BB00040: Kitabu’sh-Shahadah

Introduction

“He is the Mighty. O my Lord and my Support! God knoweth my recoil from that which I sought to attain in times past. I beseech Thee, by the right of Him Whose Bab-hood thou hast claimed, to implore God the Most High to send forth His Proof into the world. Verily my heart yearns that I may return from this journey, God willing, having fulfilled my needs, and that He may not put me to shame in the eyes of His creatures, and that He may protect me from the defects of this journey, God willing, and that thou mayest not forget me in thy noble thoughts, God willing, [O Ali].”

Answer:

In the Name of the Most High, the Most Great

Praise and thanksgiving befit that all-glorious Essence Who, from everlasting, hath remained sanctified above the description of aught besides Him; and glory and splendor are meet for the Manifestations of His justice—those before Whom the loftiest substance of all immaterial realities doth, at every moment, confess its utter severance and exclusion from attaining unto His knowledge. And when I beheld the trace of thy pen upon thy page, my being was shaken by the manifestation of the radiance of His countenance in thy address. God, verily, is exalted and immeasurably high above that His Book should be reckoned by the obedience of any servant who walketh in His path, or that causes should disclose aught of what pertaineth unto Him upon the throne of might and attributes. Wherefore do I beseech God—my Lord and thy Lord—that He banish sorrow from thy heart, and gather me together with the people of His obedience in a land secure and sanctified. He, in truth, is the All-Powerful, the All-Wise.

In the Name of the Most High, the Most Great [the exordium is repeated in Arabic:]

Verily, praise and thanksgiving are the due of the Eternal Essence, Whose Presence hath ever been sanctified above the description of all else besides Him; and glory and beauty are the right of the Manifestations of His justice—He Whom the highest essences of the immaterial realms recognize, at all times, as wholly cut off and barred from the court of His knowing. And when I beheld the trace of thy pen upon thy book, I trembled through the disclosure of the effulgence of His countenance in thy words. God is, indeed, more exalted and more glorious than that His Book should be numbered by the obedience of a servant who walketh in His way, or that causes should be made to run so as to reveal what He is in the throne of might and of attributes. Wherefore do I implore God—my Lord and thy Lord—that He remove sorrow from thy heart, and gather me together with thee in a land secure and holy. He, verily, is the Omnipotent, the All-Wise.

From all the people’s books, and since today the mention of the confirmation of some of the well-known learned ones has become the cause of submission of those whose clay God created from the clay of the exalted ones, and the manifestation of the polytheism of those whose clay God created from the clay of the debased ones, and it has become the cause of salvation for some of the doubters, I shall mention the book of eight souls from among those who have submitted, who are people of wisdom and knowledge, so that the interpretation of God’s word regarding the bearing of the throne of confirmation in the horizon of the trustworthy may become manifest [in] that clear Book:

“And eight shall bear thy Lord’s throne above them on that Day,”

and no excuse shall remain for anyone in their denial and hesitation regarding what Ali, Commander of the Faithful, peace be upon him, commanded in his sermon concealed for the hidden Name, and it shall be […] purification for the believers, and honor for the rememberers, and glory for the righteous ones, and nobility for the foremost ones, and retribution for the opposers, and torment for those who hesitate, and a door for those who arrive.

And no one shall say on the Day of Resurrection before God,

“Had two just ones from among the learned followed that Command, I would have followed Thy decree and would have been among the believers.”

And I counsel all people not to incline towards the life of this world, for the abasement of this world is better than the torment of the hereafter, and verily the one who repents of his sin is like one who has no sin. […] God lest pride take hold of you in your denial of God’s Command or your hesitation regarding God’s decree, for that is the way of the people of ignorance, and you are not superior to these men in the station of knowledge, faith, nobility, utterance, wisdom and certitude.

Therefore have mercy upon yourselves, for from the day of the appearance of that Command until this day, no person of insight among the people of the world and religion has remained except that they have submitted to the Command with the reality of certitude in the station of firm knowledge and remembrance, that I was indeed an unlettered servant whom God taught through His grace whatsoever He willed in the Book, and that I am indeed among the believers. And today there is no honor for the righteous ones except in salvation from the torment of the Lord of the worlds, and after that I am indeed among the grateful ones to them [for that]. Fear God, O people, and be not content with the shame of your souls more than that before the firmly-grounded learned ones and […] the rightly-guided ones in this world and on the Day of Resurrection before God and His angels, then His Prophets and His Messengers, then all people together.

