BB00136: Epistle to Haji Mirza Aqasi 5

In the name of God, the Omnipotent, the Mighty

I bear witness before God and those who are with Him that there is no God but Him, the Almighty, the All-Wise. And I testify to that which God’s knowledge hath encompassed, even as He Himself hath testified in the heaven of His might and the kingdom of His grandeur. There is no God but Him, the Single, the Self-Subsisting, the Holy, the Inaccessible.

Praise be to God Who hath distinguished me with that wherewith He hath distinguished His chosen ones, and honored me with that wherewith He hath honored His pure ones, and blessed me with that wherewith He hath blessed His loved ones. His is the praise that befitteth the glory of His holy might and the beauty of His luminous countenance—praise that transcendeth all praise and exalteth above all mention, praise that befitteth none save Him and is worthy of none besides Him. He is the Mighty, the Supreme, the Help in Peril.

How shall I speak, and to whom shall I speak, and through whom shall I speak? Verily thou art not ashamed before God, and thou endurest the fire, and fearest not the wrath of the Almighty, nor hopest for the Day which the All-Merciful hath promised His servants—the Day wherein He shall judge with truth. Be patient then, though thy patience be but for the sake of God’s displeasure. Hast thou not pondered, from the first day thou heardst what thou heardst until this day, how thy hours and minutes were spent? Thinkest thou that thou art in comfort and ease, in glory and honor? Nay, by my Lord Who splitteth the grain and createth the soul! From the first day thou heardst, it was incumbent upon thee to walk upon the snow with thy breast toward him whose mention thou hadst heard, to ascertain the truth from him and follow him. Woe unto thee and unto what thy hands have wrought! Art thou content with thy seat and pleased with thy glory, while behind thee lies great humiliation wherein is no glory, and severe chastisement wherein thou shalt have no helper?

Consider how thou hast judged him who is the Proof against thee and against all—peace be upon him—who possessed conclusive verses and confirmed evidences which none on earth could withstand. Verily he is upon pure truth, even as the truth whereupon were God and His Messengers and His chosen ones. Indeed, the measure of thy knowledge and the weight of thy guidance is not equal in my sight to the measure of Pharaoh’s unbelief, for when he heard the Cause, he desired to investigate and gathered, according to his power, the means of sorcery to prove his falsehood and his vain claims before his subjects. By Him Who created all things by His command! Thou art more remote in thy position than he and more abased before God than he. Those who came before thee did not do as thou hast done, nor did they judge as thou hast judged. It is as though thou hadst not read the Qur’an: “Unto you be your religion, and unto me my religion.” [Q109:6] If thou art an unbeliever, then unto thee is what thou hast. If thou wilt not aid the Truth, how dost thou oppose it, and if thou wilt not follow it, how dost thou imprison it?

It is as though God had not created in thy heart an atom of mercy, nor in thy countenance less than that of shame. Woe upon thee and thy position! May God’s vengeance and His wrath, His might and His displeasure be upon thee. Thou hast lived only for the fire and hast endured only for it. All that thou hast done unto me, God hath done unto me. He it is Who hath ordained tribulation for His loved ones and decreed trials for His chosen ones, and He it is Who hath written upon me that which was written. But woe unto thee, for God hath caused evil to flow from thy hands. And blessed am I for having been patient in the path of my Lord until certitude came unto me. Verily, I was never heedless of thy infidelity, nor veiled from thy tyranny. I saw thee not before except as a rebellious devil, and I see thee not except as an obstinate oppressor.

Verily, I am the Light which God deposited in the loins of Adam and commanded the angels, in glorification of Him, that all should prostrate themselves before His Self. So they all prostrated themselves together, even if there had been but one or two or three. Nay, praise be to God Who hath made today the most discerning ones obedient, the most eloquent sages following, the pious learned ones submitting, and the holy souls among the people of might and glory prostrating—as though thou hadst not known any of them. Yet their names are renowned and their virtues exalted. None among the people of knowledge and grace deny them, nor does anyone surpass them in word and deed. On that Day, all of them curse thee and dissociate themselves from thee. These are the angels who prostrated before God in glorification of that Light. And thou art that Satan who showed pride before, and thy hosts before God were naught but thyself. That which thou hast perpetrated is thy malice which hath filled the east and west of the earth. Woe unto thee and unto whoso followeth thee! Ye are all enemies of God and companions of the Fire. From it were ye created and unto it shall ye return.

