Two fragments of a Risâleh by Khâlid Ibn Zeid El-Ju’fy
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INTRODUCTORY NOTE.
THE following is a translation of that portion of an Arabic manuscript sent to me by Dr. Henry W. De Forest, missionary in Syria, which was spoken of in the introduction to a translation of the larger part of the manuscript, published in the last volume of this Journal, as for the time set aside. It consists of two fragments of a Risâleh, or Missive, by one Khâlid Ibn Zeid El-Ju’fy, designed for the instruction of certain persons supposed to have "deviated from the path of orthodoxy," and chiefly taken up with relating a conversation which the author professes to have had with the Imâm Muḥammed Ibn ’Aly El-Bâḳir. Who this Khâlid was, whether a contemporary of Muḥammed El-Bâḳir, or not, I have not been able to determine. But the probability is, that he represents one of the numerous Shî’ite seets which, after the El-Bâḳir's day, as Esh-Shahrastâny informs us, availed themselves of his distinguished name to give currency to their own opinions. It is to be observed, however, that the doctrine of this Risâleh accords very well with the sketch given by Esh-Shahrastâny of El-Bâḳir's views; so that we may have here, at least, an authentic tradition of what he taught. As respects the heterodoxy opposed in this Risâleh, there is, in some of its statements, an evident antagonism to the doctrine of the Ismâ’ilis: as, for example, is the fundamental representation of the Amr, or Word, which is here the Absolute Deity, while, in the Ismâ’ilian system, it is the prime emanation from the Deity; and again, in the view given of the Meshiyeh, which, with the Ismâ’ilis, is only another name for the Tâly, while here it is represented as a Divine Volition caused by the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly; and yet again, in the statement of the origin of the world, which, in the Ismâ’ilian system, is viewed as an emanation from the Deity, in consequence of his creative mandate, but is here carefully distinguished p. 168 as not in any sense the work of the Deity. But the opposition of this Risâleh seems to me to be, chiefly, to the doctrine of the Ghâlis, or Extravagants; with some allusions to that particular branch of this party denominated the Nuṣairis. What was said respecting these sects in the article above referred to, will enable the reader to appreciate this suggestion. It should be remembered, also, that these and the Ismâ’ilis belong to the same general family.
The footnotes to the translation are intended to facilitate the understanding of the text, without entering into any discussion of the doctrines set forth in it.
The portion of our manuscript translated in the following pages, was obtained through the courtesy of the late Prussian Consul General for Syria, Mr. Von Wildenbruch.
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TRANSLATION.
. . . . . except me and my brother,"—let peace be to them both! Afterwards he said, "And no one knows us* with verity of knowledge, except the Prophets and the Legatees, and the Believers, 'whose hearts God opens'† to the faith, or our eminent Naḳîbs,‡ who are elected, and whom we elect. Hearest thou not God, where he says, 'And whomsoever we direct and choose, when the signs of the Merciful are read to them, they fall down worshipping and weeping'?§ And he upbraids the other party, saying, 'And when it is said to them, "Worship ye the Merciful," they say, "And what is the Merciful? shall we worship that which thou commandest us?" and it increases their shyness,'‖—meaning, that they are shy of the disclosure to them of the knowledge of the verity of the science of the hidden sense, pertaining to the knowledge of the Prince of the believers ’Aly Ibn Abû Ṭâlib,—let peace from him be to us!"
"And know thou, O Khâlid, that this name means, by a similitude, the Merciful, which is one of the names of the prince of the believers ’Aly Ibn Abû Ṭâlib,—let peace be him! and that the Compassionate is, by a similitude, a derived name among the names of the Envoy Muḥammed,—let the divine benediction and peace be to him and to his family! Hearest thou not the Ḳurân, where it says, p. 170 'Verily an Envoy has come to you from among yourselves, to whom it is a grievous thing that ye are corrupted, who is eager for your being believers, mild, compassionate,' and so on, to the end of the sûrah?* So then the Merciful is a name of the Prince of the believers ’Aly Ibn Abû Ṭâlib,—let peace be to him! and the Compassionate is a name of Muḥammed,—let the divine benediction and peace be to him!"
"And they are shy, only forasmuch as, after the Nâṭiḳ has called them to himself, they respond to him, but, after he has said to them, 'To-morrow, will he be gracious whose confederate I am,'—to wit, ’Aly his confederate,—they shy of covenanting with him, and shy of the Nâṭiḳ; and that is from a shyness of following the Nâṭiḳ, which is from the contrariness which besets them. And know thou, that, as for those others, of whom he speaks, when the signs of the Merciful are read to them, they fall down worshipping and weeping.'"
"And know thou, O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, that they are these twelve who are Ḥujjehs of the Imâms,—let peace be to them! the Executors of the bidding of God, and the Attendants, who have sojourned only in eighteen men, whom I will by and by enumerate to thee, if God will, and who are those who were on the side of the Prince of the believers ’Aly,—let peace from him be to us! Hearest thou not the saying of the Envoy Muḥammed,—let the divine benediction and peace be to him! 'The Believer sees by the Light of God'—meaning only them, these who pertain to him, and who are his Ḥujjehs? And whoever adheres to them, they are the light of the lights of his wisdom, as seeing by the Light of God; for God is not beheld except by his Light, and how is it possible for man to see by his own light, or to be directed by the Candle?† But that saying of his, 'sees by the Light of God,' means his Deity,‡ who bestows upon him his acceptance, and to whom he will return. And they must of necessity return to the earth with their Master, whenever the Ḳâim,—let peace be to his memory! takes his stand."
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And in like manner El-Bâḳir,—let peace be to him! said, "Whoever believes not in our rotation, and our returning, he is not ours, and we are not his,"—meaning,—let peace be to him! that the imamship is never cut off, and that it is transmitted from one group of seven to another group of seven, to the Ḳâim,—let peace be to him! by a return of something hidden, not outward, of something subtle, not gross; "therefore the knowledge of that is highly necessary."
