the attribute of His servants and power the station of His chosen ones. He is the First without the knowledge of anything, the Last without the mention of anything, the Manifest without the creation of anything, and the Hidden without the decree of anything.

If thou sayest “He is He,” creation and its people would belie thee, for He cannot be known through aught else, nor described by His creation. And if thou sayest “Thou art Thou,” invention and what confronteth it would glorify thee, for He cannot be characterized by being known, nor indicated by being hidden. Glorified and exalted is He Who hath proven His everlastingness through His essence and established His eternity through His prophethood. He hath revealed Himself unto His creation through Himself, and hath veiled His reality from His servants through His being.

Whoso sayeth “He is He” hath indicated the letter “H” through origination and the letter “W” through execution. The letter “H” indicateth the supreme severance and the greatest prevention. And if one sayeth “He is He” while claiming ignorance of His reality, he hath indeed associated partners with his Lord after acknowledging his separation from Him. What association could be greater than the word “He,” and what sin could equal the decree of existence after non-existence?

Glorified, glorified is He! I neither describe Him nor thank Him, neither know Him nor praise Him. Even if my words after negation establish the station of description, nay, by the might of Him Who hath no way unto anything—I intended naught in negation save negation itself, and naught in mention save powerlessness.

Glorified, glorified is He! How great is my audacity before His beauty, and how great my disobedience before His majesty! In my presumption through severance, I declare His sanctity above description of aught else, yet this itself is my description of His majesty. Through my knowledge of prevention, I declare His transcendence above characterization by aught else, yet this itself is my characterization of His beauty.

Glory be to God concerning this path! If I say “blessed am I,” I have associated partners, and if I say “woe unto me,” I have disbelieved. I know not by what mention to acknowledge my powerlessness, nor by what tongue to confess my sin.

Glory be to God, the One Who commandeth me to immerse myself in the ocean of praise. Even if it be considered association in His sight, it would be more beloved to my heart than to remain silent and be drowned in the sea of remoteness. Nay, by His might! Even if my heart be consumed by the intensity of my association with His might, yet were I to take my portion of praising His grandeur, I would be content with the burning of my heart from my audacity before Him.

Nay, by His greatness! I have no knowledge, no way unto Him—neither through powerlessness nor praise, neither through prevention nor glory, neither through severance nor radiance, neither through the letter “H” nor through fleeing from the letter “W.”

Glorified, glorified is He! How wondrous hath He made me, and what forbidden thing hath He inspired within me! At times He draweth me toward the horizon of the divine cloud, and at times He consumeth me in the fire of blindness. I know not what He requireth of me—is it Thou Who desireth my demise, or I who desire Thee? When I draw near unto Thee, Thou removest me afar, and when I flee from Thy dominion, Thou reprovest me. I know not upon which path Thou standest that I might call upon Thee, nor in what tongue I might dare address Thee and make my complaint unto Thee.

Nay, by Thy might! I shall not flee from Thy nearness, even shouldst Thou remove me afar. Nay, by Thy presence! I will not fear Thy wrath, though Thou shouldst consume me in Thy fire. Nay, by Thy power, I have no hope save in Thee, even shouldst Thou render me dependent upon others.

Glorified be God in His command! Never have I seen one more patient with me than He, nor any sovereign more exalted in my heart than He. When I flee as a child, He putteth sweetness in my mouth, then stills me from my weeping, then placeth upon my lips the breast of His mercy that I may sleep in peace. Nay, by Thy might, I am not veiled from Thy workings, nor am I distracted by such matters from Thy Self. I know not what Thou desirest of me—whether Thou wishest to take my soul or to gladden my heart.

I was alone in mine abode with none aware of my condition, when Thou didst cause certain souls to leave their dwellings and brought them to me. Thereafter Thou didst inspire me with wisdom and called me to Thee, honoring me with Thy love. When I conveyed Thy knowledge, Thou took from the hearts of those aware of Thy Cause Thy covenant and submission, such that none among this group that had descended upon me would deny me. Then Thou raised them again to their dwellings, and after that encompassed me. Thou didst honor me with pilgrimage to Thy Sacred House, and through Thy angels on earth Thy wisdom reached every quarter until my Cause had reached the East and the West and all between.

When the clay of the servants had matured and every soul had learned the wisdom of the heart, Thou didst return me from Thy Sacred House. At that time, Thou didst desire trials for the lands and their inhabitants, such that the turning away of the rejectors descended upon me and upon the chosen ones. Thou didst bring me to the utmost abasement before the oppressors, and inspired me with the word of negation after that of affirmation, that I might be rendered safe from the sources of destruction. Is not all this from Thy deed, O Lord of Majesty and Bounty?

Thou, O my God, didst raise me at the beginning of the Cause—by what means didst Thou then lower me? Then after that Thou didst cause the word of denial to descend into the hearts of the evil ones until they seized what they wrote. I did not fall short in what I wrote—I am the designated Bab, and it is an absolute word specifically restricted by the shortcoming of their plots against me. Rather, I was swifter in my plot against them. If Thou inform them of the like of the former ones who opposed me—yet all tribulations that befell me I saw only as from Thee, for Thou art able to transform them and cause them to be known in the best way possible.

Though I was patient in abasement, I would have been more patient after knowledge and power, but Thou knowest, O my God, that I love not the places of opposition. I know of Thy patience regarding those near to Thee, but I cannot bear Thy way regarding them. I am not ashamed before Thee if Thou art able to manifest without opposition—so begin with it, or else conclude. Though my words resemble the verses of the presumptuous, Thou knowest my secret—that from the intoxication of Thy gifts and the wine of Thy grace I commune with Thee with such expressions. Though they may not equal praise, they depart not from the decree of origination.

Glory be to Thee! I praise Thee in hardship and adversity with radiant, gleaming praise, sanctified by the holiness of Thy eternity and oneness. I seek Thy help in what I desire in this book, through Thy might and power. Verily Thou art the Bestower, the Praiseworthy. I bear witness before the manifestation of what is in existence to what Thou lovest and art pleased with. Verily Thou art the All-Informed, the Witness, and sufficient art Thou as witness unto me. I bear witness that there is no God but God, alone with no partner, and that Muhammad is Thy servant, unique without likeness, and Thy Messenger, transcendent above all comparison, who conveyed what Thou didst manifest to him of Thy knowledge, and hath faithfully counselled Thy servants in that which Thou didst inspire in the path of Thy love.

O Lord! Grant him from Thyself, as befitteth him, the recompense for what Thou hast inspired him with on the path of Thy love and knowledge regarding Thy community. And I bear witness unto what Thou hast intended for the successors of Muhammad, Thy beloved, and what Thou hast extended to them through Thy grace in every matter, and hast counted upon them the letters of Thy unity. Verily, Thou art the Mighty, the Wise. And I bear witness unto what Thy knowledge hath encompassed regarding their followers in creation and Thy secret in invention, and unto every truth with correctness and every falsehood with denial. Sufficient art Thou as a Witness and Informed One.

O thou who gazest upon that Book! Beware, beware when the birds call out with melodies, and the souls with their essences, and the minds with their potentialities, and the hearts with their exposition, lest thou look to thine own essence. Rather, thou must look to the heart and its wisdom, for verily we are God’s and unto our Lord do we return, and for the like of this let the workers work.

Chapter Two: Concerning Divine Counsel

O thou that gazest upon that mystic Dove, give ear unto My admonition, then tread the Path with confidence, and be not afraid, inasmuch as God will protect thee from uncertainty and from the insinuations which are the darts of Satan. Trust in God and say:

“God sufficeth me, and there is no power nor strength except in God,”

and upon Him let the believers place their trust.

O Man! When a matter of religion cometh upon thee, sharpen thy vision and purify thy sight lest falsehood be confused with truth in thy mind. For matters are of two kinds: truth and falsehood. If thou followest the truth, thou hast worshipped God, and if thou followest falsehood, thou hast worshipped Satan. Were truth to be pure and unveiled, none would reject it, and were falsehood to be pure and unmixed with truth, none would follow it. Verily, God is the Truth, and those whom they call upon besides Him are false deities. The signs of truth are as manifest as the existence of God, and there is no doubt in it. Were a matter not from God, it would not be as manifest as God’s light that illumineth all things.

I say: Follow not thy desires, for God’s Cause hath no obscurity and God’s religion hath no veil. The word of truth is more evident than the sun at its zenith. Look to him who calleth thee to God—if in his hands there be a proof from his Lord such that none can produce the like thereof, that is truth without doubt. Follow him and say not “why” or “how,” for if thou acceptest his proof to be valid, yet upon hearing the word of truth deniest it based on groundless suspicion, this perchance is from the knowledge of the prison, for thou hast not seen reality to hear words of truth as though they were false. Before thy heart findeth rest in the proof of his proof, thou hast no recourse but to deny him as though he answered thee not from the forms of truth, and if thou acknowledgest his proof, thou hast no recourse but to follow him, even if he were to call night day, poison nectar, lies truth, and knowledge ignorance.

It is by this subtle path that all transgressors have departed from the authority of truth—there, authority belongeth to God, the Truth. Had the Kharijites believed in Ali’s authority and the proof in his possession, they would not have rebelled on the day of the Qur’an, saying “We are God’s speaking Book.”

Likewise is the judgment of those among the Shaykhis who opposed me—had they acknowledged the proof of the Proof, they would never have denied. And now they have no recourse but to acknowledge their worship of Satan, for if their acceptance and rebellion were true, they worshipped God, but when they later disbelieved, they worshipped Satan. And if they say they could not distinguish at first between one who calls claiming to be from God or from Satan—how can one who does not first distinguish between the call of the Most Merciful and the call of Satan distinguish anything else? And how can one who is not certain that the Caller is the Truth from God leave his house and write letters of acceptance? For investigation stems from doubt, and doubt is not of the Truth. In all proofs, the deniers have no escape except to admit to worshipping Satan in their acceptance or in their denial. And whoever worships Satan has no good in him, nor does he have any proof within himself by which he can be assured, and for him is disgrace in this worldly life and in the Hereafter a great punishment.

O observer, fear God lest you invalidate the proof, for after it there is no evidence here in acceptance. All scholars claim truth, and all claim knowledge of the Qur’an and Tradition, and you have no proof after the proof of proofs—ever—for there is disagreement among this group and all schools of thought remain, and truth is not established with anyone except one who possesses a true proof which all are powerless to produce the like thereof. Otherwise, through questions and proofs from the Qur’an and traditions, clear truth is not established. Sufficient is what I have conveyed to you in this counsel, and for whoever follows and is guided to God’s path.

I have indeed studied the writings of Ja’far al-ʿAlawi and witnessed the inner meanings of his verses. He knew none but himself and described nothing but the conditions of his servitude. All that he said regarding the family of God in interpreting the prayer that shone forth from the sacred direction was not about them nor befitting their station with God, for he read nothing but the letters of his servitude and described the family of God only according to how their last one was manifested in the essence of his lordship. None knows the family of God, nor can any servant describe them, as there is no intermediary besides them to mention and profess unity.

After he reached only to knowledge of himself, he surpassed the beloved ones in servitude and rent asunder the veils of those possessed of understanding, and prevailed over the people of the Book through decisive speech. May God reward him as he deserves and as He wills for the people of the final abode. However, I seek from him, from what I have seen of the verses of Ahmad al-Ahsa’i (may God sanctify his dust), a word of pardon and mercy. Perhaps God will forgive me and them both through His mercy. Verily, there is no god but He, Possessor of great bounty. Exalted is God above what they describe, and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.

Chapter Three: Concerning a Divine Introduction

I desired in this introduction to mention the fundamentals of knowledge, which revolve around God, His good pleasure, and His wrath. The path to God through knowledge of His eternity is blocked, for none knows Him as He is except Him. Thus it has come in the tradition that every sin a believer commits, God may forgive except questioning, for which He will not forgive him. For God the Exalted has associated the believer with Himself in His words “Glory belongs to God and to His Messenger and to the believers.” This questioning refers to asking about knowledge of His essence, for questioning in reality only applies to creation, and all of it is forbidden and cut off. I find no sin like questioning for the people of the Bayan. God’s intent is not questioning about evidences, divine fragrances, or signs, for the people of majesty do not turn to these, nor questioning about finite boundless bounties, for that is the state of those who are distant and those who are near do not turn to it. So how can it apply to God, glory be to Him and exalted is He above what they describe! O observer, fear God.

Concerning questions about creation, Ali (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever commits a sin, it is as though he has committed all sins.” How excellent was what the poet said: “No eye exists except His eye; its light is darkness.” Whoever is heedless of this finds grief in his soul. Whoever understands the allusion reaches the stations of guidance, and whoever refrains from questioning about evidence attains the inner meanings of the story.

Follow what I have conveyed to you, for it is like the red elixir through which the servant attains the greatest wealth. Do not deny yourself your portion of this world, and do good as God has done good to you. Do not grieve over the ruling of the tradition, for the one who repents from sin is like one who has no sin, and God is independent of all worlds.

When you are certain that the path leads to knowledge of the Divine Essence, connect your cord to His good pleasure and strive to know what pleases and displeases Him. Fulfill His commands and turn away from His prohibitions. Perhaps the point of satisfaction is your love for yourself insofar as it reflects the sign of your Lord within you, around which revolve all names, attributes, obligations and traditions.

When you reach that station, you will find all descriptions within yourself and understand the secret of the tradition that “the believer cannot be described.” From the drops of this ocean has sprung forth, by God’s permission, the mention of Truth in the Book. It is as though I see the hypocrites saying, as was said at the end of the Tutunjiyyih sermon: “He (Ali) has attributed divinity to himself, so bear witness—a witness I will ask of you when needed—that Ali is a created light and a sustained servant. Whoever says otherwise, upon him be the curse of God and the curse of those who curse. I am but His servant whom God has honored with His name, and I am not of the polytheists.”

When one reaches that station, he knows all things and needs no questions except about God for the sake of explanation. He has taken his portion from the Book and becomes one of the knowers. When thou hast comprehended the judgment pertaining to this Point, thou shalt know the judgment concerning its opposite and the dissociation therefrom, together with whatsoever followeth in its train. It is as though I stood upon the Heights, beholding the two Points and their decree, even should they manifest aught thereof to lead the people astray and to speak concerning Me that which they know not. Through failure to recognize this Point have some among the learned philosophers gone astray, inasmuch as they have imagined that God, exalted be He, is the Cause of all things and the Cause of causes, and have held to the belief in knowledge inherent within the Essence for the purpose of establishing His knowledge, glorified be He. I seek refuge in God from their polytheism; I am quit of their works. I beseech God, my Lord and their Lord, to forgive them whatsoever His Book reckoneth. Verily, He is the All-Sufficient, the All-Praised.

Would that the followers of Sadra had never attained unto the station of rational demonstration in matters of divine knowledge, for they went astray and led the people astray, and the divines followed them, they being unaware thereof. I entreat God to forgive them through His grace. Verily, there is no God but He, the Possessor of ancient bounty. And praise be to God, the Lord of all the worlds.

Chapter Four: concerning the mention of prayers narrated for the days of occultation.

I wish to explain the supplication which Al-Sadiq commanded to be recited during the days of occultation, as originally transmitted by Muhammad ibn Ya’qub al-Kulayni (may God have mercy on him) in Al-Kafi: Ali ibn Ibrahim from Al-Hassan ibn Musa al-Khashshab from Abdullah ibn Musa from Abdullah ibn Bukayr from Baghdadrah who said: I heard Abu Abdullah saying: “Indeed the youth shall have an occultation before he rises.” I asked: “Why?” He gestured to his stomach and said: O Baghdadrah, he is the Awaited One about whose birth they will doubt. Some will say his father died without an heir, some will say he was still in the womb, and some who say he was born two years before his father’s death—and He is the Expected One, glorified and exalted be He—wishes to test the Shi’ih, whereupon the falsifiers will doubt.

