BB00247: Tafsir-i-Kullu’t-Ta’am (Commentary on “All Food”)

Part 1: “What God willeth, there is no strength nor…”

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

What God willeth, there is no strength nor power except in God. Glory be to God! All praise be unto God! There is no god but God! God is the Most Great!

Praise be unto God Who hath everlastingly existed before all things, with no mention of aught else beside Him, and Who will continue to exist after the extinction of all things, with naught existing in His presence. He, verily, hath been and will ever remain the One God, Single, Unique, the Self-Subsisting. He hath taken unto Himself neither consort nor son, nor hath He had any partner before or after. He createth all things through His command and ordaineth the measure of all things through His power. He is established upon the throne of His mercy in His grandeur, dispensing as He pleaseth whatsoever He willeth. None can frustrate what He hath willed, and none can prevent what He hath decreed.

He hath created the Throne, the Seat, and the seven heavens in the heights, and hath made the first letter to be the Ba, which is the Throne whereupon the All-Merciful is established. He hath made it the first of His Book, and when it revolveth in the four corners, the letter Kaf is formed. Verily, it is the one addressed in discourse and the one who addresseth on the Day of Return. Through it beginneth what beginneth, and unto it returneth what returneth.

Glorified and exalted is He! He hath created beneath its shadow the letter Fa, for when the Kaf revolves around itself in four stages, the letter Fa appeareth. Glorified and exalted is He! How wondrous is His handiwork! How magnificent His grace! How generous His craftsmanship! How mighty His manifestations! How glorious His revelations!

He it is Who was established upon His throne before creating anything, and He was upon the water which He created within Himself before aught was joined unto it, for He, exalted be His might and glory, revealed Himself unto it and cast within its essence His likeness, without anything emerging from His Being in His presence or ascending from His Essence unto Him. Rather, He is He in the loftiness of His sovereignty, and He is He in the nearness of His equilibrium. He hath turned with His entirety, and therefore in the beauty of His Manifestation hath been reflected the Lord of the heavens and earth and all that lies between them, of what is above the highest heights and beneath the deepest depths—He is the Lord of the hereafter and of this present life.

His is the creation and the command, in the past and in the future, and unto Him shall all return. Thus has God made it His Own station in the station wherein “We have given thee seven of the oft-repeated verses and the Great Qur’an.” Verily the seven oft-repeated ones are the seven heavens and seven earths, while the Qur’an is the heaven of the Throne, and the “Great” is its earth. These are the eight Paradises wherein was created all that God’s knowledge hath encompassed through His bounty. Verily He is the Munificent, the All-Bestowing.

Verily, it is the circling Kaf in the sight of the people of truth and exposition; the primal Point in the estimation of the people of wisdom and elucidation; and the solitary Fa’ in the Súrah of the All-Merciful—none knoweth how this is save God, the One, the All-Compelling. He it is Who created it from nothing, and made it the Will, whereby He bringeth into being whatsoever He willeth. For the Kaf, in the form of inscription, possesseth three pillars: the first is the primal substance, extending from the rank of units unto the tens; the second from the tens unto the hundreds; and the third from the hundreds unto the thousands. God hath created within its interior a subtle Ya’, which is the manifestation of the whole through three inner depths; and it is the Mim at the end of the Basmalah—the first who said “Yea” at the moment when God said, “Am I not your Lord?” and he answered, “Yea.”

Verily it is the Truth. Unto Him belongeth whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth, and all that lieth between them, and all that is above the Most High and beneath the dust. Such is the Lord of the latter world and the former: His is creation and command, from before and from after; and unto Him is the return. Therefore hath God made it the station of His own Self in a certain station, even as He hath said:

“We have given thee seven of the oft-repeated, and the Great Qur’an.”

The seven oft-repeated are the seven heavens and the seven earths; the Qur’an is the heaven of the Footstool, and the Great is its earth. These are eight gardens wherein was created all that the knowledge of God hath encompassed through His bounty. Verily He is the Most Generous, the All-Bestowing.

The one addressed is the Kaf, and He Who addressed it is God, exalted and glorified be He. He revealed Himself unto it through itself at the locus of the Point; wherefore He ascribed unto it the station of Oneness. All this hath been set forth in the ranks of reality—tenfold in the essential grades, eighteen immutable, and nineteen in motion—within the sphere of cycles and the pole of the circles of directions. Through the first is manifested His saying, exalted be He: “Put thy trust in the Living One Who dieth not.” And through the second: “To whom belongeth sovereignty this Day? To God, the One, the All-Compelling.” All this is a remembrance from God in the station of the Ba’ of the Basmalah. And all existence, whether hidden or manifest, began from it and returneth unto it. It standeth in God’s stead, manifesting from God unto itself by itself, and unto others through the manifestations of His acts—glorified be He.

