BB00085: Answer to the Mufti of Baghdad

Part 1: “Glorified be He before Whom all within…”

In the Name of God, the Most Unapproachable, the Most Holy!

Glorified be He before Whom all within the heavens and earth and whatsoever lieth between them bow down in adoration, and we are all His worshippers. Praise be unto God before Whom all within the heavens and earth and whatsoever lieth between them prostrate themselves, and we are all His servants. God beareth witness that there is none other God but Him. His is the creation and the command, in the past and in the future. He giveth life and causeth death, then causeth death and giveth life, and verily He is the Ever-Living Who dieth not. Within His grasp is the dominion of all things. He createth whatsoever He willeth through His command “Be,” and it is. He is the One Who hath created all things by His command, and unto Him shall all return.

He is the One Who provideth sustenance unto whomsoever He willeth through His grace. He is verily the Protecting Friend, the All-Loving. He is the One Who giveth you life, then causeth you to die, that perchance ye may ponder upon the creation of your own selves. He is the One from Whose knowledge nothing whatsoever escapeth, whether in the heavens or on earth or in between them, and nothing can frustrate Him, whether in the kingdom of command or creation or whatsoever lieth beneath them. He createth what He pleaseth by His command. He is verily the Strong, the Powerful.

He is the One Whom nothing whatsoever can comprehend, whether in the heavens or on earth or whatsoever lieth between them, yet He comprehendeth all things and ordaineth whatsoever He willeth from His presence. He is verily the All-Knowing, the Powerful. He is the One Who sent forth the Messengers aforetime that ye should worship none but God and be sincere in His religion. He is the One Who revealed the Books aforetime that ye should bow down before none save God Who created all things by His command, and unto Him shall ye all return.

This is God, your Lord. His is the creation and the command. There is none other God but Him, the Mighty, the Beloved. He is the One Who originateth whatsoever He willeth by His command, and unto Him shall all be turned. He is the Subduer over His creation, the Self-Subsisting, the Supreme. He is the Manifest among His servants, and He is verily the Single One, the Inaccessible, the Most Exalted, the Beloved.

He is the One Who hath aforetime raised up Muhammad and made Him a Messenger to all the worlds, and revealed unto Him the Furqan, having strengthened Him with the Spirit from His presence. He is verily the All-Bountiful, the Inaccessible.

Bear thou witness, O Mufti ʿAli, that there is none other God but Him, my Lord and thy Lord, the Lord of all things, the Lord of the visible and invisible, the Lord of all the worlds. And ye shall assuredly bear witness unto that which ye have been promised concerning the meeting with God on the Day of Resurrection, though all are veiled therefrom.

Verily I am God, there is none other God but Me. I have manifested Myself on the Day of Resurrection that I may recompense every soul for what it hath earned. Will ye not then be certain? Ye shall assuredly bear witness that I am indeed the First Remembrance before God. God hath given Me these verses from His presence that I may deliver them unto thee and unto every soul that desireth to believe in God and His verses and be of them that believe. And all the Messengers whom God hath sent forth until this moment were for the manifestation of that First Remembrance, if ye would but consider within your hearts.

Is there a god besides God who creates you, sustains you, causes you to die and gives you life? Glory be to God above what you mention! God has not revealed any Book except through that First Remembrance, and verily before Muhammad, the beloved Messenger of Truth, who came with guidance and conveyed what was revealed to him from the Book of his Lord, wherein you were believers on that day.

I am indeed He Whom you mention from the words of Muhammad, the Messenger of God. Do you not desire to enter into the religion of God and be of those who are certain of God’s signs? Verily, I am the true Mahdi, promised to all who believe in the Qur’an. God has indeed raised me up just as He raised up Muhammad, the Messenger of God, before me, and He has revealed His verses unto me. Can any besides God reveal a single verse? Do you not see? If all who are on earth were to gather together to produce the like of this Book from God, they would never be able to do so, and God bears witness to this, as do those possessed of knowledge who are witnesses in God’s religion.

From the day God revealed the Furqan unto Muhammad until the day God revealed the Bayan unto me, one thousand two hundred and seventy years have passed. All that was witnessed before, after God revealed the Furqan to those who were given the Book before—let such be among those who deduce proofs from God. When I interpreted the Qur’an as I was able, We desired to deliver you and all who are like you in your religion, that you might be thankful in the days of God. After Muhammad, the Messenger of God, was taken, the matter became confused for you in your religion, whereupon you return to God, your Lord. If you return unto me, God will remit your evil deeds, set right your condition, accept your repentance, and inscribe your names in the Book until the Day when all shall be raised unto God your Lord.