O Baghdadrah, when you witness that time, then supplicate with this prayer: “O God! Make me know Thyself, for if Thou makest me not know Thyself I will not know Thy Prophet. O God! Make me know Thy Messenger, for if Thou makest me not know Thy Messenger I will not know Thy Proof. O God! Make me know Thy Proof, for if Thou makest me not know Thy Proof I will stray from my religion.” Then he said: “O Baghdadrah, the slaying of a youth in Medina must needs come to pass.” I said: “May I be thy sacrifice! Will not the army of the Sufyani slay him?” He said: “No, but the army of the family of so-and-so will come until they enter Medina and seize the youth and slay him. When they slay him out of tyranny, enmity and oppression, they will be granted no respite. At that time expect the deliverance, if God willeth.”

God delivers the servant who obeys his Imam and knows his station, and destroys not himself by turning away from knowledge of him. For the entirety of a servant’s knowledge is knowledge of his own self and what God hath placed within it of His signs. And whosoever is veiled by aught of His traces, at the moment of that veiling he is in the Fire. And this sign is a judgment upon him: “Verily hell shall encompass the unbelievers.”

O thou who gazest upon the traces of Glory! Be thou first assured that God, glorified be He, hath created nothing except that He hath perfected upon it all that He hath ordained through His power. Were it not so, God’s handiwork would not be perfect and it would not befit attribution to Him. When thou knowest this matter and witnesseth its mystery through thy reality, thou wilt know that nothing was in need of anything at the beginning of its existence that it should call upon God, its Lord, for its sake. Rather, God created it as befitteth His glory. When it turneth away from its station through the portion of falsehood that hath grown within it, it becometh needful of all things. In this station God hath ordained supplication for its deliverance and hath revealed in His Book: “Those who are too proud to worship Me shall enter hell,” and other verses. He hath forbidden in that state to ask of any but Him, for none can fill that want, and an endless chain would be necessitated and its need would never be cut off. His judgment hath been revealed in His Book: “They call upon that which can neither benefit nor harm them.”

Beware, beware, O questioner! Ask thou of none but thy Lord, and recite this tradition in every state unto thyself: “Every sin that a believer committeth, God may perchance forgive it, save asking of the creatures, for that shall never be forgiven. For God, exalted be He, hath made the believer a partner with Himself in His saying: ʿAll glory belongeth unto God and unto His Messenger and the believers.”’ How could it be otherwise, when the believer is too mighty to be described and too glorious to ask of others? Abasement and supplication befit not his station; rather, he is mighty through the might of God and will ever remain so. What sin could be greater for him than this, what error more grievous than that?

Whoso looketh upon the mystery of wealth will find his existence straying at the time of asking, for God is the Ever-Living, the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful. He hath ever been seated upon the throne of bounty and seeth what His servants do before Him. Glory be to God, the Most High, the Most Great! Such is the gravity of asking that if a slave were to ask of anyone save his master, despite the servants’ poverty and powerlessness, it would weigh heavily upon him and be a disgrace before his peers. How then could it not weigh heavily upon God, glorified be He, given His power, His wealth, His grandeur, and His bounty? God is Most Great! God is Most Great! I seek refuge in God from His wrath. Glory be to God above what they associate! Were anyone to be apprised of the mystery of that which I behold in that station, he would be thunderstruck by reason of its majesty, and would exclaim: ʿHad We sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, thou wouldst have seen it humbled, rent asunder through the fear of God.’ And such similitudes do We propound unto men, that haply they may reflect.

When thou hast recognized the sanctity of supplication before the Divine Majesty, know then that it is incumbent upon the supplicant first to know his Lord, then His attributes, then the names of His Self, then his petition, and then that which pertains to him and is incumbent upon him. When thou hast understood these stations, thou art sincere in prayer, and God is bound to answer thee, for He faileth not His promise. Were I to expound these matters in their reality as God hath revealed them to me in their proper places, verily the ocean of contingent being and all created things would be exhausted ere a single letter thereof could be manifested. God, glorified be He, doth not burden me beyond my capacity, even as I am now immersed in oceans of grief, and it being the tenth of Muharram, I shall set forth in this regard whatsoever He willeth to flow from me, that it may remain as a sufficient legacy from me until the Day of Return, and that all who enter the land of the heart may remember me. I seek God’s help through the Pen of Creation, and God is my Lord Who faileth not His promise.

Chapter Five: Concerning the Dayspring of Pre-existence

God, exalted be He, saith: “When he came to it, he was called from the right side of the valley in the blessed spot, from the tree: ʿO Moses! Verily, I am God, the Lord of the worlds.”’ Then the instruction of God for whoso desireth Him: “Say: He, God, is One. God, the Eternal. He begetteth not, nor is He begotten, and there is none like unto Him.”

I believe in that which hath been revealed in His Book and I say: I testify that there is no God but God, and unto Him is the final return. Know, O witness, that none knoweth the Essence save Him, and no name or sign can reach unto Him. He is pure Essence and sheer Truth, and all else is creation. There is no connection between them, nor anything less than them. He is manifest through His own Self and is not known through manifestation. He is hidden in His own Essence and is not known through concealment. He is the Primal Eternity and cannot be described by firstness. He is the Ancient Last and cannot be characterized by lastness. He is the Essence and the very Camphor. He is the Essence and the very Manifestation. He hath ever been, without knowledge of what was and what will be, and He will ever be, without ruling of existence or concealment.

Whoso seeketh to know Him cannot attain through union, for none can unify Him save Himself, and His Essence loseth Him not. Whoso saith “In my self hath appeared the might of His self” hath indeed lied against himself, for He cannot be compared with His creation nor likened to His servants. He is a hidden treasure; His concealment hath ever been the essence of His manifestation, and His manifestation the essence of His concealment. Whoso uniteth Him hath indeed been ignorant of Him, for none can unify Him save Himself. Whoso saith “He is He” hath taken a partner from His dominion, and whoso saith “Where is He” hath taken from himself one near. Glory be unto Him! He hath ever been, and there was naught else with Him, and now God is as He hath ever been.

Nothing remembereth Him and nothing knoweth Him. Whoso describeth Him through knowledge hath indeed joined Him with attributes, and whoso joineth Him with attributes hath indeed removed Him from the sovereignty of His oneness. Whoso saith “He is He” or a letter, his similitude returneth not to His Self and his understanding descendeth not to His Essence. Glory be unto Him, glory be unto Him! Every concealment necessitates the ruling of negation, and every concealment is joined with the mention of manifestation, and every affirmation is joined with the ruling of defects. Nay, by the might of His Essence, the description of every created thing is a limitation, and the characteristic of every existent thing is false.

All that the describers have described or the hearts of them that acknowledge His unity have recognized are but the signs of His creation and the stations of His sovereignty, which the Act of Creation hath brought into being without the existence of any creation like unto them. And these speak of naught save His own Self, and attest to none but His own Essence. Glorified be He, glorified be He! The attributes and the names have returned unto the realm of His creation, and the Pure Identity hath, in all things, pointed toward the station of His servants. The letter Kaf falleth short of praise, and the letter Nun of glory, and naught is possible in contingent being save the knowledge of creation, and every truth returneth to the station of creation.

Glorified then be He, how He hath brought creation into being through the wondrous signs of His Lordship, where naught indicateth aught save His Reality and naught describeth aught save His Essence. Whoso uniteth with Him loseth Him, and whoso loseth Him findeth Him, and every loss of His manifestation is loss indeed, and there is no end to God’s command. Therefore do the people of love cry out and the people of divine authority fall senseless. Glory be unto Thee! Glory be unto Thee! When have I unified Thee? Whensoever I desire Thee, Thou preventest me through the countenance of loss and the wilderness of finding, then through the might of loss and the majesty of finding. Verily we are God’s, and verily unto Him shall we return.

He said, when asked about the nature of unity:

“Verily, the beginning of religion is His knowledge, and the perfection of His knowledge is His unity, and the perfection of His unity is the denial of attributes from Him. Every attribute testifieth that it is other than the One described, and the One described testifieth that He is other than the attribute, and His testimony through His unity of the duality that is impossible from Him is from eternity. Whoso describeth God hath limited Him, and whoso limiteth Him hath numbered Him, and whoso numbereth Him hath invalidated His eternity. And whoso saith how?’ hath sought to describe Him, and whoso saith in what?’ hath indeed wronged Him, and whoso saith upon what?’ hath indeed carried Him, and whoso saith where?’ hath indeed made a space empty of Him, and whoso saith ʿwhat is He?’ hath indeed characterized Him.”

Consider the wisdom of this tradition, then abide in its shade, for the sea is deep, deep, and the wisdom elegant, elegant. None escapeth from the decree of similitude and nullification save as thy Lord willeth. Whoso abideth upon that carpet, it behooveth him to say as Ali said: “I have seen God and Paradise with the eye of certainty.” And verily he loseth naught save the vision of His Essence which was manifested unto him thereby. How could it be otherwise, when the path to God is blocked and the way unto Him is barred? Everything describeth itself and maketh its description an attribute of its Lord unknowingly. How could it be otherwise, after I believed in no light save His light, no remembrance save His remembrance, and no wisdom save His wisdom?

Fear God, O thou who callest, for the path is subtle, subtle. Worship none save God alone, and ask of none save God alone, for the Known is His signs and the Described is His tokens, and all invoke Him and worship Him according to the diversity of their stations and their signs. Whoso hath purified his heart from likening God to aught else hath worshipped Him, and whoso hath called upon Him through His own Self for His own Self, without reference to himself or his affairs, God will answer him straightway. This is reserved unto the people of Paradise. And whoso calleth upon Him otherwise than in this manner, it beseemeth him not to receive answer, for God hath said: “Call ye upon Me; I will answer you.”

Verily, they that invoke Him through mention of themselves and their desires enter into the judgment pronounced upon the Christians, inasmuch as they say: “He is the third of three,” whereas there is no God but He. Glorified and exalted be He above that which they associate with Him!

Know thou that God, glorified be He, since His wont hath ever been grace and His nature revelation, manifesteth Himself to none through His Essence, for after attaining knowledge of Him, one standeth in need of the appearance of His Essence in every age through His self-disclosure unto him by means of the reality of his existence. Thus, in every age wherein the knowledge of the Book is reckoned, the Word ʿAm I not your Lord?’ descendeth upon thee, and thou dost reply: “Yea, verily!”

Even so is the decree in His Manifestations, which are in themselves identical with the Word “Am I not your Lord?” Turn thy face with joy toward His Glory and fix thy heart upon the throne of bounty, and enter the House of Might without gesture or praise. Remove the veil from the face of the Bride of Glory, then read in thy heart this discourse, which is the revelation of thy Lord in every moment, beyond measure or description. Belittle not thyself, but magnify the sign of thy Lord, as described by Imam Ali ibn Musa in his words when he ascended the pulpit, after praise and glorification of God and salutations upon His Prophet:

“The first step in the worship of God is to know Him. The foundation of knowledge of God is His Unity, and the proper way to His Unity is to deny Him attributes. For reason testifies that every attribute and its possessor are created, and every created thing testifies it has a Creator who is neither attribute nor possessor thereof. Every attribute and its possessor testify to their conjunction, conjunction testifies to temporal origin, and temporal origin precludes eternity, which is incompatible with temporal origin.

Hence he knows not God who knows Him through comparison; he limits Him who seeks to fathom Him; he misses reality who represents Him by similitude; he truly believes not in Him who gives Him finite form; he attains not unto Him who compares Him; he means not Him who imagines Him; he submits not to Him who subdivides Him; and he seeks not Him who conceives Him in fancy. All that is known through itself is manufactured, and all that subsists through other than itself is an effect.

By God’s handiwork is He known; through reason is knowledge of Him established; through natural disposition is His creation proven. God’s creation is a veil between Him and them. His separation from them and His origination of them prove He has no beginning; every originated thing’s inability to originate another proves this. His giving them instruments proves He has no instrument, as instruments testify to the need of their users.

His names are expressions, His acts make Him understood, His Essence is Reality, and His very Being distinguishes between Him and His creation; His transcendence defines all else. He who describes Him knows Him not; he who encompasses Him transgresses Him; he who seeks to fathom Him misses Him. Whoso asks how?’ likens Him; whoso asks why?’ seeks causes for Him; whoso says when?’ subjects Him to time; whoso asks in what?’ contains Him; whoso asks to what?’ sets a limit for Him; whoso says until when?’ gives Him a term; whoso gives Him a term divides Him; whoso divides Him describes Him; whoso describes Him deviates concerning Him.

God changes not with the changes of creation, just as He is not limited by the limitations of the limited. He is One, not in numerical sense; Manifest, not through direct contact; Visible, not through the dawn of vision; Hidden, not through subtle coverage; Separate, not through distance; Near, not through proximity; Subtle, not through corporeality; Existent, not after non-existence; Active, not through compulsion; Determining, not through movement of thought; Managing, not through movement; Willing, not through resolution; Desiring, not through need; Apprehending, not through means; Hearing, not through organs.

Times accompany Him not, places contain Him not, slumber seizes Him not, attributes define Him not, instruments confine Him not. His Being precedes time, His Existence precedes non-existence, His Eternity precedes beginning. Through the kindling of perception it is known that He hath no organ of perception; through the manifestation of substances it is known that He hath no substance; through His establishing of opposition between things it is known that He hath no opposite; and through His ordaining of comparison between matters it is known that He hath no peer. He hath set light against darkness, clarity against obscurity, dryness against moisture, the arid against the humid, and coldness against heat. He is the Composer between their contrarieties and the Separator between their affinities, these pointing through their separation to their Separator and through their composition to their Composer.

This is His exalted Word:

“And of everything We have created pairs: That ye may receive instruction.”

He distinguished between them and between before and after, that it might be known that He hath no before nor after. Their instincts testify that their Bestower hath no instinct. Their differences proclaim that He Who differentiateth them hath no difference. Their fulfillment declareth that He Who appointeth their time hath no time. Some are veiled from others that it might be known there is no veil between Him and them—the meaning of Lordship when there was none to be lorded over, the reality of Divinity when there was none to worship, the meaning of knowledge when there was naught to be known, the meaning of Creator when there was no creation, the interpretation of hearing when there was naught to be heard.

No created thing merited the meaning of Creator, nor through bringing creation into being did He acquire the meaning of Creator. How could He, when no extent enricheth Him, no measure draweth Him near, no “perhaps” veileth Him, no “when” fixeth His time, no “moment” containeth Him, and no “with” bringeth Him nigh? Tools but define themselves, instruments but point to their like, and in things are found their effects. Their pleasure is the beginning of the preface, their mercy the eternal “if,” their paradise the word “were it not.” They became distinct and thus pointed to their Source, they differed and thus expressed their differences. Through them their Maker was made manifest to minds, and by them He was veiled from sight. Through them imaginations sought Him, and in them they established other than Him.

Following proof and deeming recognition sufficient, belief in God is conceived through reason, and through recognition faith in Him is perfected. There is no religion save after knowledge of Him, no knowledge save through sincerity, no sincerity with comparison, no negation while affirming attributes as warning.

Neither motion nor rest flow over Him—how could that flow which He caused to flow, or return to Him what He began? Then His Essence would vary and His depth would flow, and eternality would deny His meaning, and the Creator would have meaning to the created, and if He had a beyond then He would have a limit, and if completion were sought for Him then imperfection would bind Him. How could pre-existence belong to one not immune from origin? How could things originate from one not immune from origination? Then would appear in Him the sign of the made, and He would become proof after having been proven.

In the impossibility of speech there is no argument, in questioning about Him no answer, in His meaning no glorification of God, in His signs no idol—not through the impossibility of the Eternal being two, nor His having a beginning to begin. There is no God but God, the Most High, the Most Great. They who equate others with God have lied and strayed far astray and lost utterly. God’s blessings be upon Muhammad and his pure household.

