BB00080: Ziyarat for the first to believe, on the Day of ’Arafa

Part 1: “First Visitation…”

First Visitation

In the Name of God, the Most Unapproachable, the Most Holy!

God beareth witness that there is none other God but Him. His are the most excellent names. All that are in the heavens and on the earth and whatsoever lieth between them sing His praise. There is none other God but Him, the Sovereign, the Self-Subsisting.

And verily the Glory from God was upon the Throne of Reality in the Qur’an, wherein all who are in the heavens and who are on the earth and whatsoever lieth between them were illumined by the light of His Being. And among His effulgences is the knowledge of that Day which He hath mentioned as the Day of Arafat. Knowest thou what Arafat is? It is he whom every soul had known aforetime in the Qur’an as the One Who declareth: “There is no God but I, the Mighty, the Well-Beloved.”

Behold then all who profess the religion of Muhammad—verily each one knoweth Him, after the words “There is no God but God,” as “Muhammad is the Apostle of God” from time immemorial. And no soul knew Him save for the Day when God would raise Him from His resting-place, that all things might know Him. Hast thou known Him, or hath anyone? This is a fruit that hath grown from the Tree of Knowledge, among whose attributes is the recognition of that Day.

Look from the beginning that hath no beginning, and trace all this back to the Day of Muhammad. Then behold what was manifested through Muhammad: Among the signs of His Revelation was the Sacred House, around which seventy thousand souls would circumambulate in those days. And among the signs of His Revelation was His sacred resting-place—behold how many of God’s creatures ascend thereto and serve there in humility.

And among the signs of His Revelation were Ali, then Fatimih, then Hasan, then Husayn, then Ali son of Husayn, then Muhammad son of Ali, then Ja’far son of Muhammad, then Musa son of Ja’far, then Ali son of Musa, then Muhammad son of Ali, then Ali son of Muhammad, then Hasan son of ʿAli, then the Proof, then the Manifestations of the letter Ha’. How exalted were these stations raised for the revelation of His Self, and how many servants ascend hoping for His grace and bounty!

And among the signs of His Revelation is Prayer—can anyone count the number who pray? And among the signs of His Revelation is Alms—can anyone count those who give alms? And among the signs of His Revelation is Fasting—can anyone count those who fast? And among the signs of His Revelation is the Fifth—can anyone count those who give it? And among the signs of His Revelation is the Qur’an—can anyone count those who recite it? And among the signs of His Revelation is all that God hath revealed from the beginning to the end of religion, concerning every male and female and what they possess. Thou canst not count them even for that day, how much less from the day of His Manifestation until now!

All this is that thou mayest know that He was the Revealer of all things, and He revealed Himself to that creation only through what was uttered in truth from the tongue of His Reality:

“I was a Hidden Treasure and wished to be known, so I created creation that I might be known.”

This is His creation—behold but one sign among the signs of His creation which thou canst not enumerate, how much less the Manifestations of His command and His prohibition! All this is that thou mayest know Him as the Throne of Reality and know God thy Lord, and that thou mayest not associate anything with Him.

Behold then the first day when God brought him into His presence and he prostrated himself before the throne of the Point of the Bayan, for verily the Qur’an and all that is therein was created for the Bayan and all that is therein, and verily the Bayan and all that is therein was created for Him Whom God shall make manifest, exalted be His mention, and what God shall reveal unto Him. Then all before exists for what comes after, and thou shalt find no limit to the love of God as thou findest no beginning for it, for through it the beginning is created and through it the return is brought forth. Exalted be God above what those who remember mention.

When he appeared before the Point of the Bayan, it was to make known to creation that “I am He Who hath created that creation for My recognition.” All who professed the religion of Islam were thus addressed: “Ye were all created for My recognition, therefore know Me, for I am the first who hath recognized God, my Lord, in the Bayan. Worship God and associate naught with Him.” None followed his word, none recognized him save I. His manifestation ended, it came to pass and was ordained. For when all were intent upon extinguishing the light of God and quenching the fire of God, the love of his being would not consent that he remain patient in God after seeing that all in the heavens and earth and what lieth between them was in His grasp like a ring, in actual reality deserving thereof, not in mere verbal or intellectual forms.

He submitted himself wholly unto God, for after the Point of the Bayan he saw nothing in creation more precious before God than the Point of the Furqan. Therefore did he turn wholly unto Him, that it might be established in the kingdoms of the heavens and earth and what lieth between them that the Point of the Furqan, despite her exaltation, submitted to the Point of the Bayan, that perchance someone might perceive this and worship God, his Lord, with pure sincerity, until there came to pass that which made the heavens nearly to be cleft asunder and the earth to be split and the mountains to fall.