If you are from among the learned ones of the knowledge of Ahmad, may God’s mercy be upon him, you are not more learned than he who [the scholar] confirmed among them [in the land of Qaf], and if you are from among the learned ones of the knowledge of Kazim, may God’s mercy be upon him, you are not more learned than he who […] among them [the first scholar of the Book], and if you are from among the learned ones of the knowledge of Mulla Sadra the Philosopher, you are not [more precise in view and more subtle in insight than the scholar of that land] more learned than he who […] among them, and if you are from among the learned ones of eloquence and utterance, you are not [more expansive […] than them] more learned than he who was designated among them [from the scholar of the land of Ta], and if you are from among the learned ones of jurisprudence, you are not more learned than he whom [the scholar of the land of Tus] the people curse among them, and if you are from among the learned ones of principles, you are not more learned than [the scholar of the land of Ha in Sad].

And verily today the abasement of denial and hesitation has encompassed most of the people. Heedlessness hath encompassed most of humanity. If they return not unto God’s Cause and repent not before Him, they shall fall under the judgment of this verse: “And when they had forgotten that whereof they had been reminded, We opened unto them the gates of all things, until, even as they were rejoicing in that which they were given, We seized them unawares, and lo! they were plunged into despair.” Then His exalted Word: “And verily hell shall encompass the unbelievers.” By thy Lord, O questioner! If on this day anyone possessed of the spirit of life, even should he be of the children of this world, were to read that blessed manuscript, he would surely say: “Would that I had died before [thee] and been […]” Then he would say: “Oh, woe is me for what I neglected in regard to God!”

And none who mentioned those Books ever conceived that I desired martyrdom, for God sufficeth as a witness unto His servant, and God is sufficient as a witness unto me. And verily the first of those Books is the Book of the first believer who opened the gate of pilgrimage and its verses and its tokens and its evidences and its allusions and its manifestations and its conditions and its stations. Then the last of the Books is the Book of him who sealed the proof through the rising of .. and Kaf, and thus was the mystery of the Book revealed in truth through them.

By the dawning of the Sun of Imprecation in the darkest, blackest, blindest, most gloomy night of hell’s obscurity, then wrote the three from the lineage of the Tree of Prophethood who, after being questioned and having seen, answered the Cause of Truth. Then wrote the three of those who believe in the unseen merely upon beholding the words, verses and signs, and they are indeed followers in the realm of religious jurisprudence where none can deny their scholarly rank save the stubborn denier. And should anyone among the people witness the decree of that copy or hear it and not afterwards believe in the Cause of Truth, there is no doubt that they shall be among the lost. And verily I say [my Lord] “Glory be to Him Who has subjected this unto us, for we could never have attained to it.”

Book One

In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate. Praise be to God Who is the Manifester of ages and the Director of all affairs, Who revealed Himself to His creation through His creation and drew near to them through them for the witnessing of the Manifestation, and Who withdrew from His creation through His creation and veiled Himself with rays of light from the gaze of the jealous. Thus did He appear through light upon light, and sent down light through light upon the Mount, making it the inscribed Book on an outstretched parchment. He sent down through the Most Great Name the inscribed Book and established it in the hearts of the pure ones circling round His throne unto the frequented House. Through His glorious might He returned hearts in the innermost mysteries of the unseen, through sincere profession of Divine Unity and realization of His oneness, unto the breasts that they might find rest and testify that there is no God but Him, the Most High, the Most Great, the Ancient Guardian, the All-Merciful, the Most Generous, the Compassionate, the All-Forgiving.

He made the sun a brightness whereby He illumined the day, and made the day a means of sustenance for mankind that they might seek bounty from their Appreciative Lord. And He illumined the luminous moon in the blackness of dark night—yea, the pitch-black night—that they might know the number of years and reckoning and the detail of all things. He transcended the emanations of fanciful thoughts through His mystery and concealed Himself in the hidden. He drew near and called His creation unto Himself through diverse tongues and different languages and dependent beings from every deep valley and from mountain peaks and ocean depths and bird songs, saying “Verily I am God, there is no God but I, Lord of Light and Master of Manifestation and Ordainer of affairs and Maker of shade and heat and Controller of the swelling sea and Revealer of the mighty Criterion and the noble Qur’an and the Torah and the Gospel and the Psalms.”

