BB00398: Letter to the uncle of the Bab

In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the Compassionate.

Alif. Lam. Mim. This is a Book—a decree from the Remnant of God, an Imam of manifest justice. Read, O concourse of kinsfolk, the ordinance concerning innovations, for verily it is a path of truth and certitude. Recount without doubt that he is a servant of the Remnant of God: the Spirit descendeth, by God’s leave, upon his heart, that he may be a proof unto all peoples. By the Qur’an, We bear you witness: he is indeed a servant among the proofs of God—just as men were wont to apply themselves, so none save God is able to send down the like of these verses. Nay—by the inviolable month!—it is the truth, that ye might be assured in the Cause of God, even as ye speak with certainty.

O thou present one! On this day nothing, to the weight of a mustard seed, is permissible to Ali save that it be expended in the path of God—for thy Lord is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. Thou art aware that Ali is in debt to my mother, and thou—who art aware of her due—knowest this ruling. Now do I dedicate all that God hath written for me unto those two, after those who have made my heart steadfast through the ordinance of God, that I may, under God’s covenant, be of those who stand firm.

Yet I may disburse wealth, as I will, for God’s command—there is no God but He, the Almighty, the All-Wise. I am a guest in the House of God—there is no God but He, the Self-Sufficient, the All-Praiseworthy. Therefore, O thou present one, settle my accounts—if there be aught between me and any of the people—then apportion the wealth with equity and write it for the two; for today I possess not so much as a single dirham. And God is Almighty, All-Wise. Whatsoever God hath ordained for me of the wealth of this world—these are the verses. Magnify God over all the worlds!

Verily the House is a sanctuary of justice; and on the day of My House it is as the Ka’bah in the Sacred Mosque—a secure sanctuary for all who humble themselves. Even so hath God decreed for the land upon which I was born: erelong shall there be between the two a likeness to the House, for whomsoever God hath written that ordinance; and this, in the Mother Book, is inscribed as the most excellent recompense. Therefore, O thou present one in the city, ask my mother—if she be content—then appoint someone to restore the exterior of the House with stones of righteousness, for it is indeed an ancient House. Then charge one skilled in the naskh hand to inscribe with gold the Surah of Ria¸van upon twelve gilded leaves; for I desire that what is commonly recited at the pilgrims’ return be replaced with the verses of truth. I am but a man among merchants who consider the profit of wealth; yet this is ennobled by the Most Great Reward. A single letter of Our verses is more precious with God than the dominion of earth and heaven, for it is a revelation from an Imam made manifest.

Ask also that the House be provisioned with what is owned, to be sent unto them from that isle, God willing, in the near future. Glorified be God, the Lord of the Throne, above that which they ascribe! And peace be upon the Messengers. And praise be to God, the Lord of all the worlds.