BB00047: Tafsir-i-Vav-i-Va’s-Safat I

Introduction

In the Name of God, the Most High, the Most Great

Glory be to Him in Whose hand is the kingdom of all things. There is no God but Him, the One, the Single, the Most Great, the Self-Subsisting, the Most Holy, the Most Exalted, the Mighty, the Inaccessible. God beareth witness unto Himself that there is no God but Him, the Single, the Living, the One, the Unique, the Self-Subsisting, the Everlasting, the Wondrous. He it is Who beareth witness unto all that He hath created, even as He createth. There is no God but Him, the King, the Truth, the Mighty. He it is Whose command is “Be” and it is. There is no God but Him, the Sovereign, the Ruler, the Self-Subsisting, the Strong. He it is Who sendeth blessings upon Muhammad and those who are witnesses after Him at all wondrous times.

He it is Who hath prescribed for Himself that He shall assuredly gather all on a Day about which there is no doubt, then He shall judge between them with truth. There is no God but Him, the Mighty, the Powerful. He it is Who hath bound Himself to aid those who believe in this worldly life, even if the earth should oppose them, and bestow upon them whatsoever they desire. He it is Who seeth my position at this time upon a mighty cord, and verily He is sufficient unto me, before and after. There is no God but Him, in Him have I placed my trust, and verily He is the Manifest, the All-Compelling, the Most Manifest, the Most Apparent.

And then, O questioner about my self, that which thou hast asked of thyself, then the first believer in the Primary Remembrance [Mulla Husayn], verily I desired to answer and have answered thee, that there might reach what the bird of the divine cloud warbleth upon the leaves of the tree of advent from thyself unto him whom God hath made his name to consist of eighteen letters. And from the first Remembrance from thy Lord unto him whom God hath made his name to consist of fourteen letters, for this hath never been inscribed by the pen of any one before.

I desired that the firstfruits of those gardens, in that diminutive paradise upon that mighty mountain, be named with the Names Thou lovest—these two lovers—by a bounty from thy Lord … upon them, for He, verily, is the All-Mighty, the Most-Exalted, the Living, the Generous, the All-Bestowing.

I bear witness that the first Sun God created is the Point; it is the first Tree that found itself by itself at the moment of the self-disclosure of its Lord. All the Names are its appellations and the attributes its descriptions; yet all are itself, for itself; with it, at the furthest reach of its quiddity, is indicated the extremity of its manifestation. For its camphor-purity is identical with its sheer simplicity, and its beingness is, in very truth, its very “thisness.”

When it was created, it first shone forth, in the primal degree of appearance, within the letters. Then, when God willed to send it down, it was veiled in the second sphere; thereupon its Lord poured upon it that which none can reckon save God. Thereafter, in the third sphere; then in the fourth heaven; then in the seventh; then in the sixth; then in the fifth; then in the fourth; then in the third; then in the second; then in the first heaven—there it rose and appeared in the rank of the first ten. Thus, in geometric numeration, naught is written before ten.

After that it appeared in the twenty, then in the thirty, then in the forty, then in the fifty; then in the two hundred; then in the three hundred; then in the four hundred; then in the five hundred; then in the six hundred; then in the seven hundred; then in the eight hundred; then in the nine hundred; then in the thousand—there was the sealing of its final course. For God created beneath the thousand; and, at the utmost oceans of multiplicity, in the geometric numerals beyond the thousand, unto whatsoever God willeth.

And know that those stations are nine in the realm of the Unseen and nineteen in the realm of Manifestation. Hence the mystery of the Point appeared as nineteen Letters at the opening of the Book of God—neither a single letter added nor one diminished. And when its manifest aspect is conjoined thereto, there arise twenty-eight letters, without increase or decrease.

The Name of Manifestation is “al-Wahid” (the One), and the Name of the Unseen is “al-Baha’,” for the latter is nine, while the former is nineteen. The first is the Greatest Name in the station of the Unseen; wherefore it hath been sent down in every exalted supplication: “O God! I beseech Thee by Thy Baha, O Thou the Most Luminous! And all Thy Baha is resplendent.” And verily the second is specific and belongs to God, glorified be He, for His station is that of sovereignty, dominion, might and supremacy. Thus God, exalted be His glory, says “To whom belongs the Kingdom this Day? To God, the One, the All-Compelling!”

