BB00089: Letter to Jinab-i-Haji Siyyid Javad Karbala’i

Part 1: “Praise be to God Who hath made…”

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

Praise be to God Who hath made the embellishment of the Tablets of the Morn of Eternity the embellishment of the Alif standing between the two Ba’s. It shone forth and irradiated, after it had been originated, ere it had been devised, when it had been brought into being; it stood upright and spoke, filling thereby the horizons of the divine Cloud in the heaven of Lahut and the earth of Jabarut, until everything arose by virtue of its being, and every thing was illumined through its manifestation. Glorified be God, its Originator, the Lord of the heavens and of the earth, exalted immeasurably above that which they ascribe unto Him!

And praise be to God Who hath made the embellishment of the Tablets of the Sun of Eternity the embellishment of the Point parted from the epiphany of the Alif beneath the Ba’. It gleamed and shone and dawned; it was originated and invented and brought forth and made to be; it was designated, ordained, and distinguished; decreed, made lawful, and made firm; bidden to advance—until it took its stand before the Midian of essential singleness; submitted before the Midian of divine bounty; humbled itself before the Throne of Oneness; and prostrated itself before the Throne of the All-Merciful. Then it cried: What have I to do with the light of dawn? What with the Covenant and the binding pledge? What with the Day whereon the leg shall be bared, the Day of Encounter? What with the handiwork of the men of hypocrisy? What with this palm filled with dust and bound in fetters? And what with these modalities that bespeak the ordinance of separation?

Thereupon it sat, bewildered; it sobbed and writhed, it trembled and wept, saying: Where is the Light that speaketh from the Sun of Glory and guideth aright? Where is the Light that revealed Himself?—then it laughed, and then it wept—Where is the Light that fed me in my hunger and gave me to drink? Where is the Light that honoured me and then directed me? Where is the Light that created me from a drop, then made of it a mirror that reflecteth My beauty? Where is the Light that was in the Former Scriptures, with Moses, and with Jesus, and was sent down to Muhammad—“then He drew nigh and came down, till He was at a distance of two bows or nearer”? Where is the Light that destroyed the peoples of ʿĀd and Thamud and Noah—how unjust and rebellious were they! Where is the Light of “Him Who createth Sirius”; of Him of Whom it is said, “He speaketh not of desire,” and “the heart lied not in what it saw”? Verily he beheld Him yet another time. Doth your heart belie that which it beheld? Will ye then charge him with falsehood regarding what he perceived of the decrees of the Most Exalted Vision? Nay, by thy Lord! He was taught by One mighty in power.

And verily Sa’id this day beholdeth; for him is naught save what he conveyed and what he strove for. And unto Him is the end of all things. God bringeth back the latter and then the former. This is a Warner from the Most Great Horizon. He it is Who showeth you His signs that haply one among you may remember or may fear. Even the least of words is this: Hath man whatsoever he desireth? Nay, unto God belong the Hereafter and the former life. Say unto him who prayeth whilst in the fire of Laza: How didst thou believe and emigrate, then deny and lead astray?

This is a Book consonant with that which is in the former Scriptures: We showed him all Our greatest signs, but he waxed proud, denied, and transgressed. Say: Thou didst aforetime reject another sign; if thou art arrogant before the decree of the Lord Most High, then transgress not the bounds—bring then the former discourse: let such a youth bring the like thereof in a lucid Arabic tongue. Verily, this is the decree for him who feareth God and is rightly guided. And this one disbelieved—what then availed al-Lat and al-ʿUzza? Pharaoh indeed came nigh aforetime, yet ye disbelieve in him and are not of those assured. This is a mighty sign; such is the portion of him who turneth away.

And verily the two that were to meet did meet; then he transgressed. And if he forged, his companion likewise forged. Say: Enter ye the graves this day—then shall ye forget that this is the fire of Laza that hath encompassed your souls this very day, while ye neither behold nor fear. It ill beseemeth your striving that, according to what I have set down, his charge should be laid upon a woman—yet she is indeed among the most devout and eminent; and the Men of the Heights curse you morn and eve. This is among Our greatest signs. Say: The end belongeth to the God-fearing, and to him who guardeth himself from the blazing fire. Say: My Lord! They are but daughters—females; they are unable to bring mighty signs. Then was the matter set aright.