And may God’s blessings be upon Muhammad, the structure of gladness, possessed of renowned glory and … honor, who in his praiseworthy station is praiser and praised, lover and beloved, rememberer and remembered, thankful and thanked; and upon his successor through whom He dispelled darkness and evil and broke the might of every proud boaster and every treacherous ingrate; and upon his family, the guided guides who are guidance upon guidance and light upon light and light above light and light beneath light and light by which every light God created for those who love them is illumined through love for them from the shadow of their love—the Abode of Joy and the Laws of the Age and the Pivot of Time and the Companions of the Gathering and the Guardians of Authority and the Standard-bearers of Praise on the Day of Resurrection.

Thus is Thy word fulfilled in truth and justice. None can change Thy words or reverse Thy signs through their Seal and their Qa’im, the Hidden One concealed from their worlds and the habitations of the evil-doing oppressors. May God hasten his relief for the revival […] Bless them, O my God, while birds warble from the boughs of the eternal Tree, and bless those pure and goodly followers who adhere to their leaders in truth and certainty, and who acknowledge their station before the Lord of the Worlds.

Book Two

In the name of Him Who is the Most Effulgent Light, the Resplendent Radiance, the Piercing Star that appears by night, the Standard of Light in the depths of darkness, the Station of the Most Great Name, the Perfection of the Most Ancient Mystery, the Most Perfect and Most Upright Word, the Hidden Symbol, the Possessor of the Most Luminous Brow, the Most Brilliant Cheek, and the Illumined Countenance, the Bearer of the Left Pillar and the Crimson Light, the Manifestor of the Justice of the Most High, the Effacer of the traces of the secondary and the sterile, the Manifestor of the inner meanings of His Most Pure Grandfather’s Law—Muhammad, the Most Great Lord—and the Reviver of the traces of His Most Great Father, the Lion-like Lord, Who calls from around the joyful one, Who summons with eloquent voice to answer the inspired one, the Helper of Truth through Truth and from Truth with Truth, the Confirmed, the Victorious, the Seer and the Seen with the All-Seeing Eye, protected by God’s outstretched hand from the evil of night and day’s vicissitudes, concealed and hidden in the cloud of oneness.

O God! O Thou Who separatest day from darkest night, O Thou through obedience to Whose command the graves yield up their dead! O Light of Lights! Grant me, by Thy mighty glory, to be among those who draw nigh and attain martyrdom before the Lamp of Light. Cast upon me from it a perfect love that will draw me to the station of manifestation and turn me away from all save Thee among the jealous ones. I beseech Thee by the Name which Thou hast enshrouded in veils of light—the Light of the heavens and earth by which the vision of them that gaze upon Thee with the eye of light is illumined—to cast into the hearts of Thy righteous servants and into my heart such might and awe and dignity and tranquility thereof as Thou desirest from us, O Thou Who knowest what is in every breast!

Make us of them who hearken to His Word and exalt His Cause above every cause, for I am Thy servant and the son of Thy servant, in need of Thy mercy and forgiveness, O Forgiver, O Forgiver, O All-Forgiving, O Mighty, O All-Thankful! Make us through Him supreme and transcendent above Thine enemies, for verily Thou art powerful over all things. Through Thee I ward off Thine enemies at their very throats, and I seek refuge in Thee from all evil. There is no might nor power except through Thee, through God, the Most High, the Most Great.

Thou hast said—and Thy word is the truth: “If We willed, We could send down upon them from heaven a sign, before which their necks would remain bowed in submission.” And Thou hast said—and Thy word is truth: “And We desire to show favor unto those who were brought low in the land, and to make them leaders and to make them inheritors.” And Thy word is truth: “We are the messengers of thy Lord; they shall not reach thee. So go forth with thy family in a portion of the night, and let not any of you look back, except thy wife. Lo! that which smiteth them will smite her also. Lo! their tryst is for the morning. Is not the morning nigh?” “God hath decreed: ʿVerily, I and My messengers shall prevail.’ Verily, God is Strong, Mighty.” “O Moses! Draw nigh and fear not; for thou art of those who are secure.”

We beseech Thee by Thy mighty glory to grant us detachment from the abode of delusion, righteousness and prosperity, blessing and well-being in all affairs, a goodly end, and triumph in the abode of joy. Verily, Thou art our Protector in all matters and the Knower of what lies within hearts and breasts.

To continue: His exalted, irrevocable command, His supreme, decisive decree, and His conclusive address which is not mean, has been issued to the servant of His servants, without doubt Ramin ibn Abdullah Muhammad Hussein, who beseeches God thereby for deliverance from every base nature and rust, liberation from every doubt, salvation from the fears of both worlds and the perils of both existences, for himself, his parents, and the brethren of both East and West. Amen, O Lord of the Worlds, by the right of Hassan and Husayn, bring together that which hath emerged from the hidden treasure-house of the unseen and hath shone forth from the Dayspring of Revelation and hath flowed from the fountain of light—that is, whatsoever hath streamed from His exalted Pen in the tablets of lines—for the awakening of those who are heedless of the reality of this hidden mystery, whether they be from among those who are far or near, and the loved ones….

