BB00156: Sahifiy-i-Mu’tamid (ad-Dawlah)

Introduction

O my God! Thou art He Who hath testified to Thine Own Self by Thine Own Self before all things, that verily Thou art God, there is none other God but Thee, alone with no partner. Thou hast ever been without aught existing beside Thee, and wilt ever remain as Thou hast been, with naught sharing Thy station. For Thine Essence cutteth off all substances from the station of knowledge, and Thy Being separateth all beings from the station of understanding expression. Thou art God, the Single One, Who hath ever been self-subsisting when nothing else existed besides Thee.

Glorified art Thou! How can I describe Thy Presence or praise the Countenance of Thy Self-Subsistence, when I behold for myself no existence before the City of Thy Glory, and no mention before the City of Thy Holy Dominion? All that I might draw forth of praise and glory is bounded by limitations and the geometry of oneness which, by its very nature, is cut off from Thy Presence and barred from nearness to the court of Thy might.

Glorified, glorified art Thou! Thou art He Who maketh me know Thyself in every condition—that Thou canst not be known except through Thyself, nor described save by Thee, nor truly worshipped in Thine Essential Reality, nor praised in the Being of Thine Eternity, lest I be veiled in any condition from the station of nearness to Thee, nor in any decree from the station of knowing Thy signs.

Glorified art Thou! How exalted is Thy station! How glorious is Thy bounty! How mighty is the manifestation of Thy Sovereignty in the stations of Command and the ultimate Seals! Glorified art Thou! If I say “Thou art Thou,” then likeness would be compared with likeness, yet Thou hast ever been beyond being known through likenesses or described by signs of majesty. And if I say “He is He,” then Oneness would indicate the Essence of Thy Will and the Sovereignty of the Being of Thy Purpose, which in itself is cut off from nearness to Thy Presence and barred from knowing the station of Thy might.

Glorified art Thou! I know not by what path I might ascend unto Thee, nor by what face I might turn toward Thy face, for I see for myself no existence and for my condition no station. Glorified art Thou! Thou art the Everlasting Sovereign and the Eternal, Self-Subsisting Lord Who hath originated creation through Thy Will, an origination without previous example in the realm of possibility. Then Thou hast established all things in the path of Command and the manifestations of the Seal, that all atoms in their essential stations might know what Thou didst will in the station of origination and ordain in the decree of invention.

Glorified art Thou! Thou art He Who hath never ordained for anyone a station to know the essence of Thy Being, nor to attain the threshold of Thy Presence, for naught besides Thee hath existence in the rank of Thy Being, nor mention in the station of the manifestation of Thy Sovereignty. Thou art the Nearest Who cannot be described in any condition except through praise of Thyself, and Thou art the Most High Who cannot be characterized in any station except through the manifestation of what Thou hast ordained in the station of Thy creation.

Glorified art Thou! Thou art He Who created me when I was not worthy of mention, and nurtured me through Thy grace even though I chose not good in Thy path. Glorified art Thou! Verily Thy way is bounty and Thy custom is expression. Thou hast ever accepted from Thy servants what none besides Thee would accept, and commanded with a decree that none other than Thee would command. Thou art God Who hath ever been self-subsisting, while all else is bounded by the limits of Thy creation and characterized by the manifestation of Thy invention. Neither can the reality of aught that is a manifestation of Thy power be apprehended, nor the signs of the hiddenness of Thy Will be discerned; for in every condition they testify to Thy origination and rehearse the station of Thy invention. None knoweth how Thou art save Thou Thyself.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Thou art He Who hath made known to all the path leading to Thy recognition, and hath established for all the signs of Thy sanctified manifestations, lest anyone fail to remember Thee in any matter and behold Thee manifest and present in Thy station of eternity. Glorified art Thou, O my God! My very existence is a sin, so what of when sin acquireth sin, and seeth no path to that station wherein one can perform no deed contrary to Thy love. Glorified, glorified art Thou! Since I see no path for myself nor proof for my recognition, I beseech Thee with this weary tongue to forgive my sin, transform my misdeeds, and pardon what Thy knowledge hath encompassed and Thy Book hath recorded.

Glorified, glorified art Thou! Since I find no remembrance beloved before Thee save the remembrance of the Manifestations of Thy power and the signs of Thy holiness, I implore Thee by the remembrance of what Thou hast inspired me concerning Muhammad and the family of Muhammad—Thy blessings be upon them—the repositories of Thy Cause, the treasuries of Thy bounty, the signs of Thy detachment, the stations of Thy praise, the manifestations of Thy sanctification, and the evidences of Thy glorification—those servants whom Thou hast created for Thyself, chosen for Thy authority, fashioned for the station of Thy love, and approved for the station of Thy grandeur—the Imams of religion and the pillars of the people of certitude—those servants whose recognition Thou hast made identical to Thine own recognition in the realm of creation, and whose obedience is Thy obedience in all the worlds of invention.

I beseech Thee, O God, by their right, to empty my heart of the remembrance of all else but Thee until I find the sweetness of nearness to Thee and recognize the station of intimate communion with Thee. And I beseech Thee by their right to grant me perfect detachment unto Thee until I rend asunder the veils of light at the stations of manifestation and attain, through Thy grace, to the station Thou hast ordained for me from the ultimate effusion of Thy creation and the manifestation of Thy invention, and what Thou hast promised to the believers among the people who answer Thy call.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I adjure Thee by their right that Thou send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad through the conditions of the revelations of Oneness, the manifestations of the stations of Unity, the evidences of the signs of Divine Absoluteness, the tokens of the essences of the All-Merciful, and whatsoever Thou createst at every moment and ordainest in the realm of creation through Thy favor and bounty, O Lord of Lords! O my God! Since I find the paths of recognition cut off and the ways of expression in describing Thy Essence blocked, I offer praise before Thee of what Thou hast ordained praise for in Thy Book and made beloved to remember in the worlds of creation, that perchance thereby destiny may raise me to the station of fulfillment which Thou hast ordained for me in the stations of contingent being.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! Thou knowest that my remembrance of the Manifestations of Thy power in every matter is but like the remembrance of an ant in the station of Thy unity, yet since Thou hast placed in the realities of all created things the signs of the Manifestations of Thy Will, I implore through the mention of praise of Thy mercy, hoping for Thy pardon and bounty and remembering the station of the manifestation of Thy mercy. I testify that there is no God but Thee, alone with no partner. Thou hast ever been while no thing existed in contingent being nor was there mention of anything in existence. Verily, at this moment Thou art as Thou hast ever been.

Neither is Thy recognition possible, nor the description of Thy creation, nor the sanctification of Thy might. And thus didst Thou exalt Mua¸¥ammad—the Messenger of God, may blessings rest upon him and upon his kindred—to the station of Thine own Self in the tokens of Thy Cause and the ultimate purposes of creation. Thou didst select Him from the very heart of the pre-eternity of Thine action, and didst prefer Him above all that Thou hast brought forth, by reason of the loftiness of the manifestation of Thy Majesty and the splendor of the station of Thy Oneness, that no soul, at the revelation of Thy power, might be heedless of the knowledge of Thy Essence. Verily, Thou art the All-Glorious, the Most High.

O my God! Thou knowest that in all matters I have desired naught save Thy love and the knowledge of the ways of obedience unto Thee. If I have acquired aught else besides this, by Thy might and majesty, it was not through my denial of Thy oneness nor my rejection of Thy unity. Rather, since Thou didst create within my soul the signs of the manifestations of Thy dominion, I followed my desires in accordance with what I loved before the city of Thy omnipotence. Through this, destiny hath aided me in finding Thy grace from the beginning. Therefore forgive me whatsoever Thy knowledge encompasseth besides this. Verily Thou art the Mighty, the All-Forgiving. There is no power nor strength save in God, the Exalted, the Great. And praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds.

At the beginning of the sahifah of His Honor Mu’tamidu’d-Dawlih

In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

Praise be to God Who hath made the ornament of the tablets of the Book of Creation the ornament of the Alif standing between two letters, that all the temples of radiance might shine forth through that which hath dawned from the light of the Eternal Morn until it filled all horizons. And blessings be upon the Primal Point through Whose existence all that shineth forth in the heavens and earth was illumined, and through Whom all things at every moment continue to be illumined. And peace be upon the Guides through whom creation came into being, and through the manifestations of whose appearance all things, both great and small, are enabled to speak forth in praise of their Lord.

To continue: When the light of the Cause shone forth in the presence of His Honor, he who is drawn near to the holy court of the Sultan and trusted of the exalted government of the Sovereign—may God perpetuate the shadow of His care over all beings—he whose mention is too exalted to be brought forth from potentiality into expression—through the composition of a prayer to be beheld by him, I sought God’s help in what He hath commanded and willed, that the reward of everyone who readeth a single letter thereof might accrue to his exalted presence until the Day when the trumpet shall be sounded, then shall shin be joined to shin, and unto God shall be the journey’s end, both in the beginning and in the return.