Then it stood firm and said: O Lord of the heights and of the dust! Judge Thou between those who denied, who transgressed, and who brought forth aught from Thy most mighty verses. For, lo, the bird of the heart hath warbled upon the boughs of the Tree of Blessedness, and the nightingale of the light of glory hath sung that which shall never pass away. Glory be to God, Lord of the heights and of the dust! It was as though the birds of the divine Cloud were trilling and seeking refuge in the firmament of the air on the Day whereon the earth was rent and the heaven likewise. Blessed! Then it breathed and surged, dispersed and gathered, saying: This day have all arisen with their banners after their cries with banners.

This is an utterance let down for their clamour when they rose with the decree of separation, forgetting the Day when the leg shall be bared to the leg, and turning aside from those words sent down from the darksome clouds of dawning. Sufficeth in the Day of Binding is the Covenant of God in the Day of the Pledge! I take refuge in God, Lord of creation, from all that hath been rent between schism and hypocrisy; and I seek God’s aid in all that hath been uttered and contended and hath filled the horizons.

There hath come unto me a letter from one arrived at the light of the heart, asking, from the ordinance of the All-Bountiful, concerning the possessors of mystery and witness—the servants of God in the hidden realities of the Return. I therefore set down, with the pen of ink, whatsoever God, the Lord of the unseen and the seen, willeth. Verily, this Epistle conformeth to that which the Pen of the All-Bountiful hath sent down:

“O Remembrance of God, the Most High! Peace from God be upon thee. Here am I, standing at Thy door, inclining toward the court of Thy might. Musa al-Kazim hath said: A time shall come when al-hamdu li’Llahi Rabbi’l-alamin will be recited with the hamzah and the ra’ broken—and this shall be correct.’ Teach me, I beseech Thee, somewhat of the inner meaning of this utterance; sprinkle upon me a drop from this roaring, shoreless sea; quench the lamp of my reason; cause the dawn of my heart to break; scatter my ordered verses and cast the heights thereof into the depths.”

Draw nigh, then, O Friend, unto Me; for the Summoner of the All-Glorious calleth from the Fire. The Friend is called to depart into the gloom of that path by proofs conclusive in this manifest testimony. Make ready for what I desire—to give thee to drink from the waters of Salsabil—and abandon the prattle of the prattlers; for the mystery of the Water is sheer Majesty after the lifting of the veil of Beauty by the possessors of glory. This, verily, is perfection for the seraphic glorifiers in the heaven of balance and for the sanctified proclaimers of His unity upon the summits of the mountains. Woe betide whoso turneth away from that Beauty, drowneth his soul in the sea of error, and taketh up his abode in the shadow of those shades that today encompass all men. God, within the chain of limits, will bind them with the self-same chains and fetters they chose for themselves. May God—by Muhammad and His House—preserve us from such chains at noontide and morn and eve!

Know then, O questioner, somewhat of the splendors of the signs of Majesty; for God, thy Lord, the Lord of majesty and beauty, sent down the Furqan in the uttermost balance, so that the relation of every letter to the Point of Majesty therein is in all truth equal. Each hath a portion therein, and knoweth it; the tide of Majesty surgeth therefrom—a reality apprehended by the men of former and latter times. Yet if thou recount to any of them aught of the ordinances of those pages that proceed from the Tree of Majesty, they will say, “We have never heard of this,” and will pronounce, “This is but misguidance!” May God requite them for what they comprehend! Lo, this eloquent nightingale warbleth upon the leaves of the Tree of Origin and of Return. But since thou art worthy of this station, We have let flow upon thee what thou didst desire from the right-hand ocean of Majesty—inasmuch as thou didst ask concerning the parsing of the phrase al-hamdu li’Llahi Rabbi’l-ʿalamin, as explained aforetime by al-Kazim—upon him be God’s blessings—amid the splendors of proof and beauty.