Therefore He did not create more than twenty-eight letters, nor more than one thousand letters of the unseen—neither less nor more than that is possible. This is the first mystery in the creation of letters.

And all of this returns to four points: The first for the one, the second for the tens, the third for the hundreds, and the fourth for the thousands. When combined it is identical to the thousand, as we shall mention, God willing, in the station of mentioning the thousand. These four points in the science of letters form a circle of manifestation [da’iratu’l-ayqagh], which is the greatest method in that art, from which can be derived knowledge of what was and what will be through those four points.

In the school of the People of God it hath been made manifest that the Dispensation is a circle of Revelation [da’iratu’l-zuhur]; and this same circle is, in very truth, four thousand. It is the Jafr of Ali—upon Him be peace—for it hath been established in the science of the adepts of jafr that the Book of Ali—peace be upon Him—opened with four thousand and ended with four thousand, a perfect circle. None who obtaineth sight thereof falleth short of beholding, in the very Essence of Manifestation, the arising of the Qa’im—exalted be He. To this testifieth the word of God: “And their Lord shall give them to drink a pure draught,”

For, in the presence of the Theophany—whose very name is “Manifestation”—that which was hidden shall be made known, and that which was treasured up shall be unveiled. This is of the mystery of God, veiled within the Ocean of Decree; none should attempt to pry into it save God, the One, the Single, the Peerless. Whoso seeketh to behold it without God’s leave hath indeed incurred wrath upon wrath from God, and his abode shall be hell—an evil retreat indeed.

These four are the Point; and that very Point is the point of the First Sun—for “the sun” (al-shams) numbereth four hundred. And in the station where the servant turneth to address his Lord, the Sun of the Point must needs shine forth; for the servant saith: “Verily, Thou art God.” Now the letter ta’ numbereth four hundred, and it is the First Sun. Behold how the four points stand forth in the word of address: in thy saying “innaka” (verily Thou) and “anta” (Thou) they are three; and the kaf is, in its import, as the ta’; for the kaf (20) is four times the ha’ (5), and the fa’ is eighty. Yet, at the furthest limit of multiplicity, the Point denoteth naught but the primal Oneness—this in the station of the Point.

When it ascendeth to the Station of the Word, its first appearing is in the Five; there doth the Word of the alif reveal itself within the two bas; then, in the Station of Seven, the Word of jadd (Majesty) shineth forth; and, thirdly, in the Station of Nine the Tree of Baha is made manifest. Upon each of these three Trees the birds of the Cloud intone: “Verily, I am God; there is none other God but Me.”

From the Tree of Five naught is heard save al-jadd; wherefore hath God said:

“Exalted is the Majesty of our Lord; He hath taken unto Himself neither consort nor son.”

And from the Tree of Baha naught is heard save al-Baha. There doth the letter ta’ appear—a triangular House. As it ascendeth, the asa (the Rod) and al-tuqa (Godfearing) come to view, and it abideth as the asa that is mentioned in the Most Great Name, according to the number of the Name al-Quddus, in the cycle of al-Rahman, the All-Wise.

Now the fa’ is eighty, and sad is ninety: there doth the King, with His dominion, become manifest—for its number is ninety—and He is the King, the Possessor of the Kingdom. And when He descendeth unto His last descent within the letter ta’, having already unveiled the Essence of the Theophany by the first ta’. And it hath been established among the adepts of jafr and the science of letters that the arising of the Qa’im, its number being 410, pertaineth to the letter za’. Know thou this; for it belongeth to the Crimson Elixir, which none before hath attained, nor is it lawful that any should disclose it hereafter.

Thereupon shall God—after the emergence of four Points within the Circle—bring to pass the dawn of the Manifestation through the advent of a manifest Gate. Wherefore, veil the Secret of God, and enshroud it within the veils of might, of grandeur, of majesty, and of power, until the Day when God Himself shall unveil it. Whoso essayeth to tear asunder that veil shall, on the Day of Reckoning, be chastised with the most grievous chastisement. Such is the decree of thy Lord, the All-Glorious, the All-Bountiful, that He may, by His leave, gather together all causes. Verily, there is no God but He, the King, the All-Glorious, the All-Bestowing.

