BB00091: Kitabu’l-’Ulama I (Bushihr)

Part 1: “Praise be unto God, Who sendeth down…”

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

Praise be unto God, Who sendeth down the Book upon whomsoever He willeth among His servants. Verily, there is no God but He, the Self-Sufficient, the All-Praised. This is a Book wherein there is no doubt, a divine ordinance expounding the inner meanings of the Qur’an—a Revelation from One All-Exalted, All-Wise. This Book is the Proof of the Remnant of God for such as desire to believe in the signs of their Lord and to be numbered with the faithful. Say: The Remnant of God is thy Lord’s Proof; naught escapeth His knowledge; His is whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth; and, according to the decree of the Book, the believers are humble before Him.

Fear God, O people of the Furqan, and know that a conclusive Proof hath come upon you after there hath preceded you a sign from Our servant—One All-Exalted, All-Wise. We had aforetime sent down unto you, from Our presence, a Book with clear signs for a people who ponder. Yea, it is a Book sent down from Us, touching upon the inner sense of the Qur’an, upon a straight path. Yet God beareth witness in most of you to naught save the word of idolatry. God shall judge between you, in justice, upon the Day of Resurrection—on that Day ye shall find for yourselves neither protector nor helper. They who were before you disbelieved in Our signs, wherefore We seized them for what their hands had wrought—an exact recompense for their denial. They that follow the verses of the Remembrance from Our presence—these indeed are rightly guided. And no soul that hath heard the decree concerning innovation and turneth away from its Lord but shall, on the Day of Resurrection, be gathered within a casket of iron, unable then to effect the least of matters, and shall, by decree of thy Lord, taste a grievous chastisement.

We have prescribed in the Book, aforetime, that ye follow the signs of God proceeding from the presence of the Remembrance, if Him indeed ye worship. It is not lawful for any one of you save in accordance with that which We have sent down heretofore in the Book. Whoso turneth aside from the ordinance of his Lord shall, on the Day of Resurrection, be among the lost. Are ye amazed that ye should disbelieve in the signs of God from the presence of the Remembrance and yet deem yourselves upon a religion? Glorified be God above that which they associate with Him! Verily, religion is in the Book of him who believeth in God and in His signs and followeth the decree of innovation from Our presence—these are they who are rightly guided. Fear God, O people of the Criterion, and follow God’s ordinance from the presence of the Remembrance, that haply ye may be shown mercy. Religion is, in very truth, in the Book of thy Lord—this is the path of God in the heavens and on the earth. From Our presence We send down the Command according to a clear measure.

No servant among you who hath believed in God and in the Qur’an and in what from God hath been sent down therein, and who performeth all good, then disbelieveth in a single letter of Our verses, but his recompense shall be hell—an evil resting place in an ancient Fire. Fear God, O company of divines, from the Day when all shall be gathered unto God. If any soul among you should disbelieve in the signs of the Remembrance, We have appointed for him in the Book none of thy Lord’s Days, and We shall assuredly chastise him upon the Day of Resurrection, when all men shall deny him—this for his having ascribed partners unto God, the Most High, the All-Praised.

Fear God, O concourse of leaders! By these verses We desire naught save that those who formerly rejected Our Names may now believe. What aileth you that ye perceive not Our signs? Ye would sow corruption in the religion of God, without knowledge from Us, albeit ye were aforetime assured of God’s signs. What aileth you, O concourse of leaders, that ye deny what the Spirit sendeth down, from Our presence, upon the heart of My Servant, though ye had erstwhile believed in the verses of the Qur’an? Are ye astonished that God should raise up a soul from among your own selves to pronounce His decree; that unto him He should send down the Book and the signs, to remind you of the Days of God—whilst ye, at every moment, abide in the bounty of God, of which ye shall verily be questioned? But when the Remembrance of God came unto you with signs from Our presence, a party among you rejected and a party mocked, prompted by what Satan cast into their souls. Woe betide them and what they have followed as religion! Evil indeed is that which their passions have pursued; and evil that which they have judged.

Say: O concourse sprung from the Furqan! Fear God with justice; then let one amongst you answer the Remnant of God—what is the judgment between you and the Kharijites? Were they following a religion when they disbelieved, on the Day of the Scripture, in the judgment of the Qur’an? What aileth you that ye openly deny the signs of God and perceive not? Fear God, O People of the Book, and belie not Our Servant, for he, in truth, is upon a straight path. Ask of the just among you: Hath this Remembrance, after attaining the the age of maturity, studied with any one of your divines even a portion of what they allege? Exalted is God above what they ascribe! Act, O concourse, according to the judgment of the Remembrance from Our presence; for the Spirit, by God’s leave, hath aided him in all affairs; and verily there is no God but He, the Mighty, the All-Powerful. And when this Youth attained the age of Ha-Mim, We caused him to journey to the isle that lieth in the sea for six months.

