BB00224: Epistle to Muhammad Shah 2

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

Read thou the Book of the Name of thy Lord, besides Whom there is no other God, the Most High, the Most Great. Verily it is a Book wherein there is no doubt, revealed from the presence of a manifest Guide. Indeed it is the Truth in the heavens and on earth, calling the people unto the pure religion of God through a righteous decree. Verily it is the Mystery within the scrolls of the Prophets and Messengers, reciting the verses of thy Lord from the Tree of Sinai that there is no God but Him. Say: Fear ye Me alone! And verily it is the Command in the Word of the Spirit, summoning the people by thy Lord’s decree to the Day wherein there is no doubt, when all shall be brought before God.

Verily it is a blessed leaf from the White Tree, then the Yellow, then the Red, reciting the Book of thy Lord in every aspect—there is no God but Him; fear ye Me! The similitude of thy Lord’s light in the Book of God is as a garment of the sun, upon every face whereof are servants established upon the throne of crimson ruby, around which circle men whose faces have become translucent like crystal glass in a white vessel. Can faces be described apart from The Face? Glory be to Him and exalted is He! None among them calls to any save himself. Thus hath God sent the Prophets and Messengers by His command. Know ye that God’s decree is in all things and unto Him do all return.

We have indeed sent thee aforetime the Book of thy Lord—there is none that can change His decree, and on that Day mankind shall find no refuge save in the remembrance of God’s Name. The believers are they who believe in God and His signs and who follow the wondrous verses from Our presence upon a straight path. And whoso turneth away from his Lord’s Book after having known Our true verses—such are the wrongdoers. Verily God thy Lord will not accept the deeds of anyone from the day he heareth a single letter of Our verses unless he believeth in Our Servant and is among those who prostrate themselves.

They who say that the Word of God taketh these verses from the letters of the Qur’an have indeed disbelieved. Say: Glory be to Him and exalted is He above what they associate! Say: If We willed, We could send down in all things that thy Lord’s knowledge encompasseth the like of the first Qur’an without pillar or pause. Knowest thou not that God thy Lord hath power over all things? Verily a single letter of what is revealed by the hands of the Remembrance equal not the verses of the ancients. Why do the people believe so little in God’s signs?

What sign could be greater than the verses of the Qur’an revealed from the presence of the Mighty, the Wise? And if all were to gather to produce the like of a single verse that We have revealed unto thee in this Book, they would never be able, even were We to aid them with the like of themselves inexhaustibly. This is the certain truth. Sufficient is God and he who revealeth the verses from His presence as a witness unto Me.

O King! Follow thy Lord’s decree and bear witness to justice in My verses that thou mayest be among the triumphant. Then prostrate thyself before God thy Lord for what We have revealed unto thee from His presence, that thou mayest be among the believers. Verily God thy Lord hath willed that Rome and most of the people of the earth should believe in His verses. Aid thou the religion of God, that on the Day of Resurrection thou mayest, verily, be among the victorious.

Know, O king, that I am a non-Arab youth from among the just merchants, unlettered in such wise that none hath encompassed my knowledge. The All-Wise hath chosen me, and verily there is no God but Him, the Mighty, the Powerful.

Say: Naught have I fabricated against the truth, nor am I an innovator among the Gates, nor am I distant from the worlds. God hath indeed protected me from all things wherein Satan worketh, and I do naught except by leave of the Remnant of God, my Lord. Verily this Book which We have now sent down unto thee sufficeth as proof for the peoples of the heavens and earth, and God is All-Hearing. Were God to send down but a single verse of the Qur’an, none hath the right to utter a word concerning it save to believe in it and be of those who bow down.

When this Book of thy Lord cometh unto thee, command that the believers in the unity of God be brought before thy seat of glory, then say:

“This is a Book from the Remembrance of God that hath been sent down unto me. If ye are able to produce a single verse like unto it, then bring it forth, and if ye are unable—and ye shall never do it—then know ye that it is the Word of Truth and that He is exalted upon the straight path.”

O king! Know thou the decree of God, then understand that all dominion is in the hands of my Lord, like unto a ring upon thy finger which He turneth howsoever He willeth, and none can stay the command of God, for God is mighty and powerful. Be thou steadfast in governing with justice according to thy Lord’s decree in the Book, for the Word of God desireth neither earthly sovereignty nor the hereafter, nor ruleth by edicts like the true divines—and God is the All-Knowing Witness.

Say: Verily I desire God, thy Lord, alone, there is no God but Him, the Truth, the Ancient of Days. Yea, He loveth that thou shouldst aid the Remembrance of God, that the East and West of the earth might believe in the signs of thy Lord and be among the guided ones. Verily the decree of a single letter that descendeth from My presence equalleth not the kingdoms of the hereafter and the former times, for it is a revelation from One Mighty, All-Wise.

The Remembrance of God hath indeed returned by thy Lord’s leave from the Sacred Land, and He desireth the Holy Land. Behold then what thou seest regarding the Remembrance of God in the Holy Land within the dominion of Rome, and God is mighty and praiseworthy.

We have heard today that the Messenger hath been imprisoned in Baghdad. Seek thou from near at hand, for He is exalted and mighty. If thou seest not the matter therein, We desire the Throne of God in thy kingdom. Send thou the decree of reply, for it shall soon descend.

We have sent down a Book unto thee commanding that it be written in like manner as We revealed therein, in golden ink in noble naskh script. Then shall We send thy Lord’s Book unto the King of Rome, then unto all the kings, that We may know which among them hath verified God’s decree and which hath denied it. Then shall We judge between them with justice, and God wrong not anyone by so much as a speck, for God is mighty and wise.

O king! Honor thou the messenger of God’s servant, then show them respect, for they are, according to the decree of the Book, among the near ones, the foremost, as it is written. Verily thy Lord’s decree is obligatory in the decree of that Book through the hands of thy kingdom’s people from near at hand. Glorified be God, thy Lord, the Lord of the heavens and the throne, above what they describe. And peace be upon the Messengers, and praise be to God, the Lord of all the worlds.