Then He created the Sin beneath the Ba’, and made it the earth of the Throne, facing the heaven of the Point; it is itself the heaven of the Footstool. Within it is established the reality of exaltation, wherein the primal Will is veiled; through it all things are created. These are two letters from among the letters of the Basmalah which God revealed at the beginning of His Book. Were I to recount each of them in detail, the seas of possibility would be exhausted. The sum of the matter, and the fairest exposition, is this: that the Qur’an appeared in its entirety through Praise; that it appeared through the Basmalah; and that it appeared through the Point. Even as God began creation, so doth He bring it back again—this is a true promise in the Torah and the Gospel. This is the secret of secrets and the Point of realities. It is the saying of the Messenger of God—peace be upon Him—“O God! Show me things as they truly are.” And this, in very truth, is that very Kaf; for the Ha’ is cleft thereby. Through it entereth whomsoever entereth into Ridvan. I desire not to say more than this.

I ask God to manifest all things through His bounty, for He is the All-Powerful in origination, the Exalted in creation, the Sovereign in invention, and Mighty over all actions. Nothing escapeth His knowledge—neither in the heavens, nor on the earth, nor whatsoever lieth between them. Verily He hath ever been the Knower of all things, and He is powerful over all things.

I bear witness then that He is the One, the Inaccessible, Who passeth not away; the Living, Who dieth not; the One, the Only, the Self-Subsisting, Who begetteth not, nor is He begotten, and unto Whom none is comparable. There is no path for any soul to the knowledge of Him, nor any proof for any to establish His reality, save through that which He hath caused to gleam from the dawning-places of His effulgence and to shine from the manifestations of His light.

The most excellent exposition is how God hath described His own Self:

“Eyes comprehend Him not, but He comprehendeth the eyes, and He is the All-Subtle, the All-Informed.”

To this did ʿAli, peace be upon him, bear witness in the Orphaned Sermon, as We have mentioned before in numerous stations. The fruit thereof is that His signs are His proof and His existence His evidence. He cannot be known through aught else, nor can He be described save through Himself, for the realm of contingent being is, by its very nature, severed from its Creator and Originator. The circle of the letter Kaf, revolving around itself, as it is in its essence, as it is in its camphor-like nature, as it is in its manifestation, as it is in its concealment, as it is in its identity, as it is in its being, as it is in its selfhood, as it is in its ipseity, as it is in its firstness, and as it is in its lastness, proclaimeth that there is none other God but Him. The shadows of essence in the mirrors of the people of truth have testified that He cannot be known through them, nor described by what returneth to the ultimate end of their limitations.

Therefore, bear thou witness unto Him as He hath witnessed unto His own Self, that there is none other God but Him. He hath ever been standing over all things, manifest over all things, triumphant over all things, supreme above all things, and ascendant over the heights of all things. He hath never ceased to be unknowable through aught else and unmentionable save through His names, for the names are His manifestations and the similitudes His revelations. All proclaim that there is none other God but Him.

I bear witness unto the Manifestations of His Countenance and the Letters of His Basmala as God hath borne witness unto them in the knowledge of the Unseen and revealed in His Book—and who is more truthful than God in speech, and who is nearer than God in command? Verily, that which was revealed in the Furqan is known to the people of the Bayan, and that which was revealed in the decades before Ali and the decades after Ali are clear paths and evident ways for those who ascend to the summit of Truth and rise unto the dawning-places of Primal Unity. Blessed is he who succeedeth in reading them morning and evening, for this is a remembrance from Him for those possessed of understanding.

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! I bear witness that I shall surely bear witness unto Thee that there is none other God but Thee, the Lord of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them, the Lord of all worlds. And I bear witness unto Muhammad, Ali, Fatimih, Hasan, Husayn, Ali, Muhammad, Ja’far, Musa, Ali, Muhammad, Ali, and Hasan as Thou hast borne witness unto them, then unto the Letter Ha which Thou didst reveal on the Night of Power in five manifestations, as encompassed by Thy knowledge—all of them proclaim:

“Blessed be God! There is none other God but Him. His is the creation and the command. Blessed be God, the Lord of all worlds!”

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! I bear witness unto Thee concerning what Thou hast revealed in the disconnected letters of the Qur’an in thirteen letters thereof, even as I have mentioned Thee through their names, and in the Letter Ha through the Manifestations of Thy Countenance, the Suns of Thy Grandeur, the Moons of Thy Power, the Dawning-places of the Sun of Thy Oneness, and the effulgent, radiant Manifestations from the light of Thy Face. And I bear witness unto Thee with certitude in the twenty-seventh station concerning what ʿAli, peace be upon him, hath said and what Thou hast ordained therein, that Thou art, in Thy bounty, too exalted and too high for me to beseech Thee to deal with me as befitteth Thine own station, or to implore, from the mines of Thy grace and the keys of Thy mercy, that Thou bestow upon me what accordeth with the splendor of the light of Thy Countenance and Thy beauty. For, in Thy sight, my asking is a sin that proceedeth from me, and it recoileth upon mine own soul.