Peace be upon thee, O Ultimate Goal, O Best of Creation, O Lord of Creation! My spirit be a sacrifice unto thee, and my body be thy protection! We bear witness unto God to that which He hath testified concerning Himself, and those endowed with knowledge among His servants, that there is none other God but Him, the Mighty, the All-Wise; and unto His Messenger and Beloved Muhammad, may the peace of God be upon him and his family, with respect to his Messengership; and unto Ali and his eleven descendants with respect to their Imamate; and unto thee, O my Lord, concerning that which thou dost testify regarding thy station, both manifest and hidden. And I bear witness that he hath not gone astray, nor deviated, nor doth he speak out of desire. I am innocent of those who denied thee after knowledge had come unto them, out of spite among themselves.

I seek thy permission to depart, and according to thy command I shall do what I can, wherein I see righteousness and wisdom. There is no power nor strength save in God, the Most High, the Most Great. As for the verses corresponding to the number of letters in the Bismillah, with thy permission I shall request them from the faithful brother, for they are my covenant and my protection. If thou seest it fitting, grant permission that they be delivered to me exactly. Peace be upon those who draw nigh unto thee.

Book Three

He is the Mighty. O my Master and Support! God knoweth my aversion to that which I was pursuing in times past, and now I beseech thee by the right of him whose Gateship thou hast claimed, that thou wouldst ask God, exalted be He, to remove the love of this world from my heart, and that I might return from this journey, God willing, having fulfilled my needs, and that He not expose me in the sight of creation, and that He protect me from the difficulties of this journey, God willing. Forget me not in thy noble thoughts, God willing.

Book Four

He is! O Guide of the Perplexed! Through Thy remembrance do I seek assistance. May my father and mother be a sacrifice unto thee, O my Master! How can one reach felicity when between us lie mountain peaks, and beyond them perils, while feet are bare, and I have no mount, and hands are empty, and the path is frightening? O son of manifest proofs! O son of conclusive arguments! O son of decisive verses! O son of the Ultimate Paradise! O Ultimate Goal of thanksgiving! O Savior! Would that I knew when we shall arrive at thy wellsprings of healing and be satisfied! When shall we benefit from thy sustenance, for long hath been the thirst! When shall we behold thee and be comforted and guided! When shall we see thee, when the earth hath been filled with equity and justice, and we shall say:

“Praise be to God, Remover of harm and affliction, the All-Merciful, established upon the throne!”

O God! We are Thy servants, yearning for Thee and for Thy guardian and his gate, whom Thou hast made for us a protection and refuge, and whom Thou hast appointed and established for us as a proof and shelter, and made him for us a guardian and leader. O God! Convey to him from us greetings and peace, and grant us thereby honor and dignity, and assign us with him a fixed abode and station. O God! Send blessings upon him and upon his pure forebears—blessings that have no limit in number and no end in duration.

And upon his pure forebears bestow blessings infinite in number and endless in duration. Hasten his appearance, make wide his path, and through him establish Thy suspended ordinances and Thy neglected and altered laws. Through him, show mercy to the poor among the believers and to their widows, until truth appears with him and falsehood and its followers perish. O God, make us among those who cling to his mantle and abide beneath his shade, and help us fulfill the rights of allegiance to him and strive in rendering obedience unto him. Favor us with his good pleasure, grant us the grace to obey him and to love him. Turn Thy gracious countenance toward us and give us to drink from their fountain a draught sweet and wholesome, O Thou Most Merciful One! The two requests are not hidden; my hope from His Lordship’s presence is a reply in His blessed handwriting. And peace be a goodly seal.

Book Five

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Peace from the Source of Peace, and through peace unto peace returneth peace. There is no God but Him, the Worshipped One, unto Whom all creation must return. Then peace from the Presence of Creation, the Ancient Remembrance, unto all the people of submission and peace. Praise be unto Him! There is no God but Him, for He hath made us know the decree of creation through invention and made us among those who remember. Thanks be unto Him! His bounties upon us through the opening of the galaxy for the descent of mercy from them, even though we were not among the believers. For the Lord, glorified and exalted be He, changeth not what is with a people until they change what is within themselves.