Muhammad—the Messenger of God—was aforetime (sent); and that which followed, as the pathway of your knowledge, is with Ahmad from among you. In this matter he indeed encountered what he encountered, and for the non-Arab upon this path, and the Ahmadi of the seed of the Messenger of God—such is the decree of a Guarded Tablet. Every man of understanding testifieth that the like of these verses hath not been sent down save from God, the Mighty, the All-Wise. As for the word of the idolaters concerning what We have revealed unto thee—that the Remembrance taketh letters from the Qur’an and sendeth down verses in a clear Arabic tongue—by thy Lord! They have lied against God and have fabricated concerning Our verses, prompted by what Satan cast into their souls. These are indeed the impious. Had the Remembrance so willed, he would have sent down, in all things, the like of the verses of the Qur’an; and God, thy Lord, is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.

Ask, O people of the Furqan, concerning the Word of God, in whatsoever ye desire from the path of the Command, that He reveal a decree like unto that of the Qur’an. After this your day, ye shall not gainsay the signs of God. Those who forge lies concerning Our verses—such are the companions of the Fire, in a perspicuous Book. Verily, mockers like unto them were among the people of Hell. And whoso saith that He hath taken letter by letter from the Qur’an—such a one is indeed among the polytheists. The likeness of the creation of letters before God is as the likeness of your own creation. None can alter His signs; and on that Day the averse shall find for themselves, apart from the mention of the Name of God, neither witness nor helper.

Be patient, O Remembrance of God, and be not grieved at the word of the idolaters; for, aforetime, the Arabs spake of the Qur’an even as the people of the Qur’an now speak of the verses of thy Lord: “These are but fables of former times.” Some of them rejected God’s Cause in His verses and said: “These are but tales of old.” Others forged lies against Our signs and claimed that the word sijjil in the Qur’an is non-Arabic. Say: Glorified be God above that which they associate! Among the people of the Furqan thou wilt find none more firmly grounded in eloquence than they. God destroy them! Evil the price for which they have bartered their souls in the path of thy Lord; and evil that which they pronounce concerning Our verses.

The way of God hath, in very truth, been established in the decree of the Remembrance of God. Say: None can effect a change, not even in a portion of a letter, of God’s decree.

Say: O concourse of the people of the Qur’an! Fear God, and be not divided in the Cause of God. Follow the ordinance of God with justice, and summon those who deny Our Names unto these verses; for God succoureth whomsoever He willeth, and God is Strong, All-Wise. What aileth you that ye gainsay Our signs in the Book revealed aforetime, and yet marvel whilst ye abide under the rule of novelties? And if God were to send down, in the Qur’an, a single verse only, would the ordinance be altered after many a verse had already been revealed? Exalted is God above that which they fabricate! Say: Recite the Furqan; do ye find in the former Book a single wondrous verse? What aileth you? How deny ye God and perceive not? Had God revealed unto Moses a single sign instead of nine clear signs, would it not have sufficed as a conclusive proof unto his people? Say: Yea, by my Lord! If God were to reveal but one verse, the decree would not be rescinded after He had sent down many. Have they not read the Word in the Qur’an that “maketh no distinction between any of His Messengers”? God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.

Part 2: “Know ye that the decree concerning this Servant…”

Know ye that the decree concerning this Servant is even as the decree concerning the Gates who were before Him. We have, with clear signs, sent Him unto you. Were all men to assemble to bring the like of one verse of what the Spirit revealeth unto Him, they would never be able, though they were helpers one to another. God hath not sent down any verse greater than its sister; and He, verily, knoweth what is in the heavens and what is on the earth. There is no God but He—how then are ye aware? We are ʿAli, O people of the Book—the decree of God. There hath come unto you a Remembrance from Our presence, confirming whatsoever the Prophets and the Messengers, from God, brought aforetime. This is indeed the manifest truth. In that Book hath been conveyed the decree of the Remnant of God regarding all things. Whoso willeth to believe—God, thy Lord, hath willed it for him; and whoso willeth to deny—behold, the Proof of God is conclusive against all mankind.

Say: O people of the Book! If ye be in doubt concerning the decree of God, then be content with that which was sent down aforetime in the Qur’an; then let us beseech God earnestly and invoke the curse of God upon the liars. And if ye do it not—and never shall ye do it—then hath God sent down the pure decree between us and you: “Unto you your religion, and unto me mine.” We have revealed, in the Sahifah Baynu’l-Haramayn, the decree of the Remembrance of God at the Ka’bah within the Sacred Mosque. Whoso desireth to engage in mutual imprecation [mubahilih], let him forward the remembrance of the Book unto him who hath answered Our Cause; for he, in the decree of the Tablet, is among the truthful. Then recite the Kitab-i-Ruh which We sent down upon the sea at the return of the Remembrance—seven hundred well-founded surihs, manifest verses, the esoteric sense of the Qur’an—a Revelation from One All-Exalted, All-Wise.

O people of the Qur’an! Ye have wrought, in the Days of God, what none before you wrought. There have come unto you, from Our presence, Messengers of the Remembrance of God with clear signs touching the inner sense of the Qur’an and with a guarded Scroll from the path of the people of the Bayan. Yet ye turned aside from the signs of God and wronged the Messengers of the Remembrance, albeit ye deemed yourselves among the truthful. Your hands, in the Days of God—and whatsoever ye do—God will accept no deed from any soul after heareth he this Cause from the Remnant of God, unless he believe in His verses and be of the humble. And if, after his striving, he act, then hath it been prescribed for him in the Book that he make amends in like measure for what he hath done—unless the Remembrance pardon; for He is indeed Self-Sufficient, Most Generous.

