BB00123: Answer to Mulla Javad-i-Qazvini

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

O my God! I open the Book with Thy mention and praise of Thy Self. There is no God but Thee, and no one knoweth how Thou art except Thee. The others have been effaced and the traces have been illumined, and the spheres of light revolve in the depths of mysteries. There is no God but Thee! Thou hast ever been as Thou wert. Attributes have gone astray, names have been cut off, and traces have returned. And now Thou art as Thou hast ever been in might and oneness. There is no God but Thee.

Glorified and exalted art Thou! I cannot reckon Thy praise as befitteth Thy greatness, grandeur, sovereignty and glory. The creation knoweth naught save its own portion, and taketh no similitude except the share allotted in their book. Verily, Thou shalt not be known, for none was known before Thee, and Thou shalt not be described, for I see none described save Thee. The opposites have gathered in the realm of attributes, and traces have ended at the station of signs, and the qualities of creation have endured to the pinnacle of tokens. If I say “Thou art Thou,” the similitudes speak of similitudes, yet Thou art not known through them. And if I say “He is He,” identity pointeth to its handiwork, yet nothing indicateth Thee save through its transcendence.

Glorified art Thou, O my God, above the description of realities and their traces, and the attributes of essences and their likenesses! I describe not Thy Self save by what Thou art in might and majesty. I know that these signs and these tokens are but examples for Thy creation, and a design of Thy greatness, and a banner of Thy Lordship, and a kingdom of Thy sovereignty, that the creation might witness in all things Thy Beauty, manifest and existent. There is no God but Thee! Nothing is witnessed at the time of manifestation save the severance of all hidden things and the prevention of limitations from aught of the signs of Thy power and greatness. There is no God but Thee!

How then, O my God, can I mention my praise of Thee when it is but Thy praise of me? It removeth not my sin from myself, nor indicateth aught save my powerlessness. Glorified art Thou, O my God! My knowledge of Thy essence hath prevented me from description before Thy face, and my mention of Thy being hath barred me from attributes before Thy Self. I am not one who remembereth save that remembrance hath preceded from Thy Self through me, and I am not one of station save that Thy station hath encompassed me.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I have no way, neither through severance nor through proof, and I have no remembrance, neither through allusion nor through glorification, and I have no attribute, neither without similitude nor through unity, and I have no description, neither without resemblance nor through praise. Glorified, glorified art Thou! I believe in Thee according to what Thou art in might and greatness, and none knoweth how that is save Thee. And I praise Thee by how Thou didst describe Thy Self on Mount Sinai from the Blessed Tree. There is no God but Thee, alone, without partner, without similitude or likeness. Verily, Thou art God, the Most High, the Most Exalted!

I beseech Thee, O my God, to send Thy blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad on this day as Thou didst bless them on the day of creation before all things. And I beseech Thee to send Thy peace upon them through all Thy conditions which Thou originateth. Thou hast ever been powerful over all things. O my God! I testify that Thou, through the loftiness of Thy power and the manifestation of Thy greatness, hast made Muhammad and his family—Thy blessings be upon them—the places of Thy knowledge, the mines of Thy bounty, the sign of Thy might, and the tokens of Thy power, lest anything miss any condition of Thy sanctification and glorification.

O Lord! Thou alone art what Thou art, and none is Thy partner. Thou alone art what Thou art, and none is like unto Thee. Thou art the Most High, beyond description in majesty and grandeur, and Thou art the Most Exalted, transcending attributes of loftiness and beauty, for these similitudes are but signs of Thy creation in the realm of certitude. Thou hast manifested Thyself through these names and attributes unto all things, lest any soul mistake the mention of attributes as pertaining to aught but Thee, and that the minds of them that believe in Thy unity might find rest in the mention of attributes before the countenance of Thy face. Thou art known without similitude, and described without name. Thou hast forbidden proof to know the way, and hast cut off explanation in the face of evidence.

How then, O my God, can I mention the signs of Thy love when they return unto myself by the decree of Thy Book and point to my powerlessness before the loftiness of Thy grandeur? Glorified, glorified art Thou, O my God, far above what they who liken Thee to aught else describe, and what they who attempt to describe Thee say concerning Thy signs—exalted art Thou with great exaltation!

O God! Thou knowest my judgment concerning what has come to me in a decisive letter from Thy servant Javad ibn al-Tahir, and what he mentioned therein by Thy leave of attributes and names, and what he asked of Thy servant regarding signs and tokens, and what he wished to attain unto Thee from creation for purification as the best of offerings, and what he intended in the allusions of his words without mention of evidences. Have mercy, O Lord, upon his poverty before Thee, and accept, O Lord, his obedience before Thy face. Inspire him, O Lord, with Thy remembrance and with what he asked of me and what he asks not of the paths of wisdom. Fulfill, O Lord, what Thy foremost servant has guaranteed regarding his mother’s rights, and reward him, O Lord, in his striving and obedience as befits Thee. Verily, Thou art the Lord of glory and radiance, and nothing from Thy servants resembles Thy gift. Thou art indeed the Strong, the Bestower, who deals with none except through grace and favors none except through generosity. O Thou Who art the Lord of generosity and mercy, of grandeur and blessing, bless Muhammad and the family of Muhammad through Thy grace upon them. Verily, Thou art the Lord of might over all creation.