What would He do with our punishment if we were among the thankful for His bounties? O God! Make us among those who acknowledge Thy unity—there is no God but Him—and who are humble before Thy signs, who worship the All-Merciful and prostrate themselves before Him as Thou hast commanded. The people of the highest heaven obeyed Thee, while the creatures of hell turned away from Thy command and showed enmity. Thanks be unto Thee, O Thou Who art thanked! Thou hast inspired us with knowledge of the Tree and its fire, and the oil pressed from it, and the appearance of the lamp, and the matter of the glass, and the completion of the Word through the revolution of the Point, and Thou hast made us among those who submit.

After this, the Messenger delivered what he was commanded, and we heard his command and we were among those who behold the Tablets. God, glorified and exalted be He, honored us through observing in the Tablets the knowledge of the pillars of unity, and guidance became distinct from error, and we, God willing, are among those who obey His command. And concerning what was unclear to us from the allegorical verses, we submit to the command of His Supreme and Great Remembrance, being among those who submit, that God may inspire us with knowledge of His mystery after a while or before a while. We beseech the Lord, the High, the Great, to hasten relief for the oppressed, by the right of the Family of God upon Him and His right upon the Family of God, all of them. Blessings and peace from the Lord, exalted is He, upon the fourteen infallible ruby reeds, and after them upon the poor among their submitting followers, and their beloved awaiting devotees, and upon all hearts that yearn toward them among the scattered and the tested ones. O God! Bless Muhammad and his Family and [hasten] their relief by their right, O Generous One!

Book Six

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Glory be to God, the One, the Unique, Who is alone in Essential Oneness. All besides His Majestic Essence has no essential reality and is null and void before the dominion of His Essence, such that His pre-eternity is His Essence, His post-eternity is His Essence, and His everlastingness is His Essence. He has no pre-eternity other than Himself, likewise no post-eternity other than Himself, and no everlastingness—rather He is He without a “He,” for “He” is an indication, and our Lord is exalted above being indicated. Glory be to God Who created me for His knowledge and worship! The path to His knowledge is confined to His signs, for it is impossible to know His Essence by His Essence, as none knows Him as He truly deserves to be known except Him. Indeed, there is no way to truly know His signs as they are, so that the inability to truly know His signs is the clearest proof of the inability to know Him.

O my God! The nearest of Thy signs to my soul is my own soul, and my soul’s inability to know its own true essence is among the most self-evident facts to my soul. So with what audacity could I claim to truly know another, be it higher than me, then higher still, then highest, then there is no height beyond the Most High above all that is high, and the Manifestation of Thy glory, O Thou the All-Glorious! Therefore I beseech Thee, O my God, by Thy signs and the effulgence of Thy grace and Thy mercy and Thy guidance, to expand my breast through knowledge of Thy signs in Thy Book and in Thy earth and Thy heaven, and especially the Seven Oft-repeated Verses and the Great Qur’an.

Therefore, O God, send Thy blessings upon Muhammad and his pure household, Thy friends of the true Faith and Thy guides on the straight path—nay, they are themselves the true Faith and the straight path. O my Lord and O Thou in Whose hands lie the reins of my affairs! Verily Thou knowest that the most beloved of things to me is Thy love, and the nearest of all approaches to me is nearness to Thee, and the sweetest of all delights is the delight of intimacy with Thee, and the most cherished of all comforts is repose beneath the shadow of Thy love. Take my hand and have mercy upon my weakness, my helplessness and my deficiency, for Thou art the Most Merciful of the merciful.

Sufficient is my deficiency and helplessness that I am not I except that Thou hast made me so, and I am not I but rather I am Thou. Blessed am I, then again blessed am I! Thus Thou doest what I do, and I wounded not when I wounded, but God did.

O my Lord and my God! Thou hast entrusted Thy servants to themselves and their striving, and hast said “Those who strive in Our cause, We will surely guide them to Our paths,” and Thou hast said “Man receives naught save what he strives for,” and Thou hast preferred those who strive over those who sit idle. Thou hast made the victory of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and the Imam (peace be upon him), and the might of Islam, and the triumph of truth, and the vanquishing of falsehood dependent upon their journeying forth and leaving behind their children and possessions. Thou hast given them choice in staying or traveling according to their own judgment and consideration of benefit, and hast made every soul responsible for what it earns, saying “To its benefit is what it earns and against it what it acquires.” Thou hast established this firm decree with Thy words “There is no compulsion in religion,” thus placing the reins of affairs in the hands of the monotheists to invalidate the doubt of compulsion and delegation with clearest explanation, so that people would have no argument against God, but rather God’s is the conclusive argument.