Chapter Six: On The Knowledge of the Mystery of Pre-existence

God the Exalted said: “God is the Light of the heavens and the earth. The parable of His Light is as if there were a Niche and within it a Lamp: the Lamp enclosed in Glass: the glass as it were a brilliant star: Lit from a blessed Tree, an Olive, neither of the east nor of the west, whose oil is well-nigh luminous, though fire scarce touched it: Light upon Light! God doth guide whom He will to His Light: God doth set forth Parables for men: and God doth know all things.” Then God’s instruction for whoever desires knowledge of that Light says: “Muhammad is not the father of any of your men, but he is the Messenger of God and the Seal of the Prophets; and God has full knowledge of all things.” Thus I am a believer in what was revealed in His Book and I say: I bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and His Messenger, and he is but the first of the worshippers.

O thou witness, know that that Light is the first to make mention in creation of Himself unto Himself, and all save Him is as naught before His station, even as He, peace be upon Him, hath indicated in His utterance:

“God created all things through the Will, and the Will through itself.”

And He is the first remembrance in the realm of possibility, the first act in the realm of concrete existence, and the first identity in the realm of exposition. Therefore do some of the sages say in their exposition: Absolute existence, manifest pre-existence, pure revelation, and sheer origination. This is the station of absolute Prophethood from whose light all divine authority was created. It has no name when it appears and no trace when it is revealed. He knows Himself, recognizes His own Essence, and is the circle encompassing His beauty.

Thus did God create Him for Himself and made Him the station of His authority, the sign of His Lordship, His dominion and His sovereignty. For God, glorified be He, has ever been and is not associated with the creation of things, nor can His beauty be described in origination. Rather, He created Muhammad, peace be upon Him, through Himself and for Himself, and made Him the station of His wisdom for His glory, distinguished Him in performance as the station of His action, and made Him supreme over what befits His grandeur.

Glory be to Him! How wondrous is His wisdom in His essence and how subtle His mystery in His identity. Whosoever claims to know Muhammad has claimed His station, for as He is, He cannot be known through another, nor does He have any equal in His knowledge. He is unique among humankind, exalted above the likes of creation, and sanctified above any similitude of justice. May God’s blessings be upon Him through His own grace, and may He praise Him through the sublimity of His grandeur. Whoever claims His proof has lost Him, for as He is, nothing can equal Him. He is the Beloved and He is the Loved One, He is the Witness and He is the Witnessed.

Whoever testifies to prophethood has taken a likeness to Him, for as He is, none but Him can testify to Him. The one who calls to God must know Muhammad as He has revealed Himself, for He is the Answerer to God’s servants by His leave. He is the Pivot of attributes in the realm of infinities, and through Him is known God’s manifestation and beauty, God’s identity and majesty. Indeed, He is the eternally Manifest One among the servants and the hidden symbol in the hearts. None knows Him as He is except God, and glory be to God above what they describe.

Verily, I beheld on the night of that day, the twelfth of Muharram, in the world of vision, gracious signs. It was as though at the hour of transformation there had descended unto me sundry books in Arabic script. When I opened one among them, I found therein the sacred earth from the sepulchre of Husayn, upon Him be peace, wrapped within a paper. And when I uncovered it, I beheld a blessed leaf inscribed in beautiful Shikastih script with red ink, and at its end appeared the likeness of a seal shining as a star, engraved with the words “I commit my cause unto God,” and the name of the Mahdi, the peace of God be upon Him, as though contained within it.

I was so gladdened thereby that I questioned within myself whether I was asleep or awake. And by reason of my joy and the greatness of that leaf in mine eyes, I paid no heed to the other books nor read their verses, which were in the Persian tongue and had been revealed in confirmation of my Cause. In my dream I sought to commit them to memory lest they fade from my mind. Yet when I arose from my station, I found myself forgetful of all their verses save four words from the first line. The first of these followed another word, which was the word “Mas’ud,” and three were arranged in Persian thus: “This is my merchandise, while stone is iron.”

God, glorified be He, knoweth what He, upon Him be peace, intended in His utterance, and He verily is the best of interpreters. Were I to desire to expound a single letter thereof, the oceans of words would be exhausted ere its meaning were exhausted. Yet will I allude to somewhat of the outward aspect of its inward realities. The Mim is His glory, and the Sin is Mount Sinai whereon the Divine Presence was made manifest in His glory—peace be upon it. For this reason, the first manifestation thereof in my soul became the letter Ayn. And they that are endowed with insight know not what lieth there save through what is found here, and this constituteth the totality of the letters of the creative Word “Be.” Then He indicated through the letter Waw His authority in this station. There the authority belongs to God, the Truth—He is the best of those who accept repentance and the best in requital. Then He indicated through the letter Dal in the decree of the evidence of this authority that it indicates naught save the Ayn which completes the letters of “Be!”

And after the mountain of the Sinic Sin was ground to dust and the decree of its receptacles which number thirty, it indicated naught save the Mim of Glory which is the essence of manifestation, and verily it is the letter of the Shi’ih in the word “Bismi” after the appearance of the hidden Alif after the Ba’. His is the glory and the praise for how He honored me in His names. It is as though I perceive that He intended in this Name the mention of the stations of unity and its establishment for a servant. From the Mim is established the sign of the station of the Point in the heart, then from the Sin the sign of the station of the Alif in the mystery of creation, then from the Ayn the station of the letters in the station of witnessing, then from the Waw the sign of the station of the Word in the land of ink, then from the Dal the sign of the station of indications in the infinite world from the Pen of Creation.

Exalted be His glory, and great His favor, and abundant His gifts, for that Name, after what is required in the station of accidents at the point of encounter following diminution and increase, equateth the letter of the Greatest Name such as Kaf-Ha-Ya-Ayn-Sad, and then by the letters Ha-Mim-ʿAyn-Sin-Qaf. For after its numerical value and the letter Waw, there appeareth the number of the Name Muhammad, and when thou dost exalt it after its descent, there is made manifest the decree pertaining to the Praised One, the Existent One, the Lost One, and the Desired One, and thereby is established the rule governing the opening letters of the surahs of the Qur’an that were revealed in His Book.

Would that someone might ask of me, with my leave, concerning the interpretation of that Name, the decree of the entire Qur’an! For by Him in Whose hand is my soul, I would establish all the knowledge of the Qur’an through its final letter ere I would take its letter from its beginning. For in the evidence of all evidences there is testimony, and all the signs are enduring, and all the verses are resplendent, and all the attributes are comprehensive. For the letter Dal is the throne of the Will, and through its first pillar the Unity and its laws are established, through the second the decree of Prophethood and its affairs, through the third the decree of sanctity and its effects, and through the fourth the decree of the Resurrection and its modalities. And the command of God doth encompass them from behind. Nay, it is a glorious Qur’an in a guarded tablet.

Verily, He—may my spirit be His sacrifice—intended by the word “my merchandise” all that upon which the name of profit hath fallen, from the Point of Majesty unto the realm of similitudes, and He attributed my cause unto Himself in correspondence to His beauty and the perfection of His mirror. Then He likened that merchandise to the stone that hath fallen in the Sacred Mosque in the world of bodies, in relation to His station opposite the world in the Mosque of Unity. Then He confirmed it through iron heated by fire, inasmuch as among minerals there is found none more burnished nor more protective against penetration than iron. For this reason did Dhu’l-Qarnayn command the use of blocks of iron when he desired to erect the barrier between the two worlds.

Verily, He—may my spirit be His sacrifice—hath alluded in the inner meanings of these words to mighty stations which it behooveth not to disclose, for fear of Pharaoh and his chiefs, and for the protection of Moses and the disciples among His followers. And sufficient is what I have mentioned for whoso hath gained insight and been guided aright unto the path.

Know thou that in recognizing the mystery of pre-existence, it is incumbent upon thee to recognize the identity of that station, for naught besides God hath come into being by His permission save through existence and quiddity. Creation relateth to the first essentially and to the second accidentally. Follow not the saying of the philosophers that God made not the apricot an apricot but brought it into existence, for this is manifest unbelief. Nay, God made it an apricot by what He chose for it in response to the call of its Lord, even as God hath revealed this decree in His Book: Praise be to God Who created the darknesses and the light; yet they that disbelieve ascribe equals unto their Lord.’ For the non-existence of existent things in relation to the act of origination is not of the meaning of contingency, which is non-existence, but rather of the meaning of God’s affair and His bringing non-existence into being.

For the meaning of non-existence, which is contingency itself, is that contingency possesseth not of itself either existence or non-existence. Rather, contingency hath been created from absolute non-existence, for were it not from absolute non-existence, it would needs be from something—nay, not so! God, glorified be He, hath originated contingency not from anything, through itself, unto itself. And what is meant by absolute non-existence is prior to the mention of the thing in contingency, even though the prior falleth after it, for absolute non-existence is not called a thing. And the saying of the Imam—peace be upon Him—that negation is a thing referreth to the negation of a matter after its affirmation, as in my saying non-existence’ before mentioning the thing.

In this question the Shaykh—may God’s mercy rest upon him—went unto one station, and the Sayyid—may God have mercy upon him—unto another station, and the contemporary Sayyid—may God sanctify his station—unto a station at the extremes of measure unto a station. And I have chosen naught save the truth, which is the line of equilibrium between the two matters. Yet unto each a portion from the Book. But why do I not behold the hoopoe among mankind, among my companions, nor the peacock of purity in these days among my loved ones? Praise be to God Who hath inspired me with the truth of what is right in the word of discourse. I beseech God of His bounty to forgive me and the people of His love for their missteps in the hidden choices of things. Verily truth is a single word while differences are manifold aspects. God hath neither loved nor willed save a single word in the decisive discourse.

Had God willed truth in diversity, the matter would depart from the word of reward and consideration of the ultimate goal. But God hath not sent down truth except in unity. Had it been from other than God, they would have found therein much discrepancy. But God alone is the Ancient One, and every effect must needs resemble the attribute of its cause. If multiplicity of truth were possible in a thing, the unity of absolute truth would not be possible therein. Glory be to God! I am not of those who impose burdens.

When thou hast learned the decree regarding the two extremes of the matter in the hidden choices, such was God’s decree in every particular and universal matter encompassed by His knowledge and recorded in His books. It is incumbent upon every soul to know first the rank of its existence, then its essence, then the conditions of its existence, then the conditions of its essence, then to follow the traces of its Lord’s divinity, then to turn away from the conditions of its essence.

Whoso hath not known his own essence cannot know his existence, for in the reality of his existence, the more he ascendeth, the darker it becometh, and if he is heedless thereof it will destroy him. So God’s mercy be upon one who knoweth his number and sleepeth not in his pride from his evil. For the believer circles, by God’s leave, around his existence, while the unbeliever circles, under God’s wrath, around his satan. So blessed is the servant whose satan is secure in his hand, who resteth in the depths of unity, tranquil despite the harm of his enemies.

But most people circle around their numbers unknowingly, as God, glorified be He, hath indicated in His Book: “Do ye call upon Baal and forsake the Best of creators?” And since today is the fourth of ʿAshura, I sprinkle upon those who come upon these verses a sprinkling from the seas of Husayn’s tribulation, that perchance people may one day remember me through remembrance of him, though I am in every respect independent of their remembrance.

And how could it not be so when God, my Lord, is the All-Sufficient, and after knowing of His existence and power, there is no need to mention poverty. Glory be to God, and I am not of those who join partners with Him. And here I mention some of His wisdom: When he (peace be upon him) learned in Medina of the letter which Yazid (God’s curse be upon him) had sent to the governor ordering his death, he (peace be upon him) sought God’s sanctuary and came before the resting place of God’s Messenger and said with heartfelt tone:

“I complain to thee of my afflictions, O my grandfather, distressed by Thy decree. And God witnesses my state—I was yearning for Thee, enthralled. I bear witness that I seek not for myself, beseeching, and I testify that Thou art the best of God’s creation in His knowledge, unique. My father was Thy successor, God’s mystery in might and power, and my brother was established upon the throne. Thou knowest better than I—I seek God’s face, relying upon Him. Nay, by Thy mighty presence, I will not pledge allegiance to him, neither secretly nor openly. Thou knowest, O Messenger of God, my secret, following God’s decree. I hope to please His countenance and then Thy glorious countenance, devoted. God has drawn near the day of my tears, then my tears upon the dust, athirst.

Would that my day were the day of my blood, as I recline upon the dust. O best of messengers, Ahmad, accept my blood for the manifestation of Thy religion, radiant. Then say to Ali and the loved ones around me, gathered for the circumambulation of Thy shrine. O best knower of the course of fate’s decree, inclining—so I am patient in Thy essence, then I complain to Thee together. What have I to do with the army of oppression that worshipped not God in any aspect? What have I to do with a thousand who worship their desires eternally? O Messenger of God, indeed I had on the day of covenant none to rely upon save Him. So I say: Sufficient for me is He—there is no god but He, unique in might.

“O grandfather, by God, dear to me is my separation from before Thy face, less than lightning. And how could it not be so when through Thee God opened all creation, then with Thy remembrance began? Would that Thou wert alive to read the decree of my killing in the Book, manifest. Where is my father, then my mother, to comfort me from weeping secretly? I bid farewell to Thy body, then Thy flesh, then Thy dust, beseeching, devoted. Then I bid farewell to myself from Thy grave, then from Thy sanctuary, magnifying, weeping. God, Thou art the Guardian of all, Thou knowest my decree and Thou establisheth it inevitably. In God I seek refuge, then in the Messenger Muhammad—this is God’s tongue, decreed. And I say: God suffices me, relying on His might and majesty, forever and ever. And I say: My refuge is God’s Messenger in hardship and adversity, protected. I weep for myself on the day the spirit departs from my body, prevented. I weep for my body on the day of killing, naked upon the dust. God weeps for my calamities, and Thou art my hope, and to Thee is the complaint, beseeching. God, Thou art the coolness of my eye, and Thou art sufficient for me, then I relied upon Thee.”

Then after these words of his with the letters of Bismillah to its end, he bid farewell to God’s beloved in such a state that the spirit nearly departed from him. So blessed is he who remembers his affliction and weeps for him, for in that moment, were he to see the reality, he would be with God’s Messenger in the highest degrees, as Al-Rida declared in his words to Ibn Shabib, and this suffices as proof for those who remember.

Chapter Seven: On The Knowledge of God’s Most Beautiful Names

God the Exalted said: “To God belong the Most Beautiful Names, so call upon Him by them” [Q7:180]. And He, exalted be His majesty, said, teaching the supplicants: “Say: Call upon Allah or call upon the Most Merciful; whichever you call upon—to Him belong the Most Beautiful Names” [Q17:110]. And I am indeed a believer in God’s names, glory be to Him, and I am not of those who despair.

So know that every thing upon which a name of “thing” falls is a name of God by virtue of His manifestation therein, and it has innumerable stations. At times it is used to mean the Essence of the Divine Being in worship, and at times it is used to mean the conditions of those similitudes. And in every condition the name has meanings from which it is not devoid, and there is no connection of glory between them; rather, there exists the connection of attribute. The secret of the name is that it gives tidings of the Named One.

The Essence has no name, for that would necessitate something other than Its Essence indicating It, and this is manifest unbelief. Rather, the names give tidings of the creation which tells of God’s grace. Every name has a named one from which it is not empty.

Whoever believes God’s names to be pre-existent has disbelieved, for He, glorified be He, has ever been without name, and now God is as He ever was. When He wished to make Himself known, He created names which were indicators in hearts, stations in souls, signs in horizons, and words in letters.

He described Himself thereby to creation that servants might call upon Him through them. Therefore He said:

“We are God’s Most Beautiful Names, without knowledge of which no deed is accepted, and without us God would not be worshipped, and without us God would not be described.”