And verily, even as Thou didst create me when I was a thing unseen, I ask Thee—of this I have no doubt—that Thou wilt deal with me as is worthy of Thee, whether or not I ask or cry out before Thee or cling to the hem of the robe of Thy gracious favor. For Thy supreme gifts have no cause save Thy grace and bounty, and Thy mighty bestowals have no path save Thy mercy and favor.

Exalted be Thy generosity, magnified be Thy munificence, glorified be Thy grace, and elevated be the essential nature of Thy noble Being. Sanctified be that which issueth forth from the horizon of the majesty of Thine innermost Oneness, and that which dawneth from the horizon of the Unseen from the dawning-places of the Sun of Thy Self-Subsistence, or whatsoever can be attributed to Thee in the transcendent realm of Thy holy sovereignty’s handiwork, from having any cause from contingent beings or reason from existent things. For all things testify with their whole being that they are nothing, and that Thou hast brought all things into being from nothing through Thyself, and there existeth not with Thee any deficiency in existence.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I beseech Thee by that which is most precious before Thee in Thine own Self, namely the Manifestations of Thy Name, the Living, the One, the Single, the Self-Subsisting, and by that which Thy knowledge encompasseth of Thy most exalted similitudes and Thy most beauteous names, that Thou would transform the letter Ba into Alif in less than the twinkling of an eye, that it may arise with Thy Command and be established upon the head of the letter Ra in Thy Most Merciful, and upon the head of the letter Ayn in Thy Most Great, and upon the head of the Ra in Thy Most Exalted, and upon the head of the Dal in Thy Most Enduring, and upon the head of the Qaf in Thy Most Straight, and upon the head of the Ba in Thy Most Glorious, and upon the head of the Nur in Thy Most Luminous, and upon the head of the Izz in Thy Most Mighty, and upon the head of the Majd in Thy Most Glorious, and upon every name which Thou canst transform its Ya into Alif and elevate it that the Command may be one.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! By Thy might and Thy power, Thy knowledge and Thy grandeur, Thy majesty and Thy sovereignty, Thy loftiness and Thy perpetuity, Thy oneness and Thy self-subsistence, I seek forgiveness for all of this and turn unto Thee in repentance before this and after this, and I bear witness before Thee and before him who is with Thee that Thou hast reduced those nine for the manifestation of the nearness of Thy Cause and the mercy of Thy mercy, that unity might be strengthened after the nine are reduced from it—that is, what is hidden within itself and stands upright with justice by Thy Command.

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! Thou art sufficient for him in all these manifestations which Thy knowledge encompasseth, for Thou art sufficient for all things and nothing is sufficient without Thee. Therefore, O my God, suffice him through Thy sufficiency and send down upon him what is befitting from the handiwork of the sovereign power of Thy Lordship. And I bear witness before Thee that all good proceedeth through him and all evil is created through him.

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! I bear witness before Thee and before him who is with Thee that if Thou shouldst punish me as recompense for what was mentioned in these manifestations which Thy knowledge encompasseth from the beginning to the end, I would be deserving of it and would acknowledge and confess it. There is no God but Thee. Have mercy upon me through Thy mercy, for Thou art the Most Merciful of the merciful. There is no God but Thee. Send down upon me the wonders of Thy forgiveness, for Thou art the Best of forgivers.

Glorified art Thou, O my God! I was a thing unseen, and Thou didst create me through Thy bounty and the dominion of Thy mercy. Thou hast appointed for me a sign from Thy presence whereby I might confess Thy oneness: that there is no God but He, the One, the Single, the Eternal Refuge, Who begetteth not, nor is He begotten, and unto Whom none is comparable. And (Thou hast appointed) a sign that I may call upon Thee from mine own soul, seek Thy forgiveness from mine inmost essence, and turn unto Thee in repentance for all whereof I have borne witness against myself—and whereof Thou Thyself bearest witness. But since through this Thy unity is made manifest and the sovereignty of Thy oneness is exalted, I shall speak what Thou lovest and mention what Thou lovest. I desire naught save what Thou hast desired, nor do I love save what Thou hast loved, nor do I will save what Thou hast willed, nor am I capable save through what Thou hast made me capable, nor do I permit save what Thou hast permitted, nor do I defer save what Thou hast deferred, nor do I enumerate save what Thou hast enumerated, nor do I know save what Thou hast taught me.