Yes, my God and my Helper! This is from Thy grace upon me and Thy generosity toward what I have, through the manifestation of Thy kindness, O Kind One, upon Thy poor, estranged and weak servant. But O my God, my Shelter and my Succor! I beseech Thee by Thy Most Holy Essence and Thy Sanctified Name, and by Thy Name the Most Great, the Most Mighty, the Most Glorious, the Most Noble, and by the right of Muhammad and his pure family (God’s blessings be upon them all)—that Name by which when a servant calls upon Thee, Thou dost answer him, and when a distressed one beseeches Thee, Thou dost respond to him—not to leave me to my forgetful self and my hardened heart for the blink of an eye, ever, for I have tested myself in the private and public aspects of my affairs and found it to be deceitful, fraudulent, and immersed in the seas of heedlessness. Praise be to Thee for showing me the faults of my soul, whereby I witnessed the effects of its error, mistake and misguidance in all my limbs and faculties, outwardly and inwardly, such that no trust remains in myself.

Therefore I implore from Thy presence clarification of Thy command and prohibition, and explicit statement of Thy decree in all that benefits my religion, my worldly affairs, my hereafter, my brethren, and all Muslims. O my God and my Helper! Thou knowest my poverty and the poverty of my loved ones, our debts, the strength of our adversaries and their wealth, and the inclination of rulers and worldly people toward them. Given all this, dost Thou command me to move or to stay still, O Remover of anxieties and Dispeller of sorrows? Thou hast indeed gladdened my heart by manifesting the rising sun of mutual imprecation from the dawning-place of origination. I beseech Thee by Thy right to increase joy upon joy by clarifying its time, manner, and fruits—whether the source is restricted to the masters or if it can proceed from servants and subjects, even from the least of the least and lowest of the low.

O God! Hear this intimate prayer from the abject, insignificant, poor, destitute, and humble servant who possesses for himself neither benefit nor harm nor death nor life nor resurrection; O God, send blessings upon Muhammad and his pure family, and their chosen gates, and the chosen gates of their gates, and their beloved followers, and those who dwell at the door of Thy mercy and bounty; and curse their enemies and the enemies of their gates and their deputies and their vicegerents and their followers among the first and the last ones, forever and for all ages, O Thou Who art the severest of avengers.

Book Seven

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Peace be upon you, O son of the Messenger of God, and the mercy and blessings of God be upon you. Since the family of God and their followers—peace of God be upon them—have accustomed us to beauty, we therefore hope from them abundance. [My question is nothing other than a request for the return of my greeting. There is no further scope for inquiry, nor room for extended speech. Rather, I ask of you the return of the salutation—by way of reply and acceptance. Yet] since the kindred of God and their Shí’ih—may the peace of God rest upon them—have ever accustomed us to what is fair and gracious, we therefore hope to receive from them what is bountiful and abundant. [Wherefore, if ye would, through the august favor of God, vouchsafe unto this lowly servant a seemly bestowal and a munificent kindness, grant me that I may utter, with the tongue alike of state and of speech, in secret and in public, in all ages and cycles, these words of the kindred of God—upon them be the peace of God, the Sovereign, the All-Forgiving.]

O my God! Make us of those in whose hearts the trees of longing for Thee have flourished in the gardens of their breasts, and the ardor of Thy love hath seized the essence of their hearts. They take refuge in the nests of contemplation, and graze in the meadows of nearness and revelation. From the pools of love they drink with the cup of grace, and they frequent the springs of pure friendship. The veil hath been lifted from their insight, and the darkness of doubt hath been dispelled from their convictions and inner consciousness. The taint of uncertainty hath been removed from their hearts and their innermost being. Their breasts have been expanded through the realization of true knowledge, and their aspiration hath been exalted to the highest degree of glory through their precedence in felicity.

Their drink hath become sweet from the spring of divine knowledge, their secret hath become pure in the assembly of intimacy, their company hath found security in the abode of praise, their souls have found peace in returning to the Lord of lords, and [their spirits have found joy] in attaining success and prosperity. Their eyes have been gladdened by gazing upon their Beloved, and their resolution hath been established through understanding [divine wisdom] and attaining their goal. Their trade hath prospered in selling this world for the next. I dare not add more for fear of discourtesy. O Lord, answer the prayer of those whose hearts are broken. Praise be to God, first and last, inwardly and outwardly.