By the life of Him Whom God shall manifest, even as He has manifested me, I shall assuredly distinguish between people on the Day of Resurrection. We desire naught for you save divine good-pleasure, if you would show mercy to your own selves. Otherwise you will harm none but yourselves. Did those who entered not Islam before harm God and Muhammad? Nay, by the Book of your Lord! They harmed none but themselves, and they shall abide forever in their fire, thinking themselves to be in God’s good-pleasure; yet were they to know they are in the fire, they would flee.

I now counsel you and those like you in your religion, from the highest among you to the lowest, that God will accept none of your deeds unless you enter into the Bayan and become certain of God’s signs. Verily, what was present there before was a Messenger from Me through whom the proof of your Lord was perfected for you, yet you remained veiled from God’s signs. Let all who speak concerning this Cause refer their words to the time of Muhammad’s appearance; then will you instantly become certain that there is no god but He, and that I am but a servant whom God has raised up with guidance from His presence. Do you not desire to be among the God-fearing?

And your deeds shall not be rendered void except by your veiling yourselves from the Messenger and that which is with Him. Therefore, show mercy unto yourselves at this moment. If ye desire to enter into the religion of God, then present yourselves before the Messenger in your land that ye may seek forgiveness from God in His presence. For whomsoever the Messenger seeketh forgiveness from God, their deeds shall be accepted, and they shall rejoice in the degrees of Paradise. Verily, I have been before and shall be hereafter, and God hath revealed no Book except unto Me, nor hath He sent any Messenger save by My leave, and We have been witness over them.

Look ye unto the Sun, for though it riseth again and again without equal, it is but one Sun. Thus doth the First Mention explain the verses of God for those who desire to enter into the religion of God. And when it setteth without equal, it is that same one Sun. Similarly, all the Messengers whom God sendeth are naught but from the First Mention in the Book of God. All begin from there and all return unto God, their Lord.

Verily, thou and those who are like thee in religion have striven from the beginning of your lives until the time of your passing to attain the good-pleasure of God, yet this appeareth not save through the good-pleasure of the Prophet and those who are witnesses from His presence. Indeed, were ye to offer all that is on earth on that Day, God would not be pleased with you, and this is manifest only through what hath been revealed unto Me. Therefore hasten ye in the religion of God, then believe.

Marvel not at this, but remember what befell Muhammad aforetime, how seven years passed over Him and none believed in Him save a few of the sincere ones. Whosoever believeth not in Me, his name shall remain until the Day of Resurrection like those mentioned in what God revealed aforetime in the Surih of Unity. Therefore have mercy on your souls and be not veiled from that which ye profess in your religion. And whosoever believeth in Me, his name shall remain in the Book until the Day of Resurrection, even as I have testified concerning those who answered their Lord and were among the sincere in the religion of God.

Part 2: “Verily, We have not revealed this Book unto…”

Verily, We have not revealed this Book unto thee save as a mercy from Our presence to all who believed in the Qur’an aforetime and desire to be among the guided ones, lest anyone should say on the Day of Resurrection,

“Had God taught me His guidance, I would have been among the guided ones.”

The proof upon you now is that which is from Our presence among you, if ye desire to be guided. Otherwise, your first life shall pass away from you, and ye shall enter into that whereof ye were warned. Let not your names, nor your wealth, nor anything that God your Lord hath given you delude you. Purify your souls from the fire after your death and give them glad tidings of Paradise if ye be believers in the religion of God. Therein shall ye have whatsoever your souls desire or whatsoever ye ask of God’s bounty.

This is what We have saved you and those like you, that you may worship God, your Lord, the All-Merciful, and you know that you are guided. And after Muhammad, the Messenger of God, was taken, there was no proof with you except the Furqan (Qur’an). Therefore, look within it—did God ever argue without a verse? Then at this moment believe. And all that you say at this time, I shall say in the Book: This is God’s guidance, if you were previously certain of the Qur’an. There is no escape for you except to believe in God through what God has revealed of verses. And if you are able to produce the like thereof, then how is it that your hands have earned regarding the Messenger what they have earned? Does this remove the inability of those on earth or establish their capacity to bring the like of that Book? Say: Glory be to God, and I am the first of the believers.

And if your soul believes, then strive in mentioning the Messenger and write like that Book to every soul, for that is nearer to God than praying by night and day and prostrating to Him thirty-four times as prescribed by God, for this will not be accepted except through this. Therefore ponder a little on what you strive for in God’s religion, for on that Day neither your religion nor your deeds will benefit you, just as the religion of those who were given the Book did not benefit them after Muhammad, the Messenger of God. Therefore reflect a little on how you shall enter God’s paradise.