Part 2: “Therefore, O Lord, forgive me through Thy mercy…”

Therefore, O Lord, forgive me through Thy mercy, for Thou art the Lord of righteousness and forgiveness. Thou knowest that from fear of mentioning aught but Thee, I cannot mention that which my soul deserveth. I beseech Thee for pardon, O Lord of grace and bounty, and I implore Thee for mercy, O Lord of forgiveness and majesty. Grant me, O Lord, through Thy mercy, that which is best in Thy sight above all things, and make me content with what Thou hast decreed and grateful for what Thou hast ordained. Thine is the creation and the command. Blessed and exalted art Thou! I shall remember Thee as Thou hast taught me in Thy perspicuous Book and as Thou hast taught me in the creation of Thy signs. Say: My Lord! Cause me to enter with truth, and cause me to exit with truth, and grant me from Thy presence an authority to assist. And grant me through Thy mercy a mighty dominion. And whatsoever Thy knowledge encompasses of Thy grace—verily Thou art exalted above all things. And whatsoever Thou ordainest by Thy command—verily Thou art powerful over all things.

And I shall remember Thee by what Thou hast revealed in the last verses of the Surah of the Night Journey: Say: Praise be to God, Who hath not taken unto Himself a son, and Who hath no partner in sovereignty, nor hath He any protecting friend through dependence. And magnify Him with all magnificence.

And furthermore, I have heard what Thou hast written, and have read what Thou hast inscribed, and have understood what Thou hast asked. Know thou that for every letter of what thou hast asked, were I to cause the world of command and creation to flow therefrom, it would be possible, for God hath created it thus. For He, exalted be His glory, hath placed the signs of His knowledge in the realities of souls and horizons, whereto He hath alluded in His decisive verses:

“We will show them Our signs in the horizons and in themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth. Is it not sufficient concerning thy Lord that He is a witness over all things?”

Consider thou the number of “Lord,” then take the number of “Living,” for it shall be made manifest for thy Lord therein. Say: Blessed be the name of thy Lord, the Lord of Glory and Honor. All that dwells upon the earth shall perish, and there shall endure the face of thy Lord, the Lord of Glory and Honor. For those manifestations of the Living, when joined with the letter Ya, reveal the letter Kaf. Know thou that therein lies a subtle allusion and a precise essence, and to this pointeth the word of God: “He is witness over all things.”

And the difference in what God hath revealed regarding the station of the Point, where Ali, peace be upon him, hath said in the beginning of the Prayer of the Tens: There is no God but God. He is One, no partner hath He. His is the Kingdom and His is the praise. He giveth life and causeth death, and causeth death and giveth life, and He is the Ever-Living Who dieth not. In His hand is all good and He is powerful over all things.

And verily the difference between the Powerful and the Witness is five, alluding to the Manifestations which appeared with the appearance of the Sacred House and the Sacred Month, and became a rank from it in the First Self, for the letter Ha is in the form of Ta, and it is the station of four in the letters of geometry.

And if thou lookest at all the numbers in the letters of geometry, thou wilt find naught but the ranks of ten from the Alif to the ten, for the Ghayn which is the very Alif is the first Alif. Likewise take the decree concerning the spirits of number for it is the essence in the mystery of the Beginning, and therefore hath God made the dawn of the Qur’an witnessed. For the Name of God the Witness hath appeared in every manifestation of the Beginning, and the Severe hath appeared in the words of thy Lord: “Verily, the grip of thy Lord is severe.” Soon will the Name of God, the Witness, be made manifest through the appearance of the ranks of Reality in the dawning-place of the Ha.

And all these are subtle allusions for whoso desireth to ascend unto the horizon of Reality and comprehend the Point of Existence and behold it with the eye of oneness in the manifestations of multiplicity, and say with truth and certitude that there is no God but He. His is the Kingdom and the Dominion and the Glory and the Might and the Power and the Divine Realm and the Sovereignty and whatsoever was created in the mountains of ruby. This is the Command of God from before and after, and He is the Ever-Living Who dieth not, and He is the Single One Who passeth not away.

Know, then, that every “food” is a remembrance—indeed, all food is a delectable remembrance—if it be connected to its true meaning. The term “all” applieth only to a matter from which nothing is excluded, and this is possible only in the Point of the Primal Will; for within it are veiled all manifestations of origination. It is complete in itself by itself; and each part, through its manifestation to another, is related to the whole. This is the single Command and the hidden Mystery by which all things were created and brought forth.

For the B is the A made manifest from the A, the J the manifestation of the third, the D of the fourth, the H of the fifth, the W of the sixth, the Z of the seventh, the H of the eighth, and the T of the ninth. Thereupon the nine stand through the appearance of the Y in the unity: He Who is God in the highest heights is He Who is God in the lowest depths. There is no God but He; we worship none but Him, and unto Him are we sincere.

When thou hast grasped a drop from the meaning of universality, know that “food” hath infinite applications according to the understanding of the people of reality—none comprehendeth them save God, exalted and glorified be He. Yet will I mention it in a manner perceptible to men in general.

The food of the ears consisteth of two kinds: either it is created from the Most Exalted Realm, and its nourishment is the remembrance of God—this is the station of the Will in its self-offering; or it is created from the Kingdom of Vision, which is to behold all things with the remembrance of God. Concerning this Jesus, the son of Mary, counseled: Associate with him whose very sight remindeth thee of God. This is the station of Desire in its act of giving, for God made the food of the Will the remembrance of divinity—“Allah”—and the food of Desire the remembrance of identity—“He”—after the word of negation, “none.”