"And it is necessary for thee that thou shouldst acknowledge the Tâly in that which is made, and in that which appears, and its Measure* which it takes to itself, namely, its Spiritual Measure, and its Corporeal Measure; and that there is no distinction between the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly; and that one of them excells not the other, either in respect to spiritual quality, or in respect to corporeal quality, or in respect to their science, in which they shroud themselves, or in respect to the showing of their miraculous signs. And so we say as follows. O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, thou shalt not be extravagant respecting the Prince of believers,—let peace from him be to us! devoid of science. O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, the Prince of the belivers,—let peace from him be to us! is as when sandal is measured with sandal, part answering, all but a trifle, to part. For he is the reinforcement of the Nâṭiḳ,† by means of the Sâbiḳ, as something spiritual, without any thing corporeal, and the reinforcement of the Asâs of the higher world, in the image of El-Fatḥ,‡ by means of the Tâly. Hearest thou not the Prophet,—let peace be to him! who says, 'I and ’Aly are like two hés, and the putting together of the two fore-fingers'?—wherein he shows thee that there is no distinction between the two, and between the Imâm§ and the Legatee,—let peace be to him! And if he [’Aly] shows miraculous signs, he says,—let peace be to him! 'But the Prophet,—let peace be to him and to his Family! has already brought to pass things miraeulous, beyond the scope of inquirers respecting them, such as his dividing the moon at Mekkeh, and his p. 172 turning out the serpent from the precincts of the Ka’beh and his overpowering those who designed evil to Mekkeh, so that he sent upon them the torrent, and his bringing the Distinguisher.' And to each of them belongs a determined Measure, which he exceeds not, and it is not at all necessary that there should be distinction made between the two. Has not God said in the Ḳurân, '"We distinguish not between his several Envoys, and we are resigned to him,"'—meaning by that his Envoys and his Legatees,—'and say, "We hear and we obey thy pardon, O our Lord! and to thee will be our coming,"'*—the meaning of, 'O our Lord!' which points to the Amr of the Creator,—let it be magnified and glorified! being that there is no distinction between the two, because they are the Correspondents of the two Eternal Roots?† And know thou, O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, that I shall by and by return to the Primary Attribute,‡ and explain it to thee with an explanation which thou wilt understand. As for the Prince of the believers,—let peace from him be to us! he is the Measure of the Tâly, which is that which causes bodies to be, and creates them, and does well the forming of them; while it is the Sâbiḳ, of which the Correspondent is Muḥammed,—let the divine benediction and peace be to him! which causes spirits to be. All of them together are by means of the two Roots. Hence, O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, spirits excell not bodies, nor do bodies excell spirits, because the two are of one rank; although bodles alone stay in the dust without ever parting from it, while spirits stay but for a moment of time in the dust, (which is the moment of time while body moves from place to to place, together with which they move from place to place,) until body is stationary, whereupon they, the spirits, mount to their world. And know thou, O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, that spirit is subject to punishment which body is not p. 173 subject to; for, if it believes, then it goes to happiness, and if it is refractory, then, to the punishment of Es-Sa’îr, while body is not known, after that, as long as its way is in the dust."
"And know thou, that it is that on account of which the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly are named.* And the two match in respect to the state of being, because each of them is indispensable to its mate. For the Amr of the Creator,—let its memory be glorified! has made all things to be reciprocal and conjoined, so that there is a conjunction in a reciprocity, and a reciprocity in a conjunction; while the Amr of the Creator is separate, without any reciprocal, or any resemblant, or any associate, or any like, or any image; and number applies not to it;† nor are conjectures applicable; and the intellect of man embraces it not,—let its name be blessed, clear of that which they say by a great superiority! And know thou, O Khâlid, that any thing pertaining to the Tâly, is completed only through the Sâbiḳ; for its [the Tâly's] reinforcements are from the Sâbiḳ, because, otherwise, it [the thing] would be a mockery. And if spirits were not, bodies would not articulate speech; and if bodies were not, spirits would not stay; so that they are indispensable to one another. It is like water in the pitcher: if the pitcher were not, the water would not stay; and if it were not for the use of the water, it would not come to the pitcher; and its use consists in the union of the two things, one following the other. So then 'Glory be to him who created all the mates of that which the earth brings forth, and of themselves, and of that which they know not'!"‡
Then said I, "O my master,—my life for thee! and what are 'the mates'?"
Whereupon he said, "Muḥammed and ’Aly,—let peace be to them both! are 'all the mates;' and 'of that which the earth brings forth' are our Ḥujjehs; and 'of themselves' p. 174 are the Imâms, one being of another, Light of Light, Imâm of Imâm, and thus ever, without intermission, without cessation, who are undiminished, up to the determined bound, and the known limit, which is our Ḳâim, 'on the day when riches profit not, nor sons, only be who brings to God a resigned heart.'"*
"So then the Sâbiḳ, of which the Correspondent is Muḥammed,—let the divine benediction and peace be to him! is the Creator as to spirits; and the Tâly, of which the Correspondent is the Prince of the believers,—let peace from him be to us!—is the Creator as to bodies. Hearest thou not that which says, 'As for us, we cause to live, and we cause to die, and to us will be the coming'†—wherein shows thee the origin of life, and considers the origin of death, as something hidden, not outward? Therefore understand thou that. And as for the Amr of the Creator, not anything is above it, and no occasion has to do with it, and it pertains not to any occasion;‡ and there is no deity like it; and not any thing resembles it; and it is 'the Hearer, the Knowing One.'§ That it is which committed all things to these two Higher Measures; and to them it will fall to reckon with creatures, on the day of reckoning. Hearest thou not that which says, 'Verily, to us will be their coming; and on us will devolve the reckoning with them'?‖ So then let the Amr, namely, the Amr of the Creator,—let it be exalted! be glorified, clear of all things! forasmuch as it committed the same to the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly, and left to them Higher Similitudes and Earthly Resemblances,¶ which renew themselves, without his giving to be seen in them, and are unchanged, without his causing to be known through them."
"And know thou, O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, that the Prince of the believers, together with Muḥammed,—let the divine benediction be to them both! must of necessity descend to p. 175 the earth; and that, at the beginning of every new period, on the completion of the period of the seven Imâms, simultaneously with the coming of every Nâṭiḳ and Legatee. For, as for Muḥammed,—let the divine benediction and peace be to him! he reinforces the Nâṭiḳ in the first of the Transients; and so, when the law is finished for the latter, the Veil is withdrawn, as respects him, from the former.* And so be it known, that his reinforcement is from both these Earthly Measures, having to him and to his Asâs accompanying him the force of the two Higher Measures; for the Prince of the believers,—let peace from him be to us! reinforces his Asâs, as something hidden, not outward,† just as Muḥammed,—let peace be to him and to his Family! reinforces him. And so, what with the two Higher Measures, which reinforce the two Lower Measures, come to be the Four Measures. And in like manner, the two Lower Measures reinforce bodies which they set apart, and elect, and in which they consequently cause to appear and to dwell spirits inspired by the Pen;‡ and by and by I will acquaint thee with them, and their names, in order that the verity of thy knowledge may be made perfect."