And do not wait less than what your knowledge returns to you, for at that moment God will testify against you with fire, and I have indeed conveyed to you that which will save you and all who believe in the Qur’an. And it is the same whether you enter into God’s religion or not. If you believe, it is for your own souls—after your death you will enter into the Ridvan. And if you do not enter, you harm none but yourselves, and your Lord’s proof has been completed against you just as you now derive proof from the Furqan.

So when you derive proof, and you are all awaiting the Day of meeting with God on the Day of Resurrection, then when fifty thousand years have passed and those in the heavens and earth are struck down, and everything perishes through being veiled from meeting its Lord—except whom God wills, those whom you now say of them that they are Babis. And were the veil lifted from your insight, you would be like them in God’s religion. Therefore have mercy on your souls and be not veiled by that whose truth is established by the word of a Prophet who establishes what he says through God’s verses. This is God’s word, so have mercy on your souls, then show mercy.

For you turn to Me in all that you turn to God, your Lord. And I am indeed grieved that your souls are veiled from meeting your Lord while you previously submitted to My religion. This is the Day of Recompense, so do not render your deeds void before your Lord, and enter all of you into God’s religion that you may be helped. We have indeed elevated all that you do, and We have sent down the Bayan and detailed it according to the number of all things, that all things may believe in God, their Lord, on the Day of Resurrection. And if you believe, then what your hands possess enters into God’s good-pleasure; otherwise you have wronged yourselves and what you possess, unless you purify that and cause it to enter into the possession of one who believes in God and His verses. That is from God’s bounty upon you, that you may be thankful.

And your example in your religion is like the example of those who believed in the Imams of Guidance and the First Gates after Muhammad, the Messenger of God, and you are equal in the Bayan—if they enter, they believe, and if you enter, you believe.

Look not upon the proofs, for all these are established by what God hath revealed in the Book, and naught can establish the Book save that which would render all on earth powerless, as they are unable to produce the like thereof. When the Cause hath reached unto God, look not upon your proofs, for all this hath been revealed by God. Were ye to reflect upon what hath been revealed, that which God revealed in twenty-three years is now revealed in four days. Therefore, present yourselves before Me that ye may be among the witnesses. Read ye this Book, for it is from that same Ocean. As I have interpreted the Qur’an, We desired to deliver thee and those who follow thy religion, as a mercy from Us and a bounty unto the believers.

The people have committed against Me as they committed against the Messenger. Verily, I am now upon a mountain known as Mah-Ku. Neither this seat nor any seat ye possess can harm Me. Rather, these verses shall be detailed among you until the Day of Resurrection. Therefore sever yourselves unto God, your Lord, the All-Merciful, for we are all believers in Him.

Think not after reading this Book that thou art pleasing unto God, for God hath testified against thee, and that which hath been revealed in this Book beareth witness, and He Whom God shall make manifest shall reveal from His presence. Therefore put thy trust in God, thy Lord, and hold fast unto the cord of God. Return unto Me, for ye were created for none other than Me, and ye circle round about that which God hath attributed unto Himself, and He was not exalted save through Me. Therefore unto God do ye return.

Follow naught except what hath been revealed in the Bayan, for that is what profiteth you. I have not neglected any counsel in the Book. Therefore ponder ye, then believe. And if thou believest when thou readest the Book of thy Lord, be thou among the witnesses. Convey the like thereof unto those who are around thee, then unto those to whom thou findest a way. Otherwise, remain silent and harm no soul by thy station, and be ashamed before God, thy Lord. For he who benefiteth no one ought not to harm anyone. This is what We counsel thee and all the worlds.

Say: Praise be to God Who hath guided me with truth and revealed unto me the Book from His presence. Were I to expend all that is on earth, I would find no way unto this. This is of God’s bounty unto me and unto all who believed in God aforetime. He is the Best of those who show bounty. And whoso entereth not the religion of God is like unto those who entered not Islam. Thus doth God distinguish between people with truth, and God is independent of you. That which ye possess will never suffice you in place of guidance, even if ye should possess the whole earth. But that which is with God would suffice you. Therefore believe in God and send blessings upon the Primary Letters of the Book of God, then upon what God hath revealed in the Bayan, that ye may know. And seek forgiveness from God, your Lord, the All-Merciful, then in every moment turn ye repentant unto God, your Lord.