Verily the Imams, peace be upon them, are God’s Most Beautiful Names and His Supreme Attributes. Whoever calls upon God through the secret of the name of Muhammad and Ali, God will not reject his prayer, even if he be among the polytheists, for that is the Most Great Name combined, not separate. Through their stillness beneath God’s beauty move the moving things, and through their movement rest the resting things in the fathomless depths.

The first name that God chose for Himself was “the Most High, the Supreme,” where He indicated the meaning of that Name in His Book that “God is the Most High, the Great.” Therefore it appears to one possessed of knowledge to contemplate the greatness of the name “He” after removing the “waw” and considering the “alif” in “Allah,” and that its number is 11, corresponding to the name “Ali” 110, and that the point which is zero preceded them both in station, alluding to the precedence of the name Muhammad the Messenger of God, peace be upon him and his family, in the particles of names.

Therefore, O supplicant, thou must seek intercession through that Most Great Name and Supreme Symbol. Do not belittle any name in contingent existence, for all God’s names are great. When the name is purified from any indication other than God, it becomes greatest.

Therefore the names of the Imams became the greatest names of God, glorified be He, and He is the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting, neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh Him, and He is the Most High, the Supreme. God the Exalted said regarding mention of the Most Great Name: “Say: It is a momentous announcement from which you turn away.”

We have sprinkled upon thee in the depths of the mysteries of these words that God’s Most Great Name is His Most Glorious and Most Noble Action, and it is the Most Exalted Example. His is whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth, and it is the Similitude of God, signifying Him, a sign of His mystery, a tale of His glory and majesty, and evidence of His Self-Sufficiency.

The ruling of the first of these names is like their last. God has ever been glorified and sanctified above every description and indication. Were it not so, how could names indicate the Named One, and the sign not be a sign, and the similitude not be a similitude, and the tale not be a tale, and the evidence not be evidence?

Glory be unto them! Glory be unto them! They are exalted above things and naught is like unto them—evidence for God, the One, the Self-Sufficient, glorified and exalted be He above what they describe.

Ali, peace be upon him, said: We are the mysteries of God deposited in human temples. O Salman, lower us from lordship and remove from us human portions, for we are far removed from them and sanctified above what is possible for you. Then speak of Us whatsoever thou art able, for verily the ocean cannot be drained, the mystery of the unseen cannot be known, and the Word of God cannot be described.

Whoso sayeth “why” or “wherefore” or “how” hath indeed denied the truth. Were it not for My fear that the people of doubt would go astray, I would speak concerning the knowledge of the Most Great Name, even as Abu Abdullah said unto Ibn Sinan: “O Muhammad! Verily in the Surah of Al-Ahzab there is a decisive verse. Were we able to utter it, we would utter it, but then would the people deny the truth, reject it, and go astray.”

All verses of the Qur’an are equally wise. How excellent are the words of the poet:

The secret of fair Layla shalt thou tell, though caught In Layla’s darkness, stripped of certitude’s pure gleam. “Inform us,” cry they, “for her faithful guardian art thou!” But faithless would I prove, should I unveil the theme.

Yet I shall indicate the inner station by mentioning this tradition and seal it, that thou mayest be certain of the Most Great Name in the words “O God! Send Thy blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad.” In its outward meaning and in the decree of its inner meaning is the mention of the Name of the Guardianship before the Prophethood in the station of the Shi’ih. And if thou hast known what thou hast known and witnessed what thou hast witnessed, then verily thou art as thou art. Speak and fear not, for thou art among the secure ones.

In Al-Kafi it is related that the monk asked of Musa ibn Ja’far, saying: “Tell me of the eight letters that descended, of which four were made manifest on earth while four remained in the air. Upon whom shall those four in the air descend, and who shall interpret them?” He replied: “That is our Qa’im. God shall cause them to descend upon him and he shall interpret them, and there shall descend upon him that which descended not upon the truthful ones, the Messengers, and the guided ones.” Then the monk said: “Tell me of the two of the four letters that are on earth—what are they?” He replied: “I shall tell thee of all four. The first is There is no God but God, alone with no partner, enduring.’ The second is Muhammad is the Messenger of God, sincere.’ The third is We are the People of the House.’ And the fourth is Our Shi’ih are from us, and we are from the Messenger of God, the Messenger of God is from God by cause.”’

And in it is related from Abu Abdullah who said: “Verily God, blessed and exalted, created a Name through letters without sound, through utterance without speech, through form without body, through similitude without description, through color without hue, negating directions, removed from bounds, veiled from the perception of every imaginer, concealed yet not covered. He made it a perfect Word upon four parts together, none of which preceded another. He manifested three Names from it due to creation’s need for them, and concealed one, which is the hidden and treasured Name. These Names which appeared—the manifest one is God, blessed and exalted. And the Glorified One subjected to each Name of these four Names pillars, thus making twelve pillars. Then He created for each of these pillars thirty Names as actions attributed to them.

Thus He is the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, the Sovereign, the Holy, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting, Whom neither slumber nor sleep overtaketh, the All-Knowing, the All-Aware, the All-Seeing, the All-Hearing, the All-Wise, the Almighty, the Compeller, the Sublime, the Most High, the Most Great, the Determiner, the Powerful, the Peace, the Faithful, the Protector, the Originator, the Maker, the Wonderful, the Elevated, the Majestic, the Generous, the Provider, the Life-Giver, the Death-Giver, the Resurrector, the Inheritor. These Names and what there are of the Most Beautiful Names until they reach three hundred and sixty Names are all related to these three Names, and these three Names are pillars and veils of the One Hidden and Treasured Name through these three Names. And that is His word, exalted is He: ʿSay: Call upon Allah, or call upon the All-Merciful; by whichever ye call upon Him, His are the Most Beautiful Names.”’

And in it is related from Ali ibn Ibrahim from his father from Nasr ibn Suwayd from Hisham ibn Hakam that he asked Abu Abdullah about the Names of God and their derivation, from what “Allah” is derived. He said: O Hisham! Allah is derived from ilah, and Allah necessitates One who is worshipped. The name is other than the named. So whoever worships the name without the meaning has disbelieved and worshipped nothing. And whoever worships both the name and the meaning has associated partners and worshipped two. And whoever worships the meaning without the name—that is true unity. Do you understand, O Hisham? I said: Tell me more. He said: Allah has ninety-nine names. If the name were the same as the named, then each name would be a god.

But Allah is a meaning indicated by these names, and all of them are other than Him. O Hisham! “Bread” is the name for what is eaten, “water” is the name for what is drunk, “clothes” is the name for what is worn, and “fire” is the name for what burns. Do you understand, O Hisham, with an understanding by which you can refute and dispute with our enemies and those who deny Allah, the Mighty and Majestic? I said: Yes. He said: May Allah grant you benefit from it and make you steadfast, O Hisham. Hisham said: By Allah, no one has ever defeated me regarding Divine Unity since I took this position.

Chapter Eight: On Knowledge of God’s Greatest Signs

Allah the Exalted says: Say: It is a momentous message from which you turn away. I had no knowledge of the Exalted Assembly when they disputed. It is revealed to me only that I am a clear warner. And God taught whoever sought that Message through His words, Glory be to Him: And indeed, it is in the Mother of the Book with Us, exalted and wise. I bear witness that the Remnant of Allah is my Imam; in him I trust and upon him I rely, for He is the best Guardian and best Helper. So know, O discerning one, your Imam, for the Remnant of Allah is better for you if you are believers. And be certain that for knowing him—may my soul be his sacrifice—there are stations countless save by Allah, Glory be to Him.

Among them is that there is no way for anyone through mystical knowledge, certitude, inability, expression, trace, explanation, or name in that station and realm. Whoever knows him has lost him, for otherness cannot bring him into existence. Whoever asks “why,” “from what,” or “how” has spoken regarding himself, for no similitude or meaning applies to him. He is manifest through concealment and absent through manifestation. He neither indicates nor is indicated, for indication is subsidiary to existence—and where is existence in relation to the non-existent? So glory be to Allah, his Creator and Originator, above what they describe.

Among these stations is what was said regarding him: O Salman! My knowledge through luminosity is the knowledge of Allah, and the knowledge of Allah is my knowledge. This is the pure religion which Allah accepts from none except through it. So praise Allah through it, and thereby be among the grateful. And among them is that you should be certain that his will is the very Will of Allah, and through it all existence and beings don clothes of life, as he indicated—may my soul be his sacrifice—explicitly in the visitation prayer which I recite to you:

“And after that established decree, what your will has preserved and what your will has effaced.”

This tradition is the Will itself—so understand the allusion, for it is subtle and precise, even finer than wine in a crystal glass. So blessed is he who drinks of this wine from this cup! For this let the workers work!

And among them is that you should know his wisdom and impose upon yourself obedience to him. For whoever obeys him has obeyed Allah, whoever pledges allegiance to him has pledged allegiance to Allah, whoever is ignorant of him is ignorant of Allah, and whoever wars against him wars against Allah. And likewise in all that is attributed to him from the realm of infinities to finitudes.

This tradition, agreed upon by both the masses and the elite, suffices for whoever seeks the religion of Allah: He who dies without having known Him has died the death of ignorance, and no one has truly known Him until he has known His love and His displeasure. And this Cause cannot be known rightfully except when all its ordinances are known. Therefore seek God’s help in knowing His verses, and God suffices as a guardian. When the lights of divine unity have encompassed your soul, know that the appearance of the Pillar of Greatness in your days was solely for the sanctification of your Leader and the glorification of your Lord Who has spoken through verses—He Who is sanctified above the judgment of signs and tokens. And were the Cause not to appear in this station, none would sanctify his Lord, speaking of His knowledge that which is not pleasing there.

Therefore, blessed is he who has known God’s purpose and recognizes his Lord, rising above allusion and utterance. And woe, utter woe, unto him who desires to extinguish His Cause and His light. By His truth, it is as though I witness the denier of His light disputing with God’s Messenger and His chosen ones on the Day of Resurrection. For were this Cause not to exist, their knowledge and majesty would not have been established through clear verses which none can deny.

O God! Thou knowest my judgment that I have not failed in the proclamation, and if I have extinguished Thy Cause in certain instances through verses, Thou knowest my secret intention was to defend against the deniers and preserve the company of those who are certain. Thou art sufficient as witness and guardian. And I remind my followers in this station of what Ali (peace be upon him) said regarding himself: “Two groups will perish concerning me while I am not at fault: The excessive lover and the hateful enemy.” He said: “Fear God, O people of understanding, for I am but God’s servant, deserving in my station nothing but pure servitude, and whoever deviates from this shall be among the lost, and unto our Lord do we return.”

Chapter Nine: Concerning the Knowledge of God’s Greatest Favors

Part 1: “God, exalted be He, hath said: “Then…”

God, exalted be He, hath said: “Then which of the favors of your Lord will ye deny?” Then the Glorified One spoke to those who seek to know these favors: “But for such as fear the time when they will stand before their Lord, there are two Gardens.” And I hereby praise God and thank Him for His bounties—glorified and exalted is He above what they describe.

Know that the greatest of favors which the servants must seek are those that are for God and in God, and whosoever departs from circling around these two matters, it is not permissible for anyone to seek from him. Through this decree are distinguished the deeds of the believers from those of the unbelievers.

O thou who supplicates! If thou art able to ask nothing from thy Lord save His Self, and make thy sole desire His love and naught else—such that even if thou desire salt for thy food, nothing but He should come to thy heart, saying “O God! Thou, Thou alone art my desire, none other than Thee”—then I guarantee on God’s behalf that He will fulfill thy need without mentioning it or looking toward it. But this matter is difficult, most difficult, pure, noble, pure-hearted, rugged and harsh. None can bear it save one who desires naught but God in the station of His manifest glory, and therefore seeks none other than Him in the station of supplication.

Glory be to God, the Single, the One! He hath made all His favors contingent upon fear of His presence and circling round His origination. O thou who asketh! If thou fearest thy Lord and art certain of His creative power within thyself, it will prevent thee from asking in the presence of His countenance, and He will, through His grace, cause thee to attain this most noble station.

God, glorified be He, hath said in the sacred tradition:

“O son of Adam! I am the Living One Who dieth not, and the King Who perisheth not. When I say to a thing Be!’ it is. Therefore do what I have commanded thee and abstain from what I have forbidden thee, that I may make thee a living one who dieth not and a king who perisheth not. When I say to a thing Be!’ it is. Obey Me and thou shalt be like unto Me.”

When thou hast witnessed what thou hast read in all your affairs and manifestations, and when the mystery of the Cause is revealed from thyself, I fear thou mayest not be certain of His Cause. How excellent was it said:

“I left the passion of Layla and Su’da at their dwelling, and proceeded to the first dwelling of the Beloved. And longing called out to me: ʿWoe unto thee! These are the dwellings of whom thou lovest, so draw near to the dwelling.’ I wove for them a delicate thread, but found none to weave it save myself, so I broke my spindle.”

Yet I shall indicate some of the inner meanings through the outward appearance of the inmost mystery from behind the pavilions of glory and the tabernacles of grandeur, lest any save its people should discover it, and the trust be lost in its places. And lo, I am preserving it by mentioning words out of their proper context, and upon God, my Lord, do I rely, and unto Him is the journey’s end.

Know thou that God, glorified be He, hath created creation as it is according to what He is in His might, majesty, grandeur and greatness. The essences of contingent beings are as they are only according to what He is. Indeed, the reality of servitude itself, which is the aspect of multiplicity, is identical with the reality of the Self-Manifested, which is the condition of God as He is and as befitteth His power. In every condition this mystery is both manifest and hidden in a form that indications cannot approach, nor can allusions equal it, nor can signs match it, nor can words attain unto it.

In God’s knowledge and in relation to His deed it hath numbered ranks, but in relation to creation it hath no condition save God’s Command, His light, His path and His proof. It is incumbent upon every soul first to know its relationship to God, then its relationship to creation. In the matter of its relationship to God it hath five stations:

The first relateth the story of God in the beginning of His remembrance which hath no beginning. This is the station of the Point which was created and purified, then ascended and was glorified, then revolved and returned unto itself, not departing therefrom unto aught else. It is the temple of His unity and the image of His omnipotence. None of its conditions can be related save from its reality, and it hath no inner aspect save in its outer aspect, nor any outer aspect save in its inner aspects. Thus hath God created it for Himself and made it the greatest of His signs for whomsoever desireth to ask of His presence, glorified and exalted be He above what they describe.

The second relateth the story of God in the mirrors of the Hidden Alif, which was originated and purified, then sought and was concealed, then revolved around the Point as it rotated by its leave, with no end to its flow. Therein is prophethood, and from it is guardianship, and unto it is the judgment of the Return. In its decree it was foreordained, and glorified be God above what they describe.

The third relateth the story of God in the mirrors of the Alif standing around the Hidden, which brought its existence into being two thousand years before the mention of the Letters. It is that which was illumined by the light of the Tree when He manifested Himself upon Mount Paran. None knoweth it in its manifestation save the hidden souls. From it is the Book and unto it is the return, and glorified be God, its Originator, above what they describe.

The fourth relateth the story of God in the crimson mirrors, and it is the extended white Alif which, when it arose for the manifestation of His Cause on the Day of Ashura: “Do ye call upon Ba’l and forsake the Best of creators?” The multiplicities were confounded while the other had fulfilled His good pleasure through the decree. For such as this should one weep. We are God’s and unto Him do we return, save for him who turneth with his soul to His soul, for he hath indeed seen God upon His throne in His earth. And whoso weepeth for His face, or causeth others to weep for His might, or feigneth to weep for His oneness, hath truly come unto God in the station of His sovereignty.