"O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, know thou that the Sâbiḳ delivered up its science and its reinforcement to the Meshiyeh, which was caused by the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly, upon their glorifying and hallowing.§ For all of them together form the council of sciences, and accordingly the Tâly committed thereto the reinforcernent of its science; whereupon it glorified, and its glorifying was that it said, 'Be thou glorified, O Eternal of Eternals! verily, thou makest strong that which thou dost create.' And upon that, there came to it [the Meshiyeh] an Amr-reinforcernent, from the First Cause, which is the p. 176 Amr of the Creator, the Veritable Deity,*—let it be exalted! whereby it strengthened it. Afterwards, the Meshiyeh beheld the Sâbiḳ with the eye of predestination, and beheld the Tâly with the eye of love; whereupon there came to be, for the two in the earth, a Correspondent,† like to that which had come to be, for the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly. And so it reinforces the Nâṭiḳ, with its Amr-reinforcement, and its reinforcements which are from the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly. The Prophet,—let the divine benediction and peace be to him and to his Family! speaks of Faṭimeh, where he denominates her 'the mother of her father,' with the meaning that she reinforces her father, with her Amr-reinforcements, and the reinforcements of the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly; for all that a certain party has said that the Fâṭimeh-Station,‡—let peace be to her! was the Station of a male person, that is, Gabriel,—let peace be to him! And this is an error, because God says respecting them, 'As for them, they have the angels with the naming of woman, while yet they have no knowledge concerning it. That which they follow is not any thing but supposition, and their own desire, for all there has come to them direction from their Lord.'§ And it [the Meshiyeh] teaches those things which are unknown, except to the two Higher Measures, by an aiding on their part, derived from his Word,—let it be exalted! through the medium of the two Asâses.‖ And as for this, again, it is a tradition handed down from the Prophet,—let the divine benediction and peace be to him! that he said, 'On the night when I was borne up to heaven, and entered the Garden, I ate a quince; and so, after I had descended to the earth, I went in to Khadîjeh, and she became with child p. 177 of Fâṭimeh,'—let, peace be to her! and the meaning of the 'quince' is that the higher reinforcement manifests itself only by the Meshiyeh; and so the Meshiyeh willed to have in the earth a fixed Correspondent, and that consisting of the reinforcement of the Sâbiḳ, together with the will of the Amr of the Creator,—let it be exalted! and efficiencies from the Tâly; whereupon Fâṭimeh,—let peace be to her! came to be, by the causation of the two Eternal Lights,* and on account of their manifestation by the two Lower Measures.† And to her pertain, in heaven, two Measures, and on the earth four. And by reason of that, the Prophet,—let the divine benediction and peace be to him! says, 'Verily, Fâṭimeh has two names in heaven, and on the earth four,'—in allusion to the Measures which pertain to her in heaven, and those which pertain to her on the earth."
Says Khâlid Ibn Zeid El-Ju’fy, Thereupon I said, "O my Master, I inquire of thee respecting her reality,—it is thine to tell,—and respecting the reality of those who constituted for thee this rank, and respecting the reality of the Imâms without end whom people pride themselves in. Does not that which thou tellest me concerning the Envoy,—let the divine benediction and peace be to him and to his family! respect the verity of his Station? so then tell me, with regard to El-Ḥasan and El-Ḥusein, how was the beginning of the Amr to them."
El-Bâḳir,—let his peace be to us! said, "As for the Envoy, his Station was the Sâbiḳ,‡ and he was its Correspondent. And in like manner was the Envoy§ resembled by a Correspondent ’Abdallah Ibn Râwaḥah El-Anṣâry, who it is whom trouble befell, whose four side-teeth were broken, who hid himself in the cave.‖ For, as for the impersonation of Muḥammed,—let the divine benediction and peace be to him and to his Family! it did not absent itself, nor hide, p. 178 nor betake itself to flight, nor did any evil come upon it,—nay, but befell it seemmgly. And in like manner, as for Fâṭimeh, all the misfortunes and things disagreeable which happened to her, rested upon the Image, that is, the Veil; and it must of necessity be, that every Naṭiḳ and every Asâs has a Veil which hides him. And in like manner, as for El-Ḥasan and El-Ḥusein,—let peace be to them both! they had two Correspondents; and so, whatever there was of misfortune, or trial, or affliction, it befell the Correspondent,—and may the enemies of the Imâms,—let peace be to them! suffer the penalties, because they insist that that punishment befell them!"
"And know thou, O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, that El-Ḥasan and El-Ḥusein,—let peace be to them! were children of Fâṭimeh,—let peace be to her! by the Prince of the believers,—let peace be to him! although they were enveloped where the intestines are seated in man, and came out from that which is not the place of coming out for children, and our Master Abû ’Abdallah El-Ḥasan,—let peace be to him! came out from the right side, independently of any of the states of women, and without any occasion of disgust at Fâṭimeh,—let peace be to her! But the primary Ḥasan and Ḥusein,—let peace be to them! came to be, as children of the Meshiyeh, while these were earthly impersonations. And they are Creators, by their sciences, to their Correlates;* forasmuch as two created ones have made them to descend with their aiding received from the two Roots; through the medium of the two Asâses; and they second the setting up of the Perfect, the Correlates, and the Measures. And they are made for those above them, namely, the two Asâses and the two Roots, which are established as sovereign over them, and are not established over any thing above them; so that they are sovereign with the sovereignty of the Amr of the Creator,—let its memory be exalted! through the medium of the two Roots and the two Asâses, and work, in their working, with a loosing power and a binding might, which changes not, nor ceases; and there is no dispensing with them by the sovereignty of the Amr of the Creator, while to them pertains no sovereignty which is superior to the sovereignty of the Amr of the Creator,—let its memory p. 179 be exalted! and they 'act by his Amr.' Hearest thou not that which says, 'Nay, but honored servants, who precede him not in speaking, and who act by his Amr'*—meaning that they create, and nourish, and endow, and enlarge, and cause to grow, by spiritual sciences received from the two Roots, through the medium of the two Asâses, and that they are signs of the reckoning, and the penalty, and the Garden, and the Fire? And the Amr is clear of all things since its Relatives, the Correspondents of the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly, who manifest its sovereignty, namely, Muḥammed and ’Aly,—let the divine benediction be to them! are 'honored servants,' created to be kings by that which is not resembled in the Similitudes and Stations which I have given to them. And every thing which thou seest is by the operation of the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly; and the creation of them is by the operation of the Amr."
Thereupon I said, "O my Master, did I not say to thee that thou shouldst disclose to me the verity of that which is of the Amr to them?"†
He said, "Yes."
Said I, "O my Master, how was the beginning of the bidding of the Amr of the Creator with respect to them, and their creation by the Amr? and how was the causing of them to be?"