O thou distant infidel and rebellious oppressor! Know that God hath exposed thee by thy deeds, and verily God, glorified be He, through thy judgment hath revealed thy apostasy from thy religion, for thou didst write with thy own hands what thou didst write. This is not hidden from its people, and the angels of the heavens and earth and all between them have read it and testified to it. And it hath been written in all the Tablets that thou hast apostatized from thy religion and chosen infidelity over the people of thy sect, even as Yazid said in his verse.

Thinkest thou that thou hast prospered? But those who scrutinize thy affair know thee, and thy matter is not obscure to them. When thou didst choose the most misguided of beasts, than whom there was none more foolish and misguided on earth, and made them the companions of the First Prison—and they all desired him and submitted before him and sought forgiveness for what they had done to him—thou sawest that none of them thereafter followed thee in thy infidelity. Therefore thou wast content to make his guards from among servants who follow neither his religion nor thine, and without his decrees.

And the infidels who believe neither in God nor His Messenger nor the family of God have deceived thee. By Him Who knoweth the secret and heareth the whispered counsel, verily they dissociate themselves from thee and curse thee, until I heard with mine own ears from the most knowledgeable among them that thou hast descended from the tree of infidelity and the water of thy existence was kneaded with Satan’s water. Sufficient is that shame for thee, that the infidels revile and curse thee.

And it hath become manifest in the heavens and earth that he who is from the tree of the Messenger and the fruit of the Virgin, despite his lofty knowledge and unity and the manifestation of his sanctity and uniqueness, hath been imprisoned by the hands of the people of infidelity. Be fair and send blessings upon those who ordered the imprisonment of the King, for they were not content with that shame of choosing infidels over one born in Islam.

Upon thee be the curse of God and the curse of the angels of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them. Dost thou desire to nullify the truth through an unjust decree? How canst thou believe in Joseph the Prophet and Musa ibn Ja’far the Successor (peace be upon them both), for they were unjustly imprisoned? This was naught but a token of God’s grace unto me, a gift from His presence bestowed upon me, and one of the traditions of His chosen ones concerning me.

Fie upon thee and upon thy faith and upon him who curseth thee not for thy faith! I entered not the second prison save that thy unbelief might be exposed and thy prejudice against the son of God’s Messenger might be proclaimed throughout all the kingdoms of the heavens and earth.

Dost thou threaten me with death? It is the emblem of them that are sincere and the way of the chosen ones. May God’s curse be upon thee if thou canst, but thou canst not! Then may God’s wrath be upon thee if thou canst, but thou canst not! Then may God’s anger be upon thee if thou canst, but thou canst not! Verily, I place my trust in God, take refuge in God, and cast myself before God. He sufficeth me. How excellent a Guardian and how excellent a Helper! In Him do I place my trust and unto Him do I turn.

But by my life, thou art powerless, and thy soul is more wretched than that. None like thee existeth among thy troops. He Who created me will protect me from thy evil deeds and shelter me within the pavilion of His mercy and the stronghold of His might and glory.

What greater honor could there be than this, that God should desire martyrdom for me and single me out for that which He hath reserved for the people of divine authority, especially at the hands of one such as thee—an obstinate tyrant and a rebellious devil? God hath not placed thee in thy seat save to torment thee thereby and take vengeance upon thee through it.

Were I not concerned for those who follow me, I would surely tell thee their names and send thee their letters. They are well-nigh countless, and none of them payeth thee any heed nor regardeth thy station, save as ground whereon lieth carrion surrounded by dogs that feed upon it until none remaineth. By my Lord, thou art more abject than this!

What hath passed of thy life hath passed, yet thou art not ashamed. Thou art content with one of tender years, despite his loftiness, knowledge, wealth and glory. Thou art satisfied with the utmost thou couldst do against him, though hadst thou been able—no doubt remaineth—thou wouldst have left nothing undone. Thou hast rent asunder every veil of modesty, opposed the Almighty with thy words, and warred against the Compeller with thy decree.

Thou sendest to a Sunni scholar the robes of sovereignty and bestowest upon a child who knoweth not heat from cold the station of majesty, while thou takest it from the Lord of this world and the next, whose hosts God hath made the angels of the heavens and earth, and whose proof is the signs of all things. Yet thou art not ashamed before God, nor art thou moved for even a moment.

By God, thou hast earned naught but the fire, while I have earned naught but the good-pleasure of the All-Merciful. Thine shall be what thou hast wrought, and mine what I have endured. God shall judge between me and thee with truth. Verily, He is the One, the Subduer, the Mighty, the Compeller.

God sufficeth me, then Muhammad, then the family of God. God sufficeth as a witness unto me. Glorified be God, thy Lord, the Lord of Might, the Lord of all things, above what they describe. Peace from His presence be upon those who place their trust in their Lord. And praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds.