BB00671

He is the Most High, the Most Great

A concealed Cause—being the very pillar thereof—must not be conceived as illusory. And if, in some place, a “station” be mentioned, or “knowledge of all things” be spoken of, it is but by reason of the exaltation of the station of Divine Unity, before which all stations are humbled and as naught.

This Cause hath not become manifest through acquisition or scholastic learning. Whenever aught in the form of a sermon appeareth, it is an echo of the Nahj al-Balaghah; whenever a prayer, of the Sahifah; and whenever verses, of the Book of God. The note of the unlettered and the non-Arab alike soundeth through these writings. Every word of these is in itself a proof; and a single evidence sufficeth for the summons, according to the explicit text of the Book of God: “Call thou unto the way of thy Lord with wisdom and goodly exhortation …”.

God the All-Knowing is witness that I am not capable of any miracle, nor is there any need, for such proof has been brought that all verses before it fade into nothingness: a proof pure of that innate nature which speaketh without premeditation and writeth without pause.

On the road to Medina, at dawn, our caravan had halted at a tea house. I said: “O Dhabih, give me a cup of flowing water with green tea, for the chill of morning seeks water near the fire. O my companion of the caravan, grant me a little sugar!”—and by the decree, “Let them bring a discourse like unto it,” this is proof.

All sciences, indeed, are an argument for him who knoweth them by the path of acquisition and recognition. And while these writings follow conventional usage, if in some place a seeming irregularity be found, it hath passed from the pen in haste—albeit it resteth upon rule, even as in the readings: “inna hadhani la-sahiran,” [these two are certainly magicians] and “innaha la-ihda al-kubar” [this indeed is one of the mighty portents]. And in the tradition regarding the verse: “Wa amma an-nabiyyuna fa-ana …” [As for the Prophets], it is related that Moses—upon the Mount—was asked: “Whence thy certainty that it is the Word of the True One?” He replied: “From that it cometh not from the six directions, nor doth it resemble the speech of servants.”

I too beheld in Mine own tongue such power; I reflected that God leaveth nothing in vain, and that it resembleth not the speech of man. Certitude is proof. From this path have I uttered an exalted summons, lest I be remiss.

As to the ordinance concerning the Greatest Name and “Satan,” I have not concerned Myself therewith; for the summons hath been to the oneness of God and to the ordinances of the Qur’an—the aspect of associating partners not being in view.

This is an account of the matter, and God is Witness and Seer. Let none, from this writing, fashion a conjectural argument; rather, the reality is even as hath been set forth upon the opposite page. The purport of this lowly one hath been that no pause was intended whereby the veils should diminish certitude. And God is Witness that, had I known that in this Cause there lay for My soul so much as a particle of abasement, I would not have proclaimed it. And sufficient is God for Me as a Witness. Praise be to God, the Lord of all worlds.