For such as this should the unitarians weep. And whoso curseth those who wage war and those who are pleased with their actions are like those who dwell at the point of Ridvan and address its people through God’s grace among the people of the Bayan. And similarly, let those who take refuge curse, except for those who visit Husayn, for at the time of their visitation God praises them as He praises Himself. And similarly, let those who act aspire thereunto. O God! You know that were it not for fear for myself, I would choose no land except His sanctuary and would draw near to no deed except visiting it. But now, You send peace upon him and praise him in his resting place, and write for me and for whoever desires that station what I have hoped for in my hope and visitation. Verily You are the Bestower, the Helper. Nothing in the heavens or on earth is too great for You, and You are the Generous, the Great.

The fifth relates to the repetitions of the letter Ha, which is the word composed of two Alifs. This ascends once to the cloud of the Divine Essence—there is no god but He—and descends again to the heaven of Divine Authority—and He is the Most High, the Great. And in the station of the Divine Essence, the forms of the letters of “There is no god but God” appear in this world, which are twelve letters, and their origin is three, which is the Alif and the Ha then the Alif when repeated thirteen times from itself. And its reality is the Point, which when it dissolved became an Alif, and when the Alif appeared through its repetition, it manifested the words “There is no god but God.” Therefore the Proof (Imam) indicated in the Rajabiyyih supplication: “Through them Your heaven and earth were filled until it became manifest that there is no god but You.”

And this entire mystery has sprung from the manifestation of God’s Hidden Name to all else, which in no state indicates anything except God. And it should not be understood from our words that from this wisdom it appears that the hidden pillar related to the Shi’ih is the foundation and all else branches, for this is other than the doctrine of the People of the House. Rather, the pillar of the Shi’ih in its entirety is the fruit of the tree—and what comparison is there between the judgment of the fruit and the existence of the tree? So glory be to God, and I am not of the wrongdoers.

When you have known what you have known and witnessed what you have witnessed, then you are He—that is, a sign of His Face—and He is you, as the Imam clearly stated in that station in his words. And that suffices as a path for whoever desires knowledge of the divine favors.

Chapter 10: Concerning the decree of the beginning and the end.

God, exalted is He, said: “It is God Who created you, then provided for you, then will cause you to die, then will give you life. Are there any of your ʿpartners’ who do any of these things? Glory be to Him and exalted is He above what they associate with Him.” He, exalted be His mention, said: “God—there is no god but He—will surely gather you to the Day of Resurrection about which there is no doubt. And who is more truthful in statement than God?” Therefore I am certain of the return of all to their stations which God has ordained for them, and I say: “Verily we belong to God and to Him do we return.”

Know with certainty, O observer, that for every beginning in itself there is an end, and in its end a beginning, unto infinity without end. The first beginning of a thing is its mention under the Divine Will, then its end comes on the day of its mention under the Divine Purpose. And similarly it has a beginning and end until the levels of its action and reaction are completed. When the receptacles are completed in the matter of its receptivity, it is mentioned in this world. And when it descends into this world, it has in every instant—nay, less than an instant—in every matter, beginnings and endings for you. And the Day of Resurrection is your day in the presence of your Lord’s face, and it has, like the decree of beginning and end, stations without end.

Behold thyself in this very moment: thou hadst a beginning in existence, then in sustenance, and then in life itself; and in each of these thou hast likewise an end. Such is the decree in all thine affairs, thy movements, and thy moments—from the sweet scents of mystery and the intimations of revelation, which none can reckon save God, the All-Glorious. It is incumbent upon thee to witness at every instant the Day of Resurrection, the judgment of God, His balance, His path and His reckoning, to be affected by His chastisement and fire, to be blessed by His paradise and bounties, and to behold the permanence of the geometry of His power and the perpetuity of His favor through the perpetuity of His might.

Thou shalt witness in this station and this realm the gathering of all people, nay of all created things, and what they have wrought, what they have cast aside, what they have rejected, and how they were called to account, and whatsoever lieth beyond this of the affairs of the Day of Separation, the length of its duration, the multitude of its signs, and the diversity of its stations, which none can perceive save he who gazeth with the light of the heart, unto whom God hath joined the trace of the ink in the Pen of Creation. Even so must the learned one witness the deeds of all and their journey unto infinity, and God encompasseth all from behind. Nay, it is a glorious Qur’an preserved in a guarded tablet.

Know thou with complete certitude that the Return is a pillar of faith in God’s unity and sanctity, and its foundation is submission to God’s deed and His omnipotence. Whoso denieth any aspect of the Return is veiled from its signs and stations, which are present in every place. He who denieth the principle of Return hath disbelieved in God and His signs, and likewise he who denieth any aspect thereof, for in his denial he necessitates the nullification of God’s signs and diminishment of the perfection of His sanctity and holiness. Glory be unto Him! Just as the beginning is from Him in truth, so too is the return unto Him in truth. The existence of a thing is not complete except through its appearance in this world and in bodies, and likewise its return is not complete except through the perfection of its body and conditions.

The objection of the philosophers is pure sophistry, arising from their lack of knowledge of God and His signs. For when a wolf devoureth the body of a man, it departeth not from God’s hands and dominion, and when it is transformed by the wolf’s might, it departeth not from God’s knowledge and omnipotence, while according to the true doctrine it is not transformed. On the Day of Resurrection both bodies shall be gathered complete and perfect as in this world. Consider the water in thy palm, then in thy mouth, then in thy veins—on the Day of Resurrection it shall be gathered in its original existence and its various locations.

The secret of the matter is that since physical bodies possess density, the imagination cannot conceive of two stations while preserving their form. But in subtle examples, consider the eye: thou gazest upon these words, and all people after thee gaze upon them, yet in this moment the words change not in the eyes. Likewise on the Day of Resurrection, the words shall be gathered in all eyes while remaining in their station.

Such is the decree regarding bodies, but the philosophers, having not attained unto the water of intellect, perceive not God’s decree and deny the gathering of bodies while they perceive not. Most scholars have followed them without excellence, while they know not, after having read God’s Book in response to those who deemed remote the gathering of bodies:

“Say: He who brought them forth the first time shall give them life, and He is knowing of all creation.”

They have indeed presented evidence for belief in the return of bodies and judged its denier an infidel and atheist, yet when they came to the details, they returned to their interpretations and forgot God’s decree, following their own desires while they comprehend not. Had they believed in the Self-Sufficingness of the All-Merciful, they would have entered into the decree of return with insight, among the people of exposition. When they entered in, some of them remained firm, but to dispel their doubts they posited two bodies [jismayn] and two forms [jasadayn], making the origin of each from Hurqalya which neither changes nor alters. Glory be to God! By their assertion they nullified God’s verses concerning bodies. Nay, by my Lord, I follow none of them, for I witness the gathering of bodies and forms just as I witness the gathering of souls in wombs. I now witness the gathering of all that is within God’s knowledge as though it were now before God—this is from God’s grace upon me, though most people know it not.

Part 2: “Indeed, there has reached unto the sanctuary…”

Indeed, there has reached unto the sanctuary of reality, in the inner meanings of these subtleties, the master of the age and essence of the mystics, whose lightning flash illumines both East and West. May God reward him for his exposition of the truth of this matter through the manifesting reality, the conclusive word, and the brilliant light, after words were crystallized beneath the domes of his allusions—though this was only to preserve the vision of the beholders. May God reward him as he deserves, and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.

Observe, O beholder, the return of the people of exposition, and see no difference between their beginning and their return. They are a people God created for Himself, making their first identical with their last, their outer identical with their inner, their beginning identical with their return. They have no limit in existence nor in their forms when they are missing. When they are created they are gathered, when gathered they are resurrected, when resurrected they enter the depths of Oneness. God has given them no attribute apart from their essence, no description apart from their being. When created they enter His paradise without reckoning.

It is as though I now witness the resurrection of the fourth before the first, second and third. He gazes upon the gathering ground and walks humbly in its regions, saying “Would that I had been blind in the world, with tongue and hand cut off, never approaching this Cause!” Then the King proclaims, as He now proclaims: “Taste what mortal decreed, for We created everything by measure.” I seek refuge in God from his hypocrisy and anger. It is as though they know not the inevitability of God’s Messenger before God, and think themselves rightly guided. Nay! The day when the leg shall be bared and they shall be called to prostration while yet whole. They have borne such a station of gathering and resurrection as none other could bear. Soon he shall be gathered before His face, and all shall witness who is weakest in helpers and fewest in number.

Consider the wisdom of this tradition answering the atheist who asked: “How can the spirit return to the form after it has decomposed and scattered, some eaten by beasts, some used in buildings?” He said: “Explain this to me.” The reply was that the spirit remains in its place—the spirit of the good in light and spaciousness, the spirit of the evil in constraint and darkness. The body becomes dust, including what beasts and insects have eaten and torn in their bellies—all of it preserved in the earth by Him from Whom not an atom’s weight in earth’s darkness is hidden, Who knows the number and weight of all things. The dust of spiritual beings is like gold in the earth. When the time of resurrection comes, rain falls upon the earth which then churns as churns the water-skin, and human dust becomes like gold from earth when washed with water, and cream from milk when churned. The dust of each form is gathered and transported by God’s leave to where the spirit is. Then the forms return by the Former’s leave and the spirit enters them. When this is accomplished, none shall deny anything within themselves.

O witness! Free thyself for the meeting with thy Lord, then prepare for death and the Day of Separation, for God’s promise is truth and all shall return unto Him. Verily have I lifted the veil of return from the face of beginning, and after this manner should the doers act. And as today is the tenth of Muharram, I shall recall some of the afflictions of the people of Taff, that I might thereby be numbered among the witnesses. I testify that the tribulation of Husayn on that day is beyond the comprehension of any soul. The traces of servitude in the station of sacrifice are greater than the signs of lordship in the station of meeting.

Ibn Abbas related: “I saw Husayn at the door of the Kaaba on the night he intended to depart for Iraq. Gabriel’s hand was in his, calling out in the Sacred Mosque that allegiance to Husayn is allegiance to God—so turn ye unto Him!” And when the veil was lifted from his eyes at that time, he beheld the Cause in its reality. Yet the Cause is greater than this. Nay, at every moment he was thus, crying out in his loudest voice: “This is the Beauty that hath been manifested from God in the midst of union. Whoso pledgeth allegiance to Him hath attained the seat of grace. Turn ye, O people of the realm of names, unto the meeting with God in justice. Then bear witness between God’s might in the gathering place of abasement.” Save he who pledgeth allegiance to God—God shall be his visitor in the sanctuary. And whoso wageth war against the countenance of God among the concourse shall be gathered into His just retribution.

This is according to the outward path, but if thou desirest the inner way, it is difficult yet tameable. In everything God calleth out from before: “Whoso is slain in My path, I am his blood money.” Here the light of the Divine Essence appeared in My station of attributes, like His words: “O God! Convey to my Master, the Lord of the Age…” So blessed are the martyrs who on that day stood before Him, who came unto God with faces reddened by their blood—these are they who truly attain. God is greater than the tribulation of Husayn, peace be upon him, for nothing like it is possible in contingent existence, nor can creation bear its likeness. The very manifestation and power of the hidden, with the penetration of His will and the swiftness of His desire, bore patiently for God and in God until he was slain in meeting with God. By Him Who made me weep for him, his patience in this ordeal was mightier than his universal power and greater than his sanctified station.

Read the book of his testament to Muhammad ibn Hanafiyyah, then hearken to the glorified words concerning the decree of Ashura, then weep as much as thou art able, for we are God’s and among the witnesses. He wrote, after the opening formula and what was ordained in the station of servitude—and I convey the meaning:

“Whoso followeth me, his reward is with God, and whoso denieth my Cause, I shall be patient until God judgeth between me and him, and He is the best of judges.”

And I hereby counsel with this decree and such a leaf, and God is witness over what I say.

Ali, peace be upon him, said when he alighted on the holy ground: “O Ibn Abbas! This is where their mounts shall kneel, this is where their men shall fall, here shall their blood be spilled. Blessed art thou, O soil moistened by the blood of the beloved!” Then he said: “Alas! Alas! What have I to do with the family of Abu Sufyan and the clan of war, the hosts of Satan and the friends of disbelief and enmity!” Then he turned to Husayn, peace be upon him, and said: “Be patient, O Abu Abdullah, for thy father met from them the like of what thou shalt meet.” And Husayn, peace be upon him, said when Ibn Ziyad’s letter—upon him be God’s curse—reached him: “I have no reply for him, for the word of punishment hath been realized against him.” Then he said to Ibn Sa’d: “Woe unto thee, O Ibn Sa’d! Dost thou not fear God, unto Whom is thy return? Thou fightest against me, and I am the son of him whom thou knowest.”

Then He counselled him (peace be upon him) concerning the utmost end, and when he saw that it had no effect upon his heart, he finally said: “May God slay you upon your bed and not forgive you on the Day of Gathering.” Then he returned to his place. When the day of Ashura dawned and Satan’s party was permitted to rise against his countenance, he (may my spirit be sacrificed for him) donned the robes of prophethood and guardianship, then stood before the army of unbelief and said: “Do you not know that I am the son of Muhammad’s daughter and my father is the Lion who perfectly upheld the Faith? What tradition have you altered, what law have you changed? Have I altered anything in God’s religion? Have I made lawful what pure Ahmad prohibited, or prohibited what was previously permitted?”

When he saw they would not turn back from their purpose, he commanded his followers to struggle, for we belong to God and to Him do we return. For everyone who was killed in His path, he (peace be upon him) spoke words of reward, saying this indeed was the supreme triumph. He said to Muslim: “May God have mercy on you, O Muslim! You have attained martyrdom and fulfilled your duty.” And when he saw his nephew Al-Hassan martyred, he said: “By God, it grieves your uncle that you should call him and he cannot answer, or that he answers but cannot help you or benefit you.” And when his brother Abbas ibn Ali was killed, he said: “Now my back is broken and my resources are gone.” Indeed, by God, with his martyrdom the back of all existence was broken and the resources of all beings were exhausted. We belong to God and to Him do we return.

When his son Ali lay facing the army of polytheism, he said: “O God, bear witness against these people, for there has gone forth to them one who most resembles Your Messenger in appearance and speech.” And he turned in his place to Umar ibn Sa’d and said: “May God cut off your kinship as you have cut off mine.”

He (peace be upon him) said when he returned from the field of battle—and his words were such that when they reached the Throne it shook, when they were recited to the heavens they split asunder, and when they descended to the earth it was rent apart—“Alas! Alas!” He said: “O my son, by the honor of Muhammad and Ali and your father, that you should call them but they answer you not, and you should seek help but they help you not! God is Most Great! God is Most Great!” He knew their condition and the condition of the Family around them. We belong to God and to Him do we return.

Glory be to God! Among the words of Husayn when he lay upon the earth after enduring what he did from the unbelievers, he said:

“In the name of God, and by God, and on the religion of God’s Messenger. I shall meet God, my grandfather, while I am oppressed and stained with my blood.”

We belong to God and to Him do we return. By Him in Whose hand is my soul, if people knew the burning anguish of these words in people’s hearts, they would rise from their sleeping places and weep until they died.

All that I have related of the words of that exalted soul, I have mentioned its condition. And since God has made me its end in effect, where not a single letter can be from other than it, I could not on that day indicate some of the inner secrets of the meaning of the words of magnification, so that all might weep for my sake as they weep concerning the decree of that day, and that I might thereby be among those who are tried.

And I say that the martyrdom of Husayn in this world was only for the manifestation of the guardianship of God’s family and the certainty of their followers regarding themselves through pure truth, and for the preservation of Muhammad’s religion until the day when the trumpet is blown. This momentous matter had, by divine wisdom, to occur in the year 61 after the sacred Hijra, on Friday the tenth of the sacred month, with many symbolic meanings not hidden from those who understand them, and that seventy-two souls from among his followers were killed represents the number of God’s Greatest Name.