If thou lift the veils of splendor and allusion, and bring thy spirit within that House of Return, it will be sound for thee to say al-hamdu li’Llahi Rabbi’l-alamin [praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds], even as one saith, Allahu nuru’s-samawati wa’l-ard [God is the light of the heavens and the earth]; for within the billow of Unicity there is neither station for separation nor power of delimitation. Nay rather: al-hamd is a Name, then Allah a Name, then ar-Rabb a Name, then al-alamin a Name—unto God, the Creator of Names and of Majesty. In that station the nominative, the accusative, and the genitive are all admissible; for all directions are His Names, and all inflections are His attributes—on condition that thou behold not the genitive as other than the accusative, nor the accusative as other than the nominative, nor the first word as aught but the very word of the last. For the effulgence of the Light, from the dawn of pre-eternity, hath shone upon the temples of those words; equilibrium is attained without origination.

Part 2: “Howbeit, in this day ye are not permitted…”

Howbeit, in this day ye are not permitted to recite in the mode We have taught; that hath an appointed time God shall manifest if He willeth. Were ye to recite it now, God would not accept it from you; for those words of the Qur’an are today as martyrs, even as the souls of the Imams—upon them be peace. Therefore hath the lam been brought forward and the word is to be read in the genitive; it shall be lifted to the nominative when they return unto God—upon them be peace. Then shall they command the people in expression as they will—though they will naught save as God willeth. This is a ruling from the fathomless deep of Majesty, whereof the folk of disputation know naught save the word of error.

If thou wert to let fall a verse from that station, the decrees would flow thereon according to God’s all-encompassing knowledge: shouldst thou say, on the first Day of Return, that all (words) are nominative—or all genitive—or all accusative—thou speakest truth. And shouldst thou say: one word nominative, another genitive, another accusative—thou speakest truth. And shouldst thou parse as men parse today—thou speakest truth. And shouldst thou speak even as al-Kazim—upon him be peace—hath mentioned, that also is truth; for his proof is but a drop from the waters of that vast, surging ocean that floweth from beneath the Mountain of Pre-Eternity.

Upon the prayer niches of the people of contention are proofs they recognize. Among them is a verse from the Qur’an: “There is not an animal that moveth on the earth, nor a bird that flieth with its wings, but they are communities like unto you. We have neglected nothing in the Book; then unto their Lord shall they be gathered together.” And among them is a text from the Messenger of God, peace be upon him and his family, where he said—and his word is truth: “Above every good deed is another good deed, until loving us—and when one loves us, there is no good deed above it.”

Among these is a proof derived from reason itself: that God hath created all things for His command, and that His effulgence knoweth no diminution. And among them is a proof from the horizons, wherein thou beholdest all things advancing, according to His will; and likewise within the souls, as thou seest how this servant hath ascended within the chain of the Shi’ah in a manner unattainable by any of the people of mere abstraction—speaking as He willeth in the cadence of the Qur’an, without interruption or decline. This, verily, is of the grace of God bestowed upon me; yet most people render no thanks.

And that which We have bestowed upon thee is but a breath—it descended, then was strengthened; a spark—it rose, then returned. Of it the philosophers comprehend naught but sophistry upon sophistry; and the illuminationists naught but philosophy upon philosophy. Today they are powerless to ascend unto the ascension of realities, nor can they grasp the words of subtleties, for the signs of God have already been made manifest.

Say: Arise, O ye possessors of banners, with all your sparks! And arise, O ye possessors of the Balance, with all your might! For the Bird of the Cloud crieth in the firmament: Is there any challenger who would contend with Me by clear signs from the Book of God? Is there any possessor of a spark who can match Me with these exalted supplications, by the grace of God? Is there any possessor of power who can stand against Me and confound Me with two verses like unto these goodly words, from the ordinance of God? Is there any possessor of strength who can sit before Me and cause to flow from his pen, without pause, the like of that which floweth from the treasuries of God through the course of My Pen—like unto these seas, prostrating in the verses of the far-reaching Manifestation; like unto these bridled resolves in the pure supplications; like unto these resounding doves in these consummate discourses; and like unto these overflowing rivers in these utterances, bearing the allusions of realities, the subtle signs, the gentle stations, and the radiant tokens?

