BB00268: Letter to Quddus

He addresseth Mulla Muhammad Ali al-Mazandarani, entitled Quddus, and assigneth to each one of the Four Gates a single star, making himself the Manifestation of the name Muhammad, and Mulla Muhammad Ali the Manifestation of the name Ali, and Qurratu’l-ʿAyn the Manifestation of the name Fatima, and Mirza Husayn Ali al-Baha the Manifestation of Husayn ibn Ali ibn Abi Talib, and so forth. And it is this:

O Muhammad-before-Ali! The number of negation in exile hath been decreed, not for God’s sake. It is binding upon every soul to establish the Alif of affirmation in that wherein ye are, and verily this on that Day is, in God’s sight, the whole matter for those who are certain thereof. Let negation be negated and affirmation be affirmed according to the truth over which ye have power.

Say: Verily religion after religion is the knowledge of God and His unity, and the recognition thereafter of His justice, and following what hath been sent down from His presence, and the negation of limitation from His holy court, for whatsoever is besides Him of all things was created for Him. Say: O My creation, fear ye Me!

And whatsoever God hath created of anything in the Book and what is therein—He intendeth by the first letter of the first verse and what is therein in the mighty Basmalah and what is therein in the first letter—verily there is no God but I, the Lord of the worlds. Verily all that the Qur’an containeth is encompassed in the Surih of Praise, and all that it containeth is encompassed in the Basmalah, and all that the Basmalah containeth is encompassed in the letter Ba, and all that is in the Ba is encompassed in the Point, and I am that Point beneath the Ba.

But the Bab intendeth by this utterance that aforementioned Point, for it is He. Thus were the Babis named according to the Point. The foundation of religion in the beginning is the glorification of God, and in the end the praise of God, and in the outward the unity of God, and in the inward the magnification of God. And verily on that Day, so long as the sun shineth, the whole of religion is “There is no God but God” outwardly and inwardly, first and last, then “Muhammad is the Messenger of God”, then the Imams and the Inheritors are the proofs of God, then the Gates are for the outward magnification. That is a comprehensive word, and verily the measures of the branch revolve around it.

So enter ye into the religion and be ye dominant over the earth and whatsoever is thereon, and purify the lands of negation through the Most Beautiful Names and the Most Exalted Examples and the Prophets and the Truthful Ones and the Martyrs and the Righteous, and give ye greetings unto them from thy Lord—meaning Himself by “the Lord.” And whoso desireth to enter beneath the shadow of affirmation, these are they who shall inherit. And if there be an Ali there, then mention him from thy Lord and say: Verily thou, on the Day of Resurrection, art of the triumphant ones. If thou desirest that We should be present from whence thou knowest not, and that thou shouldst console the people of grief in the (letter Fa), it is more beloved to Me. And We sent the Tablets unto him! God will gather together, by His command, between me and those who have recognized the truth from me. Verily, He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful.

And the wonder concerneth the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden. From the night of thy recognition of thy Lord, the number of negation in “There is no God” hath been fulfilled—fifty thousand years—and the days of affirmation have dawned. Until that time, what was befitting in the negation of negation and the affirmation of affirmation had not been mentioned. This is the whole of religion on that day, not that wherein people were rejoicing.

Watch thou Our Great Name and recite the Book of the All-Bountiful, for unto each one are examples of that Temple preserved with God. Recite ye this verse 361 times day and night:

“God beareth witness that there is no God but Him. His are the Creation and the Command. He giveth life and causeth death, then causeth death and giveth life. Verily, He is the Ever-Living Who dieth not. Within His grasp is the kingdom of all things. He createth what He willeth by His command, then by His verses. These are they who are the triumphant.”

Say: God is the Lord, and whatsoever is besides God is servant, and all are worshippers unto Him. He verily hath power over all things. And whosoever believeth in God from where they know and from where they know not. Verily the station of interpretation belongeth to the Prophet, and supplication to the Guardian, and knowledge to the Gates. We have manifested the glory of His exalted remembrance, as none but He can bear it, and after God there was not […] these stations. Then We have attributed to the Manifestations of the Living One and specifically reserved for the verses of God a new discourse in which people believed.

Say what Ali (meaning the Commander of the Faithful) hath said: “His signs are His proof, and His existence His affirmation.” And God is All-Knowing, All-Powerful. Verily I have sent forth temples of 313 companions in number 224. Were but one of these to be with anyone who hath faith, he would prevail over all the worlds. And verily the number of the Gate in the Greater Temples was first adorned and shone forth. He is the Proud, the Beautiful, the Beneficent. He hath subjected therein the ranks of the earth within five divisions of Divine Unity. Hasten ye, for through them shall ye assuredly prevail.

Then it shone forth and arose; then it gave light and resounded; then it irradiated and was uplifted from the court of the camphor-like holiness, the limpid purity, the hiddenness of the Manifestation; from the dawning of the famed Epiphany, the vesture of concealment, the unrolled Remembrance, the public proclamation of the Zealous, the Rememberer, the Remembered; from Him Who dwelleth within and is loosed upon the Mount; from the Summoner unto the veiled Mystery—and from my Lord ʿAli upon the Blessed Tree, its root and its branch and its boughs—“the Proof of God,” the inscribed symbol, the Oft-frequented House, the Luminous Presence and the dispeller of gloom—its fruits and its shades; even as the dove warbleth upon the branches of the Tree of Tuba in Paradise, and as the birds sing upon the leaves of the Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing, in the shadows of Firdaus.