He Who has appeared possesses seventy-three letters, one of which belongs exclusively to God, and none knows it save Him. This is the testimony which God reserved for Husayn, and no one can comprehend his tribulation except Him. The remaining seventy-two letters God bestows upon whomsoever He wishes. Some Prophets were given five letters by God, equivalent to the tribulations of five martyrs of the Day of Ashura, while others received less or more, and thus do the Prophets excel one another. God bestowed all these letters upon the Imams because they share in Husayn’s tribulation, and whatever Husayn endured from his enemies, they too have borne. Along this slender white thread must the bearer of this Most Great Name from among their followers be tried with their tribulations, like unto the martyrdom of Husayn in sixty-one.

Thus did the Day of Ashura fall on a Friday this year after that year, that those of understanding might know that what is there can only be known by what is here. The mystery of the matter is that after the completion of the letters of “There is no God but God” in the complete year of one thousand two hundred and sixty-one, corresponding to the year of martyrdom, the bearer of that Name must be oppressed in life by the oppression of the transgressors.

Glory be to God, the Ever-Living! God and His Messenger spoke truth. O God! I have fulfilled my covenant through Thy grace, so fulfill my covenant, for verily Thou dost not break Thy promise. When thou witnesseth the mystery of the matter, then bear witness that I, in my station here alone in the house, speak concerning the inner meaning of the inner meaning just as the Prince of Martyrs spoke on that day concerning the inner meaning of the outer meaning. None can understand from my words the matter of illusion, for were the matter to appear in its reality in the world of bodies, thou wouldst see it thus in both the outer and inner realms.

It is not hidden that for this matter many men have gathered in the Holy Land, and were I to be honored and desire it, I would overcome all the peoples, but I preferred that destiny should run counter to desires, that my heart might break, my secret grieve, and my heart be transformed, that I might, in the inner meaning, resemble Husayn in tribulations in the outer meaning. This is from what God took as covenant from me, that my decree might be joined with His decree.

Had I known this beforehand, I would not have approached it, but when it befell me, I endured in God and was content with His decree, and I say: “Nothing shall befall us save what God has prescribed for us. Upon Him do I rely, in Him do I endure, and upon God let those who trust put their trust.” The greatest tribulation that befell me was the contemptible deed of the governor in his oppression, and when I wrote the paper regarding the decree of rejection, it was as though I heard a caller calling in my secret heart: “Sacrifice the things most dear to thee in the path of God just as Husayn sacrificed in My path.”

Were I not conscious of that manifest secret, by Him in Whose hand is my soul, were all the kings of the earth to gather, they could not take from me a single letter, how much less these servants who have no standing therein, who are outcasts before their own kind and are incapable to such degree that they cannot produce a single utterance like unto my verses. But the decree is as I indicated to thee in the inner secret, that all might know my station, my patience, my contentment, and my sacrifice in the path of God, with the evident signs that God has placed in my hands, whereby none can prevail against all the people of the earth.

Part 3: “Thus have I sacrificed from the traces…”

Thus have I sacrificed from the traces of my soul in the path of God, for the sacrifice of the soul is for the establishment of truth, and that nothing in creation can equal it. Praise and gratitude be to God! I have been patient for His sake and have offered the greatest sacrifice that God has ordained—not in His path. Those who have wronged shall soon know what fate awaits them. God has not ordained any sacrifice after that sacrifice, even if all were to gather together. And for the one who took the leaf there is no portion. Say: Take pleasure in your unbelief for a little while—you are assuredly among the companions of the Fire.

Think not that God is unaware of what the wrongdoers do. Were it not that God desired the manifestation of an inner hidden trial beneath the outer appearance, none would have been able to rise against me in anything. But He has willed to see me oppressed at the hands of wrongdoers after thousands had gathered to support me. Thus did God will to see me offer my sweetest traces in sacrifice. He willed to see me on such a day alone in the house while Satan’s party busied themselves warring against me with swords of words sharper than swords of steel.

Though for the manifestation of the outer hidden decree he endured upon his body one thousand nine hundred and fifty blows from instruments of war, I, by his right, may my soul be sacrificed for him, have endured far more than that number in my heart for His sake from the words of those who are far, and I witness my heart torn to pieces by the swords of the enemies’ words.

O God! To Thee, from Thee alone, there is no God but Thee! Alas, alas! Were tranquility not sent down from my Lord at every moment, I would have perished, but God through His grace gives me peace through His promise of return and the hereafter, and sends down patience upon me. God has made me like Mount Uhud—their weapons cannot scale it and their flashing swords leave no mark. Rather I see it, by God’s grace and favor, as a sign unto Himself.

Just as they said of the Nazarene that he was “the third of three,” their lies returned upon themselves—He is but One God, there is no God but He, and I am but the first of those who turn in repentance. Nay, I rest in Paradise upon reclining couches—everything Satan’s party hurls at me as arrows, I see returning as fire upon themselves, while they cower before His might. God has appointed no helpers for the wrongdoers in the Fire.

Alas, alas for what decree has been executed upon me! How could it be otherwise when until now I have claimed nothing but servitude to God in His oneness? For this there are four books of decisive verses and ten perfect scrolls, any one of which in another’s hands would have conquered the whole earth with manifest and conclusive proof that none could deny if fair.

Yet in my contentment with God, despite possessing that Greatest Name and Mightiest Proof, I sit alone in my house seeking God’s pleasure, accepting oppression in following Husayn’s example despite his power and might. Glory be to God! These people, when someone writes a treatise on jurisprudence, some follow them in independent judgment and make rejection of them rejection of God Himself, while the matter in my hands is more manifest than this sun at its zenith.

Indeed Majlisi (God’s mercy be upon him) wrote that the miracle of the Family of God (God’s peace be upon them) was their words, writing that “we have seen nothing of their miracles except their words, which are more established for souls and more perfect for minds,” just as all maintain that the Scroll of Sajjad is the most excellent of the Prophet’s Family, the Psalms of the People of the House, comparable to the heavenly scrolls.

O God, bear witness between me and them on the Day when witnesses shall stand forth, for they are a people who believe in part of the Book and disbelieve. O ye who believe! Fear God and speak a straight word. For verily, I am alone in my house, relying upon my pen, and I cry out with my loudest voice: Is there any helper who will aid the cause of the Most Hidden of the Hidden through clear verses, whether by his tongue, his body, his wealth, his influence, or his writings?

Is there any defender who will repel the rejection of the deniers, the doubts of the doubters, and the tyranny of the transgressors? Is there any kinsman who will weep for me and dispel from around me the evil of the infidels? Is there any soul who will hear my weeping, then arise to aid me, then manifest the signs of his love for my sake? Is there any mighty one who will honor me through God’s Most Manifest Command—for all honor belongs to God, His Messenger, and the believers? Is there any wrathful one who will show anger against mine enemies, that my eyes might be consoled thereby? Is there any one with strength whom We have strengthened, or any one with might who will detach himself unto Us? We praise God Who will show you His signs, and ye shall know them. But none hath answered Me now.

O concourse of transgressors! Have I altered any tradition among you or changed any law? Have I made lawful what pure Ahmad forbade, or forbidden what pure Kazim permitted? Have I claimed any station less than servitude, or asserted lordship while in the temple of servitude? What aileth you, O people? For what reason do ye deny Me, though I am the son of the Most High? For what cause do ye reject Me, though I am the son of the Successor? Is there among you, O people, any kinsman who will ward off from Us the schemes of tyrants? Is there among you any learned one who will refute the ignorance of the deniers with God’s proof?

O God! Thou knowest I have completed the proof and perfected the blessing for those who received these verses on that Most Great Day. O Satan! Is there among thy party one with a decisive book or firm scrolls who will challenge the son of Muhammad in his solitude and contend with him through his mighty verses which God hath made the sword of His power? Why doth none among you desire this today? O God! Thou dost witness that I have made all hear my weeping, yet none hath challenged me today, nor could any before prove even a single tradition. That coward, more miserly than any base one, sought my blood while I had attained unto Thyself. I have caused the pen of ink to flow upon the tablet of his summons through what was written unto me, that I might thus be numbered among the martyrs. In such manner are the believers to be warred against and the monotheists to be slain. Verily we are God’s, and unto Him shall we return. Say not of those who are slain in God’s path that they are dead—nay, they are living, but ye perceive not.

Lo, I recite my lineage even as Husayn recited his on that day, and God sufficeth as witness. The people have disbelieved, having turned away from God’s beauty, the Countenance of the Two Sanctuaries. The people wounded Ahmad, then Kazim, then united to oppress the son of the two lineages. No gathering do I see with faces of shame like the faces of the first ones.

O people! Fear ye not God, because of the decree of His appointed Guardian? They have cast at Me the stones of the abject and the base, though no sin had preceded Mine appearance in the Books of old, save that My mention shone forth with the splendour of the ancients. Am I not the beloved of Ahmad, an Arab, of Kazim the Qurayshi, of the pure ones—God’s best among creation, the Messenger to the two worlds? Fatima the Radiant is my grandmother, and I am the son of the Two Sanctuaries. His countenance is reflected in my visage, and I am the manifestation of light of the two faces.

I am the hidden mystery veiled within the Secret of Majesty; I am the Light enshrined within the clouds of Command in the two worlds. Who among you possesses a Book resembling the verses of the Almighty? In power I have revealed what He hath decreed from the behest of the Lord of all being. Who among you hath a scripture like unto the verses of the Speaker on Sinai? Firmly have I set forth what I have inscribed from the light of the Lord of the two Easts. Who among you hath a Book encompassing both its outer and inner meanings, like the twin shadows of two luminous orbs?

Who among you beareth My Name within the secret of secrets in the two lines of the Tablet? Who hath a single letter like unto Mine, while I am the offspring of the Twin Cities? Who among you hath a prayer such as that which I have revealed? Who hath a remembrance equal to My remembrance in the Book of all worlds? Men read the sciences of wisdom in a guarded Tablet, yet never have they read the gatherings concerning My Cause, while I am the son of the two sisters. This is but one Tablet, then this another—have ye aught that can compare with these twin sermons?

I am the son of Him Who prayed upon the Throne manifold times, Whose decree is exalted above all command, nearer than the two bows’ length or nearer still. I am the son of Him Who pledged fidelity in the two covenants, and of Him Who called unto prayer upon the earth facing the two Qiblahs. I am the son of Him Who walked alone through the worlds and the depths of the Most Exalted Realm, and of Him Who ascended in His glory in both dispensations.

I am the pure servant, the Qurayshite, the ʿAbtahite, circumambulating the House and praying between the two chambers; He Who spoke from the Mount and unveiled the Beginning and the End; the inward Light of the outward Seal; the unveiler of the Symbol, the Summoner to the twin Covenants; the concealer of the Mystery within the inmost sources; the bearer of the Light of the two Points of Glory; the fourth Pillar within the inner significance of the twin Proofs; the sender of water upon a barren land; the dispatcher of justice, the worshipper of the Twin Sanctuaries.

Who among you possesseth a glory like unto Mine in the guarded Book? That sufficeth for My pride—I am the son of the two Martyrdoms, the scion of majesty. Many an arrow have they hurled against Me, the honourable among the destitute, after I had shown them kindness; they assailed Me by the decree of My Lord—I, the son of the two Sanctuaries, the descendant of Hasan. They have wrought what they have wrought, yet none on earth is My peer in the two horizons. The sun hath arisen and the two moons have set; I am the Luminary after the two moons. The star hath risen and the two guiding stars are gone; I am the Rising One after the twain. The zenith is established, and the sun is fixed; I stand between the two points of stillness. A moon hath dawned after the waning of two moons, and I am its rising after the twin suns.

A sun arose and another took its place; a sun set and two shone in its stead. Gold have they taken from two silvers, yet I am the silver after the two golds; gold from gold in gold—and I am the Discerner between the two golds. A sun set in its rising-place, in the west and in the east of the two horizons; a star rose in the west of the two wests; a sun waned after the rising of another; a sun sank after the ascent of two. I sealed the beginning after its emergence, and I am the Rising One after the two beginnings. A decree was abrogated after its appearance, and I am the Manifestation succeeding the twin seals. Innovations appeared after justice was ordained; grace declined after the twin splendours had dawned. A tree grew after it was consumed by fire, and was raised up after it was burnt—I am the branch of the twin trees.

A countenance reflected in the waters after conjunction—I am its rising in the waters after the twin reflections had set. The Mount appeared once more after its theophany was shattered; I revived after I was slain, and I am the son of the two martyrdoms. Yea, a believer, yea, a helper after the deniers—from the lands of the two friends, from Khuy and from Qazvin, before the gainsayers: steadfast, submissive, patient, guarding, content, humble.

I am the son of Ṭahir, after the Mim of the Jafr. The darkness of the two nights hath transgressed and forged falsehood like the first of the ancients; yet after He had twice praised Me in His Book, He described Me with justice and truth in the ink of the two reds. There is neither repelling nor fleeing from His decree; I have inscribed after the twin stations what I have written. I have opened what was sealed, My portion cast upon the distant earth, though I had committed no sin nor suffered compulsion before the twin gatherings.

Woe betide the servant who entered the earth with knowledge of the two worlds and departed therefrom with certainty and a Book in two leaves! Whence did man worship God without the knowledge of certitude? Whence did he adore Satan after the twin proofs? Nay, by thy Lord, there is no escape from choosing between the two words—first belief, then unbelief, or its reverse—and that sufficeth as a name for two servants after the twin Books. Whoso breaketh the Covenant of the All-Merciful hath no good in all the worlds.

I wrote the Book of the Tablet when I was yet alone, a youth confessing justice by the right of the two Luminaries. Who besides Me bore witness to the Truth with the tongue of God, the Best of both worlds? Who besides Me drank the blood of Husayn in five draughts? Who among you hath shown patience like unto Mine for forty days? This sufficeth not; this is a remembrance after the two signs.

O my Lord! Judge between Me and My people after the wrongs of the forty, before the denial of the rejecters and the repudiation of the twin proofs. O My people! Such is My station in the Book of God. Read ye, then, the states of your own souls! Is there any challenger to contend with Me by the shining verses? Praise be to God, Who answereth Me not by any soul. In the Name of God, by God, and upon Thy Guardianship! Praise be to God, the Lord of all the worlds.

Chapter Eleven: Concerning the interpretation of the first third of the prayer

Part 1: “O Lord! Make me know Thyself, for if…”

“O Lord! Make me know Thyself, for if Thou makest not Thyself known unto me, I shall not know Thy Prophet.” This prayer, and whatsoever God hath intended thereby—its outward aspect being identical with its inward essence, and its inward essence being identical with its outward aspect—none can truly comprehend the Words of God as they are in themselves save God alone, and sufficient unto their meaning is the very manifestation of God in His stations. Glorified be God above all that they attribute unto Him! Yet, since men look unto the station of detail, I shall distill from the first word a drop from this ocean, that all may be numbered among those who have attained.

Know thou that the letter Alif, in the doctrine of the People of Infallibility, hath limitless applications—indeed, infinite meanings within infinity. Among these are the Creative Alif, through which the word attaineth a meaning befitting naught else; then the Originating, then the Inventive, then the Innovative, then that of Power, then of Decree, then of Implementation, then of Permission, then of Scripture, then of Divinity, then of Might, then of Holiness, then of Glory, then of the Kingdom, then of Dominion, then of Names, then of Attributes, then of Stations, then of Truth, then of Exposition, then of Meanings, then of Gates, then of Pillars, then of the Throne, then of Heaven, then of Fire, then of Air, then of Water, then of Earth, then of Limits, then of the Tree, then of Transition, then of the Unseen, then of the Manifest, then of the Hidden, then of the Standing, then of the Gentle, then of the Extended, then of the Written, and whatsoever names of limitation God hath ordained beyond these names.

Each Alif from these enumerated categories, when multiplied by the eight realms, revealeth specific numbers. Then when multiplied again by itself with those written names, while preserving the eightfold sequence, specific numbers are revealed. Then when multiplied by the number of letters, infinite and limitless numbers are manifested. Likewise, all these names are valid after the multiplication of this Alif in the prayer, and in every station it hath a meaning and significance not valid elsewhere. Thus, should anyone attribute the meaning of the Divine Alif to the earthly realm, they would be polytheists according to the tradition:

“Whoso calleth a date stone a pebble and believeth in it thus is a polytheist.”