O God! Thou knowest the wisdom of what Thy servants desire of Thy signs, so inspire, O Lord, the companions of Thy obedience and love with what befits Thee of honor and generosity. I bear witness that Thou hast built the decree of human temples from the people of Thy Cause in decisive verses, and hast established for them a station of sovereignty which changes not throughout ancient times nor in what time brings of events, for Thou hast made Muhammad and his family—Thy blessings be upon them—the repositories of Thy Will, the tongues of Thy Purpose, and the signs of Thy grandeur, whereby they indicate naught but Thy Lordship in any matter, nor any station save Thy oneness.

None knoweth how they are, even as Thou hast created them, save Thou alone—without partner. And I bear witness that, in the stations of servitude, they have been transformed by the transformations of creation, as a manifestation of Thy command; for Thou hast ever been, each day, engaged in a new and wondrous act of bringing forth that which had not been. Exalted art Thou in Thine own Self, and sanctified above all mention is Thy Name, that I should speak concerning them with the word of affirmation or of negation. Were it not for my fear for the weak, I would extol, in Thy presence, the impossibility of knowing Thee, even as Thou describest Thyself unto Thine own Self—yet this is that whereunto the heavens and the earth cannot rise; how, then, should I utter it? And when I make mention of the Names, and the birds of the unseen lift up their song, then must all who are in the heavens and on the earth be smitten with awe, and nothing remain save that it falleth prostrate before Thee, speaking: There is no God but Thee.

Glorified art Thou, glorified art Thou! The manifestations of Thy power in the world of bodies are too majestic for description, and the stations of Thy Lordship in the realms of archetypes are too exalted for any attribute. Were it not for my fear of what men have wrought in Thy presence, I would gaze into the atmosphere of the unseen and utter a word concerning them—a word which, were it to reach the Throne, would cause it to tremble; which, were it to enter the heaven, would rend it asunder; which, were it to descend upon the earth, would cleave it in twain; which, were it to be recited unto the mountains, would crush them to dust; which, were it to appear upon the seas, would turn them to ice; and which, were I to speak it before Thee, would make all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth to gasp in that very moment.

And when it is unveiled, hearts would fall prostrate before Thee; and when it shineth forth and casteth its light, then circleth and is illumined, that all may enter through the gate of Thy Sacred House and may cry before Thy face: “Glory be to Thee, glory be to Thee! None knoweth how Thou art save Thyself.” Exalted is Thy Being above mention of loftiness and greatness; sanctified is Thine Essence above description of knowledge and majesty; magnified is Thine “I-ness” above the attributes of holiness and lordship. None—no, not even Thy near ones, Thy favored servants—can know aught of the mystery of Thy command. Glory be to Thee, far above what they ascribe unto Thee.

O God! Thou knowest what Thy servant intended regarding the decree of the word of magnification and its relation to the verses of divine unity. I know that Thou hast established the decree of that word with its verses in three stations. Nothing appears except through it, and nothing can claim its decree, for Thou didst create it for Thyself alone. It pointeth to naught save Thee. The pillars of existence and the ocean of names are filled with disconnected letters from its light, yet it is not they in its decree, nor are they it in its mystery. There is no mention in any station except for it, and no manifestation in its counterpart except through it. Names are cut off, imaginings are lost, and all that beareth the name of creation hath vanished. None knoweth it as Thou, its Creator, knowest it—Thou alone, there is no God but Thee.

Glory be unto Thee! Whosoever hath spoken of the mention of the Divine Essence in its mystery, or the station of unity in its being, or the name of divinity in its attributes, or the description of allusion in its manifestations—all names are cut off from its name and all likenesses are forbidden from its form. It hath no mention save Thy mention, no description save Thy description, no attribute save the mention of Thy power. Glory be unto Thee! It hath sung in Thy verses and the veils of the divine cloud have been rent in its signs. It mentioneth not a letter of its essence nor alludeth to any explanation of its glory, and none knoweth its truth after its passing into the worlds of the unseen and the visible, besides Thee. There is no God but Thee, the Most High, the Most Exalted.

O God! Thou knowest what I intended in mentioning it, though I desire no description of it. Therefore inspire, O God, the people of Thy love as Thou art, and forgive, O God, whoever seeketh to know it in terms of separation and the mystery of essence. Verily, Thou art the Generous, the Forbearing.

O God! Thou knowest I answered Thy servant in his book with a tongue that silence hath confined me from its mention, and the utmost I can do is acknowledge my powerlessness concerning it. Indeed he asked, after Thou knowest his decree, about the truth of Thy servant whom Thou madest a countenance for Thy knowledge and a ladder for ascent unto Thee. And here am I, O my God, confessing before Thee that he is the first believer in the particles of creation and the second manifestation in the glory of the heart, and he is the one who speaks of divine origination in the decree of execution. Therefore protect him, O God, from the sources of allusions and explanation, and forgive, O God, whoever asked about the decree from his presence regarding the word of affirmation. I bear witness that he is a believer in Thee and Thy verses, and none knoweth his truth except Thee. Verily, Thou art knowing of all things.

O God! Thou knowest what I intended. The answer lies not in the path of inferential reasoning, but rather I point to the station of verses with the visage of majesty. Therefore, O my God, inspire the questioners and seekers with true inspiration. Verily Thou bestowest upon whomsoever Thou willest as Thou pleasest. None can resist Thy will or reverse Thy decree. Verily Thou art the Self-Sufficient, the All-Praised. And all praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.