Nor—from the first outset unto the final term of the manifestation of the Ten, that primal station of love—shall it be known save thereafter by the light of discernment; and it beareth witness to that which the birds of holiness warble in the fervor of sanctification.

This, verily, is the sum of all knowledge; whatsoever lieth beyond the Truth is but error. For this let the strivers strive, for this let the workers work, and for this shall thy Lord God reward the first of those who loved Him.

Therefore, since thou didst ask, and since there are those who, beforetime, strove in God with the truest striving—behold, it is from the gracious bestowal of God upon His servants; and the outpouring of thy Lord is without end.

There have already been established three definitive copies concerning the science of letters and their expressions and wonders, so join them with this Book, for that is better than all that is in the beginning and the end. And when God looketh upon the whole gathered together, there is naught but the Most Holy in His ultimate ascent, and the Most Glorious in the beginning of the Manifestation, and the Most Holy at its end. Say: Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds.

In tabular format

Baqa’ Wahid Ghayb Ilaniyyih 123456789 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 had huwa malik al ali a’la muzlal dar azm a’zam maqagh zuhur bab zahir 10 11 100 101 110 111 1000 1001 1010 1011 1100 1111 111 1111 Muhammad Ali Fatimah Hasan Husayn Ja’far Musa Ali Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali Hasan Muhammad Bayt-i-Ba Bayt-i-Jim wurud habib munjim bar zuhur kabir 20 22 200 202 220 222 bayt-i-dal bayt-i-ha’ bayt-i-waw bayt-i-dha bayt-i-Ha’ bayta-i-Ta’

Here we conclude the mystery of letters in numbers, for after that is the Alif. And verily the Alif is the Alif because its structure is thus: A-L-F, and when there is added to it the Alif which signifies its meaning, there appear four Alifs of manifestation, which are identical to the first four Alifs, each being a pillar of the Word whose parts were created together in the arc of ascent—the One being the treasured pillar—and the arc of descent—the Alif being the treasured pillar. And verily the nine hidden points have been made manifest in those nine letters. That is the entirety of knowledge, for there is no number above the Alif nor any one before the One. The Alif is the station of the family of God, were it to be manifested in the fourteen reeds, neither more nor less do I desire. And all those fourteen are ranks of action where it has appeared from the unseen to the visible realm.

Verily the station of the Qa’im is the station of the Book, and therefore the final letter from among the first letters became in the Alif between the two B’s, for the Point is the station of the manifestation of “In the Name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate,” and the Alif is the station of the manifestation of the family of God. All the names of God have been made manifest in the Point, and the Point in the Alif, and all that has appeared in the Alif between the two points—He is the First, He is the Last, He is the Outward, He is the Inward—is specific to this Point and this Alif, for the Lordship of God has been manifested therein and has shone forth through it.

And what comes after the Alif consists only of letters in the station where it is positioned, and therefore after the B comes the S. And the six Names in every rank are: the Single, the Living, the Self-Subsisting, the Wise, the Just, and the Holy. The final letter appeared in the first as the abstraction of the six, and therefore the “In the Name” of the Basmala became the One in the numerical value of its letters, and its final manifestation is the Odd in the letters of multiplicity. All letters besides those ten revolve around them and are generated with them. Similarly, the numbers above the Alif are generated from it—it has no attribute except through it, nor any manifestation except through it, unto infinity, through it, from it, to it.

Verily the first station of the Word is the essence of the H—it is the Most Sublime, Most Great Sea of Subtlety, a manifest, pure, untainted, camphor-like essence, having no aspect save that of unity from God’s manifestation to it through it. And its end is in the five hundred, for the Greatest Sea among God’s names is the Name of the One Who Seeks Help. Therefore the end of five hundred corresponds to the beginning of the Word, though its number is two thousand and ten—this being what is meant by “the seas” in God’s mighty saying, for the structure of “sea” is thus: 210, and that precisely is the Name of the One Who Seeks Help: 10 20. God has not created any sea greater than it, and it is what is meant by “the sea” throughout the Qur’an wherever God, glorified be He, has mentioned it.