The station of Destiny is the nostril in the outer body: it behoveth the believer to inhale pleasant fragrances, for that is his sustenance from God. Hence it hath been the custom of the Prophets and Messengers from Adam until this day to use perfumes and noble scents. Of its virtue the Imam, peace be upon him, said: “Whoso prayeth two cycles with perfume, it is as though he had prayed a thousand without it—this for him who is able.” But for him who cannot, God hath made the water of the believer his perfume. Therefore did the Messenger of God say: “Three things I love of your world: perfume, women, and the solace of mine eyes in prayer.”

For perfume was created from the ocean of Destiny, and whoever is adorned with the attributes of God must needs employ the fragrances and inhale the essences, such as clove and its like, which God hath created. His sustenance in the realm of reality is the Name of God, the Living.

Then the station of Decree is the mouth, the seat of the sovereignty of knowledge, which is the tongue, for the numerical value of “tongue” equaleth that of the Name of God, the All-Knowing, in accordance with His saying: God hath made neither the Sacred House nor the Sacred Month but a support for mankind… that ye may know that God knoweth what is in the heavens and the earth, and that God is All-Knowing of all things. It is the divine sovereignty in the body; through it He createth what He willeth. Therefore let the remembrance of thy heart, in the realm of truth, be through the stillness of thy self-subsisting tongue.

As for the three manifest signs, they are the stations of Term, Permission, and Book. Recite the Verse of the Throne until the words: “He is the Most High, the Most Great.” For the station of Identity correspondeth to the remembrance of Hearing, the station of Sublimity to Term, and the station of Majesty to Book—this is the true sustenance.

In the outer world, however, each knoweth according to his degree, as I have taught thee regarding hearing, sight, and heart; so let the same principle govern the sustenance of thy whole body, for everything in itself is the Greater World. The Prophet, peace be upon him, alluded to this: “Within thee is enfolded the greater world.”

These are the stages of reason within thy bodily form. Seek knowledge of the unseen from the world of testimony; let the pillars of the Sacred House be thy inner pattern, and trust in the Living One Who dieth not.

Say: “On the Day when the earth shall be changed into another earth, and the heavens likewise, and they shall appear before God, the One, the Subduer.”

For before thou understood this exposition, the earth and heaven of thy body were bound in the chain that God created; but if thou act according to what I have taught thee, and render to each limb its due—thy hearing, thy sight, thy heart, thy tongue, thy hand, thy foot, thy body—thou hast indeed fulfilled the covenant of God. Then is thine earth transformed into the earth of Paradise, and thou drinkest of the Kawthar of Reality, and shalt never thirst again.

This is the meaning in the outer sense; in the inner sense, God hath created all things in the image of His unity, so that were they purified of accidents and manifested in the fullness of divine self-disclosure, they would be nothing but a sign of His own Self: “There is no God but He, the Mighty, the Merciful.”

The one addressed in all this is the Primal Will, and “food” signifieth the manifestation of God in whatever His knowledge encompasseth. All is lawful for it, for it proceedeth from Him, save what Israel forbade unto himself.

And in this verse first know Israel and then his children. Yet regard neither “all,” nor “food,” nor “Israel,” nor his “children” with more than a single gaze; for God hath said: “Your creation and your resurrection are but as a single soul.”

All the degrees of creation and law, of realities and attributes, of essences and accidents, of inner and outer worlds, revolve around a single Point, a single Mystery, a single Command, a single Word.

Therefore, having taught thee the meaning of “food”—which is everything that falls under the name of “thing” beneath the Name of God, by which it was created—know that it acteth not above it.

Thus the food that nourisheth those who stand at the station of Mim is every food that nourisheth those who stand at the station of Sin, in the two letters that follow the B of the Basmalah. And so it is with thee: apply the same principle to all the eight Paradises, the all-encompassing Throne, and whatsoever lieth before it. For the food God hath made lawful to the Will may not be eaten by him who standeth at the station of Desire. I have shown thee in thy body that what delighteth the ear cannot be what delighteth the eye; the ear perceiveth not vision, nor doth the eye perceive sound.

Every station hath its appointed term, its book, its limit and boundaries; it can neither fall short of its degree nor exceed its bounds. This is the meaning of the saying of al-Sadiq, peace be upon him:

“Nothing in heaven or on earth existeth but through these seven qualities.”

I have shown thee that the creation of the Greater World is within thyself, for man existeth not save through these seven manifestations in the outward frame. This is proof of the First World and the appearance of pre-eternity in time, and what was decreed in the beginnings of causes.

