Introduction to the Tafsir-i-Suratu’l Baqara

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

Praise belongs to God, who revealed Himself to all created realms with the adornment of the Point, separated from the ocean of origination—through it, by it, and toward it—exalted and exalted again before whatever was fashioned and after whatever was brought into being. By it, forms were shaped; from it, they reflected; by it, they were summoned; upon it, they pointed; within it, they found rest; and by it, the Will was fulfilled before the mention of anything. Within it, Lordship shone forth, and all servitude took its stand. It is neither Eastern nor primordial, nor Western nor void of being. It was brought into existence by its own essence, not by any creation preceding it, and was established by its own reality, with no parallel contrivance. Thus it gleamed, was reflected, surged, and conformed. It is the first Mention from the wondrous Originator—no God is there but He. And praise belongs to God, who brought forth the totality of things in existence with the form of the hidden Alif, self-subsistent in its essence, which was created because of the Point that preceded it. They were fashioned by the essence of that Will, named in its station—for it, by it, and toward it—everlasting and revolving before they were mentioned and after they ceased. By it and toward it, they shone; from it and by it, they quivered; to it and by it, they were gathered. Through it was pairing perfected, and by it the “I-ness” was brought forth. The Will was named through mention of that primordial, primal geometry. It is itself, with no first eternality or last endlessness—rather, it is itself, arising from the sun of oneness.

It is radiant by the majesty of the divine self-sufficiency, remaining by the permanence of the dominical essence. Indeed, it is the finest adornment of the white Alif, following the Point that was set apart from origination. It is the adornment of splendor in the pillar of praise, the adornment of the yellow in the pillar of decree, and the adornment of emergence in the green pillar, as well as in the red pillar. If you call it red, it adorns the yellow with white; if you call it green, it adorns the white with red. Blessed is it indeed! It is an eternally crimson reality, a radiantly pure existence, an abidingly verdant eternal essence, and a sovereign amber form. It is the repetition of the Point within the Alif of distinction, from an Ancient, Ancient Originator—no God is there but He. And praise belongs to God, who revealed Himself to the created realms by the form of the letter Bā’ of separation, set apart from the gentle Alif, circulating around the Point of origination—by it, through it, and toward it, brought into being, mentioned, enduring, standing firm, surging, colliding, billowing, and moving until it stood still and remained. From it, by it, and toward it, it glistened; from it, by it, and toward it, it trembled; by it, they contended; from it, they found harmony; and to it, they reckoned their accounts.

Then it gasped and bore its burden, and laid bare its broken fragments. It is itself the wretched one in its inward dimension—wretched in the inward of the fourth—and it is itself the happy one in its inward dimension for whoever is happy in the outward.

Behold how the hidden becomes manifest. Indeed, what a noble adornment emerges from the depths of decree—after destiny in the realm of enactment, yet before the beginning in the realm of splendor—that rose up and was exalted, declaring:

“Glory be to You, O my God, Lord of the Will and its sister, Creator of destiny and its offspring! Send Your blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad. O my God, open the gates of that Book by the breezes of Your sanctity, the signs of Your power, the proofs of Your greatness, the stations of Your delight, and the tokens of Your oneness. Truly, You bestow from that Book upon whom You will, as You will. And You withhold, by Your decree, from whoever turns away from that Book, as You will, when You will. None can repel Your command or reverse Your judgment, nor is there any portion of good for the one who harbors doubt after that Book. By Your right—indeed, You have made clear and magnified, honored and ordained, reckoned and expounded all that You intended within the domain of possibility, and whatever can be. So here is Your servant’s hand, after the mention of ʿAyn, Lām, and Yā (i.e., the letters of Muḥammad), so that those who enter it may plunge into the ocean of oneness through it, and those who depart may depart from the face of oneness. Unto You be praise, O my God—an effulgent, shining, sanctified, radiant, transcendent, shimmering praise, in the way You love for Yourself. And You deserve it, as Your grace belongs to You alone, while none among Your creation comprehends it.”

And from You is glory to Muhammad and his family—Your blessings be upon them—pure, continuously luminous, eternally sublime. May it be forever, shining by the bright rays of Your primeval sun, flashing forth from the eternal countenance of Your self-sufficiency, glittering with the lightning of Your invincible dominion, and sanctified by the sanctification of the majesty of Your essence. For You know their rank, and none but You can encompass their reality. You have exalted them above all by Your own favor, and You are indeed the Lord of might over all creation. O you who gaze upon that dove soaring from the Sinai Tree, descending upon the pages of those white Tablets of the Book—fear God and remain silent. Do not draw near that which has been elucidated from the Tree, at the moment when the trumpet is sounded, darkness is illuminated, and the sun passes its zenith in the horizon of manifestation. Beware, beware when the rooster cries in the land of obscurity, and the birds sing in the breath of the air, and the peacock cries out at the rising of Cancer. Then, at that moment, the dove warbles in praise, the day is revealed by its radiance, dawn breaks with its wondrous white thread, and the light of the crimson Word stands firm. So beware, O people of the Bayān, when the signs are unfurled by the sun of Splendor, and the proof is revealed by the authority of decree, such that the mirrors echo in the faces of the verses with the mystery of emergence. Only then does the zenith pass away in the realm of praise upon the Sinai height through the light.

By the crimson, manifest light, here I stand gathered before God and say, “Sufficient unto me is that there is no God but He. Truly, we belong to God, and to Him shall we return.” And if this is to be exemplified, let those who would act, take action. Glory be to You, O my God, who removes sorrow from our pens and brings them into a paradise of praise for Yourself.

O my God, You know well that on the day You willed to bring forth that Book, I beheld in the night that the Holy Land turned into tiny specks of dust, and it was lifted into the air, then came entirely before my house and settled. After that, news arrived of the passing of my intimate friend, the noble and learned teacher—may God’s mercy be upon him—from that place. Indeed, I had told some people of my dream before the news. May God’s grace be upon him. Truly, we are God’s, and to Him do we return. There is no power or might except in God, the Exalted, the Great.