El-Bâḳir,—let peace be to him! said, "Know thou that the Amr of the Creator,—let it be magnified and glorified! willed that there should be a world, and heavens and an earth, and days and nights, and seas and mountains, and Jinns and angels, and trees and waters, and the like. But the Amr of the Creator,—let it be exalted! knew that creatures would be disobedient and obedient, and that they would contract impurities from the foulness of acts of disobedience; and so the Amr kept itself clear therefrom. It created Light, which accordingly was. Afterwards, it willed to separate it, and so it separated it with the separation of a reality.‡ Whereupon, after it had yielded to it in respect p. 180 to all that which it willed, the Amr exposed it to all things, namely, all good, and evil, and trial, whatever; it said, 'Be thou patient,' and it was patient. Afterwards, it commanded it to obey, and so it obeyed with an obedience without any disobedience. Whereupon, it delivered up to it, and so that Light became an originating act, neither creating nor created, not a thing, which is the Sâbiḳ. And there was made to subsist therein, and aided it with the Holy Spirit, an Ultimate Producer, possessed of power, and activity, and a spirit of its own, which is the Tâly; and as for this, thou findest it in the Ḳurân, since it says, 'Remember my favor towards thee and towards her who bore thee, when I aided thee with the Holy Spirit, that thou mightest talk with man in the cradle,'*—where 'the Holy Spirit' is Muḥammed,—let the divine benediction be to him and to his Family! who is the Measure of the Sâbiḳ, and its Correspondent in the corporeal world; and the 'talking' which it mentions is the talking of the Measure of the Tâly, which is the Prince of the believers,—let peace from him be to us! and its Correspondent in the corporeal world. And thus is the aiding transmitted from one to another, until it reaches the Ḳâim, the seventh Nâṭiḳ,—let his peace be to us! and so all the aiding is concentrated in him; and the Lights branch out, Light after Light, to Imâm after Imâm, one inheriting from another the Light, the Light of God, which he made to enter into the two Eternal Roots. 'God directs to his Light whom he will.'† And as for that which I have told thee as to the elected impersonations,‡ I will by and by acquaint thee with them. Hear thou, O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, and consider thou those who, says God,—let his memory be glorified! 'when the signs of the Merciful are read to the down worshipping and weeping,'—worshipping with submission, and weeping through fear lest their hearts should fall away. And know thou that one wills to be above another in respect to science and rank, and that they rival one another in the two worlds, the spiritual and the corporeal, p. 181 while they transmit, united with them, in the periods and the revolutions, their Primary."*
And their names,† O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, are Selmân and his Station, and El-Miḳdâd and his Station, and Ṣa’ṣa’h Ibn Ṣaukhân and his Station, and Saḳîneh and his Station, and Jâbir Ibn ’Abdallah and his Station, and Zeid El-Hijry and his Station, and El-Faḍhl Ibn ’Omar and his Station, and Ṣuheib and his Station, and Abû Nuṣair and his Station, and Yaḥya Ibn Omm-Eṭ-Ṭawîl and his Station,—let the complacence of God and his peace be to them all! And know thou, O Khâlid, that the rank of these is the highest of ranks, and the most elevated of degrees, before their Master!—let its memory be glorified! which entrusts the command to them, and all things, by the way of the two Asâses, which are Muḥammed, the Truthful Envoy and the Nâṭiḳ, and the Prince of the believers ’Aly,—let peace from him be to us! And its Station is Selmân, the Correspondent of Jebrîl, and who is in the pattern of the corporeal world; and his Station is ’Ammâr,‡ the Likeness of Mîkâil, and his Correspondent; and his Station is Abû-d-Darr, the Station of Andarâil, and his Correspondent; and his Station is Uweis El-Ḳarny, the Likeness of Asrâḳîl and his Correspondent, and the Station of Mâlik El-Ashtar ’Azrâil, and his Correspondent. And in accordance with this is the Station of each one severally, until thou comest to El-Miḳdâd; and so his Station is Mâlik the Guardian of the Fire, who is his Correspondent. And the Station of Ṣa’ṣa’h Ibn Ṣaukhân is the Likeness of the Station of Ridhwân the Attendant of the gardens."
"And their correlate Likenesses belong to every age and epoch; every one of whom holds the place of a Favorite Angel, or the place of a Commissioned Prophet, (although he is not like the Station of the Envoy, the Nâṭiḳ, and the likeness of the Asâs,) or the place of the Mature Believer. For the Imâm El-Bâḳir,"—let his peace be to us! "says, Our sciences are difficult, hard to be got along with; the p. 182 burthen of them is borne only by a Commissioned Prophet—meaning, commissioned to the heart, in order to the knowledge of the two Primary Roots, and their Correspondents, the two Asâses,—or a Favorite Angel,—meaning their Stations, (and their Likenesses are these four, namely, Selmân, and ’Imâd, and Uweis El-Ḳarny; and Mâlik El-Ashtar,—let peace be to them! so that these, those to whom these names appertain, are the Favorites, while the rest are angels, but not Favorites,)—or, to return to what he says, a Believer 'whose heart God opens' with the faith,—which means the followers in their track, that is, ’Abdallah Ibn Râwaḥah and ’Othmân Ibn Ma’ṭûn;* and ’Othmân, this one, was a foster-brother to the Prince of the believers,—let his peace be to us!"
Says Khâlid, Thereupon I said, "O son of the Envoy of God,† I have heard thee say that the Merciful is a name pertaining to the Prince of the believers,—let peace from him be to us! and that the Compassionate is a name pertaining to the Envoy,—let peace be to him and to his Family! and I hear that certain names, as well as these names, presuppose one name. What does this mean?"
He then said, "O Khâlid, know thou,—let God be merciful to thee! that these ninety-nine names which are in the Ḳurân, are names of the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly, and names of the angels, that is, the Hidden Name, of which it is said in the Ḳurân, 'Read thou with the name of thy Lord, who did the work of creation, who created man out of the dust;' after which there is a reiteration, and so it is said, 'read thou, and thy Lord is the Most Noble, is he who has taught by the Pen, who has taught man that which he knew not,'—where, in the first address, passes the expression 'the name of thy Lord,' which is an announcement of, and a pointing to, the Amr of the Creator,—let it be exalted! which is not taken in by the eyes; after which there is a reiteration, in order to a pointing to the Sâbiḳ, whence the words, 'thy Lord is the Most Noble;' after which there is a reiteration, in order to a pointing to the Tâly, and so it is said, 'is he who has taught by the Pen,who has taught p. 183 that which he knew not,—nay indeed, as for man, he is rebellious,'*—'man' meaning the race of Adam, who are rebellious in neglect of the covenant. And know thou, O Khâlid, that the Amr is not denoted by names, as qualities and attributes are not predicable of it."