Behold then how the essences of all glorified beings turn unto Him, and the realities of all sanctified ones are drawn to Him, and the souls of all unified ones take refuge in His shadow, and the beings of all proud ones prostrate before God through Him. How can I say to whom I speak, for whom I speak, who can comprehend all things to fulfill them on that Day when no one was present before the throne of His bodily sovereignty? By Him Who splitteth the seed and createth the soul, if anyone should take one step toward Him, its weight would be greater before God than all who have followed their Lord’s religion from the beginning that hath no beginning to the end that hath no end. For all that was created for the recognition of that Most Luminous Light and Most Manifest Radiance, yet the people know Him from behind veils and perceive Him not as manifest and visible.

By Him Who created Paradise and formed the soul, all who circumambulate the House on such a day, even seventy thousand souls, and all who visit the Martyr’s Tomb on that day, whose numbers none can reckon—neither of these shall weigh before God as much as a gnat’s wing. But should one take a step toward that One, it would be greater than the creation of the heavens and earth and what lieth between them. Therefore watch ye for the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest, for the Tree of the Bayan was planted only that ye might recognize Me, and verily I am the first to prostrate before God and believe in His Self. Therefore waste not your recognition, for verily the Bayan, for all its loftiness, believeth in Him Whom God shall make manifest, and He indeed is worthy to be the Throne of Truth, though He is I and I am He.

But when the Tree of the Bayan reached the summit of its exaltation, its Point prostrated itself before God, its Lord, in the temple of Him Whom God shall make manifest, that ye might magnify God as His Self deserveth. Ye were created by the Point of the Bayan, and when that Point submitted itself to Him Whom God shall make manifest, and was exalted through His exaltation, and was made manifest through the manifestation of His might, and was glorified through the glory of His oneness, and was beautified through the beauty of His singleness, and was magnified through the greatness of His eternality, and was empowered through the sovereignty of His everlastingness—what station remaineth for those created by it to say “why” or “wherefore”?

O all things in the Bayan! Know ye your limits, for if the Point of the Bayan believeth in Him Whom God shall make manifest before all things—and I verily glory in this above all who are in the kingdoms of the heavens and earth and whatsoever is between them—for there is no glory save in the knowledge of God, and no joy save in the unity of God. Be not veiled from God after His manifestation, for all that the Bayan achieved is like a ring upon My fingers, and I am like a ring upon the fingers of Him Whom God shall make manifest, even as ye have seen how all that the Qur’an achieved was, in the estimation of its Point, but as a ring when He first believed in the Bayan. Were it not so, how could He have transformed those within Islam through the verses of His Lord, and summoned all unto the path of their Creator? He is indeed the Manifestation of His Cause in relation to the Point of the Bayan, and He appeared unto those within the Furqan only for His latter day. But who knew Him, and who fulfilled His command, and who attained the fruit of Islam’s planting at its source?

Glory be to God, and praise be to God, and there is no God but God, and God is Most Great! None knew Him save Me, and none knew Me save Him, to such extent that in that Day all who are in Islam are mentioned through His manifestation, yet all are veiled from His remembrance and all are far removed from their stations. Otherwise it would have been meet that when the verses of God were revealed, all who are in Islam should have recognized Him as the One Who had revealed that religion unto them and created that creation by His command, that they might know Him on the day of His manifestation and not associate anyone with Him. But none knew Him save God Who created Him, and whosoever knoweth Him thereafter, knoweth Him through what God hath caused him to know through the Point of the Bayan. Therefore do I address all who follow His religion, saying through the shortest Surih that was revealed aforetime concerning His own Self:

In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

Say: O ye unbelievers! I worship not that which ye worship, nor will ye worship that which I worship. And I will not worship that which ye have been wont to worship, nor will ye worship that which I worship. To you be your way, and to me mine.

Knowest thou what He saith? He addresseth all who are in Islam, saying:

“I follow none save Him Whom God hath caused to descend with the Bayan. Unto you your religion, and ye have naught, for I have ordained your religion for you, and I have submitted myself to God and worship God, my Lord. Yea, my religion is the Bayan, and unto you what ye possess. Be ye patient, then bear witness, for it shall profit you not the weight of a grain of mustard seed. God sufficeth me; in Him do I place my trust, and in God let them that trust put their trust.”

It is as though on the Day of My Return I shall address those who are in the Bayan in like manner. Be ye watchful of yourselves, for the Cause of God shall come unto you in truth, yet ye remain veiled from the presence of God.

Know thou that on that Day none shall be known except God, none shall be worshipped save Him, none shall be described but He, none shall be loved but Him, and none shall be sought except Him. However, not according to how thou hast known God before, for if Muhammad were to accept from thee, He would accept from those who came before, since the Known is one Sun, though Its thrones are made manifest in every Revelation upon whatsoever throne It willeth. Otherwise, it is but one Sun, though It may be manifested unto infinity through infinity—It is one Sun.