Where are the sincere who would face the majesty thereof; the unitarians who would stand before the City of Beauty; the detached who would plunge into the depths of union—and they who would traverse the gulfs of separation? Where are the gnostics who have attained the summit of poise; the earnest seekers striving after the station of equilibrium; the wronged who weep for what God hath promised on the Day of Return; the fearful who dread the iron chains and fetters? Where then are the illumined ones among the wise men of justice and perfection, and where are the philosophers among the learned of discourse and disputation? Where are the diligent ones who strive with proofs and evidence, and where are they who delve into the signs of reality and existence? Where are the valiant in the realm of knowledge and faith, and where are they who gaze upon the realities of possibility? Where are the mighty who rise up with all their power when the clear signs of man appear, and where are the eloquent who dispute concerning the verses of the All-Merciful? Where are the sun and moon when they are hidden in calculation?

Why do you not come forth to battle or mount your steeds? Why do you not draw your swords? Why do you not prepare yourselves? Why do you not don the armor of David made of iron? Why do you not unsheathe your swords from behind your hearts of solid iron? Why do you not fight in the field of struggle? Why do you not recite your verses of challenge like this Youth who stands and rides forth upon the steed of attack? Why do you not extinguish glory with glory in glory unto glory? Why do you not cast forth the verses of glory? Why do you not slay your souls, nor apologize, nor believe, nor reflect, nor understand, nor perceive, nor find your way to a path?

O my God! Thou knowest my station in the field of struggle with the verses of glory, and verily my breast is constricted upon the steed, and the weight of iron and implements of war burden me, yet none of Thy creation has come forth to face me until now. Draw nigh, O Lord, to Thy meeting, for they are dead though they live, would that they might be convinced. Thou knowest that I am in certain knowledge of Thy grace and mercy, and Thou art the Best of Judges.

O thou noble questioner and dignified, balanced seeker! Convey unto all this verse from my soul, that perchance the people may remember it, reflect upon it, and understand. I know that today none can face me in battle—not from among the sincere monotheists, nor from the detached who have attained, nor from the foremost of old, nor from the latter-day emigrants, nor from the perfected illumined ones, nor from the striving philosophers, nor from the eloquent Yemenis, nor from the masters of discourse from the Hijaz, nor from the western servants of the sea, nor from the eastern servants of the land, nor from the southern quarter the truthful Muslim servants, nor from the northern quarter the lying, false servants, nor from the possessors of understanding who seek light, nor from the possessors of vision who seek dawn, nor the dwellers in the depths of paradise, nor those who ascend to the heaven of holiness, nor those who enjoy the earthly life with the bounties of paradise, nor those of might and power, nor those who bow down, nor those who profess religion, nor the people of Basra, Damascus, Constantinople, Turkey, Rome, Iraq, Persia, nor anyone, nor anyone among those who dwell upon the earth.

And if anyone says this judgment does not accord with the judgment of the ancients, say: Bring your proof, or else you shall be among the liars. By the Lord of heaven and earth, verily all that I have said and written, I have witnessed in my heart with the knowledge of certainty. And if people would journey unto God and dispute concerning God’s verses and battle in God’s path, they would move in their own station, yet none can ascend to this day. And I would love to accept with my body the casting of truth from the warriors, but until now no one has cast anything at me. Aforetime people were of a different judgment—woe unto those who fabricate lies and perceive not! And verily this has been revealed in answer to what was asked.

I am the very breath uttering forth from among the Supreme Utterances and the Most Great Proclamations, that I may stand as a testimony unto all who are in the heavens and on earth, lest anyone should say, “Had this one recognized Me…” The answer unto all is that the torrent descendeth not by virtue of proof, nor doth the bird soar aloft to… And peace be upon the Messengers, and praise be to God, the Lord of all the worlds.