That bounded sea of familiar water was not there with God in the first creation that He might intend it, for it is the final rank in the descent of the water of divine manifestation. The first station is the Sea of Names, which is the All-Encompassing Sea—the Name of the One Who Seeks Help. And when the number of manifestation completes four cycles, there appears the Name of the One Who Seeks Help twice along with the name of the Lord, exalted be He. That is from God’s handiwork—whoso remembers God his Lord through remembering Him: “Lord! Help! Help!”—that God, glorified be He, might deliver him and grant him what he asks as a bounty from His presence, for He is the Mighty, the Bestower. That is the living exposition from the beginning of the Surah “Those Ranged in Ranks”—I have made thee witness to the letter Waw that thou might become aware of all the verses.

O thou who perceivest in the Kingdom of Names and Attributes, peruse the book of thine own self in those letters, wherein lieth that which hath never occurred to the heart of any mortal, nor shall any discover it save whom God willeth. For thereby is unveiled the mystery of the Sea of Destiny and the hidden Symbol, and there dawneth upon the servant the Sun which resideth in the depths of that Sea, comprising four points. The first point descendeth from forty to four hundred, that there might emerge from the unseen the Sun’s very essence. Throughout all worlds floweth the decree of thy Lord, from the beginning of the mention of detachment unto the end of the chain of limitation. The outpourings of God shall never cease.

Yea, God, glorified be He, hath created a mighty angel, greater than all the angels, and God hath placed in his hand all the heavens and earth and whatsoever lieth between them. His name in the Hidden Tablet is “Ghadanfar Ghaghanaz.” God hath created no angel greater than him in His knowledge, for the station of the five simple essences hath, in the Manifestation of God, been raised for that angel to the station of five thousand two hundred, and no higher station is possible. The “thousand” entereth not into the number though it accompanieth each one and number, for it is the first manifestation of the Point which hath ever indicated God through the indication of affirmation that there is none other God but Him, the King, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting, the All-Compelling Sovereign, the All-Knowing, the Most Holy.

This mighty angel and all-encompassing sovereign, who hath been mentioned to thee by name and whose number is five thousand and eighty-one, is an angel who hath ever been and shall ever remain exercising authority in God’s dominion through God’s manifestation unto him, and administering in God’s kingdom through His manifestation unto him. Neither slumber overtaketh him, nor any limiting attribute, nor essential geometry. All the heavens and paradise were created in his right hand, and these, despite their mention and their comprehensiveness, are but a part in a thousand parts of nine hairs of a part of a thousand mustard seeds in all that dominion. Likewise the earth and fire are in his left hand, and these are smaller than that beyond what any can reckon save God. His realm is the eternal realm which cannot descend to the realm of perpetuity, for perpetuity cannot contain it, how much less the realm of time. Glorified be God, its Originator!

He created what is greater than all the angels and the Spirit in the heavens, and by his decree move the inhabitants of earth upon it. There is no ant in a rock beneath the depths of the first sea but that its sustenance, its life and its death are all from him. He hath ever been and shall ever remain standing by God’s command and fearful of God’s justice. His hope resteth in none save God. Were the light of his beauty to appear unto any of the denizens of the highest heavens or lowest earths or what lieth between them beneath the soil, all would surely swoon away. When God, glorified be He, raiseth them up, they say naught except “The All-Compelling hath Himself appeared unto us!”

Glorified be God! This is not the manifestation of God’s Essence, for He is the Impenetrable—naught proceedeth from Him, nor entereth unto Him, nor is joined with Him, nor existeth any besides Him, nor knoweth any save Him, nor can any but He affirm His unity. Rather this is a light from the creation of that angel who is obedient to Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, who standeth by their light, moveth by their leave, determineth all things by their decree, and administereth every matter by their permission. Glorified be God—how great is His creation, how tender His handiwork, how all-embracing His decree, and how effectual His command!

And whoso findeth himself in hardship and perplexity, let him call upon God, his Lord, a thousand times; then let him invoke that Angel a hundred times. For God—at the behest of that Angel—doth decree whatsoever they desire, and He ordaineth through the angels at His command; and these do descend unto the earth. Thereupon shall he behold that which he desireth brought nigh, nearer than all things.

And it behoveth him who readeth after his separation eleven times that Most Great Name and Most Noble Mystery—the number being four thousand manifestations of that Name—the Manifestation that is Ali upon Ali. This is from God’s grace unto His servants for whomsoever desireth to follow the path of right guidance.