Part 2: “Your God is One God. There is no…”

Say: Your God is One God. There is no God but He, the Mighty, the Best Beloved. He it is Who hath sent forth the Messengers from His presence, that ye should worship none but God, for all Temples speak of God and through Him. And He it is Who hath sent down the Books from His presence, that ye should associate naught with God, your Lord, and that ye should be assured of the signs of God.

Glory be unto Thee, O my God! I testify that none hath known Thee through the knowledge of Thy Self which Thou seest and I see, since none hath known Thee save him whom Thou hast caused to know Thee through me. All who knew Thee before imagine they excel in knowing Thee. Yet in this my station I make mention of Him in such wise that were I above the earth in such manner that all were within my grasp, I would ascend unto Him and alight at His dwelling, and would manifest the fruit of what I had formerly planted of His religion through what the Manifestation of Thy Self knew in that Revelation before all souls. But Thou beholdest my position and art witness that my knowledge hath not changed whether I be in the highest heights or below that.

Therefore, O my God, send down upon him from all things that which beseemeth the loftiness of Thy grace and the sublimity of Thy bounty, and upon those who have ascended unto Thee—they who are near unto Thee, where each one was, in the manifestations of the Throne of Truth, a throne for It, since it beseemeth not the Point of the Bayan that any should ascend unto It save him who was the Manifestation of Its throne in Its previous manifestations.

O God! On that day, shower down upon those impregnable temples the knowledge of what Thou art in Thy transcendent exaltation, Thy supreme ascendancy, Thy lofty elevation, Thy matchless immunity, Thy glorious joy, Thy triumphant victory, and Thy compelling power, that their eyes may be gladdened in the chambers of their gardens by beholding the glory of their souls and Thy vengeance upon those who know them not and uphold not their rights. Verily, Thou art powerful over all things. Then, when thou art blessed to present thyself before God, thy Lord, on the Day of Him Whom God shall make manifest, exalted be His mention, know that the Command is His Command. Look thou to none save Him and His Command, for all who are in the heavens and on earth and whatsoever lieth between them stand ready at His Command. We see not God’s Command as limited, for from the beginning that hath no beginning His Command hath been manifest in the temples of His Revelation, and unto the end that hath no end His Command shall be manifest in the temples of His Concealment. The temples are but thrones for the Primal Reality, and what is manifest in the temples is but one Manifestation and one Concealment.

Say: There is no God but God; all are His servants and all stand ready at His Command. Yet look not to that Temple, for it is the Temple of the Throne of Reality from aforetime, nor to Him Whom God shall make manifest, exalted be His mention, for He is that same Temple, since the thrones are like unto what is manifest in them—were it to differ, the manifestation of the Unseen Unity would not appear. What We have taught thee concerning the previous Manifestations, wherein each Manifestation after a previous Manifestation was in His grasp—thus hath God created this creation that perchance in each wondrous Manifestation they might be able to believe. When thou attainest unto that Most Great Remembrance, that Most Luminous Light, that Most Manifest Radiance, that Most Precious Essence, and that Most Pure Leaf, then purify thy inner being from all that God loveth not and thy outer being from all that God loveth not, according to what God hath sent down from His presence.

Then seek permission from God and all His guides and from whomsoever believeth in God and His signs, for all stand ready at God’s Command. Then say: Peace be upon Thee, O Essence of Eternity in the exaltation of Glory! Peace be upon Thee, O Camphor of Pre-existence in the ascendancy of Beauty! Peace be upon Thee, O Pure Essence of Bounty in the immunity of Perfection! Peace be upon Thee, O Essence of Mystery in the exaltation of Most Holy Action! Peace be upon Thee, O Pure Embodiment of Command at the ultimate pinnacle of might and justice! Thou didst make Thyself known at the Point of the Furqan that Thou wert, in the eternity of eternities, the Guide unto God, Thy Lord, that there is no God but He, the One, the All-Compelling.

Then thou didst draw forth from the Ocean of the Furqan and, through God, didst enter into the Sea of the Bayan, adducing proof concerning thy Lord that there is none other God but Him, the One, the Manifest. Upon thee be from the splendor of God its most splendid, from the majesty of God its most majestic, from the beauty of God its most beautiful, from the grandeur of God its most grand, from the light of God its most luminous, from the loftiness of God its most lofty, from the might of God its mightiest, from the holiness of God its most holy, from the power of God its most powerful, from the strength of God its strongest, from the good-pleasure of God its most pleasing, from the sovereignty of God its most enduring, from the dominion of God its most glorious, from the bounty of God its most ancient, from the riches of God its most steadfast, from the generosity of God its nearest, and from the glory of God its most exalted.