Have We sent down in the Book any ordinance other than what God revealed aforetime in the Qur’an? What aileth you that ye perceive not? Yea, We have, in this Book, set forth some of the inner meanings of the Qur’an, though aforetime ye had not studied of it a single letter in God’s Book. What aileth you, O people of the Furqan? Hath He forbidden in this Book aught He had permitted in the ordinance of the Qur’an heretofore? Or hath He prohibited in the Furqan what We permitted for you thereafter in the Book? What aileth you?—how is it ye do not believe? Not a single letter hath been sent down in this Book save by God’s leave—and God sufficeth as Witness, even as doth the ordinance of the Qur’an in accordance with the ordinance of this Book. The word of Revelation in this Book is even as that which was sent down before in the Qur’an, even as “We inspired the mother of Moses,” and thereafter “the bee.”

Thus have We expounded the verses for those among you endowed with understanding who are firm, with lucid certitude, in the Covenant of God. Say: None knoweth the interpretation of what We have sent down in the Book save God and whom He willeth. Verily, there is no God but He, the All-Powerful, the All-Glorious. Whoso interpreteth a single letter of Our verses contrary to what God revealed aforetime in the Qur’an—these are the lost. And he who knoweth the Word of God yet succoureth it not at the time of stress is like unto him who turned away when he found his Lord, Hasan son of ʿAli, in the Holy Land—such are the unbelievers. Those who contend with the Remembrance, after guidance hath been made manifest unto them—these are the wrongdoers. Those who reject the decree of the innovative Word are as one who slayeth, with his own hands, a Prophet of firm resolve—these are the idolaters. And whoso demeaneth the Cause of God regarding that which he hath heard, in truth, of the verses of God—such a one is of the transgressors.

O people of the Qur’an! Follow the decree of God; then convey this Book unto every soul that hath believed in God and in His words and is of the submissive. Fear God, O People of the Book, concerning the Day of Decision—for ye shall surely meet Him. Follow, in truth, the signs of God; then strive in His path by these very verses, according to that which was sent down aforetime in the Qur’an, that haply ye may find mercy. It hath been prescribed, in the ordinance of the Book, for those who follow Our signs, to recite that Book in every state, that the hearts of the believers may be made steadfast upon a path mighty and all-praised. God, thy Lord, enjoineth His believing servants to be united concerning the decree; then to strive in God’s path with wisdom and with the conclusive Word, that they may indeed be upon a straight path. Fear God, O people of the Furqan, in whatsoever ye contrive; for God knoweth what is in the heavens and what is on the earth. Mankind would not have differed, under the decree of the Book, had they but feared God, sought forgiveness of their Lord, and returned unto the ordinance of God proceeding from the Remembrance, that haply they might be shown mercy.

We have, aforetime, in this Book, expounded the ordinances of all things; yet none believeth in Our signs save a few of the foremost. God hath effaced from Our servant the whisperings of Satan; naught doth God cause to descend upon him, by way of decree, save in the matter of the Word and the signs, lest any soul should put forth its own sayings and ordinances—for “all shall come unto Him submissive.” Not a single verse of what We have sent down unto the Remembrance is—as ye allege—set on a par in the Book of God; nay, after this ye shall be questioned. Verily, the Remembrance of God descended upon the land of Masqat, and the decree of God reached a man among them, that he might be mindful of Our signs and be of the guided. Say: He followed his own desire after Our verses had been rehearsed; according to the ordinance of the Book, he is indeed among the transgressors. Say: Among the People of the Book thou findest therein naught save a people ruined and ignorant. Even thus was God’s decree concerning the people of the Ark—save a single soul among them: he believed in Our signs and was of the God-fearing.

Ere long shall God efface what Satan casteth into the breasts of the believers, make firm their hearts through Our signs, and guide them unto a path exalted and straight. They verily have disbelieved who say, “The Word of God taketh His verses from the Qur’an.” Say: O concourse! Fear God, and bring a surih like unto it, if ye be able to draw verses from the Mother Book. Say: If We so willed, We could, in every single letter, send down the like of the verses of the Qur’an—yet God, thy Lord, is the All-Powerful, the All-Glorious. It hath been prescribed in the Book that whomsoever findeth those verses bearing the name of Muhammad, the Messenger of God—the Seal of the Prophets—should pen them in ink of gold, then convey them unto such as know not its decree; for the decree of thy Lord, in the ordinance of the Book, is veiled. And no servant hath read that Book and followed its verses, his eyes overflowing with tears, but his name hath been inscribed in the scrolls of the righteous, in an enduring station. Glorified be thy Lord, the Lord of the heavens and of the Throne, high above what they ascribe! And peace be upon the Messengers. And praise be unto God, the Lord of all the worlds.