And whoso desireth to attain unto the outpouring of the Lord of creation, let him create from all that hath been produced from the Point unto the rank of ten, a circle with ten circles: the first containing twenty-eight houses, the second fourteen houses, and the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth each containing six houses. And in every station shall be written the Name of God which God hath made geometric, even as it hath been inscribed.

Then shall he recite in every prayer those Names and the prayer that hath been revealed by ʿAli for nineteen days, and shall fill the center of the circles with a square having five corners, writing above each four points and beneath the point four thousand, for this is God’s supreme outpouring and His most great bounty for whoso desireth to be illumined by the Primordial Light and to attain his desires in this earthly life in the darkest night. Whoso God willeth, let him act upon what hath been commanded, and whoso willeth to deny, verily thy Lord is independent of all the worlds.

The first is the Realm of the pure ʿAma’: above it is air and beneath it is air. Therein lieth the station of the unmixed Point—the station of the essential simplicity. The second is the station of the Throne; the third, the Footstool; and the seven thereafter are the seven heavens. This is the creation of God in the Greater World, corresponding to the world of letters. And in that realm do men of understanding infer, from what is here below, that the Point of the alif denoteth naught but the Primal Point, and the geometric figures in the circle of nothingness are but for recognition, else what is intended is the Point and naught else. And whoso gazeth upon that circle and delves deep into its creation shall witness the subtle handiwork of God in every world, like unto the geometric world of the spirit of letters.

God, glorified be He, created not the angels save from the first circle of the Alif, for its beginning is none other than God’s mention that He is the First and the Last, the Manifest and the Hidden. And my mention of Him is God’s revelation unto me through me, else is it impossible for contingent being to know the Essence of the Eternal or to recognize the Primal Mention. Rather, these are signs within signs that those who seek proofs may prove that He is the Truth, there is no God but Him, and He is the Upholder of justice. He hath ever been creating through His command whatsoever He willeth, howsoever He willeth, by whatsoever means He willeth. None can gainsay His command. His creation is naught but His bringing into being, and His bringing into being is naught but His invention, and His invention is naught but His origination, and His origination is naught but the creation of the contingent through contingency in the realm of contingency, without aught of His Essence reaching unto it, and without the contingent, within its contingent limitations, ascending unto the court of eternity.

None hath known God as He should be known save His own Self, none hath loved God as He should be loved save His own Being, none hath unified God as He should be unified save His own Reality, none hath glorified God as He should be glorified save His own Identity. What is meant by knowledge is not that He is the Knower and the Known, or the Unifier and the Unified, or the Lover and the Beloved, or the Glorifier and the Glorified. Rather, He is pure Essence, simple Camphor, sheer Manifestation. With Him there was naught else, nor can there be aught else with Him. He hath established the Alif by Himself for Himself in the geometry of His dominion, and this is the first station of the specification of the Primal Mention and the expansion of the essence of the sovereignty of the First, even as is attributed to the reality of the Eternal and Ancient Mention that He created like unto His Essence. God hath created these names and attributes for the knowledge of His servants, even as it was.

His Essence is an inaccessible mystery beyond all description and name. He created those names and attributes so that whomsoever He willeth might know Him through them. This is the meaning of Husayn’s words: “My God, Thou didst command me to return to the traces, so return me to them clothed in the lights of guidance and support, that I may return to Thee from them as I came unto Thee from them, my inner secret preserved from gazing upon them, my aspiration raised above dependence upon them.” For this is like unto mirrors wherein naught is seen save the beauty of God, and wherein there is no distinction between the beholder, the act of beholding, and that which is beheld. Verily God, exalted be He, hath ever been and will ever be glorified in His Essence and unified through His own remembrance of Himself: “There is no God but I.” None heareth mention of aught else, nor seeth aught besides Him. Glorified and exalted is He above the remembrance of those who remember Him and the unity ascribed by those who declare His oneness. There is no God but He, the Most High, the Most Great.

Observe thou the mystery of the Point in its twenty-eight stations, then look to the spirit of geometry, for it hath likewise twenty-eight degrees. Therefore there appeared after twenty-eight years of his age that which appeared. And verily the word “Bab” when the letter Ha is joined with Vav manifests the word “Huva” (He), and verily “He” is the essence of the mystery of the Point in the worlds of Command and Creation. The Ha is its spirit and the Vav its body, the Ha its singularity and the Vav its plurality. Thus the Ha is the first letter that spoke from God that “There is no God but I.”