How lofty is thy loftiness, for thou hast been raised up and there is none like unto thee in elevation! Then thou didst seek the good-pleasure of God, thy Lord, in the Bayan, that thou mightest announce unto all who dwell in the kingdom of the heavens and of the earth and whatsoever lieth between them that authority and creation belong to God—there is none other God but Him, the One, the All-Compelling.

May God reward thee through the Bayan and through all that are therein with the best reward granted to the first believer in the Tree of Truth. Then thy manifestation in the First Unity is like unto that wherewith God hath favored thee, then thy former manifestations in the Temples of Truth. How exalted is your loftiness, again your loftiness! How glorious your glory, again your glory! How impregnable your strength, again your strength! How elevated your elevation, again your elevation! How firm your independence, again your independence! Through you hath God drawn nigh unto the creation of the Bayan, and through you will God cause the creation of the Bayan to return unto Him Whom God shall make manifest, exalted be His mention. If thou and thy manifestations and thy former Temples of manifestation had desired naught but God, therefore hath God caused them to attain unto what they desired of His knowledge. And those beneath thee and those that are under thy shadow, inasmuch as they desired the things of dominion, each according to his desire hath taken possession through the grace of his Lord. But ye have attained unto that which all desire but cannot reach.

When I behold the loftiness of what thou hast attained, my soul envieth thee, but when I behold the lowliness of what thou hast suffered, I weep for thee. When will my heart, my spirit, my soul, or the essence of my being find rest in thee? Unto God do I complain, and in His grasp lieth the kingdom of the most high unto the lowest atom. This sufficeth me and sufficeth thee, for He is the Powerful, the Compelling, the Manifest, the Mighty, the Exalted, the Inaccessible. Nothing whatsoever in the heavens or in the earth or in what lieth between them can frustrate Him. He will assuredly aid thee and those who are under thy shadow to attain an exaltation possible in creation and realizable in invention.

But all that was naught in the sight of God, in His essential being, save for those who recognize the Manifestation of His Self on the Day of Resurrection. For on that Day they shall witness the exaltation of thy station and the stations of the exponents of thy cause, and all shall ascend. Yet this shall profit neither thee nor them except before the appearance of the Resurrection and the dawning of the Sun of Truth, whereby those of faith are strengthened and those of certitude take pride. For verily the Cause of God, at the time of the Manifestation of His Self, doeth whatsoever He willeth by His command. He shall not be asked of His doings, while all else shall be questioned. I beseech God that He may honor me with His presence and make me and thee and those beneath thy shadow to be the names of His might on the day of His Manifestation. Verily He, exalted and mighty is He, answereth whom He willeth and raiseth up whom He desireth from among those who call upon His Most Beautiful Names. He is truly the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful.

By thy life! My heart is not content that I should make mention of one who knoweth thee not, or standeth not up for thy rights, or causeth thee grief in any way. God shall suffice to deal with them, for God is the All-Compelling, the Severe. No fire is more intense for them than their being veiled from meeting thee, though they were created that on the day of thy manifestation they might believe in thee and in him whom thou callest all unto.

Verily what God hath foreordained for thee and for the exponents of thy cause and the names of those near thee and those who love that exalted remembrance of thee—that is the bounty from His presence, for He is possessed of great favor. For all good, after God hath recognized a soul’s acknowledgment of thy right and its independence beneath the shade of meeting thee, is established in its recognition of thee. And all that is less than good for those who know thee not is established with God, for thou hast made the first element of religion to be the knowledge of God, and this appeareth only through knowing thee, just as God hath made in every dispensation the first element of religion to be knowledge of Him, then knowledge of the Manifestation of His Self, then knowledge of Him through creation through His word from the Manifestation of His Self, from conditions which none can reckon save God. Upon this were all created and concerning this shall all be questioned.

Were I to make mention of thy merit, no heart could bear to hear it. But according to the capacity of hearts, spirits, souls and bodies to know and recognize—this sufficeth now before thee. Verily a drop of water flowing from a spring within thee is more beloved to God than the deeds of all upon earth, for thereby doth God love to be pleased, and without it God loveth not to be pleased. Blessed then are they who attain unto this bounty, which no bounty equalleth save that of those who weep for the Point. And all this is in His grasp at the appearance of the Truth—whoso grieveth for His grief or rejoiceth at His joy is better than the worship of all that is on earth in its entirety, for thus doth God love to be worshipped, not according to what His servants love. Therefore recognize Him Whom God shall make manifest, then be ye certain of His Cause. Say: should ye recognize Him, then remember what befell the First Vahid, then grieve ye all. And remember the Latter as ye remember the Former nineteen times, then from the essence of your beings grieve ye, then weep ye.