If thou hast understood this, know that this address, when interpreted in the station of the Messenger of God, extendeth not beyond ʿAli; for all his food is that which God hath made lawful for him in the Book, unchanging, unaltered—for God hath distinguished him with the prerogatives of exaltation and sovereignty that none beside him may attain.

Likewise, in the station of ʿAli, all his food is that which proceedeth from him; and what God hath prescribed for him that he neither said nor did is included beneath his shadow and shall be gathered in another creation.

Thus also with thee: apply the same principle unto the end of the Dispensation of the Bayan, to the chosen ones among the people of exposition. For those seven degrees are the manifestations of what I have taught thee within thy body:

the Bayan is the station whereby thou hearest and unitest thy Lord, “There is no God but He”; vision is the station of meanings, the station of Desire; the gates are the station of Destiny, manifest in the nostrils; the Imamate is manifest in the sovereignty of the body, the tongue; the pillars comprise all that is nourished, eaten, or sustained by the Imam from the table of the All-Merciful to appear through the limbs; and the nobles and chosen ones are manifest in thy bodily form for every book, every term, every limit, and every exposition.

In truth, nothing can be brought into being save through these seven. Whoso imagineth that God is able to diminish one of them hath overstepped His bounds and taken upon himself what hath been decreed within his own confines. Nay, verily, God is powerful over all things; yet the ordinance of His wisdom and the exaltation of the tokens of His mercy requireth that He create no creation but after the form wherewith He fashioned man—for he is the image sculpted by the All-Merciful with His two hands, the isthmus of the two worlds and the confluence of the two seas. Whatsoever hath been created in the Greater World hath been created within man. Of him the All-Merciful made mention, uplifting his degrees with the fairest exposition:

“The All-Merciful hath taught the Qur’an—He created man—He taught him utterance.”

Bear thou witness to what I have shown thee, and guard well what I have entrusted to thee; for no one hath beheld its like nor given utterance thereto, nor hath creation borne witness unto it, that it might be made manifest.

Say: Those who were the Manifestations of the Name of God, the Living, the Self-Subsisting—these verily knew all this and bore witness to the creation of all things; yet they disclosed it not in plain speech, nor did they reveal such exposition. And before the Rising-place of Cancer appeareth and the star of the realm of possibility returneth to the loftiest summit of exposition, it beseemeth not that such a declaration should be unveiled from man, save in that very hour when the Tree of Reality itself giveth voice to what God hath treasured within it of wisdom, utterance, the blessed Word, and decisive signs.

Part 3: “Ponder what ʿAli—upon him be peace…”

Ponder what ʿAli—upon him be peace—proclaimed in the sermon known as al-Tatanjiyyah. In it there hath shone forth from the horizon of Reality that whereby thou mayest witness, in the station where he saith: “Expect the appearance of the Speaker of Moses from the Tree upon the Mount,”—a disclosure manifest and a vision described. By this was the Tree of the Bayan made firm, and thereby were revealed in the Qur’an those references to the sun and the moon “by a reckoning.” All things are thereby uplifted and made to appear. He is the One Who multiplieth the one and uniteth the many; the fire made quiescent; the vivifying spirit in the subtle vestures—He may neither be defined by universals nor described by substance; for universals were created through Him and substances were brought into being by Him.

Return then to what I taught thee in the first discourse concerning the wondrous dawnings of the Firstness: every letter thereof is a channel of the salsabil that floweth from the ruby mount. It is the water of life at the beginning of the first in the end of the last; inwardly, in the nearness of the inner; outwardly, in the loftiness of the outer. All this is a remembrance from God that none should transgress the bounds of what He hath sent down in the Book; for “every food” is that which the All-Merciful hath already expounded in the Qur’an—He permitted what He willed and forbade what He willed, and He forbade naught save what Israel forbade himself. What is unlawful unto men is only that which the Will beareth out of reverence for the manifestation of the Primal Will and the ascendancy of the sovereignty of Oneness.

All laws have been abrogated save this sacred Law and those purified ordinances that have descended from the mines of Reality. Yet if God should will, He effaceth what He pleaseth and confirmeth, and with Him is the Mother of the Book. By the verses of the Qur’an He made lawful what He made lawful and made unlawful what He made unlawful; and were He to desire to make lawful what He willeth by those same verses, He could do so—for with Him is the Mother of the Book; He sendeth down whatsoever He willeth, howsoever He willeth. And who is more truthful in speech than God?—“Were all the trees upon earth pens, and the sea—with seven seas to replenish it—ink, the words of God would not be exhausted. Verily God is Almighty, All-Wise.”

For the words of God are made known only from their mine; and their mine is the Tree that spoke, in the cycle of Moses son of Imran, with that wherewith it spoke, as recorded in the Qur’an in certain stations—the loftiest and most exalted whereof is His saying, exalted be He: “When he came unto it, a voice called him from the right bank of the valley, in the blessed spot, from the Tree: O Moses! Verily, I—verily I—am God, the Lord of the worlds.”’ That primordial Reality ascended beyond the bounds of exposition and the limits of exemplification until it attained the station of humanity. There did the worlds of the unseen appear in the dawning-place of the seen, as ʿAli—upon him be peace—explicitly declared in that sermon, saying in purport: “I am that radiant light; I am that manifest proof.”