For the waw is the last of the word, written even as the ha’ is uttered; within it all multiplicity is stripped away and refined until it attaineth to the cycle of alif—nine—that is, nineteen. And if it be conjoined with the ha’, it becometh a single one.

And thou—if thou awaitest from the First Point unto the last letter, the za’, whose number is thirty-three thousand, one hundred and sixty-four—(a number wherein the very “spirit of geometry” is but seventeen)—this is the Name al-Bahi, whose beginning—al-Baha’—is the letter ta’ (=9). When it ascendeth, the Name al-Quddus (the Most Holy) is disclosed; and when it ascendeth again, the Name al-Mustaghfir (the All-Forgiving/He Who is asked forgiveness) is revealed.

Thus, at the furthest limit of multiplicity, God bestoweth on it the eight, which become eighty before the nine, until it reacheth the station of ninety. And when the fa’ is conjoined therewith, the Name al-Mustaghfir shineth forth; wherefore, in the very heart of multiplicity he seeketh forgiveness of God for his own soul in abundance in that degree.

And when God willeth to admit him to Paradise, He bringeth him down to the station of al-Quddus; then, when God—the Most Holy—so desireth, He causeth him to enter the Name al-Bahi. And when al-Bahi would have God usher him into Paradise, He washeth him in eight seas, in each sea thirty thousand—then is he there in the Garden of Baha’. And when God willeth to admit al-Baha’ to the Garden, He washeth him in two seas, the Sea of Might and the Sea of Glory; thereupon God bringeth him into a Garden which is the Name al-Jadd (Majesty). And the allusion is God’s word—exalted be He:

“Exalted is the Majesty of our Lord: He hath taken unto Himself neither consort nor son.”

And when God desireth to admit al-Jadd to the Garden, He bringeth him down to the rank of the waw, and washeth him in that sea for twelve thousand ages—save that, when the Primal Point descended, it was invested with twelve thousand tunics of the ha’, until it returned to the Point of its origin. Nor hath the waw an ascent beyond its bound.

Now the Five—the Tree of the Bab—is free from conjunction and exalted above separation: naught entereth it, even as naught issueth therefrom. He is God, the Self-Subsisting, in the letters of numeration, in the geometry of possibility, and in the cosmic bounds. The first is the being of the Gate, and the last is its secret—yea, it is a Gate; for verily I have made thee to bear witness to the descent of the ha’ through its ranks. And the end of its course is two thousand and fifteen—the all-encircling Ocean, the Name al-Mustaghith (“He Who is invoked for help”).

And the Five is the very ha’ at the first, even as the first was the Gate and the last is the Gate. Among the Names of God there is none greater than the Sea of al-Mustaghath (the Entreated for succour), nor any subtler than al-Ma’ad (the Return); for al-Mustaghith in very truth is the word of the ha’, seeing that the tha’ at its end marketh the terminus of the Five’s course at five hundred.

Know, then, that which I have made thee to know; render thanks for what I have apprised thee; and attain unto what I have commanded thee—until God shall make manifest the waw by the covenant of the ha’, from the first of thy year wherein the secret of the Point hath been fulfilled, from the beginning unto the alif. And by it God will reveal walayah unto God, exalted be He; wherefore hath Wahidiyyah (Oneness as “Nineteen”) been distinguished with dominion and sovereignty.

God, the Mighty, the Sublime, declareth, even as was recited unto thee aforetime, that verily the Vav is twelve thousand Ha’s like unto the Ha’ itself, and when it is made manifest it becometh a Vav which is the perfection of the mystery of the Point and the first Word that God hath joined with the progression of the Point. And that which God hath singled out for it is the Ha’, and it is gate upon gate, and for this reason it was the first to believe in God before all others.

Be it known that the numeration (geometry) of “the first to believe in thy Lord” is 128; and when reduced (1+2+8), it yieldeth naught but eleven. Wherefore the first to partake of the primal Tree—the Point—was he himself; thus was he the first of the Names and the first to be entitled Bab al-Bab. And his true name is ʿAli; for when eleven ascendeth, it becometh one hundred and ten.