Book Eight

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Praise be to God Who caused the sun to appear for the mystery of praise, and through it made the morning dawn for the mystery of subsistence after extinction. He ordained light for the morning after darkness, and the pleasing radiance for the manifestation of glory from the world of the unseen. He illumined the light upon Mount Sinai with a brilliance throughout all creation, both seen and unseen. He ordained the dove to warble upon its branch with melodies that render the dwellers of earth and heaven unable to hear them. He commanded man to manifest less than a needle’s eye of the light of grandeur upon the people of the unseen, whereby the Sinaitic souls in the Supreme Concourse, among the people of the first and last ages, would swoon and die.

He darkened the pitch-black night through the decree of destiny for the appearance of the light of day in this dark abyss. He removed it and brought forth the day through establishing the manifestation of the Eternal Sun in the midst of heaven, until it filled the desert of attributes and names with all manner of perfect manifestations, endlessly unto endless time, from beginning to end. He caused all creation between to be enslaved to the mystery of origination, to distinguish the wretched from the blessed, raising these to the highest degrees of the gardens of glory and casting those to the lowest depths of the levels of earth—all this for the glory of His unity in grandeur and eternity, and the sanctity of His uniqueness in glory and praise.

Glorified, glorified be He! How great is His station, how perfect His handiwork, how wise His command, how manifest His light, how lofty His beacon, how luminous His proof, how clear His exposition, how exalted His place, how supreme His sovereignty—until hearts and minds among created things have proven powerless to comprehend His unity and uniqueness, tongues have grown weary in conversation of describing and praising Him, pens have broken in attempting to write of His glorification and praise. Nay, all things, in their entirety, proclaim with utmost inadequacy and deficiency, from beginning to end, in ways infinite and boundless, their praise of Him. His is all praise—praise that is transcendent, resplendent, abundant, and overflowing—for the perfection and completion of His bounty, for the excellence and perfection of His handiwork, for the manifestation and proclamation of His power, for the completion and conveyance of His proof, for the reformation and guidance of the inner being through showing the path and enabling the attainment of its aims, and for granting insight through beholding its Creator in its ultimate ends.

And the most excellent prayers, the most perfect salutations and greetings be upon the sources of the Manifestations of the suns of creation, origination and invention, and their Originator; upon the Manifestations of those suns rising from the heaven of divine acceptance upon the lands of receptivity, and their Illuminator; upon the Manifestations of that praise, glory, radiance, grandeur and majesty in the realms of attributes and names, and their Source; upon the pillars of the declarations of unity of all contingent and created things, and the meanings of their names; upon the gates of infinite bounties to all creatures, both high and low, and their Guide; upon the leaders of all existing things and their guide to the highest degrees of Paradise and lowest depths of hell; upon the primal essences of the causes of all things and their origins—their efficient and material causes, their purpose and form—Muhammad and His pure, chosen, and righteous Family, so long as the celestial spheres of the lights of guidance revolve and their suns shine upon their lands.

Then upon their gates and the gates of their gates, and the manifestations of their lights and their appearances in all cycles and ages among their followers from the beginning of creation to its end—for their holy might and their exalted station is above direct contact with creatures, both spiritual and material—from among their pillars and chiefs, and those guided by their guidance, both guide and guided.

And then especially upon the Most Great, Most Supreme, Most Magnificent Name; the Most Noble, Most Distinguished, Most Glorious Symbol; the Most Exalted, Most Revered, Most Honored, Most Perfect Sign; the Most Hidden, Most Glorious, Most Veiled, Most Great Mystery; the Fourth Line inscribed in the mystery of the Tablet by the reality of the Pen; the Concealed, Hidden, yet Unconcealed Secret for all who follow and submit to Him; the Second Inner Meaning penetrating the depths of all inner meanings from this vast ocean; the Third and Fourth Manifestation, the Penitent, the Bowing, the Prostrating, the Known, the Most Ancient, the Most Enduring; the Most Upright, Most Exalted, Most Precise, Most Perfect Support; the Most Straight, Most Just, Most True, Most Steadfast Path; the Firm, Noble, Strong, Well-established Pillar; the Noble Branch and Ancient Root from the Most Noble Branch and Most Ancient Root; the Most Luminous, Most Brilliant Light that dispels all darkness; He Who appeared on the Mount with the mystery of Manifestation upon the dispositions of all the people of the world; the Hand of God extended with bounties; the very Eye of God watching over the nations; the Side of God, whose negligence leads to loss and regret; the Most Kind with perfect, all-embracing, sweetest, most complete kindness; the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful, Most Generous from the Most Compassionate, Most Merciful, Most Bountiful; the Sympathetic, Kind, Gentle Intercessor for all who have sinned and transgressed; He Who is truly intended by the House and Sanctuary; the First House established among the people for all who have answered the call of Truth and entered into consecration; the Gate through whom all who believe in God and submit are tested and sifted; the Great Company and the Supreme Trial in the depths of this darkest night; the Moving Ship that saves from the tumultuous waves of this vast ocean; the One Who fights based on spiritual interpretation in God’s path without fear of blame; the Appointed, Inevitable, Most Decisive Term; the Firm, Perfect, Decisive, Most Conclusive Decree; and the Deputy […]