"And know thou, O Khâlid, that these names belong to the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly; which are such as thy saying: O Presider, O Surety, O Light, O Gracious One, O Compassionate One, O Lord, O Protector, O Hider, O Coverer, O Returner, O Munificent One, O Believer, O Maker, O Creator, O Affectionate One, O Recompenser, O Knowing One, O Noble One, O Powerful One, O Pardoner, O Preserver, O Holy One, O Unique One, O Single One, O Conqueror, O Defender, O Continuer, O Propitious One, O Producer, O Lofty One, O Just One, O Liberal One, O One, O Restorer of life, O Judge, O Inclined to favor, O Fair in conduct, O Beholder, O Arbiter, O Advocate, O Informed One, O Director, O Truthful One,—which names belong to the Sâbiḳ,—let its peace be to us! The names of the Tâly are such as thy saying: O Subduer, O Vanquisher, O Potent One, O Mighty One, O All-powerful One, O Great One, O Peace, O First One, O Last One, O Manifest One, O Hidden One, O Sustainer, O Sovereign Disposer, O Unapproachable One, O Survivor, O Hearer, O Conjoined One, O Possessor of glory and honor, O Observer, O Reckoner, O Perfect One, O Witnessing One, O Creator, O Self-exalter, O Giver of form, O Supporter, O Abounding One, O Established One, O Abiding One, O Merciful One, O Living One, O Forgiver, O King, O Director, O Grasper, O Full One, O Excellent One, O Arbitrator, O Refuge, O Glorious One, O Responder; and it is enough that we have distinguished for thee these names, which belong to the Tâly,—let it show favor, and let thanks be to it, first and last! verily, verily, O my Master, thou art the Worthy to be praised, the Noble One.
p. 184
Says Khâlid Ibn Zeid, Afterwards, our Master El-Bâḳir Muḥammed Ibn ’Aly,—let his peace be to us! wept with violent weeping, and said, "O Khâlid, they who make equal with God lie, and err with wide erring, and lose with 'manifest losing.' 'God has not begotten any child; and there is not; together with him, any deity. Had there been, each deity would have certainly gone off with that which it created, and one would have certainly been over the other. So then, glory be to God,—let him be exalted! clear of their associating!'* O Khâlid, there are men who say concerning us that which we say not, and who make us of a lineage which does not belong to us. Far be it, far be it; they have gone out of the way, and are turned aside; and they lose, while we make profit. 'But as for these, they are those whose actions come to nought, in this world and the next.'† 'That, indeed, is manifest losing.'‡ O Khâlid, hear thou what I say, and hold on to my instruction, and testify to that which thou hearest; for 'He utters not any speech, except there is a Prepared One, an Observer, at his side.'§
O Khâlid, Muḥammed and ’Aly,—let the divine benediction be to them both! are Creators who were created, empowered, described as 'honored servants, who precede him not in speaking, and who act by his Amr.'‖ O Khâlid, the Amr, namely, the Amr of the Creator,—let it be exalted! 'the like of whom not any thing is, and who is the Hearer, the Knowing One,'¶ which is that which the searcher apprehends not, and which is not measured with men, committed p. 185 all things to these two Primaries, that is the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly, in which the Creator,—let its memory be exalted! deposited, by its command, something of that which is spiritual and corporeal, and which it constituted the Correspondent of its corporeity, so that they were such as thou hast heard them to be, as created out of the very Light. And their Lights branched out into three lights; namely, El-Jedd, and El-Fatḥ, and El-Khiyâl; and their Likenesses in respect to that which is corporeal are Ez-Zuhra,* El-Ḥasan, and El-Ḥusein. Hast thou not, indeed, heard, in the recital which the man of note makes not up, and of which the common man is ignorant,†—does it not say, "I have derived names for them from some of my names: for I am El-Maḥmûd, and this is Muḥammed; and I am El-’Aly, and this is ’Aly; and I am Fâṭim, and this is Fâṭimeh; and I am El-Iḥsân, and this is El-Ḥasan; and I am El-Muḥsin, and this is El-Ḥusein'?—let their peace be to us! but these are some of the names of the Sâbiḳ. And the Lights which branched out enter into the two words, the saying of the Ḳurân, Kun, two letters, fatekun, five, which are expanded from the two letters; for Light had its origin in the Creator,—let it be magnified and glorified! because it came to be by a volition on the part of the Amr, and so they were created."‡
"Afterwards, it said to the Sâbiḳ, 'Thou art like the Ṣirâṭ,'§ and said to the Tâly, 'Thou art like the Balance.' The former gives transit, the latter weighs. So then, 'As for him whose balances are heavy, he will lead a pleasant life,'—meaning, on account of the knowledge of the Tâly, p. 186 and its Likeness, the Prince of the believers,—let his peace be to us!—'and as for him whose balances are light, Hâwiyeh will be his mother; and what shall give thee to know what that is?—a burning fire;'* and oh the crying pains of him who is tainted with a burning fire, inasmuch as he acknowedges not the Imâm, the Tâly, and, what is more, opposes him, and turns away from him to another, of diminished rank!"
"Afterwards, the Amr of the Creator,—let its memory be glorified! said, 'I reinforce you two with my Lights; do ye, therefore, with them that which ye will;' and so it is said, 'who act by his Amr.' And it kept itself clear of reckoning with the nations, and of their defilements, saying, 'Obedience to me is difficult; I lay it upon you alone, because ye are of my very Light, the Most High. So then, be ye charged, ye, with obedience to me, which is due to me from you; and do ye charge, ye, the nations with obedience to you; and to trace to the Cause is the pith of knowledge of you, so that whoever knows you, will know me, and whoever obeys you, will obey me. This is my covenant; accept it, therefore, as conditioned; and whoever, then, yields to you, yields to me, and whoever disobeys you, disobeys me; my being pleased is your being pleased, and my being indignant is your being indignant.'"
"So then they two became created out of the Light of the Amr,—meaning the caused and the Cause;†—and they produced the Lights, and so became Creators."
"And there are set in the heavens seven Lights which are the Higher Letters,—let their peace be to us! and in the earths seven Lights,—let their peace be to us! the seven Imâms being subordinate to the seven Nâṭiḳs. And in respect to all of the seven Imâms, who are the Pillars of the earth and its Corner-Stones, transmitted in the periods and the revolutions, there is no exception to their having Similitudes to themselves in the heavens, and Likenesses. And the Ḳurân has already expressed that, where it says, 'So, in two days, he made them to be seven heavens, and inspired p. 187 every heaven with its Amr.'* Consequently, inasmuch as the celestial spheres are vacated, after they have made their round, and disappear, if the earths had been emptied of the Imâms, certainly they would have sunk and vanished; since they, [the Imâms,] O Khâlid, hold the place of the seven Planets. And in like manner, the twelve Stars are the Likenesses of their Ḥujjehs; and, accordingly, they must of necessity have, in the earths, Ḥujjehs, who accept the covenant with him who is above the inhabitants of the heavens, and the covenant with him who is in the heavens, which is the covenant accepted in favor of the Chief of the earth, in the earth."†
"And there is no Imâm whose spirit is transmitted, except it goes where its Place‡ is; and it has no elevation in spiritual degrees, as created, up to the limit of that which is corporeal, when the period is completed, and the seven is made out in full; for he who dies, among us, dies not without his soul's being ennobled, returning to that which is better for it than the state in which it has been. Hearest thou not the Ḳurân, where it says, 'And of us are only such as have their known Places,'?"§—let their peace be to us! And so, as for these their Measures and their Places, let their peace be to us and to all believers!