Yet what was unveiled to Moses was but “a fraction of a fraction of a grain”—nay, less; for throughout the Qur’an the address of God to Moses is recorded only in numbered stations. This is the meaning of his words, “a fraction of a fraction of a grain.” For the atoms speak in the station of humanity: at times they speak, moment by moment, even as God spoke to Moses from the Tree with that which none knoweth in its number save God—“Verily, I am God, the Mighty, the Wise.”

This is the highest of the remembrances of Reality and the subtlest of delicacies among the viands of the dwellers in Paradise. Thereby was made lawful in every Dispensation what was made lawful, and thereby was forbidden what was forbidden. From Him the Books and the Scriptures were sent down; He it is Who despatched the Messengers as bearers of glad-tidings and warners from before Him that none should be worshipped but God—my Lord and your Lord. This is the straight Path. This is a mention from this surging, fathomless ocean—a drop from this abundant, bottomless deep.

And the balance of permissibility is the same as the balance of its reversal: all is from God. He alone is the Permitter—there is no God but He—and He forbiddeth what He willeth, how He willeth—there is no God but He. All are in His grasp; He disposeth in His dominion as He willeth, for what He willeth, by what He willeth. When the days arrive whereon the Manifestations of the Sun of Oneness return, and the Dawning-points of the Point of Reality appear, then shall He lighten what He willeth of works and ordinances—a grace from God unto mankind and a mercy from Him unto the believers, the possessors of understanding. But before that Day, what hath been sent down in the Qur’an is lawful, beyond doubt; and likewise the ordinances that were revealed correspondingly and bounded by God’s command: all these are the paths by which the servant journeyeth unto God.

For example: When the Point of Firstness inclined to the zenith, his heart decreed that he should at that hour offer unto God four rak’ahs; and when he followed the Will of God within his heart, there descended upon him the verse from God, and the obligation became incumbent upon all people. Such is the balance in all divine ordinances and in whatsoever hath dawned from the horizon of the unseen of Lordship; for God, exalted be He, being All-Knowing of all things, hath chosen for His loved ones only that which is better for them with Him. Thus did He allude in the Perspicuous Verses with fairest exposition: “We have made lawful unto you the goodly things.” And whatsoever answered thereto hath descended, for He, exalted be He, is the Lord of bounty, generosity, munificence, and grace; naught in the heavens or on earth overwhelmeth Him. He made lawful what He willed out of His grace that men might seek His bounty, give thanks unto Him, and glorify Him, being His worshippers.

If, then, thou art illumined by this Point and beholdest the creation of this Word in accord with what God hath decreed within thyself of the verses of His dominion and the modes of His sovereignty, know that the order of the human temple turneth upon four manifestations: a manifestation in the temple of thy heart, then in the temple of thy intellect, then in the temple of thy soul, then in the temple of thy body. By the first is established, upon the arc of descent, the first pillar of the House: it is incumbent upon the servant to make his remembrance of God the remembrance of glorification—for God, exalted be He, hath said: “Their cry therein shall be: ʿGlory be to Thee, O God!”’ When thou takest thy stand upon that seat and composest thyself upon that loftiest carpet, then drink of the water that stagnateth not, with the words God hath taught thee: “Glory be to Thee, O God!”—for this is the food God sendeth from His presence to the people of that station.

When thou descendest from that world to the world of the intellect, there hath God appointed thy food to be the remembrance of the word of praise—unto which He alludeth, after glorification, by His saying: “And glorify with the praise of thy Lord.” Drink, then, of the pure milk whose taste is not altered, in the watches of thy night and day.

When thou descendest from that station to the station of the soul—that is, the divine soul—God there hath made thy draught the wine, a delight to those who drink. Make, then, thy food that God hath made lawful unto thee the remembrance of unity: “There is no God but He.”

And when thou descendest from that station to the station of thy body, God there hath appointed thy food to be what hath descended from Him: the word of magnification in the Name of the All-Merciful; and He hath made lawful unto thee that clarified honey, as a grace from God and a provision from His presence unto those who have believed in God and His signs and who are truly knowing of Him.

Then, when thou returnest and completeth the journey of descent and desirest to ascend unto God, the Loving Lord, make the first the last: let the portion of thy body be “Glory be to Thee, O God!”; of thy soul, “Praise be to God!”; of thy intellect, “There is no God but God!”; and of thy heart, “God is the Greatest!” Look not upon these manifestations with the gaze of difference, for such is not the path of the people of reality and the retreat of return. Verily, He Who created you is He Who provideth for you; He Who created you is He Who causeth you to die; He Who causeth you to die is He Who quickeneth you. No partner hath He in His act, nor adversary in His sovereignty. These are mirrors declaring: “There is no God but He.” He createth what He willeth and doeth what He desireth.

