BB00318: as-Silsilatu’th-Thamaniyya

“O our Master and Lord! Several questions have arisen and I beseech your exalted grace to favor your servant with answers to them, even briefly according to my understanding and comprehension, for this is my ultimate aim and utmost desire. Kindly explain to your servant with clear evidence from the Book and Tradition the arrangement of the eight longitudinal series, and how each lower one is a ray of its higher one. And among them the distinction between the third inner meaning and what is above it, and between the interpretation of the inward and the manifestation of the outward of the outward and what is above it. And among them the relationship between our Siyyid [Kazim] and our Shaykh [Ahmad], and likewise the relationship of the Remembrance who stands with authority after them—that is, what his relationship is. Make this clear—may God make me your sacrifice and illuminate your proof.”

In the Name of God, the Wondrous, besides Whom there is no God, the Mighty, the Wise

Today a letter has come to me from Abdullah Abdul-Jalil.

Know, O thou who standeth upon the upright line and planteth thy feet firmly on the straight path, and prepare thyself for what God shall impart to thee concerning the way of division.

As for the question about the eightfold chain, understand that God has not ordained anything with its essential reality except that He has already prescribed its decree in the Book, with causes explained for those possessed of understanding, so that people might have no argument against God. And verily God does not withdraw the proof from among the people until He has conveyed the decree of the Book to all people.

As for the evidence from the Book, this word is from the Book: “And eight shall bear the throne of thy Lord above them”—through the mystery of oneness after the triangular form unto the square temple, witnessed by those possessed of insight.

And as for the evidence from the Tradition conforming to the Book letter by letter: verily the gardens are eight, and the ranks of knowledge after the solitude of oneness are seven, as indicated by Ali al-Sajjad in the tradition of Jabir, explained in detail.

As for the exposition, it is that thou shouldst worship the All-Merciful according to the limit of the exposition concerning the creation of man, without reference to multiplicity or differentiation, but rather in the aspect of unity—and this is the garden of oneness: he who is within it has not gone out, and he who is without it has not entered. And God has ordained no path for those who would enter except after effacement from all else. Glorified be thy Lord, the Lord of might, above what they describe. None knoweth how He is except He, the Ancient, the All-Knowing.

When God willed a thing, the Will came into being through God, not from anything, and fell prostrate upon its throne before God:

“Verily Thou art God, there is no God but Thee, alone with no partner, and I am the first of those who prostrate before God, the Exalted, the Praiseworthy.”

And since the effect indicates naught but the state of its cause, God created from the Will an essence of volition with perfect potentiality therein. Then God created from that essence the five gardens and their seven precincts according to what befitteth it—and naught befitteth it except what He hath made to befit it—out of bounty and grace. And there is nothing that doth not glorify His praise, but people know naught of the knowledge of the Book save some limited letters.

As for the indication through radiation between them, thou seest naught with the people of truth confirming that word, for if there were separation or connection between the high and the low, or if they were indicated through conjunction, the example would not reflect its cause and the order would be nullified in the decree of the Book. Exalted is God above what those who compare liken unto His creation, apart from the example concerning their Creator. Sufficient is the word of God, the Exalted:

“Thou seest no imperfection in the creation of the All-Merciful; look again—seest thou any flaw?”

God has not ordained any connection between the high and the low by decree of the Book as written.

As for the distinction between the inner and outer in manifestation, know that God has made for every inner an inwardness and for every outer an outwardness, and the soul in them is but one soul, and the command is but one, and it is nearer. So burn away all veils through the gaze of oneness until thou witnesseth for each as the Book has witnessed: “Every soul shall taste of death” as written.

As for the relation between the two gates, be certain then fear God besides Whom there is no God, and ask not about a thing which God created above thy perception by one hundred and seventy thousand years, for God burdens not any soul beyond what He has given it. And grieve not at rejection, for God has decreed rejection for the one who turns away, and there is no repelling God’s command which is justly asked.

And God has made naught between them save as God has placed between motion and rest—if thou knowest distinction from connection, thou shalt attain thy portion of what is prescribed in the Book.

As for the question between me and them—how small is thy frame and how great is thy question! None knows this save God, my Lord and the Lord of all the worlds, and He is the Exalted in the heavens and earth, in the Mother Book by decree of the Book, praised.

As for the manifestation through questions—who prevents thee from the gate of mercy? Fear God—He will teach thee the interpretation of traditions wondrously. Preserve my counsel to thee, for God has ordained for the preservers a goodly station and a goodly return as a resting place.

And praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.