Says Khâlid, Thereupon I said, "O my Master,—let peace from thee be to me! who is, then, the 'Observer,' and who, the 'Prepared One'?"
He said, "O Khâlid, the 'Prepared One' is the Place of the Measure of the Sâbiḳ, that is, the Station of the Nâṭiḳ; and the 'Observer' is the Measure of the Tâly, that is, the Station of the Asâs. Hearest thou not the Ḳurân, where p. 188 it says, 'But after thou didst take me to thyself, thou wast, thou, the Observer of them,'*—meaning, after the law was finished, I was discharged,—meaning, after I was refined as to my corporeal impersonation, to the degree of the spiritual world, thou wast, thou, the Imâm after me, and the Legatee? But know thou" . . . {here follow five lines of ellipsis} . . . "he is a polytheist; and whoever worships the Ma’na† in its verity, has hit the mark. And know thou, O Khâlid, that the meaning of that is, that whoever worships the Ism, is an unbeliever; and the Ism is that with which the Sâbiḳ is named, so that one is certainly an unbeliever, inasmuch as he worships that on the ground of its being the Creator,—meaning the Sâbiḳ. And whoever worships the Ism and the Ma’na,‡—meaning the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly,—is a polytheist. But whoever knows that the Amr of the Creator,—let it be exalted! made these two Roots, he believes in its unity, and worships it. So then, glory be to that which hath indeed performed the work of creation, and hath done well its creating, which is the Creator,—let it be exalted! beside which there is no Lord!"
"And be it known, that, as for these two Roots, they are a Light from that Light, not a Light like to that Light; for each of these two Lights comes forth, and is manifested. Acknowledge thou that, then, O Khâlid Ibn Zeid. And know thou, that, if men had acknowleged their Creator, and the Mediators of their Creator, they certainly would not have been wicked, and would have never come into the Fire of Jehennam."
"O Khâlid, beware lest thou sayest concerning me that which I say not, and tellest from me that which I do not p. 189 tell. Dost thou do so, I shall call thee to account for it on the day of resurrection, and shall be quit of thee, and thou wilt be quit of me. We are 'servants in honor' to God, and purified by God, and made to be of the Light of God. We serve God with the reality of serving him; and if ye had served him with any thing of our service of him, or had been charged, in order to something of that, with the weight of an atom thereof, it certainly would have proved too much for you; and if there had been put upon the mountains, and the heavens and the earths, the weight of an atom of that to which we are obligated, of obedience and service, they certainly would not have borne it, and would have sunk and disappeared, on account of the burthen of that service. So then we are charged in your stead; and we serve him with the reality of serving him, and acknowledge him with the reality of knowledge of him, while there is not that obligatory upon you, thereof, which is obligatory upon us. But as for you, it is incumbent upon you, that ye should acknowledge us, and not deny us, and that ye should obey us, and not disobey us; and whoever acknowledges us with the reality of knowledge of us, and knowledge of our service, knows that from us things come forth, and to us they will return. We are the Subject Lords, and the Hidden Creatures. When thou wouldst us, O Khâlid, seek us, with thine inmost soul, in the invisible realm, and thou wilt find us above that which is above; there is not above us any superior other than the Amr of the Creator,—let it be exalted! and the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly,*—a truth respecting which it is due to no one of those created out of clay, that a word should be uttered; and how shall that be apprehended by such as pass away, and are gone, and die? wherefore yield ye to our dictum, and acknowledge ye it. This, then, O Kâlid Ibn Zeid, is the end of seeking, therefore be thou a seeker; we, then, are the final end of the devotee, therefore be thou a devotee. And beware lest thou goest astray, or slidest; verily, Sheiṭân is thine enemy, so be thou wary of him."
Says he, [the author,] Thereupon I said, "O my Chief, thou hast said to me, that if any one reaches to the Measure of the Word, there is no measure beyond that, nor the like p. 190 of that; and that whoever acknowledges the Tree, attains with certainty, to whatever degree he wills. What, then, is this 'Word'? and what, this 'Tree'?"
Then said our Master El-Bâḳir,—let the benedictions of God be to him! "As for the 'Word,' it is Muḥammed; and as for the 'Tree,' it is the Prince of the believers ’Aly,—let peace from them both be to us! Hearest thou not God, who says in the Ḳurân, 'And it is the parable of a good Word like a good Tree, of which the root is fast, and the top is in heaven'?*—wherein the root of the Word and its top are made two limits, the root being the Sâbiḳ, and the top, the Tâly, which is the Measure of Muḥammed,—let the divine benediction be to him! And the 'Tree' is the Prince of the believers ’Aly,—let his peace be to us and to all believers! inasmuch as they two are the two tops belonging to the two Roots, which constitute the Asâs of the corporeal world. He,—let his name be magnified! adds, 'which bears its fruit every season, with the permission of its Lord,'—meaning the Imâms whom he [the Prince of the believers] generates."
Afterwards, he said to me, "O Khâlid, dost thou keep in mind? dost thou hearken?"
I replied, "Yes, O my Master,—my life for thee!"
Thereupon he said, "O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, if thou wouldst acquire our sciences, acquire them from the Mines?"
To this I said, "And what are 'the Mines'?"
He replied, "Those Imâms,"—let their peace be to us! "whom God causes to inherit the prophetic gift."†
Then said I, "What if I meet with no Imâm?"
He replied, "Thou shalt take, on the authority of the reliable ’Ulemas, that which they take on the authority of the Orthodox Imâms,"—let their peace be to us and to all believers! "or else thou shalt draw from a known book, to which the Ḳurân testifies, and which tradition authenticates, and the intellect approves, and from other books.‡ But beware thou, and again beware. And be thou a servant sincere in the love of us, and thou shalt be saved."
p. 191
"O Khâlid Ibn Zeid, this is my instruction to thee; so then receive thou it. And it is the mystery of the Almighty God, the 'flesh' and the 'blood' of which the Mesîḥ,—let peace be to him! said to his disciples, 'This is my flesh and my blood; so then, eat ye, and drink ye.'* And I have indeed opened to thee the pasture, and have given thee to eat, and given thee to drink, and have drawn water for thee; so then, eat thou with good digestion, and drink thou to thine health; and behave thou uprightly towards thy brethren, the believers. And sufficient for thee is that which I say. And let peace be to those who follow direction! And this is enough for men, and it is that they may be warned by it, and may know that he is one God, and that the possessors of hearts may consider'."†
Says Khâlid Ibn Zeid, There is, therefore, not, by God, not any deity except God. After this instruction, no vacillation is in my heart respecting God, nor does there lurk in my inmost soul any doubt. And I neither deny him, nor avow him, to any one except those in whom I confide as respects friendship to the Prince of the believers ’Aly,—let peace from him be to us!