To the noblest progeny of the children of Adam, and the sovereign nation that guides all nations—upon him and his family be the prayers of God and His peace—in the most noble, perfect and complete lineage; and the lofty, transcendent gate to their knowledge and manifestations for all who came before and after; the opener, originator, perfecter, completer, and seal of seals; the most learned, most accomplished, most perfect, most eloquent, most articulate, and untutored sage; who manifested the white, yellow and green light through the red light in the redness of the banner and the greenness of the standard; the bird soaring in the realm of the divine cloud, stunning all the people of ancient times; the blessed, pure martyr through the mystery of annihilation in divine unity, immersed in seas of blood, raised up from the most just and noble of Persian lands; the resplendent light and illuminating lamp; the just and mighty sovereign; the pure and quenching fountain; the manifest guiding master and the hidden ripening guide; the devoted, calling helper; the glory and traces of the Prophet and the Successor—upon them be God’s prayers; the one who arose by command of the Guardian—upon him be peace; the one who by His exalted permission brought destruction upon their enemies; the radiant, graceful youth of the lineage of Muhammad, Ali and Fatima—God’s blessings upon them; the Arab of Mecca and Medina; the Qurayshi Hashimi of East and West; the one who called out around the shrine in clear, eloquent voice to answer the distressed, oppressed seeker of victory through the subtle, penetrating call; he before whose majestic light hearts and minds were bewildered, and intellects and imaginings proved incapable of comprehending even a needle’s eye of description; tongues grew weary, pens broke, seas were exhausted and tablets disappeared in explaining but a portion of the manifestation of his word.

Sufficient proof of this is the saying of the All-Knowing King: “Say: If the ocean were ink for the words of my Lord, the ocean would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if We brought another ocean like it as assistance.” Therefore silence is more fitting and submission is better than attempting to dive into the seas of his description, glorification and exaltation. He who combines the two names from the highest sides, encompassing the two glories, light of the two luminaries, the Most Great Gate after the two gates, crown of the two sanctuaries, ruler of the two worlds of existence, the Light of God and His Proof, the Radiance of God and His Praise, the Remembrance of God and the remembrance of His Messenger and the Imams from his progeny—God’s prayers be upon them with two “upon”.

O God, instill for him in our hearts awe and dignity that draw us and connect us to him, that we may sacrifice ourselves in his path without difficulty or shame, through Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, and the two Hasans, and the rest of the chosen Imams—God’s prayers and peace be upon them as long as the moon rises and light shines.

Now then, when night let fall its veils and darkness dimmed its boundaries, and injustice yellowed its mask and error called its followers who answered from every side, and every oppressor and usurper attacked, that Greatest Remembrance, that Magnificent Mystery observed this. Then arose the sun of his complete and universal mercy, and his perfect, comprehensive, and complete compassion upon his orphans and the orphans of the pure and righteous family of Muhammad—upon them be the peace of the Almighty King. So he stood upright around midday between the two risings at the beginning of the victorious month of Safar, in the presence of the two witnesses, to perfect the blessing upon the righteous and deliver the proof against the wicked and manifest vengeance upon the corrupt, turning toward the Kaaba in complete steadfastness. Then he commanded me by God’s exalted, firm, perfect and decisive command to stand with him and to intertwine my lowly right fingers with his noble, elevated right fingers to manifest the word of truth upon all that is seen and unseen, may my spirit and the spirit of all the worlds be a sacrifice for Him, He revealed the Word of Certitude upon His noble tongue with utmost attentiveness seventy times in such manner as none before Him had ever revealed.

Glory be to God! How perfect was His command, how sure His wisdom, and how tranquil His heart! Then rose what was to rise, and gleamed what was to gleam, and shone what was to shine, and reached what was to reach, and appeared what was to appear. His is the praise and gratitude so long as any rising star shall rise or any thief shall steal forth.