Therefore did the Imam, peace be upon him, grant no one leave to assign names unto things, save such as had discerned the stations of the Divine Command and recognized the places wherein innovation taketh root. For such a one setteth all things in their appointed places by the leave of God. And thus is the decree for every letter of the Qur’an, yea, for every sign in the realms of both the horizons and the souls, even as I have caused to flow upon thee in the exposition of the letter Alif. And God verily is Witness unto thee.

In like manner is the decree regarding the Lam, the Ha, the Mim, and all the letters contained within this supplication. Meditate for but an hour upon the power of thy Lord, and thou shalt behold His blessings and His fragrant breezes within thine own self. For God, exalted be He, in every thing revealeth Himself unto thee through thy recognition of His Self, in a manner such that none knoweth Him as He knoweth Himself; nor is His effulgence withheld from any soul among His servants.

Know that in the knowledge of God there are two stations: The first is that you know His Being through your own existence by what He reveals to you through yourself. This cannot be known through qualities, nor described by location, nor characterized by limitations. Rather, God was, and there was naught else beside Him, and now He is as He was—the Truth without mention of creation, glorified and exalted is He above what they describe. The second is that you know His Being through the essence of your own self, which is only possible through acknowledging incapacity and shortcoming, and through observing origination and destiny and what flows from divine decree. For He, glorified be He, is pure Pre-existence and absolute Self-Sufficiency—none can know Him except through acknowledging their inability to know Him. All created conditions are attributes of this knowledge. And your deed is knowledge of His Self—that is, the Self which He has attributed to His Essence as an honor to it, as in His words “God warns you of Himself” and His words “House of God.” This Self is the Self of the Prophet, as the prayer clearly states.

If you have understood what was made known in these two stations, you have witnessed what was witnessed in the two prayers. All conditions of divine pre-existence pertain to knowledge of the First, and all conditions of created servitude are fruits of knowledge of the Second. These two in their reality return to limitation, severance, barrier and prevention—glorified and exalted is He above what they describe.

Know that the knowledge of God is not complete except through knowledge of His Prophet. Indeed, the reality is that what is known in creation and what is described in origination is the station of His Prophet, for as He is in His essence, none knows Him save Himself and none can describe Him save Him—glorified and exalted is He above what they associate. And the knowledge of the Prophet is not complete except through knowledge of his successor, for all knowledge among the servants comes only from the radiance of knowledge of his successor. And the knowledge of the Proof is not complete except through knowledge of the unique follower in his station, who accepts the manifestation of his authority, who is content with his mystery, and who preserves his knowledge.

The prayer has a fourth section like the third, which readers are obligated to recite to preserve it all. Whoever knows it will never be wretched, and whoever is ignorant of it has gone astray. Since the matter in this prayer is in the arc of ascent, the first section is outward, the second is the inward of the outward, the third is the second inward, and the fourth is the inward of the inward. Each level in relation to what is above it is like a shell, until the ruling of sleep is valid in the Book of Proof—shell for shell and hair for hair. One who knows the signs understands the ruling beyond seventy thousand veils of pitch darkness, seventy thousand veils of lesser darkness, and seventy thousand veils of greater darkness. All veils are lifted from the servant through recitation of this prayer, with its present conditions and its absent conditions. And God is witness over all things, and praise be to God, Lord of the worlds.

Chapter Twelve: Concerning the interpretation of the middle third of the prayer.

Know, O observer, that some of these words are for the First Word, which is neither It nor other than It, rather It is It and It is It, which was manifest and elevated and adorned and radiant and repeated and glorified and praised and magnified and declared unity and flourished and joined and separated and wove and reflected and spoke and sighed and appeared and aimed and said: There is no God but God, Lord of all the worlds.

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

I bear witness, O my God, to that whereunto Thou hast testified for Thine own Self before all things: that there is none other God but Thee, alone, without peer or partner. Thou hast caused all to know Thy Self through the knowledge of Thy Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, and hast ordained that all that is attributed unto God be likewise attributed unto Thyself, lest anything be deprived of the radiance of Thy Essence, or fail to manifest the revelation of Thy Being. All praise be unto Thee, through the knowledge of Thy Prophet—radiant, resplendent, sanctified, and effulgent—through the transcendence of Thy Self above all things and through the greatness of Thy Essence, which nothing can comprehend and nothing can equal.

Thou art He Who hast made Thyself known through Thyself unto all things through all things, that nothing might remain ignorant of Thee in anything, nor lose Thee in anything, nor be veiled from Thee in anything. Glorified art Thou! Glorified art Thou! Thou didst create Muhammad for Thyself before all things and didst make him the sign of Thine eternal Being in all things. How excellent is Thy Messenger, Thy Beloved, whom Thou didst choose for Thyself, select for Thy love, honor with Thy providence, and establish as the station of Thy Self in the Furqan and the Iqan, after fulfillment in execution and before decree in origination.

Thine is the most exalted sovereignty, the most resplendent glory, and the most glorious praise, through that which befitteth the description of Thine Essence, none other than Thee, and through that which is worthy of the manifestation of Thy grandeur, none besides Thee. If I say “Thou art Thou,” Thy Beloved confesseth “He is He,” or if Thou hast ever been, Thou shalt never be known save through Thyself nor be described save by Thyself. And if I say “He is He,” the “waw” is severed by the “ha” before the Majesty, and the “ha” is effaced in the very Beauty through the appearance of praise.

Glorified art Thou! Glorified art Thou! By what attribute shall I indicate Thy Beloved, and by what mention shall I mention Him before Thee? Far be it that I should attain certainty in His love or claim recognition of Him before Thee, for all else is cut off from Him through the transcendence of His Being and forbidden from knowing Him through the majesty of His grandeur. Thou art the Nearest to Him through Him, and I am the furthest from Him through Him.

Glorified art Thou! Glorified art Thou! Verily Thou knowest that I have completed my proof after the Book and the Scroll concerning my servitude in praising Thee, lest anyone speak of me other than what Thou hast ordained for me. Thou hast indeed made manifest through the tongues of Thy chosen ones the right of the believer that he should not be described, lest it become difficult for anyone, at the dawning of Thy light, to acknowledge Thy power.

Glorified art Thou! Glorified art Thou! Verily Thou knowest what I have endured in Thy love. The people have committed against me the like of what the Christians fabricated concerning Thy Self—there is no God but Thee—and what the Quraysh transgressed against Thy Prophet Muhammad, Thy Messenger—Thy blessings be upon him and his family—and how they warred against the standards of Thy proofs, the People of the House of Thy Beloved Muhammad, peace be upon him.

O God! Thou art the best of judges in judgment and the most praised in deed. I complain of my grief and my sorrow unto Thee. Therefore judge, O God, between me and those who have denied me in Thy love among the people of Thy earth on the Day of Resurrection and in this world. Verily Thou hast power over whatsoever Thou willest as Thou willest, and nothing in the heavens or on earth is too great for Thee. Verily Thou art powerful over all things and mighty to answer. Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.

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

Praise be to God Who hath manifested Himself upon execution through decree, and upon decree through origination, and appeared upon Sinai through praise, and upon radiance through glory. Glorified and exalted is He! He hath established the Throne upon the water through the crimson light, and hath sent down the verses upon the tablets through the yellow light, and hath split the atmosphere from the world of the cloud through the green light, and hath rent the air from the world of names through the white light. Glorified and exalted is He! He hath originated the originations without any example before them in creation, and hath invented the inventions without any likeness before them in bringing into being. He hath never ceased […]

He is as He was in the Pre-eternity of pre-eternities, and He has ever been powerful in His Essence even as He is in the glory of His majesty and beauty. Verily He is single in creation, originating without manifestation of majesty and perfection. His Essence is sanctified above any likeness to creation, and His similitude is exalted above the contemplation of lights in their opposition. He is the Pre-eternal One manifest and resplendent in creation through its reality, and He is the Self-Subsisting One encompassing invention in all its conditions. He has ever been the All-Powerful, the Gracious, beyond comparison with any mention of certitude or entities. He has ever existed beyond the opposition of things from likenesses of majesty. He has ever been unique in glory beyond glory, and He is the Everlasting beyond description or praise. Glorified and exalted is He! His Essence is sanctified above the essence of all else, and His dominion is hallowed beyond the vision of eyes, without choice or entities or extinction or beauty. Glorified and exalted is He above what they describe!

O God! Thou art the Reality without likeness and the Ancient Sovereign without peer. Thy Essence is sanctified from the similitudes of contingent beings in their presence, for they are guarded by the barrier of the way and the prevention of the path. Thy Being is exalted above all entities in their being, for they shine forth from the face of suspension and the opposite of change. O my God! Though I be not worthy to behold the lights of Thy glory or observe the days of meeting with Thee, yet since the Command hath come from the glory of Thy Self-Sufficiency it hath been realized, and from the beauty of the essence of Thy glory it hath taken form, it is attributed unto Thee.

And since the decree hath come from Thy dominion, it hath taken form, reflecting likenesses through transition and similitudes through similitudes. Verily Thou, as Thou art, can never be known in the reality of Thy Essence nor indicated in the attributes of Thy Being. Thou art the Unique, the Pre-eternal. Thou hast ever been without description of Identity or attribute of Self-Sufficiency. Verily all names are created in their reality from the nothingness of glory without anything of abasement, for the aspect of differentiation is a likeness without similitudes, essences without accidents, substances without transition, and self-sufficiency without perfection.

So glorified art Thou! Thou art nearer than nearness itself to itself, and Thou art more glorious than glory itself in its essence. Thou art unique in the sanctification of divinity with beauty beyond beauty. O Beloved! Thou art He Who is known through all things, yet I know no one known through the knowledge of Thy Essence. Thou art He Who hast manifested unto all things, not from anything, and I know no object of worship besides Thee. Traces have vanished from the seats of mysteries, and the spheres of creation have been effaced in the depths of lights. God beareth witness that there is no God but Him, knowing through His Essence without mention of any known thing before His beauty, powerful through His Being without mention of any empowered thing before the lights of His glory, and mighty through His dominion without mention of any might before the beauty of His Self-Sufficiency.

Thou art He Who cannot be known through Thyself to Thy creation, for in the known is the condition of conjunction and separation. Thou art He Who cannot be described through Thy Essence to Thy servants, for the condition of description is the decree of separation after union. Thou hast ever been in the perpetuity of Thine eternal might without mention of anything, description of anything, or decree of anything, for Thou hast ever been in the state of pre-eternity, and pre-eternity is Thyself without mention of pre-eternity. For Thou shalt never be compared with the description of things, nor resembled by the glory of invention, nor hast Thou any description in the condition of essences, nor name in the rank of substances.

Glorified art Thou! Glorified art Thou! To say “Thou art Thou” is a word before which all contingent things are naught, which none can equal save non-existence itself, and which none can oppose save utter severance. For Thou hast ever been, and wert from all eternity, without the station of distinction, without essence, without being, without splendor, without self-subsistence, without sanctity, without holiness. Nay rather, Thou hast ever been beyond the decree of duration and pre-existence, beyond the ordinance of praise and divinity, beyond the station of lordship and the laudation of godhood.

For Thou hast ever been unassociated with the creation of things, untouched by the darknesses of adoration, unmingled with the oppositions of majesty and beauty. Glorified art Thou! Thou art He Who can never be known, nor described, nor limited, nor perceived, nor desired, nor expounded. If I say “Thou art Thou,” similitudes cannot ascend to Thy Reality, and if I say “No,” the witnesses would testify to Thy Oneness.

I know not by what path I may worship Thee. If I fear contemplating Thy justice, my hope in Thy grace attracts me. If I hope to resemble the children of Thy eternality, I would be destroyed by the assurance of Thy origination and omnipotence. I know not by what means I may worship Thee or by what way I may know Thee. If I become singular in beholding Thy beauty, the force of duality compels me, and if I dwell in contemplation of Thy splendor, creation moves me to acknowledge that I am not created through grace, but rather stand alone before all existence. Far be it from me to entertain any thought unworthy of Thy bounty, O Creator of expression!

I beseech Thee, by Muhammad and the kindred of Muhammad, to ennoble me in every condition with that which belongeth unto Thee of glory and of praise, and to inspire me in every state with that which pertaineth unto Thee of might and of majesty. Forgive me, then, and forgive my parents, where Thou wilt, as Thou wilt, for whom Thou wilt, and in whatsoever manner Thou wilt; for verily Thou art God, the All-Powerful, the Munificent, Whom naught in heaven or on earth can overwhelm. Thou, indeed, art potent over all things. And praise be unto God, the Lord of all the worlds.

Part 2: “Chapter thirteen: concerning the ruling of another third…”

Chapter thirteen: concerning the ruling of another third of the prayer.

We have made known to thee in the first word what We witnessed in the word of justice, and this entire passage is the essence of the second passage. There is no mention in knowledge except in this rank, and none knoweth the Proof save as described by the Messenger of God regarding Ali—that none knoweth him save God and himself. Now the matter being thus, if thou desirest the detail of this passage, read the Hadith al-Nuraniyyih from Ali, for it sufficeth regarding knowledge of the Proof, and there is no knowledge in existence besides it. Glory be to God above what they describe!

And in the days of the composition of those words, there came a letter from a man whom God named after the name Muhammad Ja’far, and he swore in his letter by the blood of Husayn. Though I did not intend to answer it on the day it arrived, as I was not familiar with the people’s technical terms, but now when the sea of decree hath surged with fulfillment, I support its answer with what God, glorified be He, hath taught me, though it may not benefit him, for he desired an answer in philosophical terms and dialectical arguments. I have not studied with anyone those crude terms, but despite mine incapacity, afflictions, and inability, I do not like to turn away one who asks, even if it does not fill his need or mend his breach. Rather, I speak by God’s leave like the gift of an ant, nay less than that, and I seek God my Lord’s forgiveness for limiting with much, and there is no power except through Him.

Know then, O questioner, since these are days of grief, I answer thee from behind veils, naked, that thy heart may grieve as thou hast grieved me in thy letter. For thou desired naught but to test me, and showed no great concern before my face. Thou remained as thou art, and we became as we are. So by what proof before God didst thou desire to test Me? I answer thee through justice prevailing over oppression, that it may be a sign unto those before thee and those after thee.

O my brother, be just with truth! How would it befit one like me to call people from the East and West of the earth before completing the proof and perfecting the blessing? Such an act would not proceed from any soul unless he knew that he could, by himself, withstand all servants, or unless he were foolish, knowing nothing. Tell me: before God your Lord created you, did He say to you “Am I not your Lord?” Or was it after your creation? Without doubt it was after your creation. Likewise is the judgment regarding the signs of His power. Before completing the proof of Muhammad, He commanded no one to acknowledge His prophethood, even though none could achieve unity with God without acknowledging His prophethood. The same applies to the authority of His successors. When something exists, God creates within it signs confirming the Truth and its manifestations. How could you think that one like me would call you to submission and certitude before completing God’s proof upon you? If merchants have no wealth with anyone, they transfer nothing. How could you think less of me than merchants, that I would seek confirmation before sending anything to you? Far be such thoughts from me!

I have completed my proof with four books and ten treatises for people of doubt and uncertainty, while for people of insight, a single verse suffices—one whose beholder testifies to its truth through pure instinct without acquisition or thought. For people of investigation, my own self suffices without evidence, for I was truthful in my words before, and now I have claimed a matter whose existence is self-evidently necessary. When no contrary evidence is observed, the claim stands established, though the original assumption was its opposite. I have manifested myself in that claim in the Sacred Mosque through a known man, as I detailed in the Sahifah Baynu’l-Haramayn. This was a grace from me, otherwise the proof was not lacking such that it would need anything besides itself. I have detailed all that creation needs in a decisive book, leaving no path for anyone in any matter. I have made the proof something before which all signs fade away.