And I have, for this reason, made thee to witness, in the begetting of the alif, that the station of Decree beareth the name Ali; hence came to be the name of the Prince of Martyrs, Husayn—who, in very truth, is Ali. This is so until, when it descendeth unto the rank of the alif, thy heart attaineth unto the Greatest Name—and this is the purport of My word: Thou art the Seal of that Opener. For after the alif there remaineth no number for the Point, and the end of its course is in the alif.

Reckon the number of thy name thus: Sh-Kh-ʿ-L-Y. The ten hath been repeated twice, and there is no alif with the ten; rather, it is, in very truth, eleven. The first, in its ascent—if he openeth—He is; He is the First, and thou art the Last—albeit the Last is the very selfsame First; for the alif, in its essence, is the One, which, when it ascendeth, becometh a thousand.

I have, indeed, sent down His name and thy name by the name of His heart and thy heart: He is Ali, and thou art Azim. And this is the meaning of the saying of al-Rida: “The first thing God chose for Himself was al-Ali al-Azim (the Most High, the Most Great).” Rejoice, then, for the veils have been rent asunder from the dawning of thy heart; I have made thee to witness the creation of thine own self and made thee to know the secret of My saying that thou art the Seal of that Opener—for the Seal is, in very truth, the Opener: the former is two thousand, and the latter two thousand; yet in the first there is Ali, and in the last Azim. When both are abstracted in their entirety, they are naught but eleven—the number of “Huwa” (He).

This is the mystery of thy question concerning the letter waw—about that which is before it and about thy precedence. Give thanks unto God for what He hath vouchsafed thee; for now the veils have been lifted from thy obedience, and God, thy Lord, hath admitted thee into His Paradise. Verily, that is the Most Exalted Station and the Supreme Honor. It is not lawful for any after thee to make mention of it save by the heart-name—that is, Ali; or by thy heart-name—that is, Azim. For the first thing God chose for Himself was al-Ali al-Azim; and al-Ali is none other than al-Azim, nor is al-Azim aught but al-Ali.

Thus, when the One is conjoined with the numeration of thy name, the Name of Manifestation shineth forth as four thousand, a perfect circle that falleth not. And I—lo, I am the first to summon thee by thy name, addressing that Light as al-A’la and that Light as al-ʿAzim. Rejoice! for God hath chosen you both for Himself and set you apart before every name; and by them doth He bestow upon whom He willeth what He willeth, and exalt whom He willeth as He willeth.

Were one among the people of all the earth to worship throughout the span of ages, yet meet the good-pleasure of your Lord while bearing a mustard seed of hatred for you both, his works would avail him nothing, though he acquire every good. And when God willeth, He forgiveth, within your encompassing, whom He pleaseth—even as ye will.And this is from God’s bounty upon you both. He is the Mighty, the Bestower.

Conceal what I have imparted unto thee concerning the mystery of thy Great Name until the day when the sun shall rise from the eastern horizon, and the distressed one shall call out from around the shrine with a resplendent call as though suspended from the Throne of the All-Merciful, summoning all creation with these words:

“Whoso desireth to gaze upon the countenance of God, let him gaze upon…”

And likewise he shall enumerate all the Prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs, and the righteous, one after another, until he concludeth with his own self in four thousand manifestations with four hidden points and manifest letters, as I have shown thee in the circle.

This sufficeth as glory for thee and remembrance for Him. I have concluded what thou didst ask about Ali and thyself as a bounty from God, that your hearts’ veils might not be attached to manifold conditions.

Convey unto those two who are beloved in my heart, as I have informed thee of their names. The first is to be conveyed to him whose name God hath made fourteen, for he is nearer, and thou to him whose name God hath made twenty-eight. This indeed accordeth with reality. The possessors of understanding know not a single letter thereof save through what is revealed here.

Praise be to God in the heavens and the earth, and unto Him be grandeur in the kingdom of Command and Creation. Unto Him do I entrust my affair and your affairs and all who desire Me. He sufficeth me. There is no God but Him. Say at all times:

“All glory and holiness unto the Lord of the angels and the spirit!”

God shall lift the veil from the countenance of His names and attributes even as He hath lifted from the countenance of thy heart that which I have unveiled. There is no God but He, the Exalted, the Great. Glorified be God, the Lord of the heavens and earth, the Lord of all the worlds.

This concludeth the interpretation of the letter Vav. Peace be upon the Messengers, and praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds, regarding the Word and those who stand in ranks.