And already, indeed, have many people been directed by this Missive, of those who had deviated from the path of orthodoxy, while I have not ceased to rehearse the instruction of our Master El-Bâḳir,—let his peace be to us! and to present it to the hearts of his friends. Now then, whoever comes forward, will be delivered; and whoever remains behind, will wander in the Fire, and be precipitated into El-Hâwiyeh. And this is that which I hear and see. And God is sufficient for me! And well is he the Guardian!
A CHAPTER.
And know thou, O my brother, that the reinforcement which comes to man from the Imâm, is the intelligence of man; and that intelligence belongs to the Imâm, and thought to the Bâb,‡ and attention to the Ḥujjeh, and p. 192 memory to the Dâ’i, and speculation to the Madhûn; and that this reinforcement comes from the Imâm and his Ḥujjehs to man in a state of indifference, and not knowing where they are placed;* and that there is in man the imagining faculty, and the thinking faculty, and the attending faculty, and the knowing faculty, and the understanding faculty; and that they are a resemblance of the Higher Measures, that is, the Intelligence,† and the Soul, and El-Jedd, and El-Fatḥ, and El-Khiyâl. Know thou that, and thou wilt be orthodox, if God will.
A CHAPTER.
And know thou, O my brother,—let God aid thee, and us, with a spirit of his own, and enlighten thy vision with a light of thought, and a capacity for the universal! that the entire world is a spherical impersonation, the celestial spheres being globes which encircle and are encircled, that is, a great man,—let glory, then, be to its Creator, and hallowing to its Maker! and that its Producer, as to its intelligence, was the Sâbiḳ, and as to its holy soul, the Tâly, and as to its heart, El-Jedd, and as to its power of sensation and growth, El-Fatḥ, and El-Khiyâl, and as to its form, the Hiyûly;‡ and that the Hiyûly and for in constitute its higher, right side, which is animals and man; and that its lower, left side, consists of minerals and plants.§ Thus it was predetermined by the Mighty One, the Knowing One.
A CHAPTER.
And know thou, that, as for the Imâm, a transmission from the corporeal world to the spiritual world is not his lot,—nay, but his soul is in conjunction with the spiritual world and the corporeal world, because he is the medium between creatures and the Creator; and it is because he is God's Ḥujjeh to the creation, that by him is the deliverance p. 193 of the entire world. And as often as an Imâm disappears, an Imâm takes his stand; nor is one different from the other, except in respect to his manifestation in bodily form; so that the earth is not without him the twinkling of an eye, and it happens not to him to disappear except at the time of his manifestation, and the transmission from one form to another. And an Imâm is not transmitted from this state of being, until another Imâm takes his stand,* on acccount of the transmission of the Word of the Imâm from one Place of manifestation to another.
And let there be peace! The word of thy Lord, true and just, is ended. Of his words there is no changing. And he is the Hearer, the Knowing One. Let it be accomplished!
Footnotes
* The Imâms.
† Ḳurân, Sûr. xlix. v. 3.
‡ The Ḥujjehs of the Imâms. See Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol. ii. p. 290, note §; Ibid., p. 280, note †.
§ Ḳurân, Sûr. xix. v. 59.
‖ Ḳurân, Sûr. xxv, v. 61. The passage refers, properly, to those who rejected Muḥammed. El-Beiḍhâhy says, "The command to worship the Merciful increases their shyness of the faith." See Beidhawii Commentarius, vol. ii. p. 44.
* Ḳurân. Sûr. ix. vv. 129-130.
† Es-Sirâj, meaning one who is most enlightened with human science
‡ The Deity of the "Believer."
* The word Ḥadd, Measure, is used in this Risâleh as synonymous with Correspondent, or Representative.
† See Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol. ii. p. 265, note †.
‡ El-Fatḥ is a super-human type of El-Ḥasan, who is the first Imâm in this system. See p. 185.
§ The Imâm par éminence, i. e. the Prophet, as the connection shows.
* Ḳurân, Sûr. ii. v. 285. "We distinguish not etc." is properly the language of believers in Muḥammed's mission.
† The argument proceeds upon the assumption that "O our Lord!" is addressed to the Envoy Muḥammed as representing the Amr, by virtue of his correspondence to the Sâbiḳ, one of the two Eternal Roots created by the Amr. This being assumed, it follows that the Prince of the believers is co-equal with the Envoy Muḥammed, since he too represents the Amr by his correspondence to the other Eternal Root, namely, the Tâly.
‡ The Light of the Amr, which constitutes the essence of the two Eternal Roots. See below.
* See Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol. ii. pp. 300-302. But it is here affirmed that the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly are named from their being the creators of spirits and bodies, respectively, the former having a higher destiny than the latter.
† See Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol. ii. p. 306, note §.
‡ Ḳurân, Sûr. xxxvi. v. 36. According to El-Beiḍhâwy's interpretation of this verse, it means, 'Glory he to him who created the varieties and species of plants and trees, the male and the female, and the mates of what he has not given them to know, nor made for them a way to the knowledge of." See Beidhawii Comment., vol. ii. p. 160.
* Ḳurân, Sûr. xxvi. vv. 88-89.
† Ḳurân, Sûr. l. v. 42.
‡ A denial that secondary causes connect themselves with the Amr.
§ That is, the true God, these being among the epithets most frequently applied to God in the Ḳurân.
‖ Ḳurân, Sûr. lxxxviii. vv. 25-26.
¶ The "Higher Similitudes" are the super-human Muḥammed and ’Aly and the super-human Fâṭimeh, Ḥasan, and Ḥusein, called El-Jedd, El-Fatḥ, and El-Khiyâl, whose origin is explained in the sequel. The "Earthly Resemblances" are the same beings embodied on earth.
* That is, the super-human Muḥammed shows himself under the Veil of the temporary Prophet, as soon as he has furnished the latter with the law which he is to establish.
† In other words, inspires with the allegorical sense of the established law, which it is the office of the Asâs to disclose, See Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol ii. p. 266, note *.
‡ Supernatural inspiration, conceived of as a pen inscribing characters on the spirit.
§ ln the Ismâ’ilian and Druze systems, the Meshiyeh is the Tâly. See Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol ii. p. 300, note §.
* The conception of the Amr as being the Veritable Deity, here distinctly expressed, and implied through the whole of this Risâleh, presents an important point of contrast with Ismâ’ilian doctrine, according to which the Amr is the prime emanation from the Absolute Deity. See Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol. ii. pp. 265, note *, 299-300.
† Namely, to itself, that is, the super-human Fâṭimeh, who sustains a relation to the super-human Muḥammed and ’Aly, similar to that which the Meshiyeh sustains to the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly.
‡ Menzeleh, Station, is a term used in this Risâleh to signify impersonation.