Even if I did not produce any of the signs that people demanded of me—suppose the Messenger of God had not brought His Book which is the Criterion, and was asked for the Torah and Gospel and previous scriptures—would He have been obligated to produce them, and if He did not, would His proof not stand for all? But since His Book was guardian over all books, His not producing others left no argument against Him.

Consider: if you had a sea of red elixir and someone came asking for sea water, which you did not have until he died—would anyone call you powerless? No, the wise would attribute to you neither impotence nor poverty.

Travel with me to the highest realm: if someone asked one who fears God to speak words of unity like Jesus, and he says “There is no god but God”—without doubt those words are not like Jesus’s words. Rather, Muhammad came with words that made Jesus’s words as nothing, yet the proof was complete for the questioner though Muhammad did not produce words like Jesus’s. Let not allusions veil you regarding what I intended for you.

If I did not master their prayer niches or bring their principles, this does not diminish my proof or show my powerlessness, for I have brought what is greater than that—this is greater and proves that one who could not produce the lesser has brought the greater, and that is not possible for any servant except whom God wishes. And if you were to open this gate, proof must needs come with everything that your self denies, for the Imamate of Abraham the Friend was not in proof, rather in it the Imamate of this Imamate was non-existent. Likewise is the decree in my Cause.

I have come with the knowledge of recognition of God and His loved ones, though I knew not a letter of the people’s ways. And if He speaks to me, I know not the prayer niches of the people through the grace of the All-Glorious, nor do I know all sciences. Its proof was my knowledge of God, and the Point of all sciences was in my hand, and its proof remains in those pages that have filled the East and West of the earth.

When you stumble over the stumbling of those words, then know the decree of what you asked about the convergence of command and prohibition in a single person—that command has ever been command, prohibition has ever been prohibition, truth has ever been truth, falsehood has ever been falsehood, and the person has ever been one. God’s command never changes and God’s prohibition never alters. In every condition God’s command is command and God’s prohibition is prohibition.

Consider the obligation of Friday prayer—that prayer has ever been obligatory for its people, and God’s actual command is His manifest command. The claim of difference between actual intrinsic obligation and manifest legislative obligation is sophistry for its people. This prayer has ever been obligatory for its people, but when it descends upon other than its people it becomes prohibited. Such is the decree in every particular and universal of principles and branches in every condition and every decree. Were it from other than God they would find in it contradiction, but nay, then nay!

The elaboration of this matter in books of principles returns to what I have mentioned to you when its people emerge from words of pause through their opinions and the arrogance of their desires, that they may witness the truth of reality in this matter—my word in your book. And it suffices as a path to God for whoever gains insight and is guided.

As for what you sought of my dialectical proof for the unity of God the Glorified—how great is your disobedience and how enormous your negligence! I have no proof for unity, nor does anyone among His creation, and whoever claims proof for it has indeed fabricated against Him, for none knows Him save Him, and none indicates His Essence save Him. Proof is proof for that which does not indicate its essence by its essence without relating to another. So seek forgiveness from God your Lord and read His Book. None dispute concerning God’s verses except those who disbelieve. And I now seek God’s forgiveness before you for your question—He is indeed Generous, Noble.

As for what you asked about the prayer niches of the people of ceremony—by the might of my Lord, I know not a letter of them. Were I to travel to your land I would read with its people with you. Think not that I jest in your book, but I jest not after having written to you save the truth. How can I answer you regarding the point of those coarse prayer niches when the sun has been eclipsed? If you want a quarter then a quarter in my name, and if you want a third then a third in my name, and beyond them is a barrier until the Day they are resurrected. And like your book I have many books which I have not answered anyone about, and I desire naught save what God wishes.

Convey my greetings to whoever desires me loving the Messenger of God, for I love that whosoever loveth Me should possess some of the just and weighty Tablets—the Book of Goodness, set forth in detail above the writings of the people—concerning the verses of the Qur’an. Therefore, aspire after the recompense of God, inscribing them in liquid gold and in the fairest, boldest script. In this Book, then, let the eager vie with one another.

Let not anyone refer to me as a Babi, nor be like the Khawar, calumniating Me after their own impotence and the impotence of their kind in producing a single verse. If you be among the truthful, then bring forth one verse. Fear not to raise high the word of truth among humanity. I am but one of the disciples of the revered Master. Convey to our followers that they should believe nothing of me beyond servitude, for by God’s glory I know not a single letter of the unseen, nor do I possess any hidden knowledge, nor shall I ever possess such.

When I learned what fate had decreed for me through the oppression and injustice visited upon my followers by the tyrants, why did I not choose the Holy Land where many had gathered for my support? Nay, by my Lord’s glory, I know not a single letter of what has befallen me. I am but a servant who believes in God and His verses, and this suffices me as glory, and God suffices as witness.

And now I summon thee and all who dwell on earth to contend with Me by that Word, that thereby every soul may be restrained from disputing with Me. Behold, I have prepared four Books and ten Tablets that stand as My proof from My Lord. Whoso desireth to confront Me is bound to bring them all, letter for letter. When he hath brought them all, I shall arise with him and recite unto him for a month—or for as long as thou desirest—the verses of God, wondrous and new, flowing from My tongue without thought or reflection.

Should he confess that he can produce the like thereof—line for line—then will I invoke God against him, that He may efface from the man’s soul the image of the sijjin and make manifest the truth of My Cause in the likeness of the ʿilliyyin. O people of the earth! If ye be able to accomplish this, ye are as Plato the wise; but if not, then are ye bound to acknowledge Jesus—peace be upon Him. Otherwise, flee to your veils and abide with your women, and expose not yourselves to shame. For this day no one is able to stand before Me.

And whoso desireth to question Me through contention is first obliged to manifest three evident signs: First, that he be not of those of whom it is said, “They denied Our signs, though their own souls were convinced thereof, out of injustice and pride.” Second, that he be not among those described by the word, “We bear witness that thou art indeed the Messenger of God, and God knoweth that thou art His Messenger, yet God testifieth that the hypocrites are liars.” Thus is the decree of God accomplished, and His testimony fulfilled upon all who dwell upon earth. Thirdly, that he be not of those of whom it hath been said: “They seek to deceive God and those who believe, yet they deceive none save themselves, though they perceive it not.” Should he swear an oath, I shall not believe his oath, even as God—exalted be He—hath spoken concerning those who said: “By God, we desired naught but righteousness,” yet God sent down regarding them: “Verily, they are the liars.”

And if he be unable to produce these signs, questioning Me is forbidden unto him. For from this day forth, none can bring forth those signs—nay, by God!—for the gate of inquiry hath been barred between Me and all creation by the Greatest Barrier, forged of plates of iron. By My Lord! this is indeed the barrier of Gog and Magog in this dispensation, mightier than the barrier of Dhu’l-Qarnayn. Sufficient is God—and whosoever possesseth but a breath of the spirit of faith—as witness.

Yet if, after these two proofs, one remaineth able to ask, then I am alive, responsive; ask, therefore, what ye will! For God is my Lord, Who, when I am constrained by aught, inspireth me; there is no God but He, the Self-Sufficient, the All-Powerful.

O concourse of men! Marvel not at My decree, for I am the first of those who have believed in the signs of God, through His grace and bounty, and am nearer unto mankind than all others. Verily, it sufficeth that there hath arisen from before Me one who findeth not in himself what I find in the Cause; though among the servants there be many who surpass him in knowledge, yet God hath loved him for his precedence. Soon shall God remove the barrier; and I Myself shall study, if God so will, with My companions.

Glorified art Thou, O my God and my Lord! Bring nigh the days of meeting with Thee unto Thy servants, for I am one who believeth in Thee and turneth in penitence unto Thee. I say: Thou art sufficient unto me; there is no God but Thee. Glorified art Thou! Verily, I was among the wrongdoers. Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds! Glorified be God, the Lord of the Throne, above all that they ascribe unto Him!

And if, in this exalted passage of supplication, I have turned aside from exposition to the contemplation of the men of utterance, yet the matter remaineth unchanged: all conditions are but commentaries upon this passage, and all inner meanings are but the overflowing of this supernal ocean. Look thou, then, upon what ʿAli—peace be upon Him—beheld in the hidden depths of the Torah; for those are the letters of proof in the realm of manifestation, and the perfection of action in the realm of inner meaning.

There is no God but God. It is related from the Commander of the Faithful that he said:

“I have chosen twelve verses from the Torah and translated them into Arabic, and I look upon them three times each day: First: O son of Adam! Fear not any sovereign while My sovereignty over thee endureth, and My sovereignty over thee shall endure forever. Second: Fear not the loss of sustenance while My treasury remaineth full, and My treasury shall remain full forever. Third: O son of Adam! Seek not intimacy with anyone as long as thou findest Me, and whenever thou seekest Me, thou shalt find Me near. Fourth: O son of Adam! I love thee, therefore do thou also love Me. Fifth: O son of Adam! Fear not My wrath until thou hast crossed the Bridge. Sixth: O son of Adam! I created all things for thy sake, and I created thee for My sake, yet thou fleest from Me. Seventh: O son of Adam! I created thee, then from a drop, then from a clot, and I was not wearied in creating thee. Eighth: O son of Adam! Art thou angry with Me for thine own sake, while thou art not angry with thyself for My sake? Ninth: O son of Adam! Upon thee is My ordinance and upon Me is thy sustenance. If thou opposest Me in My ordinance, I shall not oppose thee in thy sustenance. Tenth: O son of Adam! All desire thee for their own sake, while I desire thee for thy sake, therefore flee not from Me. Eleventh: O son of Adam! Ask not of Me tomorrow’s sustenance, and I shall not ask of thee tomorrow’s deeds. Twelfth: O son of Adam! If thou art content with what I have apportioned for thee, I shall give rest to thy heart and body, and thou shalt be praiseworthy. But if thou art not content with what I have apportioned for thee, I shall set the world upon thee wherein thou shalt run about like a wild beast in the wilderness, yet shalt thou attain naught save what I have decreed for thee, and thou shalt be blameworthy.”

Glory be to God, exalted is He above what they describe! Peace be upon the Messengers, and praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.

Chapter 14: Concerning the Decree of Dissociation from the People of Unbelief and Obstinate Rejection

O thou who lookest on, from among the people of unbelief and stubborn denial! Look thou with the eye of certitude, and abandon the path of over-subtle disputation. Ascend to the realm of allusive intimations in the valley of true realization. Cast away what thy right hand and thy left grasp of the veils of minute distinctions and speculative refinements.

For lo! the cycles have been wound up, the ages have been revolved, the Will hath been adorned with embroidery, the Purpose hath been individualized, the Decree hath been differentiated, the Judgment hath been fulfilled, the Command hath been confirmed, the Term hath been inscribed, and the Book hath been recorded. Verily, unto God do all things return!

Know thou, that true knowledge cannot be attained save by means of four pillars. Say, after these words of the prayer: O my God, make me to know the Door of Thy Proof; for if Thou makest me not to know the Door of Thy Proof, I shall go astray from my religion. Glorified be God! Praise be unto God! There is no God but God! God is the Most Great! The Hidden Name hath now appeared, arrayed in a concealed vesture, upon the horizon of manifestation through the light of the unseen.

O concourse of men! Guard ye the Cause of God; for the first is not made perfect save through the last. Sever not what God hath ordained to be joined, for verily I am a servant of God, confessing my sins before God and grateful for His favors whereby He hath distinguished me above all the peoples of the world. Recognize ye the Cause of God openly, for true recognition cannot be attained save through dissociation from the enemies of God. Whoso doubteth the judgment to dissociate from God’s enemies is himself an enemy—evil is the exchange for the wrongdoers.

O God! I bear witness before Thee that I am innocent of the deeds of the Fourth before the First, and of the Second before the Third. Whosoever ascribeth unto me that which rejecteth my words—judge Thou, O God, between us and them with truth, for Thou art the Best of Judges. O God! Thou knowest that among the pillars of recognition of Thy loved ones is the recognition of their followers. O God! Send Thy blessings and peace upon the nearest through the nearest, and upon the farthest through the nearest. Thou art established upon the Throne of Bounty. O God! Aid those who aid them and forsake those who forsake them. Thou art sufficient concerning their rights. Glory be unto Thee and exalted art Thou above what they describe.

And when time brought me low while people looked to he who was known by the Remembrance, I mention regarding that Gate witnesses to my right in that Cause. The first among them is Ahmad al-Ahsa’i, may God’s mercy be upon him, who greeted me during his lifetime on the pilgrimage path through a merchant from Isfahan known as Hurr Fadqani, as a man of intelligence informed me after he had written in the allusions of his words. And the second among them is Kazim—though he be dead, yet he liveth with his Lord. He wrote in the Commentary on the Ode and elsewhere mention of that Cause, and this sufficeth as proof for whoso seeketh and is guided. The third and fourth are witnesses to the verification of my knowledge, and they are known for their learning, as the Shaykh and the Sayyid wrote concerning them the judgment of praise and independent reasoning. In truth they are two pillars for this community, and their testimony concerning my right to that Cause sufficeth as witness. Glory be to God, Lord of the Throne, above what they describe! Peace be upon the Messengers! And praise be to God, Lord of the worlds!

He said, may God have mercy on him, in the Sharh al-Qasidah at the beginning of its preface:

In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Praise be to God Who adorned the brocade of Being with the mystery of Distinction through the embroidery of the Point from which emerged the letter Ha’ with the Alif without elongation or splitting, and it revolved with its pillars upon itself, thus manifesting the frontispiece of Eternity. Then appeared from it the First Embroidery through the articulation of the Kaf in harmony and concord. It was established, then assumed cubic form, then took on essence, thus completing the arrangement of the Word which is the root of derivation. So they are two, strengthened by a third—the third being the root and the fourth the branch. Thus was it attributed, becoming the dawning-place of the odes in the divine court through the manifestation of ʿThere is no God but God’ at the time of creation and articulation. So it became ordered and spread forth, differed and harmonized, gathered and separated, was made concise and detailed, filling thereby the horizons, and therein, in many places, are to be found multitudes of such allusions—as hath been mentioned when speaking of the Dome of Balsiyal and other like passages—such as his words, may the mercy of God be upon him, when commenting upon “They have glorified…” and so forth.

These are subtle, exquisite, and hidden mysteries, concealed from all save the perfect knowers, and folded away from all hearts except those of the faithful. Their purport is this: that the people referred to are the bearers of the veil, the curtain, and the banners of sanctity. When they reached the gate of the Gate of that sacred Presence, they fell prostrate in adoration—an allusion to the saying of ʿAli ibn Muhammad al-Hadi, peace be upon them both:

“When thou reachest the Gate, stand still and bear witness to the two testimonies; for the Gate of God is not known save by the mention of God beside it. If the mention of God be made beside it, then that is indeed the Gate, the Guide, the Presence, and the Path; but if the mention of God, His Name, and His Attributes be absent beside it, then that is not the Gate of God, nor is that Presence His Presence.”

And at the end thereof it is said: “The warbling nightingale upon this branch is the spirit of the heavenly dominion and the divine essence—the Greatest Sign, the tongue proclaiming, ʿVerily, I am God.”’

It ceaseth not to sing a melody beyond all how and without all allusion, chanting the verse:

“Say: He is God, One! God, the Eternal! He begetteth not, nor is He begotten, and there is none equal unto Him.”

And upon the first branch there standeth the bearer of the Most Great, the Most Exalted, the Most Sublime Name, and the remembrance most manifest, most high—uttering the remembrance both clear and hidden, both hidden and most hidden, without how or wherefore, without hint or sign, crying: “O He! O Thou Who art none but He!”

And here the discourse endeth—its conclusion sweeter than musk.