These four words are, in truth, one word: no part of it precedeth another, though the first pillar hath its mark in the heart and the fourth its mark in the body. Not this limited body—nay, for it is sanctified from places and bounds, exalted above the description of tongues and measured forms. This exposition is for thy comprehension; otherwise, the very truth of the Reality and the mystery of the divine subtlety is what God hath sent down: “He is the First and the Last, the Outward and the Inward.” Though thou seest that the letters of “the First” differ from those of “the Last,” and those of “the Outward” from those of “the Inward,” yet, at the Point of Reality with God, the letters of the First are those selfsame letters of the Last; and the spirit of the Outward is identically the spirit of the Inward. Consider the geometry of numbers in the oceans of the alphabet: the measure of ascent is the point, and the measure of station is the point—al-awwal is one, and al-akhir is one, with three points—thereby ranks are preserved and forms are invested, that the glory and beauty, the splendor and majesty of God, and whatsoever pertaineth to His names and attributes, may be disclosed.

If thou wouldst behold this in reality, look within thyself: the one who heareth is the same as the one who seeth, though the letters of “sight” are other than the letters of “hearing.” Apply then this balance; it hath descended from the Tree of the Bayan. It is the living spirit created from the water of life: drink thereof, in the vessel of thy night and day, and dedicate thy whole being to God alone. Behold naught beside Him save as it was before existence—a thing unmentioned. Nay, seek God’s forgiveness for that and turn unto Him; for the first rung of reality and the first gate opened for the people of knowledge is the unveiling of the splendors of majesty without allusion. How, then, could he whose path to knowledge is the negation of all allusion say, “I shall make thee know by this or that”? Glory be to God! Praise be to God! There is no God but God! God is the Greatest!—a light remembrance for him who, with a subtle essence, gazeth upon what God hath created within himself of the form of that gentle light.

As for thy question concerning the saying of al-Sadiq—peace be upon him—“When the wind of love bloweth in the heart, it seeketh intimacy in the shade of the Beloved and preferreth the Beloved above all else,” and thereafter the spreading of His commands: know the negation of negation in the right of piety, for this day hath God made thy sight keen. This is the Day of Religion mentioned by God in the Revelation. Return from the first of the Qur’an to the last thereof and bear witness to what God hath mentioned regarding the Day of Religion, which He hath reserved unto Himself—His exalted word after the negation: “To you your religion, and to Me My Religion.” Its entirety is the Name of the Most High, and its very self, after the appearance of the oneness of Reality, is a host unto God: “To God belongeth the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them; and unto God is the return.” “This is a Day whereon We have gathered you and those of old; this is a Day whereon God separateth between all with truth; and it is the Most Certain Truth.”

Bear witness, then, that from the dawning of that Light unto this thy day is the meaning of what al-Hasan—peace be upon him—said concerning the Surih of Unity: that the final word is the meaning of the first; and that, from the rising of the First unto this thy day, the degrees of the Five have been perfected in the reality of universal manifestation, which was encompassed by a wall with a gate whose inner part is mercy. Look, then, within the wall and behold the creation of God therein; for God is the Lord of thy Lord and the Lord of all things. There is no God but He—unto Him belong creation and command. Blessed be God, the Lord of the worlds!

From the day the Sun of Reality rose, the wind of love hath blown in the hearts of the people of guardianship; whom it drew, it drew; whom it made shy, it made shy—through that living spirit and that breeze which floweth from the third corner of the Sacred House. Whosoever was made modest thereby and perfumed thereby hath sealed the covenant of love upon his heart, fulfilled his pact with his Creator, and followed the commands of his Beloved, not failing the Manifestations created of the lights of His purpose. For every right hath a reality, every house a gate, every name a meaning, and every body a spirit. These parables do We propound for men, but none comprehend them save the men of knowledge.

And if thou desirest to tread that most exalted path and to abide beneath the Throne of “I am nearer,” then make thy whole being as on the day thou wert nothing; then fashion thyself as the living one whom thy Lord created upon the sign of His own Self—“There is nothing like unto Him”—without gazing upon aught beside Him. Then wilt thou abide beneath the Throne of Grandeur and commune with thy Lord in the tongue of thy secret and thy open utterance, morning and evening. The most exalted of all communings for the servant in whose right and left, above and around, the breezes of love are blowing, is that which I now send down in this station: it is the breeze that draweth the people of the heart and conveyeth them to the summit of existence. This is, verily, the spirit of supplication in the kingdom of origin and return. So quicken thou thy spirit with this living spirit, that thou mayest be drawn unto the court of intimacy and exposition—a grace from God and a mercy from His presence. Verily, He is the Mighty, the All-Bountiful.