§ Ḳurân, Sûr. liii. v. 28, with a clause added. "They name the angels with the naming of woman," is explained by El-Beiḍhâwy to mean, "that they name each of them a daughter." See Beidhawii Comment., vol. ii. p. 294.
‖ The super-human Muḥammed and ’Aly.
* The Sâbiḳ and the Tâly. See p. 180.
† That is the super-human Muḥammed and ’Aly, for whom the super-human Fâṭimeh was created, that she might serve as their medium of communication with each Prophet and Legatee. See p. 176.
‡ That is, the Sâbiḳ constituted the essential reality of the impersonated Muḥammed. This is sufficiently explained by what goes before.
§ That is, the Envoy personified in Muḥammed.
‖ Allusions to well-known circumstances in the life of Muḥammed. See Mohammed der Prophet, von Dr. Gustav Weil, pp. 40, ff., and 127. ’Abdallah Râwaḥah El-Anṣâry was one of Muḥammed's most zealous partizans.
* The Imâms.
* Ḳurân, Sûr. xxi. vv. 26-27. El-Beiḍhâwy informs us that this passage was revealed "on account of the Khuzâ’ites, upon their saying that the angels are daughters of God." The proper sense of the last clause is: "who act at his bidding." See Beidhawii Comment., vol. i. pp. 614-615.
‡ Or, made it a distinct essence.
* Ḳurân, Sûr. v. v. 109. These words, addreseed to Jesus, make a part of what it is supposed God will say, on the day of judgement, to remind the Prophets of their miracles, and so to reprove the infidels for their infidelity. See Beidhawii Comment., vol. i. p. 279.
† Ḳurân, Sûr. xxiv. v. 35.
* The Light of the Amr.
† Namely, the names of the so-called "elected impersonations." It is probable that these names are all taken from friends of Muḥammed and ’Aly; but have not been able to identify them all. They are here applied to beings of a higher order than man, though not strictly spiritual.
‡ ’Ammâr and Abû-d-Darr are known as names of friends of Muḥammed.
* This person was another of Muḥammed's friends.
† El-Bâḳir is so called as a descendant of Muḥammed. See the statement of Esh-Shahrastâny on this point, Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol ii. p. 276.
* Ḳurân, Sûr. xcvi. vv. 1-6. According to El-Beḍhâwy, "Read thou with the name of thy Lord" is the same as to say, "Read thou the Ḳurân, beginning with the name of thy Lord, or asking help therewith." "By the Pen" is explained by this commentator to signify "by writing with the pen," "which," he adds, "is said because sciences are closely connected therewith, and that which is remote is thereby known." See Beidhawii Comment., vol ii. pp. 409-10.
* Ḳurân, Sûr. xxiii. vv. 93-94, slightly abridged. El-Beiḍhâwy develops the argument here employed, thus: "If there had been deities beside him, as they say, each one of them would have certainly gone off with that which it created, and would have appropriated it to itself; and its dominion would have been distinct from the dominion of the others, and there would have arisen between them contention and striving for superiority, as is the case with kings in this world, and so the sovereignty over all things would not have been in its hands alone." See Beidhawii Comment., vol. ii. p. 11.
† Ḳurân, Sûr. ii. v. 214.
‡ Ḳurân, Sûr. xxii. v. 11; Id. xxxix v. 17.
§ Ḳurân, Sûr. l. v. 17. The passage alludes to two angels supposed to stand, one on the right, and the other on the left, of man, during his course on earth, to take account of his good and bad deeds. See Beidhawii Comment., vol. ii. p. 279.
‖ See p. 179, note *.
¶ Ḳurân, Sûr. xlii. v. 9.
* i. e. The Brilliant, meaning Fâṭimeh. Some intimation of what is symbolized under the names here given to the super-human Fâṭimeh, Ḥasan and Ḥusein, may be derived from Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol. ii. p. 312, note †, and the passage there referred to.
† Meaning, the Collection of traditions.
‡ The words here mystified, signifying "be thou, and so it is," are those by which the creative power of God is so often expressed in the Ḳurân. The Creator's mandate, Kun, be thou, is here imagined to represent the Light of the Amr under the two-fold form of the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly; while in the result of that mandate, fatekun, and so it is, is found a symbol of the super-human Muḥammed and ’Aly, and the super-human Fâṭimeh, Ḥasan, and Ḥusein, as branches from that Light.
§ See Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol. ii. p. 309, note ‡.
* Ḳurân, Sûr. ci. vv. 5-8. El-Beiḍhâwy explains the clause "Hâwiyeh will be his mother" by "his dwelling-place will be the Fire." See Beidhawii Comment., vol. ii. p. 414.
† That is, the Light created by the Amr.
* Ḳurân, Sûr. xli. v. 11. The " Amr" of each heaven is explained by El-Beiḍhâwy to mean "its business, that which is brought to pass by it, through being charged therewith, of choice, or by nature," alluding to planetary influences. See Beidhawii Comment., vol ii. p. 220. In our text, these influences are personified.
† The Imâm is here described under three aspects: first, as comprehended in the five Lights put forth from the Sâbiḳ and the Tâly, then, as prefigured in the seven Planets, and last, as existing in human form.
‡ That is, an embodiment adapted to it.
§ Ḳurân, Sûr. xxxvii. v. 164. This is interpreted by El-Beiḍhâwy as "a confession by the angels of their subordination, by way of disowning their being eternal;" "their known places," he adds, "in respect to knowledge, and service, and deference to the command of God, in the government of the world." See Beidhawii Comment., vol ii. p. 179.
* Ḳurân, Sûr. v. v. 117. These words are a part of what Jesus, as is supposed, will say to God at the last day, in justification of himself, in view of the errors of Christians. In the application here made of them, it seems to be implied, that, if the "Observer" means the Legatee, the "Prepared One," as the Observer's mate, must be the Prophet.
† See Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol. ii. p. 289, note *.
‡ Compare what is said of the doctrine of the Nuṣairis, in Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol. ii. pp. 289-290.
* Ḳurân, Sûr. xiv. vv. 29-30, quoted ad sensum.
‡ This passage suggests an important inquiry; to which, however, no satisfactory answer can be given, at present. Perhaps an acquaintance with the books of the Nuṣairis may serve to explain the allusion.
* An allusion to the words of Christ in instituting the sacrament of the Last Supper.
† Ḳurân, Sûr. xiv. v. 52.
‡ Respecting the Bâb, the Ḥujjeh, the Dâ’i, and the Madhan, see Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol ii. p. 280, notes †, §, ‖, ¶.
* See p. 187, note ‡.
† "The Intelligence" and "the Soul" are names here applied to the super-human Muḥammed and ’Aly. Compare the Ismâ’ilian doctrine in Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol. ii. pp. 300-301.
‡ See Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol. ii. p. 300, note ‡.
§ Compare the Ismâ’ilian cosmogony, in Journ. of Am. Or. Soc., vol ii. pp. 302-306.
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