Know then—and give thanks unto God—that “Zarrin-Taj, Qurratu’l-ʿAyn,” the wearer of the golden crown, is addressed by this Tablet; for thy Book is “sealed,” that is, sealed—for in Persian “khatam” signifieth the seal. Wherefore, laud thy Lord for His favour; He, through His bounty, hath delivered thee for God’s sake from what thou didst fear and dread.

Be thou assured that, as a bridal dowry from the jewels of thy knowledge, the inward meanings of the ordinances and the loci of trials have been disclosed. Be patient, be patient, with the remembrance of the Ocean of Succour and the Fount of Blessing.

They attributed to you certain incidental matters, but their statements were disproven clearly and openly, for Husayn was indeed martyred. Whosoever claims he was not killed has forgotten God’s decree and that which reason has witnessed. There is no vengeance more severe than what he believed and said that Paradise and knowledge suffice as witness. Then indeed the fire and Paradise are created, and in them are servants whose number none knows save God. And before the Day of Resurrection it shall not be manifest to anyone. The return of the Qa’im—may God hasten the manifestation of that Light—suffices. Seek forgiveness from God, for that is the gate of guidance through which all are created.

We revealed in the first year: Say, these are the fruits of the garden of the First Name in the form which you recite in prayer, if you are certain. Then the fruits of the Tree of Oneness, if you bear witness. Then the fruits of the Tree of Divinity, if you are assured. Then the fruits of the Tree of Eternality wherein flow four rivers, and therein you shall find the delights that God has created in those rivers, which God has specially ordained. This is of God’s bounty and mercy that you may be thankful.

We have ordained the fruits of the First Tree for Muhammad, the Messenger of God—this is your Lord’s gift, neither cut off nor forbidden—then for Ali, the true and beloved Imam, then for Fatima, a leaf from the First Tree—thus shall you be gathered together—then for Hasan and Husayn, whom God made Imams from His presence over all the worlds. Say: These are nine letters after the ten, all created according to what God has ordained for them.

Say: The letters of those five are for one; when each is made a gate, you shall not witness the matters about which you say “We are God’s servants.” But you shall not see in the inward the pillar by which the gates of guidance are made manifest, nor in the outward the pillar by which the Imams of religion stand in truth, nor the other pillar by which you are sustained. And by it you bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of God from God, before the creation of the heavens and earth and what lies between them, the creation of the worlds. Then in the first pillar by it you bear witness that there is no God but He, that Lord of the worlds.

Whosoever desires God, seeking your Lord’s good pleasure, let him gather all that We revealed in the First in a written book upon the first earth which We ordained for Muhammad—this is of your Lord’s bounty until the day you shall be brought before God—until it reaches the fruits of the Garden of Eternality, for then you shall be upon the earth whereon you were previously to appear. It behooveth none save that he should spend five souls from God’s right in what is written in the Book, all that God has revealed until the number five is expended—this is of God’s bounty and mercy that you may be thankful. Choose from those five pieces five souls to gather all that God has revealed, and attribute it to God until the day all shall be brought before God.

And verily the first earth—We were its writers, thus until your Lord’s remembrance ends—all We were witnesses. So be ye patient until God bringeth His decree; and ye are surely able to do this. This is of the bounty of God and His mercy. The measures of all things have been set forth in the Book for the day when ye shall be brought before God.

Glorified be God! To Him prostrateth whosoever is in the heavens and whosoever is on the earth; we are all prostrate before Him. He it is Who determineth the measures of all things through His mercy. Verily, He is the All-Bountiful, the All-Subtle. His are the hosts of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever lieth between them. All that are in the heavens and all that are on the earth and whatsoever lieth between them glorify Him, and we, likewise, are workers in His Cause. And verily He is the Truth, the Sure. And unto God belongeth the origination of the heavens and of the earth and of whatsoever lieth between them, and verily He is the Single, the Sublime. That same God is your Lord; His is the creation and the command. Say: All are submissive unto Him.

That which was revealed in the first year is the fruits of the Paradise of the Divine Identity, pertaining to Muhammad (peace be upon Him), and His star pertaineth to the land of Persia, wherein it must be recorded in a book containing the four rivers of divine manifestation.

That which was revealed in the second year is the fruits of the Tree of Divinity, pertaining to Ali (peace be upon Him), and His star pertaineth to the land of Iraq, to be written in a book containing the four stations of creation, sustenance, death and life.

That which was revealed in the third year is the fruits of the Paradise of Oneness, pertaining to Fatima (peace be upon Her), and Her star pertaineth to the land of Azerbaijan, wherein it must be recorded in a book containing the four stations.

That which was revealed in the fourth year is the fruits of the Paradise of Divinity, pertaining to Imam Hassan (peace be upon Him), and His star pertaineth to the land of Khorasan, wherein it hath been recorded in a book containing the four manifestations of unity, prophethood, divine authority, and the Shi’ih Faith.

That which was revealed in the fifth year is the fruits of the Paradise of Eternality, pertaining to Imam Hussein (peace be upon Him), and His star pertaineth to the land of Mazandaran, recorded in a volume containing the four stations.

And verily that which We have sealed on the twenty-first day of that month shall be inscribed beneath the shade of the Tree of Eternality, as a mercy from thy Lord. Verily, He is the Mighty, the Merciful.